Chapter 911
Public Support: Voices of Support from Lower-Level Employees
The gloom surrounding Galaxy Technology on the internet was suddenly torn open in the following days by a few of the faintest yet most tenacious beams of light.
The first to speak out was Xie Tao, a food delivery rider from Pinhaofan.
His Douyin account only has a few hundred followers. He usually posts pictures of scenery he takes while delivering food, and occasionally a few complaints about the hot weather or the long wait for elevators. His posts never get more than a hundred likes.
But that night, he posted a different video.
In the footage, he was still wearing his blue patchwork work uniform, and his helmet was still on. In the background was his electric scooter with a low battery.
He didn't say anything passionate to the camera; he just lowered his head, as if he was organizing his thoughts or suppressing something.
"My name is Xie Tao, and I'm a food delivery rider for Pinduoduo in Chaoyang District, Beijing."
His voice was a little hoarse, carrying the fatigue of delivering meals all day: "These past two days, I've been scrolling through Douyin (TikTok), and I keep seeing people saying bad things about our company. They say we exploit our riders, that our benefits are fake, and that we create a persona to deceive people."
He looked up, his eyes bloodshot, but his gaze was direct.
“I don’t know who those people are, and I’m not educated enough to argue with them. I just want to talk about myself.”
“I worked for Huangtuan for two years. During those two years, I didn’t get a good night’s sleep. Every day when I opened my eyes, I owed the station manager 200 yuan. The car was rented for 500 yuan a month, the battery was rented for 300 yuan a month, the uniform was bought by myself for 180 yuan, and the insurance was bought by myself, which deducted more than 100 yuan a month. Before I even started taking orders, I already owed more than 1,000 yuan.”
He spoke slowly, as if he were recalling something unpleasant.
"Later I thought, if I run faster and do more deliveries, I can eventually earn it back. But what happened? The platform's algorithm became increasingly ruthless. The delivery time for a single order was reduced from forty minutes to thirty minutes, and from thirty minutes to twenty-five minutes. You simply couldn't deliver without running red lights. If you ran a red light and got caught and fined by the platform, they wouldn't care. If you got into a car accident and ended up in the hospital, they wouldn't care either. In those two years, I was penalized seven or eight times. I was fined two hundred for a bad review, one hundred for being late, and five hundred for delivering early. I worked myself to the bone for six or seven thousand a month, but I only took four or five thousand afterward."
He paused, then suddenly smiled.
There was something strange about that smile; it wasn't self-deprecation or anger, but rather a sense of relief.
"Last year I switched jobs to Pinhaofan."
"On my first day at work, I signed a contract. The HR person told me, 'This is a formal employment contract. Please read it carefully before signing.' I said I didn't understand it. She said it was okay, and she would explain it to me one by one. She explained how the five social insurances and one housing fund were paid, what the commercial insurance covered, how I would receive the base salary of 3,500 yuan, when the high-temperature allowance was paid, when the cooling allowance was paid, how much the meal allowance was, how much the housing allowance was, how the performance bonus was calculated, and how the year-end bonus was calculated. She explained it for almost an hour."
"I immediately thought, 'Could this be a scam?'"
He smiled again, this time with a hint of embarrassment.
"When I got my first paycheck, I held it up to the bank's text message and counted it three times. It was a little over 8,700. I called my wife and said, 'Honey, I can transfer 5,000 to you this month.' My wife was overjoyed on the other end of the phone. Hearing her happy laughter, I almost cried, but I was too embarrassed to actually cry."
The video plays a beeping sound indicating that the electric vehicle's battery is low.
Xie Tao glanced down at it but ignored it.
"Last winter, I was hit by a motorcycle going the wrong way while delivering food. I got a big gash on my leg, and the motorcycle was also damaged. My first thought wasn't about the pain, but that I was done for, and my month's work was wasted. So I called the station manager, and his first words were: 'Where are you? How badly are you hurt? I'm coming right away.'"
"The station manager came and accompanied me to the hospital. The company covered all my medical expenses, and I received my full salary for the three days I was on leave. The station manager said it was a work injury and the company had purchased commercial insurance, so there was nothing to worry about. The company's legal department also handled the compensation for the person who hit me. I didn't spend a penny and ended up receiving more than 20,000 yuan in compensation."
He looked directly into the camera, and something flickered in his eyes, which were covered with fine lines from years of exposure to the wind and sun.
“I’ve seen people saying bad things about our company online these past few days. I don’t know how much they make or what they’re up to. I just want to tell you this: I, Xie Tao, a food delivery driver, work here with peace of mind and dignity.”
"I'm not speaking up for the company, I'm speaking up for myself. Because such a good company, I don't want it to be destroyed by people's criticism."
The video ends.
No one could have imagined that this three-minute video, without any editing or background music, would completely ignite the entire internet in the following hours.
Xie Tao went to sleep after posting the video.
He was exhausted; he had been running around all day and had to get up early tomorrow.
