073 Workers' Congress

Song Xibei had been looking forward to Yiku's return so that he could ask Yiku more questions about what the military academy was like.

But Yiku has been back for a week now, and he comes to Courtyard No. 2 every day after dinner. Now, when he sees Yiku, he just wants to stay far away.

"Why are you hiding? Didn't you say you wanted to learn a few moves from him?" Officer Song couldn't understand it. These fourteen or fifteen-year-old boys these days are really troublesome, changing their minds every day.

Song Xibei had a bitter face. "Brother Yiku doesn't have time to talk to me. He only wants to talk to Sister Yuehe."

"Then why do people in the southwest like to go there for fun?"

“Southwest is just a little kid; he'll stay as long as there’s food. Anyway, I’m not going to go play there. Dad, if Brother Yiku comes to call for Southwest and me again, just tell him I’m not home.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Yiku came over to call him and Xinan on time. Hearing that he wasn't home, Lin Yiku went to the front yard and called Baoan and Baoning to Guan Yuehe's house to act as "supervisors".

Guan Yuehe had them listen to German tapes or the radio in the living room.

Tomorrow we're going to the factory for a workers' meeting and to collect our New Year's goods. Then we'll be on holiday for the New Year.

Before the holiday, she still had to write a summary of her work and life to submit, and she was writing furiously in her room.

Bao'an Baoning was a complete stranger to Lin Yiku. She awkwardly squeezed onto the sofa with Southwest, taking a small bite of a biscuit and then secretly glancing at Aunt Yuehe's boyfriend.

The generational hierarchy in this alley is a mess. The three girls, who are still in elementary school, call Yuehe "elder sister" in Southwest, but Baoning calls her "aunt."

Guan Yuehe never corrected them, so they each called out their own names.

Southwest was quite familiar with Lin Yiku, and right now she didn't want to listen to the radio, much less the gibberish German. "Brother Yiku, can you tell us about military academy? Was your schooling the same as ours?"

"Okay." Lin Yiku put the radio and tape recorder back on the cabinet, then covered them with a cloth from the side, as Yuehe said this would prevent dust from getting in.

The previously reserved Bao'an and Bao Ning listened intently, and finding that Aunt Yuehe's boyfriend was particularly easy to talk to, they became bolder and started asking one question after another.

Wu Jiawang and Jin Hua arrived at some point and sat quietly on small stools, listening intently.

When Guan Yuehe finished writing her summary and opened the door, she found many children inside. In Courtyard No. 2, apart from the one who couldn't walk yet and Song Xibei, all the other children were at her house.

Lin Yiku, who was surrounded, heard the door open, looked up, smiled at her, and said, "Okay, that's all for today. I'll tell you about something else another day."

"When is 'another day'? Uncle Yiku?"

Lin Yiku was amused and corrected Shunshun's form of address, "You should call him 'brother' like Southwest does."

She calls his girlfriend "sister," so why should she call him "uncle"? She's only three years older, not thirteen!

Shunshun scratched his head and obediently said "Oh." Baoan and Baoning spoke at the same time, as if on cue, "Okay, Brother Yiku."

Lin Yiku: "...You two can call me uncle."

Shunshun protested, "Then I want to call you Uncle too! Uncle Yiku, Uncle Uncle!"

Lin Yiku is beginning to understand his parents' bad temper when he was a child; sometimes they just seemed really irritating.

"Tsk! Chang Yifan, do you deserve a beating?"

Shunshun turned around and saw that it was Aunt Yuehe. She immediately pouted and dared not argue back.

Shunshun's full name is Chang Yifan. Everyone usually calls him by his nickname; being called by his full name is like saying, "I'll count to three." Guan Yuehe's words are doubly powerful.

The children put the stools back in their original places one by one before waving goodbye.

These are all good habits that Guan Yuehe taught them when they came to play at her house.

Lin Yiku only discovered this time when she returned that all the troublemakers and bullies in Ginkgo Hutong became timid in front of Guan Yuehe.

No wonder when Zhang Ersao from Courtyard No. 3 was disciplining Zhang Quanbin, she said, "If you keep rolling on the ground and howling, I'll call your dad to deal with you! If your dad can't handle it, I'll call your Aunt Yuehe later!"

