129 Individual Business Licenses
As the Zhuoyue Garment Factory gets better and better, the number of job openings in the factory becomes increasingly scarce.
"Mom, I won't be staying for dinner tonight. I'll leave Gu Yu to you." Gu Mannian said softly, "Last time I came here, the neighbors in the alley tried to give me money to help me buy a permanent job, but I don't have that ability."
The factory is expanding its production workshop and needs to recruit another batch of workers. The factory leaders have unanimously decided to recruit publicly and will no longer reserve positions for the children of factory employees.
Under these circumstances, who would dare to openly sell quotas or open back doors? Unless they're tired of living too well at the Zhuoyue Garment Factory and want to be fired.
Jiang Guiying then did not invite him to stay for dinner.
Don't be fooled by the public's claim that street vending is lucrative; in reality, most people would rather work in a factory. These days, it's not uncommon for a job outside to sell for over a thousand yuan.
Gu Mannian greeted Gu Yu, who was sitting on the sofa reading a comic book, then tied his family's apples to the back seat of the car and hurriedly rode away.
Gu Yu, who was left behind, didn't make a fuss. She has quite a few friends in Ginkgo Hutong!
Guan Yuehe got up, preparing to go home to cook dinner, when Gu Yu, with her sharp ears, suddenly climbed off the sofa and became a little tail behind her.
"Hey! Why are you going with your aunt? Grandma's making fish balls, aren't you going to eat them?" Jiang Guiying had only turned around for a moment when Gu Yu had already run to the front yard.
Gu Yu said without turning her head, "Grandma, I'll be back to eat later!"
She still wanted to go with her aunt first.
Following my aunt to Courtyard No. 1, I turned and headed straight for the house opposite hers. "Sister Yuanbao!"
Guan Yuehe could only turn around and greet them from the other side. Seeing that Gu Yu was with Yuan Bao, she went home.
Kids love to play with older kids.
Guan Yuehe decided to make noodles for dinner. She glanced at her watch and thought it was about time, so she put on her sleeves and apron and went to rummage through the cupboard.
As darkness fell, some people were busy adding water to their water tanks, while others sent their children to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy soy sauce. Laughter, shouting, and even cursing could be heard all over the courtyard.
Some people even got into an argument over the toilet.
Guan Yuehe stopped halfway through fetching water and listened intently to the sounds coming from the neighboring courtyard number two.
Not only her, but also the neighbors in the front yard of No. 1 who were queuing to get water were listening. Some even turned off their taps to hear better, and the people in line behind them didn't object.
"It's just using the restroom, why are you being so stingy!"
"You're not stingy, give me the money!" That was Aunt Zhao's voice.
Aunt Bai said impatiently, "You think you're so great? If you dare to sneak into our yard to use the toilet again, I'll slap you across the face! I don't care if you're young or old."
The cursing came and went quickly, and the taps in Courtyard No. 1 were turned on again, with the neighbors' expressions quite intriguing.
Since public toilets and private restrooms were installed in the hutongs, disputes over using the restrooms have occurred almost daily.
There were no conflicts in Courtyard No. 1.
In Courtyard No. 1, only Zhou Hongqi's and Guan Yuehe's families have their own private bathrooms. Both of them had even warned beforehand that no one was allowed to use their bathrooms. Even if a neighbor had ulterior motives, they'd have to think twice—who could possibly stand up to them?
Once inside their homes, some people started muttering, "I told you, we should have gotten one back then. Look at them, now they don't have to run all the way to the public toilet anymore..."
"You're always so wise after the event! I told you to sign up back then, but you insisted it was a waste of money!"
"Stop arguing and hurry up and cook. If you're late, there won't be any place to watch TV at the Sunflower Seed King's house."
The sunflower seed vendor had a color TV, the only one of its kind in Ginkgo Alley, and everyone loved going there to watch TV. The sunflower seed king didn't mind the noise from the neighbors; they moved their TV into the yard for everyone to watch, and they could even sell roasted sunflower seeds at home in the evenings. The neighbors all said their eyes were glued to money.
The aroma of food wafted from each house, and Lin Yiku pushed her bicycle home.
As soon as I entered the house, I patted my coat and then hung it on the rack by the wall.
The tape recorder in the living room was playing a cassette tape, and the people in the kitchen were reading along with it, mixed with the sound of chopping vegetables.
"Yue He?"
"So early today?" Guan Yuehe peeked out from the kitchen and instructed, "Go across the street and call Guyu, ask if she's eating here. Oh, we're having noodles tonight, I'll make some now."
Just as Lin Yiku was about to go out to call Guyu, Jiang Guiying brought over a bowl of meatballs and took Guyu, who was playing across the street, with her.
Dinner was still just the two of them.
"That's good." Guan Yuehe breathed a sigh of relief. "Gu Yu talks a lot now, like a machine gun, it's giving me a headache. She really does resemble whoever raised her."
Gu Mannian is very eloquent, and Gu Yu was the one who took care of her a lot, so it's not surprising that she talks a lot.
“However,” Guan Yuehe chuckled, “Mom said that Guyu never lost an argument with other children in the preschool class, making the other children cry loudly, and their parents would come to complain at night. She must have inherited my sister’s ability to curse.”
Speaking of heredity, Guan Yuehe couldn't help but shudder. She was really afraid that her children would inherit Lin Yiku's mischievousness.
Just as she thought of this, the unaware Lin Yiku leaned closer. After less than two seconds of cuddling, Guan Yuehe elbowed him, but luckily he reacted quickly and dodged in time.
"The light is still on!" Guan Yuehe gave herself an excuse without the slightest guilt.
Lin Yi raised an eyebrow, "Didn't you complain about the light being on last night?"
