Chapter 1853: Strike without Pay

On the 'New Calythorpe', all the crew members gathered in the dining room.

Ma Xiao looked at the people below with a gloomy face - the two groups of people below were clearly divided, one side was filled with the old sailors on the ship, and the other side was filled with the new crew members.

A young man sitting below shouted, "Captain, we're not targeting you, but what does the boss mean? He hasn't shown up in a few days. Doesn't he intend to meet our needs?"

After hearing this, Ma Xiao looked at the young man who had spoken: "Gu Feng, don't you think your request is ridiculous?"

"Ridiculous?" Gu Feng said bluntly after hearing this: "We are top students in marine science! And now, what do we do? We have become coolies on the ship. The old sailors have handed all the work to us. We have done so much work in the Arctic, but we can't get higher wages. How can we accept this? We must be given an explanation for this matter! Otherwise, we cannot accept this. We choose to go on strike!"

"right!"

"strike!"

"We are here to learn skills, not to be laborers!"

"We must be given adequate wages and holidays, otherwise we won't work!"

"Where's the boss! Let him come out and give us an explanation!"

Just as Ma Xiao was about to speak, Hua Chong stood up and said, "Shut the fuck up!"

Everyone was startled by Hua Chong's shout, but Gu Feng laughed when he saw it was Hua Chong: "Hua Chong, you turned out to be a soldier under my father. Who are you yelling at?"

Hua Chong said with a gloomy face, "Gu Feng, you have completely disgraced Captain Gu! Didn't Captain Gu tell you the rules on the ship before you came out?"

"Rules are dead, but people are alive!" Gu Feng was very disdainful after hearing this.

Hua Chong took a deep breath and controlled his emotions. "How dare you yell at me like that? How many of you worked in the Arctic? Weren't they all veterans? You were all hiding in the cabin, pretending to be sick and playing games, thinking we didn't know? You're all pretty good at using your phones! You know how rare it is to get a job on this ship! Every single one of you has snatched this position from a bunch of competitors, and you don't value it at all?"

At this time, a young man wearing glasses nearby spoke up: "Of course we cherish this opportunity, but we didn't come out here to be cheap labor."

There was a long-haired girl sitting next to him. "If it were just cheap labor, it would be fine. The problem is that we don't have the opportunity to study here. Everyone here is a top student, otherwise they wouldn't have the chance to come here. For example, I studied underwater acoustic engineering, but being on this ship is completely useless for my future development. We're wasting our time here. We're sacrificing our future to come here. If we don't receive adequate treatment, it would be irresponsible of our own lives."

A girl nearby also spoke up: "What's wrong with us playing online? We weren't told when we got here that life at sea would be so hard. My hair is split and my skin is dried out. I don't even have enough money to buy skincare products!"

After she finished speaking, several girls nodded together.

Hua Chong frowned after hearing this: "Is that what you all think?"

"certainly!"

"We are all top students, not hard-working sailors!"

Hua Chong pointed to the side and said, "Since you're students majoring in related fields, you should know these two: biologist Hu Guohui and marine geologist Xu Xingde. You've probably read their papers and publications. They're on our ship, and they're crew members first, scientists second! That's the basic rule of survival on this ship! Are you better than them? And what's more, you have the nerve to call yourselves top students? You're going into the boss's room to take selfies? Even though I haven't been to school for many years, I know that 'entering without invitation is a thief!'"

After Hua Chong finished speaking, the young men slammed their hands on the table and stood up, "Who do you say is the thief?"

"We are here to work, not to be insulted by you!"

"Isn't it just that you stayed on the ship a few days longer than us? What's the big deal? Are you still here taking advantage of your seniority?"

"We won't buy your tricks!"

"Apologize to us now! Otherwise we will extend the strike!"

"Yes, that's right! If you don't apologize, we will extend the strike."

Hua Chong patted Ma Xiao's shoulder and said, "Ma Xiao, I can only help you up to this point. You've gotten into quite a big trouble this time."

Ma Xiao smiled bitterly and said, "Can you blame me for this?"

Hua Chong shook his head: "I really can't blame you, but as for the boss...you should make a decision."

Ma Xiao was silent for a moment, then glared at the young men and said, "I'll give you one more chance. Do you want to work honestly or continue fooling around?"

The young men fell silent. Gu Feng glanced at the young man with glasses, who nodded. Gu Feng understood and said directly, "Who are you trying to scare? What era do you think we are in? We have been treated unfairly, so of course we have to resist!"

Ma Xiao was silent for a moment, then said, "Alright then, you're all fired. I'll give you one night. Everyone must leave the ship before 8 a.m. tomorrow. The veteran crew members will work overtime. Tonight, the new crew members are not allowed to enter or leave the engine room, hangar, or other important areas except the rest cabin. Hua Chong, report to the Russian police. They'll be deployed with live ammunition tonight! Also, contact the Consulate General in St. Petersburg and have them send someone to remove these people!"

"yes!"

After hearing Ma Xiao's order, the young people were furious: "Why are you expelling us?"

“We signed a contract!”

"Yes! Do you respect the law?"

Ma Xiao sneered, "Contract? You've overlooked one thing: you've never signed a contract with our company. You signed a contract with the Deep Dive Base Assignment Center! If you have any grievances, go back to China and find the Deep Dive Center! It has nothing to do with us!"

The young people were stunned. "You're coming this afternoon to start the salvage work, and you're kicking us out? You're just destroying the bridge! And you can't do the work without us!"

Hua Chong lit a cigarette and curled his lips, saying, "Don't take yourselves too seriously. There are at least 800,000, if not a million, people who want to work on our ship! What kind of skilled workers can't we find? Why would we bring in a bunch of you?"

Gu Feng pointed at Hua Chong and shouted, "You heartless bastard, if it weren't for my father, you wouldn't know where you are now!"

After hearing this, Hua Chong slammed the table and his cigarette butt dropped in excitement: "If it weren't for your father, would you be here? If it weren't for your father, I would make you get out! Hurry up and leave, we won't serve you here!"

The young men were still arguing, but the man with glasses stood up and waved his hand. "Don't worry, they want to expel us? It's not that easy! Let's go first, they'll beg us to come back!"