How about you call me Master too?

As December arrived, Lin Yuan comfortably continued his daily routine as a 'behind-the-scenes big shot'.

OCR continued to tempt him with so-called 'private jobs', which he accepted without question, then turned around and had Gu Xuan do them through Dean Li. He was very curious why Gu Xuan was so willing to work tirelessly. And even more curious was: how did Dean Li make Gu Xuan so willingly work tirelessly?

Lin Yuan even specifically asked Dean Li about this. Dean Li replied mysteriously, "This is the art of managing subordinates; I'll teach you when there's an opportunity."

Lin Yuan didn't understand at first, so he took Dean Li's words to his own mentor.

"Oh, Li Youcai is actually willing to talk about this with you."

"Teacher, what exactly does that mean?"

"I'll put it another way, and you'll understand. His words mean 'dangling a carrot in front of a donkey'."

"Ah? Isn't that just drawing a big pie?"

"Indeed, this is a required course for leaders."

"Then what kind of big pie did he draw for Gu Xuan?"

"How would I know?" his mentor said with an indifferent expression. Ever since Professor Zhang had fixed Gu Xuan's character setting, he had only fulfilled his superficial mentoring duties towards Gu Xuan.

Lin Yuan quickly put aside his curiosity, unwilling to waste emotion on such matters.

—

On the other side, Good Group had already rolled out its algorithm across the entire Zijin City, gradually beginning to turn around public opinion.

For a period at the beginning, there was an endless stream of praise online, with more and more self-media joining in to commend Good Group. Many bloggers even started live streaming food deliveries. It looked as if the CEO of Good Group had suddenly repented and changed his ways.

Lin Yuan initially thought that the next step would be the full nationwide rollout of the algorithm. He was still curious: at such a critical moment for a nationwide rollout, if Good Group still hadn't successfully replicated the algorithm, how many tens of thousands of monthly salary should he ask for?

But reality did not unfold as he expected—Good Group actually had no intention of fully rolling out the algorithm.

Lin Yuan even specifically went to Group Vice President Liu Zhang to confirm several times. He said he was also puzzled and even explicitly stated that he had no right to question this decision.

Just as Lin Yuan was pondering, public opinion about Good Group began to reverse again.

Before the spittle of praise for Good Group had even dried, multiple customer complaint incidents were successively exposed in Zijin City.

Not only were overdue orders common, but without the role of the station manager, the delivery delivery riderss who temporarily covered dispatching duties were incompetent, leading to some areas having too many orders and not enough staff, while other areas had delivery riderss who couldn't get orders.

There were even two incidents where delivery delivery riderss and customers got into fights due to overdue orders.

Suddenly, the internet once again showed people how quickly things could reverse.

And their biggest competitor, You Hungry Me??, which had previously worried that Good Group had truly developed some amazing algorithm, seized the opportunity in Zijin City to launch a "delivery riders & Customer Dual Care Activity." They liberally distributed coupons and temporary subsidies to delivery riderss, clearly aiming to heavily step on Good Group.

Seeing this situation, Lin Yuan immediately couldn't sit still.

Although he didn't care about Good Group's survival, he was very concerned about the effectiveness of the algorithm produced by the system, because this involved the system's performance. He didn't want the system he possessed to be a fake one.

Could it be that after the algorithm ran for a long time, a hidden bug, after multiple amplifications, had a massive outbreak?

Lin Yuan not only inquired about the situation from his direct superior, Liu Zhang, but also actively submitted multiple applications to Good Group's headquarters to review data and recheck for bugs.

But the final replies were always: obey company arrangements and do your job well.

The most ridiculous thing was that Lin Yuan still received an A+ for his first quarterly performance review at Good Group.

Despite the algorithm exploding and causing such a huge mess, Lin Yuan still received a perfect A+ performance review.

'Am I still in the Dragon Country's internet industry, known for its intense internal competition?'

Lin Yuan instinctively felt there was a big problem here, but he racked his brains and couldn't figure out why.

For this, he even specially packaged the problem, hiding key information, and sought advice from Dean Li. He hoped to learn from this old fox.

After listening to Lin Yuan's description, Dean Li still picked up his strong goji berry tea.

Compared to his eagerness when Lin Yuan was talking to OCR before, he was very calm now. It was as if he had entered his professional domain.

"Listening to you, it really is very strange."

