Chapter 065 Buying a Sewing Machine
The logistics officer, Lao Wang, failed to keep the secret; before long the entire family community knew that Wen Jiajia had gone to the new factory.
Before, I only knew that Wen Jiajia worked in a pharmaceutical factory. After all, Xinyi Glass was jointly opened by a pharmaceutical factory and a chemical factory. I’m afraid the employees of the pharmaceutical factory would not be able to provide much help at work.
Now that Wen Jiajia has gone to work at Xinyi Glass, she should be able to know when the glass factory will recruit and how many people it will hire, right?
What will be tested in the exam? Are there any recommended seats? You have to ask!
It doesn't matter even if you have to pay. Children are the apple of their parents' eyes. If possible, who would be willing to send their children to the countryside?
So Wen Jiajia was in trouble. She hasn't stopped talking for the past few days.
As soon as you get home in the evening, you will be spotted by someone and then be pulled aside to be questioned.
The key is that they have things in their hands, sometimes they bring a handful of mustard greens, sometimes they bring a bowl of river shrimps, and they also have a smiling face... With the buffs of "don't hit a smiling person" and "the more courtesy, the less blame", how can she let them leave with a cold face? She has to explain it carefully, right?
"Jia Jia, is there any news today? My Xiao Ping really can't be delayed any longer. I heard that most of the children in her batch were assigned to the northwest. In the northwest, even the military corps are hard! My Xiao Ping has had so many disasters and hardships since she was a child. She was a premature baby and fell ill every other day. She was raised with great fear. She has never suffered any hardship until she was 18 years old... You know how stupid she is. She was spoiled by me and her father. How can she survive in a strange countryside?"
What matters in the countryside is relationships. You have to be good at dealing with people to live well, otherwise you will suffer.
Wen Jiajia felt her head throbbing.
If it were someone else, they could just give a perfunctory response and tactfully persuade them to leave, but Xiao Ping's mother was recognized as a good sister in the family community.
Wei Dai was not at home when the family turned the vegetable garden last year and this year. It was Xiaoping's mother who helped her turn the garden. She also helped water and weed every now and then. Later, Wen Jiajia cut half a pound of meat for her, but she refused it.
Xiao Ping's mother still works in the Yuhong class, and usually cooks for the children in the class.
According to Wen Chun and Wen Xuan, Xiao Ping's mother took good care of them. Last year, Wen Xuan was still little and was not used to it when she first went to the Yuhong class. At noon, it was Xiao Ping's mother who held her and coaxed her to sleep. Just because of this, Wen Jiajia had to be more polite to her.
Besides, Xiaoping is the modern version of Lin Daiyu. She looks really thin, but if you really go for a check-up, you will find that she doesn't have any serious illness, just malnutrition.
But here comes the problem. At least 70% of Chinese people are malnourished these days. So how can this be considered a big problem?
However, Wen Jiajia felt that Xiaoping’s malnutrition was more serious than others. Once when she went to the vegetable garden, she ran into her. She was panting on a small slope and almost fell over. Wen Jiajia was so scared that she didn’t dare to walk fast, for fear that she would fall on the road without knowing it.
In this condition, he would definitely not be able to survive more than three hours in the fields. It would be lucky if he didn't faint on the ground.
Besides, the northwest is at a high altitude. Can Xiaoping adapt to the high altitude with her physique?
Wen Jiajia sighed: "Sister, I will go and ask for you tomorrow, but I may not be able to find out."
"It's okay, it's okay!" Xiao Ping's mother said quickly, "Please help me pay attention to how many people we recruit, no matter if it's..."
She looked around and whispered, "If there is a position, we can buy it with money. I will even pay 500 for a part-time job!"
Wow! That’s a big deal.
The current market price for temporary workers is 380. Of course, it depends on the factory.
For places like furniture factories, ceramic factories, and printing factories, you don't need to pay 380. You can get them for 280 if you negotiate.
But this depends on luck. Most people work in the same job all their lives, so how can there be so many jobs floating around in the market?
Large factories such as pharmaceutical factories, chemical factories and steel factories have an average price of around 380, and sometimes even higher. Especially during the critical period of June, July and August when educated youth go to the countryside, the price can often soar to 450 or 460.
Xiaoping's mother asked for 500. This amount of money was really high. It made her feel itchy just by looking at it.
No wonder Dong Qi wanted to kneel down to thank Director Xue. It was a job worth hundreds of dollars, but he gave it to her just because he liked her. When Dong Qi came back from Director Xue's office, she cried in her arms, with tears streaming down her face.
