119 New Jobs
Gu Yu, who was still shouting on the way back to the brigade, immediately changed her tune as soon as she entered the city and saw the supply and marketing cooperative, and stopped yelling about going back to the brigade.
Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku, carrying two large bags of vegetables and fruits, along with two chattering children, finally returned to Ginkgo Hutong.
As soon as they reached the alley entrance, the two kids took off running straight for courtyard number three.
It's safe to say that Ginkgo Hutong will be anything but quiet this summer.
Thankfully, she'll be going back to work soon. If she were still at home, she can't even imagine how much trouble those two kids would cause if they came to her house looking for her.
Jiang Guiying's side is lively enough.
Hearing the commotion, Aunt Xie went to the Guan family's house to check. She saw that Gu Yu and Juan Juan had arrived and would be spending the summer vacation there as well. She started to feel envious again, thinking that the Guan family had more children.
Xie Zhenxing and his wife also had a daughter. Coincidentally, just as she was urging them to have a second child, the family planning policy changed again, and everyone, regardless of whether they were cadres or not, could only have one child. She thought about having her younger daughter-in-law undergo sterilization, but her younger daughter-in-law was cunning and insisted that Xie Zhenxing do it, or she would divorce him.
But a strange feeling lingered in her heart that she was "luckier" than Jiang Guiying. Tingting was going to start junior high school in September, and her little granddaughter... since they wouldn't let her take care of her, she was left with nothing to do.
Her eldest son and daughter-in-law also give her extra living expenses every month!
It's a pity she can't go back to her hometown, otherwise she could sit under a tree by the threshing ground at the village entrance and show off to the villagers how good her life is in the city.
Aunt Xie had thought of a lot of things in just a few minutes. Jiang Guiying went out to get water and saw her standing at her door laughing like an idiot, which gave her goosebumps.
What's wrong with you now?
Aunt Xie's smile vanished instantly. She wanted to retort, but remembering Liu Axiu's instructions, she held back and turned back into the house.
Jiang Guiying, puzzled, muttered irritably, "Something's wrong with you!"
"Who's crazy?"
Guan Yuehe divided the fruits and vegetables she brought back from her hometown into five portions. She kept one portion for herself, sent one portion to Aunt Fang, and brought the remaining three portions here.
"The things from my older brother's and sister's families are all here."
“Okay, they’ll all go home for dinner tonight. You and Yiku can come too.”
Guan Yuehe raised an eyebrow. "Coming home for dinner tonight? Doesn't your older brother have work tomorrow?"
"He was away from home a lot recently, and he's back to rest for a couple of days."
Guan Yuehe guessed that it must still be about the quota for the machinery factory's technical school.
It was a rare occasion for the whole family to gather together in the evening, but Jiang Guiying didn't call out to Aunt Fang.
Lin Sitian and Grandpa Fang won't be able to get off work until tonight, and Grandma Fang will be eating dinner at home by herself. Guan Yuehe told Lin Yiku to come over for dinner, while she stayed home to see what they had to say.
No one mentioned anything unpleasant during the meal. As soon as they finished eating, Lin Yufeng tugged at Guan Jianguo's sleeve, signaling him to speak up.
If we don't say anything soon, my sister-in-law's family will be going back.
"Yuehua, I..." Guan Jianguo's anger dissipated the moment he met Guan Yuehua's ambiguous smile.
Before this, the couple had approached Gu Mannian to ask if the quota could be taken back. At that time, Gu Mannian subtly mocked them, saying that when good things happened, they treated the two girls like thieves, but when trouble came, they remembered that they were family.
He didn't need to ask to guess that what Gu Mannian said meant what Yuehua meant.
Guan Jianguo was momentarily speechless.
Lin Yufeng was getting anxious, so she tugged at his sleeve and urged him to get down to business.
She knew that her relationship with her two sisters-in-law was just so-so, while Guan Jianguo and they were, after all, siblings of the same parents, bound by blood and kinship, which was much better than her asking.
Guan Canghai and Jiang Guiying had already discussed it. If they got involved, it might just add fuel to the fire. It would be better to let the brothers and sisters discuss it themselves.