"I'm going back too." Lin Yiku didn't dawdle. The children had just gone out when he had already put on his coat and was standing outside the door.

Lin Yiku was already tall and strong, and with his thick military overcoat, people outside the door couldn't see what was going on inside.

Guan Yuehe took a big step forward, quickly hugged Lin Yiku, looking like she had gotten a great deal. Her eyes crinkled into a smile as she waved her hand quickly, "See you tomorrow."

For the past few days, Northwest has been keeping a close eye on Lin Yiku, even sticking to him when they go out to ask him questions, so Guan Yuehe has no chance to take advantage of him!

Today she finally got her chance!

Lin Yiku didn't remember to breathe for more than ten seconds. Seeing her sly smile, he was so angry that he wanted to bite her.

Each time, she would approach him when he wasn't looking, and then quickly retreat.

But we'll meet again tomorrow.

Guan Yuehe watched him leave the backyard, feeling secretly pleased. Just as she was about to close the door, she suddenly heard Song Xibei's heart-wrenching scream from the opposite side room: "Why didn't you call me? I wanted to hear it too! Song Xinan, I'm not carrying your schoolbag to school anymore!"

Guan Yuehe gave a disdainful "hmph," wondering if Northwest's voice could ever go back to what it used to be.

Then a question suddenly came to mind: Did Lin Yiku go through a voice change phase before?

He had just finished thinking about it when he slapped his head. He definitely had it; his voice wasn't like it was now when he was a child.

Lin Yiku's voice sounds strangely pleasant now, Guan Yuehe thought to herself.

The following day, Zhuoyue Garment Factory held a factory-wide workers' meeting.

This is different from the conference held on New Year's Day, which included a cultural performance and an awards ceremony for outstanding individuals.

This is just a regular workers' meeting. There have been a lot of complaints from the workers in the workshop lately, and there have been several conflicts. The main purpose of this meeting is to hear what the workers have to say.

At this point, a worker asked the question that most workers cared about the most: "Will the factory hire more workers in the new year? Will workers still be allocated housing?"

Zhuoyue Garment Factory now has 493 workers. In recent years, in addition to expanding its workshops, it has also set up a separate accessories factory to produce small items such as buttons and zippers. The factory has its own bathhouse, barbershop, and a qualified doctor has been brought in to oversee the clinic, restoring normalcy.

Based on the order volume of Zhuoyue Garment Factory, it is actually possible to continue to add production workshops and hire another batch of workers.

After discussion, the factory leaders concluded that, given the current situation, they should not expand blindly. After all, they were still operating according to plan. If they expanded, they might not be able to get fabric from the textile mill, and with the department store reducing its purchases, they might not be able to support so many workers.

But the workers may not understand that if the factory doesn't add more workshops or hire more workers, their children simply won't be able to stay in the city. Even if both parents work, there aren't enough children to take over the job.

Then there's the benefit of housing allocation.

All the houses in the factory's residential compound had been allocated. For the entire year of 1974, no new houses were built on the open space in the factory's residential compound, which meant that it was unknown when the next housing allocation would take place.

Currently, very few workers meet the housing allocation criteria but have not been allocated housing, but they are also worried that they will not be able to take advantage of the factory's housing allocation benefits.

Once someone started, the workers immediately chimed in, and some even suggested building a movie theater for the garment factory, as well as an agricultural and sideline food processing plant, and so on.

What if the existing factory site isn't big enough? Why not just apply to build a second factory?!

Guan Yuehe felt that the workers were really bold and capable; given a piece of land, they could get anything done.

"Fellow workers, listen to me."

As soon as the factory manager spoke, everyone quickly quieted down and listened attentively.

"Increasing workshops, raising production, improving worker welfare, recruiting, building dormitories and allocating housing—these are all things we need to do. Look at the past few years, hasn't our factory been doing these things all along?" the factory manager said calmly.

“Building dormitories and allocating housing is definitely necessary. Ensuring housing for factory workers is what we should do. There is still a large vacant plot of land in the family compound, which is waiting to be used for housing construction. However, the higher-ups believe that our factory does not need to continue building housing for the time being. We have not been able to apply for a construction team, so the housing construction will have to be postponed.”

