The coldest time of the year in Yongcheng is January.
The damp and cold climate, coupled with changes in ocean monsoons, makes people outdoors feel a bone-chilling cold.
Unlike the snowy northern regions, Yongcheng's winter is a rainy season.
The incessant drizzle irritated office workers endlessly.
"I'm freezing to death! Boss, you're too mean, you have a car but still made me go buy food!"
Li Jinglan shivered as she entered the room and grumbled.
"What does that have to do with me? You said you were tired of that restaurant and wanted to try another, so you had to be the one to go find it."
"Oh, I was just saying that casually. Let's eat at the same place tomorrow; that one's closer."
The weather was getting colder and colder.
With nothing important to do, Tan Jincheng was also unwilling to go out.
He spent his days lounging in the office with the air conditioning on, passing the time, occasionally checking the stock market.
Since Tan Jincheng's shares in Maotai Liquor Group first broke even on January 7th, it then surged for four consecutive days, with the stock price heading straight above 38 yuan.
At its peak, the 1000 shares of Maotai he held earned him over 2000 yuan.
This made Tan Jincheng overjoyed, thinking he was good at stock trading again.
So he put another 5000 yuan into his account, planning to do some short-term trading when bored.
The result, naturally, was unsurprising.
In less than a week, 5000 became 4000.
That 'leek' who bought Zhongguo Ping An around 80 yuan and pushed his cost up to 85 yuan, was still a 'leek' even if he went back more than 10 years.
Without memory, trying to make money in the stock market with his own trading methods was out of the question.
It was better to honestly do business.
"Boss, why aren't you eating? Does the food not suit your taste?"
While Tan Jincheng was lost in thought, Li Jinglan's voice rang out again.
Zhang Xupeng wasn't here today; he had gone to the packaging supplier.
"Huh? No, I was just thinking. I'm not a picky eater,"
Tan Jincheng said helplessly.
The two sisters, Li Yanning and Li Jinglan, were from northern Anhui.
As everyone knows, though northern Anhui and southern Anhui are in the same province, they have fundamentally different food cultures.
Today, the staple food Li Jinglan bought was mantou!
Tan Jincheng could accept most pasta dishes, but he wasn't used to eating mantou.
It was too dry.
"Let me tell you, boss, mantou are really comfortable to eat. They're soft and filling."
"Yes, yes, yes, but next time, remember to buy me a portion of rice. If you want to eat mantou, just buy your own."
"Oh, okay, I understand," Li Jinglan stuck out her tongue.
Li Yanning looked at her embarrassed cousin and couldn't help but chuckle.
She had told her earlier to bring a portion of rice, but her cousin hadn't believed her.
However, this wasn't the time to expose her.
She then changed the subject, saying,
"Boss, why haven't you gone out these past few days?"
"It's too cold. If there's nothing urgent, I'm too lazy to go out. Just staying in the office with the AC on is fine."
"We're not taking orders before the New Year, are we? It's already the twelfth lunar month."
"In principle, we're not taking any more. The factory can't keep up with production. What's wrong? Are you feeling homesick?"
"A little bit, yes. The New Year is approaching, and there are far fewer pedestrians on the streets,"
Li Yanning smiled.
Li Jinglan, who had just been a little embarrassed, also chimed in,
"Yeah, I'm a bit homesick too. Boss, aren't you homesick?"
"I am too, and I wonder what my sister looks like now."
Back then, mobile phones didn't have video calls, computer camera pixels weren't up to standard, and there was no computer at home.
It was also impossible to take Tan Jinyue to an internet café for a video call in this cold weather.
"Hehe, Boss, can we have an earlier holiday this year? That way you can also go back early to see your sister,"
Li Jinglan chuckled.
"Don't worry, the holiday won't be too late. Boss Zhang and I are not stingy people. We'll definitely let you go home with pride for the New Year."
Immediately after, Tan Jincheng smiled at Li Yanning and said,
"With money in your pocket, you'll feel more confident on blind dates, right, Sister Li?"
According to Tan Jincheng's observation, the two sisters were usually quite frugal.
Although Li Jinglan often complained about wanting to buy this and that, the largest item she had bought so far was just an MP4 player.
Both sisters were reluctant to buy down jackets, still wearing defective products picked from the previous samples.
It seemed they had saved up some money.
"Hehe, thank you, Boss. Boss, you'll still want us next year, right?"
Li Jinglan said ingratiatingly.
She was quite satisfied with this job.
Especially seeing the steadily rising sales of the Taobao store this month, she was even happier.
"Of course, why wouldn't I? As long as you work hard, I'll give you a raise after you've worked for a full year."
It wasn't strange that Li Jinglan asked this.
She had heard from her sister and some former colleagues at the electronics factory that generally in small companies, employees would agree with the boss whether they would return to work the next year.
If they didn't return the second year, they would ask the boss to settle this year's wages.
If they came back the second year, the boss would withhold one month's salary.
At that time, most people had very little legal awareness, especially in small private enterprises.
Signing a contract for work?
That didn't exist.
Li Jinglan glanced at her cousin.
The joy in the sisters' eyes was unmistakable.
Over the past three months or so, the two sisters had also realized that among the company's two bosses, although Boss Zhang also had a say, it was Boss Tan who truly made the decisions, especially concerning money.
If Boss Tan said they would get a raise after a full year of work, then it was basically guaranteed.
Besides the promise of a raise that made Li Yanning happy, there was also Boss Tan's recent remark about letting them go home with pride.
It seemed a year-end bonus or travel expenses were definitely in store; the only difference being the amount.
Including January, Li Yanning had worked for three and a half months.
Her October salary wasn't much, but her November and December salaries were both over 5000 yuan, and January wouldn't be low either.
If there was a year-end bonus, that would be even better.
Counting the money she saved from her previous company, she could save over 40,000 yuan this year.
This was the most she had earned since she started working!
She could indeed go home with pride.
"I wonder how much bonus Boss Tan will give us. I'm a little excited."
(End of this chapter)
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