Chapter 113

Mu Nan thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure out how to win the hearts of the people. He started staying at home before he graduated from college and had no experience in the workplace. The comics he drew were about love stories on a small scale and saving the world on a large scale. They also never involved the intrigue in the workplace. He had no idea about the environment brought about by the word "workplace".

With his intelligence, the only way he could think of to win hearts and minds was to have what others had, and what others didn't have! In this period of material shortage, others were starving and freezing, but his brother was well fed and warmly clothed. How awful it must be for those who were not well fed and clothed. Even so, he was a little worried about his brother's safety. What if he lived too well and was envied and hated? That would be so dangerous. In his previous life, he gave half a tortilla to a little girl and was targeted by someone. If his brother ate a lot of fish and meat, wouldn't it be even more dangerous? So he had to give up the idea.

Seeing Mu Nan's conflicted expression about whether to bring him food, Qin Huai smiled and asked, "What are you going to bring me?"

Mu Nan said, "Stir-fried venison with chili peppers, tomato meatball soup. For the main course, I was thinking of making minced meat and scallion pancakes for you. I'll let you get rice in the cafeteria. How's the rice in the cafeteria? Is it white rice?"

Qin Huai said: "White rice is mixed with brown rice and cooked together."

The rice is definitely not very fine white rice. It tastes a bit rough, and there are some coarse grains mixed in the rice. The taste is naturally much worse than the soft and good rice that people are used to eating. But the steamed buns are delicious. The steamed buns are made by machine and are very soft. One steamed bun is not small, but although it is big, it weighs less than half of the steamed bun made with scallion flour. The steamed bun made with scallion flour is solid. Although the steamed buns made by the machine are soft, they are hollow in comparison and save more materials. So although they taste good, an adult man may not be full with two big steamed buns.

Hearing Qin Huai say this, Mu Nan hesitated: "What about the dishes? What are they?"

Qin Huai said, "We are not short of water now. We eat mostly bean sprouts and mung bean sprouts, with some black fungus and day lily, and some seaweed soup. Sometimes we have vegetable soup. The vegetables are the frozen dried vegetable hodgepodge we bought before. Anyway, we only have those few things and we rotate them."

The food was heartbreaking. Although Mu Nan knew that this was already a very good big pot meal, the food in the greenhouse was even worse than this. However, he did not dare to bring it to Qin Huai because they had the conditions. However, he could not bear to let Qin Huai eat this at noon at work. The lunch was so important. He had to work for so long in the afternoon. His brother's work was more mentally exhausting and he had to endure the cold. If he didn't eat well at noon, he would save it all to eat at night. How much burden would it put on his body? But he was afraid that Qin Huai would be targeted if he brought too much food.

Qin Huai knew what he was thinking at a glance at the troubled look in his eyes, and pulled him into his arms with a smile: "If you want to bring me food, then bring it."

Mu Nan looked at him and said, "Will this cause trouble?" Nowadays, many people lose their lives just for a bite of food.

Qin Huai said, "It's not too outrageous to take it out. At most, it's a little better than others. The salary of those who work in the Information Building is not low, and the food in the cafeteria is also okay. No one would take such a risk for a bite of food. Besides, everything has potential dangers. You may encounter some unexpected accidents at any time when you are alive. You can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Don't worry, do whatever you want. I will be careful."

There were more than 400 applicants, including more than 300 programmers. Half of them were eliminated in the first day of the written test, and the remaining computer and interviews eliminated more than half. In the end, there were only 50 jobs, because we had to bear the network operation and maintenance of the entire residential area. Even if 50 jobs sounded like a lot, everyone would have a lot of things to do after getting on track. Now is not like before, when you can quit and find another job if you are under great pressure. Now you will starve to death if you don't have a job, so no matter how heavy the workload is, you have to bear it.

