Following the fall of the CIA’s Jingdu informant base, the Thunder Horse Organization new material and drone workshops held its groundbreaking ceremony. After Xia Lei had returned from Israel, he had made a promise. Thunder Horse Organization was set to own their very own unmanned aircraft by first of June along with the world’s most superior aviation material. For the sake of this promise, everyone in the Thunder Horse Organization began working hard towards it.
Sylvia and Annina seemed to be the busiest out of them all. They were tasked with handling everything related to the production of extra-refined spare parts and core equipment.
Crackle crackle… Patter patter…
Firecrackers were set off in front of the new workshops. The sound of drums roared and filled the air.
“The Chinese sure are weird people. Why do they need to use firecrackers? Also, their instruments are so simple. It’s literally nothing but noise.” Sylvia paused her work to look at the new workshops. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was underway, gathering a crowd of prominent leaders, representatives of the military and a lot of important figures. The scene was majestic but she and Annina were unwilling to spare them their attention.
Annina wiped droplets of sweat away with the towel hanging off her shoulder. She didn’t pay mind to Sylvia’s words, concentrating her thoughts on a piece of core equipment.
“Hey, Annina. I was talking to you. Did you not hear me?” Sylvia pulled the towel off her shoulder abruptly and tossed it into Annina’s face.
It was only when the soft fabric made contact with Annina that she finally gave Sylvia attention.
She stared at her confusedly. “What?”
“I was talking about Lukas’ ribbon-cutting ceremony. Firecrackers, gongs and drums… His taste is awful. The obnoxious noises are distracting me from my work.”
Annina shrugged. “It’s their culture.”
“Fine then. Let’s change topics. How about we talk about his wives?” suggested Sylvia.
Annina hummed. “He has four wives. Who would you like to talk about?”
“All four of his wives are pregnant and their due date is coming soon. Don’t you think he should spare us some attention? I really hate the toys you bought,” grumbled Sylvia.
Annina was at a loss for words.
Sylvia sighed languidly. “Annina, I miss home. We have no friends here and I’m not used to their culture. Be honest with me, do you miss home?”
Annina nodded. “I do, but…”
“But what?”
“Our development here is great. Lukas has given us everything. He needs us most right now. With him, we’re able to create miracles. If we leave him and return to Germany, we’ll merely be the same old us years ago. Would you prefer that?”
“Fine, let’s just resume work.” Sylvia’s eagerness to continue the conversation died.
At this moment, a familiar person appeared at the door and showed himself in. Recognizing his face, Sylvia and Annina quickly stood up. Excitedly, they spoke, “Lukas! Aren’t you supposed to be hosting the ceremony now? Why are you here?”
Xia Lei approached the two German ladies, a bright smile on his face. “That was my brother in law. From now on, I’ll be working with you two until the birth of the new material and drone.”
“Wow!” Annina threw herself onto Xia Lei for a tight embrace.
Sylvia inched closer. “Lukas, you mentioned your brother in law earlier. Do you mean that your brother in law is pretending to be you for the ceremony?”
Xia Lei chuckled. “Yeah. From today onwards, the one in overalls is the real me.”
Annina still had her arms around Xia Lei, Sylvia gave her a warning kick from the back. It was then that she snapped out of it and let him go.
“Lukas, I missed you so much.” As soon as Annina stepped away from Xia Lei, Sylvia came and took her place. The woman gave him another emotional hug.
Xia Lei suppressed sheepish feelings to muster a smile. “I was too busy. I’m terribly sorry for not being able to meet you both much… Um.”
Xia Lei could find it in himself to reject Tang Yuyan and even Shentu Tianyin. But there was no way he could say no to the German ladies. However, there was also another reason for that. The two German women had stayed long in his business not because of the outrageous salary he offered but the man himself. If he was unwilling to even spare them some sweetness and cause them heartaches, would they still remain loyal to him?
“Today is a good day for me and I wish to make it the same for you.” Xia Lei declared after Sylvia finally decided to release him after god knows how long.
“A good day for both of us? Lukas, what do you mean?” Sylvia stared at him curiously.
Xia Lei cleared his throat. “I’ve decided to pay your salary in Euros.”
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“You’re paying us in Euros?” Annina gaped in shock, afraid that she had heard him wrong.
“Yes, your salaries will be paid in Euros henceforth,” confirmed Xia Lei.
Sylvia beamed. “Annina, you’re such an idiot. Lukas probably means to convert our current salary into Euros.”
