Chapter 82 Exclusive Job Hopping on Jinjiang
"Xiaojuan, why are you off work so early today?" Aunt Wang was sitting at the door picking vegetables when she saw Hu Xiaojuan and was quite surprised.
Everyone else looked over as well. It was only five o'clock, and Hu Xiaojuan usually didn't get home until six o'clock.
"Today is payday at the factory. Director Su said that from now on, we can all leave work early on this day."
Hu Xiaojuan couldn't suppress the smile on her face; every time she touched the cash in her pocket, she couldn't help but smile.
She wasn't someone who hadn't received this much money before, but today was clearly different from usual. After all, she had been feeling uneasy for the past two weeks, and the salary she received was more than she had expected!
She was prepared that as long as the other party didn't deduct too much from her pay and it was more than the salary she would have received at the textile factory, she wouldn't have any complaints.
Private factories certainly don't offer the same benefits as state-owned factories, but these days textile factories aren't paying wages in full, which is why people can't stay there.
So she worked overtime like crazy, hoping to earn more money and make her efforts worthwhile.
Even if you wanted to work overtime at the textile factory, there was no opportunity to do so and get overtime pay. She wasn't afraid of hardship; as long as there was money to be made, she would do it.
Seeing a return that was much higher than expected, Hu Xiaojuan didn't touch any of the extra dishes today, taking them all home to eat together. But she still gritted her teeth and went to the street to buy meat, planning to make dumplings at home. She decided to eat to her heart's content today!
Upon hearing that they had received their salaries, everyone gathered around.
"Did they really pay wages? So the private employer wasn't lying to us?"
"She must have received the money, otherwise Xiaojuan wouldn't have been able to buy so much meat." Some sharp-eyed neighbors had already noticed the vegetables in Hu Xiaojuan's hands.
"Hey Xiaojuan, pork prices have gone down? Why are you buying so much!"
This huge lump of meat looks like it weighs three or four pounds.
Hu Xiaojuan laughed and said, "My family is large, and my teenagers eat a lot. They usually don't get to taste much meat before it's gone, so I bought a little extra meat to make dumplings at home."
Everyone present knew about Hu Xiaojuan's family situation. Hu Xiaojuan was usually a very frugal person and had never been so generous before, so everyone could understand what was going on.
"Xiaojuan, how much salary did the garment factory pay you? It allows you to live so extravagantly."
These days, there's no such thing as keeping salaries secret. Salaries are calculated using fixed formulas based on factors like rank and seniority, and they're basically transparent.
Therefore, Hu Xiaojuan didn't have the habit of hiding anything. If she didn't say anything, others would, so she might as well tell the truth.
"I worked a lot of overtime this month, so I only got a little over 300."
Everyone gasped when they heard this; only a senior engineer could earn such a salary!
"Xiaojuan, you haven't even been working for a month!"
"If this goes on for a full month, wouldn't it be 400 a month? My goodness, how can they make so much money?"
"Private factories are more generous than state-owned factories? That can't be right!"
Hu Xiaojuan: "Our factory calculates wages based on the amount of work done. The more you work, the more you earn. I'm quick and efficient, and there's a lot of work to do in the factory, so I earn more. Plus, I work 12 hours a day, which is equivalent to working half a day more than I did in the textile factory."
Everyone knows this, and we also learned from Wang Fang that the work intensity in the garment factory is much greater than that in the textile factory.
When you calculate it this way, the salary isn't really outrageous.
But there are still a lot of people. These days, what's the problem with labor costs? What everyone lacks is a way to make money!
The reason why people were reluctant to go before was ultimately because they were afraid of not having enough money. The textile factory had never made any promises to the workers; it had only said that it would provide a way for them to increase their income.
Things are different now; that factory is really paying them! And they're very generous!
Everyone couldn't help but have all sorts of ulterior motives, regretting that they went to check out the job postings a few days ago!
