My Bonus Was $1.22,So I Poached the Entire Tech Team and Broke the Company That Betrayed UsChapter 1

The day the year-end bonuses dropped, the boss suddenly @everyone in the company chat.

[Given the increasingly fierce external competition, starting this year, bonuses will be distributed based on contribution. Those who contribute more get more. Those who contribute less get less. Those who contribute nothing get nothing!]

The announcement sent cheers rippling through the neighboring departments.

"Boss is generous! I'm gonna work here for life!"

"Fat bonus means I can hold my head high! Taking the wife to Northland for New Year's!"

But in our Tech Department? Dead silence.

Milton Lambert, the most senior guy on the team, looked like he'd aged ten years in ten seconds.

"Boss... the bonus... did they make a mistake?"

"This amount... just eight bucks... that's way too little..."

Cordelia Henson, one of the younger ones, had tears welling in her eyes.

"Yeah, boss, my mom's waiting on money for her surgery. Can you check if this is right?"

Caspar Fox slammed his palm on the desk and shot to his feet.

"A mistake?! Didn't you see what the boss just posted? He's talking about us!"

"Eight bucks and eighty-eight cents—can't even buy a bowl of noodles downstairs! What are we, beggars?!"

My phone buzzed. A private message from the boss.

[The Tech Department's contribution to the company was insufficient this year. However, out of humanitarian consideration, we've given everyone a red envelope of $8.88. Your department needs to reflect seriously and strive to contribute more next year!]

All fifteen of us in Tech—no matter how many years we'd put in—got exactly $8.88.

Meanwhile, every other department was celebrating, pockets stuffed.

The Tech Department. The backbone of the entire company's technical operations. We answered every call, pulled countless all-nighters.

And now we were the department with "insufficient contribution."

In that case, I'd like to see how the company will function without our technical department.

——

The atmosphere in the office was suffocating. Somewhere, one of the girls started crying quietly.

I clenched my fists until my knuckles ached, then took a deep breath.

"I'm going to get answers. For all of us."

I stood and headed straight for the boss's office.

It was packed inside.