Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 250

Some modern masters' calligraphy and paintings are only one or two dozen yuan a piece, while calligraphy and paintings from the Ming and Qing dynasties are only thirty or fifty yuan.

Even the original works of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties are only worth a couple hundred yuan.

He Yuzhu became annoyed, wondering why he hadn't thought of finding a way to get more equipment.

After settling the accounts, He Yuzhu still had a considerable amount of inventory left, so he said, "What use is this to you?"

"What's the use? It's hard to sell anyway, so just leave it there for now."

He Yuzhu was overjoyed: "Why don't you transfer them all to me? I'll give you cash."

Without hesitation, Li Hongying said, "Alright, you've helped us so much, so we'll transfer everything to you."

He Yuzhu instructed them to have staff pack all the items and deliver them to the shop on Gulou East Street.

After the delivery staff left, He Yuzhu packed up all the antique furniture, leaving only ordinary furniture in the shop.

Before he knew it, it was the 25th. He Yuzhu hummed a little tune as he arrived at the braised meat shop.

Today is the day of the resounding announcement. He Yuzhu finally showed up. I remember he only lasted a few days when we first moved here, and then he stopped.

Eryong usually goes to get the ingredients, and then he just puts them in the pot when he gets back.

He Yuzhu was somewhat surprised when he entered the courtyard; why were some of the original people replaced?

Ah Yong came over to greet him: "Boss, you're here?"

"Why were there several different people?"

Er Yong said sheepishly, "That general manager is very demanding and always makes strict requests. He's already fired several people."

Why didn't you tell me?

The original workers were all recruited by He Yuzhu, and many of them were poor people who couldn't make ends meet.

Er Yong was very embarrassed: "The manager won't allow it."

"What can I say to you? You're listening to the manager again?"

He Yuzhu was furious, but he was just a technician and the management authority was with the company's manager.

However, He Yuzhu wasn't without options. He would mention it to Director Li later to see what the problem was.

We just got a batch of equipment for the street, and now the manager has fired some of his own people. Isn't that absurd?

Where is the manager?

"He went out, but the accountant is still here, so he can get his salary."

"Then I'll collect my salary first and then we'll talk."

He Yuzhu walked into the accounting office and said, "Settle my wages."

The female accountant was very young, around twenty-four or twenty-five years old. I heard she had just gotten married not long ago. She was a relative of the manager, and I think her surname was Na. Her ancestors were Manchus.

Na Yuejuan then looked up and said sarcastically, "So it's Boss He. Here to collect your salary?"

Chapter 186 No salary for me?

"How dare you talk like that? Stop being sarcastic. This is none of your business."

"Who do you think you are? You're just a tech guy, do you think you're some kind of manager?"

He Yuzhu chuckled and said, "Although I'm not the manager, I can fire your brother-in-law with just one word."

"you..."

The accountant was furious, but then she realized that He Yuzhu was definitely bragging, and said, "Don't even dream about it."

He Yuzhu was too lazy to argue with her. Although she was good-looking, she was just like Cui Xiangjin. Besides, she was just a small fry. Arguing with her would only make him lose face, even if he won.

"Give me my salary right now."

Na Yuejuan didn't say anything more. She opened the attendance book, glanced at it, and said, "You worked 5 days this month, so you can only receive 14.93 yuan for 5 days."

He Yuzhu was stunned. When did he have to clock in for work?

Before I could figure out what was going on, Yuejuan had already counted the money and placed it on the table. Then she took out a notebook, opened it, pointed to a blank space, and said, "Sign here, and you can take the money back."

"No, how did you calculate it? I only have a little over ten yuan?"

Na Yuejuan said dismissively, "I'm the accountant, how could I make a mistake? You only worked for five days, so of course you can only receive five days' wages."

He Yuzhu was so angry he laughed: "So I have to go to work on time too? Without my recipe, how can these braised meats be sold?"

"I don't care. The attendance record shows you only worked for five days, so I can only pay you for five days."

"Okay, just wait for me."

He Yuzhu was furious. It turned out that he could only get a little over ten yuan, and he would have to come to work on time every day. This was going to kill him.

"Tch, just wait and see, see what you're capable of. Anyway, it's not my fault."

He Yuzhu left the accounting office, seething with anger. Just as he was about to leave, he saw Manager Cui Xiangjin come in from outside.

After putting down my bicycle, I looked up and saw He Yuzhu standing not far away, smiling and waving.

