Chapter 4373 — Promotion
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Whichever way the sun rises, you certainly won't be around to see it!" Wei Zhaotong had been gloating, but Wei Zhao walked over and slapped him so hard he was knocked senseless. "One foot already in the coffin, and still so much drivel!" Wei Zhao said with a curl of his lip.
Watching Wei Zhaotong's neck loll to one side, foam spilling from his mouth, more dead than alive, the whole crowd's expressions shifted again, and they instinctively shrank back. This man was far too savage—that Wei Zhaotong had not been slapped to death on the spot was already a stroke of luck.
"From today on, all affairs of the Weihu Branch are placed in Chai Laoshi's hands. If anyone wishes to make trouble, I don't mind loosening up a bit. Is that clear to everyone?" Wei Zhao addressed the crowd in a ringing voice.
With such a living example of what happened to dissenters right before their eyes, who would dare say no? They nodded vigorously at once, murmuring their assent.
In the eyes of these ordinary clerks and servants, whether it was Wei Zhao and his companions or Wei Zhaotong, all were lofty immortals, while they themselves were mere mortals. When immortals fought, it was the immortals' business; they mortals need only obediently follow the victor's commands.
"All right, what comes next is up to you." Wei Zhao threw Chai Laoshi a meaningful look. This was as far as he could help—his only role was to overawe the crowd and keep anyone from harboring disloyal thoughts. Beyond that, it all came down to Chai Laoshi's own ability.
Chai Laoshi nodded gratefully, then turned to the crowd and began assigning each person their tasks for the morrow, one by one.
Wei Zhao had initially worried that the man had nothing but a flair for bookkeeping and no way to command respect. Chai Laoshi was, after all, far too timid, with not the slightest air of a superior about him. The crowd might well refuse to be governed, and he might prove to be another hopeless case who could not be propped up.
But Wei Zhao soon found he was wrong. Chai Laoshi indeed lacked the presence to overawe men's hearts, yet he had another style altogether when it came to handling affairs—methodical, reasoned, and well-grounded. No matter whom he assigned a task to, no one could find fault with it, and each person came away feeling valued and genuinely convinced.
When the hundred-odd people present had been dealt with one by one, not a single brow was furrowed; every one of them accepted his lot gladly. Wei Zhao could not help but look at Chai Laoshi with new eyes—this was a highly refined style of management that others could not learn even if they tried!
Only after Chai Laoshi had settled everyone and sent them off to rest did Wei Zhao voice his puzzlement. "I was worried you wouldn't be able to keep the situation in hand, but it turns out you're a fine hand at managing people. For someone of your caliber not to be branch steward—that's a real loss to the Hong Merchant Guild."
"The Deputy Chairman flatters me. It's really nothing. I've been deputy steward of this branch for over ten years, so I know every matter great and small inside and out—I've done most of them myself. That's how I know who's suited to what, and I used to assign tasks to everyone often enough. It's only since Wei Zhaotong dropped in from above that I've never done it again," Chai Laoshi said with a bitter smile. (To be continued)