As the company's first supermarket, Zhao Qinglan was very familiar with its layout.
She went straight to the supermarket manager's office.
However, that was the office area, and she was stopped as soon as she walked in.
"Hello, outsiders are not allowed to enter here without permission." A staff member stopped Zhao Qinglan.
"I need to speak with your store manager. Is he in?" Zhao Qinglan asked without getting angry.
"What do you want?" The staff member didn't answer directly. If everyone wanted to see the store manager, the manager would be swamped all day.
"What's wrong, Xiaobai?" someone walked over.
“She wants to see the store manager,” replied the staff member named Xiaobai.
Upon recognizing the person, Zhao Qinglan took off her sunglasses. "It's me."
The person who arrived was Wang Jin, a retired soldier whom Li Huai had introduced to Zhao Qinglan, who had been recruited to maintain security at the supermarket.
"Mr. Zhao, what brings you here?" Wang Jin asked in surprise.
The employee named Xiaobai was also stunned; the person he had stopped was actually the company's big boss.
There is only one woman in the entire company who can be addressed as General Manager Zhao, and that is the big boss. Even if he has never met her, he has heard of her.
"I have something to ask you, Comrade Xiaobai. You can go back to work now." With her identity revealed, Zhao Qinglan said directly.
The novice left with a long face, worried that the big boss might have a bad impression of him because of this.
In reality, Zhao Qinglan wasn't that petty. As long as it didn't infringe on the company's interests, she wouldn't care about such trivial matters at all.
"Please speak, Mr. Zhao."
The two walked to the side.
"I just walked into the fruit section and saw an old lady eating non-stop with her grandson. She seemed to be a family member of a company employee. Did you know about this?" Zhao Qinglan asked tentatively.
"What? That old lady is here again!" He blushed as soon as he said it.
It seems quite a few people know about this, Zhao Qinglan thought with a cold smile.
Perhaps realizing he had said the wrong thing, Wang Jin quickly explained, "President Zhao, that old lady, well, I've told her about it several times. Since you've seen it, I'll tell you everything."
"Go ahead and speak, I'm listening," Zhao Qinglan said expressionlessly.
“That’s Yuan Dali’s mother. About a month ago, she started coming in and out of our supermarket. I didn’t pay attention at first, but when she came out, I noticed that she had taken things but didn’t pay. I was just about to take people to the police station when she said that she was Yuan Dali’s mother.”
"So how did you handle it?"
"When we heard that she was a family member of one of our company employees, we felt embarrassed to immediately take her to the police station. So we called the store manager over. Later, the store manager let her take the items and paid the money himself."
"Oh?" Zhao Qinglan raised an eyebrow.
"And then?"
"Later, this old lady would come over every few days. Every time she took something without paying, the shop manager would make up for it. But, you know, she always brought her grandson in to eat and drink. I only found out when I went in to patrol."
At this point, Wang Jin became quite embarrassed.
“I’ll talk about it when I see it, but it doesn’t really work, and I get angry.”
"Why aren't you reacting to this situation?" Zhao Qinglan retorted.
"I told the store manager, and the store manager said not to worry about her. He said that an old lady with a child can't eat or drink much, and to just consider it a loss. But I don't think that's right. I've been struggling with this for the past few days. I was thinking that if I see you or other leaders at the annual meeting tonight, I'll let you know."
Zhao Qinglan didn't care whether Wang Jin was really going to file a complaint with higher authorities or just said that because he saw her.
However, he told her everything truthfully, which at least lessened her anger.
So the root of the problem lies with the store manager and Yuan Dali.
She could understand Wang Jin's dilemma and concerns. Although she had given him a job, he was still under the store manager's control. If the store manager let him do whatever he wanted, the employees below would follow suit.
Compared to other employees, Wang Jin was somewhat better.
Of course, she wouldn't just listen to one person; she still needed to see the store manager.
“I know everything you’ve said. I’m going to see Manager Wei now. Just pretend this never happened.”
"Mr. Zhao, I'm sorry, I should have contacted you from the beginning," Wang Jin said apologetically.
"Alright, you can go ahead and get busy," Zhao Qinglan said.
After Wang Jin left, Zhao Qinglan walked to the door of the store manager's office.
She had just knocked on the door when she heard someone inside say, "Come in."
Zhao Qinglan opened the door and went in, only to see Manager Wei buried in his work at the table, seemingly writing something.
Hearing someone enter, the person who was busy at the desk looked up and immediately stood up when they saw it was Zhao Qinglan.
"Mr. Zhao, what brings you here?" Store Manager Wei asked, somewhat surprised.
He was just thinking about finishing his work quickly so he could attend the company's annual party that evening, when he unexpectedly met the big boss.
"I wasn't planning on coming to see you, but I was shopping at the supermarket just now and something happened that I couldn't stand, so I had no choice but to come and talk to you."
Upon hearing this, Manager Wei's heart skipped a beat, and he forced a smile, saying, "President Zhao, please go ahead."
"There was an old lady who kept eating fruit with her grandson in the fruit section. I went up to ask her and found out that she was a family member of one of our company employees."
Store Manager Wei broke out in a cold sweat. "This old lady, why are you here again like a starving ghost?" he cursed inwardly. The most important thing right now was not to let the boss misunderstand.
"Really? That's outrageous! Don't worry, Mr. Zhao, I'll go out and handle this right away," he said righteously.
"No, as far as I know, this isn't the first time this has happened, is it? Manager Wei, are you sure you haven't known all this time?"
Oh no, how did General Manager Zhao know all this? Store Manager Wei's mind immediately went blank. "This, this..."
"Do you still remember what I said when I handed the supermarket over to you to manage?" Zhao Qinglan said coldly.
Although Manager Wei wasn't in charge when the supermarket first opened, she had met with him when he took over. It hasn't been long, and this kind of thing happened in the supermarket. She saw it with her own eyes. What happened when she didn't know?
"Remember, remember."
"Ha, I'm afraid you've already forgotten all about it," she sneered.
"Mr. Zhao, it's me."
Tell me, what are you afraid of Yuan Dali for?
Upon hearing Yuan Dali's name, Manager Wei's last shred of hope vanished.
"Mr. Zhao, I'm sorry, I've let you down. But I have my reasons. Yuan Dali is in charge of procurement and supply. Which of us supermarket managers doesn't have to fawn over him?"
"So you even have to support her mother? Does he pay your salaries or does the company?" Zhao Qinglan was furious.
Now, she feels the problem is getting more and more serious; it seems that many people won't be able to have a good time at today's annual meeting.
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