Chapter 57, The Interview
The next day, after lunch, Lin Qingqing took the money and tickets and went to the supply and marketing cooperative for an interview.
The supply and marketing cooperative she interviewed with was not the base supply and marketing cooperative in the family compound, but in another area. It took more than ten minutes to get there by car, which was a bit farther than going to the Revolutionary Committee, but she didn't need to transfer.
It was a coincidence that I ran into Li Chunying on the bus today. When I saw her, I asked her where she was going.
Lin Qingqing smiled and said, "I'm going for an interview."
"Interview? What job requires an interview?" Li Chunying muttered. "Aren't they usually arranged directly by superiors?"
“Originally, it was arranged directly by the higher-ups, but Director Chen from the family resettlement office said that the director from the supply and marketing cooperative knew about my work experience and wanted to talk to me, so an interview was scheduled,” Lin Qingqing explained.
Li Chunying said "Oh," then remembered, "Are you going to the supply and marketing cooperative? Which supply and marketing cooperative?"
"It's on this route, they say it's called Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative Daily Necessities Store," Lin Qingqing reported her destination.
“I know this supply and marketing cooperative. It’s not far. I’ll call you when we get there,” Li Chunying said immediately, then asked Lin Qingqing if she would be working at the cooperative from now on.
Lin Qingqing shook her head and said, "It's not certain yet. It depends on the interview results. I also signed up for the steel mill's recruitment exam, but I don't know if I'll pass."
"Oh, you're planning to take the exam for a steel mill? What kind of position?" Li Chunying perked up at the question.
"They said it was from the factory's propaganda department."
"That's an office job, a great position!" Li Chunying said enviously, but then she thought that such a big company with such a good position must be very competitive, so she said, "The exam must be tough, right?"
Lin Qingqing smiled wryly: "I heard that several hundred people signed up for one position."
Li Chunying clicked her tongue twice and comforted Lin Qingqing, saying, "It's okay, working at the supply and marketing cooperative is great. It'll be convenient for buying things in the future." Thinking to herself that both the steel mill and the supply and marketing cooperative were good employers, she became even more determined to cultivate a good relationship with Lin Qingqing. She then asked, "Have you been allocated your houses yet?"
"It's been allocated; it's in Building 18."
"Building 18?" Li Chunying thought for a moment and asked, "Do you have a neighbor who works at the vegetable market?"
"Yes, there is one, she lives right next door to us." Lin Qingqing nodded. "Do you know her?"
"We chatted a bit when we were buying groceries. There's also a woman named Yang Li in your compound. Her husband and my husband are both from the 21st Regiment."
Lin Qingqing remembered that Yang Li's husband, Hong Tao, was indeed the battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 21st Regiment: "Your husband is from the 1st Battalion, right?"
“That’s right,” Li Chunying nodded, “but I…”
She wasn't very familiar with Yang Li, and that person... She shook her head, not thinking much of him.
Lin Qingqing didn't say much, and chatted with Li Chunying about other things. A few minutes later, they arrived at the Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
...
Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative is the largest supply and marketing cooperative in the suburbs, but because the suburbs are close to the city, people prefer to go to the city department stores, so Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative's business is inevitably somewhat sluggish.
But a sluggish business also means an easier job. Nowadays, supply and marketing cooperatives are managed by one person per counter. From stocking and arranging goods to selling and counting, it's all their own responsibility. There's no guarantee of a bonus if the goods are sold, but if anything is missing, they have to pay out of their own pocket to make up for it. So many sales clerks are happy to have an easy job.
After all, we were living in a planned economy era, and supply and marketing cooperatives were state-owned. They could survive even during a slump, and wouldn't lose their jobs no matter how little they sold. This was the reality for state-owned enterprises. So, from the reform and opening up to the 1980s, a large number of state-owned enterprises either closed down or underwent restructuring.
Business wasn't good, but the supply and marketing cooperative was quite large, with three floors. The first and second floors were counters, and the third floor was the offices. There was also a courtyard in the back, and opposite the courtyard was a two-story building, which was the staff dormitory of the supply and marketing cooperative, and the canteen was also located there.
However, Lin Qingqing entered the front of the store, and it's unclear what will happen in the back.
Perhaps because it was during working hours, there were only two customers in the store on the first floor, but there were five sales clerks. Some were sitting behind the counter knitting sweaters, while others were chatting at the junction of two counters. The colleagues were talking animatedly, but the two sales clerks who were serving customers were very lazy and somewhat indifferent.