Guan Yuehe was only focused on pulling at the loose thread that had somehow appeared on her pants.
The room was quiet.
Juanjuan and Guyu didn't understand what was going on, but they could read the adults' expressions and sensed that the atmosphere in the room was strange, so they kept quiet and sat on their small stools, looking at this person and that person.
Weiwei and Jingjing, one having finished junior high and the other about to start, knew their parents had come today to ask their aunt for help, and stared blankly at the ground.
Guan Jianguo secretly breathed a sigh of relief, finally being honest for once.
"Yuzhen's in-laws said they could transfer her from the chemical factory to the machinery factory, and Yuzhen promised us she could arrange for Weiwei to work there. Later, they said there was one temporary worker position and one vocational school position available, and we had to choose. We chose the vocational school position. Now..."
Guan Jianguo sighed. No one expected that at this critical juncture, Yuzhen's husband's supervisor would run into trouble, and they would no longer dare to give out the promised vocational school spots.
He guessed that the spot was probably not vacated by Yuzhen's husband, and that there might be a lot of problems behind it, otherwise it wouldn't have suddenly disappeared.
Guan Yuehua chuckled softly. She'd earned a good amount of money from her job at the chemical factory and even secured a position there; no wonder the couple was willing to give up their jobs.
She used to think that her older brother was very considerate of his sister-in-law, and that the job that the family had prepared for their younger sister was given to her without hesitation.
It turns out they made quite a bit of profit.
But there's no point in dwelling on the past now.
Guan Yuehua didn't waste any more time and went straight to the point: "I'll be frank, this spot can be given to Weiwei."
Upon hearing the word "spot," Guan Jianguo and Lin Yufeng felt relieved.
"But let me make this clear from the start: if you insist on being wary of us, then be wary to the end. If you run into trouble, you don't need to ask us for help anymore."
"No, we were thinking..."
Lin Yufeng was about to explain when Guan Yuehua interrupted her, "No need for hindsight. You know perfectly well whether you're wary of us or not. There's no point in saying more."
Although she had her share of disagreements with her older brother and sister-in-law, they were all born of the same parents, and she had watched Weiwei grow up. So, when she had the means, she would naturally help him.
But what my older brother and sister-in-law did was really annoying. I don't know why they were trying to prevent them from getting the spot. They weren't going to fight for it, nor were they jealous of them and trying to sabotage it.
Guan Yuehua felt a surge of annoyance at being unable to reason with such a fool.
"Bring your graduation certificate and wait at the gate of the machinery factory at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."
Guan Yuehua left those words behind, ignoring the reactions of others, and gestured for Gu Mannian and Gu Yu to stand up, "Let's go home!"
If she stayed any longer, she would curse everyone.
Just as he reached the door, he turned back to look at Guan Yuehe, who was still pulling at the loose thread. "Guan Yuehe, are you coming or not?"
“My home and your home aren’t even in the same place…” Guan Yuehe pouted under her gaze, then got up and followed her out.
Guan Yuehe thought she had something to say, but the woman walked out of the alley, picked up Gu Yu, sat in the back seat, and left without looking back.
"...You didn't bring any vegetables!" Guan Yuehe rolled her eyes but still reminded him.
In the end, only Gu Mannian rode his bike back to get the vegetables, then picked up Guan Yuehua and Gu Yu before they went home together.
Guan Yuehe turned around and went back, just as she ran into Lin Yiku who was coming out. The two of them went home as well.
As soon as she entered the house, Guan Yuehe began to recount the "battle" of dinner to Lin Yiku in a rapid-fire manner.
“My brother-in-law secretly asked me to take sides, but I had no say in the matter. I was just a nobody.”
"Are you hoping they'll start fighting?"
Guan Yuehe chuckled.
There's no way we'd fight. When my eldest sister still lived at home, she argued even more fiercely with my brother and sister-in-law, but it was all just verbal; they never actually hit each other.
"My older sister said she'd go to handle the formalities tomorrow, and my older brother and sister-in-law both looked uncomfortable."
Seeing that Lin Yiku didn't understand, Guan Yuehe continued to explain: "The mechanical factory technical school will announce the admission list the day after tomorrow. The fact that we're going to complete the procedures tomorrow clearly shows that my sister has been waiting for them to come and talk to her in person."
