Volume 4 Chapter 115
Go or stay
Old man Afaylia had been feeling conflicted during this time.
Properly speaking, he was born in Banta City and even if he was working for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce in the Stantie Duchy now, he had to go back to Banta City eventually to live out the rest of his life.
This idea clearly wasn’t practical when the Lampuri Kingdom had been in chaos, so old man Afaylia had suppressed this idea in the bottom of his heart.
But since her majesty Seveni had been crowned, the Lampuri Kingdom situation was getting better with each day. The news from Banta City became better with each passing day, so old man Afaylia’s dead heart came back to life.
He was born in Banta City and had lived there for close to fifty years, so he felt uncomfortable if he died in a different place.
Now that the situation in Banta City was good, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and the other companies that had left returned to Banta City to reopen their factories and stores. Banta City became prosperous bit by bit just like before and it was likely that it would be as prosperous as before.
There were many jobs in Banta City, so it wasn’t a problem to find the right job if they went back.
Although the income wouldn’t be as good as staying here, that was their home where many of their friends and relatives were.
But whether it was his wife or his son Archie and his wife Leia, they were against his idea.
According to his wife, after their family had lived here for several years, they were already used to living here and they had a good life here.
Moreover, if they lived here, their whole family had jobs with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. Old man Afaylia had over one hundred mu of farmland at the Frestech Farm and just by working for the Frestech Farm, their income was a high three hundred gold coins each year.
If they returned to Banta City, for these two who didn’t have any skills other than farming, even if they could find jobs easily in Banta City, it would only be the most basic job. Their wages wouldn’t be more than ten gold coins a month which wouldn’t compare to now. At most they would earn a hundred gold coins per year.
Other than that, Archie and Leia were skilled workers at the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s factory. Archie through his work had become a second grade technical worker and was considered a highly skilled worker at the bicycle factory. He earned up to twenty three gold coins a month and with his various bonuses and benefits, his income could reach three hundred gold coins a year.
Although Leia couldn’t compare to him, she was a team leader in a household magic machine factory under the Frestech Chamber of Commerce. Her monthly salary was twenty gold coins a year and with her various bonuses and benefits, she earned over two hundred gold coins a year.
If they were to give up this life and return to Banta City, even if they could find good work with their skills and work experience, where they could even get a higher wage, Archie and Leia thought that compared to working for those smaller companies with higher wages, it was better to keep working for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
Compared to the other companies, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s prospects were without a doubt the best.
Moreover, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had a very clear promotion system. As long as you were willing to work hard, as you worked longer for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, your wage would grow with it.
Moreover, there was something about the Frestech Chamber of Commerce the other companies couldn’t compare to, which was their benefits plan.
The most simple one was that once you reached the retirement age at the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, you would receive a retirement pension according to the number of years that you worked!
This retirement pension was something that no one other than the Frestech Chamber of Commerce did.
Then there were the other enviable benefits. For example, there would be useful gifts during the holidays and a certain amount of travel fee paid by the worker union, as well as a set amount of medical reimbursement for workers each year……
If they worked for the same wage, it was without a doubt more beneficial to work for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
There were many Frestech Chamber of Commerce workers who talked in secret, saying that even if other companies gave them twice the wages, they wouldn’t consider changing.
Working at the Frestech Chamber of Commerce was more relaxed than working at the other companies.
So considering their long term plan, Archie and Leia didn’t consider leaving the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and going back to Banta City to find another job.
Old man Afaylia saw that he couldn’t convince them, so he tried persuading them. After the Frestech Chamber of Commerce returned to the Lampuri Kingdom, they would be opening many factories in the Lampuri Kingdom and would be recruiting many workers.
But the facts brutally crushed old man Afaylia’s dreams.
According to reports in the «Lampuri Weekly» and the «Banta Times», the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and the Lampuri Kingdom had signed a contract where the Frestech Chamber of Commerce would be investing in companies in the Lampuri Kingdom.
This wasn’t something that surprised people.
What surprised people was that according to this report, the factories were jointly invested in by the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and the Lampuri Kingdom, but the Lampuri Kingdom would be in the dominant position. The Frestech Chamber of Commerce would only be providing technical support and receive a share of the profits.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce wouldn’t control any part of the factories.