“That’s not it.” Xia Lei corrected her, “I’m going to calculate it using Euros. Your current salary is five hundred thousand RMB. I’m going to double it into one million Euros.”
“Wait…” Annina was stunned. “You mean you’re paying us twelve million Euros per year?”
“Exactly.” Xia Lei offered them a smile. “You were with me when my business was rocky. In the past, I couldn’t pay you much because money was tight. Now that I’m richer, I’m definitely going to raise your salary. A yearly pay of twelve million Euros will allow you to enjoy the rest of your life after two years. When that time comes and your assets have yet to reach more than one billion Euros, I’ll make sure you hit one billion.”
Annina and Sylvia were slacked jawed. Holding a wealth of more than one billion Euros was unthinkable in Europe, especially for working-class members like them.
Xia Lei chuckled. “What is with your faces? I raised your pay and you’re not even going to smile?”
Sylvia abruptly assumed, “Lukas, were you eavesdropping on our conversation earlier?”
“No, why would I do something like that? Am I that awful of a person?” defended Xia Lei but deep down, that was indeed the case. While Liu Zhengnan had taken his place and hosted the ceremony, Xia Lei was already in the garage. However, it was a mere coincidence that he so happened to hear the female engineer talk.
Both of them had missed home and were unacquainted to how life was in China. This was a severe issue for the Thunder Horse Organization. Regardless of Annina or Sylvia, both of them were irreplaceable talents to the enterprise. Annina was a core figure of the infantry vehicle garage. Sylvia, on the other hand, was the best mechanic the world had to offer. Without Sylvia around, all the refinery work would fall upon Xia Lei’s shoulder and the man had no time for that. Hence, he needed a way to make them stay no matter what.
“You must’ve heard our conversation. Lukas, you’re lying to us.” Sylvia was convinced that she had exposed his secret.
“I’m telling the truth. Annina, do you believe me?” Xia Lei turned to look at the comparatively reserved Annina.
Annina shook her head. “I don’t.”
“Lukas, there’s no need to pay us that much. You’re clear that we’re here not because of money. We chose to remain here for you,” said Annina, blue eyes glinting with hurt.
“Yeah.” Sylvia added, “Your wives have such a tight lock over you that you’re deprived of a chance to approach us.”
Xia Lei could only smile wryly. “I really have no way around this. I am just too busy of a person…”
“Those are excuses.” Sylvia narrowed her eyes. “If you’re willing to spend time with us tonight, we’re willing to forgive you and accept your offer.”
To raise someone’s pay to above one million Euros and yet the acceptance of such was dependent on that someone’s mood. As their boss, Xia Lei felt as if he had lacked power in the front of these two German engineers.
“So what is your decision? If you decline it, we’re going home to Germany,” threatened Sylvia.
Xia Lei gulped and braced himself. “Alright, I’ll stay with both of you tonight.”
“No, no, no. Not just tonight.” Annina quickly added on, “We want you tomorrow night and the day after tomorrow. We demand your company for at least two nights per week.”
“Yes, that’s right. If you can’t fulfil that, we’re really packing our bags to go home.” Sylvia harrumphed.
“And we’ll go on a holiday,” Annina helpfully supplied.
Xia Lei didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. Even if he said no to their request, they would not be returning to Germany for real. They were only asking him to spare them some attention. This was also petty revenge towards him for casting them aside for so long.
This revenge was honestly quite sweet and alluring. Most men would definitely be more than eager to be its receiving end.
“Alright, I can do that. I'll work overtime with you for at least two nights per week. Happy?” Xia Lei gave his promise. To make both German cows produce more dairy, he needed to feed them grass. And that goes without saying, Xia Lei was the one holding the grass out.
What were they supposed to do during overtime?
He could think with his toes and still be aware that it would be nothing less than inappropriate ‘work’.
Achieving their goal, the moods of the two women were evidently lighter. To them, they had everything. A tenfold increase in their salary that would allow them to earn more than one million Euros per year and the company of a beloved man. They had satiated both their desire for wealth and lust. It was indeed a good day as Xia Lei had promised.
Xia Lei quickly went to work. Today, he needed to work on the most vital parts.
“Lukas, you’re sweating. Come here, let me wipe it off.” Somewhere along the process, Annina came to him and started cleaning his perspiration.
“Oh, Lukas! Your pants are soiled. Look at you, jeez. Be a little more careful, will you?” Following that, Sylvia came over and dusted away the filth on the front of Xia Lei’s pants.