Don't be taken in by all this 'losing face' nonsense here. When it's about money, the Chinese conveniently have no regrets whatsoever about losing face. They use it as a kind of body armor to protect themselves from the anger of hesitant laowei whom they've duped. Know your employers' minds and you can know how to deal with their unscrupulous actions. Fight the good fight by humbling them with cross words when they show you how black their hearts are by their deceitful actions re holding back cash due you. Don't take any bad treatment by your bosses lying down. Instead, show them you have spirit, and teach them a good lesson in the process, so that you'll never be forgotten, and can hold your head high, unlike those foreigners who come here as people pleasers and turn the other cheek or avoid a just confrontation like weaklings do.
Why, the Chinese even insist on receiving very substantial bribes from their so-called Chinese friends before they'll use the infamous 'special relationship' to help their fellow countrymen or the immediate relatives of same get something undeserved on merit, like a good job or a place at a good university. The culture here is rotten to the core, and should be exposed as such at every opportunity.