Once the first one came in, a second one followed, and several more people entered. Meng Zhao spoke with each of them in turn.
Meng Zhao rejected two men. She wasn't against hiring men, since the work didn't discriminate between men and women. If she found a suitable man, she would hire him regardless of gender.
However, the man who entered the shop first exuded arrogance from the moment he stepped inside. When he discovered that Meng Zhao was the only person in the shop, he didn't even ask any questions before directly telling her to come out and say that the person in charge should come out. It was as if he thought that the woman was definitely not the shopkeeper.
Seeing this, Meng Zhao directly told him that it was not suitable. Upon hearing Meng Zhao's refusal, the man became furious and spat out a curse, muttering something like "this lousy shop will close down sooner or later."
The second man who entered was slightly better than the first; he seemed more amiable and answered Meng Zhao's questions very politely. However, when the topic of wages came up, he said...
“Young lady, men can do far more work than women, so how can they be paid the same wages as women? You’ll see when you open your business. The work in the kitchen is very tiring; women can’t possibly do it. So you see, if you raise my wages a bit, I’ll agree to stay.”
Meng Zhao was speechless. All the shops on Tongfu Street were run by women, yet they always did a good job. A pot of braised meat weighed over a hundred pounds, and every time they carried it around together. There was nothing they couldn't do. He hadn't even started working yet, and he was already complaining about how tiring the work was. Naturally, Meng Zhao didn't hire him.
After what happened between the two, Meng Zhao simply took a pen and added a line of text to the door: This recruitment is only for women.
After a day of chatting, we finally recruited three people who were somewhat satisfactory. When we returned to Tongfu Street, we found that things were going very smoothly at the Gu family's place, and they had recruited three people in just one morning.
It was probably because the shop on Tongfu Street had been open for a long time and had a certain reputation and word of mouth, so any news spread quickly. People in the surrounding area also recognized the shop, so when they heard about the job openings, many people came to apply. After picking and choosing according to Meng Zhao's requirements, Gu Shi kept three people.
When Meng Zhao returned to the courtyard, he passed the corner and found Xiao Chuan squatting in the corner, not knowing what he was doing. Just as he was about to go up and call him, he saw a rather large dog standing in front of him. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was the same dog that had scared him on the street before.
Xiao Chuan reached out and gently patted the big dog's head. "I'm sorry, dog brother. The food that Sister Wei and I are eating now is all given to us by Sister Meng. We really have nothing to give you. From now on, please don't come looking for me anymore."
The big dog seemed to understand Xiaochuan's words, and let out two low whimpers.
The big dog suddenly noticed Meng Zhao walking towards them and instantly became alert. It bared its sharp teeth and barked twice at Meng Zhao, who was startled, but this time she didn't sit down on the ground.
Hearing the dog bark, Xiao Chuan quickly turned around to check. Seeing that it was Meng Zhao, he immediately slapped the dog on the head twice, saying, "Don't bark, she is Sister Meng."
The big dog, after being hit, whimpered twice in grievance, slowly retracting its bared teeth and lowering its head. However, its eyes still occasionally glanced at Meng Zhao, revealing an indescribable shrewdness.
Seeing this, Xiao Chuan was afraid that Meng Zhao would be angry. "I'm sorry, Sister Meng. I don't know how it found us. I'll chase it away now."
Meng Zhao stared at the large dog, which had an inverted triangular head, a long and thin muzzle, large and slightly drooping ears, and brown fur. When it wasn't baring its teeth, its eyes looked quite gentle, but the long scar on its head made it look extremely fierce.
Meng Zhao waved his hand, "It's nothing, how do you know this dog?"
“When Sister Wei and I first arrived in Qingshi County, we still had some silver on us. We had just bought some cakes when he started following us. I saw that his belly was flat, so I broke off a piece for him. I never expected that he would follow me ever since.”
Hearing that Xiao Chuan got an obedient dog for just one pancake, Meng Zhao went back to the yard and took out a steamed bun.
When the dog saw the bun in Meng Zhao's hand, it first took a few steps back warily. Seeing this, Meng Zhao gently broke off a piece of the bun and threw it on the ground. The dog hesitated for a moment, then brought its nose close to sniff it. After smelling the aroma, it eagerly opened its mouth and swallowed it, then continued to look at Meng Zhao.
Seeing that it had started eating, Meng Zhao broke off another piece. After finishing the bun, the ferocious dog started wagging its tail at Meng Zhao.
Seeing that Meng Zhao seemed to like dogs too, Xiao Chuan felt a glimmer of hope. "Sister Meng, do you want to keep it?"
Meng Zhao gently shook her head. "Xiao Chuan, I'm in the food business, and cleanliness is the most important thing. If we keep a dog here, some customers will inevitably mind. We can't keep it here."
Hearing this, Xiao Chuan lowered his head. He knew he shouldn't have made a request, but he just felt sorry for the dog.
Meng Zhao then said, "However, I do have another place where I can arrange it."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Chuan's eyes immediately lit up with hope again. "Really, Sister Meng? Where is it?"
Meng Zhao kept everyone in suspense, saying, "I'll take you there tomorrow, and you'll find out then."
Before Aunt Feng'e left that evening, Meng Zhao pulled her into the house and said a few words to her.
“Auntie, you’ve worked for me for so long, and we know each other quite well. I’m very satisfied with you because you’re quick and efficient and have a kind heart. So, for the opening of this new store, I was thinking of having you work there as the store manager first. Do you have the confidence?”
She couldn't be at both shops all the time, so she had to appoint a shop manager to help supervise them. For this first shop manager, Meng Zhao felt that while ability was important, trust was even more important, so she gave up hiring someone with a high salary and instead chose from the existing employees.
There were two candidates: Gu Shi and Aunt Feng'e. After comparison, Meng Zhao chose Aunt Feng'e because she seemed more energetic. Compared to Gu Shi, she was more suitable for expanding territory, while Gu Shi was more suitable for defending the city.
Aunt Feng'e probably didn't know the specific responsibilities of a store manager at this point, and only thought that Meng Zhao wanted her to train new employees, so she agreed without hesitation.
"Sure, it doesn't matter where we work, Zhao Zhao. Don't worry, I will definitely do everything according to your requirements and make sure the shop is kept spotless. I will also train the new staff well and will definitely not let you down."
Meng Zhao didn't say too much at this moment, so as not to make Aunt Feng'e too nervous. Anyway, since the new store is opening, she will stay there for a while. She will use this time to teach Aunt Feng'e what the store manager should do.
"Okay, if the new shop does well, I'll give Auntie a bigger paycheck at the end of the month."
Hearing this, Aunt Feng'e's smile became even brighter. The more she looked at Meng Zhao, the more she liked him. She only regretted that her son was ugly and that Meng Zhao hadn't taken a liking to him. Otherwise, having such a daughter-in-law would be a blessing she had accumulated over several lifetimes.
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