The Chronicle of Liu Moxi's Odd Jobs - Part 12

Sitting on the bus heading to the railway station, Liu Dong felt a complex and indescribable emotion stirring within him. Was the company's disciplinary action against him a blessing in disguise, or a stroke of bad luck?

It turned out that during the investigation conducted by the company and relevant government departments, internal surveillance footage revealed something crucial. When Wang Hu had caused the disturbance, Liu Dong was the only internet celebrity in the entire company who had not pulled out his phone to livestream. Consequently, regarding the trending search incident, Liu Dong bore absolutely no responsibility.

The reason the company terminated his contract was not because his livestreaming performance was poor. Rather, in the aftermath of the trending search fiasco, the company had suffered severe financial damage while desperately trying to salvage its reputation.

Furthermore, the company had been placed on the watch list of relevant government departments. Deciding to make a painful break to save the whole, the management chose to retain only the top-tier, high-earning streamers, while terminating contracts with all the minor and newly recruited streamers one by one.

Generally speaking, almost all the streamers involved in triggering the trending search were required to pay heavy breach-of-contract penalties to the company.

Liu Dong, however, was an exception. When his contract was dissolved, the company was legally at fault, meaning they had to compensate him with the five-year salary and benefits originally promised in his contract. Calculated altogether, this amounted to a little over one million after taxes. After deducting training fees and medical cosmetic surgery expenses, what remained in his hands was only about two hundred thousand.

When Liu Dong had asked about the outcome for Wang Hu and Zhao Xunhuan, Chen Youcai had hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Brother Dong, we've had a pretty close friendship in the company. Do you know why I always gravitated toward you?"

"No idea."

"Because you have the highest education level among all the streamers, and you're also the oldest. But when I first laid eyes on you, I felt like you were only in your teens. Who would have thought! Even I can misjudge a person sometimes."

"Brother Dong, to be honest with you, you're not really suited to be a streamer... Of course, I've had no choice but to be assigned as the head of the Human Resources Department for now. After all, I was one of the primary people responsible for the trending search incident. Ssigh..."

"You should look for another job. I might leave the company myself in the future. If fate brings us together again, maybe we can start a business together!"

"As for Wang Hu's situation, it's beyond my control; we'll just have to leave it to fate. But his girlfriend—or more accurately, his ex-girlfriend—Zhao Xunhuan, she has received special attention from the company's top brass. In fact, she's going to attend a press conference the company is holding in a few days because she's one of the main figures."

"You could interpret it as a whitewashing press conference, or you could see it as the company capitalizing on the trending search to further boost Zhao Xunhuan's popularity... That pretty much sums up the arrangements."

Liu Dong kept replaying Chen Youcai's words in his mind, only partially understanding them, and gradually drifted into deep thought. "If I'm not cut out to be a streamer, what on earth am I suited for?"

Harboring this doubt, Liu Dong touched his surgically altered cheeks and chin. The post-surgery scars had not yet fully healed, and he still had no idea what kind of handsome man he would turn out to be once the recovery was complete.

The scorching sunlight beat down on the luggage he held in his hand. Inside that luggage was two hundred thousand yuan in cash, making it feel exceptionally heavy.

Liu Dong hadn't fully grasped the deeper implications of Chen Youcai's words, nor did he dwell on them. His original purpose in coming out here had been simply to make money and prove himself to his parents. Now that he had two hundred thousand yuan in hand, his parents ought to look at him with newfound respect.

At this thought, a warm sense of contentment bloomed in Liu Dong's heart.

He decided he would go home first and brag a little. He would tell them he had succeeded in entrepreneurship, made tens of millions, but had been betrayed by his business partner at a critical moment, leaving him with only twenty thousand—er, two hundred thousand left in his hands.

With this thought, Liu Dong couldn't help breaking into a wide grin, which caused the scars on his face to pull slightly, stinging him with a pain that left him neither laughing nor crying.