Lin Qingqing walked in without saying a word, only glancing at her, and the people behind the counter continued doing what they were doing.
She walked up to the counter where the sales clerk was knitting sweaters and said, "Hello."
"What do you want?" the other person asked casually, without putting down what they were doing.
"I have an appointment with your director, and I'd like to ask if he's in?"
Upon hearing that she had an appointment with the director, the saleswoman who was knitting finally put down her work and asked, "What's your name? What do you need the director for?"
"My name is Lin Qingqing, and I'm here for an interview."
Upon hearing it was an interview, the saleswoman's expression softened, but she still put down the half-finished sweater she was knitting and asked the saleswoman at the next counter to watch it for her. She then led Lin Qingqing up the stairs to the third floor. Once on the third floor, she told Lin Qingqing to wait in the corridor. She walked to the last office, knocked on the door, went in to ask, and then came out to let her in.
The director's office wasn't large; with just a desk, a bookcase, and a tall coffee table, there wasn't much space left.
A middle-aged man in his forties or fifties sat behind the counter. She had short hair and was wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt. She was signing documents with her head down. When she heard the voice, she didn't even turn her head and said, "Please sit down."
Lin Qingqing greeted them and sat down at the desk.
After waiting for about three minutes, the director closed the document, extended his hand to Lin Qingqing and said, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Gao Aiqin, and I am the director of Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative."
“My name is Lin Qingqing. Director Chen from the family resettlement office asked me to come here because she said you wanted to see me.”
“That’s right, I’ve looked at your information and I’m very interested in you, so I’d like to meet you first.” Gao Aiqin got up from behind her desk, walked to the coffee table by the window behind her, picked up the kettle, poured a glass of water, and handed it to Lin Qingqing, saying, “I only have boiled water here, is that alright?”
"I don't mind." Lin Qingqing picked up her teacup and took a sip.
Gao Aiqin took a piece of paper from the files on the table. It was a photocopy of Lin Qingqing's resume. She said, "Your resume is well done. It's very original."
At this time, jobs were basically assigned by the school, and even if someone got a job, they wouldn't usually put much effort into preparing a resume. Moreover, many people would hold the same job for life, so resumes at this time were relatively simple. Unlike Lin Qingqing, who, in addition to her personal information, also listed her previous work experience and achievements.
It was this resume that piqued Gao Aiqin's interest in her, and after reading it, she decided to meet her in person.
Faced with Gao Aiqin's praise, Lin Qingqing did not show any flattery or surprise. She just smiled calmly and said, "I have never been to school, so before I came to join the army, I kept thinking about how I could best showcase my strengths if I were to look for a job. That's how I created this resume."
Actually, she didn't think about it for long. For Lin Qingqing, who came from two thousand years in the future, finding a job and writing a resume was something ingrained in her bones.
However, Gao Aiqin felt that although Lin Qingqing had never been to school, she was very smart and resourceful, and it was this intelligence that led to the content presented on her resume. With this in mind, Gao Aiqin discussed the content of the resume with Lin Qingqing in more depth.
During their conversation, Lin Qingqing gradually understood why Gao Aiqin had asked her to meet with him.
Gao Aiqin was born in 1926, a time of war and turmoil in China. She only had a few years of peaceful life during her childhood before fleeing with her parents. Both her parents died in the war, leaving her to wander with the crowds. When she was on the verge of starvation, she encountered the Eighth Route Army, was rescued, and joined the army.
Until 1950, the Chairman decided to carry out a large-scale streamlining and reorganization of the army, reducing the total number of troops to four million. (1) A large number of people who had previously joined the army were discharged and assigned to work in communist units.
Gao Aiqin came to Jinshi that year and became a factory worker. Later, with the public-private partnership, she was transferred from the factory to the supply and marketing cooperative, becoming a sales clerk. She worked at the supply and marketing cooperative for fifteen years, rising from an ordinary sales clerk to the director of the cooperative.
But she still felt it wasn't enough; she's only forty-five years old and hopes to go even further.
However, Qingshan is neither as good as the base supply and marketing cooperative, which is backed by the military family compound and has a large customer flow, nor as good as the department store in the city center, which is a key unit with a complete range of goods and priority supply of trendy goods from Shanghai.
The poor geographical location and limited product range have created an awkward situation for Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative, making it difficult for Gao Aiqin to move forward.
At this point, she learned about Lin Qingqing's background from her resume.
