Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 184 To destroy a person, first make them mad!
"Actually, you don't need to do much. Just relax and let Fan Jinyou do whatever he wants. When he ruins the tavern, causes serious losses, and the public-private partnership fails, then you can fight back. Even if Director Li comes, he won't have anything to say."

Upon hearing Li Hongbing's idea, Xu Huizhen hesitated and said, "But... if we let Fan Jinyou act recklessly, the tavern's reputation will be ruined, and doing this..."

The tavern was her life's work, and Xu Huizhen couldn't bear to see Fan Jinyou mess it up, or even watch him ruin it.

Moreover, in her view, doing so would seem like deliberately setting a trap for Fan Jinyou, which would be somewhat unethical.

“Xu Huizhen, whatever Fan Jinyou does is his own personal behavior. No one forced him to run the Huang Xiaojiu Bar.”

“What you care about is the tavern’s business and reputation, while Fan Jinyou cares about his own political achievements and how to complete the tasks assigned to him by his superiors. These two things seem to have no conflict, but their positions are different. However, Fan Jinyou is a typical layman. Letting a layman instruct an expert, and doing things his own way, do you think there can be any good results?”

"And do you really think that he did all this just to complete the task of public-private partnership?"

“People like him are parasites in the team. They have a little power and they think about how to make things difficult for others. The more power they have, the more destructive they are.”

"No destruction, no construction. Even if the tavern goes out of business once, I believe that with your abilities, as long as Fan Jinyou doesn't cause trouble, it shouldn't be a problem."

"To be merciful to the enemy is to be cruel to oneself."

"How exactly to do it is entirely up to you; I'm just giving you a suggestion."

"..."

In fact, whether Xu Huizhen is willing or not, what is destined to happen will still happen; it's just a matter of whether she participates actively or passively.

If Fan Jinyou hadn't caused trouble and sabotaged things, Xu Huizhen wouldn't have had a conflict with him after only two days of the public-private partnership.

As for Xu Huizhen, to put it nicely, she is kind and tolerant; to put it bluntly, she is somewhat of a saint.

In the original drama, Fan Jinyou, while serving as the manager of the company, made things difficult for Xu Huizhen in every way. After being dismissed, in order to get revenge on Xu Huizhen, Fan Jinyou even falsely accused her of embezzlement and wanted to put her in prison. However, Xu Huizhen was able to repay evil with kindness and helped him through difficulties many times.

Even during difficult times, Xu Huizhen was able to actively or tacitly allow Cai Quanwu to provide assistance to He Yongqiang and Xu Huizhi, and later helped them raise their children and plan for their future.

Such virtue and magnanimity are things that Li Hongbing could not do, nor did he admire.

Li Hongbing couldn't understand why, despite their deep-seated hatred, it was as if they had done Xu Huizhen some great favor.

Having said all he could say, Li Hongbing didn't bother to say anything more.

In any case, Xu Huizhen is the one suffering the most right now. If, even at this point, she still thinks about peaceful coexistence with Fan Jinyou and about reasoning with him, reality will teach her a lesson.

……

The next night.

When the tavern closed for the day, Fan Jinyou gathered everyone together.

"Everyone, don't rush off, I have something to say."

Seeing that everyone had obediently come over, except for Xu Huizhen who was dawdling at the counter, Fan Jinyou felt dissatisfied and said in a deep voice, "Xu Huizhen, come here and tell me your problem first."

"Manager Fan, just say what you want to say, I can hear you here."

Xu Huizhen looked up at Fan Jinyou and said calmly.

"Xu Huizhen, I've noticed something's wrong with your attitude. This is a staff meeting; don't you know how to respect your superiors? Also, there are so many guests today; what are you standing there for? Don't you know how to help Yumei serve the dishes?"

Fan Jinyou, who had long disliked Xu Huizhen, seized the opportunity and began to cause trouble for her.

Leaving aside past grievances, after the tavern became a joint public-private enterprise, he became the public manager, but Xu Huizhen showed him no respect whatsoever and always contradicted him, which made Fan Jinyou very unhappy.

Faced with Fan Jinyou's accusations, Xu Huizhen immediately retorted, "Manager Fan, Yu Mei is a waitress, serving dishes is her job. I am the private manager, responsible for the operation and management of the tavern. If I do her job, what will she do?"

"Xu Huizhen, I've noticed that you people, remnants of the old society, used to live off others without working and are used to cheating and swindling. Do you know why I'm here?"

