Southwest boarded the train with five and a half pounds of luggage, promising to return before October. Yan Xiaonan smiled and shook her head, telling Southwest not to worry. If Southwest's old furniture factory had any good craftsmen, they could hire a few to come over.
As for accommodation, there are houses for rent in Beijing now. A house for one yuan a month is already quite good. At worst, the employer can cover half of the cost.
This reminded Southwest: "Nannan, you should help Second Brother rent a room first. If my master comes, we need to give him a place to stay."
Yan Xiaonan nodded. That's the right thing to do. She'll have her father ask around to find out where there are rental rooms available, so they can rent a few more. That way, if a lot of people come from the Southwest, there will be enough room for them to stay.
The train started to sound its whistle, and Wu Jinban finally burst into tears: "Auntie, Grandpa and Grandma, please don't forget me."
Cuihua felt a pang of sadness. This child, despite his quiet demeanor, was incredibly thoughtful, much like Southwest when he was young. But back then, Southwest had Nannan and Beinan by his side, while Wujinban only had Liujin beside him, besides Duoduo. But Liujin has grown up too.
"Don't worry, Wu Jin and a half. You're Grandma's good baby. Grandma will never forget you."
"Wu Jin Ban, this is from your aunt. You have to keep it a secret and don't let anyone know." Nan Nan quickly stuffed ten yuan into Wu Jin Ban's hand. Tang Xiaoling was too stingy. The little guy was used to eating snacks here and would definitely not be used to it when he went back. If he had a little money, he could buy some snacks to satisfy his cravings.
Wu Jinban has already learned how to buy things. Sometimes Cuihua will give him a few cents to buy some soy sauce, and with the extra money, he can buy some fruit candy to sweeten his mouth. So Wu Jinban especially likes to run errands for Cuihua.
Looking at the money in his hand, Wu Jinban consciously handed it to Xinan. Xinan thought for a moment, accepted ten yuan, and then took out some change from his pocket to make up one yuan: "Wu Jinban, children shouldn't carry too much money, otherwise it's not safe. You take this one yuan first, and I'll give the other nine yuan to your grandma. You can ask her for more when you're done, okay?"
Wu Jinban laughed, "Dad really thought of everything."
Yan Xiaonan and the others did not return to the furniture factory. The clothing store was doing extremely well. Xue Mei had not yet been transferred, so Yan Xiaonan could only ask Xue Ying to help find two sales clerks to come and assist her.
These two sales clerks were also family members of soldiers stationed in the area. They were good people and good-looking, but they weren't very good at studying. So they started looking for work after graduating from junior high school, but unfortunately they couldn't find good jobs and could only do odd jobs to supplement their family income.
When Xue Ying released the news, the people in the garrison area went crazy. When they learned that Xue Ying was looking for two young girls to work as sales clerks in a clothing store, their doors were almost bursting with people. Xue Ying was so scared that she dared not go home and entrusted the recruitment to Grandma Wang.
Grandma Wang was a very responsible person, and she knew the temperaments and personalities of everyone in the garrison area like the back of her hand. She quickly came up with a candidate and quietly brought them out to show Xue Ying. Xue Ying looked into the eyes of the two girls, which were clear and bright and quite innocent.
Yan Xiaonan explained the working hours and benefits to the two of them: work one day and rest one day, twelve hours a day, with a monthly salary of twenty yuan. They were to go back and think about it for a day and give her an answer tomorrow.
The two had never heard of a job where you could work one day and rest the next. It was just twelve hours a day, and they could rest tomorrow. The salary and benefits would remain the same. This was a job that was hard to find even with a lantern. What were they thinking? They would start working right away.
Yan Xiaonan and Cuihua served as trainers for two days, teaching them step by step how to greet customers, introduce products, settle prices, and register customers. The two were smart and learned quickly.
As it was almost time to leave work, Yan Xiaonan suddenly put on a stern face and said to them seriously, "When working as a sales clerk here, you must remember the following: First, you can't give customers a hard time, or you'll be fired immediately. Of course, if a customer is being unreasonable, you can ignore them, but you absolutely cannot lay a hand on them. Second, you can't steal any property from the store, or you'll be handed over to the police immediately."
Yan Xiaonan knew that sales clerks nowadays all looked down on customers and were indifferent to them, but this clothing store was a privately owned shop. Xue Ying had helped her run around to many departments to get the sole proprietorship license, which was the first of its kind in Beijing. If it weren't for Yan Xiaonan's special status, it probably wouldn't have been possible to get it approved.
The two girls were startled. Boss Yan's stern face was quite frightening, and his eyes seemed to spit fire. However, they kept Yan Xiaonan's words in mind and maintained a smiling service every day. Not only were they happy, but customers were also more willing to buy more when they saw the two smiling faces.
When Yan Xiaoqiang learned that his daughter was looking for a place for the master craftsman at the furniture factory to live, he patted his chest and guaranteed that he would make a trip to the old bachelor's place himself, because renting a place was not something that could be done in a minute.
Yan Xiaoqiang rode his bicycle to the old bachelor's house. After knocking on the door a few times, the old bachelor ran out and said, "Oh, Qiangzi, you're here! What a rare guest! Come in and sit down."
Yan Daqiang shook his head. The old bachelor's house was too small, just one room without even a partition. He could hear Li Ping soothing the child from outside, and it would be inconvenient for a grown man like himself to go in. He'd better keep it short:
"Old bachelor, can you help me find a few apartments? Can you find one before October?"
"How can a man say no? Really, wait for my good news." The old bachelor patted his chest and promised.
Because of his good work attitude, the old bachelor's salary and benefits have been increased to 15 yuan, which is 7 yuan more per month than before. Li Ping has also decided to apply to return to school next month, which will bring her an income of 12 yuan. The couple together earn 27 yuan a month, which is not a problem to support a child.
Yan Xiaoqiang was also happy for the old bachelor. He knew that to survive in a big city, one needed a spirit of hard work and perseverance.
Within a week, the old bachelor had found out about the house and came to find Yan Xiaoqiang excitedly. Yan Xiaoqiang was watching someone renovate a general store. Yan Xiaoqiang pointed to the general store in front and told the old bachelor that this was where he would work in the future.
The old bachelor looked at the general store, then at the clothing store next door, and felt that something was off. But having lived in the capital for a long time, he knew exactly what to ask and what not to ask.
"Qiangzi, I found three rooms. The rent is one yuan a month, but the landlord wants to pay it a yearly fee. Do you want to go and take a look?"
"Come on, get on the bike, lead the way." Yan Xiaoqiang waved his hand, stepped onto the bicycle, and the old bachelor didn't hesitate either, taking a few steps and jumping onto the back seat.
The landlord showed Yan Xiaoqiang around room by room without saying a word, acting extremely aloof. Yan Xiaoqiang ignored him and carefully inspected the houses. Fortunately, the houses were nice, all single-story buildings.
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