Because of the room allocation, all I’ve heard recently are all kinds of news about it.
This is normal, no matter which factory it is, at this time, the house will become the center of discussion.
Every time the houses were distributed, everyone tried their best, but because there were too few houses and too many people needed them, a comprehensive assessment was made based on their qualifications, level, performance, and whether the couple were both workers in the factory before the houses were distributed.
The houses distributed are generally small. For example, the current batch of houses are not big.
There is basically no chance for newcomers. Yu Xiangan is a typical newcomer, although she also wants to have her own house.
The factory is some distance away from her home, and she has to waste more than half an hour on the road every day.
There is not enough privacy at home, because few people close their doors at this time, and family members can basically come in whenever they want. Except when it is late at night, it is not convenient to do anything at other times. It would be terrible if her farm is exposed.
This was not the first time that Yu Xiangan was called by Deputy Director Wang to help.
No one was surprised, but now that she had access to first-hand information, she suddenly became popular.
When she walked on the street, everyone greeted her with smiles. Even those who didn't know her would smile, nod and say hello. Her popularity improved immediately.
There were even people who secretly gave her gifts and asked her to say good things about them.
Yu Xiangan: “…”
In addition to the changes on her side, she also saw with her own eyes a family of more than ten people who came to Deputy Director Wang’s office with their entire family to ask him to approve their new house.
There are also those who try to sneak around and avoid others, but their guilty actions are so obvious that people can tell at a glance that they are giving gifts.
There were also people who asked Deputy Director Wang's aunts, uncles and other relatives to intercede for them.
The Eight Immortals crossed the sea, each showing their magical powers.
There is no doubt that Deputy Director Wang is having a headache, but he is also fair. No matter who comes or what they give, he is quite impartial and he has already listed the requirements.
What belongs to whomever it belongs to.
But it’s no wonder that others have come up with so many ideas. This two-story building only has sixteen rooms in total.
That means it can be distributed to sixteen households at most, but the number of employees in their food factory is in the three digits.
Too many monks and too little porridge.
This porridge is too little.
Yan Yuzhen was good friends with Yu Xiangan, so she naturally came to ask her if it was possible for her to get a share of the house.
Yu Xiangan didn't know either. This time, she could be said to have a partial understanding of all the employees in the food factory with a certain level of experience. Because she had to go through all of them for statistics.
In Yan Yuzhen's situation, it's not right to say that she has no chance of being selected. It's also not right to say that she is impossible to be selected. It's ambiguous and just walks the line.
She has won the title of advanced worker and has the qualifications, having worked here for more than ten years, but she is not a dual-income family member. Apart from her, no one in her family works here, which is a weakness.
Yan Yuzhen was extremely worried and sighed, "My youngest son has reached the age to start a family, but due to the housing shortage at home, we can't spare a separate room for him, and no girl is willing to marry into our family."
Although the younger son has a formal job and no longer has to go to the countryside, if he wants to start a family, a separate room is a must. Without this, how can a child be born?
Yu Xiangan nodded in agreement, "Yes."
The whole family lives together, the bride can't sleep on the floor with the groom, right?
Even she herself wanted a house, a private place that belonged only to her.
Yu Xiangan couldn't help but start thinking.
If she wanted to buy a house now, she couldn't find a place to buy one, because there were no commercial houses at that time. Occasionally there were a few vacant houses, which were public. In this case, if someone whose family had real housing difficulties applied, they might be given a house to live in for free. In the case of Yu Xiangan's family, although the house was a bit old, it was habitable, and she was a girl, an unmarried girl. Even if she applied, no one would pay attention to her.
It was only 1970, and there was still a long time before the reform and opening up and the free buying and selling of houses. The only way for her to legally own her own house was to get a house allocated by the factory.
There are two ways to distribute housing in a factory. One is like the current situation, where the factory pays for the construction of houses and distributes them to employees based on a comprehensive consideration of their various conditions. Another way is that if an employee has made great contributions, the house may be given to him as a reward.
