I worked for a restaurant, and our boss loved making empty promises about giving us restaurant shares.

The boss said we would start with zero shares, but we could earn 0.01% for every two hours of overtime, covering someone else’s work or saving the restaurant 1,000 bucks.

I suggested she write this down in an official document and have someone track it properly.

She just smiled and told everyone to work harder. She never actually put it in writing.

The experienced staff did not believe her, but one prep cook took it seriously. At the end of the year, he went to the boss to claim his shares.

The boss said, “Sorry, the head chef told me there’s no official document, so it doesn’t count. You can’t claim any shares.”

The prep cook worked hard all year and got nothing for it, so he took his anger out on me. The day before I was going home for the New Year, he killed me with a knife.

“If you hadn’t said it doesn’t count without an official document, this whole restaurant would’ve been mine!”

I lay in a pool of blood. When I opened my eyes, I was back to the day the boss first made those empty promises.

“Young people need to work hard. If you work hard, you’ll be rewarded. At the end of the year, I’ll give out shares based on how much each person worked. Everyone will get a bonus!

“Today, Kaden cleaned the restroom without being asked. He’ll get a 0.01% increase in shares at the end of the year, and I’ve noted it down. Everyone should follow his example.”

Jennifer Tadley, our boss, was a woman in her forties. She wore a lot of makeup, and we could smell her pungent perfume when she walked by.

Looking at everything around me, I realized I had been reincarnated to the day Jennifer first made those empty promises to the staff.

In my past life, Jennifer asked me to stay behind after the meeting. “You’re the head chef, so you need to set an example. Next year, when I open a new restaurant, I’ll have you manage it.

“For every two hours of overtime, covering someone else’s work, or saving the company 1,000 dollars, you’ll get 0.01% more shares. I told them this, but for you, I’ll double the rewards.”

Hearing this, I asked her to write down the policy and give everyone an official document.

That way, if she changed her mind, we would have proof.

Jennifer took a sip of tea, looked at me, and said, “I need to figure out how to write the document. You can go back to work for now.”

I did not say anything. I figured I could work harder once she actually sent the document.

It was fair to earn more when someone worked harder. I did not ask Jennifer to write the policy in front of everyone because I did not want to put her in a difficult position.

After weeks of waiting, there was still no official document for this policy. However, I kept hearing her promise Kaden more shares.

Kaden Lowe, the prep cook, worked overtime every day. He earned 3,500 dollars a month but chose to take 2,000 less. He also worked extra jobs like washing ingredients, cleaning, and running food. After a year of hard work, he asked Jennifer how many shares he could get.

Without hesitation, Jennifer threw me under the bus. “Aaron said that without an official document, the rewards don’t count. So, you can’t get any shares.”

Jennifer was all talk. No one took her seriously, except for Kaden. Asking for shares was impossible. Everyone was just thankful she paid them their salary on time.

Kaden realized Jennifer had been tricking him for a whole year, yet he blamed me for everything. As I locked up the restaurant and headed home, he killed me with a knife.

Given another chance, I was determined to make sure this foolish employee and dishonest boss paid the price!

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.

Kaden worked overtime every day and stayed up late to prepare the ingredients.

I did not care how hard he worked. I just made sure to leave when my shift ended.

The rest of the staff worked a bit harder too, but they could not keep up with the high demands for 30 days. This worked out just as Jennifer had planned.

Jennifer believed that as long as she encouraged the staff in monthly meetings, they would work a little harder for about a week. This would improve the restaurant’s performance.

At the end of the month, it showed that everyone had been conscious of saving costs.

For example, they saved on utilities, napkins, disposable forks and spoons, and even free drinks. They even managed to save on ingredients, which was a big part of the restaurant’s expenses. Jennifer thought her strategy of making empty promises to the staff was a smart move.

Since the employees had something to look forward to, their attitude improved too. The restaurant got many positive reviews online, and some influencers noticed.

One influencer, “Lindsey Loves Food,” was passing by after finishing a live stream at a restaurant at 2 a.m. She saw that our kitchen staff was still working, so she decided to feature our restaurant in her live stream.

“Wow, guys! This popular restaurant that’s been trending online still has people working in the kitchen at 2 a.m.! Their hours are crazy!

“How about we go inside and interview them? Leave your suggestions in the comments! What do you want to see?”

The viewers were excited and left their comments. When they heard Lindsey was checking out our place, over 3,000 more people joined her livestream in just ten minutes.

[Hahaha, is Lindsey about to stir things up again?]

[Let’s see if the service is really that good and if they’ll serve extra food in the middle of the night!]

[If you ask me, she should check their hygiene. No kitchen can leave Lindsey’s livestream unscathed!]

Lindsey was excited to see her livestream getting so much attention.

She had heard that our steakhouse had amazing flavors. Recently, our restaurant had great reviews online, and people said the service was as good as at a Michelin-star restaurant.

She thought that if she couldn’t find any problems with our restaurant, she could still use the opportunity to promote it and later ask for advertising money.

But if she did find a flaw, she could use it to boost her own reputation.

Hard-working people would always succeed.

“Hehehe, I’m heading to the kitchen now!”

The cameraman followed Lindsey into our restaurant.

There were no customers at night, and the lights in the main hall were off.

The camera showed the overall view of the restaurant.

“Guys, the head chef’s already off work. Not just anyone can cook at a steakhouse. Looks like it’ll be hard to get a meal tonight.”

The camera caught someone climbing a ladder in a dark corner.

The comments started flooding in.

[Someone’s there! Could it be a thief?]

[Are you serious? Why would a thief climb a ladder?]

[What’s that person doing in the dark?]

The cameraman shouted, “Hey, what are you doing?!”

Hearing the noise, Kaden looked over. When he saw customers, he was a bit confused. Holding a cloth in his hand, he climbed down and looked at the two people who had come in the middle of the night.

To earn shares by the end of the year, he always wore a smile.

The comments were full of praise.

[Still smiling at 2 a.m. This restaurant is really living up to its reputation.]

[If I were the owner of this restaurant, I’d wake up laughing in my sleep.]

[This restaurant is going places.]