Chapter 64, New Job
Just like previous interviews, Lin Qingqing and Director Gao had a smooth conversation and agreed that she would start work that same day.
After the meeting, Director Gao took Lin Qingqing downstairs for a tour and introduced her to his colleagues. The sales clerks were indifferent to customers but quite enthusiastic towards colleagues, especially since this colleague was brought by the director. Therefore, Lin Qingqing quickly introduced herself to everyone.
The Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative's store has two floors. The first floor has five counters selling daily necessities. The second floor also has five counters: two for clothing, one for fabrics and shoes, and one for cosmetics and skincare products. Notably, the cosmetics and skincare products sold on the second floor are all in boxes or bags; cheaper items sold by weight are on the first floor. Another counter displays technological exhibits such as watches, bicycles, electric fans, and sewing machines; however, this counter is consistently out of stock of watches and bicycles.
After visiting the store, Director Gao helped Lin Qingqing get to know the people there, and then took her to tour the various offices.
Besides Director Gao's office, there are three other offices on the third floor. The largest office houses four employees: three from the purchasing department and one in charge of logistics. Next to it are two smaller offices: one is the finance department with only one employee, and the other is a general office where the labor union and women's federation staff reside. Because the unit is small, each of these organizations has only one person.
When Director Gao took Lin Qingqing to the store, no one thought anything of it. Every new sales clerk did the same thing—familiarizing themselves with the different counters in the supply and marketing cooperative and getting to know their superiors. The only difference was that usually, it was the back-office staff who took the new sales clerks to tour the counters, but Director Gao was the one who took Lin Qingqing.
But the people in the third-floor office had a different attitude. When new employees came to the store, the logistics staff would at most take them around the counter once. They rarely took people upstairs so that people from all departments could get to know them, let alone the person who took them was Director Gao.
The sales department thought that Director Gao was showing Lin Qingqing around because she was in a particularly good mood that day, and the logistics department was busy. But the people in the office knew that Director Gao had never shown new employees around before.
As soon as Director Gao brought Lin Qingqing back to his office, people from the trade union and women's federation next door came over and asked Xu Fangfang from the logistics department, "Who is Lin Qingqing? Why is Director Gao personally taking care of her?"
Xu Fangfang was also completely confused. She only knew that a new employee had joined the store today, but she didn't understand why Director Gao was paying so much attention to it. Xu Fangfang opened the documents on her desktop, pulled out Lin Qingqing's information, and said, "
They were recommended by the Revolutionary Committee's Family Resettlement Office.
Hearing that it was the family resettlement office, everyone became even more puzzled.
They all knew about this department; it was established after discussions between the Jin City government and the military region, specifically to serve the families of military personnel and help them find jobs. But the soldiers came from all over the country, and so did their families—most of them had no roots in Jin City… Thinking of this, someone asked again, “Where is she from?”
"From Shicheng."
Knowing that Lin Qingqing was indeed from out of town, Comrade He from the purchasing department asked, "Then why does Director Gao value her so much?"
Everyone fell silent. How could they possibly know the reason?
...
While everyone in the main office was discussing Lin Qingqing, she and Director Gao also finalized their upcoming work arrangements.
For the next nine days, Director Gao will arrange for her to work as a trial worker at nine different counters selling different products in the store, after which she will be able to choose her own counter. If she can triple the current sales volume of her counter within the next three months, Director Gao will appoint her as the store manager.
Reaching three times the current turnover doesn't sound like much, because the Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative's business isn't good; its monthly turnover isn't even comparable to that of the supply and marketing cooperative in the family compound.
However, it's important to understand that the supply and marketing cooperative in the family compound serves several hundred military families. Since the military personnel who accompany their spouses are generally at the deputy battalion level or higher, their monthly salary plus allowances is over one hundred yuan. Furthermore, military spouses can often be assigned jobs, so most military families are dual-income households, with the couple earning at least one hundred and forty or one hundred and fifty yuan a month.
The customer base of the Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative consisted of several hundred ordinary households living in the suburbs, most of whom had families of five, six, seven, eight, or even ninety people. If more than half of the employees were employed, the families were considered to be doing very well. At that time, the salary of a second-level worker in a factory was only thirty-six to forty yuan per month, and the income of a dual-income family in a factory was only between sixty and eighty yuan, not to mention that many families had only one working employee.
Based on this calculation, the spending power of the customer base of Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative is much lower than that of the Family Compound Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Not to mention that there are tens of thousands of soldiers in the military camp, who are also the hidden customer base of the Family Compound Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
Of course, some military dependents also went to the Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy things, but this was a minority, because the two supply and marketing cooperatives sold similar products. If there was something that they couldn't buy at the supply and marketing cooperative in the family compound, they preferred to go to the department store in the city.
Therefore, the predicament of Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative is that its customer base is small, its consumption level is low, and its products are limited and lack competitiveness.