In the first case, Yu Xiangan believed that she could not endure that long.
The second option is also difficult. It is not easy to be rated as an advanced or activist at this time, let alone make a great contribution that can be rewarded by the leader with a house.
Are there any other options besides these two?
Yu Xiangan: “…”
I am bald, but no matter how bald I am, I have to think about it and not give up easily.
The final list came out after everyone's long-awaited call
After the list was posted, the people on it were ecstatic, while those not on it sighed. Yan Yuzhen looked at it many times but did not find her name on it, so she was very worried because she was not on the list this time.
If she wanted to find fault, she knew the people above her a little bit and they were indeed more qualified to get the house than her.
But this time it didn't happen, and the next room allocation is nowhere in sight.
This is the situation in her family. There is really no place to separate the house. How can her son get married?
There was not even space for an extra bed, and for this reason she didn't dare introduce a partner to her youngest son.
Yan Yuzhen was worried, and so were the others who were not on the list. Some of them were unwilling to accept this and went to find Deputy Director Wang.
On the way to work, Yu Xiangan saw a couple kneeling down to Deputy Director Wang, asking him to have pity on them. They were still staying at her parents' house and had nowhere else to live. Deputy Director Wang was helpless and said, "Get up. This matter has been decided. Everyone has this urgent need, but there are only so many houses in the factory."
Yu Xiangan's heart moved. She thought about it for a while and felt that if she put it forward, it might be adopted. If it was not adopted, she would not suffer any loss. If it was adopted, then she would have a chance. So she followed behind and stopped Deputy Director Wang after he persuaded them to leave.
"Director Wang, I have something I want to talk to you about. It's about the house."
When Deputy Director Wang heard her talking about the house, he frowned and looked at her, "Xiao An, you just joined the factory not long ago, right?" Does she want a house too?
Yu Xiangan smiled, "Director, of course I want a house, but I also know that it is impossible for me to get a house. I just came in, but I found that many people have small homes and many people, so they can't squeeze in. For this reason, the sons of the families can't get married. I also know that the factory is really in trouble and can't meet the housing needs of all employees. So I have an immature idea that may be able to solve this problem. I want to let the director listen to it. You are knowledgeable and experienced, so you know whether this is feasible."
"This problem can be solved. Tell us what you think." Deputy Director Wang became interested.
"It's like this. I see there's a small piece of wasteland in the southeast of the factory. It's unlikely that the factory will expand there in the future. It should be close to the current roadside. I think that piece of land can be used. There is a brick factory in our county. If the factory is willing to plan that piece of land, contact the brick factory, build houses, and let the regular employees of the factory pay for it themselves, they don't have to wait for the factory to distribute houses before they can get new houses. I think it can solve the urgent housing needs of some people."
Director Wang listened carefully and asked, "What do you mean by paying for subscription?"
"The factory provides land, helps contact brick factories and workers, calculates costs, and lets workers buy at cost price. This is different from the welfare housing distributed by the factory. The housing distributed by the factory is free, while this is collective housing purchased by everyone. It is considered a kind of welfare for workers. Some people do not have urgent needs in this regard, so they don't have to pay attention. If you urgently need a house, you can buy it after getting married. If you don't have it easy, you can provide a deposit and repay it with part of your monthly salary until it is paid off."
"Some people have large families and can't fit into two rooms. We can make it bigger, with three bedrooms, then two bedrooms, then one bedroom, according to the needs of different people. If the factory manager thinks it is feasible, he can call a workers' meeting or ask the workers' representatives. If everyone agrees, then we can do it. If not, then we can't do it. Factory manager, don't laugh at me, this is an immature idea of mine."
Deputy Director Wang was thoughtful. "You are too modest. I think what you said makes a lot of sense. Xiao An, when you go back, write down what you said carefully on a piece of paper and give it to me. I will think about it. Thank you for your suggestion. It is a good thing for young people to have ideas. Keep working hard in the future!"
Seeing his attitude, Yu Xiangan felt relieved. It seemed like there was hope. "Yes, Director, I have to go to work now. I'll go back to the office first and come to see you later."
