Chapter 81: Work Life Balance

Even though there were readers complaining that I was dragging the story out and demanding that I hurry up and develop the antimatter production technology as quickly as possible, I ignored them. They were being unrealistic as hell. No, seriously. What the hell did they think antimatter technology was? It was a complex conception of particle physics and incredibly difficult to produce. Did they really think I could magically come up with a solution at a snap of a finger?

Unfortunately, the readers didn't care about the difficulties of antimatter technology. Most of them wanted their Mary Sue CEO male lead who was capable of doing anything. They were already disgruntled that I wasn't an overbearing and handsome type and that I was too "nice." And they wanted me to focus on the romance instead of my company.

Who were they to decide my life for me? I had big dreams and ambitions. I didn't have time to waste on useless romance. Besides, it wasn't as if any girl liked me. Lily Ling was probably the one exception, but I had a feeling that her affection for me was more of that between best friends than actual romance. Honestly, sometimes it felt as if she was simply using me and not that she was actually in love with me. I was merely a convenient plot device for her to get out of arranged marriages or trouble. Not that I blame her. There was absolutely nothing good about me, so she had no reason to fall in love with me. I was neither overbearing nor handsome. I wasn't toxic and abusive, nor were we fated to be together through some ridiculous one-night stand where we were drugged and I ended up raping her, and being separated for several years while she raised our child by herself overseas or some cliché drama bullshit like that.

Worse, I started out poor, which was a big no for any female reader. They wanted their rich billionaire playboys (who paradoxically only devoted themselves to the female lead) and threw a tantrum when they didn't get him.

Well, I had no time or energy to deal with their selfishness. I had to focus on expanding my business and making faster than light technology a reality.

Honestly, instead of a typical overbearing CEO romance story, this was more of my rags to riches story where I overcame all odds to expand my company into an interstellar empire. Okay, maybe I was getting too ahead of myself, but it wasn't my fault when readers came into this story expecting something else and then raging when they didn't get it. Okay, the title was clickbait. I understand. But come on, it should already tell you that your expectations were going to be subverted. So stop whining.

A couple of weeks passed and I oversaw more production of improved antimatter containers, having enhanced the containment fields through the use of magnetic fields and other sophisticated technology. Just like how the energy shield generators could only be installed on something as large as a war walker, the containers ended up being extremely large. Not that I was going to complain about that. I planned to eventually store 500 kilograms of antimatter…or more, depending on the amount of power we needed to power an Alcubierre drive. 500 kilograms was the minimum amount required to power it, but what if we wanted to travel larger distances? What about the return journey? We couldn't possibly have just enough antimatter for a one way trip, right? There were still many things to consider when developing antimatter as fuel.

"There's also the matter of interstellar communication," one of the astrophysicists told me. "As you know, electromagnetic waves, radio waves and lasers all travel at the speed of light. They can't go faster than that. So how do you communicate over vast distances between star systems? Each message will take years to reach the recipient, and then another few years for the return message to make it back. It's going to be difficult."

"Well, we'll think about it when we get there," I replied wearily. He had a point, but we were thinking about problems that hadn't existed yet. "There's no point thinking about interstellar communication when we haven't even gotten to other star systems yet."

"True. I guess we can use the ships to send messages for the time being. Sort of like the old days, where handwritten letters were mailed by sea."

"How about the exploration of exoplanet environments?" An astrobiologist asked. "We have no idea how alien ecosystems would look like…if they would be extremely hostile to us. If we can survive in the temperatures, the atmospheric compositions and terrain…"

"Don't worry about that. That's what the war walkers are for. I'm designing several customized war walkers to serve as hostile environment suits. They should protect the wearers from whatever the environment throws at them…though, at this point, it's all speculation, really. We can't really tell or do anything until we actually visit the exoplanets and see what kind of environment they have. We won't be able to stress test the customized war walkers until we actually reach those exoplanets. Like the interstellar communications, we are thing about problems that haven't existed yet. Let's focus on the antimatter production first, then the Alcubierre drive."

"Understood."

After working, we went home. Despite my ambitions, I didn't have a sense of urgency. So I ensured that none of my staff worked overtime if possible. I wasn't going to deprive them of their free time and family time after work, so I ordered them to return home.

"You're not going to solve the antimatter problem by working overtime," I told them sternly. "What's a few hours or even a few days of living inside the office going to achieve, other than alienating you from your family? Besides, overworking is counterproductive. I need you guys fully rested and relaxed when working on the problem. The stress will only make your minds bogged up. You won't be able to think straight if you're tired. And families are more important. Don't neglect your children, spouses and parents."

