Docking Wages

"That's not what I mean. Since you don't have time, let's both take a step back." The proprietress was confident of success. She instructed the owner, "Let's put some food in the corners. That should draw out a few cockroaches so this young man can see them for himself!"

The owner looked utterly bewildered. Were cockroaches that easy to lure out?

Still, seeing how confident his wife looked, he put on an act and said, "Right, lure them out with food!"

He actually chopped up some meat and put it in the corners. Then he glanced at his wife, signaling to ask what he should do next.

The proprietress made a show of inspecting everything before saying, "The bait is in place. Everyone, come outside with us, so we don't scare the cockroaches into hiding."

With that, everyone was ushered outside again.

Jiang Yiming naturally didn't believe their nonsense. He watched coldly from the sidelines, paying close attention to their movements.

Sure enough, while everyone was talking among themselves, the owner and proprietress slipped away and climbed the ladder to a room upstairs.

They didn't know that Jiang Yiming had already sent Ghost Face after them.

Having used the Human-Gu Connection Potion, he shared the Ghost Face Spider Gu's vision!

After the two went upstairs, the proprietress rummaged through a cabinet, pulled out a black plastic bag, and shoved it into the owner's hand, saying something as she did.

Then the two looked at each other and smiled, their smiles so sinister!

Before long, the two came back downstairs.

The proprietress returned to the kitchen door and called out, "The cockroaches inside should have been lured out by now. Everyone, come back in with me and take a look."

As she spoke, she glanced at Jiang Yiming and thought, Good thing I kept a trick up my sleeve and bought some extra cockroaches. Otherwise, I'd have lost money this time.

The owner was just about to open the door.

None of the employees present knew what medicine he was selling in his gourd.

But Jiang Yiming had seen everything just now! He absolutely couldn't let the owner go in like this!

"Wait! Boss, isn't it a little too soon to go in?" He stepped forward and stopped the owner.

"It's not that soon, heh heh. It should be about time," the owner said with a smile.

"What if we go in this time and there still aren't any cockroaches?" Jiang Yiming asked.

The owner's expression changed. "If we go in this time and there still aren't any cockroaches, that means you're very skilled. From now on, I'll never give you trouble again!"

As he saw it, there was no way he could lose. He had a bag of cockroaches in his pocket. Once he got inside, he could find a chance to dump them on the floor, and there would be cockroaches, wouldn't there? How could he possibly lose?!

Just as he was about to open the door, Jiang Yiming moved. He darted forward and grabbed the owner's wrist.

"You! What are you doing? Afraid there are cockroaches inside, so you don't dare go in?" The owner's eyes went wide.

"Heh, I am a little scared," Jiang Yiming said with a smile. "But I'm not scared of going in. I'm scared the cockroaches in your pocket will suffocate!"

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly struck, too fast for thunder to reach the ears, and snatched a black plastic bag from the right pocket of the owner's clothes!

He opened it, and the bag was full of cockroaches!

"Boss! These cockroaches are covered in germs. Aren't you afraid they'll get on you?" Jiang Yiming asked with a smile, shaking the bag.

"This..."

The owner was struck speechless. He hadn't expected the other man to know not only that he had cockroaches on him, but exactly where he'd hidden them!

At the crucial moment, the proprietress came to his rescue. "Those are cockroaches the owner caught in the kitchen last night. He just forgot to throw them away."

Shameless, utterly shameless!

Jiang Yiming naturally wouldn't let him bluff his way through. "Your word alone isn't proof. Perhaps the owner paid for these cockroaches?"

"There's no need for us to trade clever words or waste everyone's time."

"Let's do as the owner himself said and go into the kitchen for a look. If there are cockroaches, I'll pay up. If there aren't, I'll leave, and neither of you can give me trouble again!"

The owner felt bitter inside.

With the cockroaches all in the other man's hands, what the hell was the point of going in? Wouldn't he just be asking to humiliate himself?

But things had come this far, so he could only grit his teeth and open the door.

As expected, the kitchen was spotless. There wasn't half a cockroach in sight.

After looking around, Jiang Yiming deliberately asked, "Still no cockroaches. Can I leave?"

The owner's face was livid, and he said nothing.

The proprietress, on the other hand, flushed bright red. Unable to restrain herself, she grabbed the owner by the ear and roared, "That's what you get for letting lust cloud your mind! You were bewitched by that vixen and wasted a thousand yuan hiring this kid to get rid of cockroaches! Our restaurant is so clean. Do we need to get rid of cockroaches?!"

With no cockroaches to be found, she had lost a thousand yuan in one stroke, and a fire burned in her belly.

On the surface, she was venting all her anger on the owner. In truth, anyone with a little sense knew she was pointing at the mulberry tree while cursing the locust!

Everyone knew that Sun Qin was the one who had recommended Jiang Yiming.

"Ma'am! If you have something to say, say it clearly. Stop making those snide remarks!" Sun Qin couldn't take it anymore.

"Oh! You've jumped out on your own?" the proprietress said with a smile. "I never said you were a vixen, so don't go assigning yourself the part!"

"You!"

Sun Qin was no match for her with words. In her anger, she blurted out, "I quit. I'm resigning right now!"

"Fine!" The proprietress was no pushover either. "You're quitting without notice! That will affect my takings. I can let you go, but I also have the right to deduct part of your wages!"

"Deduct whatever you want. Just settle my wages right now!" Sun Qin only wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

In fact, this wasn't the first time her wages had been docked while working away from home. Owners always had all sorts of reasons to short her pay. She had once tried to fight for the wages she was owed, but unfortunately, it came to nothing.

Docking wages was the proprietress's favorite thing to do. Since the other woman was lying flat and letting her do it, she naturally wouldn't hold back!

"Let me work it out properly for you!"

"On the eleventh, you went to the bathroom more than three times. According to the rules, that's a twenty-yuan deduction!"

"Who made that rule? I had diarrhea that day. I asked you for time off, but you refused!" Sun Qin looked aggrieved.

"I made it!" the proprietress continued. "Speaking of time off, you took a day off this month but didn't write a leave request. That's thirty yuan off!"

"I... I wrote one!"

"I didn't receive it! I'll treat it as if you didn't write one!" The proprietress said it as if it were true.

There was no copy of the leave request, so even if she had received it and claimed she hadn't, no one could do anything to her.

"And another thing! You didn't clock in for two days, so those count as absences! That's three days' wages deducted."

"My time card was broken those two days. Didn't the owner say he'd fix my time records and count them as normal workdays?"

The mention of the owner made the proprietress even angrier!

"He doesn't get to decide here. I do!"

After one deduction after another, Jiang Yiming was astonished to discover that after working for a month, Sun Qin actually owed the restaurant two hundred yuan.

It completely overturned his view of the world!

Sun Qin was dumbfounded too. She knew the proprietress was deliberately getting back at her, but she didn't know how to fight back.

Having profited, the proprietress still played the benefactor. She smiled and said, "Since you've worked here for so long, I'll waive the two hundred yuan you owe the restaurant."