At this point, Fan Jinyou paused, then sneered at Xu Huizhen, "Are you really confused, or are you pretending? I am now the director of socialism, and you are the manager of capitalism. I am here to supervise your learning and progress. You must recognize your position and not have old capitalist ideas, thinking about exploitation and reaping the benefits all day long. Participating in labor is the first step for your improvement."

"You want to take back my management rights?"

Xu Huizhen was furious, but remembering what Li Hongbing had said last night, she forced herself to hold back and asked Fan Jinyou, "Um, excuse me, Manager Fan, I wanted to ask you something?"

"its me?"

Seeing Xu Huizhen's angry but not daring to speak out, Fan Jinyou was not worried about pushing her too far. Instead, he said with some pride, "I'm the leader, I lead the whole situation!"
By the way, regarding how you address me, please stop calling me "manager" and just call me Director Fan.

"I'm a government employee, a public manager assigned from above to work at the grassroots level and oversee the operation of this small tavern. I need to distinguish myself from Xu Huizhen, the private manager."

Looking at Fan Jinyou's arrogant and smug demeanor, Xu Huizhen realized that Li Hongbing's assessment of him was absolutely correct.

People like Fan Jinyou.

And at the same time.

Noticing Xu Huizhen's silence, and that she didn't even dare to "raise" a protest, Fan Jinyou felt satisfied and extremely relieved.

That night, Xu Huizhen publicly told him to leave in front of so many people, and even demanded payment for his drinks in front of everyone, making him lose face. He still remembers that incident.

As for Chen Xueru and Li Hongbing, ever since he was warned and ordered to reflect on his actions by Director Li, he dares not easily harbor any thoughts about them now.

More or less, Fan Jinyou has already figured some things out. There might be a deeper relationship between Chen Xueru and Li Hongbing.

Otherwise, since he had already personally appointed him as the general manager of the silk shop, Director Li would not have made such a big fuss over such a trivial matter, and then turned around and dismissed himself after the appointment had already been announced.

Moreover, after he reflected on his actions, he took the initiative to ask to become the general manager of the tavern in order to improve his performance. Director Li not only did not refuse, but also supported him and encouraged him. It was clear that he had not "fallen out of favor".

Chen Xueru's situation is not complicated. After all, it's just the Chen family now, mother and daughter. It's estimated that their relationship is quite special because of Li Hongbing, the senior cook.

In the culinary world, Li Hongbing is now considered a prominent figure, and his mentor, Guo Youzhong, is even more remarkable.

Chefs of Guo Youzhong's caliber are frequently invited to cook for important private banquets and government receptions, as well as for high-ranking officials. It's not uncommon for them to know high-ranking officials in private.

Don't underestimate him just because he cooks for high-ranking officials. The fact that he has access to people of that level means he could easily find an opportunity to complain about someone, or even say a few bad things about them, could have consequences he couldn't handle. And it wouldn't just be him; even if Director Li came, the outcome would be the same.

As for Xu Huizhen and the tavern, Fan Jinyou was not afraid at all. After all, her husband had run away, her father-in-law had died, and her parents at her maternal home had long passed away. She was also from a rural area. Where would she get any connections or background? She was just an ordinary commoner and a small business owner.

Several days passed, and Xu Huizhen thought that Fan Jinyou had taken away her management rights and made her serve dishes and drinks in the tavern, so he would stop targeting her. But she was wrong.

Because her daughter was only a month old and needed constant care, which was a bit of a hassle, Xu Huizhen took advantage of the fact that her home was not far from the tavern to go back and check on her daughter when the tavern was not busy, and breastfeed her. As a result, Fan Jinyou seized the opportunity and started recording her absences from work.

Even if Xu Huizhen brought her daughter to the tavern and left her in the backyard, checking on her from time to time without interfering with the tavern's business, it would still be the same.

"Xu Huizhen, they just did the math, and you've been late and left early far too many times these past few days. Even if they deducted all your wages, it wouldn't be enough..."

That day, when the tavern was taking a break, Fan Jinyou called Xu Huizhen over again.

"So you're saying they're going to deduct my dividends?"

Xu Huizhen quietly watched Fan Jinyou, never expecting that not only did he cancel her operating rights in the tavern, but he also planned to take her dividends.

The dividends I received from the tavern were clearly stated in black and white in the original joint venture agreement. How dare Fan Jinyou even try to take advantage of that? He's utterly lawless.

As for why, Xu Huizhen knew the reason; the so-called absence from work was just an excuse.

After Fan Jinyou's recent reckless actions, the tavern's business, though not yet closed, is practically doomed.

