Chapter 117 - Wreaking Havoc (1)

Today was the fourth day of the promotional activities, Shu Yan was so busy that she didn’t have time to even think about what had happened that morning. Le hadn’t been in the shop for long that day, so she shouldn’t have done too much damage. With the exception of the three times this morning plus the one returned, no other customers brought anything back.

“Watch out for those next door in the future. Don’t let them come inside again.” Business slowed down after 7 PM and Shu Yan pulled the four pieces of clothes out to take a look at them. The jacket had a cut at the sleeve. Perhaps Le didn’t have much time, the cut wasn’t very severe and could be sewn back up. One of the temporary workers had tried this on before and it had looked good on her. She didn’t end up buying it because of the cost. Shu Yan just gave it to her.

“You are giving this to me?” The girl looked at Shu Yan in disbelief. She felt that the small cut was not a problem at all. She hadn’t expected the boss lady to straight up give it to her.

The jeans had a cut the size of a thumbnail right around the knee area. Shu Yan cut and made it bigger, removed the fuzz and turned it into ripped jeans. She paired it with a colorful top, and it turned into a fashionable set.

The sweater has a hole in the chest area. Using techniques that she had learned from the internet, she embroidered a red flower over it. With a few flowers on it, the sweater was immediately turned stylish and delicate.

“That was amazing, boss.” Everybody surrounded Shu Yan and looked at her with admiration.

“Just some little techniques. I can teach you if you like.” She must treat everybody equally, so she gave the other temporary workers either a scarf or a hat. The wholesale cost for them was only 4 ~ 5 yuan, but they didn’t know that. They cost over 10 yuan normally. All of them held onto them like they were treasures.

If she was giving things to the temporary workers, she definitely needed to give something to her permanent workers, Zhang Huaxiu and Yingying. Shu Yan gave them each a dress. The weather was starting to cool down and summer styles weren’t doing too well. Might as well give them away as gifts rather than keeping them till next year to figure out what to do with them.

***

That night, Shu Yan tossed and turned in bed. Of course there were going to be competitions in business. And it was natural to feel unjust when others' business was better than your own but few would go as far as Le had. How unlucky it was that she had a neighbor like her.

She couldn’t just let a poisonous snake stare at her from such a close distance all the time. As the saying goes, one must know one’s enemies. The only thing Shu Yan knew about Le was her name and nothing else.

The next morning, Shu Yan headed to check out the progress of her new home after she had taken her kids to school.

The walls, the built-in closets, and the floorings were all done. Now all that was left was just some miscellaneous tasks.

“It’s mostly done. We just have to wrap up on the small parts.” The foreman walked Shu Yan through the entire place when he saw her. “Probably another half a month or so of work. Let it air out for a couple of months and you will be able to move in before the new year.”

Shu Yan hadn’t expected that to go so quickly. She thought the remodeling wouldn’t be done till almost the end of the year.

"I am not in any rush. Make sure the quality is good,” said Shu Yan, worried.

“You don’t have to worry about that. We are a big company and we have our standards. You can hire someone to inspect the place when it is done. We will waive all fees if there are any issues.” The foreman reassured her. “The progress was fast because our workers had been working over time and we had plenty of manpower. Look around. We have three wood-workers and four more other workers working on the walls. Of course the progress was fast.”

Fixed fees and paying by the day were not the same. If they were paid by the day, the foreman would want to drag it out. Each extra day meant extra pay. Fixed fees were different. The foreman would be incentivized to work overtime to finish the job as soon as possible. That way they can move onto the next job sooner.

There were plenty of remodeling going on in City Nan and their company had accepted quite a few jobs. The foreman, too, had been breaking his back on working overtime on Shu Yan’s apartment. They would need to keep the quality in mind as well. After all, companies their size have to meet certain standards. If anything went wrong, they might get sued on top of losing their jobs.