After Xiaoping's mother left, Wen Jiajia received two more people. After finally seeing them off, she was exhausted both physically and mentally and didn't even want to cook.
This situation continued until August 18, because on that day Wen Jiajia finally got accurate news.
pharmaceutical factory.
The ginkgo leaves are showing signs of turning yellow, swaying in the wind, and the shadows under the trees are swaying with them.
In the afternoon, Wen Jiajia propped up her head and almost fell asleep.
The sun is shining brightly, but it is windy today. The wind blowing in through the window brings cool breezes, and coupled with the fact that I just finished lunch and my food craving syndrome has set in, I feel very sleepy.
Not only was she drowsy, but the other three people in the office were also struggling with sleepiness until Director Xue knocked on their office door.
“Bang, bang, bang—”
The four of them woke up at the same time, and Wen Jiajia even saw Li Haijun wiping his saliva out of the corner of her eye.
I subconsciously touched the corner of my mouth, hmm, fuck.
"Director, is there anything I can help you with?" Li Haijun was closest to the door, so he stood up quickly and asked.
Director Xue said, "Jia Jia and Hai Jun, you can prepare to move your things to the medical department this Friday. The medical department will start recruiting next Monday, and you have to keep an eye on it."
Wen Jiajia: "Finally we're hiring!"
The relocation started on September 1st, and the recruitment started on the following Monday, August 22nd. It was only a few days apart, thanks to this era, otherwise we wouldn't be able to recruit enough people.
Li Haijun glanced at the calendar on the table: "Tomorrow is Thursday the 18th, which is just a matter of two or three days."
Director Xue nodded and said, "You can go find Director Song Jiacheng when the time comes. He is in charge of managing the workers who are transferred from our factory to Medical Glass."
Wen Jiajia: "Director Song has also been transferred to the medical department?"
"Of course not. Director Song has been promoted. He was directly promoted to deputy director." Director Xue smiled and said jokingly, "You have to be smarter in the future. When you meet someone, you have to call him Director Song. Don't be silly and call him Director Song or deputy director."
"Of course, of course!" Li Haijun was so happy that his face beamed with joy. There were people from the pharmaceutical factory among the senior management of the new factory. How could he not be happy?
Let’s not talk about him, Wen Jiajia was also in a good mood.
As for Director Song, she had contacted him before she entered the pharmaceutical factory. He was acquainted with Wei Dai, but not much. However, even if it wasn't much, he could still have a say.
She has basically handed over all the work she was doing, and now is her free time.
In the evening, Wen Jiajia prepared to go home.
It was still daylight, and when I passed by the state-owned hotel at the door, I saw quite a few people gathered in the hotel.
"Hey, Lanlan, what are you selling today that's so busy?" Wen Jiajia stopped the car and asked.
Lanlan is a waitress in a state-owned hotel and the niece of Master He. After becoming familiar with Wen Jiajia, she sometimes goes to the factory to chat with her.
Lan Lan hurriedly called her over: "Selling beef hot pot, the cow just died today, do you want to eat it?"
Wen Jiajia: "Dead cow?" She immediately withdrew her hand from her pocket, ready to take out money.
"Oh, don't worry! He didn't die of illness, he fell to death." Lan Lan explained immediately.
Wen Jiajia breathed a sigh of relief, looked around and whispered, "Then give me two servings, and I can make a pot of porridge when I get home to make it a meal."
Lanlan pointed at her backpack, meaning that Wen Jiajia should pass the lunch box to her. Wen Jiajia passed it over stealthily, and Lanlan took the lunch box to the kitchen.
After a while, she came out again with a lunch box.
He stuffed the hot lunch box into Wen Jiajia's arms and said, "There's not much beef hot pot dumplings left, and we have to leave some for the people in the room. So I packed one beef hot pot dumpling, one pork hot pot dumpling, and two chive dumplings for you."
Wen Jiajia was delighted: "Sure! I like the pork one too, and I like the chive dumplings even more."
As he said this, he took out the bill and gave it to Lanlan, wishing he could eat a piece of chive box right there and then.
Lanlan didn't have time to talk to Wen Jiajiaduo as she was busy at the moment.
After a while, she saw a few more people entering the hotel. She counted them and stood at the door of the hotel and shouted, "Beef hot pot dumplings are available on a first-come, first-served basis. There are about 20 left. Those who come later can only buy pork hot pot dumplings. Those who want to eat beef, prepare your money and come quickly to buy... Hey, hey, hey, what are you eating, pork hot pot dumplings? Don't worry, there are still a lot of pork hot pot dumplings. I'll go inside and get you one, so you don't have to squeeze in."
