Qiao Qiusheng glanced to the side. Although it was Kong Xingwang who had spoken, he knew without even thinking about it who had prompted him. Who else could it have been except Deputy Factory Director Chen Jianming?
Chen Jianming had always disliked him. He thought Qiao Qiusheng was difficult to control and had repeatedly challenged his authority as a deputy factory director.
On top of that, Chen Jianming had always had a sense of superiority. He believed that because he had joined the factory when it was first established, his seniority naturally placed him above new employees like Qiao Qiusheng, who had only joined after the founding of the country. As a result, he often put on airs.
But Qiao Qiusheng had never indulged him. That was also how he had ended up on bad terms with the deputy director.
Qiao Qiusheng did not care, though. After all, the final decision in the factory was still made by Factory Director Wen. Chen Jianming was merely one of the five deputy directors.
But if they wanted to put a label on him and criticize him? Heh. He certainly was not going to sit there and take it.
Qiao Qiusheng stopped looking at them. He simply placed the list in his hand on the table and said, “Fine. Since Director Kong thinks that way, then there’s no need for an exam. As for taking on apprentices, I won’t do that either. Training apprentices takes quite a bit of time. With that time, I could study technical problems more deeply and solve a few more difficult technical issues. Once our technology improves, wouldn’t that help increase production at our steel factory? Isn’t that right, Director Kong?”
After saying that, Qiao Qiusheng was about to get up and leave.
As for the apprentices, someone else could train them!
As the factory’s only Level Eight master fitter, he had every right to be a little willful.
Hearing this, Factory Director Wen immediately reprimanded Kong Xingwang.
“What do you mean by ‘making such a big production’? Training skilled workers for the factory is one of the most important things we can do right now. The more talented workers we have, the better our steel factory will develop, and the more production will increase. Director Kong, you’ve been working in the workshop for so many years. How can you still not understand something so simple?”
Being reprimanded by the factory director in front of so many people made Kong Xingwang feel embarrassed. He was already regretting listening to Deputy Director Chen’s suggestion and stepping forward as the one to raise the objection.
But Factory Director Wen was not finished.
He turned to Qiao Qiusheng and said, “You don’t need to worry about what Director Kong said. How much production could possibly be delayed by holding an exam? If we followed that logic, then we might as well stop holding the workers’ recreational gatherings too.
“Just do as you suggested. Have the workers on the list take an exam. If one exam isn’t enough, hold two. Surely we can spare that little bit of time.”
Qiao Qiusheng had a good relationship with Factory Director Wen, so he was willing to give him face. He nodded calmly.
“I definitely have no problem with it. As long as Director Kong doesn’t think I’m delaying production. If he still feels that way, then I won’t make trouble for myself by taking on this thankless task. I’d get no credit for it and only end up being blamed. Why would I bother? If I don’t train apprentices, I can have an easier life anyway!”
Seeing the obvious displeasure in Factory Director Wen’s eyes, Kong Xingwang suppressed his frustration and forced a smile.
“I didn’t think it through just now, and I said the wrong thing. Of course there should be an exam. Master Qiao’s idea is very good!”
“What about everyone else?” Factory Director Wen looked at the others. “Let’s hear your opinions. If there are any problems, we can solve them here and now. That will save us from having to hold another meeting.”
With Kong Xingwang’s example right in front of them, the others naturally had no intention of objecting at that moment. They all nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, Factory Director Wen said, “Comrade Qiao Qiusheng is taking on apprentices as additional work. He’s contributing to our steel factory, so we must recognize that contribution. We are members of the working class, not the heartless capitalists of the past who exploited their fellow workers.
“So, from now on, Comrade Qiao Qiusheng will receive an additional thirty jin of grain coupons every month—fifteen jin of coarse grain and fifteen jin of fine grain. We can’t have Comrade Qiao Qiusheng doing all this work for nothing.”
Hearing this, everyone present had different thoughts.
Because Qiao Qiusheng was a Level Eight worker, his monthly salary was already higher than the factory director’s—126 yuan in total. On top of that, he occasionally did installation work, which earned him quite a bit in additional allowances.
And now he was getting another thirty jin of grain coupons.
It was hard for anyone not to feel envious or jealous.
Still, no matter what they were thinking inside, everyone naturally showed their agreement on the surface and nodded one after another.
