Chapter 110: The Fishing Operation (Part Three)

Zhang Mingyang was resigned but, given the trouble he had caused, he had no choice but to follow her lead.
“Alright, I’ll go back with you.”

After sending the message, Zhang Mingyang tossed the communicator aside, pondering what to say once they got home.

“Unit Three, Unit Three, this is Unit One. It’s noon now; find a place to park and have lunch.”

Tian Wenyuan, noticing it was midday, instructed Zhang Mingyang to find a spot for the whole team to stop and eat.

“Unit Three received. There’s a noodle shop 500 meters ahead. Everyone get off there for lunch.”

After that, Zhang Mingyang sent the location to the lead vehicle.

The driver of Unit One saw the coordinates and drove toward the noodle shop.

In less than a minute, the convoy arrived in front of the noodle restaurant.

It was a beef noodle shop situated beside the main street, with a long parking area at its entrance, large enough to accommodate the entire convoy.

As the vehicles stopped, Tian Wenyuan spoke through the headset, “Leave one person per vehicle to watch the cars; the rest get off and eat.”

Upon hearing the order, Zhang Mingyang’s team left behind their ‘Black Panther’ while he and ‘Crab’ got out.

The convoy of dozens of vehicles immediately drew the attention of the surrounding crowd. Dressed uniformly in black jackets, they stood out even more, causing onlookers to whisper and point.

Once off the vehicle, ‘Crab’ immediately scanned the area, analyzing the safety of the surroundings.

Zhang Mingyang and two senior brothers led a group of about a dozen people into the noodle shop first.

“Boss, a hundred bowls of beef noodles, please.”

At this shout, a middle-aged man rushed out of the kitchen, astonished. “Did I hear right? A hundred bowls? How many of you are there?”

Customers dining nearby overheard and thought he had lost his mind.

Tian Wenyuan replied, “You heard correctly, boss. A hundred bowls of beef noodles. Don’t worry about how many people—just get them out quickly.”

He then stepped up to the payment scanner and paid 2,000 yuan.

“Payment of 2,000 yuan received!”

Hearing the money had arrived, the boss stopped questioning and hurried back to the kitchen, shouting for a hundred bowls of beef noodles.

“Everyone find a place to sit.”

The noodle shop wasn’t large, but it had plenty of seats—enough for fifty people.

It was peak lunch hour, and local office workers often came to such small noodle shops for a quick meal. Zhang Mingyang and his group had arrived early; if they had been ten minutes later, there would have been no seats left.

As soon as they sat down, a crowd of office workers flooded in.

But upon entering, they found no seats available.

“Boss, why are there so many people today?”

A young man in a suit looked at the group of black-clad men inside and asked the owner.

“Exactly, a young gentleman just ordered a hundred bowls of beef noodles.”

“What? Then does that mean we can’t get any?”

The owner replied, “That hundred bowls will take at least half an hour to finish.”

The young man glanced at the time. Lunch breaks only lasted thirty minutes, and waiting for a hundred bowls to be served meant he would be late.

“Forget it, boss. I’m in a hurry; I’ll eat somewhere else.”

“Alright.”

After the young man left, those waiting in line followed suit; they all only had half an hour for lunch.

Nearby, Zhang Mingyang overheard their conversation and asked Peng Dongli, “Senior brother, do office workers these days not even have time for lunch?”

Peng Dongli nodded. “It’s still fortunate. When I first joined Northern Group, I didn’t even go out for lunch. I bought my meal in the morning and ate it at my desk when it was time.”

“That harsh?”

Zhang Mingyang had yet to enter society and couldn’t quite grasp the hardship. “Senior brother, why do I feel that the more advanced technology becomes, the longer people work? And the more exhausted they get?”

Peng Dongli explained, “In the agricultural era, competition was between people; in the industrial era, it was between people and machines; in the intelligent era, it’s between people and intelligent machines.”

“You see, in the agricultural era, you could compete with others. In the industrial era, you might be on par with machines. But in the intelligent era, your chances of winning might be one in a thousand. As technology advances, you find it harder to keep up. If you compete with intelligent machines and your efficiency is lower, you’ll be eliminated.”

“Now, in the intelligent era, robots work longer hours and generate more profit than humans. Their costs are lower, and their error rates are minimal. If you were a boss, who would you choose?”

“Obviously, intelligent robots!”

“Exactly. You choose robots, so what happens to people? They have to be like robots—work longer hours and cost less. If you can’t do these two things, you won’t find a job in the future.”

“No way…”

Peng Dongli smiled wryly. “That’s the reality. It’s probably the best-case scenario. Now you understand why the AC organization protests outside our headquarters, right?”

“I get it now!”

Zhang Mingyang recalled his first visit to Northern Group.

Peng Dongli added, “This is the era of elites. Without education, strength, or a skill, you become like those protesters—left behind by the times.”

“Remember, junior brother, you can’t change the world; the world will only change you.”

Zhang Mingyang nodded, committing Peng Dongli’s words to memory.

“The noodles are here!”

Several waiters came in, wobbling under the weight of a huge tray.

*Crash!*

A young waitress, overwhelmed by the load, dropped eight bowls of beef noodles onto the floor.

Seeing this, Zhang Mingyang rushed over to help her up.

The shop owner, hearing the noise, hurried out. Seeing the noodles spilled everywhere, he immediately grew angry and shouted at the waitress, “What are you good for? You can’t even carry a few bowls steadily and still want to keep working? You’re less useful than a robot! Deduct these eight bowls from your salary.”

The waitress began to sob upon hearing this. Zhang Mingyang tried to intervene and explain to the owner.

But Peng Dongli pulled him back.

“Senior brother, why are you stopping me? The waitress didn’t do it on purpose. Does the boss have to be so harsh?”

Peng Dongli guided him back to his seat and explained, “You’re not helping her—you’re hurting her. Do you understand?”

“Huh?”

Zhang Mingyang was surprised by his senior’s words.

Peng Dongli said, “This is competition I was telling you about! Even nature follows the law of the strong eating the weak, let alone humans. You helping her may ease your conscience, but she still doesn’t understand this competitive society. Only when she experiences the pain of failure will she learn. She must realize that without strength, she can’t survive even in a noodle shop. This is the lowest rung. If she can’t make it here, what else can she do out there?”