Hu Xiaojuan finally managed to escape and return home. When she saw the meat in Hu Xiaojuan's hand, her mother-in-law, Grandma Wang, was shocked.
"Why did you buy so much meat?!"
Grandma Wang's expression suddenly turned somewhat unpleasant as she thought of something.
"Xiaojuan, no matter how hard life gets, we can still get through it. Don't do anything rash."
Hu Xiaojuan was stunned for a moment, then smiled helplessly:
"Mom, I got paid today, so I thought we should make dumplings. Our family hasn't had dumplings since Chinese New Year."
Grandma Wang clearly thought that her daughter-in-law wouldn't get her salary today, or would get very little, and felt that they couldn't make ends meet, so she thought she would have a good meal and then the whole family would be done with it.
Grandma Wang still couldn't believe it when she heard this, because she knew her daughter-in-law all too well.
If it weren't for the fact that she couldn't bear it, she certainly wouldn't be acting so abnormally, and she couldn't help but wipe away her tears.
"It's all because of us old folks that we've dragged you down."
Grandpa Zhang, the father-in-law, also came out with faltering steps, his back hunched, coughing occasionally.
"Xiaojuan, don't buy my medicine anymore. I know my body. I can get better by taking some herbal medicine. Those medicines prescribed by the hospital are useless and a complete waste of money."
Just then, the children came home from school, and upon hearing this remark, all four children felt a chill in their hearts.
They all knew that Hu Xiaojuan got her salary today, so Grandpa's comment meant she didn't have much money.
In the past, when both parents worked, they could barely make ends meet.
But now neither factory can pay wages in full, making the already strained family situation even worse.
As the country opened up, everyone else's life got better and better, but their family's life got worse and worse.
“Mom, I’m not going to school anymore, I’m going to work too,” said Zhang Lizhi, the eldest son in the family.
As soon as he spoke, the other children echoed his words.
The twins, in particular, knew they weren't their parents' biological children and were just nephews, so their reactions were even more intense.
They are already very grateful to their adoptive parents for raising them, and they don't want to be a burden on this family anymore.
"We're all grown up now, we can support ourselves!"
Hu Xiaojuan gave each child a smack on the head, saying, "Nonsense! How old are you? You're not even as tall as the stove and you want to skip school? Do you want a spanking?"
Seeing the worried looks on her family's faces, Hu Xiaojuan felt a mix of amusement and sadness, as well as a sense of relief.
She and her husband usually don't like to talk about the hardships their family faces with the elderly and children, but they see it all and feel anxious for the family and understand their struggles, and that's enough for them.
"I got paid today, a total of 389 yuan!"
Everyone gasped upon hearing this.
Grandpa Zhang exclaimed, "How come there's so much! Did Director Su give us this as a subsidy because we're in need?"
Even though the children are young, they all know that this income is not low.
They often go out to collect waste paper and scrap metal to sell, or catch cicadas to sell, so they have a clear understanding of money.
"No, that's not true. I've only met the factory manager a few times."
Hu Xiaojuan repeated the reason again. In fact, she had said it more than once in this family before, and she had even repeated it this morning.
It's a completely different story to say that what happened before and what happens now; everyone is sighing with regret.
“I really want to work in this factory too,” Zhang Lihui said.
Hu Xiaojuan glared at her, and she immediately shrank back.
“No matter how poor your family is, you still have to go to school. Only by going to school can you learn more. Our factory secretary graduated from high school. She always had good grades, but she was unlucky and didn't do well on the college entrance exam, so she didn't get into university. Her salary is much higher than mine. This month, she got a bonus of five hundred yuan!”
Everyone in the factory agrees with this.
When Su Ruyi wasn't around, Xu Xiaonan managed the factory. She was just a young girl not even twenty, but she managed to keep the business afloat.
She cried countless times in private, but in front of others, she always appeared composed and at ease.
Hu Xiaojuan once saw her secretly wiping away tears in a corner when she turned her back to people.