Some time ago, the task of getting the liquor delivered to the tavern was taken over by Chef Ma, and the good liquor that was supposed to be delivered turned into fake liquor that was diluted with water.

This diluted liquor was completely different from the liquor Old Man He had mixed up before. In addition, the price wasn't lowered; it was sold at the original price of genuine liquor. As a result, the tavern's reputation and business began to plummet, becoming increasingly bleak.

Normally, Xu Hui would never tolerate such things, especially things that damage the reputation of a small tavern and involve swindling and cheating. However, because of Li Hongbing, she could only force herself to turn a blind eye.

Fan Jinyou's forced conversion of the tavern into a restaurant didn't attract many customers. After all, this was Qianmen Street, and there were plenty of restaurants and eateries nearby. Moreover, Master Ma's cooking skills weren't very good; they were only slightly better than those of a newly graduated apprentice.

They have absolutely no competitive edge!

If you set a high price, no one will buy it.

Fan Jinyou set a low-price strategy to benefit the people. With profits already low, the addition of labor costs for six people in the store resulted in losses so high that even his grandmother wouldn't recognize him.

The small tavern, which had its own unique characteristics and customer base before the public-private partnership, was completely destroyed by Fan Jinyou.

Xu Huizhen did the math herself. With the continuous losses, the tavern's accounts were already running at a loss. After the public-private partnership, the tavern not only failed to make a profit, but actually lost money.

Fan Jinyou was so eager to deduct his own salary and dividends that he clearly intended to use them to fill this hole.

What do you think?

Regardless of the circumstances, Fan Jinyou is determined to withhold Xu Huizhen's salary and dividends.

There's a ready-made reason, so why not use it? Even if the higher-ups investigate, I can explain it myself.

It's all because Xu Huizhen is always late and leaves early.

If it's the end of the month, it's easy for me and Xu Hui to talk to each other, but if the four employees he hired don't get their wages, they'll cause trouble for him.

If Director Li finds out, not only will I not get any political achievements, but I might also be criticized or even punished.

Xu Huizhen had been too docile lately, and even "didn't dare" to "oppose" him, so Fan Jinyou's ego had swelled up, and he became somewhat fearless.

After all, he was a cadre, a public servant, while Xu Huizhen was just a small business owner with backward capitalist ideas.

"Fan Jinyou, I regret it now. Why did I agree to this public-private partnership with you? I'm so regretful!"

Seeing that Fan Jinyou was pushing his luck time and time again, and that he was going to never stop, Xu Huizhen lost her temper this time and didn't give him a kind look.

"Xu Huizhen!"

Upon hearing Xu Huizhen's words, Fan Jinyou's expression immediately changed.

"Alright, alright, do whatever you want!"

Xu Huizhen was well aware of Fan Jinyou's intentions when she discovered he could say such serious things. However, she didn't fall for it and directly declared and emphasized: "Fan Jinyou, I support the Communist Party. The Communist Party does good things for us ordinary people. I oppose you. The street office is really blind to send someone as incompetent as you to run the business."

"Just because of your attitude, I'm marking you absent from work tomorrow too."

In front of the other employees in the store, Xu Huizhen dared to contradict him again. Feeling embarrassed, Fan Jinyou directly threatened her.

"Just write it down, just write it down."

Fan Jinyou had been marking Xu Huizhen as absent from work every day with excuses for not doing so, and this wasn't the first or second time. Xu Huizhen was already used to it. Moreover, Fan Jinyou had deducted all of her salary for the month and even wanted to deduct his own dividends. At the height of her anger, Xu Huizhen decided to give up completely.

"Accountant Zhao, make this up: Xu Huizhen will be absent from work tomorrow!"

Seeing Xu Huizhen leave in a huff, Fan Jinyou immediately put into practice the "promise" he had just made.

Looking at Fan Jinyou, who was still angry, Accountant Zhao hesitated and asked, "Director Fan, is it really true?"

Fan Jinyou is indeed the public sector manager, but Xu Huizhen is also the private sector manager. Even Zhao, the accountant who was initially recruited by Fan Jinyou, felt that Fan Jinyou's repeated targeting of Xu Huizhen was going too far.

"Director Fan, with this record of constant absences, Manager Xu can forget about getting his salary this month..."

Seeing this, He Yumei, a waitress standing nearby, couldn't help but speak up for Xu Huizhen.

"This month?"

Upon hearing He Yumei's words, Fan Jinyou sneered disdainfully and declared on the spot, "If she continues with this attitude, she can forget about getting anything next month either. I, Fan Jinyou, am telling you!"

(End of this chapter)