Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

Sitting back in his seat, Charlie refocused. Google Search Reading

Without wasting any more words, he began to succinctly tell the remaining six house-elves about his decisions and plans.

After all, time waits for no one, and the originally scheduled Christmas release of Snow Lemon and Scent of Wind Violet Candies was only a few months away.

Although it didn't sound like much, if you broke it down and considered the advance publicity, the process of recruiting new employees, and the subsequent training, those few months were already becoming insufficient.

Therefore, he now had to compress the time as much as possible and complete the preparations quickly, to ensure that he would have more time later to make more secure arrangements.

The meeting went smoothly. During Charlie's speech, everyone couldn't help but sit up straight, even Dulu, who always squinted as if he were about to fall asleep, occasionally flashed a faint light in his eyes. He frowned slightly, looking like he was thinking about something.

Before long, Charlie expanded and revised the words he had said in Fudge's office in more detail and conveyed them all to the six elves below in one breath.

After he finished speaking, he picked up a freshly filled glass of water from his desk, took a sip, then looked around at everyone and asked,

"So? What do you think... let's all talk about it, speak freely."

As soon as he said this, Chaffcha and the others below immediately fell into a discussion. They looked at the people around them, talking all at once, widening their eyes, and gesticulating wildly.

Their expressions were either worried, surprised, or thoughtful, but none of them were as angry and argumentative as Dulu had initially expected at the door.

It took Charlie less than ten minutes to explain his ideas. And their discussion of exchanging opinions with each other alone took more than half an hour, and it didn't seem to be stopping yet.

However, Charlie was not in a hurry and did not interrupt them.

He rested his elbows on the desk, interlaced his fingers, gently leaned against his chin, and quietly watched them with a calm gaze, waiting silently for the final result.

Charlie couldn't have been more satisfied with the reaction of Russell, Chaffcha, and the others. As excellent subordinates, what they had to do was not to raise their own questions immediately after Charlie finished his proposal.

Instead, they should discuss with each other, draw on collective wisdom, remove the useless branches and leaves in the communication, and point directly to the most important and core issues, and then send it to Charlie.

You should know that a qualified and excellent subordinate is a sought-after talent. It's like Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei, and Xun Yu to Cao Cao.

He can often help his superiors deal with most of the useless things, saving fragmented working time, thereby rapidly improving the efficiency of the entire team and enabling it to achieve leapfrog growth.

And such figures, in this factory, Charlie has six of them!

They cooperate with each other, interlock with each other, and every detail can be handled perfectly, without Charlie wasting any extra effort for them.

This is why Charlie can be so leisurely every day. In addition to handling some major documents, he can often go out for more than ten days at a time without any worries.

Thinking of this in his heart, looking at his six confidants and now his capable helpers, he couldn't help but slightly raise the corners of his mouth, revealing a gratified and emotional smile.

It's just a pity that the six people below didn't notice this scene.

Their minds were still completely focused on the fierce discussion between them, without any distraction.

Russell's pen in his hand was moving so fast that it was a blur, while quickly recording in his notebook, he would occasionally say a few words to express his views.

Dulu's eyes opened, and his words were as unhurried as usual, but every sentence could often get to the point. After listening to other people's opinions, he would also lower his eyelids and subconsciously pick up the cane next to him, reaching out to caress the smooth shaft, and after a long time, he would give his evaluation and opinions.

Although Peng Peng's name sounds harmless, his temper is the most explosive of all the house-elves. While speaking, he couldn't help but raise his voice and stand up from his seat. However, as the director of the technology department, his thinking is often the fastest among the six, and he can often say something surprising and open up a new concept to think about certain problems.

Chaffcha is rational and doesn't like to talk much. After experiencing the accident with his own child, he has become even less talkative.

However, in this discussion meeting, he rarely participated in it. Under the established conditions proposed by Charlie, he did not let his subjective influence the current problem because of Dabu's matter...…

As for Kobe and Fu Duo, one has a lively personality but is also calm, and the other is proud but has a sense of propriety. ˜”*°•.˜˜.•°*”˜

In this way, six distinctive and completely different guys, matched together, even in the Ministry of Magic, it may not be possible to find a more compatible combination than them...…

Finally, just as the minute hand of the clock in the office slowly crossed the dial, about to complete a circle. The six people finally completed the final negotiation and gradually quieted down.

And Russell's pen, which had not stopped since the beginning, finally quietly returned to his pocket at this moment, and he deeply exhaled a breath of air.

"So, what are your thoughts?"

Seeing that everything was over, Charlie also raised his elbows from the desk again and asked in a deep voice.

"Mr. Black."

Chaffcha spoke.

He stood up from his seat, took two steps forward, came to the front of the desk, and slowly said,

"First of all, we unanimously agree with your decision to expand the factory and recruit Squibs or Muggles related to the magical world."

"But after agreeing, everyone has some small requests to ensure that the lives and work of the factory employees will not be harmed by the problems caused by this."

After speaking, he turned his head and looked around at the other elves still sitting in their seats, starting with Russell and ending with Peng Peng.

Every elf nodded to express everyone's common thoughts.

“Of course… it should be like this.” Charlie wasn't surprised at all. He nodded and gestured forward, saying "Please," encouraging Chaffcha to continue.

