As Yu Jiu spoke, she became indignant again and turned to leave.
The manager quickly got up and stopped her.
"Don't go, kid. I'm just trying to talk to you about this. Why are you so agitated? I'm not asking you to give me more money. If you don't want it, just say so. Come back and sit down."
The manager pulled Yu Jiu back and pushed her to sit in a chair, but Yu Jiu seemed angry. She crossed her arms and refused to look at the manager.
"Anyway, I'm not willing to pay any more money. My husband and I have been working so hard these days, trying to buy raw materials, staying up all night to make these pastries, and customizing packaging. We've been so busy that we haven't had a moment to spare, but in the end, we haven't made any money."
To be honest, my husband doesn't care about the meager earnings I make. I just thought that while I'm still young and don't have children yet, I should work hard and save more money so that when we have children, they won't go hungry. I never expected that you, manager, would have so many misunderstandings about me.
"Fine then, I'll just finish this month's work. Then I'll quit and get more rest."
Yu Jiu got carried away and actually demanded to quit. But their contract was for several years, and if she suddenly quit, the manager wouldn't ask for more money, and she would lose all of her monthly salary.
"No way! You said yourself that you're still young. If you don't make money while you're young, what are you waiting for? You'll be even less likely to make money when you get old. Okay, okay, I won't ask for more money. Just do your job well and earn as much as you can. Follow the contract, and you can't break it."
"We agreed on a few years, and that's how many years it will last. If you leave early, all our work will have been for nothing. It's not that I want to raise the price, but the higher-ups think your business is doing quite well, and they don't want you to make any disciplinary mistakes, right? That's why they sent me to remind you. Since you're having such a tough time, I won't say anything more. Just keep up the good work."
The manager wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and gave Yu Jiu a good talking-to. She had to keep Yu Jiu on her feet and not let her quit. Even a pittance each month was money, and she couldn't bear to lose it.
Actually, the counter wasn't always empty. Of course, some people had the same idea as Yu Jiu, and some people tried to bribe the manager. But first of all, the others didn't have Yu Jiu's connections. If the counter were just rented out to others, they would face resistance from the other sales staff after they came in. It wouldn't look good if it escalated to higher-ups.
The manager had also let his relatives work at the counter, but they didn't last long. The more money the department store paid, the less they earned themselves, so it wasn't worth it at all.
They gave too little, and the sales staff didn't take good care of the customers either. It was frustrating no matter what, because what they were selling was just ordinary stuff, not as eye-catching or unique as Yu Jiu's, so naturally they couldn't sell it at a high price. How to price it was also a problem. In the end, the manager and her relatives had a falling out, so they just decided that everyone should quit and leave the counter empty.
"Really? Manager, you won't have any complaints later, will you? If you feel this is inappropriate, I'll just quit. You don't need to worry about me, it's okay."
The manager quickly shook his head, noticing the tea aroma emanating from the leftover wine.
"No objections, no objections, why would I have any objections? Just do your job well."
Finally, after much coaxing and reassurance from the manager, Yu Jiu was finally sent away, and she agreed to continue working. Yu Jiu now had her completely under his control.
With the manager on board, there were no more problems at the counter. Yu Jiu managed both her skincare counter and her pastry counter, and even with both, she still had time to chat with other people, easily earning two incomes. 100 yuan a month was no less than her monthly income.
Now, let alone raising one child, she could raise several. Yu Jiu counted the money she earned last month at the beginning of the month and couldn't help but smile as she said this to Xu Zijiang.
She had barely finished speaking when she clutched her chest and gagged.
"What's wrong? Are you so happy you threw up? That shouldn't be the case, we've made even more money."
Xu Zijiang asked with amusement, pouring water for Yu Jiu while patting her back to help her catch her breath. Yu Jiu was still clutching the money in her hand when she started gagging. Was the smell of money particularly nauseating?
"How could this be? I... I'm going to vomit."
Yu Jiu was amused by Xu Zijiang's statement. She was about to retort when she clutched her chest and gagged twice. For some reason, a sudden urge to vomit rose from her stomach. Could it be that she had eaten something bad? But apart from that, her stomach didn't feel uncomfortable anywhere else.
"Do you really feel like throwing up? Is there anything else that's bothering you? Is it something you didn't like for dinner? Or is your stomach upset? Did you catch a chill last night?"
Xu Zijiang initially thought Yu Jiu was just joking with him, but after she gagged a few times, he realized she seemed genuinely unwell. He looked at Yu Jiu with concern and rattled off a series of questions.
Yu Jiu took a sip of hot water to suppress the urge to gag, and after a long while, she finally spoke.
"I don't know. I don't feel like throwing up anymore. My stomach doesn't hurt, and I wasn't cold yesterday, so how could I have caught a cold? I didn't eat any snacks today, just the same food as you. It's strange."
Yu Jiu was also a little puzzled. Her stomach was usually quite healthy and she rarely felt uncomfortable unless she was overly hungry, but she hadn't been overly hungry recently. It was late at night, and neither of them could figure out the cause. Moreover, Yu Jiu felt better after vomiting for a while, so they put the money away and prepared to go to sleep.
The next morning, Xu Zijiang made Yu Jiu's favorite pork congee. Actually, compared to regular lean pork congee, it was just with an extra egg. Adding an egg makes it more tender and smooth, and the pork tastes even better. Yu Jiu always loved to eat it this way. Xu Zijiang then sprinkled some chopped green onions on top, and that was Yu Jiu's breakfast, along with a side dish of pickled vegetables.
Xu Zijiang eats whatever Yu Jiu eats, so today he made two bowls of congee and told Yu Jiu to get up and eat breakfast before going to work. However, this congee, which is usually her favorite breakfast, made her feel nauseous at the smell.
"Ugh... This porridge tastes really fishy."
"Is the scallion bad, or the egg bad? Take it away quickly."
Yu Jiu covered her nose, her pretty face contorted in disgust.
"No, the scallions were picked fresh from the vegetable garden today, and the eggs were bought from the aunt next door today. They were just laid, so they couldn't be bad. I checked the eggs when I cracked them out, and the egg whites and yolks were fine. Why do they taste fishy?"
Xu Zijiang was puzzled. After he served the porridge, he tasted two mouthfuls himself. The taste was normal, exactly the same as usual.
"Really? But I can't stand the smell. Do you have any plain congee? I want plain congee with pickled vegetables today, I don't want this congee."
Yu Jiu still covered her nose and refused to let go. Even though Xu Zijiang had carried the porridge so far away, she could still smell it. Xu Zijiang had no choice but to put the porridge back in the kitchen.
"There's no plain congee, and it's too late to cook it now. How about I make you a bowl of noodles? How about noodles with pickled vegetables and meat sauce?"
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