Based on her understanding of her eldest sister, if her eldest brother and sister-in-law hadn't returned today, then that spot would have been sold.
She didn't understand what was going on with the spot, but she was certain it hadn't been sold before. Her older sister deliberately spread the news that it had been sold, probably to make her older brother and sister-in-law anxious for a while.
Of course, the eldest brother and sister-in-law will probably be too embarrassed to ask their eldest sister for help for a long time to come.
"If you were in that situation, would you help?"
Guan Yuehe took out two tomatoes. Before going out to wash them, she thought carefully and said, "I can help with things that are easy to do, but I need to consider things that are not easy to do."
“But I guess they’re too ashamed to ask me for help.” Guan Yuehe shrugged and went out to scoop water from the water tank to wash the tomatoes.
Suddenly she felt someone staring at her from the other side. She looked up and met Yuanbao's gaze.
After staring at each other for two seconds, Yuanbao focused his gaze on the tomato in her hand.
Guan Yuehe didn't say anything. After washing up, she went into the house and shared one with Lin Yiku.
A little while later, Yuanbao came knocking on the door with two White Rabbit milk candies, wanting to exchange the two candies for a tomato.
Guan Yuehe agreed, watching Yuanbao skip home. With two more candies in her hand, she raised an eyebrow at Lin Yiku triumphantly, "See? I told you she would come to me to exchange them!"
—
Two days later, Guan Yuehe learned from Jiang Guiying that Weiwei had received a place at the mechanical factory's technical school, and his name was on the published admission list.
This matter also sparked a discussion in Ginkgo Hutong.
"Why doesn't our car factory have any quotas allocated outside of the exam? Or is it that there are, but they weren't allocated to us ordinary workers?"
Xie Zhenhua, who used to be a technical school teacher at a car factory and is now back at the factory as a technical advisor, said a few fair words.
“The machine factory is different. If their workers make outstanding contributions, they can be rewarded with a spot in a technical school, but they are required to use it within three years. Our factory does not have this policy at the moment.”
"How can this kind of special treatment be allowed? Workers have made contributions, so they should be commended and given bonuses. Giving them a special spot is just unreasonable!"
Xie Zhenhua lost patience with the explanation, so Zhang Desheng chimed in, "The machinery factory is a pilot unit for reform. Their factory came up with new policies for the purpose of reform. Our factory has also reformed, so we can adjust our policies accordingly."
In short, the reforms have given the organization more say, and it no longer has to wait for instructions from above or follow the rules and regulations given by above in everything.
However, when it comes to reform, some people are still not optimistic and feel that it is better to maintain the status quo, with the state covering both good and bad outcomes.
The discussion about "reform" became increasingly heated, but Guan Yuehe didn't have time to get involved. She was busy at home catching up on theoretical knowledge about foreign trade and joint ventures.
During the day, Gu Yu and Juan Juan would run around with their friends in the alley, and at night they would go to Yuan Bao's house to watch TV. They were so busy every day that they didn't even think about their aunt.
On the morning of July 7th, Guan Yuehe changed into the clothes she had ironed the night before, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and went out with Lin Yiku.
The foreign trade department also starts work at eight o'clock. She had calculated the journey and knew that leaving at seven-thirty would be enough time, but on her first day of work, she decided to be more proactive.
There are still four steamed bun stalls at the entrance of the alley, and no one else has joined yet.
When Guan Yuehe saw Liu the matchmaker waving at her and calling her to eat steamed buns, Guan Yuehe pretended not to see her, took two quick steps, swept her long legs, got on her bicycle, and left the alleyway behind in a flash.
The first day of work at the new company should have been a good day. She must have been out of her mind to buy Liu the Matchmaker's steamed buns. What if she got diarrhea at work? That would have been so embarrassing!
He first went to a state-run restaurant to buy steamed buns before parting ways with Lin Yiku, each going their own way.
It's quite a coincidence that today is also the first day of this year's college entrance examination.
As she passed the bus stop, she ran into Er Ya, who was on her way to take an exam. "Er Ya, good luck on your exam!"
