156: Chapter 156 I can't stand this grievance at all

With money in hand, in order to achieve this uniformity, Chen Sheng hired a design director from a highly reputable renovation company to create an overall design plan for "A Small Shop Here."

Color palettes, color codes, styles...

He established these as a standard so that future branches could use this design as a template, combined with minor adjustments based on the actual location.

At the same time, he found a professional advertising agency to redesign the storefront and logos for "A Small Shop Here" on both sides, and hired a clothing design company to create the staff's summer uniforms, winter uniforms, aprons, and other work attire.

After completing the unified planning for the shops, Chen Sheng turned his energy to the supply chain, first conducting a review of existing suppliers.

Originally, when there was only one shop, the supplier was the boss, and the purchase price was determined by them; in the future, with multiple branches and increased order volume, the initiative naturally had to shift into his own hands.

Therefore, for those suppliers unwilling to lower prices, once he found alternative channels, Chen Sheng decisively kicked them out.

At the same time, Chen Sheng was also attempting to break into large-scale supplier channels.

However, the results were minimal.

With the presence of chain supermarket brands like Hongqi, Wu Dongfeng, and Meiyijia in Shu City, the scale of "A Small Shop Here" was completely insignificant.

To be honest, when Chen Sheng truly calmed down to analyze the supermarket or retail industry, he realized that the intensity of competition in this industry was comparable to hand-to-hand combat.

For a moment, he even regretted expanding the scale rashly, but since he had already done it and had the Intelligence System as his backing, he could only grit his teeth and keep going.

Besides, he had the Intelligence System as a fallback.

However, this review also cleared his head, which had been dizzy from his skyrocketing wealth, and after his head cleared, he made minor adjustments to his original plan.

The most important point was to slow down, slow down the speed of expansion, and strive to cultivate his internal strength more solidly.

After all, as the old saying goes, the foundation determines the height of the building; the foundation must be secure.

Thus, after confirming the third branch, Chen Sheng did not continue to expand, but instead turned his attention to the supply chain and the training of Shop Assistants.

Regarding the Shop Assistants, Chen Sheng decided to adopt a 2+2/4 model, meaning two full-time Shop Assistants, one of whom would be the store manager, responsible for the day shift and night shift respectively, and two to four part-time staff to assist the full-time Shop Assistants in completing the shift tasks.

For this reason, Chen Sheng specifically went to find a company that specialized in building and streamlining company organizational structures to seek paid advice.

After all, others were the professionals.

Professional matters should be handled by professionals.

As for his personal life, it remained as plain yet warm as usual.

The only exception was a trip to An Xiaonuan's home at the end of August, which had some twists and turns.

It was still the same old clichéd comparison.

This visit was because An Xiaonuan's father had prepared supplements like farm-raised eggs for An Xiaonuan to take back to improve her nutrition, but this scene took on a different meaning in the eyes of some people.

For example, thinking that since the girl was already so old, she didn't know how to be filial to her parents and was still taking things from home...

Or, for instance, arriving empty-handed but leaving with a full load, which made it obvious that she wasn't doing well.

Of course, for Chen Sheng, who now had money in his pocket and a strong backbone, these things no longer affected his state of mind; he was no longer the lowly son-in-law standing by like a nobody, and he even felt a sense of looking at clowns when he saw these people.

Not to mention, these people really were like clowns, wearing exaggerated makeup and standing on stage to entertain the audience through various comical performances.

The only difference was that they thought they were entertaining themselves.

However, just because he was unaffected didn't mean others weren't; and sure enough, after the daughter and son-in-law returned home and An Xiaonuan's parents hosted the relatives and friends according to local customs, An Xiaonuan's mother pulled An Xiaonuan into the bedroom to talk all night that evening. On the way back to Shu City the next day, when An Xiaonuan mentioned this, she was full of complaints.

"My cousin, didn't he just do some engineering work a few years ago when the environment was good and get rich once, and now he looks down on people all day long, making my mom so angry..."

"And that cousin-in-law of mine, before, when their family wanted to contract the cafeteria, they came to our door with gifts to borrow money. What did we say then? We didn't say anything; we didn't even make them write an IOU, we just lent it to them readily. Now, it's a different story; they've made money and bought a house, and every time we meet, they have to throw shade about buying a house."

