Earth
Qingzhou City
Ruijing Trading Co., Ltd.
Operations Department Conference Room
"Alright, meeting adjourned."
Seated at the head of the table was Yang Hui. At only 24 years old, he led a group of women between the ages of 25 and 30.
This was the operations team of Ruijing Commerce: one male manager and six female subordinates.
"Manager Yang."
"Manager."
"Boss."
"One at a time!"
Yang Hui raised a hand to stop them. Their chattering was giving him a headache.
"Manager, we heard you went to headquarters for an interview?"
"Yeah, we heard you were applying for Regional General Manager. We're your loyal team, after all."
Secrets don't stay secret for long, especially when it came to something this big.
Ruijing Commerce was a national retail chain. The general manager of Ruijing Commerce's Qingzhou branch was about to retire due to his age.
Headquarters planned to promote the new general manager from within the branch, so anyone with ambitions had signed up.
Of course, you couldn't just sign up for fun. You had to be a head of a core department.
The core departments mainly included the Operations Department, the Channel Development Department, and the Merchandising Department.
The Operations Department was responsible for business operations, Channel Development handled store openings, lease renewals, and closures, and the Merchandising Department was in charge of ordering and distributing products to the stores.
Since the head of the Merchandising Department was pregnant and about to go on maternity leave, she was out of the running.
That left only Yang Hui from Operations and Fang Zheng, the head of Channel Development.
Yang Hui smiled.
"I did indeed go."
Many people thought he was overreaching. Who becomes a regional general manager at 24? At that age, being an operations manager was already an incredible achievement.
But Yang Hui saw it differently. 'A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is no good soldier.'
He didn't go to the interview aiming to become the regional general manager, but for the experience itself.
He might fail this time, but it would lay the foundation for his next success.
"So how did it go?"
Whether or not Yang Hui became regional general manager would have the biggest impact on the people in the Operations Department. If he was promoted, his "loyal troops" would naturally benefit, and it would also free up the position of operations manager.
They were more worried about it than he was.
"You'll just have to wait for the official announcement. Until the very last moment, who knows?"
He was a cautious person. He wouldn't believe it until it was in an official document from headquarters.
After they left, Yang Hui leaned back in his chair, hands laced behind his head, and thought about his journey since joining Ruijing Commerce.
He had joined Ruijing Commerce at 22, right after graduation. As a national chain, its salary and benefits were among the best in Qingzhou.
The competition was fierce. Women were considered better suited for operations work, and his rivals were several outstanding women with some work experience.
But when he had all but given up hope, he ended up being the only one selected.
After a year in the Operations Department, when the operations manager position opened up, the thought of applying hadn't even crossed his mind. Yet, he was the one who was ultimately promoted.
He had always felt it—an unseen force helping him from the shadows. At every critical moment, he would somehow emerge as the final victor.
He didn't know what this force was, but he trusted his sixth sense. It definitely existed.
This force influenced not only his promotions within the company but also his external business dealings.
He was just an operations manager for a small company. In front of a true industry titan, he wouldn't even have the right to strike up a conversation.
Yet Zhang Chun, a giant in Qingzhou's business world, showed him an almost indulgent favoritism. In the joint projects between Ruijing Commerce and the Xinyue Group, any request he made was granted without question.
'But I'd never met Zhang Chun before, and it's not like I could be his illegitimate son. What's the reason for all this?'
Going for the regional general manager position this time was also a way to test whether this mysterious force influencing him still existed, and if so, how powerful it was.
The result was obvious.
When the CEO met with him, his attitude was very friendly. He told him, "Yang Hui, you are outstanding. This position is meant for you."
The CEO had made the final decision before Yang Hui even had a chance to present himself. He would be the one to take over as regional general manager.
A 24-year-old general manager was unprecedented in the history of Ruijing Commerce and a rare sight in any company.
'Oh well, no point in overthinking it. It's a good thing, isn't it?'
He was about to become the big boss of an entire provincial region. His salary would rise significantly, and all sorts of benefits would improve accordingly.
At Ruijing Commerce, the salary of a regional general manager was several times that of a department manager. The official appointment email hadn't arrived yet, but Yang Hui estimated the regional GM's salary wouldn't be less than 30,000 yuan a month.
Back in his office, he made himself a cup of green tea and had just sat down.
When a crisp sound suddenly rang in his mind!
"DING~!"
"The 'Unemployment Aid System' has locked onto a host. Does the host wish to bind?"
'A system? A cheat?'
As a frequent reader of web novels, Yang Hui was no stranger to this concept. He never expected to become one of the chosen ones.
'I need to focus and see what this system actually does.'
[Origin of the Unemployment Aid System: From the year 3025, created with the full power of the Federation Government and deployed to heal the historical trauma of the "Great Unemployment Era."]
[Unemployment Aid System Functions: Receive a massive amount of unemployment funds each month. The specific amount can only be viewed after binding with the system.
Other Functions: Can only be viewed after binding with the system.]
[System Binding Condition: Within 7 days, the host must become unemployed.]
'I get it now. Are they sure this was created by the Federation Government in 3025 with the full power of humanity?'
'It seems more like something Fang Zheng from Channel Development created to get rid of his competition.'
To bind, he had to become unemployed within seven days. Didn't that just mean he had to quit his job?
If he quit, Fang Zheng would become the sole remaining candidate.
'Is this system supposed to help me or my rival?' Yang Hui complained internally.
What should he choose?
If he chose to bind, the regional general manager position would be gone, and so would his job. In exchange, he'd get the system, but the specific benefits were unknown. Just how much was this so-called "massive amount of unemployment funds"?
Normally, unemployment benefits were based on the city's minimum wage standard. How much could that possibly be?
But the system's use of the word "massive" was just too tempting. He couldn't help but want to find out.
'Besides, this is a system, a cheat. If I miss this chance, it won't come again. As for the regional GM job... I'm still young...'
'But what if, after binding with the system, I find out the "massive" unemployment fund is just 2,000 yuan a month?'
He grabbed his hair with both hands, hopelessly conflicted!
The system had only just arrived, and it was already teaching him a lesson: you can't have your cake and eat it too.