My minimum living allowance is credited to my account every day with 1000 million yuan

That's true, Zhang Ziqian wholeheartedly agreed.

Hassan said that several mercenary groups, numbering around 2, have recently started to make moves.

2 people? Mercenaries?

Chen Xiao understood that it was just a regular army dressed as mercenaries to deceive others!

"Hassan said there are people from Russia, France, and the United States."

"Where are the Polar Bear's troops?"

"We have over ten thousand men; a defensive operation shouldn't be a problem. We're guarding a key position here."

Nodding, "Keep a close eye on them. I have a feeling they're unreliable."

You think they'll betray us?

He shook his head: "No, it's that he's bad at the game and loves to play around, and he often throws tantrums."

After pondering for a while, he said, "Tell Hassan to pay attention to the safety of the [Blue Star Guardians]. If necessary, he can spend money to support other forces to counter them. The lives of the [Blue Star Guardians] are precious; don't let them be sacrificed in vain!"

"Hassan understands this! And that's how he's always operated. However, it's more difficult to do this in the situation with MALI. Because all the various factions know what's behind this mercenary group, they dare not."

Chen Xiao nodded, indicating his understanding. "Let's take a two-pronged approach. I feel the situation here is more serious than we imagined. After all, there's the will of a superpower behind us!"

"Ziqian, come and eat."

Zhang Ziqian quickly stood up. "Boss, Sister Xiangjun is calling. Let's go over there right away."

Chen Xiao and Zhang Ziqian arrived at the restaurant and saw a table laden with dishes, including a plate of rice noodles and cold skin noodles topped with bright red chili peppers. He couldn't help but marvel at how much Zhao Xiangjun loved these kinds of things. He himself had been tormented by Diao Chan at lunchtime, and eating this stuff felt like poison.

"Chen Xiao, what's wrong? You seem to have a problem with my rice noodles?"

"Haha, how could I dare to have any objections..." Chen Xiao snapped out of his thoughts. He didn't just have an objection to the rice noodles; he had a grudge against them. He almost burned himself to death from the spiciness at noon.

The banquet hall of the Inner Tianchi Hotel, near Tianchi Hot Spring.

Today is the company's team building day, and hundreds of employees have gathered together. Diao Chan followed Sister Juan and Qianqian into the venue.

"Let's find a corner to sit in," said Diao Chan, who was a bit socially awkward and didn't like crowds. Juan Jie and Qian Qian cooperated with her and found a seat in the very back row, at the very edge.

Technician No. 23, because of her browsing, has been trying to infiltrate Diao Chan's inner circle recently, and she came over when she saw them.

"Why are you all hiding so far away? The manager just said he was going to lead everyone in toasting General Manager Zhao a few more times."

“Xiao Chan is allergic to alcohol and doesn’t like to join in the fun,” Sister Juan said.

Number 23 sighed, "Look at those guys, numbers 88 and 58, they're all desperately trying to squeeze forward, hoping to get closer to the boss and the big leaders. And you guys, you've chosen to be invisible!"

“You can go too,” Diao Chan said, not to tease her, but to tell her that she could go if she wanted, and that not sitting together tonight wouldn’t affect their friendship.

"I'm not going, I'm not going!" Number 23 shook her head. To her, the boss was important, but Lao Cha was even more important. At the same time, she also knew that Sister Juan and Qianqian were eyeing Lao Cha covetously.

"No. 23, you're not spending time with your CEO Yang anymore?" Qianqian joked with her.

"Don't even mention that old guy. I did the math; we've known each other for two years, and the extra time he's given me hasn't even amounted to the amount of wedding noodles Mr. Chen gave me."

Diao Chan rolled her eyes at her compliment to Chen Xiao, thinking that the guy was now penniless and deserved it. Being generous when you shouldn't be!
"I heard that when General Manager Chen came last time, he gave No. 88 and her family tens of thousands of yuan worth of celebratory noodles."

"A windfall came, but I couldn't hold onto it. What's the point of giving it all back, even the winnings?"

As the waiter served the dishes, someone entered from the entrance of the hall. The person in the middle was surrounded by a crowd of people, and it was none other than Zhao Rui, the nominal owner of [Tianchi Hot Spring]!
"Hello, boss!"

"Good morning, boss!"

Wherever he went, people greeted him warmly.

Zhao Rui glanced around, nodded slightly, and then went to sit down at table number one.

Number 88 and Number 58 sat together, their eyes looking at Zhao Rui with unwavering clarity as they contemplated how to ingratiate themselves with their boss!
Since the last time the two accompanied Chen Xiao and Cha Lan and were caught gambling on the rooftop, they have developed a comrade-like friendship.

