The cultural arts district of Forward York City is mainly concentrated in the Metropolitan Area. The streets here retain the refined bourgeois style of New York, while also carrying a touch of the lazy demeanor of a Metropolitan Area. Summer is the most popular season for tourists; the most famous attraction here is the seaside boardwalk. Walking along the boardwalk by the sea, the street is lined with restaurants and coffee shops. On sunny days, the sea outside the glass shines with fragmented light.
Bruce and Selina walked hand in hand into the shop. Selina took off her sun hat, letting her long black curly hair cascade down, and then removed the sunglasses tucked in her hair, taking a wet wipe from Bruce to wipe her sweat.
She was dressed very cool today, wearing a floral bustier with chiffon lace at the hem, paired with retro wide-leg jeans pinned with various exaggerated cartoon patterns. To highlight the retro style, she deliberately wore two large and colorful earrings. These accessories, combined with her wheat-colored skin, didn't look out of place, making her appear full of enthusiasm.
To match her style, Bruce wore an extra loose short-sleeved shirt, and his pants were also wide enough to reach his feet. He additionally wore an Elvis-like garland around his neck, clearly a souvenir just bought from the beach.
"A mojito and an iced sweet orange soda, please." Selina looked at Bruce while holding the menu and asked, "Shall we order one for him too?"
"Let him order for himself when he arrives." Bruce ordered a croissant as well.
After the drinks arrived, Selina was fiddling with a straw out of boredom. While looking at his phone, Bruce asked her, "What about the big gemstone you had last time? Why aren't you wearing it?"
"It's so big, how would I wear it?" Selina shook her head, "Not all gemstones are meant to be turned into jewelry. They're also nice to look at at home."
"So you got that from Loki. What did you exchange with him?" Bruce turned his head to ask her.
Selina smiled and tapped her temple, "Wisdom."
Bruce pulled her over for a cheek kiss, "If you gave him any bad ideas and he causes trouble, wouldn't they trace it back to you?"
Selina rolled her eyes at him, "And you're better than me how? As Batman, shouldn't you be harshly criticizing my act of giving ideas to villains?"
"Would you stop if I criticized you?" Bruce feigned surprise, "Did you forget everything when you saw that big gemstone?"
Selina laughed like a cat that got the cream. She reached out to adjust one of her earrings and then said, "Bruce Wayne as Spider-Man? I think it's a better fit than being Batman."
"Not necessarily. Batman lost his parents, while Spider-Man is always losing." Bruce paused, his tone somewhat somber.
"At least he got superpowers." Selina propped her chin with her hand, gazing out at the sea view, "I sometimes envy superpower users; if only I could climb walls too..."
"Then no gemstone in all of Gotham would be safe."
"It's not safe now, either."
As they were talking, the door was pushed open. Spider-Man walked in wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, with a backpack slung over one shoulder, his short black hair a bit messy, and faint dark circles under his eyes.
"Over here." Bruce waved to him.
Although the two looked similar, due to the differences in age and demeanor, they didn't look that alike. Or perhaps, this Spider-Man was just too youthful, even during his university days, Bruce seemed much more mature than him.
Spider-Man walked over, sat down, and put his backpack aside. The server handed him the menu, he glanced at it and randomly pointed to a name. Bruce watched his actions, feeling inexplicably that he had distanced himself from Batman.
This Spider-Man carried a sort of youthful sense not commonly found with Batman. It was like that boy in high school who always kept his head down, seldom made eye contact, and after school, always walked home alone.
But to say he was like Spider-Man, not quite either. Peter Parker was lively; the comic's Peter wasn't a bookworm. He always wore a big smile, was sunny and talkative, loved to joke, and was liked by girls. However, Spider-Man Bruce Wayne, in contrast, was more like the stereotypical nerd who gets bullied.
Simply put, he lacked the mature and profound essence of Batman but carried Batman's melancholy air. He didn't have Spider-Man's sunny and outgoing nature, yet, like the newly emerged Spider-Man, he was naïve, appearing like a melancholic boy.
"Where did you come from?" Bruce began.
"Wayne Enterprises." Spider-Man sighed and said, "I'm familiarizing myself with the business."
"How's that going?"
"Not great." Spider-Man took a sip of coffee, "The management and sales departments are full of old hands; no one listens to me. Whatever I ask them, they give perfunctory answers, and I can't be bothered to deal with them."
Bruce opened his mouth, as if he didn't know where to start. This might be the Curse of Knowledge. When you're too smart, you can't imagine someone being at a loss with a problem this simple, so naturally, you don't know how to teach them.
