Chapter 61, Household Registration Booklet
The steel mill is indeed a large enterprise; its main gate is an old-fashioned archway with two stone lions in front, making it look very impressive.
The gate was inside the archway, but since it was past working hours, the gate was closed, leaving only the sidewalk next to the guard post open. Outside the guard post stood a middle-aged security guard in a green military uniform, with several people around him asking for directions. Lin Qingqing walked over and heard the guard point inside and say, "Go in and turn left straight ahead, then turn right at the end. The exam location is in the cafeteria."
The person who asked for directions quickly thanked him, and Lin Qingqing followed everyone inside.
Along the way, Lin Qingqing observed the people taking the exam. Most of them were teenagers, with only a few older ones, but they were all in their early twenties. Perhaps because of the competition, Lin Qingqing noticed that the people on the street paid attention to those around them, but at the same time, they were also very wary.
Following the directions given by the security guard, Lin Qingqing soon saw the cafeteria.
The steel mill is a large factory with thousands of employees, and its canteen is larger than that of ordinary companies, spanning two floors. However, there weren't many people taking the exam today, so only the first floor was used as the examination room.
Lin Qingqing was in number 34. After she went in, she quickly found her seat and sat down.
The steel mill canteen had eight-person tables, with three people sitting at each table. Lin Qingqing was in the middle. After sitting down, Lin Qingqing glanced at the person to her left, a young man in his early twenties wearing glasses and looking very honest. To her right was a girl of about seventeen or eighteen, her face still chubby from the baby fat. She kept her head down and looked reserved after sitting down.
While Lin Qingqing was observing others, the test papers were handed out one after another.
At this time, recruitment exams usually test Chinese, mathematics, and politics, but apart from politics being mandatory, the other exam contents may be adjusted. For example, today's first exam did not test mathematics and Chinese, but rather content closely related to publicity work. One question was about a steel plant preparing an event, and the candidates were asked to write down the event process and how to motivate the employees. There were also questions about writing publicity slogans. In short, the content was more practical.
The work of the Women's Federation may seem unrelated to the propaganda department of the factory committee, but in fact the two have many similarities.
In addition to addressing the difficulties faced by women, the Women's Federation also promotes the concept of gender equality and teaches women how to protect their rights. For example, Lin Qingqing's storytelling sessions were a way to mobilize everyone's enthusiasm for this cause.
Therefore, Lin Qingqing did the test paper with ease and finished all the questions in half an hour.
After finishing the questions, Lin Qingqing glanced at the exam paper, and then...
Then I put down my pen and waited for the exam to end.
Because there weren't many questions, the exam lasted only one hour. The papers were collected promptly at 10:00 AM, with a half-hour break in between. The political exam papers were distributed at 10:30 AM.
At that time, everyone had a copy of Mao's quotations and would quote them to anyone they met. If someone was biting their nails while working on the previous test, everyone would do this test very well.
By 11 o'clock, people in the cafeteria gradually stopped writing.
In her past life, Lin Qingqing would always hand in her paper early after finishing and checking it, but today, after two consecutive exams, no one handed in their paper early, so she sat quietly in her seat.
Lin Qingqing didn't get up until all the exam papers were collected, but instead of following the crowd out of the cafeteria, she went to the window and asked the worker inside, "Hello, I'm here today to take the job recruitment exam. Because I live quite far away, I'm worried about getting carsick and I want to eat before going back. Can I buy two steamed buns with my food coupons?"
Lin Qingqing couldn't eat too much while traveling, but she also couldn't go hungry, otherwise she would easily get carsick and feel uncomfortable for half a day. In order to be in good condition for the exam, she ate only half a meal before leaving home in the morning, and now she was hungry. The journey back from the steel mill would take one and a half to two hours, and both the bus and shuttle bus had a strong smell; she was afraid she would throw up on the way back.
Moreover, if she went to catch the bus at this time, there would probably only be leftovers left in the staff canteen when she got back to the residential compound, so Lin Qingqing wanted to buy two steamed buns to fill her stomach.
The clerk at the window was quite nice, but the result was disappointing: "Our canteen only serves employees of our unit; you can't use these outside food coupons."
Helpless, Lin Qingqing had no choice but to take back her food coupons. She thought about going out to see if there was a state-run restaurant, and if not, she would go to a restaurant to buy something to eat before going back.
But just as she withdrew her hand, a girl walked up to her and handed a food coupon to the master: "Master, she is my friend, can I use my food coupon to buy it for her?"
