Shen Danru was amused; this thief was truly brazen in his theft.
She raised her hand and slapped him twice.
The two covered their faces, glaring at Shen Danru: "Why, why did you hit them?"
"If you want to cause trouble here, don't be afraid of getting beaten up."
She looked down at the two of them and said, "Also, don't worry, since I dare to teach you how to do it, I'm not afraid of others imitating me."
"Qingtan, beat him up first, then take him to the village head and ask him how to handle the theft in the village. If the village head doesn't care, we'll go to the town to report it to the authorities."
Originally, Shen Danru thought it was just a few pounds of meat, and she could just send them away. She never expected that the thieves would start threatening her instead.
Upon hearing this, the two panicked. They thought that since the Shen family had severed ties with the Shen family and had no background, they would definitely not dare to offend the villagers. They never expected that they would actually dare.
"We'll settle the wages as you've said, we'll accept it."
"It's too late."
Shen Danru came out of the kitchen, and Qingtan dragged the two of them out. The two tried to escape, but they couldn't get away from Qingtan at all.
Qingtan didn't need anyone else to do anything. She gave each of them ten lashes, tied their hands, took the meat, and led the hired workers as witnesses to the village head.
This incident also reminded Shen Danru that, regardless of the size of the business, she should sign an employment contract, that is, a written contract, when hiring people.
Although the secret seasonings they use are obtained through the system, many of which are not available in this era, and they do things separately, like a modern assembly line, with each person handling one step to improve efficiency, they are not involved in other steps.
But she was also afraid of trouble. If everyone disgusted her like that, what business would she be able to run?
If they all sign confidentiality agreements, at least there's an agreement in place, and they won't dare to have any ulterior motives.
Thinking of this, Shen Danru went to Yu Yan's room, took out paper and pen, and began to draft an employment contract.
The village head also sent people over. Although he felt that stealing was shameful, considering that the two women had only stolen meat and had not stolen any other valuables, he did not want to alarm the government, so he punished them by making them parade around the village to teach them a lesson.
For a time, Da Gang's wife and Er Fu's wife became the talk of the village. Everyone who saw Da Gang and Er Fu would ask, "Did your wife bring you some meat?"
He was so ashamed he wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground. The thought of that woman stuffing meat into her crotch made him vomit repeatedly.
For several days in a row, the screams of women could be heard from Da Gang and Er Fu's houses.
With the incident involving Da Gang's wife and sister-in-law serving as a warning, the other employees knew they wouldn't be as narrow-minded as those two fools.
They worked for the Shen family, and not only were their wages high, but their work wasn't tiring either. They did laundry for people in town, working non-stop all day, and only earned twenty coins a day. The Shen family paid them more than double that. What more could they ask for?
The next day, when the hired workers finished their work and were about to leave, Qingtan called them all back.
"Ladies and aunties, please don't leave yet. My young lady has something to say."
Everyone stopped in their tracks, looking at each other. They all knew that the young lady Qingtan was referring to was Shen Danru, and they were all unsure of what she was going to say.
They didn't steal any meat.
When they saw Shen Danru come out with a stack of papers, they were all curious about what was written on them.
Shen Danru quickly cleared up their doubts and instructed Qingtan to read the confidentiality agreement.
Upon hearing that the document stated the leaker would have to pay one hundred taels of silver in compensation, everyone hesitated and dared not sign.
Instead, Aunt Zhang pressed her fingerprint on the document without saying a word.
Qingtan said, "Those who do not accept this can choose to leave."
Seeing that everyone was standing still, neither signing the contract nor willing to give up their daily wages of fifty coins, Aunt Zhang advised them:
“Listen to me, there’s nothing to be afraid of with this contract. As long as we stay true to our conscience, keep our mouths shut, do our jobs well for our employers, and they pay us on time, and we don’t talk about what our employers do when we go out, we’ll be fine.”
Seeing what Old Zhang's wife said, everyone thought about it and agreed. Even if they didn't sign the contract, they shouldn't have revealed the employer's affairs. It was a matter of basic human conscience.
It's just a contract that's been signed. What's there to be afraid of? As long as they keep their mouths shut, they can easily earn fifty coins a day.
Since they got this job, their in-laws have treated them much better, and even their husbands have started to care about them. They can't be like those two fools, Da Gang's wife and Er Fu's wife, who gave up their jobs.
Thinking of this, they all stepped forward and pressed their fingerprints on the document.
"Aunt Zhang, from now on you'll be Manager Zhang. You won't have to do any work. Just teach the people who come how to do the work. Your monthly wage is three taels of silver. How about that?"
Aunt Zhang thought she had misheard: "What?"
Shen Danru smiled and said, "Aunt Zhang, once our workshop is built, we'll definitely expand it and hire more people. Would you be willing to help your niece out by being a manager? You can manage the people and won't have to do any work."
This can be considered as repaying Aunt Zhang for the kindness she showed to the Shen family back then.
"Cough~cough~cough~three taels of silver..." Aunt Zhang was so shocked that she almost choked on her own saliva.
Shen Danru confirmed, "Yes, three taels of silver."
Aunt Zhang waved her hands repeatedly: "No, no, I won't do this job. I don't want to do any work and get paid for nothing."
The people around her were initially looking at Zhang's daughter-in-law with envy, but when they heard that she had refused, they were all furious. Why didn't they get such a good thing?
Shen Danru: "Aunt Zhang, this isn't like you're getting paid for nothing. You did the work I did, so isn't it only right that you get my share of the wages?"
"That can't be too much."
Shen Danru patted her hand: "It's not much. I'll have to trouble you to take care of things from now on, Auntie."
She paused for a moment and then said to everyone, "In addition, when the workshop expands in the future, you will be the first batch of people to work with the Shen family. You will all have the opportunity to become managers. As long as you work hard, the Shen family will definitely not treat you unfairly."
When everyone heard that they all had the opportunity to be managers, their hearts pounded with excitement. Getting paid for nothing—what a great thing!
These three taels of silver were their usual annual income.
They secretly thought that they should do more work so that their employer could see their performance.
"Qingtan, give everyone two jin of meat and a fish."
Qingtan took out the perks she had prepared for today and distributed them to everyone: two pounds of braised pork and a fat fish.
Although they worked for the Shen family and earned fifty coins a day, they couldn't bear to buy even a pound of food.
Every time the braised meat comes out of the pot, they can't resist the temptation, and now they can finally satisfy their cravings.
"Everyone, please disperse."
Upon hearing that they could leave, everyone picked up their meat and fish and strode out.
Great, now I can show off to my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law again.
With that thought in mind, they held their heads high, smiles on their faces, and walked with firm and energetic steps. As soon as they entered the gate, they called out, "Mom, I'm back! Is dinner ready?"
Working for the Shen family meant they held a high status at home; they didn't even have to lift a finger when they got home, and the food would be served to them.
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