Chaffcha took a deep breath and slowly said,

“First, I want to bring up the issue of salaries… Recently, the factory's business has increased, and more money has been taken from the accounts for research and development, purchasing materials, or adding equipment… And the salaries of new employees are also a significant expense. My suggestion is to reduce the salaries of new employees by about 20% for the first three months, which is roughly forty Galleons a month. After they have worked for three months and their skills gradually improve, their待遇 (tàiyù - treatment, pay, benefits) will be raised to the same level as the old employees.”

Charlie rubbed his ring, listening attentively to Chaffcha's words, and finally nodded.

“Okay… continue.”

“Secondly, Grandpa Dulu believes that before new employees enter the factory, they must be educated on the most basic rules and regulations of the factory, as well as the racial habits of the house-elves. This is to prevent misunderstandings that could lead to accidents.”

After speaking, Chaffcha looked up at Charlie. Seeing Charlie nod slightly without saying anything more, he understood his meaning and continued to speak in one breath.

“Kobe's idea is to temporarily restrict new employees' access to the factory's living areas…”

“Pengpeng believes that a period of training is necessary. After they are all familiar with everything, they can officially take up their positions and use the machines in the factory. In addition, the construction of new factory buildings and the preparation of machines will be a significant expense and take time…”

“Fudo believes that the employees newly recruited into the factory can be separated and not just be put on the production line. Departments like the sales department also need some Muggles with relevant experience to provide new ideas.”

“As for Russell… uh, Russell said it's all good, and he has no objections.”

After saying everything he needed to say in one breath, Chaffcha closed his mouth and waited for Mr. Black's final decision.

In his mind, Charlie's thoughts raced, considering each proposal one by one.

Clearly, he had to admit that each of their suggestions was very much to his liking, and some even contained content that he hadn't even considered.

Naturally, Charlie had no reason to refuse any of them.

The smile on his lips became even more pronounced as he nodded.

“Okay, let's do it that way.”

Upon hearing Charlie's answer, not only did Chaffcha, who was standing directly in front of him, breathe a sigh of relief, but behind Chaffcha, both Fudo and Pengpeng looked subtly relieved.

They smiled in tacit agreement, and the atmosphere between the one human and six house-elves instantly became harmonious.

“Alright, if that's the case, then the next step is specific implementation.”

Charlie suddenly turned his head, shifting his attention from Chaffcha to Russell.

“Russell, you write a recruitment advertisement based on what we've discussed. After you finish writing it, go to the finance department and get some money from Chaffcha to run an errand. Send the recruitment advertisement to the newspaper…”

Upon hearing Charlie's instructions, Russell was first stunned. After hesitating for a moment, he still nodded and replied.

“Okay, I understand, Mr. Charlie!”

“You see, this isn't so bad… everything isn't as difficult as we imagined.”

Just as all the matters were discussed and settled, and the atmosphere gradually relaxed, Dulu's aged face rarely showed a gratified smile.

He first looked at Charlie and then at the younger generation beside him, saying softly.

“Now that we have decided to break away from our past identity from the beginning, we should make unremitting efforts to do so. We shouldn't always linger in our comfort zone… We don't want to be isolated from the world; what we need is to be recognized, to become a race that is subservient to humans but has its own independence. What we want is respect… To achieve this goal, we will eventually have to try to contact humans again.

And this time, isn't Charlie specifically providing us with such an opportunity? But… even if Charlie does so much for us, if we ourselves don't want to move forward, then no matter how much we say, it will be useless.”

Dulu spoke slowly, his slightly hoarse voice clearly uttering each word.

“Actually, after that battle against Voldemort, I could feel my life ebbing away faster and faster.

I'm old, over one hundred and ninety years old, and I've seen almost the entire world… For me, the remaining life is just a string of numbers that I don't know when will stop. I have no other concerns.

The only thing that supports me and fuels my desire to continue living is this… I want to see the house-elves break free from slavery and become a truly magical race.”

The expressions of every house-elf present became serious. They restrained their smiles and listened to Dulu's teachings without a word.

“I don't know if I can see this scene before I leave the world, but because of Charlie, I have always believed and never doubted that this will come true… ”

Dulu didn't preach too much. After saying these things, he paused, seemingly remembering something, and the original smile on his face deepened.

“Fortunately, we still have Little Dabu… He is a remarkable child, and everything he has done makes me feel gratified. Even if I leave, he will help me see this scene.”

“……”

For a moment, the office was shrouded in a different kind of sorrow. Because of Dulu's words, Charlie's heart became heavy once again.

Charlie gently exhaled and slowly stood up from his seat, walking out from behind his desk and squatting down in front of Dulu.

He gently placed his hands on the other's thin shoulders, his eyes faintly shining.

“Don't worry, Dulu. Live well. Believe me, that day is not far away. In just a few years, the scene you are looking forward to will come… When that time comes, it won't be too late for you to close your eyes, right?”

“Hahahaha…” Dulu laughed, seemingly thinking that the other party was just comforting him… However, when he saw the look in Charlie's eyes, which had never changed compared to before, he was still stunned.

“Yes… I look forward to this day, and I believe in you, Charlie.”