Lin Qingqing looked over in surprise and saw that the other person was wearing a polyester shirt, with his hair tied into a thick, shiny black braid. He looked about seventeen or eighteen years old and was one of the staff members who had been supervising the exam earlier.
Lin Qingqing thought for a moment and realized that she didn't know the other person.
The chef knew the two probably didn't know each other, but it was only two steamed buns, so he agreed and wrapped two steamed buns in oil paper and handed them to Lin Qingqing.
Lin Qingqing quickly took the steamed bun and chased after the girl who had paid for the money and ticket and left, calling out, "Comrade."
Only after leaving the cafeteria did the young woman stop and look at Lin Qingqing, asking, "Is there anything else?"
Lin Qingqing quickly took out city-wide grain coupons and money from her pocket and handed them to the young woman, saying, "Thank you for earlier, this is the money and coupons for buying steamed buns."
"You have too much money." The young woman refused to accept it, saying, "Consider this steamed bun my treat."
“We didn’t know each other before, so if you don’t accept it, I can’t really take this steamed bun.” Lin Qingqing said, trying to stuff the steamed bun into the young woman’s hand.
The young woman had no choice but to say, "Fine, I'll take the money. I don't have any change. Come back to the office with me, and I'll borrow some change for you."
"It's not much more than a few cents," Lin Qingqing said. She felt that the young woman had helped her, so she didn't want to ask someone to borrow from her colleague for just a few cents.
“If you don’t want change, I can’t take your money,” the young woman insisted.
Lin Qingqing was also somewhat helpless, and said, "Then I'll trouble you."
"No trouble at all," the young woman said readily, leading Lin Qingqing toward the office.
The young woman worked in the logistics department; her office was in the first building you saw when you entered the steel plant. Not only the logistics department, but also other factory departments like the publicity department, as well as the offices of the labor union and the women's federation, were all located in this building.
The logistics department was right next to the propaganda department. As Lin Qingqing passed by, she peeked through the half-open door, only to see a large crowd inside, but couldn't make out anything. When she arrived at the logistics department office, the young woman told Lin Qingqing to wait outside while she went in to borrow money.
She first asked the young woman sitting at the desk on the left side of the office. The woman was wearing a blue sleeveless dress, had long hair, and looked quite elegant. She was also young, around twenty-five or twenty-six years old.
Hearing that the young woman wanted to borrow money, she looked up at Lin Qingqing waiting outside the door and asked, "Didn't you buy her steamed buns? Why do you still want to give her money?" She thought to herself that this woman was really pushing her luck.
The young woman immediately realized she had misunderstood and explained, "She gave me the money, but it was a few cents too much. It's just two steamed buns; I can't possibly keep a few cents from her. Sister Qiao, do you have any change? I'll take it and return it to her."
Hearing this, Qiao Yu's expression softened slightly. She took out her handbag from the drawer, counted out three cents of rolled-up money, and handed it to the young woman.
The young woman took the money and gave it to Lin Qingqing, then told her how to get out. She only returned to her office after everyone had left. As soon as she entered, she heard Qiao Yu ask, "They're gone?"
"Yes, they've already left."
"You're so kind-hearted. She's a complete stranger to you, yet you still buy her food."
"I was just helping out, and..."
"I already told her, didn't she return the money to me?" the young woman said, glancing towards the door before lowering her voice. "Besides, I don't just help anyone. I stood next to her while she was doing her test and watched her answer for a while; she did quite well. Maybe we could become colleagues."
Qiao Yu scoffed, "I think those exam papers shouldn't have been sent to the next grading office; you should have come instead."
The young woman thought Qiao Yu didn't believe her, so she argued, "I'm serious, there was a big question on the test paper that the propaganda department gave us..." As she spoke, she told Qiao Yu about the answers Lin Qingqing had written for the steel mill's event, and then asked, "If you expand on her answers, they could be used as a template for the event."
Qiao Yu initially didn't think Lin Qingqing could write such an impressive answer, but after hearing the rest, she had to admit that this person was quite capable.
But Qiao Yu wasn't as naive as a young girl, and said, "There might be people who write better than her."
The young woman shook her head: "I think it's difficult."
She had read the entire paper. Many people didn't even fill their papers completely. Even those who did finish their papers rarely displayed the clear logic and distinct priorities that Lin Qingqing did.
The young woman was full of confidence in Lin Qingqing, thinking she would definitely get into the publicity department. However, when the publicity department finished grading the test papers and sent them to the personnel department for score entry, Lin Qingqing's test paper did not even pass the passing score. She was stunned.
