One Yuan First Recharge: I'm Actually the Boss Behind a Fortune 500 Company

At 5:30, the workday bell rang on time.

The office instantly became lively as everyone shut down their computers and packed their bags.

Wang Hao and Wu Liang also got up and bent down to take the New Year's goods out from under the table.

The two boxes of oranges weren't too heavy, but they were quite bulky.

Each of them carried a box, and Wu Liang also carried a roll of toilet paper, as they swayed and walked towards the elevator.

"Hey, Brother Wang and Brother Wu, you're leaving already?" Li Li, who was from the same department, happened to come out and couldn't help but laugh when she saw their situation.

"Get out of here," Wu Liang said. "If we don't move these lousy oranges back, they'll be all gone by tomorrow if we leave them in the office."

"No way." Li Li smiled and pressed the elevator button. "But Brother Wang, you're really not treating us? We gave away so much today..."

"Please!" Wang Hao quickly said, "I'll treat the whole group then."

"Alright! Brother Wang is so generous!"

The elevator arrived, and the three of them went inside.

As the elevator descended, Wang Hao could feel Li Li's occasional glances—envy, curiosity, and perhaps something else entirely.

He knew that the news of his salary of over 90,000 yuan this month would spread throughout the entire company tomorrow.

It doesn't matter anymore.

Anyway, I'll be going home in three days...

Once they reached the basement level, the two stuffed their belongings into the trunk before opening the car door and getting inside.

It was much warmer inside the car than outside, but the engine had just started and the heater hadn't come on yet.

Wu Liang said while fastening his seatbelt:

"Haozi, your cousin is getting married on the 22nd of the twelfth lunar month. We should be heading back by the 20th at the latest, right?"

"Okay." Wang Hao nodded. "I plan to leave on the night of the 18th."

"That'll be in a few days." Wu Liang started the car.

"Tomorrow is Friday. We've already met our sales targets, so it doesn't matter whether we come to the company or not."

"As for your car... if you're thinking of buying one, shall we go take a look tomorrow?"

Wang Hao's heart skipped a beat: "Tomorrow?"

"Yes." Wu Liang drove the car out of the parking lot and merged into the evening rush hour traffic.

"Think about it, looking at cars, test driving, negotiating prices, handling loan procedures... all of these take time."

"If the model you like isn't available in stock, you'll have to wait."

"Let's go early and get this settled as soon as possible to avoid trouble after the New Year."

Wang Hao thought about it and agreed: "Okay, let's go take a look first thing tomorrow morning."

"Alright." Wu Liang turned the steering wheel, then suddenly blinked:

"By the way, Haozi, there's something I've been wanting to ask you."

"What's up?"

"Those three deals my older cousin introduced you to," Wu Liang said as he drove.

"When you were coordinating with your friend, didn't you take a cut in the process?"

"I told you to report 40,000 so you could keep 10,000 for yourself."

"You should at least make a referral fee in the process, right?"

Wang Hao was taken aback by the question. He hadn't thought of that at first, mainly because he had received all the money and hadn't considered the referral fee.

But now that Wu Liang has brought it up, it is indeed a logical flaw.

He took a deep breath and spoke as naturally as possible: "Liangzi, I won't hide anything from you about our relationship. My family took ten thousand."

Wu Liang didn't respond, waiting for him to continue.

"Logically speaking, since you introduced this business, I should give you half of it."

As Wang Hao spoke, he took out his phone, "Here's what I'll do, I'll transfer 15,000 to you. 5,000 to each of the three companies, not much, but..."

"Stop!" Wu Liang suddenly interrupted him, his tone a little urgent.

"Haozi, what kind of person do you take me for?"

Wang Hao was taken aback.

Wu Liang looked at the road ahead, his voice deepening:

"I introduced you to that deal because you were a bit strapped for cash lately, and I wanted to give you a hand. Do you think I'd be short of your money, buddy?"

"No, Ryoko, these are the rules..."

"Rules my ass!" Wu Liang cursed.

"We've been inseparable since we were kids, you're telling me what rules to follow?"

"Keep this money for yourself, don't transfer a single penny to me. If you do, I'll return it to you."

As he spoke, he glanced at Wang Hao:

"That's what I meant—look, you've received your salary, and with the referral fees from those previous deals, you should have some money on hand, right?"

Wang Hao breathed a sigh of relief, but didn't show it on his face: "Um... a little."

"Let's go look at cars tomorrow. Any ideas about getting a better one?"

Wu Liang asked, "Didn't you say you wanted to buy a family car around 100,000 yuan? Now that you have enough money, do you want to go up a bit?"

Wang Hao fell silent.

He currently has over 540,000 in his account—more than enough to buy a car worth 200,000 to 300,000.

But he couldn't say that.

It's not that he's reluctant to part with the money, but he simply can't explain its origin.

"I...I'll go back and think about it," Wang Hao said vaguely. "Let's talk about it again tomorrow morning."

"Okay." Wu Liang didn't ask any further questions. "Think about it."

The car continued to move slowly through the evening rush hour traffic.

Wang Hao gazed at the flashing neon lights outside the window, but his mind was preoccupied with something else—

Year-end bonus for electronics employees.

Even my crappy company gave out New Year's gifts—although it was just two boxes of oranges, a pack of toilet paper, and a lottery ticket, at least they gave us something.

What about Xingyue Media?

I've been in charge of the company for almost a month now, and the team just finished a big project. The Chinese New Year is just around the corner... It's only fair that we should give out some year-end bonuses.

How many should I send?

"Liangzi," Wang Hao suddenly spoke up, "I have a question for you."

"explain."

"If you were a boss, and you had plenty of money, how much would you give your company's employees as year-end bonuses?"

Wu Liang paused for a moment, then laughed: "What? Want to be a boss?"

"Just asking casually," Wang Hao said.

Wu Liang thought for a moment and said, "That depends on how big the company is and how many employees it has."

Wang Hao carefully chose his words: "It's a bit smaller than our company... not a big company either."

"A small company..." Wu Liang thought to himself as he drove.

"If they really didn't lack money, they certainly wouldn't be as stingy as our company, just giving out a few oranges and a lottery ticket and calling it a day."

He paused, then continued:

"But for small companies, giving too much isn't good either. If you give 5,000 this time, you'll have to give 10,000 next time. That will whet the employees' appetites, and then it'll be difficult to manage the situation later!"

"Of course, I was just using an analogy!"

Wang Hao was somewhat confused and asked:

"How much should we send?"

"I think... 20,000 per person would be about right," Wu Liang said.

"That is, assuming you're really not short of money. But Haozi, I have to remind you—human nature is a very complex thing."

"What do you mean?"

"You might help someone ten times, but they might not remember it." Wu Liang's voice was very serious.

"But if you don't help him even once, he might remember it."

"Unless it's a relationship like ours, otherwise... a little kindness is appreciated, but too much kindness breeds resentment, and that saying isn't just for show."