Qin Huai has been promoted from team leader to team leader and has his own separate office, while the others are currently in a renovated large office. Qin Huai said that Jiang Xuan has good abilities, which proves that he has some strength, so it is not surprising that he was successfully recruited for the job. In the future, they will probably be grouped according to their strengths, but now they are still in the running-in stage.

Their work here has stabilized for the time being, and they have started to recruit customer service staff. There are many online sections in mobile phones now, and the official mall alone requires a lot of customer service. In addition to customer service, they also have to provide offline delivery and packing of goods. It is impossible for soldiers to complete all of these. In the past, that was because the personnel conditions were not in place. Now, no matter whether everyone has adapted to the climate or not, people always have to withstand the pressure brought by the environment and go out of their homes. Although life is difficult now, some traffic will gradually resume in the future, and travel will be much more convenient at that time.

The news Qin Huai got from Shi Yuanfei was that the underground needed to be reopened and cleared to build a new subway. The subway would be the main mode of transportation in the future because it was underground and less affected by the ground environment. The snow in winter and the sun in summer could be blocked. If it weren't for the earthquake, the heavy snow and the scorching heat, life wouldn't have been like this. People would have started moving underground a long time ago. An earthquake destroyed the entire city, and the underground buildings also collapsed. Now the underground transportation needs to be rebuilt, and the manpower and material resources consumed are not a small amount. But the good thing is that in order to rebuild the underground transportation, or in order to have a job and make a living, after the government recruited people to start construction, most people rushed to do this kind of porter work that did not require any technical skills. When almost everyone was mobilized, the progress was very fast.

Shi Yuanfei had previously approached Qin Huai for work. He had also met Qin Huai's younger brother and lover. Although he looked thin, he had managed to get through the difficult migration. Now he was looking for a customer service representative, and the job would be in the Information Building, but the recruitment information had not been made public yet. So he wanted to let Qin Huai know in advance if his younger brother also needed a job. Customer service was easier than working outside like moving bricks or doing logistics distribution.

As for the rest, Shi Yuanfei had never heard Qin Huai talk about his brother's technical expertise. Now the power plant, water plant, and cable factory have officially resumed work, and the treatment is relatively good in several large factories, but they all need technical personnel, and those factories are a bit far from residential areas. Before transportation is restored, they may only be able to live in dormitories, and Qin Huai may not be willing to let them go.

But Qin Huai felt that the customer service job was not suitable for Mu Nan, but more suitable for Jian Chu. His Mu Nan was more suitable to stay at home and draw comics. The first thing Qin Huai did after returning to work was to discuss with the higher-ups to open entertainment, film, music, comics, and novel sections. He planned to integrate all these things into one account. Although the sections were different, the same account was more convenient for recharging and consumption.

So Qin Huai told his neighbors about the customer service recruitment. If they are interested, they have to go to the registration area of ​​the official website. The number of registrations is also limited. The backdoor Qin Huai can give them is to tell them the time when registration is open so that they can sign up as soon as possible. As for the subsequent interviews, that is not something he can control.

But it was just a notification of the registration time, which was good enough for Jian Chu and his friends. At least they knew more than others and could prepare. But in the end, only Jian Chu and Song Jia decided to go. Xu Ming didn't need it. If he wanted to work, he could do it anytime. The government wanted to redevelop the animal husbandry industry, so it would definitely need veterinarians. Although he had been treating people for the past two years, he had not forgotten his original profession, so Xu Ming felt that he would not worry about work.

Wu Zheng had been recuperating for several months, and his previous frostbite had long since healed. However, he wanted to join the factory. He was not a very eloquent person, and he found it difficult to communicate with people even through the Internet and the phone. It would be better for him to join the factory when the time comes. He studied CNC machine tools, and if the industry was to be rebuilt, then his major would be quite suitable. In addition, he had some financial resources now, so he was not too anxious about the job.

