The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 268: Chapter 268: Drawing a Big Pie

The employment contract only had a start date, but no end date.

Ji Huan had originally considered making the terms more humane.

For instance, she could set the contract term for three years. Once the three years were up, they could renew it if both parties agreed.

But after careful consideration, she dismissed the idea.

The market lacked proper regulatory systems. Other than the appeal of a salary, this employment contract was the only thing holding employees accountable.

If the contract was only for three years, granting more freedom and options, some employees would inevitably get restless.

Once they learned the trade, they might get ideas about starting their own business. And that wasn’t even the worst part.

The worst-case scenario was a competitor poaching her people—especially core members—the moment their contracts were up. If that happened, she would truly be shooting herself in the foot.

So after much thought, she decided to just be vague about the contract’s term.

Although it wasn’t a foolproof plan, it at least had a deterrent effect on the employees.

If an employee proposed to resign for a reasonable cause, she would definitely agree.

But if someone really betrayed her, then the indefinite term would serve as a trump card.

Personally, Ji Huan had great faith in the character of the siblings, Ji Xuelan and Ji Mingfang. However, subjective feelings were ultimately less reassuring than objective standards.

Moreover, treating everyone equally couldn’t just be lip service. Ji Mingfang had a point: business was business, and personal was personal. Regardless of how close they were, anyone who wanted to work in her workshop had to follow her rules. Now was not the time for special treatment.

"Any other questions?"

Ji Mingfang said, "No questions."

Ji Xuelan shook her head. "I don’t have any questions either."

Ji Huan smacked her forehead. "You two might not, but I have something to add."

Under their confused gazes, Ji Huan flipped the contract to the second-to-last page.

"I haven’t told you about the specific working hours and salary yet.

Here’s the deal: the salary will be calculated daily. It’s twenty cents a day, paid before the tenth of each month.

Of course, this amount isn’t set in stone.

Once the business gets going, there will be raises. And if business is booming, year-end dividends, two-day weekends, paid leave—all these benefits will follow.

If one day our business truly expands across the country, as founding employees, the value of the shares you hold, the personal wealth it represents, will be immeasurable."

Ji Huan then explained to them what two-day weekends and paid leave were, as well as what shares and dividends were.

Of course, none of this was achievable in the short term, so her words sounded suspiciously like she was just making grand promises.

But at least her intentions were sincere. If that day ever came, she would absolutely keep her word.

Besides, talking only about rules and regulations was too discouraging. You had to give people something sweet to look forward to, didn’t you?

Her approach to management was to be strict first, then generous.

However, for Ji Xuelan and Ji Mingfang, they didn’t dare to think about long-term prospects. They didn’t even dare to accept the sweet deal of twenty cents a day.

"Wan, twe-twenty cents? That’s too much. No, it’s way too much..."

Ji Xuelan and Ji Mingfang shook their heads in unison.

Ji Liansong worked at the brick kiln, exhausted from morning till night, and didn’t even make twenty cents a day.

They were Ji Huan’s relatives, and they already felt awkward taking any money at all. To take so much was simply too shameless.

"Don’t be so quick to refuse. Hear me out first.

I’m not giving you this money for free. In the early days of the workshop, we’ll have nothing. Building it from the ground up will be the hardest time.

I’m grateful that you’re willing to endure this hardship with me, but I also have to be honest with you. Harvesting is just the first step. There will be many other areas that require your effort, and the level of exhaustion might exceed your imagination...

If you refuse, does that mean you’re unwilling to endure this hardship with me?"

With Ji Huan putting it like that, Ji Xuelan found it truly difficult to refuse again.

She could only promise repeatedly that she wasn’t afraid of any hardship or exhaustion. From now on, she would dedicate herself wholeheartedly to the workshop and do whatever Ji Huan asked of her.

Ji Mingfang, however, hesitated. After a long silence, he said with a downcast expression, "How about... you cut my wages in half?"

Ji Huan knew what he was referring to, but she feigned ignorance.

"Why half?"

Ji Mingfang’s hands, resting on his knees, slowly tightened. "My leg... in the fields... I might not be able to do as much, or as fast, as others."

Though it was difficult, he had finally said it.

Ji Huan smiled. "Who said I was sending you to the fields? We have more than one type of job. I have other arrangements for you."

Ji Mingfang didn’t believe her.

He felt that Ji Huan wasn’t sending him to the fields because she pitied him. She was just bringing him along out of pity, but she didn’t actually need him.

In an instant, feelings of shame and helplessness washed over him again.

He slowly reached out and pushed the contract back.

But he had only pushed it halfway when Ji Huan pressed her hand down on it.

"Cousin, I don’t lie. The jobs are different, but they are all equally important. It’s the same principle as some people being good at writing while others are good at painting, or some being skilled in scholarly arts while others excel in martial arts. I won’t give you special treatment just because of your leg, and you shouldn’t sell yourself short. If you don’t do the job I assign you well, I’ll dock your pay just the same."

Ji Xuelan was startled. Her first reaction was to look at Ji Mingfang’s expression.

She knew better than anyone how sensitive Ji Mingfang was about his disability. When their family spoke to him, they always avoided certain words.

Now that Ji Huan had laid it all out in the open, she was worried Ming Fang wouldn’t be able to take it.

Unexpectedly, after the stunned look on Ji Mingfang’s face faded, he actually smiled.

He smiled.

"Alright. I’ll sign, too."

Ji Huan nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. Don’t think I’ll thank you for saving me money by cutting your wages in half. I’ll just think you’re trying to slack off."

This bit of banter instantly dissipated the tense atmosphere from before.

Ji Xuelan also let out a long sigh of relief.

With the necessary discussions out of the way, the remaining process was much simpler.

Ji Xuelan’s and Ji Mingfang’s contracts were separate. Both were in duplicate—they kept one copy, and Ji Huan kept the other.

Ji Huan had already signed her name on every copy beforehand.

Ji Mingfang could just about write his own name, but his handwriting was... a little hard to read.

Ji Xuelan, on the other hand, just used her thumbprint.

Ji Huan had once been curious. Ancient times didn’t have fingerprint recognition devices, so why were people always asked to sign with a fingerprint? What was the use? If they denied it later, wasn’t there nothing you could do?

She had even specifically looked it up and later learned from a book called *A History of Fingerprinting* that China was actually the first country in the world to invent and use fingerprint identification technology. The first person to use fingerprint analysis was a Tang Dynasty scholar named Jia Gongyan.

Back then, identification was naturally all done by the naked eye. Besides placing fingerprints side-by-side to carefully compare the patterns, they could also overlap two prints and use backlighting to differentiate them. Furthermore, they could divide the fingerprint into sections and compare them piece by piece.

It really went to show that the wisdom of the ancients should not be underestimated.

While Ji Huan was lost in thought, Ji Mingfang and Ji Xuelan had already signed their respective contracts.

Ji Huan collected a copy from each of them and shook their hands. "Welcome to Baiwei Square!"

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