"What? A couple hundred extra dollars? Where did you get so much extra money?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Hong and Ji Zhijun's eyes widened in surprise.
Ji Xia smiled faintly: "Sister-in-law, my brother isn't in the city, so he might not know. You and Lan have been in the city for so long, and my colleagues often come here to pick up hair accessories, hair clips, corsages, and clothes. Don't you understand anything about it?"
Zhang Hong was taken aback, and after slowly recalling the events, it seemed that there really was such a thing.
Ji Xia continued, "A hair clip costs two cents to produce, but the supply and marketing cooperative sells it for five cents, so the profit is three cents. This is private stock, which we split among ourselves. Guess how many they can sell in a day?"
Zhang Hong's eyes widened, and she couldn't help but look at Zhang Lan, because several times when Liu Hongju or He Qiuying came over, they were asking her for goods.
Zhang Lan murmured, "They need to order a batch every five or six days, sometimes sixty or seventy, and sometimes a hundred. But I don't know about the clothes that Sister Xia gave them."
Zhang Hong started calculating in her mind: she could earn three cents for each hair clip, so a hundred would be thirty cents. If she split it among three people, each person would earn ten cents. That would be ten cents every five or six days, and at least five or six times a month, which would amount to fifty or sixty cents.
And clothes too. They asked their aunt for clothes more often than hair clips and corsages. They made three cents on each hair clip, so clothes must have made even more money, right? She looked at Ji Xia with even more shock.
Ji Xia pressed down on the corners of her mouth to make her expression more natural: "For the past two months, I made a deal with them. I would only work the afternoon shift, and they would split the money they earned. I didn't want it, so they are willing to work full-time for a long time."
"However, if you or your sister go, the profits will definitely be split among the three of you. It's such a lucrative job, sister-in-law, can you guarantee that your second sister will give the job back to you?"
Zhang Hong hesitated, and Zhang Lan whispered a reminder: "Big sister, don't be silly. Don't you know what kind of person Second Sister is? Once a job is in her hands, no one can get it back."
Ji Zhijun said coldly, "If our parents find out about this, they definitely won't agree. The second son spent several hundred yuan to get this job. Now that you've given it up, don't expect our parents to forgive you."
Zhang Hong felt even more uneasy when she thought of Secretary Ji's imposing face.
Although she has given birth to two sons and has basically secured her position in the Ji family, her in-laws will likely not let her off easily after what she has done.
After thinking it over, she hesitated and said, "I don't want to give it to her, but I don't know how to refuse my mother."
She smiled ingratiatingly at Ji Xia and said, "Ji Xia, you're so smart, you must have a way. Can you help me?"
Ji Xia glanced at her indifferently: "Isn't this simple? One plays the good cop, and the other plays the bad cop."
Zhang Hong could tell that Ji Xia was in a bad mood, so she didn't dare to bother her anymore. She pleaded with Ji Zhijun in a low voice, "Zhijun, why don't you play the bad cop?"
Ji Zhijun stared at his wife for a long time before finally nodding: "Alright, I told you my dad doesn't agree."
Ji Xia secretly rolled her eyes. Ji Zhijun looked honest and kind, and asking him to play the bad cop would only get him scolded by his mother-in-law, and he wouldn't even know how to refute her.
That would only drive her mother half to death, causing her heart to ache, just like in her past life.
This is something Zhang Hong should figure out herself; I'm speechless.
After listening for a while, she couldn't help but remind him, "Brother, I'm saying that Sister Zhang's words are very sharp. Are you sure you can do it?"
Ji Zhijun's face darkened slightly, and he replied in a muffled voice, "Go ahead and curse, I'm not giving it to you. This job was paid for by our Ji family, there's no reason for us to give it to her for nothing."
"I'm afraid that you might turn out to be unreasonable when you're right."
Ji Xia sighed, wondering if he should ask Chen Jing to come and support him.
Zhang Lan suddenly whispered, "Sister Xia, I'm afraid my brother-in-law can't argue with my second sister. You're well-read and know a lot about principles, so why don't you help my eldest sister?"
"Me, help? How can I help? I don't mind playing the bad cop, but I'm afraid I'll go too far and cause a conflict between my sister-in-law and brother."
As soon as Ji Xia finished speaking, Zhang Hong sat down next to her with a fawning smile and said in a humble voice, "Auntie, you know me, I really have no way to deal with them. Please help me, whatever you say, I know you are trying to help me."
Ji Xia subtly avoided her contact: "You know I can be very harsh with my words, and I might upset your mother—"
"Sister Xia, if you want my mother and second aunt to be happy, you should send them any good things you have at home. It's the same with this job. If you don't give them a job, even if you treat them like your own mother, they will still be unhappy."
After Zhang Lan finished speaking, Zhang Hong thought of her mother and second sister's past and nodded with tears in her eyes: "Third sister is right. They won't be happy if I don't give them any good things."
They used to be good people, but now they're even after her job.
While pleading for her husband, she winked at him, signaling him to speak up for her.
Ji Zhijun knew that his mother-in-law and sister-in-law were not to be trifled with, and remembering how Ji Xia had once berated Lin Haodong, he swallowed his pride and pleaded for them.
"Ah Xia, my brother is bad with words and doesn't know how to speak properly. Can you help me? Don't worry, no matter how harsh your words are, I know you're doing it for our own good and won't upset you."
After pondering for a while, Ji Xia felt it was about right and nodded.
"I'll help, but my sister-in-law has to listen to me."
Zhang Hong nodded vigorously: "Don't worry, I'll listen, I promise I'll listen."
"No matter what I say, you can't argue with me. Even if I let you go back to your parents' home with them temporarily, you have to listen to me."
No matter how harshly they scold you, you can't get angry. You need to let them know that you don't have the final say in the Ji family; you have to listen to your husband and in-laws.
Zhang Hong nodded repeatedly, and Ji Xia added, "Also, do you want to resolve this once and for all, so that they never dare to mention this idea again, or do you just scare them temporarily, and then let them bring it up again after a year or two?"
Zhang Hong was taken aback upon hearing this: "Of course, we should make sure they never dare to mention it again in their entire lives."
Ji Xia knew what was going on, and a confident smile appeared on her lips: "Alright, I'll take this. After they find out that it's impossible, you can promise them two or three yuan a month, and your mother will be happy too."
Hearing this, Zhang Hong felt relieved. Two or three yuan was enough; even without extra income, a monthly salary of over twenty yuan was acceptable to her.
After Ji Xia finished speaking, she looked up at Zhang Lan, who was looking at her nervously. Seeing that Ji Xia assured her that there would be no problem, Zhang Lan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but then became uneasy again.
Having resolved her older sister's issue, she also wanted to ask Ji Xia for help.
However, the eldest sister is Ji Xia's sister-in-law. Helping the eldest sister is helping her own brother, but why should Ji Xia help her?
Just as she was thinking of a reason, she suddenly heard Ji Xia chuckle and say, "Xiao Lan, is there anything you want to say?"
Zhang Lan was about to shake her head when she suddenly realized that this was her best chance, and she couldn't help but glance at her nervously.
"Sister Xia, I don't want to go back to my hometown. I want to stay in the city. Can you help me? Isn't my older sister reluctant to be separated from her child? I can help take care of the child."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