There are quite a few people being recruited in the customer service department, and a simple word can be considered a favor. I thought that everyone in this courtyard gets along well with each other. Although those girls stay indoors and seldom interact with them, at least they don't cause any trouble and are comfortable living together quietly. So in the small group where I collected firewood before, I tagged a few of them and told them that we are recruiting customer service staff. If they are interested, they should pay attention to the time and wait for the official registration channel to be opened.

Of course, several girls are willing to do a job that does not require them to suffer outside. Customer service work is more advantageous for girls. As for commuting, if they are all selected, they can rent a car like Qin Huai. Anyway, the cost will be shared by several people. They don't have to move bricks outside in the wind and sun, and earning some food to support their livelihood is enough. As for dormitories, they probably won't choose to live in dormitories. It is not convenient to stockpile things in dormitories. The food they stockpiled before, if well preserved, can last for at least one or two years. For this reason alone, it is impossible for them to live in dormitories.

There are 200 vacancies for customer service, but only 30 people will be recruited. Registration opens at 9 a.m. If you are lucky, you will be idly scrolling through your phone at that time and just happen to see the opportunity and sign up. If you are unlucky, by the time you find out there are customer service jobs recruiting, the vacancies have already been filled.

The customer service interview was quite simple, and did not test academic qualifications. It mainly tested typing speed, Mandarin proficiency, and the ability to respond to difficult questions. Probably because of good looks, all the people in their yard were hired, and Mu Nan was happy because the customer service working hours were the same as Qin Huai's, and the workplace was upstairs and downstairs, so Qin Huai was not alone at work. There were three people in one car. Although the girls rented a car, they decided to go with them to take care of each other on the way, so that there would be more people to improve safety. Mu Nan had always been worried that he would be envied and ambushed when preparing lunch for Qin Huai. Now that there were more people, this hidden danger was greatly reduced.

As for the last time when Mu Nan asked if there were grass seeds in the online mall, after a long time, he finally got a reply. Yes, there were alfalfa seeds, thirty for one dollar. Mu Nan thought about it and decided that if he moved the upstairs and downstairs a little, he could plant a little more area. Now that there was electricity and the floor heating at home was turned on, the temperature would rise and the greenhouse could be removed, so there would be more space. So he simply bought fifty dollars worth of seeds in one go. After all, more is better, and they wouldn't go bad if they were kept in the space. When the baby rabbits' food grew, the mother rabbit might give birth to another litter. Then he could sell a few of them and the initial investment in the grass seeds would be back.

It's only been a few days, and those little rabbits, which used to look like hairless mice, now have grown fur. Even though they are not snow-white, they are just little balls of fur, and are incredibly cute with their gray and white coloring.

Because the little rabbits are so cute, and they have passed their weakest period. Although they are still drinking milk, maybe because of the good genes of wild rabbits or some other reason, the little rabbits are very strong and have begun to run around the house. Mu Nan sometimes lets one or two out and holds them in his hands to play with them. Seeing this, Qin Huai couldn't help but worry and asked, "When they grow up, will you really be willing to eat them?"

Mu Nan said as a matter of course: "Why shouldn't I? I can eat it more deliciously. I fed them all the meat myself." He made a clear distinction between pets and reserve meat. Besides, for him, only those who could interact with him could cultivate feelings. These little rabbits were only stroked unilaterally, so no feelings could be cultivated and there was no pressure to eat them.

There were seven little rabbits. When they grew up a little, Qin Huai identified them and found three were female and four were male. Mu Nan specially found some ropes in the space and tied red ropes to the female rabbits and white ropes to the male rabbits. When the rabbits grew up a little more, they had to be separated. They had to be raised scientifically and not bred indiscriminately. His home had limited space and it was not a breeding farm. It was enough to eat some rabbit meat every once in a while. As for the extra ones, of course they would be sold. Occasionally he would sell one or two to keep the money flowing into the family. Anyway, there were still the vegetables and his brother made money. There was plenty of food and drink in the space. He didn't ask for much, just to maintain the current living conditions.

