Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 251

After finishing speaking, he put down the phone and said to Cui Xiangjin, "Director Li will come over right now. You should talk to her about what you need to say."

Cui Xiangjin sensed something was wrong, but he still stubbornly retorted, "You don't even come to work, and you still have the nerve to complain?"

He Yuzhu chuckled twice: "It's no use telling me this. Let's see what Director Li has to say and see if my salary will be paid."

"you..."

Cui Xiangjin didn't know what to say. Although he kept saying that he would stick to his principles, he knew in his heart that some things could not be calculated according to common sense.

He Yuzhu sat at his desk, brewed himself a cup of tea, and hummed a little tune, looking quite content.

Cui Xiangjin, on the contrary, seemed rather restless, like a prisoner awaiting trial.

After finishing a cup of tea, He Yuzhu heard a noise outside. He went out to see what was happening and sure enough, Li Hongying was riding her bicycle over.

"Sister, you have to take charge of things for me."

He Yuzhu went up to her and complained.

Li Hongying quickly comforted her, "Alright, alright, I'll stand up for you. How can you not pay wages?"

Cui Xiangjin, who was following behind, secretly groaned and couldn't help but say, "Director Li, He Yuzhu hasn't come to work for 20 days."

"Will this interfere with your braised meat making?"

Li Hongying's question left Cui Xiangjin speechless.

He Yuzhu invited her into his office, made her some tea, and mentioned that he had only received less than 15 yuan in wages.

"What? This is outrageous! How could they do this?"

Cui Xiangjin quickly explained, "Director Li, but he hasn't come to work at all in the past 20 days?"

Director Li asked, "So, you prepared the braised meat recipe for those 20 days?"

"this..."

Director Li said, "Comrade He Yuzhu's role is to control this unique recipe to ensure that the braised meat tastes the same as before."

"He is a senior technician and is not subject to normal working hours, as long as the braised meat is fine."

Cui Xiangjin's face immediately fell. He had just thought that Director Li would show some leniency and wouldn't support He Yuzhu's daily absences.

Unexpectedly, after Director Li arrived, he said such a thing. Does that mean He Yuzhu can still not come to work in the future?

This salary is twice what I earn, and I don't even need to show my face. Why should I pay that?

Director Li said, "Let me convey to you the latest policy. Previously, many things were handled in a vague manner, which led to many problems in the actual pilot work."

"Especially regarding the management authority between the investors and the public managers, there is no consensus on who has more power and what rights they have."

Li Hongying's words resonated deeply with He Yuzhu. After Cui Xiangjin became the general manager, he practiced nepotism, dismissed several people, and truly treated the braised meat shop as his own.

Li Hongying continued, "Therefore, we need to change our previous policy and readjust the division of labor. From now on, Comrade He Yuzhu will have the same rights as the general manager. Some things need to be discussed."

“How can this be allowed?” Cui Xiangjin objected immediately.

“Why not? Comrade He Yuzhu has been in the braised meat business for several years. He has grown from a small shop to the largest braised meat shop in Beijing, occupying most of the market share. Now tell me, what’s wrong with it?”

That's not what I meant. I meant...

"Alright, stop talking. I'm officially informing you now that I agreed to He Yuzhu's previous absence from work; it was one of the conditions for his willingness to participate in the public-private partnership. He Yuzhu will serve as a technician; as long as he ensures the normal production of braised meat, his presence at work is not required."

Cui Xiangjin then realized that Li Hongying had actually agreed to such an outrageous condition. He had thought that He Yuzhu was just lazy and that she could take advantage of his absence from work to manipulate him and embarrass him.

I never expected that it was Director Li Hongying who had promised. If I had known, I wouldn't have used that excuse.

Knowing that it wasn't easy for them to get this position, they realized that although there were many public managers, most of them were from small shops and stores, nothing like the large-scale and numerous braised meat shops.

Daily sales reach thousands of yuan. In fact, it's more like a food processing plant, just without that sign.

If I don't have a good attitude right now, He Yuzhu might say a few more things, and I might have to move to someone else's seat.

"Director Li, I failed to grasp the essence of the policy and did not do my job properly, which led to a conflict with Mr. He. I apologize for this."

He Yuzhu countered, "Why do I see several unfamiliar faces? Where are the original workers? Did they make some mistake?"

"What? You fired them? Who told you to hire people without permission?" Li Hongying said angrily.

Seeing Cui Xiangjin remain silent, he shouted, "Public-private partnership is a policy from above. We must accept all the existing workers and not easily dismiss them. Otherwise, it will set a very bad precedent, making others hesitant and worried that they will lose their jobs after the public-private partnership, thus creating resistance to the implementation of this policy."

He Yuzhu quickly handed her a glass of water. After Li Hongying drank it, she said, "Limin Braised Meat Shop is a pilot project designated by the higher authorities. A working group will be coming to inspect it soon. You actually violated the policy and dismissed the workers without authorization."