After taking a few sips of tea, Dean Li slowly put down the teacup. "I previously sent a letter to Good Group regarding the issue of the 100,000 yuan scholarship violation. I openly and severely reprimanded you. And now the algorithm you are responsible for has problems. With these two things combined, you still received the best evaluation.

You... have you encountered any opposite-sex individuals at work?"

"What? What do you mean?" Lin Yuan didn't expect him to ask such a question.

"For example: a leader's daughter, or the leader herself."

"Uh..." Lin Yuan almost rolled his eyes on the spot. "Dean, there's absolutely no possibility of that. I guarantee it. That possibility can be completely ruled out."

"Really? Alright then." Dean Li looked like a wise old man again. "No good deed goes unpunished, unless it's for ulterior motives. Since it's not for ulterior motives, then it's for theft."

"Theft?" Lin Yuan mused, "What do I have that they would want to steal? I've already given them the algorithm." He also muttered to himself, 'The technical details of the algorithm haven't been handed over, but the current situation clearly can't be about getting algorithm details from me.'

"Ah~~, haven't you heard, a gentleman is not a tool."

"Dean, stop being so mysterious with me."

"Why don't you go ask your good mentor?"

"How can I bother him with such matters?" Lin Yuan had instinctively realized long ago that his mentor wouldn't be interested in this kind of thing. According to his mentor's temper, it would definitely be—think what? What's there to think about? If they give you a good review, just take it. At worst, change companies and keep working.

"You've finally realized that old ghost Zhang isn't omnipotent, haven't you? How about calling me 'Master' too?"

"Ah~~, huh?"

"If it's something to be discussed behind closed doors, how can I casually tell it to outsiders?"

Only then did Lin Yuan realize that this old man was trying to benefit from him through this opportunity.

Calling him Master didn't seem impossible, and he wouldn't lose anything. It was just his mentor... he was afraid of giving his mentor the impression of being an opportunist.

But Dean Li had clearly guessed Lin Yuan's concerns. "Don't worry, about you calling me Master. Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know, I know. I won't be so foolish as to go show off to old ghost Zhang; it wouldn't benefit either of us."

Lin Yuan thought about it, and he was right.

Moreover, ever since he participated in the OCR fishing incident with this old man, this old man had treated him completely differently. He even agreed without hesitation to trick Gu Xuan into being a laborer.

Thinking about it this way, he had already received favors from him a long time ago.

What's more, since the other party had said so much, if he didn't play along, wouldn't he be asking for trouble? He might even offend this old man.

And then, thinking about this old man possibly becoming the official Dean or Vice Principal in the future. Oh my, when Lin Yuan thought of this, he had fewer reservations.

So, "Ma... Ma... Master."

"Aye~~, good disciple. Alright, alright, quickly sit down."

"Don't worry, your Master won't make things difficult for you. Once we're outside this door, you and I don't need to address each other as Master and disciple."

Lin Yuan had a strange feeling, why was the drama between Sun Wukong and Patriarch Bodhi being played out with this old man? It was simply inexplicable. Could it be that this old man was desperate to make progress and went crazy, so he wanted to take him as a disciple, just to make him fish for OCR properly?

Dean Li's voice interrupted Lin Yuan's thoughts. "Your Master, although I don't understand the specific situation at Good Group. However, the way of dealing with the world is interconnected. Just like the Tai Chi Bagua, all things in the world cannot escape the cycle of yin and yang..."

Lin Yuan never expected to encounter something related to Tai Chi Bagua again here.

"Yin and yang are born and accompany each other, and yin can turn into yang, and yang can also turn into yin. I'm not as good as old ghost Zhang in technology, but he's not as good as me in understanding worldly affairs. I just told you, 'No good deed goes unpunished, unless it's for ulterior motives.'

Since no one is after your looks, then this is a typical case of the collective will of the company's high-level management at play. Their attention has most likely already shifted away from you; the object they want to 'seduce' and 'steal' is not you. What appears to be 'no good deed goes unpunished' towards you is actually needing to use you to 'seduce' and 'steal' from others."

Lin Yuan was instantly enlightened, as if enlightened by a divine revelation. Was he being used as a tool by Good Group? But then he became even more confused, "Who does Good Group want to use me to target?"

"I can't tell fortunes. I'm just giving you a thought, as the saying goes, 'the drunkard's intention is not in the wine'."