As for the future, Mu Nan had no idea of ​​taking advantage of this period of reconstruction to become one of the first to get rich. He was a person who was content with pleasure. He had no interest or motivation to work hard to start a business and make money. Of course, if his brother wanted to, he would definitely support him.

Just when everyone thought that winter was just like this, with occasional strong winds and heavy snow and occasional sunny days, the power supply stations could anyway withstand the current low temperature, and some work was carried out slowly but orderly, and life entered a stable period, the climate changed again, and another cold wave was about to hit.

The superiors are so worried that their hair has turned white. The previous cold wave forced people to live in greenhouses, but many people still froze to death. Now there is another cold wave. How low will the temperature drop? Although they have received climate bulletins from above, they did not stop working this time. If they have to stop working again and again due to low temperatures, then their small new city may never be able to operate. They can only rely on people to stimulate their own potential to cope with the situation. They try their best to supply sufficient cold-resistant items. Now is the time for man to fight against nature.

Mu Nan knew that after this wave of cooling, the temperature would soon rise again, and a new summer would come. But after the temperature rises again, whether it will be as hot as last year, or slightly better, or even hotter, he didn't know, after all, he didn't live that long in his previous life. But this time the low temperature will last at least half a month. Mu Nan looked at Qin Huai and said, "Why don't you live in the dormitory? It would be too dangerous if your car freezes and stalls when you go to work."

Qin Huai was leaning on the kang reading a book. Hearing this, he pulled Mu Nan into his arms and said, "Go live in the dormitory. Let you live alone at home? Do you think it's possible? As long as the car doesn't stop, it won't stall. Besides, no matter whether it's Jian Chu or Song Jia, they won't choose to live in the dormitory. Now the dormitory provided by the unit cannot bring family members. Besides, it's only half a month, it will be over soon."

Mu Nan also didn't want Qin Huai to live in the dormitory, one reason was the food, and the other was that he was reluctant to be separated from Qin Huai, but he also felt sorry for Qin Huai's hard work going to and from get off work.

Qin Huai hugged him and said, "Don't worry so much. I'm not masochistic. If I can't stand the cold, I'll just quit. The food upstairs and downstairs is enough for us to live well. Do you have enough ice? Now that the temperature is still okay, we can make some ice cream and popsicles. Think about what else is suitable for winter. How about trying to make frozen pears?"

Mu Nan said, "I've stored a lot of ice. I didn't use much ice in the previous summer. This time, I stored almost a swimming pool's worth of ice every day, as well as various beverages, even glucose and light salt water. I classified them all and stored them. I didn't bother with the frozen pears. The frozen pears should be placed outside. If you put them on the balcony, it would be bad if someone saw them. The temperature outside now is really suitable for storing beverages. I poured Coke into the mold and put it outside for five minutes. It was frozen solid. I didn't have to worry about it running out of gas and turning into sugar water. In the summer, it would be so cool to drink beverages with ice cubes. Hehe, I'll wait for the temperature to drop a little in a few days, and I'll store beer ice cubes for you. You can freeze them outside, and you don't have to worry about losing gas at all."

Qin Huai said, "It's easy to freeze pears. I'll make a net for you and put a black plastic bag on it. We'll hang it on the window behind the second floor. There's a courtyard wall behind the second floor, and the neighbors won't open the windows there. If you like to eat them, make more. When the weather gets hot, you can eat frozen pears with the air conditioner on."

Mu Nan's attention was indeed distracted. He began to look for ropes in the space to make a net and started to pick pears. Qin Huai naturally followed his lead and stopped reading. He started to weave the net and even made a partition to prevent the pears from freezing together if they were placed together.