Lanlan is a famous loudspeaker on this street. Wen Jiajia can still hear her voice even after riding a hundred meters away.
When he returned to the army, he was stopped before he even got home.
Wen Jiajia learned her lesson this time and said directly, "The Medical Glass Factory will start the exam at 9:30 next Monday morning. The exam will be held at the Municipal Industry Bureau. Sister, please tell the others for me. As for what the exam is about, I really don't know, but since there is no special explanation, it can only be the content taught in school."
After hearing this, the family member no longer had the energy to ask other questions and hurried home to tell the child to read and review.
"Sister, help me promote it!" Wen Jiajia shouted while riding her bike and chasing after someone.
"Okay!"
Wen Jiajia was still worried, so she told the matter to the wife of Lao Wang, the logistics officer.
Lanlan is the loud speaker, and Lao Wang's wife is the mouthpiece. The last time the news of the change in her unit was accidentally leaked by Lao Wang's wife, and then Sister Bao told her that people in the family compound don't talk to Lao Wang's wife about their secrets. This person's mouth is like a sieve. Even the army leader talked to Lao Wang and told him not to tell his wife about important things...
Fortunately, Lao Wang is in charge of the logistics of the family compound, and the logistics of other parts of the army are not under his charge. Otherwise, the leaders of the army from top to bottom will not be able to sleep at night.
After saying this, she went home with peace of mind.
When I got home, I cooked the porridge directly in a pot. There was no other way, it would be too late to cook it slowly in a clay pot.
Wen Chun roughly understood that she couldn't avoid homework, so she came home early after school in recent days. The first thing she did when she got home was to do the homework assigned by Wen Jiajia.
Even if Wen Xuan was playing outside, she could resist the temptation and run back home.
Well, God rewards hard work! Wen Chun was the first to eat the hotpot today.
The hotpot snack was very much to her liking. Wen Chun's eyes became round and chubby as she ate it, like a baby who had tasted food other than milk for the first time.
"Aunt, what is this called?"
"It's called pot stickers! You should be eating beef pot stickers." Wen Jiajia said. She counted and found that there were 20 pot stickers in a serving, which was quite a large portion.
Wen Chunmei narrowed her eyes: "It's super delicious, just like a thin dumpling with a fried bottom. I like eating pot stickers."
As he said this, he took another one.
Wen Jiajia closed the lunch box and said, "Okay, wait for your sister to come back and we can eat together. Wash your hands and go do your homework. When you can write 100, I will make you some hot pot stickers so that you can eat enough."
"What a bummer!"
“Real than real gold.”
It's just a pot sticker, it's easy.
Wen Chun was so happy that he jumped up and down. He sang an out-of-tune song, washed his hands, and ran to his room to do his homework with a very positive attitude.
Some time ago, I used the threat of force, but from today on, I have to use food to seduce her.
There has to be both hard and soft.
The porridge in the pot was gradually boiling, and when the aroma of rice filled every corner of the kitchen, Wen Xuan, who had been playing crazy outside, finally came back.
"I smell meat," she said.
You have a real dog nose, you can smell this.
"Smell it again and see what kind of meat it is."
Wen Jiajia said, she scooped the porridge from the pot into the large bowl, but didn't fill it up, just half of it. The large bowl was big, so the porridge cooled quickly.
After scooping, three bowls of porridge were placed on the table.
Wen Jiajia took chopsticks and a bowl to the utility room, opened the altar in the corner of the room, and took out half a bowl of salted vegetables.
She had pickled these almond-shaped pickles under the guidance of Wei Dai last winter. Although Wei Dai was a little stinky at pickling things, he still had some theoretical knowledge.
As expected, the pickled vegetables were very successful.
Because it cannot be exposed to direct sunlight, Wen Jiajia moved it to this dark corner all year round. When she wants to eat it, she can just open the lid and take it out.
After taking it and sealing it again, I went out. Wen Xuan had already washed her hands and was sitting at the table waiting for me.
"Chun'er, eat!"
"Okay, auntie."
Having said that, he put down his pen and ran to the living room.
Wen Jiajia saw that her palms were black and white, so she said, "Go wash your hands. Don't you have an eraser? Why are your hands so black?"
"Also, the words got black because I accidentally rubbed them."
Wen Chun obviously had experience. She rubbed her hands with soap and the black pencil marks were quickly washed away.
Wen Jiajia went to the cupboard and took out two salted duck eggs that had been cooked this morning, peeled off the eggshells, and opened the lunch box.
"Wow, it's dumplings!"