Unbeknownst to him, while he slept, his video was spreading at an alarming rate.
In the first hour, it received over 100,000 likes.
In the second hour, the number of views exceeded five million.
In the third hour, the comment section was completely flooded.
"I cried, I really cried."
"This is the true voice of working-class people. Those who spread rumors, do you dare to let your employees speak out?"
“I used to deliver food too, and everything Xie Tao said was true. I’ve lived through those insecure days. So I know even better that he was telling the truth.”
"Go Xie Tao! Go Pinhaofan!"
But Xie Tao was just the beginning.
The next morning, when Xie Tao was woken up by his phone and saw that his pitiful number of followers had increased from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands, he was completely stunned.
Before he could react, another video went viral and became a trending topic.
Duan Ping from Xinghuo Express also stepped forward.
His video is shorter than Xie Tao's, only two minutes long.
But what he said was equally impossible to ignore.
"My name is Duan Ping, and I am a courier at Xinghuo Express's Xuhui branch in Shanghai."
His voice was a little hoarse, as if he hadn't slept well: "Some people online say that Xinghuo Express exploits its employees, that we are outsourced, and that our benefits are fake. I don't know who said that, but I can tell you, it's all bullshit."
“I’m the courier who was beaten by YTO Express last year. Three people surrounded me and beat me; my electric scooter was overturned, and my face was covered in blood. I thought to myself, ‘That’s it, I’m definitely done for, and I might even have to pay for their medical expenses.’ But what happened? Our station manager, Meng Hai, came, and his first words were: ‘Are you alright? Go to the hospital first, the company will cover all the expenses.’”
"Later, the company's legal counsel helped me with the lawsuit. The other party paid compensation and was detained for fifteen days. During the week I was off work, I was paid my full salary, and the company also gave me a consolation payment."
He looked directly into the camera, his eyes a little red, but he held it in.
“I used to work for Shentong Express. Back then, they called us couriers, but we were really just temporary workers. There were no contracts, no social insurance or housing fund, and no job security. If you got sick or injured, nobody would take care of you. On rainy days, the station would say, ‘Work if you want, leave if you don’t.’”
"At Xinghuo Express, it's different. We have labor contracts, five social insurances and one housing fund, and commercial insurance. There are high-temperature subsidies in the summer and low-temperature subsidies in the winter. There are meal allowances and housing allowances every month. If you do well, you get performance bonuses, and if you work long-term, you get year-end bonuses."
He paused, then said, slowly and deliberately, "Those who spread rumors online, put your hand on your heart and tell me, do you really understand us? Do you know what a stable, secure job means to us?"
"I don't know what you're trying to do, but I know I don't want to go back to those old days." Duan Ping's video has once again ignited public opinion.
The overwhelming skepticism that had been building before began to subtly subside.
In the comments section, more and more people are beginning to reflect: "I don't think I've ever thought about the feelings of these ordinary working people."
"Those who spread rumors, have you ever considered that you are not attacking an abstract company, but millions of people like Xie Tao and Duan Ping who have finally found stable jobs?"
"If what they're saying is false, then why are so many employees coming forward to say it's true?"
The third wave came even more fiercely.
This time, it wasn't just one person who stood up, but a group of people.
The leader was named Zheng Mingjun.
He is an ordinary worker at the white goods smart home appliance factory under Galaxy Technology.
His video was filmed in the factory's employee canteen.
In the background, workers come and go, all wearing the same gray work clothes. Some carry trays of food as they walk by, while others curiously gather around to watch the spectacle.
"My name is Zheng Mingjun, and I have been working at Galaxy Home Appliances for three years."
His Mandarin had a heavy Henan accent, but he spoke every word clearly: "I'm just a screw tightener, I graduated from junior high school, I don't have much education."
“I used to work in an electronics factory in the south, earning 2,800 yuan a month. I worked two shifts of twelve hours a day, lived in a ten-person room, and ate the cheapest food in the canteen. After five years, I didn’t save a penny and ended up with a lot of health problems, like back pain, shoulder pain, and wrist pain. When I went to the hospital for a checkup, the doctor said it was just overuse and that I would be fine after resting. But how can I rest? If I rest, I won’t have any money.”
He smiled, a smile that held both bitterness and relief.
"Later I heard that Galaxy Technology was hiring, so I came to give it a try. I was a little apprehensive at the time. Would such a big company hire someone like me who has no education? After I arrived, I signed a contract, paid social security, and was told that I could earn more than 4,000 yuan a month. I thought it was a scam. But when I got my first month's salary, it was 4,300 yuan, not a penny less. I stood at the factory gate with my pay slip in my hand, stunned for a long time."
Behind him, several coworkers laughed, and one shouted, "Brother Zheng, is that all you've got?"
Zheng Mingjun laughed, but after he finished laughing, his expression became serious.
"That's nothing. What surprised me the most was that the company also offers free training courses."