When Mu Nan was fiddling with ice cubes in the house, the temperature outside began to drop and heavy snow fell again. Some places provided accommodation, which was fine, but some did not, so the journey was difficult. The weather changed during work. The first few people who followed Qin Huai, as well as a few people with more outstanding abilities, were holding a group meeting in the small office. With more people, the special division of labor they were responsible for would be detailed, so naturally there would be a need for a group leader to lead. At present, Qin Huai has selected a few people with good abilities, and they are now discussing the details of the work. During the halftime break, Zhou Chuanghong said, "It is said that there will be a cold wave in the next two days, and the temperature will drop further. Brother Qin, why don't you apply for a dormitory and wait until the cold wave is over before going back, otherwise it will be too cold on the road."

Qin Huai held a teacup in one hand and replied to Mu Nan's message with the other. He said without raising his head, "It's okay. The car won't freeze and stall easily. We shovel snow twice a day now. If the road is really frozen, help will come quickly."

Knowing that Qin Huai was worried about his lover at home, Zhou Chuanghong didn't say much. Seeing Shu Bin staring at his phone with a frown on his face, he whispered, "What's wrong?"

Shu Bin glanced at him and shook his head: "It's okay." He just said that his room and board were provided and there were no expenses, and he was asked to hand over all his salary. Every time at this time, he would ask himself whether his choice was right or wrong. For a group like them with a minority sexual orientation, there was a lot of discrimination in society. He was able to find a boyfriend who was willing and brave enough to come out to his family in such an environment. To be honest, this was a very lucky thing and even happiness that could not be forced.

But when the disaster came, everything changed. His efforts seemed to be taken for granted. What he felt was no longer love, but a demand that was labeled as family. He was capable and could find a good job with his expertise during this period. He was willing to make efforts and take on most of the family responsibilities. But the people who used to pick him up from work in the heavy rain had not asked him if he was tired or if he was working hard for a long time.

Not to mention, he has to take responsibility for not only his significant other, but also her parents, siblings, and brothers and sisters. He was once a lonely man who had not experienced much family happiness, but now he has to bear a heavy burden.

If there were no comparison, some things might be overcome if one were more open-minded, more resilient, and gritting one's teeth. But there is such a strong contrast before one's eyes that it is impossible not to be envious or jealous. However, those envy and jealousy are just emotions that one cannot control. Shu Bin knows that his life has nothing to do with others, but even though he knows this, emotions are something that he cannot control.

Hearing that they were chatting during the intermission, a chubby boy with extremely fast hands, who was noticed by Qin Huai and directly promoted because of his excellent ability on the second day of work, looked at Qin Huai with a little caution and a little greed: "Boss Qin."

Qin Huai looked at him and said, "Speak."

The fat boy smiled innocently and asked a little embarrassedly, "Are there any pickled vegetables today?"

When the others heard this, they also swallowed their saliva. It was not because they were greedy, but because they could not suppress their physiological reaction after hearing the word "sour". However, after such a long period of lack of salt and oil, a little pickled cabbage was already a very tempting delicacy. It was mainly because Qin Huai brought his own food, and sometimes he would have a small box of food to go with it. When eating together, he would generously give it to others. Although others felt a little embarrassed, they still couldn't restrain their appetite and stretched out their chopsticks. However, it was impossible for them to ask for it actively. Adults still have to have some face.

But this little fat guy is a pure foodie. What's the use of face? Is stomach important? Although Qin Huai appears a little cold and not very friendly, it can't stop the little fat guy's desire for delicious food. The worst that can happen is that he will be rejected. What if he succeeds?

Qin Huai certainly wouldn't let people get into the habit of eating for free, even though that little bit of pickled cabbage was nothing, so he said, "No today, but after the afternoon plan is finalized and distributed, whichever group finishes it first will be rewarded with a bottle of pickled cabbage."

When the others heard this, they immediately started to get ready. Although there was only one bottle for the whole group, it was better to have something than nothing.

When Qin Huai notified everyone of the work assignments in the afternoon, some people were full of enthusiasm, some sighed, probably knowing their own abilities and not having the strength to compete at all, and some people, looking at the old, weak and sick people in the same group, could no longer bear it and stood up and knocked on the door of Qin Huai's office.