In her resume, Lin Qingqing wrote about two things regarding Xingfeng Garment Factory. First, she used a piece of clothing to open the door of the county garment factory, obtained an OEM order from the factory, and then used the order to persuade the production brigade to start a garment factory. Second, she used an agency model to both secure orders and promote the brand, enabling the garment factory to expand rapidly.
Gao Aiqin came here mainly to have an in-depth conversation with Lin Qingqing about the cause and effect, so as to judge the truthfulness of the contents written on her resume and whether she is really capable.
She was very satisfied with the result and extended an invitation to Lin Qingqing.
However, Gao Aiqin was only the director of the supply and marketing cooperative, and the conditions she could offer were limited. She would simply offer Lin Qingqing a formal position as soon as she joined, and the cooperative would assign her a counter. If she achieved good results within three months, she would be promoted to store manager.
The position of store manager sounds prestigious, but Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative is only a small place, and the manager only oversees seven or eight people. Moreover, there are time and performance requirements for promotion to manager, so it might just be an empty promise.
Therefore, although Lin Qingqing was happy, she did not show it. She simply asked, "I wonder if Director Chen has mentioned to you that I have signed up for the steel plant's recruitment exam?"
“Director Chen did mention this to me,” Gao Aiqin said, her expression unchanged.
This is also one of the reasons why Gao Aiqin paid attention to Lin Qingqing. Although the family placement office is supposed to serve the families of military personnel, it often doesn't give military spouses many choices when they look for work. Usually, it's only when the unit doesn't want anyone that the military spouse is assigned another job.
Like Lin Qingqing,
How could it not be surprising to be assigned two jobs at once, one of which was a position in the propaganda department of the steel mill's party committee?
At the time, Gao Aiqin specifically asked Director Chen about the reason, but Director Chen looked helpless and said vaguely, "This person is not easy to deal with."
Gao Aiqin wasn't afraid of people being difficult to deal with; she was afraid of people lacking ability. So, after hearing Director Chen's evaluation of Lin Qingqing, she still wanted to arrange a meeting.
Gao Aiqin glanced at the calendar on her desk and pondered for a moment before saying, "How about this, you give me a reply before the 15th. Whether you come to work or not, just let me know, okay?" The steel mill's recruitment exam is next Monday, and the results will be out on the 12th. By the 15th, Lin Qingqing should be able to decide where she'll be going.
Lin Qingqing wasn't surprised that Gao Aiqin was willing to wait for her, and said with a smile, "Okay."
...
After the interview, Gao Aiqin specially escorted Lin Qingqing downstairs, but when they passed the second floor, Lin Qingqing stopped and said, "By the way, I have some things to buy."
"Oh? What do you want to buy?" Gao Aiqin asked.
“Iron pots, rice steamers, kettles, and the like are all kitchen utensils,” Lin Qingqing said, seeing Gao Aiqin’s puzzled expression. “I just arrived with the army, and the house was only allocated last Friday. The kitchen is lacking in everything. Yesterday, my husband brought back a bunch of tickets, saying that his team won the military competition and he asked the commander for the reward.”
Speaking of Xie Wei, Lin Qingqing couldn't stop smiling.
Gao Aiqin listened attentively at first, but then couldn't help but laugh: "Your husband is a thoughtful person."
"Yes." Lin Qingqing nodded and said, "You don't need to see me off. I'll just look around by myself and leave after I've bought what I need."
"It's alright, I'm free now anyway." Gao Aiqin said gently, but showed no intention of leaving.
Lin Qingqing had no choice but to accept the favor and let her lead her to buy the items.
With so much stuff, Gao Aiqin saw Lin Qingqing off to catch a ride. While waiting for the bus, Gao Aiqin chatted casually with Lin Qingqing, the two acting like old friends.
It wasn't until the shuttle bus swayed and rattled over that Gao Aiqin said, "Although our supply and marketing cooperative is a small unit compared to the steel mill, please believe that you can fully utilize your abilities in our cooperative. Therefore, I hope you will seriously consider coming to our cooperative."
"I will seriously consider it," Lin Qingqing said solemnly.
Upon hearing this, Gao Aiqin smiled and said, "Then, I hope there will be a day when we can work together."
The bus arrived, and Li Chunying got off. She was startled to see Lin Qingqing, then smiled and said, "I was wondering if I'd run into you before I came back, and it really is true!"
"Hey, who is this?" Her gaze turned to Gao Aiqin.
"This is the director of Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative," Lin Qingqing introduced. With Li Chunying's help, she loaded all the items onto the car and waved to Gao Aiqin, saying, "Goodbye, Director Gao."
