Chapter 169 – Department Store Operations

With regards to Aunt Li, Mother Ji basically did not have a good impression of her.

In the past, when they were young, Aunt Li liked to be nit picky about everything, and she really didn’t have any skills. Her personality was so irksome.

But that was in the past. Let’s talk about the now. What was she trying to do?

It was her family who came to ask Mother Ji’s son to take the orchard over. It was Jianyun’s uncle who came to find him. But before his uncle came to find him, how could he not have his wife’s agreement?

That was impossible. And not only did his wife have to agree, his whole family had to have agreed to it. Otherwise, the mountain would not have been turned over.

Now that the orchard was becoming successful, she was suffering from jealousy again. It really made Mother Ji want to slap her a few times.

Mother Ji hired her to pick fruit last year. But don’t count on it this year!

After saying the things that worried her, Mother Ji asked about Ji Jianye. “How is your second brother driving now?”

“Second brother’s driving is not bad. Mother, don’t worry about it. Eldest sister-in-law is also diligent,” Ji Jianyun reported.

After Mother Ji complained about her sister-in-law, she heard some good news. She smiled and said, “Your second brother still needs you to go along with him. As for your eldest sister-in-law, I won’t worry about her. If you give her money, she won’t need you to worry about anything.”

Although she had some dissatisfaction with Feng Fangfang, Mother Ji could still trust her skills. After all, the eldest daughter-in-law was also selected by Mother Ji for her eldest son. She was a hard worker, and not the kind to evade the work.

Ji Jianyun did not respond to that.

He was so busy. He went down the mountain and drove to the town. He reached the department store.

The department store was pretty much decorated now. It had been redone by sister Hong. It was all based on the latest department store layout in the college town, which gave off a bright feeling.

“Jianyun, you’re here?” Feng Fangfang asked with a smile when she saw him.

“Yeah, I came to have a look around.” Ji Jianyun nodded.

“Boss!” The other employees called out after seeing him.

Ji Jianyun nodded and acknowledged that everyone was busy.

If an employee wanted to address Sister Hong, they could call her Sister Hong directly. But for Ji Jianyun, they must call him boss loudly; and for Su Danhong, call her the boss’s wife. This was something sister Hong had requested.

This was the way they were to be addressed.

“How are things here, eldest sister-in-law?” Ji Jianyun asked, handing her a basket of strawberries.

“Everything is fine. Don’t worry. Manager Chen and the others have been very nice to me,” Feng Fangfang took the strawberry and replied happily.

Ji Jianyun nodded.

Sister Hong helped him out a lot. He had arranged a position for Feng Fanfang, and after Sister Hong knew that this was his sister-in-law, she gave her a manager position.

There were two managers in the department store. The other manager was Manager Chen, who was recruited by Sister Hong from a different place. Sister Hong had asked her to take care of Feng Fangfang.

Although Feng Fangfang was wrong during that New Year celebration, it was the only thing that she did over the years that was bad. At all other times, she was a perceptive person.

Her perception was reflected in her excellent work to earn money.

She didn’t have any arrogance for being a relative to the bosses, because she knew how Ji Jianyun and Su Danhong did things.

Between her family and Lao Er’s family, each of them got a position. If Ji Jianye didn’t do a good job, then Ji Jianyun would definitely replace him. If he was like that to his brother, then what about her as his sister-in-law?

That’s why Feng Fangfang put herself in a good spot right from the very beginning. Although she became a manager as soon as she got the spot, she didn’t have any arrogance and she didn’t skirt from the work. She would also help the other workers to do the work together. It helped in making others not think that she was lazy. They would only think she was worthy to be there, instead.

She also got along very well with Manager Chen, who trained her. She learned a lot of useful things from her. However, she did not try to give Manager Chen the sense that she wanted to replace her, and Manager Chen was very impressed with her.

It had to be said that Feng Fangfang’s performance in this position was also a little beyond Ji Jianyun’s expectation.

Since she was competent in her job, he would not say anything.

“Take these strawberries and share them with everyone,” Ji Jianyun said.

“Okay.” Feng Fangfang nodded.

She knew that Lao San was helping her out to get along with everyone. It would be very useful for her to share strawberries with everyone from time to time.

“Manager Feng, did the boss bring strawberries again?” a girl asked happily.

Feng Fangfang really enjoyed being called “Manager Feng”. She smiled and grabbed two handfuls for her. “Last time there were strawberries, you tried some and couldn’t stop thinking about them. I mentioned it to Jianyun. I didn’t expect him to bring another basket.”

“Thank you, boss, and thank you Manager Feng!” The girl grinned as she took the strawberries.

She then shouted, “Manager Feng has strawberries again. Come on, everyone. There won’t be any if you’re too slow. The strawberries are very delicious!”

Feng Fangfang left some for Manager Chen, and the rest was shared among the workers, which led to big smiles from everyone.

Ji Jianyun examined the layout of the department store. It was indeed very futuristic and trendy.

Everything had been finished. There were even two toilets and both were new.

For these toilets, Ji Jianyun went back to the village and asked his mother to find two older people in the village to be toilet cleaners. Most were around 50 years old, and didn’t have much land in their family. Naturally they had to have grandchildren, but their children were separated and generally didn’t come over, which usually made them lonely.

Mother Ji went to ask an elderly couple if they wanted to do this work for 20 yuan a month.

The old lady and the old man in the village did not have any objections and agreed.

Although they were going to clean the toilet, it was for 20 yuan a month. Thus, they were willing to do it. Even if it was not 20 yuan, and it was for 15 yuan, they would still do it.

Mother Ji said, “Don’t talk about the salary to anyone else. If you have to say it, you can say that it is 15 yuan a month. Otherwise, other people working in the department store might not be satisfied.”

The amount of work was equal, but respect for the job was not. This view would never change. The people who did this kind of work always seemed inferior.

Those girls who sold things and wore nice clothes would not be happy to know that the toilet cleaners were paid 20 yuan. The managers were paid 30 yuan a month, and the rest were paid 25 yuan. If they knew that the two cleaners were paid 20 yuan, they would not dare to be impolite to the bosses, but they probably would be impolite to the cleaners.

“We won’t say it to anyone. Don’t worry, we won’t give Jianyun any trouble!” the old woman and old man promised.

They valued this job. They quickly divided the land at home between their children and went to work the next day.

Thus, they started working in the department store.

When Manager Chen came back, Ji Jianyun said to her, “You can arrange the goods on the shelves soon. In a few days, the department store will open.”

Manager Chen was a woman in her thirties. She had a lot of experience and said, “I was just about to talk to you about that, boss.”