Such a large factory with a diverse workforce and countless tasks to handle. She also had to greet customers who came to buy goods, deal with inspections from higher-ups, and manage all the affairs both inside and outside the factory.
Xu Xiaonan stays at the factory for at least sixteen or seventeen hours every day. Although she has never mentioned it, everyone has seen it.
Xu Xiaonan is not only diligent, but also genuinely intelligent, which is why she can handle various matters well.
These clerical positions all have educational requirements, and each one is highly capable. This is completely different from many clerical positions in factories where people are just hired through connections to take a break. These positions place great emphasis on individual ability.
Hu Xiaojuan's simple idea is that reading more books will make her smarter and better able to handle this kind of job.
"five hundred!"
Everyone was shocked; the bonus was so much in just one month!
When the textile factory was doing well, it also had similar rewards, and the bonuses were always more or less.
In the early days it was alright, but later it was basically only people with connections who could get it, and ordinary employees had no chance at all.
According to Hu Xiaojuan, as long as you are willing to work hard, you will get it, which makes people feel that they also have a chance to get it, so everyone is surprised.
"This factory looks pretty good. It's not like what people say about private factories treating people like dirt," Grandma Wang said.
Grandpa Zhang was very happy: "It's good that the factory is doing well. We won't have to worry about anything in the future."
“But Mom isn’t an employee at that factory,” the younger twin said.
Everyone fell silent for a moment, but the awkward atmosphere was quickly broken as everyone busied themselves chopping filling and making dumplings.
When they went to bed at night, Hu Xiaojuan pulled her husband aside to talk.
"I want to apply for a leave of absence without pay at the factory and work at Ruyi Garment Factory from now on."
Hu Xiaojuan's husband, Zhang Rui, was silent for a moment before saying, "Now that your textile factory has resumed production, it will probably return to what it was before. If you take a leave of absence without pay, you definitely won't have a place when you come back."
“Even if I stay in the textile factory and work hard, I won’t earn that much money. Promotions and raises will never come my way, so it’s more practical to earn more money there. Secretary Xu told me that she recognizes my abilities and wants to promote me to team leader.”
A team leader manages five people, and a senior team leader manages ten teams, which is fifty people in total. This is considered a mid-level management position in the factory.
Once you get promoted, your salary will also increase.
Moreover, the wages of permanent employees and temporary employees like her are different. If she were a permanent employee, she would have received at least fifty yuan more today.
Hu Xiaojuan saw some workers sign formal contracts today and clearly understood the benefits of formal employees, which made her very interested.
Zhang Rui was still a little hesitant: "But you'll have to work much harder in the garment factory."
"I'm not afraid of hardship, I'm just afraid of not having money! It's just that I won't have much time to take care of my family in the future."
The garment factory pays well, but it's really hard work. After working overtime and getting home, Hu Xiaojuan doesn't want to move at all.
"Don't worry about that, I'm here for you."
"Then it's settled. After I start working there, you shouldn't take on any outside jobs. Your health isn't good, so you need to take good care of yourself."
Zhang Rui nodded in agreement. He wasn't the kind of person who was old-fashioned and didn't think that it was a bad thing for a man to manage the household.
It doesn't matter who does it, as long as the husband and wife agree on it.
Many people share the same thoughts as Hu Xiaojuan. On the day Hu Xiaojuan applied, she saw many people, all of whom had the same idea.
The textile factory didn't make things difficult and let go of everything.
Although the situation in the textile factory has eased somewhat due to the garment factory, it is still far from returning to its former state. Moreover, the factory has always had the problem of overstaffing, and even if it recovers, it will not need so many workers.
The decision made by these women caused another uproar in the textile factory. However, although many were envious, it did not cause widespread unrest among the workers. Even knowing their income, many still felt that it was not worthwhile.
The textile factories are showing signs of recovery and will soon be back to normal. After all, state-owned factories are more reliable and stable than private ones.
Regardless of what others thought, Su Ruyi was very pleased with the result. This stabilized the workforce and was more conducive to the factory's development.
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