Guan Yuehe pretended not to hear and changed the subject, saying, "Go get the bowls and chopsticks."
That evening, as the two were studying at their desks, Guan Yuehe glanced up and noticed that it was snowing outside.
Lin Yiku saw her get up but didn't pay attention, assuming she was just getting up to stretch. The next second, she leaned close from behind and whispered in his ear with a grin, "Let's make up for today's sweet talk."
Lin Yi looked up and saw that the incandescent light in the room and the desk lamp on her desk were both on. Since she was willing to set aside some of her study time for him, he wisely refrained from bringing up past grievances.
He would find the moment quite romantic if she didn't ruffle his hair into a mess.
The culprit behind him laughed and brought up old grievances to attack him, "You used my hair to practice braiding Sitian's ponytail before!"
Lin Yiku: "You used to say that when I have kids, you'll steal all the candy from them."
Guan Yuehe laughed even harder.
Suddenly someone rushed out of the backyard, and a moment later, another neighbor ran out as well.
Hearing the commotion, Aunt Hu came out to ask them what was going on.
"I ate something bad... Ouch, I can't take it anymore, don't stop me." He pushed Aunt Hu away with one hand, clutching his stomach with the other and his bottom with the other, and ran out with an awkward gait.
Guan Yuehe couldn't help but grit her teeth as she watched, and sighed again, "Thank goodness we have a bathroom now, so we don't have to run outside in the freezing cold."
The public restroom has a few stalls partitioned off by walls, but there are no doors, and there aren't many stalls. If you're unlucky enough to run into a bunch of people with diarrhea, you'll have to take care of it at home... Ugh!
The next morning, Liu the matchmaker didn't come out to sell steamed buns. When Guan Yuehe went out, she overheard Aunt Hu talking to her family: "The filling of Liu the matchmaker's steamed buns isn't fresh. Several families got sick last night. Liu the matchmaker's steamed buns are cheap, but you'll never get anything good out of them!"
Guan Yuehe clicked her tongue and shook her head. Matchmaker Liu was as good at stirring up trouble as ever.
At the end of the month, the newspaper published another report, which sparked a heated discussion in Beijing.
Xu Chengcai and Qin Zilan's family of four chose to come to Guan Yuehe's house on a Sunday, their day off.
"You two also want to get a sole proprietorship license? Do you want to open a tailor shop to make clothes for people, or make ready-made clothes to sell?" Guan Yuehe told the couple to pour their own water, and only cared about getting food for the two children.
In the middle of this month, the daily newspaper published a report about Wenzhou City issuing its first individual business license. The holder, Ms. Zhang, used to have to constantly be wary of staff from the speculation and profiteering office when she set up her stall in front of her house. Now, with the business license issued by the Industry and Commerce Bureau, she can legally sell small commodities at her stall.
The report only highlighted one typical case, but nearly two thousand people in Wenzhou applied for business licenses during the same period.
Xu Chengcai and Qin Zilan saw this report and wanted to ask Guan Yuehe for her opinion.
They also plan to ask Ding Xuewen and Chen Lizhong for suggestions.
However, Xu Cheng corrected, "It wasn't us who wanted to do it, it was my mentor. She retired this year and didn't want to stay idle at home. She didn't meet the factory's conditions for rehiring her, so she said she wanted to find something to do. We saw this report and thought we might get her a certificate too, so she could open a tailor shop at home, where she could help make clothes and also make her own garments."
Guan Yuehe did know a little about the situation.
“My dad is also thinking about this. He said he wants to apply for a license and set up a barber stall at the entrance of the alley.”
Guan Aiguo even suggested opening a barbershop, where he could perm hair and his father could cut hair, offering a full range of services.
But as soon as he mentioned the idea, Jiang Guiying chased him around the house with a rolling pin.
“I think if you can get the certificate, you should apply for it as soon as possible. Master Qin can open a tailor shop at home, continue to work and realize his value, and also earn money. Hmm, I think with Master Qin's skills, he won't earn less than he would in the factory.”
Guan Yuehe also quoted Director Zheng's words in reply: "Didn't Director Zheng say that we must catch up with the wave of reform and opening up and strive to be the first to try something new?"
Xu Cheng and Qin Zilan almost thought they were at a workers' meeting in the factory, and they both burst out laughing.
Guan Yuehe then cited some state-owned factories as examples.
He said seriously, "As far as I know, some factories have been losing money for years and are only able to pay their workers' wages thanks to support from other factories and subsidies from higher authorities. I think the iron rice bowl of state-owned factory workers isn't so secure anymore; it might be shattered any day now."
"Now that there are individual businesses, there will be private factories and private companies in the future."
To put it simply, take the sunflower seed king who was in the newspaper before. Didn't he just set up his own small workshop? That small workshop could actually be considered a small factory.
“Our office upstairs is in charge of equipment and technology imports. Some state-owned factories have advanced technology and good production efficiency, while others have backward technology and low efficiency. It’s not sustainable to keep supporting and subsidizing them. You never know when they might be eliminated.”
When Guan Yuehe worked in the factory, she never thought about the possibility of state-owned factories being phased out. She thought that if a state-owned factory wasn't run well, at most it would just have lower wages and benefits, and it wouldn't be as profitable as a large factory.
But now, with policies changing day by day and calls for reform everywhere to improve people's living standards and develop national industry, the old system of equal distribution of resources cannot continue indefinitely.
Xu Cheng and Qin Zilan were no longer laughing. This wasn't the first time they'd heard the same thing.
After a long while, Xu Cheng sighed and said quietly, "You speak like the factory director now, one set of lines after another."
Guan Yuehe snorted smugly, "It's only natural that the soldiers trained by our factory director are so good."
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