“What are you doing? What are you doing? Have you finished filling out the forms yet? When I call your name, come with me!” At that moment, the young woman returned and called out several names from the notebook. Everyone listened carefully, afraid of missing their own name.
When He Qiutang heard her name, she quickly stood up, grabbed her small bag, and followed along. Thank goodness—her sixth sense had just warned her that Cui Meili was a little dangerous. Luckily, she got called away.
There were six people in total, both men and women, all assigned as quality inspectors. It seemed everyone for this position had arrived and finished their forms, so the department staff came to collect them. As she walked out the door, He Qiutang also heard a cheerful girl say to Cui Meili, “Comrade, I’ll lend you my pen.”
He Qiutang didn’t pay much attention to this little incident. Instead, she obediently followed the department officer toward their workplace.
On the first day of work, even workers who were children of factory employees acted cautiously in front of the cadres, let alone newcomers like them who knew absolutely nothing.
When they arrived at the office, someone specifically explained what their position involved and how the work should be done.
“You all are educated and good students, so this job isn’t just about physical labor. You must also take responsibility for every product that comes off the production line. Only then can you be worthy of the working people who buy and use these goods.”
The middle-aged leader spoke eloquently at the front. By the end, his speech had risen to an almost inspirational level, leaving all the new employees filled with enthusiasm. They were determined to inspect the best products for the people and never allow defective goods to enter the market.
Although the daily chemical factory looked large, the variety of products it manufactured was relatively limited. Its main products were soap, laundry detergent, and toothpaste, with only a few production lines dedicated to shampoo paste and hand cream.
Their work was generally divided into three categories. The first was inspecting and approving raw materials, the second was supervising and monitoring the production process, and the third was inspecting the final products.
This time, six new employees had been recruited, with two people assigned to each category. He Qiutang was assigned to the third category—final product inspection. The person paired with her was a round-faced girl with a bright smile.
The morning training session ended quickly. After lunch, they would follow their respective mentors to different work stations.
“My name’s Lin Yuan. What’s yours?” the round-faced girl asked, scooting closer to He Qiutang.
“My name is He Qiutang.”
Since they were girls around the same age, they naturally had plenty to talk about. Very quickly, He Qiutang learned that Lin Yuan was also a factory worker’s child. The man who had been speaking earlier was her uncle. Her father was the deputy director of Workshop No. 2, and her mother was the factory accountant.
In Lin Yuan’s memory, her own family, her uncle’s family, and even her eldest aunt’s relatives all worked in the factory. Her family’s plans for her were very simple: get a job at the factory, find a suitable young man with a good appearance, age, and family background, get married, and, under the dual-worker household policy, maybe even apply for a house.
It could be said that Lin Yuan’s entire future life would revolve around this chemical factory. In her mind, not only herself, but perhaps even her children would continue this pattern for generations.
Naturally, she wanted to get to know her future coworker well.
When she learned about He Qiutang’s family background, she let out an astonished gasp.
“So your mom works at the food factory, your older sister works at the textile factory, your older brother works for the railway department, and you work at the chemical factory? Wow, every member of your family works in a different unit. That’s amazing!”
Her own family had influence within the chemical factory, but outside of it, they had very few connections. Before she started work, her uncle had specifically told her that the girl paired with her came from a good family background and that she should make an effort to build a good relationship with her.
“Making friends is also a skill,” her uncle had said. “If someone’s status is too high, we can’t reach them. If it’s too low, we shouldn’t get too close either. It’s not about looking down on poor people. The main thing is that even friendship needs a sense of matching backgrounds. Otherwise, when you go out together, you might be able to afford braised pork while the other person can’t even afford steamed buns. How could you enjoy yourselves together? If you keep hanging out like that, the other person will always feel pressured.”
Lin Yuan felt her uncle’s words made sense. If she were in that situation herself, she probably wouldn’t even be able to enjoy eating.
She genuinely wanted to build a good relationship with He Qiutang, so she began chatting about the factory’s internal affairs, starting with Chen Xiaoqing from that morning.
He Qiutang naturally accepted her goodwill and played along as an attentive listener.
Both Chen Xiaoqing and Meng Minsheng were factory workers’ children, but Chen Xiaoqing in particular was quite famous in the factory residential compound.
“Her parents are both technical experts at the factory. Several of our production line formulas were developed by Uncle Chen and his wife. Chen Xiaoqing is also an only child, so most people in the compound give her family face. That’s why she can be a bit domineering, and her temper isn’t very good. But I can guarantee that she’s not a bad person at heart. She’s actually pretty nice.”
Though making friends with her could be exhausting. Chen Xiaoqing had a classic spoiled-young-lady personality and needed people to indulge her. On top of that, she was beautiful and dressed well, so many girls in the compound had envied her over the years.
There was another reason too—becoming Chen Xiaoqing’s friend practically meant making enemies of most of the other boys and girls in the compound. After considering everything, Lin Yuan preferred making friends outside her own residential compound instead. Ironically, that made everyone call her the “nice girl,” which she found rather amusing.
The two girls chatted all the way to the cafeteria.
Since it was He Qiutang’s first day at work, she had already agreed with Zhao Huaian that they wouldn’t meet for lunch. Zhao Huaian also felt that the first day was a good opportunity for her to make some new friends.
“How about we eat together and share dishes? If two people order two dishes, we can swap flavors.”
Lin Yuan also wanted to use this opportunity to test her new friend—was she someone who could happily eat meat together, or someone who could only afford steamed buns? Of course, even among people who could afford meat, some would still carefully count who ate more.