"What is a free training course? It means you don't pay for it, and it teaches you a skill. At the time, I thought, what kind of skill can I learn when I'm just a screwdriver? But my wife said, 'Go ahead, it's free anyway, you won't lose anything even if you don't learn it,' so I went. I learned home appliance repair. The master craftsman taught me very carefully, starting from the circuit diagram and explaining it step by step. I'm slow and learn slowly, but the master craftsman was patient. After studying for half a year, I took the exam and passed."
His eyes lit up, a light that only those who have found their direction in life possess.
“After that, I won’t just be a screw-tightening worker anymore. I can switch jobs and become a repair technician. Now I’m in the repair team, and I earn more than 6,000 a month, sometimes up to 7,000. My wife said, ‘I never thought you could be a ‘skilled worker’ in your life.’”
In the video, several coworkers gathered around Zheng Mingjun, shouting at the camera all at once, "I learned too! I learned to be an electrician!"
"My wife works in the packaging department, and she studied it too! She studied quality control!"
"Brother Zheng is right. This company not only pays you but also teaches you skills!"
Facing the camera, Zheng Mingjun's voice suddenly choked up, but he tried to hold back and said loudly, "I saw people online criticizing our company, saying things like exploitation and deception. I don't know if you're blind or heartless. But I just want to ask, would a company that exploits its workers pay for them to learn skills? Would a deceptive company pay for our social insurance and housing fund, and give us year-end bonuses?"
He paused, then said slowly and deliberately, "I, Zheng Mingjun, am uneducated and can't spout any grand theories. But I have a conscience; I know who's good to me. Galaxy Technology has been good to me, so I stood up for them. I just want to tell those who spread rumors, don't even think about bullying those who are good to us!"
This video completely ignited the internet.
The comments section is completely out of control.
"I cried, really. These people's words are more effective than any PR statement."
"Those who spread rumors, don't they feel ashamed? Their employees themselves have come forward to refute them."
"This is true corporate culture! It's not just a slogan on the wall, it's a sense of identity etched in the hearts of employees."
"Xie Tao, Duan Ping, Zheng Mingjun... I remember your names. You showed me the power of ordinary people."
But the story doesn't end there.
Over the next two days, more and more people from the Milky Way stepped forward.
Lao Zhou, a fifty-something-year-old agricultural expert with gray hair and dedicated agricultural product operations specialist, excitedly showed the contact information of thousands of farmers on his phone in a video, saying:
"You think our efforts to help farmers are fake? Go look at the apples from Gansu Province, the walnuts from Yunnan Province, and the farmers who earn tens of thousands of yuan more a year because of our platform! I've been in agriculture for thirty years, and I've never seen such an honest company!"
Behind him, a large screen displayed photos of smiling farmers.
Those photos were taken by the PinYiDao team when they went to the countryside.
Do you know how many people our "One Village, One Product" project has helped?
Old Zhou's voice was somewhat excited: "Apples from Jingning, Gansu Province, used to only sell for two yuan a pound, and we had to find our own sales channels. Now, through our platform, they can sell for four and a half yuan a pound, and we buy as many as we can get. Ugly apples from Zhaotong, Yunnan Province, used to rot in the fields and nobody wanted them, but now they've become a popular fruit online, selling for eight yuan a pound. Cured meat from Guizhou Province, sausages from Sichuan Province, rice from Northeast China..."
He couldn't continue, so he took off his glasses and wiped the corner of his eye.
"I'm not speaking for the company, I'm speaking for those farmers. When you criticize the company, you're criticizing the hard work we've done. Do you know how grateful those farmers are to this platform?"
Old Wang, a taciturn forty-year-old truck driver at Xinghuo Express's Kunming station, only said a few words to the camera.
But his few words broke down the defenses of countless people.
"My name is Wang Jianguo, and I'm a truck driver at Xinghuo Express's Chuncheng station. I've been driving trucks for twenty years, first for myself, and now for the company."
He paused, as if organizing his thoughts.
“Before, I ran my own business, which meant I was a sole proprietor. There were no contracts, no job security, and no social insurance or housing fund. If I got sick, I had to bear it all myself. When I got old, I didn’t know what to do. I earned a lot of money throughout the year, but I was always worried. I didn’t know if I would have any goods to pick up tomorrow, or if I would be able to make money next month.”
“Things are different now. The company pays for our social insurance and housing fund, we take our annual leave, and we even get red envelopes during the Spring Festival. The company also buys us commercial insurance, so we feel at ease when we're driving long distances. My wife said, ‘Old Wang, you’ve finally got a stable life.’”
He smiled somewhat shyly at the camera.
"I'm not going to spout any grand theories. I just want to say, those of you who are criticizing our company, if you're so capable, why don't you try working for a company that pays the five social insurances and one housing fund for truck drivers? See if they'd even want you?"
Videos like these suddenly went viral online. (End of Chapter)