Qiao Qiusheng was quite satisfied with the result.
“Thank you for your consideration, Director. I will definitely do my best to train outstanding workers for our steel factory. Everything is for the collective!”
Factory Director Wen was an honest and fair man, and he also respected skilled technical workers. Ever since he had come to the steel factory, he had taken particularly good care of Qiao Qiusheng.
Fortunately, Wen was the factory director. If Chen Jianming had been the one in charge, Qiao Qiusheng would rather have transferred to another workplace.
Once a worker reached the level of a Level Eight master, it was no longer the workplace choosing him. He was the one choosing the workplace.
With his skills, there would be a place for him wherever he went.
If state-owned factories did not offer relatively more freedom in everyday work, Qiao Qiusheng would have gone to one of the military-industrial organizations long ago. The career prospects there were much better.
The only problem was that management was much stricter. Whenever they began research on classified projects, workers had to enter closed management and could not frequently see their families.
Of course, if he could avoid leaving the steel factory, it was still better to stay.
After all, in those days, going anywhere required a letter of introduction, along with all kinds of paperwork and procedures. It was extremely troublesome.
By the time the short meeting ended, it was already nearly six o’clock.
Qiao Qiusheng was very satisfied with the outcome.
As a technical worker engaged in heavy physical labor, his original monthly grain quota was forty-five jin.
But that forty-five jin included coarse grains such as sorghum, sweet potatoes, and corn. It was not all fine grain.
So the family had always been short of fine grain and had often gone to the black market to barter and buy some.
Now that he would be receiving another thirty jin of grain coupons every month, there should finally be enough fine grain for the family to eat.
After leaving the factory director’s office, Qiao Qiusheng walked quickly. He wanted to get home as soon as possible and tell his Amei the good news.
But before going home, there was something else he needed to do.
At noon, he had promised to stop by the food store after work and buy some braised beef to take home.
He wondered if the shop was still open at this hour. And would there still be meat left to buy?
At that thought, Qiao Qiusheng quickened his pace even more.
He was already calculating how many jin he should buy if the shop was still open.
He had money with him, so buying three or four jin of meat would be no problem at all.
Starting last year, 1955, grain coupons, cooking-oil coupons, and cloth coupons had been introduced. Every month, each person received a fixed quota.
Qiao Qiusheng felt that this was only the beginning.
Who knew? Perhaps one day meat, eggs, pastries, and other foods would also require coupons.
So while these things were still not rationed and did not require coupons, they should enjoy them as much as they could.
If there was a chance to eat meat, they should eat it while they could.
Otherwise, once the opportunity was gone, it might not come again.
Everyone in the Qiao family agreed with this way of thinking.
In fact, they were probably the most generous household in the entire apartment building when it came to food.
Whenever they cooked at home instead of eating in the factory cafeteria, there was almost always meat on the table.
Naturally, the neighbors in the apartment building were extremely envious of the Qiao family.
The Qiaos had an incredibly comfortable life. No other family in the entire building lived as freely as they did.
But everyone also knew that this kind of life was not something they could simply envy and obtain.
The Qiao family had only five people, including their child, and three of those five people earned wages.
There were few people in the household but several wage earners.
Of course their life was comfortable!
Unlike the other families, which usually had two or three children to raise.
Families with four or five children were everywhere, not to mention the elderly who still had to be supported.
Naturally, their lives were harder than the Qiao family’s, which only had one child to raise. They had no choice but to plan every penny carefully.
But that was also because their wages were not high.
If they could be like Master Qiao and become a Level Eight worker, earning 126 yuan a month, they could easily support even five additional family members.
Because of this, families in the apartment building who had skilled workers pushed them desperately to study and improve their technical skills.
Becoming a Level Eight worker might be too much to hope for, but surely they could at least aim for Level Four or Level Five, right?
The Qiao family paid no attention to what outsiders thought.
They simply continued living their lives as usual.
And before they knew it, two years had passed.
It was now August 1958.
As Qiao Qiusheng had predicted, grain and cloth coupons had only been the beginning.
Starting with the Spring Festival of 1958, pork, beef, mutton, eggs, white sugar, pastries, and all kinds of other goods began requiring coupons for purchase.
There were also fixed monthly quotas based on the number of people in each household. Everyone had a limit on how much they could buy.