The young woman then filled in a few more test papers and found that many papers with only two or three lines of writing on major questions, and no clear focus, still passed the exam. She couldn't help but feel strange. She picked up Lin Qingqing's test paper and got up to ask their department head, but Qiao Yu stopped her just as she stood up.
"Sister Qiao?" The young woman turned around in confusion.
Qiao Yu called her to her side and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
The young woman handed Lin Qingqing's exam paper to Qiao Yu, bent down and explained the situation to her, whispering, "This grading is so irregular."
Qiao Yu glanced at the young woman and said, "The one grading the papers is the director of the publicity department."
The young woman lowered her head, thinking that even the head of the publicity department wouldn't grade exams so carelessly. Qiao Yu noticed her thoughts and pulled her aside, saying, "Come with me."
The two left the office together and walked around to a spacious area on the side of the office building. The man asked, "Do you want to talk to the director about this?"
“Of course we have to explain the situation to the director. You saw it yourself; even papers with answers that weren't even on the important points got 60 or 70 points, but she only got 55. That's completely unreasonable!” The young woman said, seeing Qiao Yu's disapproving expression. “Do you think she didn't answer well?”
She answered
"Of course it's good to get a high score," Qiao Yu said helplessly. "She answered too well, that's why her score is so low."
The young woman was taken aback: "Why?"
"Have you finished recording your scores?" Qiao Yu asked, seemingly unrelated.
"It's all done."
What was the highest score?
"Eighty-two." The young woman said unwillingly, "This test paper is not as well answered as Comrade Lin Qingqing's."
"I've finished logging in too, and my highest score is ninety-six."
The young woman was surprised by the high score; in her two years at the steel mill, few clerical staff had scored above 90 on the recruitment exam. But after her initial surprise came a question: "What does this have to do with Comrade Lin's questionable score?"
"I don't think his answer was as good as Comrade Lin's."
"How could he get such a high score?" the young woman asked, even more puzzled. "Then why did Comrade Lin get such a low score?"
Qiao Yu said, "The highest scorer is the nephew of the workshop director."
The young woman's eyes widened. Qiao Yu patted her on the shoulder and said, "Now you understand why Comrade Lin's score was so low, right?"
Although the head of the publicity department was grading the papers, the general manager would review the top ten papers, so Lin Qingqing's paper was destined not to be in the top ten. However, there had been instances in the past where, due to a small number of test takers, the general manager had asked him to review papers that passed the minimum score. To avoid this risk, Lin Qingqing's score was below the passing mark.
Recalling Qiao Yu's attitude when she talked about the exam paper earlier, the young woman suddenly realized: "Didn't you already guess this?"
“I know the nephew of the workshop director of Workshop One,” Qiao Yu said tactfully.
Everyone says recruitment exams are for fairness and impartiality, but what true fairness and impartiality exists in this world? All their hard work studying and taking exams is less effective than a single word from someone else's father—Qiao Yu had long seen through that.
Qiao Yu patted the young woman on the shoulder and said, "You're still young, you don't understand yet. You'll understand in a few years."
After speaking, Qiao Yu returned to her office and handed the graded booklet and exam papers to their director. The young woman didn't return until almost the end of the workday, when she finally walked into the office with red eyes. Back at her workstation, she picked up Lin Qingqing's exam paper…
Qiao Yu had been watching her since she entered the room. She noticed Qiao Yu's brow furrow as Qiao Yu picked up the test paper and tugged at her sleeve as Qiao Yu passed by. But the young woman seemed oblivious and walked straight to the director's desk, saying, "Director Cao, I have something I'd like to discuss with you."
...
Lin Qingqing was completely unaware of what had happened in the steel mill's logistics department.
After the exam, she stopped thinking about it and just waited.
She'll decide where to work after the results are out. Besides, she has something more important to do right now—get the results of her household registration transfer.
The results were actually released on Tuesday, but Lin Qingqing had something come up and was delayed, so she didn't go to the police station until Wednesday morning.
It was quite a coincidence that she bumped into Li Chunying on the bus. Intrigued, she started talking to Li Chunying about it. Li Chunying laughed and said, "Doesn't this just prove we're destined to be together?"
Lin Qingqing didn't really believe in fate, but this was just too much of a coincidence, so she had to nod and say, "Thinking about it, it really is true."
"How did your exam go?" Li Chunying remembered that Lin Qingqing had taken the last bus to the steel mill for an exam.
"I feel good about it, but whether it will work out or not depends on the notification."
