At this moment, Brian Carter understood that they hadn’t called him over to win his money, but because they really lacked people—they weren’t after winning money, just after having some fun. He liked fishing, able to sit by the water for days on end in the wind and sun without getting bored; they liked playing cards, burning the midnight oil for several nights straight without eating or drinking and never getting tired. Since that was the case, Brian Carter didn’t hold back. They definitely earned more than he did, and not just a little more, so he felt no guilt at all about winning their money. As his uncle would say, when you run into such prime targets, not winning a bit more would be letting down all those years of education from the motherland. Rather than letting them go out and embarrass themselves and lose money elsewhere, it was better to let himself do the hard work—at least he could think kindly of them for it. Besides, through this kind of interaction, he could also build good personal relationships with the bosses. Not that he was aiming for promotion or wealth, but at least it would make life at work a bit more comfortable.

Actually, apart from this little vice, these two bosses were pretty decent people. They didn’t have much work pressure themselves; this satellite company made five or six million a year just by helping CCTV and stock institutions relay program data. For a small company with not many staff, in 1997 that was a huge sum. After handing over a portion, the rest had to be spent. As the accountant put it, it was best if the books even showed a slight loss at year-end.

Brian Carter could understand the accountant’s thinking. Given the nature of this company, it wasn’t really profit-oriented. If they made too much money, it would attract envy. Not only did Brian Carter understand this, the two bosses understood it even better. So, under their lead, the company’s biggest task every year was how to spend all the money on the books quickly and well—not just spend it, but spend it reasonably and legally, at least on the surface without any slip-ups.

Whenever there was a holiday, whether a national or socially recognized festival, the company would hand out benefits—everything from food and drink to clothing and daily necessities, plus a little holiday bonus. If that still didn’t feel satisfying, they’d take all the staff who didn’t need to be on duty to a resort for some fun, and family members could come too, with all food and lodging covered. Of course, the bosses would join in as well—this was called “enjoying with the people.” Or they’d pick a fancy restaurant, but even then, they wouldn’t go overboard with the expensive dishes—just enough for everyone to have a taste. After all, it was public money, and couldn’t be spent recklessly.

But how much could all that really cost? It definitely wasn’t enough to meet the spending target. So the bosses set their sights on big-ticket items—namely, company vehicles. Previously, the operations department’s on-duty cars were all two-door Xialis, but the bosses decided to upgrade them to Jettas, supposedly to help employees complete their tasks more quickly and safely. With the staff getting new cars, naturally the bosses couldn’t be left behind. But upgrading from their Jetta Kings would mean moving up to Audis, which would put them on the same level as the ministry leaders’ cars—clearly not appropriate.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way! Nothing is impossible for those who are determined! The bosses’ driver, a true professional, came up with an idea: the newly released Passat was pretty good, and it even had an automatic transmission. The two bosses readily agreed, so they stopped using their Jetta Kings and switched to two Passat B5s. The original Jetta Kings became the official cars for the operations and R&D department heads. Although they were all under the company’s name, everyone knew who was supposed to drive what—no one would mess with that.

With this, the year’s spending target was more or less met, but the bosses were still worried—so much so that they couldn’t eat or sleep well. After all, they couldn’t just buy new cars again next year; that would be hard to justify. This was where the heads of the R&D and operations departments showed their skill—no wonder they were in charge. The two of them came up with a way to spend money freely without attracting criticism: purchase a set of encoding and compression equipment, and under the pretense of developing pay-TV channels for hotels and restaurants, install satellite dishes at the homes of department heads and key contacts. Then, using this encoding and compression equipment, they could apply for a set-top box R&D project. With all this, not only would next year’s money be spent, but even the year after’s wouldn’t be enough—several years’ worth of spending solved in one go.

Brian Carter truly admired these cadres who racked their brains for the sake of their careers. But when it came to these matters, he couldn’t be of much help. As for that set of encoding and compression equipment that would later be operated by the operations department, he didn’t really know what it was either. Anyway, they could do whatever they wanted—he was like a nail, unbending even under a mountain of pressure, determined to stay put. As long as the company didn’t dissolve, he absolutely wouldn’t leave. Where else could he find such a good workplace and such good leaders?

Chapter 0008: Returning in Defeat

Today happened to be Friday, and Brian Carter thought it was time to go to Jiugong to collect his salary again. Next week, he’d buy a few rolls of high-quality Japanese fishing line and some good hooks. Autumn was just around the corner—the best season for catching big fish. Who knew, maybe one day he’d land a whopper weighing dozens of pounds. If he lost it because of faulty line or hooks, he’d regret it for the rest of his life. But he wasn’t going to pay for this out of his own pocket; he had to win it back at the card table. Ever since he’d gotten on this “pirate ship,” Brian Carter had developed a good habit: every month, he’d deposit his entire salary without touching a cent, and all his expenses came from his winnings at the card table. If he ever spent even a penny of his own money, he’d feel especially cheated, as if his wages had been docked.