Life was completely different from what it had been two years earlier.
Fortunately, the Qiao family had high incomes and was not short of money.
Once they used up the coupons allocated to the family, they could still obtain some supplies through the black market.
So their life was not nearly as difficult as that of many other families.
At this point, Qiao Jia Jia had just celebrated her third birthday less than a month ago.
The family was now discussing the matter of sending her to kindergarten.
The steel factory had its own factory-run kindergarten, and the children of factory employees could attend for free. The parents only needed to pay a small amount for meals.
In other words, the factory was essentially paying to help its workers take care of their children.
The steel factory was also doing very well financially, so the facilities and conditions at its kindergarten were excellent. It was considered one of the better kindergartens in the entire provincial capital.
There was also a neighborhood kindergarten near the Qiao family’s home.
However, unlike the factory-run kindergarten, the neighborhood kindergarten charged tuition, and its facilities were somewhat inferior.
But it had one major advantage: it was extremely close to the Qiao family.
It only took about two minutes to walk there.
It was practically right outside their door, which made it incredibly convenient.
Both kindergartens had their own advantages, so the adults in the family hesitated for a while, unsure which one would be better.
Qiao Jia Jia herself did not care much.
Either kindergarten was fine with her!
After all, she had never attended kindergarten before.
After discussing it for quite some time, Qiao Zhufang finally said, “Listen to me. We absolutely have to send Jia Jia to the factory-run kindergarten.
“She’ll have to go to elementary school after kindergarten anyway, right? And she’ll definitely attend the steel factory’s workers’ children’s school.
“Most of the students there will have come up from the factory kindergarten. They’ll already have been playing together since kindergarten, so once they form their own little groups, they’ll probably exclude outsiders.
“If Jia Jia goes to the neighborhood kindergarten, what if she can’t make any friends when she starts elementary school and ends up being isolated and bullied?”
As soon as Qiao Heping heard his mother say this, he understood.
When he was young, he had been an outsider in the area and had initially been excluded by the local children from He Family Village.
People should not assume that six- or seven-year-old children were too young to form cliques.
Even very young children knew how to form their own little groups.
So he immediately agreed.
“Mom, I agree. It really is better for Jia Jia to attend our factory kindergarten. And the kindergarten isn’t far from our steel factory either. We can pick her up after work.”
Qiao Qiusheng and He Yingying had no objections either.
And just like that, the matter of which kindergarten Jia Jia would attend was settled.
“Tomorrow is Sunday,” Qiao Zhufang said. “Yingying, you and I will take Jia Jia to the department store and see if they have any new fabrics. We’ll buy a few yards and have a new outfit made for her.
“She’s going to kindergarten, which means she’s officially becoming a student. On her first day, she absolutely has to wear a brand-new outfit. It represents a new beginning.
“We also need to buy her a little shoulder bag to carry her books later. Oh, and we need to buy some notebooks and pencils too.
“Let me think. What else? We have to buy everything in one trip.”
Qiao Zhufang counted everything off on her fingers.
The whole family became extremely enthusiastic about Qiao Jia Jia starting kindergarten.
Come to think of it, Jia Jia was actually the first person in the family to attend school!
Although all the adults were literate, none of them had ever received a proper formal education.
Influenced by the atmosphere in the family, Qiao Jia Jia, who had originally not thought much of kindergarten, gradually began to feel nervous.
She knew perfectly well that there was nothing to be nervous about.
In her previous life, she had even gone abroad to study. What was kindergarten compared with that?
She understood the logic.
But emotions were not something she could simply control.
Especially when the entire family was busy making preparations for her first day of kindergarten.
And on the final Sunday before Qiao Jia Jia started kindergarten, Qiao Heping and He Yingying planned to take her to He Family Village for the day.
They had promised earlier to bring her there to pick fruit from the mountains.
Besides, He Yingying had not returned to her parents’ home for several months, so it was a good opportunity to visit her family.
They decided to leave right away.
The couple took their daughter and rode their bicycles out at eight in the morning.
They arrived at He Family Village before nine.
But before they even had time to sit down and catch their breath, they were hit with some shocking news.
“What? Stock up on grain? Why do we need to stock up on grain? Where did you hear this news?”
He Yingying fired off one question after another.