Chapter 74 The son-in-law stared at him with the look one would expect from a son-in-law. ...
After the group of guests left, Li Jinling, the naive and unsophisticated sister-in-law, finally dared to come out and speak with her little nephew in her arms. She exclaimed, "Sister-in-law! You're going to be the factory manager!"
"My God! My sister-in-law is going to be the factory manager! Manager Qin!"
Li Jinling's hometown is in Northeast China, which was one of the regions with relatively good industrial development in the early years. There were many large state-owned factories there, and working in a large state-owned factory was a very prestigious thing in Northeast China.
When country folk go to the city, they envy the generosity of the state-owned factory workers. They catch fish and shrimp and sell them in the city, and these generous people never haggle over prices.
If someone marries a worker from the city, or has a worker son-in-law from the city, it's something to be envied. Having an ordinary worker in the family is already a source of pride, but if a factory manager comes along, wow, that's like their ancestors' graves are emitting auspicious smoke!
“My brother is a military officer, my sister-in-law is a factory manager, and my mother probably wouldn’t want to leave the village. She could brag to everyone around her all day long.”
Qin Xiangxiang: "He's just a temporary factory manager."
Xianyu felt a little melancholy. Her mother hadn't even become the factory manager yet, but she had.
What an incredible plot twist! It's completely absurd. There was no textile factory in the dream at all, but now the project has been approved. I'm speechless!
In her dream, she swapped jobs with someone and became a temporary piano teacher at the cultural center. There was no trace of what happened at the textile factory afterwards. Now, things have taken a turn for the worse. Master Li has discovered that she is a textile genius? And he insists on making her the factory manager.
"Sister-in-law, how much do you earn a month?"
"Currently, it's only thirty-six, the salary of a regular factory worker. After all, the factory hasn't been built yet, and I'm the only one in charge. If it's built... the factory manager will probably get a basic salary of eighty to one hundred."
Li Jinling: "Wow!"
Nowadays, in ordinary factories, such as machine factories, most workers earn 30 to 40 yuan a month. Apprentices may earn 18 yuan, and other temporary workers earn 20 yuan. The mainstream wage is 34 to 36 yuan.
However, different factories also have different benefits. For example, meat processing plants and canneries can obtain a lot of scraps at low prices. In particular, canneries produce canned goods such as spicy chicken and have a lot of chicken feet, chicken heads, and chicken butts left over. These scraps are sold to employees at low prices.
The advantage of working in a textile factory is that it's easier to get defective fabric without needing a ration coupon, which can be sold to employees at a low price. In addition, the female workers operating the sewing machines in the workshop are in a high-paying category. While ordinary workers earn around thirty yuan a month after becoming regular employees, female sewing machine operators start with a basic salary of fifty or sixty yuan a month, which is almost double the salary of ordinary workers. However, working in the workshop is very hard.
Ordinary female workers working on the machine earn around 50 or 60 yuan a month, average female workers earn 70 or 80 yuan, while veteran female workers earn over 100 yuan a month. For example, Ms. Li's salary is no less than that of the factory manager, but she doesn't have as much power as the factory manager and works very hard on the front line of the workshop.
Wages were hard to raise at that time; many people earned only thirty or forty yuan a month, and any increase was only a few yuan. Female factory workers could earn a basic wage of fifty or sixty yuan, which was equivalent to the salary of a platoon-level cadre, and that was quite remarkable.
Li Jinling: "Sister-in-law, once the textile factory is built, can I also work there and earn fifty or sixty yuan a month?"
"Even an ordinary worker can earn thirty or forty!"
Qin Xiangxiang shook her head: "I can try to get you a quota, but you'll have to work hard. The factory will definitely hire a lot of workers when it's completed... But don't get too excited yet, the textile factory will take another year or two, or even two or three years to complete."
According to the plan that the representative of the prefectural committee told her today, the land acquisition will be completed this year, construction will begin next year, the machines will be debugged and employees trained by the end of the year, and it will be officially put into production around the spring of 1972.
It took a little over a year in total, and that's an optimistic estimate. After all, no one knows how many problems might arise during the process. Delays are common, postponements are normal, and completing ahead of schedule is extremely rare.
Moreover, these guys are so short-sighted, finding a lazy bum like her to urge things on. Is it even possible for that to speed things up?
"It'll be done in a year or two? Sister-in-law, that's fast!" Li Jinling exclaimed.
Qin Xiangxiang: "???"
Li Jinling: "Going to the village to farm means waiting a whole year for the harvest. A year goes by so fast!"
For farmers, after a year of hard work, they can only receive their "income" at the end of the year, unlike urban workers who receive monthly wages. Farmers' income is settled on a yearly basis. At the end of the year, the work points of each household are settled, and the commune's work points are converted into money and distributed to each household according to the work points.
If work points cannot be exchanged for grain, money must be spent to buy more work points to exchange for grain. If a family is hardworking and has more work points, the commune will convert the surplus work points into money and give them to the farmers.
Many families might only have a little over a hundred yuan in work points, which is less than her older brother's monthly salary, but they could still save up enough to buy a sewing machine.
Qin Xiangxiang: "You're right!"
Li Jinling chuckled, and as soon as Li Jianzhi returned home, she immediately shouted in a loud voice, "Brother! Big brother! My sister-in-law is going to be the factory manager!"
Qin Xiangxiang's sister-in-law has a special talent for being a textile worker—she has a loud voice.
