Free Web NovelChapter 52: 52: Outrageous suggestions [2]
Just as Benny was about to elaborate on his paid leave proposal, Xu Ming suddenly adjusted his glasses and spoke.
"Boss."
"Hm?"
"Even if we don’t need to remain in the office every day, I believe we should continue researching."
Benny frowned,"Researching what?"
"The future."
The future?
Benny immediately became suspicious.
Xu Ming continued,"What if Titan Manufacturing performs worse than expected?"
Benny’s eyes brightened.
Worse than expected? Now isn’t that just wonderful.
Unfortunately, Xu Ming wasn’t finished.
"If the company encounters serious financial difficulties, we’ll need backup plans."
Benny’s smile immediately froze.
Backup plans? Why would they need backup plans?
Before he could speak, Chen Wei nodded in agreement.
"That’s right."
"We should begin preparing alternatives.
If Titan Manufacturing continues declining, we’ll need ways to reduce losses."
The moment Benny heard those words, he felt a headache coming.
Reduce losses.
Again.
Why was everyone in this company so obsessed with reducing losses?
Across the room, the employees had already entered discussion mode.
One after another, suggestions began appearing.
"We should identify alternative investments."
"We need contingency plans."
"We should establish exit conditions."
"What about emergency cash reserves?"
"Maybe we should create a watchlist of potential replacement investments."
The atmosphere became increasingly serious.
To an outsider, it would have looked like a group of professionals preparing for a major financial crisis.
Meanwhile, Benny’s expression became increasingly grim.
Look at them. The company wasn’t even in trouble yet and they were already discussing how to save it.
Chen Wei leaned forward,"If the company goes bankrupt, we need a plan ready beforehand."
Xu Ming nodded,"I agree with brother Chen. Waiting until the collapse happens would be too late."
Li Na nodded,"Now that the investment is concentrated on a single company, we’ll need to be even more careful."
Meanwhile, Benny silently stared at them.
These people... Were they planning to fight Titan Manufacturing’s bankruptcy?
Hadn’t they seen how hard the company was already trying?
The poor company was doing its best to collapse.
Yet his employees were already preparing rescue operations.
The thought alone made him feel exhausted.
Lucy looked up from her notes.
"Boss?"
"Hm?"
"Do you have any thoughts?"
Benny had plenty of thoughts.
None of them were suitable for public discussion.
What he wanted to say was:
Please stop trying to save the investment.
Instead, he carefully chose his words.
"Do we really need all that?"
The room fell silent and the employees exchanged looks.
Finally, Xu Ming spoke,"Boss."
"Yes?"
"We’ve invested the entire five million yuab into one company."
"Yes."
"If that company collapses... we lose five million yuan."
Benny nearly smiled.
Exactly. That’s what made it such a great investment.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t say that.
So he simply nodded seriously.
"I understand."
The employees immediately relaxed.
As expected, the boss understood.
Perhaps he was simply testing them again.
After all, this wasn’t the first time he had proposed something unusual.
Meanwhile, Benny watched everyone return to their discussion.
His mood became increasingly complicated.
On one side, the employees were worrying about Titan Manufacturing going bankrupt.
On the other side, he was worrying about the employees finding ways to prevent it.
Before Benny could continue worrying about his employees, Lucy suddenly raised her hand.
"Boss."
"Hm?"
"I would like to make a recruitment proposal."
Benny blinked.
Recruitment? Why were they recruiting again? Didn’t they already have enough people trying to stop his losses?
Still, he gestured for her to continue.
"What position?"
Lucy glanced at her notes.
"A cybersecurity specialist."
Benny frowned.
"A what?"
"A cybersecurity specialist."
Seeing his expression, she simplified it.
"A hacker."
The moment the word left her mouth, several employees nodded.
Benny looked around then back at Lucy.
"Why?"
Lucy answered immediately. freewebnσvel.cѳm
"Because we’re an investment company. If our systems are compromised, the consequences could be severe."
Wang Jie nodded in agreement.
"Many firms hire cybersecurity professionals. They protect sensitive company information."
Zhao Lin added, "If someone gains access to our trading accounts, they could potentially interfere with transactions or leak confidential information."
The room collectively nodded.
Meanwhile, Benny’s thoughts had gone somewhere completely different.
Someone gains access to our accounts and steals everything?
His eyes brightened slightly.
That sounded amazing.
If somebody hacked the company and emptied the accounts, wouldn’t that count as a loss?
For a brief moment, Benny was tempted to reject the proposal entirely.
After all, hiring a security expert would make that harder.
Just as he was about to open his mouth—
A familiar mechanical voice echoed inside his head. freewebnσvel.cѳm
[Warning.]
Benny froze.
The employees continued discussing cybersecurity completely unaware.
The system’s voice continued.
[The host’s current company structure significantly differs from normal operational standards.]
[Failure to recruit necessary personnel may generate suspicion among employees.]
[Excessive suspicion may threaten system concealment.]
[If the system’s existence is exposed, the system will dissapear.]
The smile on Benny’s face instantly disappeared.
He can’t have that happen, if the system dissapears, he won’t have a surefire way to be trillionaire.
The office suddenly became much quieter from Benny’s perspective.
After several seconds, he reluctantly asked,"So you’re saying we need one?"
Lucy nodded,"I believe it would be beneficial."
Benny immediately changed his attitude.
"I’ll approve it."
The speed of the answer caught everyone off guard.
Lucy blinked.
"So... we’re hiring?"
"Yes."
The employees exchanged glances, surprise flickering across their faces.
That had been far easier than expected.
Most bosses viewed cybersecurity as an unnecessary expense, a department that consumed money without producing visible results.
As long as nothing went wrong, they assumed there was no need to invest in it.
Yet the boss had approved this one almost instantly.
As expected.
He had probably already considered the issue beforehand.
Meanwhile, Benny was mourning internally.
There went his dream of being robbed.
A new thought suddenly occurred to Benny.
"How much does a cybersecurity specialist cost?"
Lucy froze for a split second.
Oh no...
The approval had come too easily.
Was this the real question?
Many bosses didn’t reject proposals directly instead, they asked about the cost first.
Then, after hearing the number, they would find a perfectly reasonable excuse.
Something like the company being still too small or that they don’t have enough sensitive data yet.
The problem was that Autumn Investment needed one precisely because it was new.
Their systems were still being established.
Their procedures were incomplete. Their security infrastructure was practically nonexistent.
A young company was often the easiest target.
Lucy quickly organized her thoughts.
"That depends on experience," she replied carefully.
Benny nodded.
"Give me an estimate."
After a brief moment of thought, Lucy answered honestly.
"A highly skilled one could easily cost several hundred thousand yuan per year."
The conference room fell silent, several employees subconsciously glanced toward Benny.
To a startup, that was hardly a small expense.
Even Lucy felt slightly nervous after saying the number aloud.
If the boss decided it was too expensive, he could reject the proposal immediately and nobody would be able to argue against it.
She waited for his response, so did everyone else.
Meanwhile Benny simply blinked.
Several hundred thousand?
His mood instantly improved.
Actually... That wasn’t bad at all.
A specialist who did nothing but sit around protecting systems.
And they wanted hundreds of thousands every year.
The more Benny thought about it, the more reasonable it sounded.
A smile slowly returned to Benny’s face.
"Get the best one you can find."
For a moment, Lucy thought she had misheard him and then her eyes lit up.
"Understood!"
Benny leaned back in satisfaction.
Perhaps this cybersecurity thing wasn’t so bad after all.
After all, if the company absolutely needed one...
Then at least the salary could help contribute to the losses.