Enraged, Li Hongying slammed her hand on the table and demanded, "How many people did you fire?"

"Five...five."

"Reinstate them all tomorrow. The local authorities need to investigate whether you can continue as the general manager. You've only been here a month, and you've already caused so many problems."

"No, Director Li, I know I was wrong. You can't do this, or my whole family will starve."

"You know you were wrong now? Why didn't you do this earlier?" Li Hongying was very angry.

The original intention was to make Limin Braised Meat Shop a benchmark for the street's public-private partnership work. When Cui Xiangjin reported a few days ago, he said that he and He Yuzhu were cooperating very well and the work was progressing smoothly.

In reality, Cui Xiangjin deceived his superiors and subordinates, dismissed the original workers without authorization, and did not report the matter after it had passed.

There's also the issue of withholding He Yuzhu's salary; He Yuzhu wouldn't have called me if I hadn't pushed him to the limit.

"I...I misunderstood the policy before, but I now deeply realize my mistake and know that I did the wrong job. I promise that after get off work, I will go and invite all those workers back."

Li Hongying asked, "What about the salary?"

"Of course, it will be distributed according to the standards for a first-class cook, and Mr. He will not be shortchanged by a single penny."

Li Hongying's expression softened considerably. After a moment of contemplation, she said, "It seems that treating He Yuzhu as a technician was somewhat unfair. He should be treated as an equal to the company manager so that the work can proceed normally."

“But then…” Cui Xiangjin hadn’t finished speaking.

Li Hongying said, "There's no 'but' about it. As an investor, He Yuzhu shouldn't be positioned lower than you."

"..." Cui Xiangjin didn't know what to say.

Whether he can continue to serve as the general manager is still unknown. He should have just honestly paid He Yuzhu his salary.

After all, this is public money, so giving him more money won't reduce my own income by a single penny.

Li Hongying said, "From now on, He Yuzhu will be the private manager. You two will need to discuss anything. Of course, he also has the right to supervise and manage the entire braised meat shop."

Chapter 187 You want to involve the government as well?

Li Hongying then scolded Cui Xiangjin, telling him to make sure he didn't cause any more trouble. Cui Xiangjin had no room to argue and nodded in agreement.

After finishing, He Yuzhu escorted Li Hongying to the outside of the courtyard.

She asked, "Should we send you a new manager?"

"If we replace him with someone else, we'll still need time to get to know each other. I think it's okay to keep Cui Xiangjin as the general manager, so he won't cause any trouble."

Li Hongying sighed and said, "We really have no choice. Right now, we are short-staffed. There aren't enough cadres in the street to serve as public managers. We can only choose the best from the worst. Although they are all unreliable, there really isn't anyone else who can take the job."

“I understand. After all, there aren’t many literate people these days, so we also have to consider whether they have the necessary skills.”

Yes, I'm glad you understand.

After giving some instructions, Li Hongying saw that He Yuzhu didn't take the matter to heart, so she waved goodbye and rode her bicycle back home.

He Yuzhu turned and entered the courtyard. Cui Xiangjin warmly greeted him and led him to the office, poured him tea, and spent a long time saying nice things to him.

Then he said, "Manager He, I was confused before. Please forgive me."

"Let's put this on the books first, but you can't do anything reckless later."

"Yes, yes, I know I was wrong. I've already spoken to the accountant, and your salary will be paid in full."

He Yuzhu wasn't the kind of person who wouldn't let things go even if he was in the right. Making Cui Xiangjin suffer this time would keep him in line for a while.

After all, if a new person is brought in, it will require rebuilding authority, so it's better to continue using Cui Xiangjin as the general manager.

The two exchanged a few words, and He Yuzhu also said that he would come over every few days so that they could exchange opinions on work.

Cui Xiangjin secretly groaned. This was even worse than before. He Yuzhu only came to stay for a few days when the business first opened, but then he didn't show up at all for the next 20 days.

This time, instead of embarrassing He Yuzhu, he ended up pleasing neither side.

He was even reprimanded by Director Li, which made him lose face. From now on, he would have to consult with He Yuzhu on important matters.

But given the current situation, what could Cui Xiangjin say? He could only agree.

He Yuzhu hadn't expected that Li Hongying's visit would not only resolve his salary issue but also change some policies.

Previously, I had decided that I would only be a technician at the braised meat shop, responsible for technical work, and would not participate in daily management.

I have now elevated my status to that of a private sector manager, on par with public sector managers.

They also have some rights to participate in management.

After chatting for a while and confirming that Cui Xiangjin would have the workers return to work tomorrow, they went to the accounting office.

Just then, someone was collecting their salary, so He Yuzhu waited for a while.

"Cui Dake, this is your salary. Write your name on this. If you can't write, just put your fingerprint on it."

"Okay, thank you." Cui Dake smiled as he accepted the meager salary and then made a note of it.

He Yuzhu was surprised; he hadn't expected to see Cui Dake here.