The Years I Served as the Emperor

The uproar over the “employee sudden death incident” gradually subsided. Yet fear still lingered in everyone’s hearts, for this was not the first time such a tragedy had struck our company. In just this past week, three people had died one after another. Some employees simply resigned and went home, unwilling to risk being the next victim.

My name is Chu Yun, born in a small village in northern Jiangsu. When I reached high school, I discovered that studying was not my calling, so I dropped out early. My parents learned that my cousin was working in the south and decided I should follow her there. At first, the life of a laborer seemed all right, but after some time, numbness set in. Each day consisted of nothing but work, meals, and sleep, leaving no time for entertainment. Counting the days, I realized I had been working at this factory for almost a year.

Let me introduce the company. It is located in the southern region near Shanghai. For the sake of privacy, I’ll refer to it as “True True Stationery.” “Believe me!” Anyone familiar with our company knows that what I’m about to share is absolutely true, though perhaps a bit exaggerated in parts.

To return to the topic—the company primarily manufactures pencils, gel pens, ballpoint pens, and colored pens. My cousin and I both work in the first gel pen production department. My cousin was called home by her family a week ago for a matchmaking appointment, so she asked the supervisor for ten days’ leave, leaving me alone here for the time being.

Just half an hour ago, another worker in our depar