Gao Shujing: "There are only so many people in the team who graduated from high school. We'll eliminate those who aren't qualified enough and select the best performers and those who have made the biggest contributions from the remaining ones."
Captain Huang is intolerant of injustice and dislikes those who are incompetent yet constantly cause trouble.
He likes to come to Gao Shujing when he encounters problems. This is not only because Gao Shujing is knowledgeable and can bring him a lot of income, but also because Gao Shujing has good character, does not abuse his power, and his values are more in line with his own.
He supported Gao Shujing's suggestion and already had someone in mind.
Captain Huang: "What do you think of educated youth Hou?"
Hou Dayong is a veteran educated youth who came here in 1968. He is honest and conscientious and is the team leader of the educated youth. When dealing with conflicts among the educated youth, he often tries to smooth things over, but he never slacks off when it comes to work.
In the past, we worked diligently in the fields to earn work points.
After Wei Hanjie arrived, he followed behind him to make bricks and tiles. During the two months that Wei Hanjie was recuperating from his injuries, he was in charge of everything in the kiln. There were no major problems, and his contributions and abilities were evident to all.
He was the person who contributed the most besides Gao Shujing, Yu Rujia, and Wei Han; none of the high school students in the brigade could compare to him.
Captain Huang couldn't make up his mind because he was reluctant to let go of such a useful person.
Hou Dayong has no ties here. After graduating from the worker-peasant-soldier program, he certainly won't come back to Shangfen Brigade. Giving him a spot is tantamount to pushing Hou Dayong away.
Gao Shujing: "Hou Zhiqing is down-to-earth and hardworking, and his contributions rank among the top among the educated youth. He deserves this honor."
Captain Huang: "If we give it to him, he won't come back."
Gao Shujing chuckled and said, "With Wei Zhiqing around, he can train one Hou Zhiqing, and he can train another Hou Zhiqing, or even more. What are you worried about?"
The founder of the Wayao kiln was Wei Hanjie, who contributed more effort than Gao Shujing.
Hou Dayong's current achievements are due to his work with Wei Hanjie; otherwise, he would still be working diligently in the fields.
As long as Wei Han is there, there will be no shortage of Hou Dayong.
Captain Huang's eyes lit up: "That's right, how come I didn't think of that? I was confused by those bastards who came to the door. I'll go find Wei Zhiqing right now."
Yu Rujia watched as Captain Huang came over with a dark face and left with a big smile. She thought to herself that Shu Jing was really good at pleasing people. No wonder Captain Huang would come over and chat with him all the time.
Captain Huang left the Yu family's house and arrived at Wei Hanjie's house around the time Wei Hanjie would return home.
Wei Han was somewhat surprised by Huang's visit. Except when he was injured, Captain Huang would always go to the kiln to find him, but today he came to his house.
Wei Hanjie said, "Captain, please sit down." He welcomed the man into the house and invited him to sit down. He then turned around, took a bowl from the kitchen cabinet, poured a bowl of water from the kettle, and handed it to Captain Huang.
Captain Huang smiled and said, "You don't need to be so polite, Wei. I'm here today because I have something I want to tell you."
Wei Han sat down in front of him, pretending to listen: "Please speak, Captain."
Captain Huang: "It's like this, our brigade has one worker-peasant-soldier quota, you know that, right?"
When Captain Huang came over so seriously, Wei Han thought something was wrong, but it turned out he had come for this: "I know, but I'm not qualified enough, am I?"
When he went to the countryside, he learned about the route back to the city and was aware of the concept of seniority.
Captain Huang nodded: "That's right, so even though you've performed very well in the team, we still can't give you a spot this time. I hope you can understand."
Wei Hanjie: "I know what the quota is all about. I haven't thought about it. The brigade leader should just follow the rules. There's no need to worry about me."
He was doing just fine in the countryside and never thought about going back to the city.
After all, if he went back to the city, he would have to join the army as his father demanded, and he had no interest in joining the army at all.
In the countryside, he could escape his father's stern face, and with his good brother Xia Jingxing and the Yu family around, he had good food and a good place to live. What kind of despair would he have to be to run back to the city at this time?
If he wants to go back to the city, it will be several years later. By then, he will have missed the age to join the army. Once he returns home, his father will no longer be able to force him to join the army.
Captain Huang was very satisfied. Truly talented and capable people are indeed more reasonable. Shujing and Yu, the educated youth, are easy to talk to, as is Wei, the educated youth.
Captain Huang: "I'm relieved that you can accept it. Don't worry, I've seen your contributions. I promise you, when your three-year term is up and there are more openings, I'll consider you first."
Wei Hanjie: "Thank you, Captain."
Captain Huang: "Because of your seniority, you can't get this spot. I'd like to give it to Hou Zhiqing. What do you think?"
Wei Hanjie: "The brigade leader has sharp eyes. Hou Zhiqing is conscientious and hardworking. He deserves this good fortune."
From the moment he recruited people to his team, Hou Dayong always followed Wei Hanjie's instructions, worked diligently, and didn't get involved in any superficial or frivolous things.
Wei Hanjie didn't mind saying a few good words for him.
Captain Huang: "It's good that you agree. Hou Zhiqing is the most useful person in the kiln besides you. After he leaves, you should find a replacement for him as soon as possible."
Hou Dayong, as the second-in-command of the brick kiln, received a monthly salary of three yuan and a full work point system. He earned several dozen yuan more per year than those who worked in the fields. If his job became available, many people would want it.
Captain Huang entrusted Wei Hanjie with the task of choosing a replacement for Hou Dayong, which was tantamount to asking Wei Hanjie to do a favor and give him full authority over personnel matters at the brick kiln.
Wei Hanjie: "How is Cheng Zhiqing? He's very efficient and should be able to take over Hou Zhiqing's position."
There were more than a dozen workers in the brick kiln. Wei Hanjie was paid five yuan a month plus full work points; Hou Dayong was paid two yuan less; all the other workers were paid full work points.
They work in shifts, each shift lasting eight hours.
Although the daily working hours are the same as those of the team members working in the fields, the workers in the kiln have more rest time.
Unlike the workers on duty, who have to keep working all the time and get criticized for taking a short break, the workers in the kiln are in high demand.
Cheng Qi, whom Wei Hanjie mentioned, was a worker in the kiln. He was an educated youth who went to the countryside in 1968 and was promoted by Wei Hanjie to be the acting head of one of the three shifts in the brick kiln.
He also has another identity: he is the lover of Huang Lijie, the daughter of Captain Huang's brother.
Wei Han was born into a high-ranking official's family and had his own confidence. He did not receive any special treatment because of his relationship with Captain Huang.
Cheng Qin was able to gain Wei Hanjie's approval because he was calm and hardworking.
This is also why Huang Lijie, a worker, was able to choose him and marry him.
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