"Hey, I heard Mr. Chen is here today," Number 58 nudged Number 88 with his elbow.

"I know, but Lao Cha didn't come today." For the two of them, Lao Cha is much more popular than Chen Xiao now. After all, Lao Cha has more than a million yuan in his membership card. He's a big spender! Chen Xiao, on the other hand, is just an office worker. Last time he came, he lost all the money in his membership card.

"I think number 8 really likes him."

Number 88 sneered, "You believe her? I feel like she's just acting, using President Chen to cover up some things."

Number 58 tilted his head and thought for a moment: "It's possible. So many big bosses are pursuing her, I don't believe she wouldn't be tempted. By the way, I saw her wearing a [Sa Mo] release item today. I searched it online, and after the markup, it's over ten thousand!"

“I know—” Number 88 replied quietly. “Besides, this outfit wasn’t even a gift from President Chen! That’s why I said she was acting; the real person supporting her is someone else!”

Number 58 glanced in Diao Chan's direction and thought, "Is she really that scheming?"

"Heh, you can't judge a book by its cover," Number 88 looked back again, humph, so what if she's pretty? Always acting all high and mighty!

Midway through the banquet, the manager came over to offer a toast. "The boss is here today, so even those of you who can't drink should have a little."

"Don't worry, boss, we can't let your reputation suffer!" The manager got promoted today, and the girls at number 88 are even more docile towards her now!

"Boss, I don't usually drink, but I'm going all out today..."

"Not bad, not bad, even number 88 still has some awareness."

"Boss, it's all the proper thing to do. Even if I can't drink, I can't let you down. Don't worry about this side, but you need to be careful with some people; not everyone is sensible."

The manager frowned, naturally knowing who number 88 was referring to. She knew Diao Chan was allergic to alcohol, and she'd heard that Diao Chan never made an exception. The manager had a bit of a headache; she really couldn't force Diao Chan. She could only play it by ear later.

"Alright, the boss is coming over to toast, I'm going back to my seat," the manager said, quickly returning to his place. Zhao Rui was still shaken by what happened with Chen Xiao. The current management style had become incredibly approachable, making him feel like he was constantly being watched.

"Boss, these are the beauties from our original third floor—" the manager introduced from the side.

Zhao Rui nodded slightly, but as he raised his glass, he suddenly noticed that the color of the wine in one of the technicians' glasses was off. "Is that wine?"

The manager's heart skipped a beat. She turned to look and saw a new employee who hadn't been there long. She wasn't quite familiar with her yet and couldn't remember her number. She had just been talking to number 88 and noticed her cup was also red, but hadn't paid attention. Now, Zhao Rui's reminder made her realize the color was slightly different. Her cup probably contained cola!
That's shameful! That's shameful!

Zhao Rui smiled. "Can I have a drink?"

"Yes, yes—", the newcomer was caught trying to be clever, and he quickly changed the wine, explaining, "Boss, I'm just allergic to alcohol!"

"It's alright, a little bit won't hurt!" Zhao Rui smiled calmly, his expression unreadable.

Everyone raised their glasses, and number 88 downed her glass of red wine in one gulp. Unfortunately, Zhao Rui didn't notice her, said a few words of encouragement, and then moved on to the next table.

"Hey, if the boss is so petty, this is going to be interesting. I'd like to see how number 8 handles it."

Number 88 sneered and said to Number 58, "Not necessarily. Last time in the boss's card room, she didn't give the boss any face."

"There were fewer people then, but there are so many today. Wouldn't it be impolite not to give her face? Besides, it's just a sip of wine, she's not going to do anything."

As the two talked, they kept their eyes on the table where Diao Chan was.

The manager was so nervous that he kept staring at Diao Chan's glass. When he got closer, he suddenly felt dizzy. Even the boss didn't need to look closely; anyone could see that it wasn't wine!

The previous table, where someone tried to pass off Coke as red wine, might have gotten away with it. But Diao Chan, her glass was filled with Sprite! The manager was truly chilled to the bone!
Before Zhao Rui could speak, the manager stepped forward and reminded him, "Number 8, the boss is coming to toast everyone, so please switch to red wine..."

Diao Chan frowned: "I'm allergic to alcohol."

The manager gave her a wink, and I knew it all too well. The previous woman had already used that excuse, and it didn't work.

"Number 8, a little bit won't hurt. Besides, you need to ask for leave right away. I don't have the authority; you need the boss's approval..." she said with a smile, trying to smooth things over, blinking repeatedly until her eyes were sore.