"As for recruitment... I think everyone has heard of Hongxiu Garment Factory. Hongxiu brand clothing is the most sought-after in department stores."

Many people shook their heads; if the factory manager hadn't mentioned it, they would have forgotten about this brand of ready-made clothing.

After all, they are workers in clothing factories. If they want to wear new clothes, it is more cost-effective to buy the fabric and make them themselves. Few people would specifically buy ready-made clothes to wear.

“In 1970, Hongxiu Garment Factory had 600 workers, 500 of whom were production line workers and 100 were management cadres. By last year, they had more than 1,100 workers, including 800 production line workers and more than 300 management cadres.”

Some people frowned. In four years, the number of workers had doubled. Didn't that just prove that the factory was doing well?

"But!" the factory manager changed the subject, "the planned production volume is fixed, and the profits are almost fixed as well, but the number of workers in the factory has doubled. Hongxiu Garment Factory hasn't raised wages for its workers in four years, the original subsidies for production line workers have disappeared, and the welfare benefits given out during the New Year and other holidays have been reduced. The original long-term workers are dissatisfied, and they go to the leaders' desks every day to ask why they haven't received a single penny of increase after four more years of service?"

The people below fell completely silent.

In previous years, Zhuoyue Garment Factory was developing very rapidly. Zhuoyue brand sportswear and sports shoes were displayed on the counters of department stores in other provinces, and the workers in the workshop often worked three shifts.

There is an extra subsidy for overtime work; if you work a lot of overtime, the subsidy can be equivalent to half a month's salary.

Not much changed in 1974. A small number of workers were hired, and the workers only needed to work in three shifts occasionally.

But this year's production plan has already been finalized, and it's the same as last year's.

If workers are hired, it means that the workers will lose their overtime pay. The factory will also have to spend money to expand the factory, buy machines, and pay wages. So, will there be any money left to improve workers' welfare?

Who knows what the production plan will be like next year? What if the production quota allocated to them is reduced again? Wouldn't that be even worse?

Guan Yuehe thought to herself, what the factory director said only refers to the current impact.

She attended many meetings in the city and knew more about the situation of other factories, especially Hongxiu Garment Factory.

Hongxiu Garment Factory has many children of factory workers, and the relationships among the workers in the same workshop are complicated, making it difficult for the workshop director to manage them at times.

If one lazy worker appears in the workshop, two or three more will follow. Since everyone's wages aren't based on the amount of work done—doing more or less gets the same pay—gradually, even the more diligent workers become lazy.

The warehouse of Hongxiu Garment Factory even had a lot of substandard and defective products piled up, which also incurred costs.

The last time I went to a meeting, Hongxiu Garment Factory was criticized because of mismanagement. Some workers colluded with people in the black market to resell a large number of defective products from the warehouse.

The last time I went to the meeting, Hongxiu Garment Factory was criticized again because it claimed to be poor and wanted to apply for subsidies from the city.

Many state-owned factories need financial and technical support from the city, and only a few, like Zhuoyue Garment Factory, can be self-sufficient.

Guan Yuehe guessed that it might be because Zhuoyue Garment Factory reported its good results first, while Hongxiu Garment Factory subsequently applied for support, which led to the severe criticism from the leaders.

After the staff meeting, the workers' complaints decreased significantly.

While queuing to receive their New Year's gifts, many people praised the factory leaders for their foresight and for making the right decision.

Some people felt frustrated, saying, "Our Zhuoyue brand sportswear and shoes are so popular, why aren't we given more production quotas?"

If there are more quotas, wouldn't the factory be able to expand its workshops and hire more workers without affecting the income of the older workers?

"That's right! Brands like our Zhuoyue should be produced in larger quantities and sold all over the country!"

Of course, some people were still dissatisfied after the meeting, their faces gloomy, and they said with dissatisfaction: "You have few children and are far from the countryside, of course you think it's good!"

The person who was rebuffed didn't hold back and retorted, "If you know there aren't enough children to fill all the jobs, then have fewer children!"