"Go ahead, go ahead."
Deputy Director Wang was a little excited. If the factory really had such benefits, he would subscribe for it himself.
His wife was not a factory worker, and although he was allocated a house because of his level, the house was not big enough for them to live in after they had three sons and one daughter.
His youngest son is not married yet. If there is a subscription, he would definitely be willing to pay for a house for his son to get married.
Anyway, there are many workers in the family and they earn a lot of salary, so we can get a spacious three-bedroom apartment by then.
We will move to the new house when the time comes, and the current house will be used by our youngest son for his marriage.
If you have an independent house, you can raise your standards for finding a wife.
Thinking of this, he got excited and it took him a while to calm down.
There are many things to think about, for example, is there any problem with giving away the land like this?
Does the policy allow it?
How much does the house cost?
Will the workers agree?
How to subscribe, etc.
He decided to think about it carefully and then call a meeting to let everyone discuss whether this was feasible.
Yu Xiangan has done what she can, and the next step is to wait for news. She thinks the possibility is still quite high.
There is a problem. If it is really successful, how can she take out the money for booking the house openly? If she can really subscribe, she will definitely not miss this opportunity.
She now uses part of her salary to supplement her family's income, uses part of it for herself, and saves part of it.
Although Yu Qingshan did not take her money, she would set aside a fixed portion of it every month to subsidize the family and buy food and daily necessities.
He asked her to save it as a dowry. In a way, he was very open-minded, or he loved his children enough.
But if he wanted to buy a house, Yu Qingshan must know her total monthly salary and how much money she had.
Yu Qingshan himself probably doesn't have much money. He has two older brothers and sisters who went to the countryside and need subsidies. The whole family needs food and drink, and the expenses are not small. In addition, there are also his grandfather and uncle in the countryside.
After Yu Xiangan wrote down her thoughts on a piece of paper and handed it in, there was no news for a while. Deputy Director Wang first thought about it on his own and added a lot of details. Then Deputy Director Wang held a meeting with the senior management of the factory to discuss the feasibility of this matter.
There is no precedent for this.
Controversy is inevitable.
However, many people in the factory are facing the same housing problem as Deputy Director Wang, and he himself has this wish.
After a majority vote, the decision is made public.
One month after Yu Xiangan made this suggestion, news finally came that the factory was going to hold a workers' meeting and all workers had to attend.
Everyone didn't know what this was about and was talking about it.
Some asked the people above them, but they were very tight-lipped. However, I guess it was not a bad thing.
Are they going to increase everyone’s salary?
Or an increase in benefits?
After all, if it's not a bad thing, it's a happy thing.
When the workers' meeting was held, Deputy Director Wang talked about this matter at the podium.
"Because of the housing allocation issue some time ago, we came up with an idea..."
After explaining the idea carefully, "Did everyone hear what I just said? The purpose of holding a meeting is to solicit everyone's opinions. The food factory is our common home. Building houses that meet the needs of every employee is not supported by the factory's income, so someone brought up this suggestion. What do you think?"
"Have you seen this ballot box? Please write your answer and put it in. It will pass only if more than half of the votes agree."
He gave everyone three days to think about it.
There is no doubt that what he said caused an uproar among the crowd.
"Is this okay?"
"Don't you have to pay for it yourself?"
"It's a good price to have a new house."
"I can't afford it. My family doesn't have that much money."
Some people who really needed a house and whose families were well-off agreed immediately, such as Yan Yuzhen. Her family was not short of money, and if there was a place to buy a house somewhere else, she would have bought it long ago.
Those who have no housing needs will remain indifferent after this discussion and buy a house with their own money?
No, it's impossible.
However, seeing that some people have such an urgent need, they will not say anything against it and offend others.
After all, this does not infringe on their interests.
It's just a piece of unused space in the factory.
Some even think that if those people already have houses, their chances of getting one when the next batch of free welfare housing is distributed will be greatly increased.
Three days later, Yu Xiangan helped register the voting results, so he knew the final results first.
