Free Meals, Zero Bonus: The Office Revolt Begins

Cecily continued, "My account gained 100 thousand followers in just half an hour, and several big accounts with millions of followers have already reposted my video.

"If you insist on not lowering the price and refuse to apologize to us, I'm afraid… things could spiral beyond the company's control."

Jeremy immediately jumped in to play the good cop.

"Actually, resolving this is pretty simple. We're not unreasonable people, either.

"First, the seafood thermidor has to go back to being free. That's a matter of principle. Second, the administrative department needs to issue an apology in your name to all employees.

"And third, to compensate for the emotional distress this incident has caused everyone, the company should credit 250 dollars to every employee's meal card as compensation.

"If you handle it this way, everyone can walk away with their dignity intact, and we can put this behind us."

At that moment, Susan frantically burst in again, her face deathly pale.

"Ms. Clarke! It's bad! Downstairs… Downstairs in the lobby… A huge group of employees has gathered in the lobby, and they're saying that… if you don't give them an explanation today, they're not going to get back to work!

"And they've… They've even printed out a bunch of banners…"

I took Susan's phone and clicked on the photos she'd taken.

On the polished marble floor of the company's lobby, dozens of employees were either sitting or standing, holding up bold, striking banners that read "Evil company! Give us back our hard-earned money!" and "The heartless director must go!"

My eyes landed on a figure at the front of the crowd. It was Kenan Jeller, the director of the design department.

Last year, when a major mistake occurred on one of the projects he was in charge of, I went against everyone's objections to vouch for him and even voluntarily took half the blame and penalty myself.

I personally went with him to apologize to the client and pulled three consecutive all-nighters to salvage the project.

Afterward, he came to my office holding a cup of coffee, his eyes red.

"Ms. Clarke, from now on, my life is yours… Just say the word, and I, Kenan Jeller, will follow without question!"

But at this very moment, in the photo on Susan's phone, Kenan could be seen holding a sheet of paper high above his head. On it, in bold black letters, were the words "I stand with Cecily! Punish Moira! Give us back our benefits!"

My hands started shaking, and my nails were digging so hard into my palms that they nearly broke the skin.

I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, only icy calm remained.

I looked at Cecily and Jeremy in front of me and asked flatly, "What you want… is for me to answer for this, right?"

…

As time ticked toward 2:00 pm, the company's largest conference hall was packed to capacity.

More than 400 employees company-wide—except for those required to stay on essential duty—were almost all present. This was the largest all-hands meeting in the company's history.

Cecily and Jeremy were surrounded by a crowd of supporters in the center of the front row. People kept going up to them, patting them on the shoulders and giving them thumbs-ups.

"Well done, Cecily! You're the whistleblower our company needed!"

"Jeremy, we owe this all to your behind-the-scenes strategizing!"

"You two are heroes to the rest of us working people!"

Whispers spread through the crowd.

"Just watch. That Clarke lady is definitely done for this time."

"No doubt. With how big things have gotten, the chairman will have to deal with her."

"Maybe we'll even get some compensation out of this!"

"Let's see if she can still strut around the office after this."

At 2:00 pm sharp, I stepped onto the stage, followed by a few department heads whose expressions were unreadable.

The moment I appeared, the entire hall fell silent, and hundreds of pairs of eyes locked onto me instantly.

I walked up to the microphone and got straight down to business.

"I apologize for taking your valuable afternoon work time to announce a major reform regarding our company cafeteria," I started, my voice calm and steady.

"First, regarding the recent public uproar over the cafeteria pricing… I, Moira Clarke, as Administrative Director of the company, would like to apologize to everyone."