"Last night at dinner, she asked my mom again. I'm very puzzled; whether we buy a house or not has nothing to do with her family. We aren't reaching out to borrow money from them, yet she's so nosy..."

Because of this trip home, An Xiaonuan was holding in a breath of frustration, and feeling unhappy, she took the initiative to suggest driving out for a good time over the weekend.

Thus, in early September, Chen Sheng took An Xiaonuan to Leshan, mainly to see the Great Buddha and see whether it was he who was being nosy or that group of so-called relatives and friends.

However, this trip home wasn't entirely a bad thing... No, for Chen Sheng, it was a great thing. Because An Xiaonuan was pregnant and often asked for leave, her displeased supervisor, the Old Witch, started giving her a hard time.

Assigning work she wasn't familiar with but that was very time-sensitive, making snide remarks in meetings without naming names but which everyone understood...

In short, it was very disgusting.

So, one night after returning from their trip, An Xiaonuan took the initiative to bring up the idea of resigning to Chen Sheng. Upon receiving Chen Sheng's full-hearted support, and after Chen Sheng took out his phone on the spot to show her the bank balance, An Xiaonuan skillfully slapped her resignation letter onto the Old Witch's face the very next day.

That's right! It was on her face, not on the table.

As for why she was so skilled?

It must have been because she had practiced on Chen Sheng's face countless times the night before.

Who told Chen Sheng not to tell her about winning over a million? She had to give him a good lesson... No, countless lessons, otherwise how could she vent her inner excitement, how could she establish the domestic order?

She had to let Chen Sheng know who was the real boss in the house.

On the spot! The Old Witch, who had reached menopause, expressed that this grievance was completely unbearable and was ready to fly into a rage on the spot, but when An Xiaonuan fearlessly puffed out her lower abdomen, the Old Witch stated that she was a mature person, and as a mature person, one should think before acting, and revenge didn't necessarily have to be taken on the spot.

So, for the matter that could have been resolved by completing the handover after getting the approval, the Old Witch directly resorted to following the rules, "According to the company regulations, resignation requires submitting an application half a month to a month in advance."

Just like that, the Old Witch gave An Xiaonuan two choices: either leave without salary or work until the end of the month.

An Xiaonuan chose the latter on the spot.

An Xiaonuan indicated that she also couldn't stand a single bit of grievance... No, it should be that she wanted to win this fight, not for that meager salary, but just to give the Old Witch breast hyperplasia.

So, in the following days...

The Old Witch being snide?

An Xiaonuan would directly gear up and talk back.

The Old Witch assigning work she wasn't familiar with and that was very time-sensitive?

An Xiaonuan would say she couldn't do it at all.

The Old Witch would say she would deduct her salary.

An Xiaonuan would take out her phone and show the bank balance.

On the very night Chen Sheng confessed about winning over a million, An Xiaonuan, in the name of safekeeping, took Chen Sheng's phone and transferred one million to her own bank card via the app.

"As long as it's reasonable, you can deduct whatever you want."

A single sentence directly choked the Old Witch so she couldn't speak.

After the two clashed like this a few times, An Xiaonuan truly fulfilled her promise. And sure enough, one night, after the Old Witch took a bath and looked at herself in the mirror to admire the afterglow of the sunset—that was her fleeting youth... No, that was the last tail of her youth—she discovered that there was actually a lump in her breast.

The Old Witch hurriedly booked an appointment with a specialist. After an examination the next day, the doctor stated that it was breast nodules and suggested she do more outdoor exercise and maintain a good mood.

To sum it up in one sentence: stop getting so angry.

On another workday, the Old Witch enthusiastically called An Xiaonuan into the office, stating that her resignation application had been approved, she could leave now, and her salary up to the day of resignation would be deposited into her payroll card on the next payday.

To this, An Xiaonuan firmly stated, "Sorry, Supervisor, since you said earlier that I needed to work until the end of the month, the work currently in my hands hasn't been handed over yet. Moreover, the company has trained me for so many years, and although I have to leave temporarily due to my own reasons, I want to stand guard for this last shift."

Seeing that the Old Witch still wanted to speak, An Xiaonuan immediately interrupted, "Supervisor, my mind is made up. Please make sure to let me stand guard for this last shift. If the Supervisor doesn't accept my request, I will apply to the higher-level leadership..."