This meant that these factories in name or in reality, they all belonged to the Lampuri Kingdom and weren’t related to the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
If they worked in these factories, they would receive a wage from the company that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce opened with the Lampuri Kingdom, but it wasn’t related to the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
Other than opening these factories, according to their contract, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce wouldn’t invest in any factories that they owned alone. This meant that if they returned to the Lampuri Kingdom, they would still be leaving the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
Because of this news, old man Afaylia’s last hope of convincing his family was gone.
So old man Afaylia was feeling very conflicted.
He wanted to return to Banta City to settle down.
To him, it wasn’t important how much money he earned and he had actually earned quite a bit working for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce during these years.
Just with him and his wife, they had saved up over five hundred gold coins.
And because Archie and Leia had given birth to a boy, spending quite a bit over the past few years, with their high wages and bonuses, they had also saved up at least a thousand gold coins.
With this money, even if they did nothing after returning to Banta City, they could live happily for the rest of their lives.
It had to be known, when they lived on their family’s farms, their incomes weren’t enough to fill their stomachs, but didn’t they still live?
Of course, old man Afaylia knew that if he said this at home, his wife would scold him without any mercy.
That was before! Now was now!
Now they could eat their fill, sleep well, wear good clothes, had good jobs, and had high incomes. Why would they return to Banta City just to be not able to fill their stomachs?
Although they didn’t say it, based on the expressions of his son and his wife, old man Afaylia had nothing to say.
“Everything is good here, but there aren’t any family members!” Old man Afaylia complained in his heart.
Although many people from Banta City had moved with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to the Stantine Duchy, old man Afaylia still had many family members in his hometown and there was only his wife, his son, and his daughter in law that came here with him.
He had made quite a few new friends over the years, but this was different from blood related relatives.
Even if there were the roads and the Magic Cars, so it didn’t take long to return to Banta City, it was different from living together.
Because the busy time of the spring harvest was over and there wasn’t much to do at the farm, old man Afaylia went out for a stroll every day after lunch.
Other than for digestion, he didn’t want to say home and argue with his wife over this matter.
It had to be said, in the years that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce came here, this place was no longer the same desolate place, rather it had been made to look quite clean and beautiful.
With the concept of a beautiful life that Xu Yi proposed, the elves had transformed the land over these years. Now Xu Yi’s territory had roads running all over that made transportation very convenient and he also planned the layout of his territory to not have any mess at all.
Because Xu Yi established a cleaning squad, hiring large amounts of Stantine Duchy residents to clean the areas of his territory, the territory was very clean at all times.
As long as anyone arrived here, they couldn’t help giving a sigh.
This place was simply like the heavens described in legends!
And this was one of the main reasons why his wife, Archie, and Leia were unwilling to leave this place.
The living conditions here were something that they couldn’t find a better version of if they looked all over the Sines Continent, so why would they leave this place?
Even old man Afaylia had to admit to this point, which made it difficult for him to make up his mind to leave this place.
Looking up at the surrounding beautiful environment, old man Afaylia took a deep breath and found that the air here was very charming.
This was also because of the elves, but also because of chairman Xu’s insistence.
In order to keep this environment, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had invested a million gold coins a year and were now investing a hundred thousand gold coins per year.
Other than the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, there wasn’t another company or another noble that would spend such a large amount of money to maintain their territory.
“The Frestech Chamber of Commerce is a good company and chairman Xu is the best chairman and a great lord, but there aren’t any relatives here in the end.” Old man Afaylia shook his head with a bitter smile, “If the relatives in Banta City could move here, that would be great.”
Old man Afaylia had this thought many times, but he knew that this was basically impossible.
So when this thought appeared in his head again, he could only helplessly shake his head and give a sigh.
However, after he was done shaking his head, he found that there was a medium sized passenger Magic Car that was quickly driving over.
After entering the gates of the Frestech Farm, the Magic Car slowly came to a stop.
When old man Afaylia saw the first person who jumped out of the Magic Car, he was stunned.
It can’t be!