"Congratulations!" Li Jianzhi smiled at his wife.
Qin Xiangxiang remained expressionless, thinking to herself, "I really can't laugh."
Li Jianzhi squatted down and gently stroked her slightly protruding belly. "Construction will only begin next year, so it'll be just the right time to have the baby. By the time the factory officially starts operations, the baby will be a year old, which will be just right."
Qin Xiangxiang said, "I'm afraid I won't be able to continue."
"Give it a try. If you really can't keep it up, then so be it. No matter what the outcome, the kids and I will support you."
Qin Xiangxiang responded. Since things had come to this, even a lazy bum like her had her own plans. It was better if the factory construction progressed slowly, so she could earn thirty-six yuan a month by slacking off.
“I can get a salary now. It’s thirty-six a month before it’s finished. I’ll save up enough to buy you an imported watch, and I also need to buy a piano.”
Li Jianzhi chuckled: "Still thinking about buying a watch?"
"Of course! Not only should I buy imported watches, but I should also buy Rolexes." Qin Xiang thought to herself that as a supporting female character, it was normal for her to trip up the male lead. She wanted to directly challenge the male lead's sense of superiority, since he had been showing off indiscriminately.
In addition, imported watches cost over 300 yuan, and buying one is not only a symbol of status but also a way to "hold value".
It's like buying a Rolex watch for over 900; you can even resell it for a little more.
Qin Xiangxiang was trying to educate her deadbeat husband. They should all act like idiots and make the male lead angry. She whispered, "After you buy it, wear the watch and walk around in front of Chen Ruifeng. Take it off and let him see it. Show it off to him."
Li Jianzhi chuckled. He imagined the scene and thought it was too funny. What was this supposed to mean by "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, never underestimate a young man's potential"?
Sure enough, he's got the male lead script from X-point?
Qin Xiangxiang said, "After I receive my salary, I won't take the forty yuan subsidy my parents gave me—"
Qin Xiangxiang covered her mouth. Besides her great-aunt giving her twenty, her parents also gave her forty. Her mother, Zhou Aodong, told her to tell Li Jianzhi that she only gave him twenty and that she was keeping some money for herself. Now, wouldn't that be considered self-incrimination?
She looked at the man in front of her with some wariness. Could he still be trying to steal her family's money?
However, Li Jianzhi looked at her with a gentle smile and said, "We think she's a good girl, a good daughter. Our combined salaries will be enough for her in the future."
"I'll try to write some more articles to earn extra money, and then eat at home more often." Li Jianzhi only realized this time that ordinary soldiers don't have to pay for their meals, but officers and cadres have to pay a certain amount for their meals. He had some food expenses deducted, plus other subsidies, and he could earn more than a hundred yuan a month. If he wanted to save more, he would go home for a meal. However... going home might not necessarily save money, but he could eat better.
Qin Xiangxiang gave a soft "hmm" and threw herself into the man's arms, hugging his neck. She liked Li Jianzhi's uprightness and his refusal to take advantage of his wife.
Some men, seeing that their wives receive subsidies from their parents' families, are eager to coax their wives into getting more money from their parents' families, and even treat women's money as their own. Qin Xiangxiang dislikes this kind of man very much.
She was willing to save money for Li Jianzhi to buy him a watch, which was her own choice. But if he took it for granted, she would be unhappy.
Fortunately, Li Jianzhi is not that kind of person.
Her parents give her forty yuan a month, plus twenty yuan from her great-aunt. Qin Xiangxiang felt embarrassed to accept the money from her parents, so she stopped taking the money from them. Currently, she gets thirty-six yuan a month, plus twenty yuan from her great-aunt, and fifty yuan from Li Jianzhi. It's enough for her, and she can even save some.
The next day, Qin Xiangxiang called home to tell Zhou Aodong that she had become the temporary factory manager. She said casually, "Mom, I now earn thirty-six yuan a month. You and Dad don't need to send me the forty yuan anymore."
Qin Xiangxiang didn't hide anything when she said this, and everyone around her, including the switchboard operator in the main room, was stunned.
Forty yuan!
Zhou Aodong, who was in the office, was very happy and gratified: "If you are willing to work hard, your parents will give you an extra ten yuan every month. That money is originally for you and Xiaobao. Your parents don't spend much on food and drink. You are our only daughter. If you are successful, your parents will be happy no matter what."
"Now that you're pregnant again, take good care of yourself, eat well, and don't neglect your health."
After hanging up the phone, Qin Xiangxiang sighed. This little drama queen wanted to be nice to her parents, but they didn't appreciate it and even wanted to give her money. She could only continue to be a mama's girl and just get by.
If one is a monk who only rings the bell for a day, this temporary factory manager will likely be forced to step down eventually.
She touched her stomach, too lazy to think about it anymore, and decided to just eat and sleep.
However, she had no idea that this phone call would have a sensational effect in the family compound. Good heavens, Officer Li in their compound had really married a gold nugget! His family members were sending him a subsidy of forty yuan every month.
Damn, this is something to be so envious of.
"Do Xiao Qin's parents really still send her a subsidy of forty yuan every month?"
"They only have one daughter. Both her parents are workers in big cities. I heard her mother is a factory leader."
"That's true, who else could we give it to if not our own daughter?"
...
When Li Jianzhi returned to the compound, he found that many people were staring at him with the same look they would give a son-in-law.
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