The other two women who were assigned to the fruit canning workshop with Yu Yao looked to be about the same age as her.

One of the girls with braided pigtails was particularly lively. She would ask about everything she saw along the way, but the older woman was not impatient and patiently explained things to her.

"What's that workshop over there? It smells so good! Is it the smell of honey water?"

The older sister glanced over and said, "What you're smelling is sugar water. That's the fruit canning factory, which specializes in producing canned pineapple, mango, and coconut jelly. That's where you'll be working from now on."

What about over there?

"That's a pastry workshop, mainly used to produce pastries such as biscuits, wife cakes, and chicken biscuits."

"Aren't the meat and seafood canning factories here?"

"Both of these production lines are in the old factory next door. Our factory is new, and currently we only have a fruit canning production line."

Because of the girl with braided pigtails' inquiries, Yu Yao gained a deeper understanding of the factory's situation.

It was in the information her brother had given her before, and although she had written it down, she had never actually investigated it.

After listening to this woman's introduction, the layout of the food factory finally matched the image in my mind.

Haixing Food Factory is the largest food factory on the island, consisting of two branches, an old one and a new one, which are only a little over 100 meters apart.

They produce a wide variety of products, including canned goods and pastries as mentioned earlier, as well as various seafood by-products and condiments such as soy sauce, vinegar, and MSG.

Aside from a small portion supplied to local department stores and supply and marketing cooperatives, most of Haixing Food Factory's products are exported overseas as foreign exchange earners.

China's current industrial production is relatively backward, and the main products that can earn foreign exchange internationally are agricultural products or processed agricultural products.

The introduction of this new production line and the construction of the new factory are also aimed at meeting the growing demand for foreign exchange and generating foreign exchange for the country.

Unlike Yu Yao and the girl with braided hair who showed interest and curiosity about the food factory, the remaining female comrade showed little interest from beginning to end.

Seeing that Yu Yao was listening attentively, and occasionally even showing a hint of disdain.

While Yu Yao was listening, she was either playing with her hair or looking down at her toes, completely distracted.

They seemed completely unconcerned about the upcoming allocation.

The older sister led them to an office. "Director Li, all the people assigned to our new canned food production workshop are here."

"I understand, you can go now. Oh, and call Zhao Shengli here."

After Director Li finished speaking, he looked up and glanced at the three of them. His gaze fell on the girl with double braids to Yu Yao's left, and his expression immediately changed. He got up and walked over.

"Shouldn't you be going to the workshop next door? Why are you in our fruit canning workshop?"

The girl with twin braids shrugged: "How should I know? The personnel department just assigned me randomly. I told you to come and pick me up, but you wouldn't. Now look what happened, the assignment was wrong."

"This Zhang, he can't even make a mistake with something this small. Alright, I'll take you there in a bit."

The two spoke intimately, clearly indicating they knew each other.

Just then, Zhao Shengli arrived, and Director Li handed Yu Yao and the other girl over to him, instructing Zhao Shengli, "Zhao Shengli, take them to transfer their registration first, and then find Squad Leader Wang to make arrangements after that."

After saying that, he led the girl with the braided hair out. Yu Yao also saw Director Li say something, and the girl with the braided hair pouted in dissatisfaction.

This sounds more like a junior acting spoiled towards an elder.

Yu Yao seemed to be deep in thought.

Zhao Shengli seemed completely unsurprised. Seeing Yu Yao's silence, he said, "Stop looking. That's Director Li's daughter. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Zhao Shengli, and I work in the syrup preparation department of the fruit canning workshop. Did you bring your letters of introduction and household registration information?"

Yu Yao nodded and handed the letter of introduction to Zhao Shengli.

Zhao Shengli was somewhat surprised to see the word "married" on his household registration information.

Yu Yao looks only seventeen or eighteen years old; she's so young to be married.

"Is your spouse a military officer?"

Yu Yao nodded, without revealing too much about Lu Ze's rank.

However, the title of "officer" alone is enough, since on the island, the military has a wider jurisdiction than the commune.

Thinking about how the household registration information stated that Yu Yao came from a production brigade in a small mountain village under Qin Province, and how such a person married a military officer from Guangdong Province.

Judging from Yu Yao's demeanor, she probably won't marry a minor official; he'll likely be at least a regimental commander.

For an ordinary soldier to reach this position, he must be quite old.

An older man with a younger wife, especially since the younger wife is so beautiful.

Zhao Shengli seemed to understand something.

Wan Xiaozhen, who had been absent-minded the whole time, finally looked Yu Yao up and down when she heard the word "officer".

Upon seeing this, her mood soured.

Both men were dressed in green military uniforms, white shirts, and military satchels slung over their waists; their styles and attire were quite similar.

She is not bad-looking, but having lived on an island for many years, her skin is dark and rough.

Compared to the fair-skinned Yu Yao, she looked like a piece of charcoal and appeared several years older.

Wan Xiaozhen disliked Yu Yao even more when she heard that Yu Yao's surname was "Yu," the same as her stepfather who had married into the family.

After checking the two men's information and finding no problems, Zhao Shengli took them to register and transfer their grain rations to the food factory.

Yu Yao looked at her food ration book, her eyes crinkling with a smile.

As expected, the end of the universe is either taking the civil service exam or joining a state-owned enterprise.

A secure job with many benefits.

In the 1970s, military officers were paid according to a 24-level salary standard, while enterprises were paid according to an 8-level salary standard.

Yu Yao had no experience and could only be considered an apprentice. Her monthly salary plus allowance was a total of 17.84 yuan.

If you pass the exam in three months, you will become a formal employee and receive a first-level salary of 28 yuan.

After transferring the grain rations, Zhao Shengli led them to the fruit canning workshop. "Squad Leader Wang, these are the people assigned to our workshop this time. The director asked you to make the arrangements."

Squad Leader Wang's real name is Wang Chuntao. He is in his forties, has a square face and prominent cheekbones. When he smiles, he looks fine, but when he doesn't smile, he appears somewhat stern and harsh.

"Brother Zhao, I understand. The batch of pineapples has already been processed. Go and prepare the syrup. Leave the rest to me."

"Okay, class monitor, I'll go first."

As soon as he left, Wang Chuntao gave Yu Yao a sizing look without any politeness. "You look so thin. Can you really do the work in our workshop? Our cannery is all heavy and physically demanding work. We don't support idlers."

Fang Qiaoqiao, who had been watching the thermometer the whole time, pouted and said, "Squad Leader Wang, they're all connected people. You can't be biased and only talk about one person while ignoring your own niece."

Upon hearing the word "connections," Yu Yao finally understood what was wrong.

Is this new cannery production workshop being neglected in the factory? How come so many relatives and friends have appeared in such a short time?

Squad Leader Wang wanted to see who dared to undermine her, but when she saw it was Fang Qiaoqiao, the factory director's sister-in-law, she immediately suppressed her anger and smiled, saying:

"I haven't had a chance to say it yet. We're both in the same boat. Even though it's the first day, we have to work hard and complete our daily production tasks on time."

She paused, then looked at Yu Yao.