Chapter 167

Xie Jin sat at the table and looked Shen Lantang in the eye. He spoke one word at a time. "I tried."

"...Ahem. I drank too much." Shen Lantang got out of bed.

After washing up, Shen Lantang felt refreshed, her wits back at their sharpest.

"I'm heading out!"

"Mm. Come back early."

With so little time, she had to make every day count. She had spent the past few days setting a trap aimed squarely at the shop managers.

Shen Lantang firmly believed that people only stirred up trouble when they had too much time on their hands. That was when they started scheming and plotting against one another. Give them something to do, and they would have no time for it.

Shen Lantang worked with the senior stewards to draw up an assessment based on the daily performance of the Cloth Shop and store workers. Those who passed with excellent results would receive rewards or even promotions; those who failed would lose pay and bonuses. The measure was almost entirely a hurdle for middle management. Ordinary workers only had to work diligently to pass, so they had no complaints. With bonuses on offer, they stood to benefit.

Most of the managers the shopkeepers had bought off had long since grown lax in their work. Naturally, they would struggle to meet the standard. To avoid losing money, they would have to find ways to improve or try to overturn the measure. Either way, it would keep them busy for a while.

Diverting the shopkeepers' and managers' attention was only one part of it. In the long run, these measures were meant to win over the rank-and-file workers and pull them away from the shopkeepers. Those shopkeepers treated their own people well and made sure they profited, but little of