"Director, here is my thought: Yi Zhonghai is an eighth-grade machinist, a craftsman who can make a living anywhere, and Shazhu's cooking skills are also exceptional. Even if these two lose their jobs, they won't have to worry about finding work. But if they leave, it would be no small loss for our factory. Yesterday, I asked the Security Office, and they said that whether these two stay or go depends entirely on our factory—specifically, on your opinion. They won't interfere. Yesterday, the head of the Security Office told me to have Yi Zhonghai's and Shazhu's families come up with forty-five hundred to bail them out. Out of that, he's leaving two hundred for me and taking the rest to grease some palms. But I figured, since we want to keep these two men, why not have their families prepare five thousand for the ransom? What do you think, sir?"
"Two men, only five hundred?"
"Director, I wanted to ask for more, but they genuinely have no money left. Yi Zhonghai isn't short on cash, but Shazhu spent all his previous savings supporting the Qin widow. He doesn't have a single cent to his name, so his sister had to scramble everywhere, borrowing a thousand, and the remaining four thousand came entirely from Yi Zhonghai's household."
Chapter 140