"But…" one of the engineers protested, but I silenced him.

"No buts. It's not as if you're getting paid for overtime, and I will not be known as an employer who exploited his employees. Also, I want to implement a healthy work schedule and maintain an ideal work-life balance. Why are you guys so impatient, anyway? You all knew when you signed up that this project will take years, if not decades. We're not going to solve the issues by overworking or doing overtime for a few weeks nonstop. I'm more worried about you guys dropping dead from overwork – lots of cases of that happened in Country J. I need you alive if you are to contribute anything. And this isn't a life-and-death matter. Nobody is going to die if we don't solve the problem of faster than light travel or antimatter a few years later or whatever. Rather, it's more dangerous to have exhausted, overworked people handling antimatter. I don't want a slight moment of weariness to lead to an antimatter explosion that might destroy the world."

Perhaps I might sound like I was exaggerating, but I wasn't.

"Yes, boss."

The scientists didn't seem convinced, but at least they obeyed. For now. I couldn't help but sigh in exasperation. For really smart, intelligent and highly educated people, they didn't know how to take care of their health. While I understood their drive and motivation – and was even impressed by their determination to achieve the project goals – I refused to allow them to sacrifice their lives and families for this. Having a healthy staff was more important than making profits or inventing revolutionary technologies. I hated toxic work environments where all the staff were out to compete against each other, backstabbing each other for promotion or whatever nonsense. That was why I didn't establish any hierarchy. There was no head researcher, no ranks, nothing. Everyone was to work together, discuss, and cooperate regardless of age, experience or education level (which included the universities they graduated from).

I was having none of those office politics nonsense in my company. My only goal was to make interstellar travel a practical reality. All those toxic competition, betrayals, ambition for promotions and greed were only going to hamper my efforts.

Honestly, I didn't want to be treated as a boss. I told them to treat me as they would anyone else. I was their paymaster, for sure, and I sternly stipulated the working hours, but other than that I would not use my rank for anything. Hell, I didn't want to have a rank. I just wanted to work on developing antimatter fuel and Alcubierre drives. That was all.

"So go home. I want to go home too. And I can't leave until all of you have left."

Again, I didn't want to pull rank on them, but I had no choice. If I didn't push my authority, none of these intelligent and highly educated individuals would obey. Fortunately, realizing that I held their pay in my hands, they acceded and left the office, waving goodbye.

We had quite the casual and informal atmosphere in the laboratory. As I said before, I did away with the hierarchy and ranks. I was the boss, but that was about it. Aside from this particular instance, I never made use of my rank to do anything. I would help the technicians in designing and building the antimatter containers. I would, as they say, get my hands dirty. I had been used to doing that ever since I founded my own company. And I planned to build more stuff so there was no reason for me to stop.

"Phew. They are finally gone."

Now that everyone had departed, I switched off all the lights and locked everything before I ran off. Getting into my trusty Toyota, I drove home. I needed some mango juice and to read a book.

Tonight, I wasn't going to tinker in my garage. I had enough of building stuff in the labs today. I just wanted to relax on a couch and read. There were a few Warhammer 40,000 novels that I had just purchased from Black Library, and I was just itching to read them.

After dinner, I had barely gotten started on reading when the doorbell rang. Reluctantly dragging myself away from my eBook, I put my Kindle down and proceeded to the door. To my lack of surprise, Lily Ling had come for a visit.

"What's up?" I asked her. She scowled.

"Can't I visit? I'm supposed to be your girlfriend."

"Supposed to be," I echoed. "But the both of us know we are simply faking the relationship for your benefit. To keep your family and other pursuers at bay."

"Yeah, true. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy spending time to accompany you." Lily walked past me and into the hall. She grinned. "I'm going to watch a movie, if you don't mind."

"Sure, help yourself. I'll read."

That was how we spent our time sometimes, lounging on the couch. Lily would watch television while I spent my time reading. We hardly interacted during this moments, but at least we were in each other's company. It felt soothing and relaxing somehow.

Inwardly, I hoped this was how my employees usually spent their nights. This was why I ordered no overtime. I didn't care how desperate they were – even the most dedicated staff would fall apart if they overworked. Everyone needed some time to unwind and relaxed.

I might be a terrible boss who had no idea how to run a company, but at least no one would ever be able to accuse me of overworking my employees. And that was the only thing I could be proud of.