Chapter 189: Spreading Rumors

With the Jinhu incident, those customers who had been secretly observing the Cotton Spinning Factory, hoping to seize the opportunity to pressure prices, no longer dared to make any small moves.

After Su Ruo had finished delivering all the orders, she convened a meeting of the sales department; from then on, all orders in the factory must be signed in contract form, put down in black and white.

For large orders, the order must be submitted; for small orders, unless they are long-term supplies, payment must be made on delivery; if payment cannot be made, the other party's responsible person must sign for the goods and sign an IOU.

Su Ruo did this also to guarantee the company's profits; she certainly did not want to work hard all year only to find at year‑end that the company was stuck with a bunch of uncollectible bad debts.

What's more, outside there is still Li Furén, eyeing her like a tiger watching its prey, ready at any moment to deal her a fatal blow.

Su Ruo thought it was fine, but the sales department had some slippery old hands who were extremely difficult to deal with, and some of them were even Li Furén's people; so as soon as she finished speaking, someone immediately jumped out to refute her.

Factory Director Su, you don't understand this; many of our current partners are long‑time customers of the factory, some even need long‑term cooperation; if every single order had to be signed with a contract, it would be too troublesome, basically impossible to carry out, and it would very likely anger the customers and cause them to terminate cooperation.

Su Ruo stared unblinkingly at the few people who openly opposed her; she was neither angry nor annoyed, but spoke in a firm tone.

"I say these words, they are company regulations; if anyone among you cannot comply, you may leave now."

But those who stay must follow the company's system.

Moreover, at year‑end, the recovery of sales payments for each individual will be examined; if a person's sales generate a large amount of bad debts, their commission, bonus and dividend will be deducted accordingly.

As soon as Su Ruo's words fell, everyone looked at her in unison; no one had expected that this gentle‑looking little girl could be so ruthless.

Su Ruo met their gazes, looking at each one in turn; she knew that to subdue these people she had to take tough measures.

Seeing that no one dared to jump out and oppose any longer, Su Ruo then said: "Since no one objects, from now on we will implement this regulation."

Rest assured, everyone; as long as you all work hard, I will definitely not shortchange anyone.

Starting today, everyone's commission will increase by ten percent.

As the saying goes, 'a slap and a sweet date'—Su Ruo was well versed in this management approach, and she also understood that reform was not easy.

Moreover, we cannot simply replace all these people with newcomers; we can only resort to inducements.

As the saying goes, 'under generous rewards there will be brave men'—indeed, after Su Ruo finished speaking, the people who had just thought her conditions too harsh and felt dissatisfied saw their eyes light up instantly, full of vigor.

Of course, not everyone bought it; for example, the Huang Qiu who had just spoken, after everyone else left, walked up to Su Ruo and said in a lingering voice:

"Factory Director Su, being so unapproachable, you had better watch out lest you end up isolated and abandoned by all."

Huang Qiu was the head of the sales department, a trusted aide of Li Furén; Su Ruo knew this person could not be retained, but she had not yet found a reason to fire him.

At this moment, facing Huang Qiu's provocation, Su Ruo said coldly: "No need for Director Huang to worry; with that idle mind of yours, you'd be better off thinking about how to get more orders for the factory—if the factory's benefits improve, Director Huang can also earn more commission, a win‑win for all of us, right?"

Huang Qiu merely gave a cold snort, said nothing, and walked away.

Su Ruo watched Huang Qiu's back, knowing this matter would not just end like that, just as she had anticipated; after the new regulations were issued, the sales department's performance showed an obvious decline.

Huang Qiu even took the opportunity to propose to Su Ruo that they lower the price.

But Su Ruo rejected it outright; the Cotton Spinning Factory's fabric quotation was already not high, and now with labor costs rising and expenses increasing, cutting the price further would be like drinking poison to quench thirst—losing money just to make a show.

Seeing that Su Ruo refused to lower the price, Huang Qiu was not in a hurry either; he thought she was merely putting up a stubborn front, and that after a while, if the factory still could not get orders and Su Ruo had no other recourse, she would surely come back to beg him.

The news that the factory could not obtain orders spread throughout the entire compound, thanks to the gossipmongers spreading it.

Su Ruo had just managed to calm the workers, but then panic spread again; everyone feared that the factory would lay off workers or shut down because it could not get orders.

By then, with no money in the factory, any promise Su Ruo made to them would become empty talk.

Huang Qiu was quite pleased with this effect; he intended to use public opinion to pressure Su Ruo into compromise and concession, making her act step by step according to his demands.

Watching the rumors in the factory spread wider and wider, his actions grew more reckless, giving off quite the air of a petty man who has gotten his way.

These days Su Ruo had practically been eating and living in the factory, so she almost immediately sensed that the workers' mood was off; she promptly summoned the workshop director to find out what was happening.

After learning the root of the problem from the workshop director, Su Ruo that very day convened a meeting of all employees.

The first step of the meeting was for Su Ruo to have the finance department advance the payment of all workers' wages.

Originally the factory paid wages on the 20th of each month, and often not on time; today was only the 10th, far from payday, but to steady morale Su Ruo decided to issue the wages immediately.

After all, only when the money is in their hands will the workers feel at ease.

Indeed, once the wages were in hand, the workers instantly swept away their previous gloom, all becoming cheerful and smiling, especially when they saw that Su Ruo really did as she had said, really raising the wages and also paying overtime.

The smiles on the workers' faces grew wider, and their confidence in Su Ruo increased as well.

After the wages were distributed, Su Ruo then said: "I know there have been some rumors circulating in the factory lately, but please believe me, they are not true."

I have already secured an order worth five hundred thousand; to deliver this batch of goods as soon as possible, I may need to trouble everyone to work hard over the next two months.

But please rest assured, overtime will always be paid at double the normal rate; whether to work overtime and how long is entirely up to you voluntarily, and no one may take advantage of the situation to cause trouble—otherwise they will be severely punished.

After Su Ruo finished speaking, the employees below immediately became fired up; after all, who nowadays isn't struggling financially—who wouldn't want to earn a bit more?

Huang Qiu wanted to use orders to pressure her, but he did not realize that Su Ruo had never intended to rely on him to sell the fabric.

Su Ruo, meanwhile, lifted her gaze to Huang Qiu and saw that his face was overcast, his complexion so dark it seemed water could drip from it.

Huang Qiu never expected that the situation he had painstakingly schemed would be defused by Su Ruo just like that; he felt furious, grinding his teeth, but he did not believe that Su Ruo actually had an order worth five hundred thousand.

Huang Qiu thought Su Ruo was just swelling her face to look fat; when the time came and the fabric was finished but could not be sold, he would like to see how she planned to wrap things up.