Chapter 14: Picking Up Leaks

After a while, Wang Jun came back and gathered everyone together. He said, "The higher-ups have assigned us a team leader, who is..."

He turned around and saw Du Ruo squatting in the corner. He pointed behind him and said, "It's Comrade Du Ruo."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Including Wang Jun, there were seven people in the workshop, most of whom were here to take a break. They were all a little surprised to see that their superiors had sent a female comrade over.

Du Ruo stood up, walked in front of everyone, and said, "I am Du Ruo. Let's help each other and make progress together."

Wang Jun winked at everyone, and everyone applauded to show their welcome.

Wang Jun said, "The room in front is the team leader's office. Can I take you there?"

Du Ruo walked into the office and saw that it was very simple, with a table, a chair, and a single bed in the corner.

It's very clean inside, there's nothing inside.

Wang Jun said, "Master Wu retired last month and went home to live out his days. He packed up his things and took them with him. Now this place is yours. We are all outside. If you have any questions, just tell us."

Du Ruo asked, "What kind of work do we have here?"

Wang Jun laughed: "What kind of work is there? Really good things wouldn't be sent here as waste.

All they can deliver are scraps and defective products from mass merchandise. They asked us to pick again, but what can we choose from?"

Du Ruo asked: "What should we do if the waste materials keep piling up?"

Wang Jun smiled and said, "If it is discarded scraps, just throw them into the warehouse. If it is discarded raw materials, throw them all into the waste rock yard. A truck will come to pick them up in a few days."

Du Ruo asked doubtfully, "Wasteland?"

Wang Jun smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, it's behind the warehouse.

We can just throw it there and forget about it. There are special movers at the wasteland, so there is no need for us to do anything.

Keep it for paving roads and building walls, send it to construction sites to lay foundations, and take the stones wherever they are needed? t"

Du Ruo nodded. So that's how it is.

Wang Jun said: "We don't have much to do today, so we go to work on time and leave on time.

When there is waste material, we just scoop it up and push it to the waste dump at the back with a cart.

We have two days off a week, one more day off than other workshops, and there is nothing to do anyway."

There is no such thing as a two-day weekend now. In the workshop, you either work in three shifts or take a Sunday off. Here you can have two days off, which is really free enough.

Du Ruo smiled and said, "It's quite leisurely. There aren't many of us here."

Zhang Junxiu smiled and said, "We have less work and less money, but other workshops have performance-based wages, overtime, and various subsidies.

We have nothing here except a fixed salary. Everyone works to make money. Who would come here?"

Du Ruo nodded. Indeed, there are mostly male workers in the jade factory. Everyone has to support their families, and only the one that can earn more money is a good place. They are not in their seventies or eighties. Who would go to a place for retirement for no reason?

Wang Jun asked Du Ruo: "Team Leader, what can I do for you? No, I'm going out."

He whispered, "I lost today. I have to play a few more games to make up for it."

Du Ruo said, "Don't worry about me. I'm just taking a walk. I don't have anything to do. What are you doing now, just like you did before?"

Wang Jun went out with a smile.

Du Ruo hung his coat behind the door and glanced around the office. It was completely empty, without even a water cup.

So what if there is nothing? Anyway, she has to get a room first and she can see about the other things later.

Du Ruo sat on the chair and looked back through the office window. Behind him was a wasteland.

There are no large stones, and they are basically cut into small pieces the size of a fist or a football. Generally speaking, if there is no sign of green after cutting at this point, it means it is completely useless.

They are a jade processing factory, not a quarry, so they don’t have many discarded stones.

Two workers were driving a horse-drawn carriage, throwing small pieces of stone into the carriage one by one. They were chatting leisurely while working, and they didn't seem to be in a hurry.

Du Ruo sat by the window basking in the sun, watching the two people working. It was a rare leisurely life for him as he retired.

Suddenly, Du Ruo sat up straight. The two people who were chatting were talking about something. The stone stopped in their hands and they burst into laughter.

The guy on the left in the blue shirt has a sudden surge of red lines on his head. Doesn't this rhythm sound familiar?

Du Ruo immediately stood up and walked out.

After leaving the office, go out the corner door next to it and you will reach the wasteland.

When Du Ruo arrived, the stone had already been thrown into the car.

She thought for a moment and said, "Where should we send the stones in this car?"

The two men stopped what they were doing, and the guy in the blue shirt said, "Comrade, what can I do for you?"

Du Ruo's eyes twinkled as he said, "I'm the newly transferred leader of Group 5. I'm here to take a look around."

Leader? The young man rubbed his hands on his clothes and said to Du Ruo: "My name is Zhang Li, you can call me Dali, leader, if you have any work, just let me know, I don't have anything else, but I have a lot of strength."

Xiao Zhao next to him also said: "Yes, yes, yes, leader, you have a voice."

Du Ruo walked around the car twice, and then she smiled and said, "You know there's not much work to do here. I want to practice using stones so I don't get used to them. Pick me two stones."

She pointed to a stone in the carriage and asked, "How about that one?"

Dali followed his finger and picked up the stone. Du Ruo shook his head: "Almost, where is the other one?"

Dali helped her get the stone she pointed to. It didn't take them long to load the car. Du Ruo came out very quickly, and in a short while, Dali's hand was on a stone the size of a football.

The red line on his head suddenly grew a lot longer, and Du Ruo was delighted, thinking that it was it.

She said, "Just this one piece. I'll take it back myself."

Seeing this, Dali hurriedly handed the stone to her. Du Ruo took a look and the red line on his head disappeared.

After returning to the office with the stone in his arms, Du Ruo was in a dilemma. He couldn't cut the stone here. What should he do?

Zhang Jun pushed the door open and came in, holding a stack of payrolls in his hand. He said to Du Ruo, "Here are this month's attendance and payrolls. I brought them to you."

He saw a large stone on Du Ruo's desk and said with a smile, "You carving masters are really busy all the time.

Master Wu is the same. He practices with scrap materials when he has nothing to do. If there is no suitable scrap material, he will look for waste stones. You just came here and you are already moving stones."

Du Ruo smiled and said, "I have no choice. My hands have become numb after not using them for a long time. No matter what I carve, I have to move my wrists."

Zhang Jun smiled and pointed to the next room, saying, "That room is Master Wu's workshop. He built it himself. He moved the sander and cutting machine from another workshop and stayed there when he had nothing to do. Now, you can continue to use them."