The people behind them separated the two and stopped mentioning recruitment and housing construction. They believed that the factory leaders were not just fooling them and would lead them to develop the factory better and improve workers' welfare.

Just then, the person who had received their New Year's gifts ahead of them said with a beaming smile, "This year I'll get two pounds of meat! Everything else is the same as last year!"

"How are they the same? There's an extra pound of apples, and an extra pastry too!"

"Oh, that's about right. The special tickets we got last year are gone this year, so we've replaced them with pastries."

Guan Yuehe became anxious, "Can't we buy beer?"

"Sure, they also gave out beer coupons."

That's fine.

Guan Yuehe felt relieved and chatted with the worker next to her about things in the family compound.

In Guan Yuehe's view, there is no difference between the tenement buildings in the family compound and the bungalows in the alley.

When you live in a tenement building and have a conflict with your neighbors, the argument can happen from all directions. When you live in a single-story house and have a conflict with your neighbors, the argument can happen from all sides.

Where people live, arguments are inevitable.

The eldest sister said admiringly, "Section Chief Guan, your eldest sister is really amazing! Old Baotou is completely under her thumb, he doesn't dare to utter a sound. If your sister didn't work at the car factory, we would all want to elect her as the women's director of the family compound!"

Guan Yuehe laughed heartily, unable to imagine what it would be like if her sister became the women's director.

Regardless of who's causing trouble, or who's in the right or wrong, everyone, young and old, will get a scolding from her.

Guan Yuehe pushed her bicycle home from get off work and saw Lin Yiku waiting at the factory gate, so she waved to him hurriedly.

As he strode over, she excitedly pointed to the fatty pork and ribs hanging on the handlebars and said, "Workers get two pounds of pork as a welfare benefit, and section-level cadres can get an extra pound! I want the ribs!"

She maintains her great enthusiasm for eating meat, just as always.

Lin Yiku praised, "Section Chief Guan is amazing!"

He would come to wait for her to get off work every day. He heard most of the people in the factory call her "Section Chief Guan," so he would occasionally chime in with "Section Chief Guan" as well.

Clearly, Section Chief Guan was very satisfied with this title.

Xu Cheng and Qin Zilan, who were about to greet them, stopped waving, exchanged a glance, and quietly walked around them.

They decided to keep quiet and not bother them.

After walking for a while, Xu Cheng looked back and found that the person pushing the cart had become Lin Yiku. Just by looking at her back, he could tell that Guan Yuehe was probably praising their factory to Lin Yiku with great enthusiasm.

"To be honest, I really didn't expect Brother Yiku to be so easy to talk to," Xu Chengcai clicked his tongue.

Qin Zilan told him to stop lamenting, "Hurry up, your daughter is probably already crying."

"Oh, oh, let's hurry up." Xu Cheng quickened his pace and laughed, "Our Niu Niu has quite a temper."

However, having a bad temper is also a good thing, as it makes it less likely for you to wrong yourself.

On the morning of New Year's Eve, everyone was busy preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner. Only Guan Yuehe, who was busy working during the day, started to do the big cleaning.

Calling it a thorough cleaning isn't quite right, because Jiang Guiying and Guan Aiguo, who rushed home for the New Year, had already cleaned everything except her bedroom. She only needed to tidy up her own bedroom.

You wouldn't believe how much stuff her bedroom was crammed with until you started cleaning!

A wardrobe, two desks, a chest of drawers, two wooden crates, and a newly added bookshelf.

The bookshelf was made for her by Lin Yiku when he came back this time. It's the perfect size and can be placed next to her desk.

Besides these large items, there were also her books and notes, which together could fill a whole box.

She had a new bookshelf, but instead of putting her study books and notes on it, she displayed a lot of comic books.

There was a knock on the bedroom window, and when I opened it, I saw Lin Yiku.

"Wow! It's snowing!"

Snowflakes landed on Lin Yiku's black coat, making their presence even more noticeable.

"Do you need my help?" Lin Yiku looked down and saw that her desk was piled high with books.

"No... uh, I guess so," Sitian said, suggesting that she should make Lin Yiku do more of her own things and give him a chance to prove himself.

So Lin Yiku called the Northwest and Southwest siblings over again to help hold the ladder, as he needed to clean the roof beams.