Faced with such problems, Bruce had many solutions, but these were limited by the hardware conditions of brain folds. For example, just by observing for a moment and saying a few words, Bruce could roughly judge who these people were, what kind of personalities they had, what their weaknesses might be, who had a clear conscience, and who felt guilty, so he could naturally come up with a plan to deal with them.
But if only Spider-Man could observe these things in a short time, he wouldn't be unable to handle these people. Plus, he's young, and with "easy to bully" written all over his face, he has no authority, and bargaining at the market would be tough, let alone negotiating with those elite graduates.
At this moment, Selina gave Bruce a look that said, "Let me handle it." She placed her hands on the table and looked at Spider-Man, "Have you understood what these people are up to?"
"They are all Wayne Enterprises employees."
"I know, but not all employees are the same, right? Some people have no ability, purely relying on seniority; some have strong abilities but no background; some have backgrounds but only loaf around at work; and there are those who work hard but don't understand social niceties."
"I don't know," Spider-Man said. "I've also noticed that some of them just don't get along, but I don't know what to do."
"You can divide them," Bruce said, "Employees who are very senior cannot be touched. They know the company better than you, and any mistake on your part could be embarrassing."
"Pay special attention to the technical backbone, but don't promote them right away. Good positions are limited. If you promote those without backgrounds, those with backgrounds will undoubtedly create trouble for them, putting them in an unfavorable position instead."
"You can't offend those with backgrounds; otherwise, the decision-makers and shareholders will be dissatisfied with you. But you also can't let them just sit there uselessly, or the company won't be efficient, and it'll fall apart anyway."
"Doesn't that mean I can't touch anyone?" Spider-Man asked.
"That's where you're wrong. The key lies with the last type of person," Selina snapped her fingers and said, "Those who are capable and willing to work but too direct in personality to curry favor and have offended too many people, resulting in a bad situation, are your key to breaking the deadlock."
Spider-Man furrowed his brow slightly. Bruce continued, "These people often harbor a discontented and cynical attitude, unaware of their personality issues, they offend leaders everywhere, thinking instead that the leaders are narrow-minded and can't recognize talent."
"They are neither as smooth as the senior staff, nor as essential as the technical backbone, nor have the strong backing of those with connections, making them the worst off among all employees. If you extend an olive branch to them and empathize with their situation, they'll feel you're worth serving."
"Of course, these people have low EQ, making relationships difficult, but that can also be exploited..."
Spider-Man's body leaned further forward, as if wanting Bruce to reveal how to exploit this, but Bruce stopped, looked at Spider-Man and asked, "How do you think you would exploit it?"
Spider-Man sighed. If he knew, he wouldn't be struggling. Still, he was good at thinking. After pondering, he said, "I think you can let them work with the older employees. The older employees are more socially adept, while these people have ability, so they complement each other."
Bruce sighed as well, "You still don't get it. Improving work efficiency is your long-term goal, but your most important task right now is to make this group listen to you, understand?"
Selina gave Bruce another look and said, "Don't be so formal at this point. Simply put, you need to find a way to create mutual disharmony and urgency among them, to make them unable to function without you. For this, you mustn't let them complement each other, instead, you have to make them conflict."
Spider-Man frowned and said, "Isn't that a little too harsh?"
"Good guys don't make for good bosses," Bruce said with some resignation.
"Then what do you suggest?" Spider-Man was a bit deflated.
"You need to arrange for this group to work with those who have connections," Selina tapped the table with her fingertips and said, "One lacks emotional intelligence, and the other has a bad temper. How could they not end up fighting?"
Bruce nodded and said, "Those people aren't good at currying favor, and those with connections have stronger backgrounds, having always had it easy. When they meet these stubborn characters, they can't handle it."
"But if the two fight, how does that benefit me?"
"Some of those with connections will find it intolerable to work with this group and will try to leave. Those who stubbornly hang on will choose to fight it out with them. The obvious advantage here is that both sides will have their energies diverted, preventing them from focusing on work."
"At this point, if there are good projects, you can boldly let the technical backbone handle them, letting them take the lead while marginalizing the other three types of people."
Spider-Man suddenly realized. Selina continued to add, "Treating the technical backbone as confidants makes it easier to achieve results. Once there are some accomplishments, those opportunistic old employees will flock to you. You can leverage their company knowledge and smooth characters to further expand your position."
"By that time, the other two types won't pose much of a threat to you, instead, they'll be looking for you to mediate disputes, competing to win your favor, allowing you to have the final say in the department."