Chapter 212 Be a little stingy
Her teeth ached and felt sore; the brackets of her braces rubbed against her mouth, even chafing her oral mucosa. It hurt whenever she moved her mouth, which made her even less inclined to talk.
When Chen Fanglan returned from the beauty salon, Shen Xuewei had already prepared the meal.
Chen Fanglan watched Shen Xuewei eat her meal in small bites, taking only one or two bites... She counted and found that she had only eaten five bites in total, and then she didn't touch her chopsticks again.
She looked at the half-eaten bowl of rice still in Shen Xuewei's bowl and asked, "Weiwei, are you feeling unwell? Why are you only eating so little?"
Shen Xuewei shook her head dejectedly, swallowed the increasing saliva in her mouth, and uttered only one word in a low voice: "It hurts."
Chen Fanglan comforted her, "It's like this when you first get braces. You'll get used to it in a few days."
Even if you don't like it, you have to get used to it. You can't just take your braces off as soon as you put them on, can you?
Wouldn't that be a waste of suffering and money?
Shen Xuewei swallowed again and nodded slowly.
Seeing her listless appearance, Chen Fanglan pointed outside and said, "How about your aunt takes you shopping tomorrow and buys you new clothes?"
Shen Xuewei had no interest in buying clothes; she just wanted to stay home and watch her stocks.
"Auntie, I'm not going. I'll be fine in a few days."
She had no appetite, let alone the desire to go shopping.
Seeing that although she was not in good spirits, she was still in relatively good condition overall, Chen Fanglan was relieved.
In the past, she had a lot to say to Shen Xuewei, but now that Shen Xuewei was wearing braces and still adjusting, she didn't want to talk, so she just ate quietly.
After finishing the meal, he didn't let Shen Xuewei clean up. He quickly wiped the table and washed the dishes himself, telling Shen Xuewei to go back to her room to rest early.
Shen Xuewei went back to her room to rest, but she couldn't fall asleep no matter how much she tossed and turned.
After enduring several days of agony, I finally smiled when I saw the stock market open and the stocks I had bought were performing well. My mouth also stopped hurting so much.
I reluctantly spent a few days in front of the computer before the start of the new school term.
Chen Fanglan took a break from her busy schedule to take her to the bus station, watched her board the bus, and then returned to the beauty salon.
Shen Xuewei returned to school and, after only two days there, acquired a new nickname.
Girl with braces.
Shen Xuewei accepted the nickname well, which made those who wanted to make fun of her feel bored, and the topic gradually faded away.
When she was around ten years old, she might have commented on other people wearing braces at school.
However, it wasn't until I grew up that I realized how much those families valued their children, who were willing to pay for their dental work at such a young age.
When Shen Xuewei later became wealthy and wanted to get her teeth fixed, she had already passed the optimal age for orthodontic treatment.
If she could live her life again, she would take care of herself.
When she got home, the elderly couple saw that she had a mouthful of braces. Upon learning that Chen Fanglan had taken her to the hospital to get them done, they immediately made a phone call to her.
Chen Fanglan kept pretending to be weak, and finally adopted an attitude of "what's done is done, so let it be," which made the old couple lose their temper.
Seeing the elderly couple relent after hanging up the phone, Shen Xuewei secretly gave Chen Fanglan a thumbs up.
On the weekend of the second week of school, Shen Xuewei, carrying her schoolbag, said goodbye to Wu Yuhong and boarded a minibus bound for Luli County.
Chen Fanglan picked her up at the bus station and took her back to her place before slowly making a phone call home.
As expected, Grandma Xi and Grandpa Chen took turns bombarding Chen Fanglan with questions over the phone, until Chen Fanglan begged for mercy.
After hanging up the phone, Chen Fanglan rubbed her furrowed brows and sighed.
“Weiwei, your grandparents scolded me terribly.”
Shen Xuewei smiled ingratiatingly and diligently massaged her legs and shoulders. Noticing the undisguised exhaustion on her face, she couldn't help but ask curiously:
"Auntie, haven't both beauty salons been transferred to your name? You look more tired every day."
To exaggerate a bit, the dark circles under his eyes were as black as ink, and his eye bags were practically falling off the ground.
Chen Fanglan's voice sounded weak, "There's nothing I can do. The beauty salon recently ran a promotion, and we have many more customers than before. Some clients even specifically request that I provide their services..."
Upon hearing this, Shen Xuewei sensed that something was amiss.
"Auntie, haven't you adapted to your new role yet? You're the boss now, not an employee like before. You don't need to do everything yourself; you should delegate tasks to suitable people."
"How is this any different from before? Plus, you're taking the beauty salon so seriously now, trying to manage everything yourself. Are you trying to work yourself to death?"
Chen Fanglan explained, "Mainly because I have some massage techniques that I specifically learned from Hong Kong, and I also have two beauty machines... What if the people in the shop learn them and then go to other beauty salons?"
Shen Xuewei felt that if her aunt continued down this path, she would be doomed sooner or later.
She turned Chen Fanglan's face around, lifted her droopy eyelids, and stared into her eyes.
"Auntie, you'll only wear yourself out like this. There are solutions to the problems you're worried about."
"Since you're worried they'll take the technology with them, why not tie them to the same boat and make them reluctant to leave?"
Chen Fanglan stared blankly at her, "What method can keep them at Platinum Joy Skin Research Institute indefinitely?"
Shen Xuewei said softly, "Let's refer to your previous method..."
Before she could finish speaking, Chen Fanglan shook her head vigorously, "That won't do. How can they be the same as Dong Lei?"
"I still kept 10% of the shares for Dong Lei because it's profitable. But what can I possibly gain from them?"
"They bring you benefits, income, and loyalty."
Shen Xuewei patiently explained to her, "If you want them to learn the skills and still be reluctant to leave Platinum Joy Skin Research Institute, then you can only start with their compensation. Besides, I didn't actually ask you to give them shares directly."
"For example, based on their performance, they will be given a certain amount of shares or dividends. If it's shares, the rule is that they can only have them while working at Platinum Joy Skin Lab, and they will lose them once they leave..."
"Besides Platinum Beauty Salon, how many other beauty salons can achieve this level of service now?"
"It may seem that your income has decreased, but with this kind of incentive, they will want to earn more money, work harder, and serve customers more actively."
"Auntie, do you think the beauty salon's revenue will increase or decrease?"
After saying this, Chen Fanglan fell into deep thought.
That... seems to make sense...
She used to be reluctant to part with the money, but with Shen Xuewei's guidance, the fog in front of her cleared up, and Chen Fanglan was constantly thinking of ways to improve the situation.
"Okay, Weiwei, I understand. Thank goodness for you!"
Chen Fanglan sighed.
With Chen Fanglan's intelligence, perhaps she hadn't overlooked this aspect before.
Having come from a poor family, it's inevitable that they would be a bit stingy and miserly in various aspects after turning their lives around and starting their own businesses.
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