However, it's not to say that this is an impossible task. After Lin Qingqing transmigrated, she visited many supply and marketing cooperatives and restaurants.
Just as she knew before she transmigrated, the staff of state-owned institutions such as guesthouses and hostels were now more arrogant than the customers. They were barely acknowledging her presence, and some were even verbally abusive or aggressive.
In this respect, the sales clerks at the Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative's store are no exception.
Who wants to be treated badly when buying something? It's just the way things are these days, so people have no choice but to put up with it. At this moment, there was one person with exceptionally good service, and Lin Qingqing felt that this could be a breakthrough.
But that's not enough. Only competitiveness can determine whether revenue can double, and the problem of having only one product cannot be solved at present. Therefore, we need to work on other aspects to improve competitiveness.
As for where to focus our efforts, we need to thoroughly understand the situation of each counter before we can draw a conclusion.
...
After the work arrangements were finalized, Director Gao took Lin Qingqing downstairs. The first counter she chose mainly sold daily necessities, and the saleswoman guarding the counter was Zhou Xiaofang, the same saleswoman who had taken Lin Qingqing upstairs during her previous interview.
When Director Gao told her that she was to mentor a new person, Zhou Xiaofang became wary.
Although she was indifferent to customers, she was quite satisfied with her job. In the past, new employees were directly assigned to the counter. Suddenly, she was asked to mentor them, which made people wonder if Director Zhou wanted someone else to take her place.
She didn't dare say anything in front of Director Gao, and honestly replied, "I will definitely take good care of Comrade Lin."
As soon as Director Gao left, Zhou Xiaofang put on a stern face and sat back in her seat, saying, "No one's coming now, so I don't have anything to teach you. Just familiarize yourself with the things in the counter."
"Thank you, Sister Zhou." Lin Qingqing seemed oblivious to Zhou Xiaofang's displeasure and walked behind the counter to familiarize herself with the products, just as she had been told.
However, being familiar with a product isn't just about looking at what it has and the packaging; you also need to know the price. So Lin Qingqing would ask Zhou Xiaofang about the product prices every now and then. Zhou Xiaofang answered at first, but the more she talked, the more frustrated she felt. When Lin Qingqing asked about the price of bulk local liquor, she became a little impatient: "Look at you, why do you keep asking me?"
"You are a senior and know a lot. I've only just arrived, so of course I have to learn from you." Lin Qingqing still had that smiling look on her face.
Her words were humble, and Zhou Xiaofang's expression improved slightly. However, the saleswoman at the next counter, always eager for drama, asked, "Comrade Xiaolin, why did Director Gao ask you to learn from Comrade Zhou? Does he want you to take over Comrade Zhou's counter?"
Hearing her colleague's provocation, Zhou Xiaofang's previously relaxed expression turned sour again: "What you said..."
"What are you saying? I'm doing a great job here, why would Director Gao let someone else take over my work?"
“That’s right, Sister Zhou is doing a great job, why would Director Gao let me take over her work?” Lin Qingqing chimed in.
In an instant, all the sales clerks in the first-floor store looked over: "So, why did Director Gao let you learn from Comrade Zhou?"
Lin Qingqing pretended to suddenly realize something and said with a laugh, "You've misunderstood. Director Gao wanted me to rotate through each counter to familiarize myself with the situation before deciding which counter to assign me to."
"So you want to learn from us too?" asked the sales clerk in charge of the pastry and candy counter.
"Yes, Director Gao said I should rotate through one counter each day. It's not a big deal. This is how all new employees will be arranged. We'll assign tasks after I finish rotating through the counters," Lin Qingqing said.
Zhou Xiaofang knew that Lin Qingqing wasn't there to cover for her, so she felt much more relaxed and asked, "Which counter would you like to go to?"
Lin Qingqing thought for a moment and said, "It depends on Director Gao's arrangement. But I heard from Director Gao that our store has a staff of ten, and we are short one person, so we hired me."
This means that no matter which counter she goes to, other employees will only be transferred within the store if their jobs are changed, and they will not be squeezed out.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the job remained the same, it didn't matter which counter they went to. Even those who were initially dissatisfied with their counters, like the sales clerks at the tobacco and alcohol counter, started to have their own ideas because they sold packaged cigarettes and alcohol, unlike other counters where they could sneak in some soy sauce and homemade liquor. There was really no money to be made, so they started to have their own ideas.
There are also people like Zhou Xiaofang who manage daily necessities. It seems like they make a good living, but I envy the person upstairs who manages fabrics and can bring home scraps of fabric from time to time. Her eyes softened a lot when she looked at Lin Qingqing: "Since Director Gao has hired people, there must be a plan. Xiao Lin, you continue to familiarize yourself with the products. If anyone comes over later, you can entertain them. If there are any unfamiliar ones, ask me."
Those who were initially eager to watch the drama unfold also chimed in, "That's right. If you don't understand something, just ask. We're colleagues, no need to be shy."