Guan Yuehe was sorting through her letters with her friends.

Over the years, I've accumulated a huge pile of letters.

Previously, I only corresponded with Ding Xuewen, but later I added my college roommates, classmates and teachers, and in the last six months, the person I corresponded with the most became Lin Yiku.

When she came across Shenghua's letter from National Day two years ago, she realized that she hadn't been in contact with Shenghua for over a year.

She replied to the letter she received. When the year ended and still no letter arrived, she thought for a long time and then sent another letter to Shenghua, attaching the address of the male comrade in the Sichuan Military Region.

Upon seeing this letter, a mix of disappointment and worry welled up within her. She wondered if Shenghua was too busy to write, or... he must be just too busy, Guan Yuehe concluded immediately.

It's been quite a while since graduation, and she's gradually lost touch with her roommates.

Only Chunmei and the other girl maintained a correspondence frequency of one letter every two months, and in each letter they shouted slogans and encouraged each other to persevere in their studies!

Of course, Chunmei would write to ask every time: Guan Yuehe, who is 1.7 meters tall, has your neighbor's brother started dating yet?

Guan Yuehe has indeed grown to 1.7 meters tall; she went to the workshop to have a worker measure her.

Furthermore, when she was preparing to reply in early February, Lin Yiku happened to be in her living room telling the children about the classes at military academy, and would occasionally glance at her at her desk in the bedroom.

Guan Yuehe's heart skipped a beat, and she gave Chunmei an affirmative answer: The neighbor's brother is dating someone, and his girlfriend is Guan Yuehe.

He also included the news of his promotion to deputy section chief and his introduction to the Party in the message, explicitly reminding Chunmei to address him as Section Chief Guan next time.

Thinking of this, Guan Yuehe chuckled to herself, already looking forward to Chunmei's reply.

Lin Yiku heard her soft laughter, looked down at the round back of her head, and at the neatly folded box of letters.

Every day, I'm busy with work, learning two languages, and still finding time to cook delicious meals and communicate with friends from all over the world.

Lin Yi thought to himself, "No wonder Aunt Jiang always says that Yuehe has inexhaustible energy every day."

"Brother Yiku, are you done with your work?" Song Xibei asked quietly, inwardly rolling his eyes: He's just staring at Sister Yuehe again! Is he even going to do any work? He wanted to go home!

Guan Yuehe looked up and asked, "Are you done with your work?"

"Soon."

As soon as Guan Yuehe finished tidying up, Lin Yiku rushed home to help with the work.

Carrying a fish to the front yard to prepare it, I happened to run into Guan Aiguo, who was also going to kill a fish.

"Brother Yiku." Guan Aiguo greeted him, then glanced at Lin Yiku discreetly.

When the news of his second sister dating Yiku Ge reached his hometown, his jaw dropped!

Guan Aiguo was still a little afraid of Lin Yiku, after all, he had been like that since childhood, but when he thought that Lin Yiku was his second sister's boyfriend, he was no longer afraid and called out "Brother Yiku" again, this time raising his voice several times.

Guan Canghai, who was about to enter the house, was startled by his sudden shout and stumbled. "What are you howling about?"

Guan Aiguo grinned foolishly, following Lin Yiku around asking all sorts of questions, and even tentatively asked Lin Yiku if he could help him prepare the fish.

Lin Yiku looked up and gave him a faint, silent warning.

Guan Aiguo, feeling embarrassed, took the fish back and started cooking himself.

A little while later, Guan Yuehe brought out another fish. It was a dish she had added on the spur of the moment; she wanted to make fish balls.

Lin Yiku took the initiative to speak up, "Give it to me, I'll handle it."

Guan Yuehe handed it over with a smile, saying, "Brother Yiku, you've worked hard."

"It's nothing." Lin Yi smiled wryly, then, noticing the intense gaze of the person next to her, asked, "You need my help too?"

Guan Aiguo hadn't forgotten the look in his eyes just now, and shook his head violently, "I can do it myself, don't bother me, Brother Yiku."

Lin Yiku paused in her work of scaling the fish. They used the same address, but the difference between the siblings was like heaven and earth.