Er Ya, who was still hesitating whether to greet her, paused for a moment, about to reply, but could only see Guan Yuehe's back.
The words of thanks turned into self-encouragement: "I will definitely pass the exam!"
I want to be like the two aunts in the Guan family, go to university, and get a good job afterward!
—
Guan Yuehe arrived at the foreign trade department a full half hour early and stood outside the door for a while.
I thought to myself: Big organizations are indeed big organizations; they look very solemn.
He raised his hand and pressed it to the corner of his mouth, trying to make his expression more serious to match the atmosphere of his workplace.
I registered at the security office at the main gate, asked for directions to the personnel office, parked my car, and headed straight to my destination.
As soon as she arrived at the office and gave her name, she was taken directly to the office of the Director of the Foreign Investment Management Division.
"You're here? Perfect timing, I have a task for you. Oh, right, let me take you to the office first."
Guan Yuehe thought her new boss looked like someone who was efficient at work, but she didn't expect him to be so efficient. He didn't even introduce her to the company's situation before assigning her tasks.
Fortunately, the leader remembered to introduce herself and said her surname was An, otherwise she would have had to rack her brains to think of the best way to start the conversation.
The office arranged for her was empty, with two filing cabinets and two sets of desks and chairs, but nothing else, not even the curtains were drawn.
"There's another comrade who was transferred from another province, but he hasn't arrived yet. More people will be transferred over in the future, so you can familiarize yourself with the work first and we can assign them tasks later."
"Let me tell you about the work you'll be responsible for..." Seeing her rummaging through her bag for a pen and notebook, Director An paused for a moment, then slowed down his speech and introduced the situation to her item by item.
—
"So, what exactly is your job?" Lin Sitian went straight to Guan Yuehe's house as soon as she got off work.
Guan Yuehe lay half-reclined on the sofa and ordered Lin Sitian to pour water.
Instead of answering, he asked, "Do you know what our first Sino-foreign joint venture was?"
"Such companies exist?"
"The airline food company was established on May Day this year and is a Sino-foreign joint venture." Guan Yuehe sighed, "As soon as I arrived today, the leader asked me to write a report to summarize the experience and provide a reference for the next joint venture."
"In the future, any foreign investment or joint ventures will have to go through our department's approval." However, when joint ventures are first started, it is inevitable that some people from the department will be involved in the joint venture negotiations.
Lin Sitian understood, but joint ventures were uncommon for her. Whether she understood them or not was not important; she was more concerned about something else.
"Will you go to the Civil Aviation Administration to find out the situation, and then go to the airport to look at the planes?"
The other people in the room were also staring intently at her.
"Uh, not for now." Guan Yuehe had only just begun to understand her new job and needed to gain a deeper understanding of the responsibilities she would be in.
Guan Canghai confidently replied, "Since we're managing foreign companies, won't we have to take a plane trip sooner or later?"
Guan Yuehe corrected: "It's a joint venture, not a foreign company. We have a stake in it too."
Jiang Guiying's idea was rather simple; she asked if the food in the new workplace's cafeteria was good.
"Very good!" Guan Yuehe was very satisfied.
Others noticed other small details. For example, Gu Mannian was shocked, "Yuehe, you have your own office now?"
"No, it's just that I'm the only one in the office right now. More people will come later."
"You're already a section chief, how come you don't have your own office?" Jiang Guiying couldn't quite understand, and always felt that this section chief rank was inflated.
"The entire Ministry of Foreign Trade has about twenty departments, and a lot of people." A section chief is really not a rare position. Anyway, she doesn't have her own office yet, but she might in the future.
Gu Mannian clicked his tongue twice, not daring to think about it. His current goal was to remove the "deputy" from "deputy section chief".
Guan Yuehe noticed it was almost time and reminded them it was time to go home. But they were reluctant to leave, saying, "Tell us more about the work at the Foreign Trade Department."
"I only spent a day there, and half of it was spent looking at reports and materials. What else can I say? I'll tell you after I've been there for a while."
When she arrived at the foreign trade department this morning, she was very excited, and everything seemed new and exciting. After spending most of the day looking at documents, her mind was filled with words, and she felt that all jobs were pretty much the same.
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