"It's good that you have confidence." Li Chunying felt that it didn't matter if Lin Qingqing didn't pass the exam. Getting a job at the supply and marketing cooperative was a good thing, as it was a sought-after job. She then asked Lin Qingqing what she was going to do on this trip.
"When I transferred my household registration, the police officer in charge of household registration at the local police station told me to go and pick up the results today."
“Oh, this is great news,” Li Chunying said. “The Revolutionary Committee is right next to the police station. Now that you’ve got your new household registration book, you can go to the Revolutionary Committee to pick up your grain and coal ration certificates. You have a coal stove at home now, right?”
"I borrowed the stove from Xie Wei, a comrade-in-arms."
Li Chunying said, "Then it's better to hurry up and get your coal ration book and buy your own. Do you know where to buy honeycomb briquettes?"
"I haven't asked yet. I plan to ask around after I buy the stove," Lin Qingqing said.
Li Chunying nodded and then told her the location: "If you want to buy honeycomb briquettes, come to me. I'll have someone ride a tricycle to bring them back for you, so you don't have to pick them out yourself."
"Thank you very much," Lin Qingqing said with a smile.
“We’re destined to meet.” Unlike Lin Qingqing, who is an atheist, Li Chunying believes in fate, and she does find Lin Qingqing agreeable. She’s happy to help with anything that requires only a few words.
The household registration department at the police station was still nearly empty, so there was no need to queue. Lin Qingqing quickly received her new household registration booklet. After leaving the police station, she went to the Revolutionary Committee, just as Li Chunying had suggested, to collect her grain and coal ration booklets.
There were few people at the police station, but many at the Revolutionary Committee office. Lin Qingqing waited quite a while before receiving her grain and coal ration book.
The grain ration book was the same size as the coal ration book, just one red and the other blue. The cover was laminated and had the words "Jinshi Urban Residents' Grain Supply Certificate" written on it. Inside were pages of forms, and you had to register every time you bought grain. The grain ration book was renewed annually; once it was used up this year, you had to come to the Revolutionary Committee to renew it next year. If it was lost, you had to come back to get a replacement.
Coal itself is blue, and the cover says...
The "Jinshi Resident Coal Purchase Ticket" allows residents to buy not only a monthly ration of coal but also a coal stove.
Looking at the two small notebooks in her hands, Lin Qingqing felt relieved. She thanked the staff and turned to walk out.
As I went outside, I ran into Director Chen from the family resettlement office. Seeing the booklet in her hand, Director Chen asked, "Has your household registration been transferred?"
"Yes, it's turned around," Lin Qingqing replied.
After listening, Director Chen nodded and walked out with Lin Qingqing, saying as they walked, "Director Gao from the supply and marketing cooperative replied to me, saying that he is very satisfied with you. Are you planning to work there?"
"I want to wait for the steel mill's results before making a decision," Lin Qingqing said.
Director Chen was somewhat surprised: "You still want to go to the steel mill?" The family resettlement office doesn't just arrange jobs for military dependents and that's it; they also have to keep track of how the family members are doing at their workplaces. So she had just gone to the Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative yesterday to ask Director Gao about the interview. She learned that Director Gao was very satisfied with her and had offered her very generous terms.
"I don't actually have a particular preference, but since I've already registered, I want to wait for the results before making a decision," Lin Qingqing said.
Knowing he wouldn't get anything out of her, Director Chen stopped asking.
As Lin Qingqing walked out of the Revolutionary Committee building, she smiled and said goodbye to Director Chen before taking a ride home to her family compound. This time she didn't run into Li Chunying; the driver and ticket seller were both strangers. Lin Qingqing bought a ticket and found a seat at random.
After arriving at the family compound, Lin Qingqing didn't rush back. Instead, she went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy a coal stove.
The supply and marketing cooperative sold small stoves, less than half a person's height, which were easy to carry. Lin Qingqing took the coal book to register the stoves and then carried them back home.
When she got back, she saw Yang Li sitting in the yard, but after what had happened, Yang Li hadn't spoken to Lin Qingqing again, so she turned her head away when she saw her. Lin Qingqing didn't mind, put the coal stove by the door, went inside to get straw, matches, and honeycomb briquettes to light the stove.
She had been in this world for half a year and was already quite skilled at lighting the stove. She got the coal stove burning without much trouble, and once the smoke subsided, she carried it into the kitchen. Then she emptied the remaining coal ash from the borrowed stove, planning to return it to Shen Yufen when she returned.
...
