Our Boss Loves Making Empty Promises

Everything was like in the previous life. Kaden was very excited. Actually, he was asked by a senior staff to clean the restroom. By chance, Jennifer saw him doing it and decided to reward him with a 0.01% share in the restaurant. How could this not make him happy?

Kaden was a young man in his twenties from a rural village with little education. His relatives at home often looked down on him and said he would never succeed. The restaurant’s new policy gave him a chance to make real money, so he was determined to grab it.

Hard work? That was not a problem for him. Compared to working on a construction site, working in a restaurant was much easier.

Jennifer’s restaurant employed over 20 people. It was located in a busy shopping mall and generated about a million dollars in revenue every month.

Using what little math he knew, Kaden figured that if he worked hard for a year, he could earn tens of thousands in bonuses.

The senior staff who had sent him to clean the restroom joked, “Looks like you really hit the jackpot today.”

But Kaden was so happy he did not realize he was being teased.

Just like in my past life, Jennifer kept me back and made empty promises. She promised that if I worked hard, my rewards would be doubled. I smiled and sincerely thanked her, “Thanks, boss! I’ll do my best! I’ll also encourage everyone else to work hard! Together, we’ll make this restaurant a success!”

Jennifer could not hide the mockery in her eyes as she listened to me.

I added, “Since Kaden got a 0.01% share, I’ll get a whiteboard to record the rewards and hang it in the kitchen to keep everyone motivated.”

Jennifer hesitated. “Let’s save money where we can. If you skip buying the whiteboard, I’ll count it as your contribution.”

I gave her an “OK” sign. She probably thought I would drop the idea, but instead, I bought the board out of my own pocket and had it hung up by the next day.

When Jennifer came to check the restaurant the next day, the whiteboard already had the reward details for five staff written on it.

Kaden was at the top of the list, with his shares reaching 0.05%. Jennifer looked confused and asked, “What’s this all about?”

I stood up for Kaden and said, “Kaden’s been working really hard. Yesterday, he stayed late for four extra hours and cleaned every hidden corner in the kitchen. He also helped unload supplies and even stepped in as a food runner when it got busy.”

Jennifer’s expression darkened slightly. If Kaden could earn 0.05% in just one day, that could add up to 15% of the shares in a year.

But the staff had just gotten motivated, so she could not suddenly change the rules.

She cleared her throat and said, “To qualify, you’d need to work like this every single day for a month. Otherwise, if you only do a task once and expect shares, there won’t be enough to go around. Besides, why should you get shares? You need to convince everyone else why you deserve those shares, don’t you?

“And there’s the cost issue. If you’re doing someone else’s job, then I’m wasting money paying them, which ends up costing the restaurant. That’ll need to be deducted at the end of the year.”

Kaden was not happy about this. How could she say his work did not count and even mention deductions?

He was not the type to stay quiet. “Boss, I can handle delivery work from now on. You won’t need to pay the delivery guys. Just count it as money I’m saving for the restaurant. I can also take on food running. I’ll prepare ingredients at night and run food during the day.”

I jumped in to help him out. “Boss, Kaden has clearly worked hard. There was no talk of deductions before, and he’s already done the work. Let’s not discourage everyone. How about letting it slide this time? Later, we can follow your stricter policy. Does that work?”

Kaden and the others waited for Jennifer’s answer. She did not want to let everyone down, so she finally agreed.

“Alright, we’ll let it slide this time. But from now on, we’ll stick to my new rules. Let’s all work hard and succeed together!”

The employees immediately started flattering her, and she looked pleased.

I sneered inwardly and watched Jennifer enjoy the flattery. By the end of the year, when the staff had taken all the shares, she would regret ever making those promises.