"Silly Xuanxuan, it's a hot pot sticker." Wen Chunzhen said seriously.
"It looks like a dumpling to me." He took a bite and nodded uncontrollably, "This dumpling is delicious."
"It's hot pot stickers!" Wen Chun was not willing to be outdone and also picked up a piece.
Wen Jiajia ignored the argument between the two sisters. At this moment, the soup from the beef hotpot burst in her mouth, and the fresh and fragrant taste was absorbed by her tongue.
The skin is tough and crispy.
The meat is juicy and fragrant. With the addition of scallions, the aroma of the meat is doubled.
Take a light bite and pour the juice from the pot onto the spoon. There is about half a spoonful of juice.
My god, Master He is really good at making this kind of snack! Wen Jiajia couldn't help but sigh.
After eating beef, I tried pork. Pork is also good, but not as amazing as beef.
The chive dumplings, on the other hand, had a good ratio of chives to eggs, and the dough was also well made, not too soft or hard.
Served with buttery salted egg yolk, salty and fragrant pickled taro and pickled garlic shoots, Wen Jiajia ate six hot pot stickers, half a chive box, and two bowls of porridge, and felt extremely refreshed both physically and mentally.
While the aunt, nephew and their two children were having dinner, news about the medical glass factory spread throughout their neighborhood.
"Is it true?"
"It couldn't be more true. Wen Jiajia said it herself. She told me twice. How could I remember it wrong? It's next Monday at 9:30 a.m. The Municipal Industry Bureau will hold an exam."
"Oh my, that's not much time left. No wonder those of us who don't live in the city always miss the job exams at the city factories. It turns out that it only takes two or three days from the announcement of the exam to the start of the exam."
"Tsk tsk, those of us living outside the city can't even keep our shit warm. No wonder not many people go to the city to work in factories."
“…”
This metaphor was so harsh that the crowd fell silent for a moment before returning to the lively atmosphere again.
"Jia Jia was transferred from the pharmaceutical factory to the medical glass department. She should be promoted, right? Then she is a leader, and she will know more inside information in the future."
"You still want to ask for inside information? Will your man tell you the inside information of the army? Don't think that the new factory is not a factory. They also have confidentiality regulations."
There is a mysterious confidentiality policy, most people think in their hearts. But you can't say this, because the confidentiality has been exposed. If you hold on to this matter, it will show that you have a bad heart.
"Hey! Are you going to send your kids to the exam on Monday? Should we walk there or something? We have to arrive at 9:30, so the bus won't be in time."
"Yes, would you like to borrow a bicycle?"
“There aren’t that many bicycles to rent.” People who have cars almost all go to work in the city. “Let’s borrow donkey carts from nearby villages.”
This is a good idea and many people agree.
Dusk is falling. Few stars can be seen tonight. Even the moon is covered by thick clouds and appears and disappears from time to time.
"Today is the Ghost Festival." Wen Chun suddenly said.
Wen Jiajia was about to step into the yard when she stopped and asked, "What?"
"The teacher said today is the Ghost Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival. After the Ghost Festival, it is the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Auntie, don't you know the festivals? It doesn't matter. We are learning recently. I will teach you when I finish learning."
“…”
She quickly glanced at the calendar hanging by the door and it was indeed the Ghost Festival.
Wen Jiajia originally wanted to go to the yard to pick some osmanthus flowers to try out the smell of osmanthus essence, but now she didn't want to go anymore. It was pitch black outside, and she just wanted to stay in the room.
"Go back to the room." Wen Jiajia pushed the two children into the room, "Don't come out."
The two children didn't understand, but since they weren't going out at night anyway, they nodded.
Wen Jiajia also returned to her room, closed the door, lay on the bed and took out a book to read.
After a while, I heard some noise outside the house.
"Wei Dai——" she stood up and shouted.
"It's me." Wei Dai replied, "What's the matter?"
"It's okay...the food is in the pot." Wen Jiajia lay back down, stretched her body, and looked more attentively.
Wei Dai ate, showered, and washed clothes in less than half an hour. After returning to the room, he said, "I'm free tomorrow, let's go buy the sewing machine."
Wen Jiajia put the book aside and said, "You are finally free. I was thinking about whether I should ask the logistics department to help transport it back!"
"Did you buy it?"
"Not yet, but I have mentioned it to Lao Yu and asked him to leave a Butterfly brand table for me."
Wei Dai smiled and said, "You've been waiting for a long time."
"Of course not. I've wanted to make clothes for a long time. Who knew I would put it off until now?" In another month or two it will be time to make winter clothes.