Director Gao waved and watched the shuttle bus leave before heading to the supply and marketing cooperative.
Inside the car, Li Chunying asked Lin Qingqing curiously, "When you went for your interview, their director even drove you out?"
"Director Gao is a really nice person," Lin Qingqing said.
"You're very enthusiastic. How did your interview go?"
"It's not certain yet."
"Not necessarily? Aren't they all arranged to start working immediately?" Li Chunying muttered to herself. The director seemed quite enthusiastic, so why is it not working out now?
"Didn't I sign up for the steel mill's recruitment exam? I'll wait for the results before deciding where to go."
Li Chunying's eyes lit up: "So you're not unsure if you can get the job as a sales clerk at the supply and marketing cooperative, but you're hesitant about where to work? But the steel mill exam results won't be out until the 10s, right? Can we wait that long here?"
Lin Qingqing said vaguely, "If we can't find anyone, then yes."
Li Chunying thought that sales clerks at the supply and marketing cooperative were in high demand, so how could they not find anyone? But then she thought that the director had to interview everyone he hired, so the requirements were probably quite high, and it might not be possible to find someone so quickly.
"Then you'd better think carefully about where to go," Li Chunying said cheerfully.
Lin Qingqing chuckled: "It's not like I can just say I want to go somewhere and that's it."
Li Chunying thought of the steel mill selecting one person from hundreds of people and nodded, saying, "Although that's what they say, many people envy the job of a sales clerk. If you go to work at the supply and marketing cooperative, I'll ask you to buy things from you in the future."
"Thank you for patronizing my business?" Lin Qingqing said half-jokingly.
"You're too kind," Li Chunying smiled, then asked her why she bought so many things.
When Lin Qingqing explained her reasons, Li Chunying laughed: "My husband was talking about this yesterday when he came back. He said that after Commander Zhai heard what Regiment Commander Xie said, he didn't say anything for a long time."
Lin Qingqing, who had been smiling, felt a pang of unease upon hearing this and her smile faded as she asked, "What else did Commander Zhai say afterward?"
Seeing her serious expression, Li Chunying's smile also disappeared. After thinking for a moment, she shook her head and said, "I didn't say anything, I was just teasing him about being henpecked."
"I see." Lin Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief.
...
After returning home, Lin Qingqing washed and wiped the things she had bought, and finished tidying up before five o'clock.
She stood at the kitchen doorway, looking at the pots and pans inside. There weren't many, but there were at least enough to make a living.
There was nothing left to cook, but a sense of joy welled up inside me, and I decided to start a fire to celebrate.
However, while she was eager to start cooking, she became troubled by the thought of what to eat that evening.
This was in the 1970s. Her family didn't even have a fan, let alone a refrigerator. In the summer, food didn't keep well, and it was a waste to cook too much and not be able to finish it, but she was alone and there weren't enough people to cook for her.
Unable to decide what to do after much thought, Lin Qingqing took the tickets and money and planned to go to the supply and marketing cooperative and the vegetable market first—she still needed to buy firewood, rice, oil, and salt before cooking.
Upon arriving at the supply and marketing cooperative, Lin Qingqing did not rush to buy anything. Instead, she first took a stroll around the first floor before heading to the adjacent vegetable market.
Although the supply and marketing cooperative and the vegetable market are different entities, they sell some overlapping items, such as firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, which are available on both. They also sell biscuits and pastries. Therefore, although the two entities are adjacent to each other, they are also competitors.
However, these days competition doesn't affect ordinary people much, since the government controls prices anyway, so it doesn't matter where you buy them.
But Lin Qingqing hadn't decided what to buy, so after going to the supply and marketing cooperative, she went to the vegetable market next door.
Yu Xiuhong worked in the vegetable market. Like most of the vendors, she was still busy with her work when she heard someone come in, and didn't even bother to look up. So Lin Qingqing saw her first, walked up to her stall, and called out, "Sister Yu?"
Hearing the voice, Yu Xiuhong looked up and saw Lin Qingqing. Her expression became much more lively: "Hey, what brings you to the market today? Are you getting ready to cook?"
"Yes, the kitchen is almost fully stocked, so I was thinking of cooking at home to avoid always eating at the cafeteria," Lin Qingqing said with a smile.
Yu Xiuhong looked surprised: "You bought all the kitchen supplies for your house so quickly?"
"Yes, Xie Wei's team won the camp competition, and he received a lot of votes as a reward from above." Because she had been reported before, Lin Qingqing specifically explained the source of the votes.
