Jin Yuanyuan's Top-Tier Life

Three days after the fire, Lin Zhiqiang, the workshop supervisor of Jin Yaya Socks Factory, came to see Jin Yuanyuan again. This time, he didn't mention a raise; instead, he directly announced his resignation.

"What happened?" Jin Yuanyuan looked at him in astonishment. "Didn't I promise to give you a raise?"

"Yuanyuan, after this fire, will you still be able to make a profit this year? Will you still be able to raise wages? I think it's very unlikely." Lin Zhiqiang's attitude was no longer as sincere and polite as before, and he even seemed to look down on her. "You're still young. Running a hosiery factory isn't that easy."

"So, I need your help." Jin Yuanyuan carefully considered her words, unsure of Lin Zhiqiang's meaning.

"In the past few years, Jin Yaya hasn't received a raise. Although everyone knows the economic climate is bad, you still have to feed others, right? This is my resignation letter, and the people behind me are the people I brought with me. I'm leaving, so I have to be fair to them, right? That's why they're leaving with me."

"What? How many people?" Jin Yuanyuan felt her heart skip a beat. Lin Zhiqiang handed over a stack of resignation letters, not just a few sheets of paper.

"Not many, maybe twenty people." Lin Zhiqiang was actually quite happy. "Yuanyuan, although I've worked here for ten years, I feel that Jin Yaya's career has reached its limit. Why don't you end Jin Yaya's career while you're in charge? That would be a perfect ending."

"Oh, well, I can't do that. I still need to work hard to double our production and sales." Not wanting to lose face, Jin Yuanyuan smiled. "It's alright, you can go now. The finance department will settle this month's accounts. Don't worry, you're all long-time employees of Jin Yaya, I won't deduct anything from your salaries."

"That's good." Lin Zhiqiang smiled as well, the unspoken understanding between them was clear.

After Lin Zhiqiang left the office, Jin Yuanyuan counted the resignation letters and found a staggering twenty-three letters, representing ten percent of the staff—an extremely high turnover rate. This not only led to a shortage of manpower but also resulted in low employee morale.

In Jin Yuanyuan's career, international public relations companies are full of glamorous and attractive men and women. Every day, she racks her brains and fights her way in order to work in such a high-end place, and she also has to work hard to keep her job.

But for low-end manufacturing, the situation is reversed. It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you have someone to guide you and your salary is constantly rising. All you have to do each day is complete your assigned hours.

With over twenty people resigning at once, Jin Yuanyuan still needed to discuss the situation with her mother. She was quite nervous when she made the call, but she still explained the situation. Surprisingly, Zhu Hongying wasn't angry at all and even said Jin Yuanyuan had handled it very well. "If he wants to leave, if they want to leave, don't try to stop them. Once someone wants to leave, it means they're dissatisfied with the company. Even if you force them to stay, they'll become a problem. Yuanyuan, remember, you're the boss; you need to think long-term."

"Then a batch of goods might be delayed." Jin Yuanyuan flipped through the record sheet. "Because we're missing a few people, it will be at least two or three days late."

"It's alright, Aunt Hong is very familiar with us. I'll just give her a call later." Zhu Hongying's tone was calm. "Jin Yuanyuan, I'll say it again, you are now the acting chairman of Jin Yaya. You need to be confident that you can do everything well!"

Although there were some minor troubles, she could manage them. Jin Yuanyuan stood in front of the sock knitting machine again, working from dawn till dusk. Amid the roar of the machine, she no longer needed the support of Cao Xiaoyu and Jin Feiyan, and could calmly watch the high-speed steel needles fly up and down.

At the same time, she was also thinking about a question.

Jin Yaya currently mainly produces knitted socks priced between 3 and 10 yuan, relying primarily on sales volume. The colors, styles, and quality are all trend-following. They don't have their own designers; they simply make samples based on what's popular in the market. While this might be sustainable in today's market, it will inevitably lead to problems in the long run. After all, there are too many manufacturers producing similar products, leaving them with little competitive advantage.

"Yuanyuan, I forgot to mention something." Cao Xiaoyu, who was visiting clients in Wenzhou, called. "There's an event at the Hangzhou Exhibition Hall on Sunday. General Manager Zhu promised to go, and the deposit for the venue and everything has already been paid. Remember to bring some products with you."

"What activity?" Jin Yuanyuan rummaged through the table.

"Hey, just bring that big box from under General Zhu's desk and meet me at the entrance of the exhibition hall." Cao Xiaoyu's signal was bad. "It's okay, we'll talk when you get there."

Since he said that, Jin Yuanyuan only glanced at the knitted socks in the box, turned around and left the office, intending to go to the entrance of the development zone to pick up the express delivery.

Just as I stepped out of my factory gate, I saw a brightly dressed woman pushing a stroller towards me. Behind her was a man carrying a child. The man looked quite good; at least he was physically robust and pleasing to the eye.

Perhaps sensing Jin Yuanyuan's gaze, the woman looked over at her.

"Oh, Jin Yuanyuan? What are you doing here? Did you take over your mother's job?" The woman had a fair complexion and a smile on her face. "That's right, President Zhu is in the hospital, isn't he?"

"Jin Jia?" Jin Yuanyuan was a little surprised, not because she saw her, but because she had taken away their business, yet she could still greet her so casually and act so enthusiastically.

"Look, you finally remembered me." Jin Jia smiled warmly. "Come on, this is Hu Liqiu, my husband. Hey, baby, say hello to Aunt Yuanyuan."

The child in Hu Liqiu's arms looked to be three or four years old, while the child in the stroller that Jin Jiaya was pushing was about one year old. Both were adorable little girls, dressed in red cotton-padded jackets with gold-embroidered rabbit patterns, which looked like expensive children's clothing.

Jin Yuanyuan could only smile and politely say, "Hello."

Hu Liqiu smiled and took the stroller from him. "Sweetie, I'll take the child inside to talk to her dad first. You and Yuanyuan talk."

"Okay." Jin Jia smiled at Hu Liqiu, her eyes overflowing with affection. After Hu Liqiu and the child had walked away, she turned back and asked, "Yuanyuan, are you really taking over the factory? It's exhausting. You're seven years younger than me, right? Why work so hard? You could just find a husband to do things for you."

"I'm not as lucky as my sister to have found such a good husband," Jin Yuanyuan said with a smile. "I just like to do things myself; it makes me feel at ease."

"Are you making fun of me?" Jin Jia's smile widened. "Women, once they're past their prime, they're worthless. Look, according to the current popular saying, we're both top-tier only daughters from the Yangtze River Delta region, so why make ourselves suffer?"

"It's okay, I'll work hard for a few more years. Anyway, I can earn my own money and spend it myself, so I feel at ease." Jin Yuanyuan's words clearly showed her disagreement with Jin Jia's statement. Since they couldn't see eye to eye, they really couldn't continue their conversation.