"Who is it? It's Old He. What brings you here today?"

Before He Yuzhu could answer, he muttered to himself, "Oh, I remember now, today is the 25th, the day the alarm goes off. You're here to collect your wages?"

"But with your vast fortune, Mr. He, why would you care about a monthly wage of just over ten yuan?"

"So it was you who did this? You thought I wouldn't get paid if I didn't go to work?"

Cui Xiangjin laughed and said, "No matter where you go in the world, you only get paid if you work. There's no such thing as getting paid without working."

Seeing his smug expression, He Yuzhu now knew that Li Hongying must not have told him this.

It had been agreed that He Yuzhu would keep the formula and wouldn't need to come to work every day. But Cui Xiangjin started causing trouble in just the first month.

"So you think I'm easy to bully? Aren't you afraid I won't give you the recipe?"

It should be noted that He Yuzhu had mastered the recipe for the braised meat and gave it directly to Eryong. Eryong would get the amount for the next day, and he did this every day without taking more than the allotted amount.

“You…this is already a public-private partnership. If you don’t provide the ingredients, you’re sabotaging it and tarnishing the reputation of the public-private partnership pilot program.”

Cui Xiangjin hadn't thought about this issue before, but after hearing it, he paused for a moment and then accused He Yuzhu of a serious crime.

"Don't give me that. If you don't pay me a salary, why should I stay home and make my own seasoning packets?"

"You're just causing trouble. You don't come to work, there's no attendance record, so of course you won't get paid." Although Cui Xiangjin was a little guilty, he still spoke defiantly.

He Yuzhu shouted, "Call Li Hongying and tell her to come over."

"Don't try to scare me with Director Li. If you don't come to work, you won't get paid. That's not fair anywhere."

"Hehe, if you won't hit me, I will."

I was originally planning to go to the neighborhood committee to have a chat with Director Li, but Cui Xiangjin is taking advantage of my position and trying to control me. He's really giving me too much face.

He Yuzhu went straight into the manager's office and saw a telephone on the desk, but it was locked in a wooden box.

Cui Xiangjin followed him in and shouted, "He Yuzhu, if you want to make a call, go outside. This is a government phone."

These days, telephones are very precious items. Ordinary families don't install them, and even some workplaces don't have them.

In other words, the braised meat shop is very profitable, and it's a key project for the district and the street administration recently. The higher authorities even provided a telephone line for it.

Cui Xiangjin was somewhat smug. After installing the telephone, he put a wooden box around it and locked it. Now He Yuzhu didn't have the key and had to go outside to make the call.

He Yuzhu chuckled twice, then reached out and grabbed the small lock on the wooden box. With a slight pull, he opened the lock.

Cui Xiangjin stared in shock, speechless. Although the lock was small, it was very sturdy. Even if you hammered it for a long time, you might not be able to open it.

He Yuzhu simply pulled lightly and opened the lock.

After demonstrating his skills, He Yuzhu lifted the wooden cover, picked up the receiver, and then shook the crank three times with his left hand.

He told the operator inside, "Connect me to Director Li from the street office."

Making a phone call is incredibly troublesome now. There's no dialing anymore; you first connect to the regional call center, where a human asks where you want to go, and then you manually plug the cable into the corresponding port.

If you're in another city, you'll need to go through so many connections to find that phone number.

It's easy to imagine that such transmission efficiency would be extremely low; you might talk for three or four minutes without finding the other party's line.

Moreover, the signal is extremely poor, and it is easy to drop the connection. Even if the connection is established, it is difficult to hear clearly and is accompanied by various noises.

Fortunately, He Yuzhu made a local call, which went directly to Director Li's office.

"I am Li Hongying, may I ask...?"

"Director Li, this is He Yuzhu." There was still some anger in his voice.

"What's wrong? Who bullied you? Why aren't you calling me 'sister' anymore?"

"Sister, could it be anyone else? It's Cui Xiangjin, one of your top lieutenants. He's not paying me my salary," He Yuzhu said, sounding aggrieved.

"What? No salary? Where's Cui Xiangjin?" Li Hongying was surprised when she heard this and asked loudly.

“He’s standing right here!” He Yuzhu glanced at Cui Xiangjin, whose expression had changed, and then said.

"You want me to listen to the phone? This is outrageous!"

After saying this angrily, Li Hongying continued, "Fine, you can just wait there while I come over."