Lin Qingqing smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you all."
After things were discussed openly, Lin Qingqing's work became much smoother. This time, Zhou Xiaofang not only wasn't impatient, but she was also eager to teach her step by step.
After we were familiar with the products, someone came in. It was a teenager who was just there to observe.
At that time, bulk soy sauce and vinegar did not contain preservatives, and could only be consumed within five to seven days; after that, they were prone to growing mold. In addition, people were frugal with oil at that time, so the boy would only buy one or two ounces of soy sauce.
At that time, the supply and marketing cooperatives used fair scales, which were not as convenient as electronic scales, making it difficult to weigh even a small amount of soy sauce. So, although they knew that buying a small amount of soy sauce was a common occurrence, and even the sales clerks themselves wouldn't buy more, when they became the sellers, their attitude became impatient, and their words became somewhat unpleasant.
Because of his previous experience buying soy sauce, the boy sounded a little uneasy when he said he was buying a small amount of soy sauce, and he didn't even dare to look at the counter.
Unexpectedly, this time the sales clerk didn't speak rudely to him. Instead, she smiled and asked him for the soy sauce bottle. The boy was stunned for a moment, then quickly came to his senses and handed the soy sauce bottle to Lin Qingqing.
Lin Qingqing first weighed the soy sauce bottle, then poured in the soy sauce and weighed it. Because it was her first time pouring soy sauce, she couldn't get the amount right, so she adjusted it several times. During this time, the boy seemed even more nervous, glancing at her every now and then. Only when he saw that she didn't show any impatience did he gradually relax.
After weighing the soy sauce, Lin Qingqing gave the boy change and wrote a note in the notebook he had brought, then told him to leave.
After the boy left, Zhou Xiaofang lowered her voice and instructed Lin Qingqing: "Actually, you don't need to be so polite to people. The more polite you are, the more others will think you are easy to bully. I usually can't be bothered with these people who are just there for show!"
"After all, he's just a child," Lin Qingqing said with a light smile.
Despite saying that, she maintained a smiling service when serving the second, third, and all subsequent clients. Zhou Xiaofang initially tried to persuade Lin Qingqing, but later she became too lazy to care and only focused on whether Lin Qingqing had remembered the prices correctly and calculated the money accurately.
Zhou Xiaofang was also a little surprised after watching, because Lin Qingqing not only remembered the prices of all the products, but could also calculate the amount of money needed without using an abacus.
So when there were fewer people around, Zhou Xiaofang asked again, "How do you calculate money so quickly? You don't even need an abacus?"
"The main problem is that the people who came today didn't buy much," Lin Qingqing said with a groan.
Zhou Xiaofang thought back and realized that the people who came today didn't buy many things from their counter, maybe three or four items at most. But she was used to the abacus, and she couldn't do mental calculations in a short time. She advised Lin Qingqing, "Although you are accurate in mental calculations, I think it's better if you can use the abacus, so you don't make a mistake when you're in a hurry."
"To be honest, I don't know how to use an abacus," Lin Qingqing confessed honestly.
Zhou Xiaofang wasn't surprised. She didn't know how to use an abacus before joining the supply and marketing cooperative. She said, "Let me teach you how to use it."
Lin Qingqing immediately beamed with joy: "Thank you, Sister Zhou."
"Hey, we're colleagues, why are you being so polite with me?" Zhou Xiaofang said with a smile, picking up the abacus and reciting the formulas to Lin Qingqing as she did so. After one round, she asked, "Did you remember them?"
"More or less," Lin Qingqing said thoughtfully.
"Then you give it a try." Zhou Xiaofang pushed the abacus towards Lin Qingqing.
Lin Qingqing picked up the abacus and started working on it. Since she had only just memorized the formulas, she wasn't very fast, pausing occasionally to think. But regardless of her speed, she managed to finish the abacus work smoothly. Afterwards, Lin Qingqing asked, "Sister Zhou, how did I do?"
"It's alright," Zhou Xiaofang said with mixed feelings. She had spent a week memorizing the abacus before she could barely manage to type it out, but Lin Qingqing had memorized it in less than half an hour.
But then she thought it was a good thing. If Lin Qingqing learned it sooner, she might be able to switch to a counter herself. So she said, "Next time someone buys something, you can use the abacus to calculate the price. Get familiar with it first."
Lin Qingqing readily agreed: "Okay."
When other customers came to buy things, Lin Qingqing stopped doing mental calculations and used the abacus directly. Actually, she was faster and less accurate at mental calculations than using the abacus. But Lin Qingqing knew that she would inevitably need to use the abacus while working at the counter, and rather than being lazy now and then being scrambling later, she would rather honestly learn the skill now.
So she remained calm and patient, always refraining from using the abacus instead of mental calculation. By the time she finished get off work in the afternoon, she had become very proficient at using the abacus.
Author's Note: Second update
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