The sixth of July, a Monday.
Nine o’clock every Monday morning was when the Youwei garment factory held its weekly meeting.
Ordinarily Pei Youwei chaired it, and the people attending were basically the Taobao team, plus Factory Manager Cao and the two workshop supervisors.
Today was different. Today a great many of the workers from downstairs had been called up as well, and another chair had been added at the very front beside Pei Youwei’s. Everyone knew whose chair it was, since the notice had gone up at the factory entrance the day before.
When Xu Ye came into the meeting room it was a din inside. He didn’t say anything about it — he simply sat down beside Pei Youwei as though it were the most natural thing, and only once he was seated did the staff gradually quiet down.
Before the meeting began, Pei Youwei brought up Xu Ye’s appointment as general manager once again, and then handed the running of the meeting straight over to him.
Pei Youwei was very curious about how Xu Ye was going to deal with Factory Manager Cao’s application for a raise.
What she didn’t know, though, was that Xu Ye had no intention of solving only that one thing today. In a month he would be going back to Shanghai, and if he only solved the factory’s current problems on the surface, then new ones would appear the moment he left — and by then Pei Youwei, a woman on her own, certainly wouldn’t be able to solve them.
So the problem had to be solved at the root.
Xu Ye said with a smile, “There are two things I mainly want to talk about today, and both of them concern every one of you here, which is why everybody has been called up.”
He came straight out with it. “Those two things are reform of the factory’s system and the question of pay and benefits. I’ll take them together. As you all know, our factory was only set up at the start of this year. The scale was small to begin with, so management has been very loose. Given that there are more and more people here, going on managing by the old methods is certainly going to hold the factory’s development back.”
At that point Xu Ye paused deliberately and studied the expressions of the several people sitting beside him.
Only then did he go on. “So I’m making the following adjustments to the factory now.”
“First. Factory Manager Cao Bin remains factory manager, responsible for every matter inside the factory.”
Cao Bin heard that and let out a breath of relief.
“Second. The former workshop supervisors, Tan Peng and Wang Wei, are promoted to deputy factory managers, to assist Factory Manager Cao in handling the factory’s affairs.”
The moment that was said.
Something clenched in Cao Bin’s chest again, hard.
Tan Peng and Wang Wei, meanwhile, hadn’t remotely expected to be promoted, and just then they were both overjoyed.
“The production workshop is now reorganized into six groups, with a group leader added for each one. I’ve already settled who the six group leaders will be — they are Wang-jie, Zhou-jie, Xiaolan-jie, Axiu-jie, Chen-jie and Luo-jie.”
“Factory Manager Cao and the two deputy factory managers — from today, you are each responsible for two groups. Director Pei and I will rank the performance of the three of you and your groups every month, on a combined basis, according to what after-sales reports back. The top two each month will receive an extra bonus of a thousand yuan or five hundred yuan respectively.”
“Also, our company gives a break every two weeks. Those scheduled days off don’t count against attendance, and any employee with full attendance will get an extra two hundred yuan attendance bonus every month from now on.”
“And every year at the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival and Spring Festival, the factory will hand out some extra benefits.”
“Everything I’ve said takes effect from today. Does anybody have any questions?”
Everything Xu Ye had said.
On the face of it, it looked good for everybody.
But… in fact it did serious damage to Factory Manager Cao’s interests.
Everything at the factory had been his sole responsibility before, and now that the two production workshop supervisors, Tan Peng and Wang Wei, had been promoted to deputy factory managers, it amounted to stripping the power out of his hands by indirect means.
And he couldn’t find any grounds to say a word about it. He was on good terms with Tan Peng and Wang Wei, and he could hardly, in front of this many people, tell Xu Ye not to promote the two of them.
This move was borrowed from the first open stratagem in history: the Decree of Grace. [TL: 阳谋 — an “open stratagem” — is a plan that works even when its target sees exactly what it is doing, as against 阴谋, a covert plot. Emperor Wu of Han’s Decree of Grace (127 BCE) required feudal lords to divide their territories among all their sons instead of passing them intact to the eldest. The lords could see precisely what it would do to them and had no grounds on which to refuse it.]
And the bonus scheme Xu Ye described afterward was equally an open stratagem: a factory manager and two deputies each leading two groups, rewarded according to their performance — with only two of the three able to take the reward.