More than half of the people agreed.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
This step was taken successfully.
Then, employees who were interested in purchasing the house were given a questionnaire. Those who could not write were asked by others and they filled it out after getting the answers.
This is to ask everyone how many bedrooms they want to purchase.
Deputy Director Wang specifically looked for Yu Xiangan and asked her if she had any other ideas.
Yu Xiangan raised the issue of house design.
Today's houses are all the same, without separate kitchens and toilets like those in later generations. She pointed out that the construction method of the houses allocated by the factory before was that many people would hang clothes in the public corridor in front, causing water to drip down, making it inconvenient for people to walk. Others would stuff all kinds of things there, blocking the road.
Of course, this kind of thing is actually very difficult to prevent.
She felt that the layout of the house could be determined now, otherwise there would only be one big room inside and she would have to make changes herself. Now that she had already calculated how many bedrooms she wanted when she subscribed to the house, she could determine the layout of the rooms from the beginning.
In addition, she thinks that the small balcony at the back can be expanded to increase the usable area. It can be used to dry clothes, grow some ginger, onions and garlic, and it can also be converted into an independent kitchen according to personal wishes. If the house is not enough, it can be sealed and used as a small room.
Because people in the city basically don't burn wood, most of them use coal stoves, so expanding a part of the balcony to make a kitchen is completely sufficient.
Deputy Factory Director Wang thought it made sense. If every household had its own kitchen, it would save a lot of disputes. For example, if they made something delicious, they wouldn't have to expose it to the public. If there were ignorant children coming over, they wouldn't have to give the food away reluctantly. They could just close the door and enjoy it by themselves.
This is equivalent to the employees paying for the construction. The factory cannot possibly pay so much money. In other words, the factory only provides manpower, land, and management, which does not impose much burden on the factory. Therefore, the subscription money must be paid.
Deputy Director Wang listened to what Yu Xiangan said, but he would not approve it if the increased cost was too high.
Because there are many people in the family, Yan Yuzhen wants to purchase a three-bedroom apartment.
Yu Xiangan chose a two-bedroom apartment and borrowed some money from her and Sun Qingchun.
Everyone knows how long she has been working and how much money she has.
Sun Qingchun's family has a house, so he won't get involved this time. He can just take out one month's salary and lend it to her first. There's no problem with that.
Yan Yuzhen had many workers at home, and they could take out one month's salary to lend to her first.
Yu Xiangan agreed with them on how much they would pay back each month and how many months it would take to pay it off.
After signing up, Yu Xiangan went back and told Yu Qingshan about her decision. Yu Qingshan was silent for a while and asked, "Have you thought about it?"
Yu Xiangan: "I've thought about it. It's better to buy a house than save the salary."
"Houses are so hard to come by now, especially two-story ones. When the time comes to install electric wires, I can get water nearby, and go to work in the factory just by walking."
She is quite satisfied with the food factory and has no intention of moving for the time being. There is still so much time before the college entrance examination and the reform and opening up, and if she builds a small home for herself, it will make many things much more convenient.
Yu Qingshan nodded in agreement, but she subscribed to a two-bedroom apartment. "Are you thinking of starting a family in the future? In fact, a one-bedroom apartment is enough. Didn't you say that a one-bedroom apartment is 15 square meters, so it's no problem for four people to live in it?"
Compared to a one-bedroom apartment, a two-bedroom apartment is more affordable, and he was worried that it would be too much of a burden for her.
Yu Xiangan smiled, "It's nothing, Dad. I keep my salary by myself. I don't have any other place to spend money except my family. I might as well use it to buy a house. It will be a guarantee in the future. And I live alone in a one-bedroom apartment? If it's a two-bedroom apartment, we can all live there."
Yu Qingshan was thinking that if his younger daughter had trouble finding a partner in the future, he could use the fact that she had a house as an example. Some families are short of houses, and might be willing to marry into the family just for the sake of the house, let alone just getting married. With the house, she basically wouldn't have to worry at all in the future.