But Guan Yuehe only called out once, followed by: "Lin Yiku, the fish tail wasn't cleaned properly!"

Okay, I'll just say one sweet thing if I want to be sweet.

Xu Xiaomei was originally going to go to the yard to process the fish, but after taking a look outside, she turned back and insisted on staying home to do the work.

"I really can't count on you to do any work." Aunt Xu poked her forehead in anger, but she couldn't argue with Xu Xiaomei, so she took the fish away and put it aside, waiting for the Xu Laosan and Xu Chengcai families, who had moved out to live separately, to come back before cleaning up.

"Tell me, after you marry into another family, do you think you can just sit around doing no work? It's only at home that your parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law will tolerate you..."

Xu Xiaomei said, "Why don't I just find someone who doesn't require me to do any work? I don't have to work when I'm not married, so why should I have to work for someone else's family after I get married? If I'm not doing as well as I am now, what's the point of getting married?"

"I can't argue with you, so go away."

This suited Xu Xiaomei perfectly; with no work for her to do, she had time to go out.

"Where are you going during the Chinese New Year?"

"Go find my boyfriend."

"What...what are you looking for? When did you start dating again? Who is it? Is it someone from our car factory?" Aunt Xu didn't care about her other work and just wanted to find out who her daughter was dating.

This time, Xu Xiaomei kept her mouth shut. She had figured out a pattern: whenever her family interfered and gave advice, no matter how good the potential partner was, it would all be ruined.

She decided to wait until things were stable and they were ready to get married and register their marriage before telling her family.

This year's Lunar New Year's Eve was more lively and festive than last year's, but given the example of Matchmaker Liu last year, everyone was cautious and did not go outside to burn paper money.

After finishing their New Year's Eve dinner, everyone started visiting each other's homes and chatting. The place everyone liked to go to the most was Zhou Hongqi's house, because she had a television.

Guan Yuehe wasn't interested in what the adults were talking about, so she called Lin Yiku to go for a walk.

They did call Lin Sitian, but Lin Sitian said she didn't want to stand between them and get in their way, so she refused to go out.

The road outside the alley was quiet; not even a person came out to use the restroom.

Guan Yuehe patted Lin Yiku on the back, "Lin Yiku, try carrying me for a while."

Lin Yi raised an eyebrow. "I'll carry you for a while, and you're not going to carry me for a while too, are you? Let's see who's stronger!"

He wasn't joking; he genuinely believed that Guan Yuehe was capable of such a thing.

"Fine, I won't recite it then!" Guan Yuehe was angry. Was she such an insensitive blockhead? Lin Yiku was the blockhead!

"Yes, I didn't say I wouldn't carry it." Lin Yiku bent down, and seeing her turn her head away, she immediately apologized, "I misspoke, I'm sorry, okay?"

"Alright." Guan Yuehe suppressed a laugh and climbed onto his back.

Lin Yiku carried her up and walked a short distance forward. He noticed her face brush against his back and she sighed comfortably, "Sitian was right."

"What did Sitian say?"

Guan Yuehe snorted, "We can't tell you our secret!"

Sitian was shocked when she learned that the two of them had only ever held hands at most when they were dating, saying that she didn't expect them to be so conservative.

After all, when it comes to pursuing someone and starting a relationship, they're all incredibly direct.

But Sitian quickly expressed her understanding, "Yeah, you two blockheads, it's good enough that you can even find a partner, what kind of romantic things can you possibly do?"

Of all the romantic gestures Sitian suggested, she felt that carrying him for a while was the most suitable. She wouldn't have to worry about Lin Yiku straining his back while carrying her, and she also felt a bit like hugging Lin Yiku.

"Lin Yiku, your clothes smell so good!" Guan Yuehe leaned closer to smell his scarf.

Lin Yiku chuckled. He had made braised pork ribs today and delivered them to her house. When he did, she leaned in to smell them and said in the same tone she was using now, "Lin Yiku, your cooking smells so good!"

He wanted to ask, "Do I look like a dish now?"

Thankfully, it was just a thought, and he didn't ruin the romantic atmosphere where no one was disturbing them.

It would be even more romantic if there weren't any strange rustling sounds coming from the toilet.