Although Yu Xiuhong didn't understand how the camp competition was going to work, she felt that since Lin Qingqing had said so, it must be true.
Thinking about it, she felt a little envious and jealous. She really didn't understand how such a stingy man could have such good career luck. Her husband was already over thirty and was still a battalion commander. If he didn't get promoted this year, he would have to retire and go home in two years.
Given her husband's rank, the best he could hope to do after leaving the military would be a deputy position in the county or a commune head.
It sounded pretty good, and Yu Xiuhong had always felt very satisfied.
While it's said that the hierarchical system is no longer in place, in reality, superiors and subordinates are treated differently in many ways. Take military housing, for example: detached houses are prioritized for officers at the regimental level and above, while row houses are mostly for officers below that level.
Building 18 used to house three families: two battalion commanders and one deputy battalion commander. The buildings around it were mostly inhabited by people of those ranks. Her husband wasn't particularly outstanding, but he wasn't the worst either.
Therefore, Yu Xiuhong felt that even if her husband couldn't get promoted and had to change careers, it would be good for her to be the wife of a commune chief.
Until Xie Wei and his wife moved in.
Xie Wei is not yet twenty-nine years old, but he is already a regimental-level cadre. Moreover, he followed Commander Zhai to the battlefield and was promoted by him. His future is bright.
Then look at Lin Qingqing, a young girl in her early twenties who is already the wife of a regimental commander. In the future, she might become the wife of a division commander, or even higher. In short, it's a world that she can't even begin to grasp.
Comparisons are odious, and thinking about these things, Yu Xiuhong's tone became a little sour: "They still give out this even after winning the competition."
It's said that concern leads to confusion, and Lin Qingqing was constantly worried that directly asking the leader for tickets would affect Xie Wei, so she was always uneasy. It wasn't until she heard Li Chunying say that Commander Zhai was only joking about Xie Wei being henpecked that she breathed a sigh of relief and her rationality returned.
Xie Wei is not a haphazard person; he must have thought things through before asking for votes. Besides, after so many years in the military, he wouldn't let a few votes jeopardize his future and career.
After thinking it through, Lin Qingqing was no longer as worried as before. She smiled and said, "To be honest, when I saw those tickets, I was so moved that my eyes turned red. The organization cares so much about us military dependents! They even take care of these things. I feel so grateful to be able to accompany the military!"
Yu Xiuhong was already feeling sour, and hearing this made her feel even more sour!
They're all military dependents, so why didn't she get anything when she first arrived? Lin Qingqing's unit, on the other hand, provides her with all sorts of things.
Yu Xiuhong didn't say anything at this point, but when her husband returned from the camp, she started yelling at him, asking why the army was still treating people differently. Her husband's face turned green immediately. He thought to himself, "No ordinary person has the ability to stand out in front of the commander! Besides, even if he did stand out in front of the commander, wouldn't he take the opportunity to make a good impression? Why would he talk about such trivial matters?"
While Yu Xiuhong was arguing with her husband, Commander Zhai of the military sub-district heard what his wife had said at the market from her and laughed, "Xie Wei has married a good wife."
"Don't you think she's being too stingy by trying to make amends?"
Commander Zhai laughed heartily:
If I get upset about this, wouldn't that just confirm her suspicions? Besides, concern can cloud judgment. But regardless, what she said still makes a lot of sense.
Why do military units build family housing? It's so that soldiers can wholeheartedly defend their country without any worries about their families.
They built the family compound, approved the housing, and arranged jobs, but many details were lacking. These family members came to the military base without even a pot or a sip of hot water—how heartbreaking! Family members traveled thousands of miles to be with their loved ones, only to live such a miserable life; how could the soldiers feel good about it?
He was the commander of the military region and was very busy. He had not paid attention to these details before. It was only when Xie Wei mentioned them to him and he asked some of his subordinates that he learned that their families had all faced such difficulties when they accompanied the military.
The next day, Commander Zhai gave the order that in the future, if family members accompanied the soldiers, they could apply for and receive a fixed number of ration coupons so that the soldiers could settle down.
When Xie Wei heard Lin Qingqing's words from others, his first reaction was—
Did your wife's eyes turn red that day?
But no matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn't remember any moment that day when Lin Qingqing's eyes reddened. He also didn't know whether her red eyes were truly from being moved or from something else.
With this in mind, Xie Wei declined his comrade's invitation to dinner on Saturday night and went straight home.
Author's Note: First update
(1) Content from Baidu.
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