Yu Qingshan nodded. "There's not much money at home right now, so Dad can't help you. You have to wait until this period is over." He had given all his previous money to Yu Xiangyan, so he didn't have much money on hand now.
Yu Xiangan shook his head: "Dad, I don't need your help. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I'll pay half of my salary back every month, and the rest will definitely be enough for me to live on. You don't have to worry about me."
Yu Qingshan did some calculations and nodded, "Then you don't have to buy anything for the family every month, okay? Use your money to buy a house, the family doesn't need you to support them, and Dad can still make money."
We were able to get by without her salary before. Now that she has a job and eats at the factory, the burden on the family is reduced. There is no reason why she can't make it.
Yu Xiangan nodded, but she didn't agree in her heart. She would still set aside a portion of the money every month to buy things for her family. After all, she could earn it back by going to the black market and selling some things. There was no need to do this.
He treats sincerity, so naturally he should treat sincerity with sincerity.
Yu Xianghai learned about this and sighed, "It would be great if we had this in our factory."
It’s enough for him now, but what about later?
If you have more children in the future and they grow up and want to get married, this will not be enough.
"I hope we can have such benefits in the future." Even if we have it now, he can't afford much money.
He took out fifty yuan and gave it to Yu Xiangan: "You borrowed money from your colleague, right? Pay it back first. I'm not very well off, so I'll lend you twenty or thirty yuan. No interest, no deadline. Pay me back when you're well off."
Yu Xiangan couldn't help but laugh, then pushed it back, "If I needed it, would I not ask my family? I'm lending this money to my colleagues. Brother, you keep this money to buy food for the children. If I really need money, I'll come to you second."
Yu Xianghai: "The second one?"
Yu Qingshan coughed and said, "Of course it's the second one. The first one is me."
Yu Xianghai: “…”
oh.
He forgot about his dad.
"You can take back the money. The deposit is not much. After a while, it will not be so conspicuous. You can pay it back slowly. It will not be so conspicuous."
When the Qin family learned the news, grandma also came to give money. No one objected. Yu Xiangan explained it in a gentle voice, and her heart softened.
How could she have deserved to have such a reasonable family?
Even in later generations, many people disapprove of a girl buying a house, believing that it is enough for the man to own a house.
The preference for boys over girls is much more serious now than in later generations.
Yu Xiangan couldn't help asking Yu Qingshan at night: "Dad, don't you object?"
Yu Qingshan raised his head and looked at the bright moon in the sky. "Xiao An, you know, Dad was a peasant who came out to make a living. I was a teenager at that time and I knew no more than 20 words."
Yu Xiangan quieted down.
"At that time, I was a boy running errands for others. Later, by chance, I went to the business, and I caught the eye of the master craftsman, so I had the opportunity to learn the craft from him."
He didn't go into detail. There were some things he didn't want to say and it wasn't appropriate for him to say.
"It was also at that time that I had the opportunity to meet your maternal family and your mother." Speaking of this past event, he couldn't help but smile.
"The Qin family didn't approve of your mother and I getting married at that time. My hometown is in the countryside, and I was still a slave. Although the Qin family wasn't born and raised in the county, the previous generation had already taken root here and had a small house of their own. Later, the Communist Party came and liberated us, and I became a free man with a skill to rely on. I used some of the money I saved before to buy this house, so that I could marry your mother."
"Although you are not a boy, it is the same. I was just like a passer-by here before, drifting around. It was not until I had a house here that I had roots. During this time, I watched you and you were still a little uneasy. You have grown up and concealed it well, but I can still see it. If buying a house can make you settle down, why should I object?"
Yu Xiangan was suddenly speechless.
My eyes suddenly turned red.
She blinked quickly to hold back the tears.
disturbed?
She... yes, there was no way to deceive herself, she kept smiling and told herself to be strong and face it bravely.
But suddenly arriving in this strange era, how could I not feel uneasy?
But she suppressed it.
He noticed her uneasiness, but he said nothing.
Just silently supporting her behind the scenes.
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