This move was borrowed from the famous Warring States episode of “two peaches killing three warriors”! [TL: three warriors were given two peaches to divide among themselves by merit; the resulting contest of claims killed all three. The story is traditionally set in the Spring and Autumn period rather than the Warring States.]
Before, you played games with me. From now on the three of you can play games with each other — and the fiercer the competition between you, the faster the factory develops.
Tan Peng, just promoted to deputy factory manager, asked with great enthusiasm, “Director Xu, may I ask what you meant just now by performance?”
Xu Ye smiled. “That’s judged on a number of indicators, but mainly shipment volume and quality. Quality problems show up through after-sales, and we’ll certainly make a combined judgment at the end.”
Seeing that nobody else was speaking, Xu Ye went on. “Also, as a matter of principle there is only one opportunity a year to apply for a raise, and that is when work resumes after Spring Festival. Employees resigning need to give a week’s notice, and management at least two weeks. Before the end of the month the factory will sign a new labor contract with all of you, so that you have protection and the factory has a record.”
“Director Pei, that’s everything I wanted to say. Is there anything you’d like to add?”
Pei Youwei went blank for a moment before she caught up. “We’ll do it as Director Xu says. If anybody has objections you can raise them now. If not, the meeting is adjourned.”
“Screech~”
A sound of chair legs dragging over the floor tiles went up around the meeting room, and everyone got to their feet one after another and left.
Seeing Cao Bin sitting in his chair without moving, Xu Ye even asked deliberately, “Factory Manager Cao. Was there something else?”
Cao Bin looked up at Xu Ye, and in the end still said, in a cold voice, that there wasn’t — then left the meeting room with a face like thunder.
Once Xu Ye had followed Pei Youwei back to her office, she immediately started clapping, beaming. “Just what I’d expect from you.”
“If Cao Bin comes to you on his own later, whatever he says to you, don’t pay him any attention. Push the matter over to me. You’re soft-hearted — I’ll do the part that makes enemies.”
“Mm.”
“And if he offers his resignation, don’t try to keep him either. I promoted two deputy factory managers precisely to let him know that we have plenty of options besides him. If he doesn’t behave himself, I can take him off at any time.”
“How did you pick those six group leaders?”
“Some of the six are good at the work and some are well liked. Make them group leaders and nobody underneath will be unwilling to accept it. Did you think I’d been wandering around the factory every day these last two days because I had nothing better to do?”
Pei Youwei stuck her thumb up and giggled. “Impressive, impressive. Have a like from me.”
…
“Ding-dong.”
“Ding-dong.”
At Red Leaf Estate, a doorbell suddenly went off inside the villa.
Jiang Meilin checked the time and thought it shouldn’t be Xu Ye coming over at this hour, so she walked over to the video doorbell and asked, “Who is it?”
“Hello, ma’am. Somebody just delivered a parcel. The recipient is your daughter’s name.”
“A parcel?”
Jiang Meilin turned her head and asked, “Qingqing, have you bought something online?”
Chen Qingqing was lying on the sofa. She shook her head. “No.”
Jiang Meilin heard that and went out into the yard anyway, opened the gate and took the parcel from the estate security guard. Once she had shut the gate again she came back to the living room, looked at the order details on the parcel and said, “Are you sure you haven’t bought anything? Your name’s written on it and the phone number’s right too.”
“I really haven’t.”
“Then I’m opening it.”
“Go ahead.”
Jiang Meilin ran the parcel knife lightly across it. Inside there was a packaging bag, and the bag was black, so there was no seeing what was in it — but it was very light to lift, and Jiang Meilin guessed it must be clothes. She pulled the bag open quickly and took out several thin garments.
Chen Qingqing was curious about what the parcel was too, and by now she had sat up on the sofa.
And when she saw Jiang Meilin lifting several three-point swimsuits out of the bag, Xu Ye’s wicked grinning face appeared in her mind at once.
“Ah!”
Chen Qingqing let out a shout, darted forward and snatched the bikinis, the three-piece sets and the school-style suits out of Jiang Meilin’s hands, then stuffed them straight back into the packaging bag, saying with a scarlet face, “It’s… it’s… it’s that guy who sent them! It has to be him!”
(End of Chapter 256)