Diao Chan knew the manager had just been promoted and wanted to impress Zhao Rui. Considering how kind Zhao Rui had always been to her, she was considering whether to go all out and give the manager face when Zhao Rui spoke first:

"Hey, what's wrong with you leaders? She's allergic to alcohol, why do you insist on making her drink? Do you even know what humanistic care is? Do you even know what it means to love your soldiers like your own children?"

The manager and his companions were dumbfounded. That's not what you just said.

Zhao Rui then asked, "You just said she asked for leave. What kind of leave does she need my approval for?"

The manager quickly replied, "Yes, boss, I have a family matter to attend to on the 8th and need to take a long leave."

"OK, approved!"

"." The manager was speechless. Didn't the company management regulations you issued yesterday say that leave exceeding one week requires your approval and a reason for the leave? How can you, as the boss, lead by example and not follow the rules and regulations you just set?

"Boss, she took a bit too long," the manager thought he should explain, lest the boss deny it and accuse him of not explaining things clearly.

"How long?" Zhao Rui turned to ask her.

Fearing her boss would scold the manager, Diao Chan proactively said, "Mr. Zhao, I have some family matters to attend to. I'll be back as soon as I've taken care of them. I can't set a time yet!"

hiss--

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. Who takes leave like that? Even if you don't know when you'll be back, you should at least ask for a fixed number of days first, and then ask for extended leave if needed!
Just when they thought their boss was going to get angry, Zhao Rui not only didn't get angry, but his smile became even more obvious, giving people a kind of benevolent feeling.

"It's alright, it's alright~! The company is quite humane. If there's something at home, just take care of it. Um, I only have one request..."

Diao Chan was somewhat surprised that her boss was so agreeable. Hearing that there were still requirements, she asked, "Mr. Zhao, please tell me, I will definitely comply with the company's regulations—"

"You'll still receive your base salary during your leave!"

"."

Clang! The wine glass number 23 fell to the ground! Has the boss gone mad?
"Shh! Be more humane, be more humane! Listen to the important points, the boss is becoming more and more considerate!"

"Yes, they even give you a guaranteed minimum wage when you take leave. It's like a dream job! From now on, I won't have to worry about not having any income when I take leave!"

Zhao Rui continued to toast the next table, and the people at the next table naturally heard what was happening.

During the toast, someone suddenly called out in a sweet voice, "President Zhao, I have something to report to you." The voice was sickeningly sweet; it was Number 66, who was also the one who often spread rumors in the technicians' room that Diao Chan was being kept by someone.

In the entire technician room, only Diao Chan was prettier than her. Yes, much prettier!

Not only is No. 66 beautiful, but she's also very outgoing. She consistently gets the most extra hours on the third floor, bringing in the most revenue for the company. The company naturally values ​​someone like her, and she feels entitled to act cute in front of the boss.

Zhao Rui turned to look at her, a smile on his face: "Go ahead!"

"Mr. Zhao, I'd like to request a leave of absence..."

Asking for leave? Zhao Rui frowned. Did he need to tell me about something so trivial?

The manager was also displeased. "Are you treating me like I don't exist? Don't you know who your direct supervisor is?"
"Number 66, just let me know about the leave request later..." the manager replied on Zhao Rui's behalf, then prepared to lead Zhao Rui to the next table.

Who knew Number 66 felt humiliated? Why could Number 8's issue be resolved on the spot, but mine couldn't? Am I really less important than her? I earn several times more money for the company than Number 8, so why am I not valued?
She looked at Zhao Rui: "Mr. Zhao, this time I'm taking a rather long leave..."

Hmm, Zhao Rui realized that this was a competition.

"How long?" His tone was somewhat cold.
"My cousin is getting married, and I'm thinking of taking a few more days off, a week would be fine?" Sensing the change in Zhao Rui's attitude, No. 66 toned it down a bit. Compared to Diao Chan, she not only gave a specific reason but also a specific number of days, and she felt that a week was not excessive.
Zhao Rui turned to the manager and said, "The company has regulations on leave for weddings, right? We can't give a week off for my cousin's wedding."

"But."

Number 66 wanted to say, "But it was just the 8th," but before he could finish, Zhao Rui interrupted him, "No buts. Your cousin is getting married. Can you go on her honeymoon?"

After saying that, he picked up his wine glass and walked away, but after taking two steps, he turned back: "Oh, by the way, I'm taking leave, and my guaranteed salary is canceled!" (End of Chapter)