When Xie Wei came home that evening, he saw that the coal stove had been replaced with a new one and asked, "Did you get your household registration processed?"
"Mmm." Lin Qingqing hummed in agreement. She had just finished cooking the dishes, and after wiping her hands on her apron, she went inside to show Xie Wei the household registration book, grain ration book, and coal ration book she had just obtained. "These were all just processed today."
Xie Wei opened the notebook one by one, a smile spreading across his face: "That will make things much easier from now on."
"Yes." Lin Qingqing said, taking the three notebooks and putting them in the cabinet. She went back to the kitchen to bring out the food and said to Lin Qingqing, "I ran into Li Chunying today... she's the ticket seller we met on our first day. She's the family member of Battalion Commander Zhao from the 21st Regiment. She said if I wanted to buy honeycomb briquettes, I should contact her. She'll find someone to bring the briquettes back for me on a tricycle, but I'm wondering if that would be too much trouble for them?"
“I’ve heard that the wife of Deputy Battalion Commander Li in Building 27 is in charge of purchasing at the state-run restaurant. She has a tricycle, and many people in the family compound ask her for help hauling coal.” Xie Wei said as he came out of the bathroom, wiping his hands. “Just prepare half a jin of rice and flour for her.”
"Isn't this speculation and profiteering?" Lin Qingqing asked with some concern.
“It’s not that serious,” Xie Wei said. “If anyone asks, just say you asked her for help. As for the food, his family has a lot of people and they don’t have enough to eat, so the neighbors just helped out.”
This is still skirting the law, but since there's no money involved and it's done under the guise of helping, the authorities won't investigate unless the public complains. Although Lin Qingqing just wants to live peacefully for the next few years, some people have no choice, like this Deputy Battalion Commander Li's wife. If it weren't for the large number of people in her family and the lack of food, she might not have been willing to take the risk of doing this.
Lin Qingqing thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll ask Comrade Li Chunying tomorrow."
Xie Wei nodded and asked about Lin Qingqing's exam.
"I think it's alright, but the outcome is not something I can control," Lin Qingqing said as she sat down at the table and picked up her chopsticks. "Let's do our best and leave the rest to fate."
Despite saying that, Lin Qingqing was still quite confident in herself, so when she went to the family resettlement office on Friday to get her exam results, she was a little stunned.
There were only about two hundred people taking the exam in total. Lin Qingqing ranked 156th. She did well in politics, but only scored 55 points on the propaganda-related test!
If Lin Qingqing felt her performance was just average after finishing the test, she probably wouldn't have said anything. But she felt she had done quite well. Even if the grading was strict, and she didn't get a high score of ten, surely she shouldn't have scored fifty-five?
Lin Qingqing couldn't believe these were her exam results and asked, "Director Chen, is there some mistake here?"
Director Chen initially couldn't believe it either, because she and Gao Aiqin were old acquaintances and she knew Gao Aiqin had a keen eye for people. Director Chen felt that Gao Aiqin was willing to offer such good conditions to keep Lin Qingqing, which must be because Lin Qingqing was truly capable.
So, when Lin Qingqing insisted on waiting for the steel mill's results, she felt sorry for Gao Aiqin, thinking she would most likely get a job there. But when the results came out, Lin Qingqing ranked around 150th or 160th.
Therefore, Director Chen specifically spoke with the steel plant's logistics director, who told him that he had also approached the publicity director about this exam paper, but the publicity director insisted on the original score and even mocked him for sending just anyone to the publicity department. The two even went to the steel plant's general manager, who, after learning about Lin Qingqing's situation, tacitly approved the publicity director's grading.
Ultimately, it was Lin Qingqing's educational background that held her back.
"The test paper was graded personally by the director of the steel mill's publicity department, and their general manager has also reviewed it. This is the score." Director Chen looked at Lin Qingqing's gradually calming expression and couldn't help but advise her, "Listen to me, when it comes to work, the size of the company is secondary. What matters is whether your leader appreciates you and is willing to give you opportunities. Director Gao of the supply and marketing cooperative is good at recognizing and utilizing talent; it would be good for you to go there."
Lin Qingqing understood what she meant, smiled and said, "I understand, thank you, Director Chen."
Hearing her say that, Director Chen breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that you've come to your senses. So you've decided to go to the Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative?"
Lin Qingqing didn't nod, but said, "I'll go see Director Gao tomorrow."
But in Director Chen's view, this meant that it was confirmed. As soon as Lin Qingqing left, he noted "Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative Daily Necessities Store" in the destination column of her file.
Author's Note: First update
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