However, we have enough winter clothes at home, but we can make two more sets of autumn clothes. There are not enough autumn clothes for several people at home, especially in winter, they can't be dried in the sun, and we have to use charcoal fire to warm them before wearing them.
"Hey, today is the Ghost Festival." Wen Jiajia stuffed the book back under the bed and said, "Is there anyone secretly burning paper money outside?"
Wei Dai: "You are really imaginative. Who dares to burn paper money now? Not even to light incense." In my hometown, many people will go to the river to set off fireboats today.
Wen Jiajia: "Yeah, there's nowhere to buy even paper money." Paper money has to be made of yellow paper, and then it has to be hammered with a mold. She helped her grandmother hammer it in her previous life, and her arms were sore after three days of hammering.
But it is real money, especially in the city. If you invest in a few paper houses and gold ingots, you can earn at least four or five thousand in one Ghost Festival.
Although they don't dare to celebrate the Ghost Festival openly now, Wen Jiajia and Wei Dai still have awe for this festival.
Look, they turned off the lights and went to bed before nine o'clock, and tacitly did not mention any exercise before going to bed. The young couple snuggled up to each other and fell asleep.
The next day.
Breakfast was provided by the army canteen. Wen Jiajia was not tired of the fried dough sticks yet. It looked like it would take another ten days or half a month for her to get tired of them.
After dinner, the two went to a nearby village to borrow a car.
Bicycles are not good, so donkey carts are needed. Otherwise, you have to pay extra money to ask the department store to deliver it, but they said it would cost three yuan to deliver it to the suburbs, and it can't be delivered to the troops. Wen Jiajia, who is gradually becoming more and more stingy, is reluctant to spend the money.
Wei Dai had a friend in the village and he easily borrowed a car from him and also bought two rabbits from him.
"Let's have fried rabbit meat today." Wen Jiajia said with a smile while sitting on the donkey cart, "It just so happens that the chopped peppers at home are pickled, and the fried rabbit meat will definitely be tasty enough."
After a moment, he sighed again: "Oh! If I had known there was rabbit meat, I should have boiled a pot of mung bean soup before going out. Rabbit meat makes you get a sore throat, but mung bean soup can help you get rid of it."
Wei Dai flicked the whip in his hand and said, "Rabbit meat doesn't cause internal heat. It's the pepper and ginger that cause internal heat."
"Really? My tongue always hurts after eating rabbit meat. I thought rabbit meat would cause a sore throat." It was the same when I ate rabbit meat in my previous life.
As they were talking, the two of them quickly arrived in the city.
The city has been expanding outward recently, and from time to time a piece of land is cleared outside the urban area, which looks like it is going to be used to build a house.
At that time, many factories were building houses, but there was no land left in the city, so they built them outside the city.
Anyway, the city was not very big at that time, and the workers just wanted a house to live in, and they didn’t really care about the location of the house.
"Not only are they building houses, they're also building a new cultural palace." Wei Dai pointed to a piece of land in the distance and said, "That's where the Laogong People's Cultural Palace will be built. Let's go take a look when it's finished."
Wen Jiajia was delighted when she heard this: "What's in the Cultural Palace?"
In her previous life, the Cultural Palace she went to was a place for classes, such as piano, dancing, and calligraphy. There must be none of those now.
"There are basketball courts, a movie theater, a swimming pool, and I heard there's also a roller skating rink."
Roller skating rink, I haven’t played there for a long time.
Wen Jiajia rested her chin on her hand and looked at the land in the distance, hoping that it could be completed before 1977.
After entering the city, we quickly arrived at the department store.
"Old Yu, I'm here to buy a sewing machine." Wen Jiajia said when she came to the second floor.
Old Yu came out from the counter and said, "You're finally here. There's only one Butterfly brand left. Once it's sold out, we'll have to wait until the middle of next month."
Wen Jiajia patted Wei Dai on the shoulder and said, "It's his fault. He doesn't have the time to make fortune."
Wei Dai smiled and said, "Brother Yu, please lend a hand and help me carry it to the donkey cart at the door of the store. I'm afraid that if the donkey cart is parked for too long, someone will pull it away."
"Hey! Donkey carts need to be faster. The street office has emphasized that donkey carts are not allowed to enter the city. If you have large items to transport in the future, you have to load the donkey carts on the back of the bicycle." Old Yu hurried to help.
After Wen Jiajia paid the bill, the salesperson who stayed at the counter issued the invoice and the sewing machine was moved in.
The couple did not dare to stay for long, and did not even go to the vegetable market. They drove their donkey cart quickly out of the city.
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