Yu Heping found a spot by the flower bed downstairs of the office building and sat there, waiting for Baolan and Dingqing.
The factory clinic was right next to the canteen. As they walked, Xiao He introduced herself, “My name is He Aihua. I’m a few years older than you, so just call me Sister He. I work in the Personnel Department—things like attendance and leave requests will come to me.”
Her warm personality immediately made Baolan and Dingqing feel at ease. She looked only a little over twenty, so they called her “Sister Xiao He.”
“It’s good you came this afternoon to handle onboarding. This morning was packed—I didn’t even have time to guide people through their medical exams. They all had to find their way themselves.”
He Aihua pointed things out as they walked, explaining the layout of the factory:
“North of the canteen is the bathhouse, and further north are the dormitory buildings. There are four dorms now—Buildings 1 and 2 are for female workers, and Buildings 3 and 4 are for male workers.”
“Our factory mainly produces canned pork and canned oranges. To the west of the office building are the meat canning workshop, the packaging workshop, and the finished goods warehouse. To the left of the bike shed is the orange canning workshop—its packaging and storage areas are right next to the production line as well.”
“The far western side has the coal yard, water treatment station, power distribution room, and power station. To the north are several raw material warehouses. After you finish your paperwork, you can look around—but don’t enter any locked areas.”
Baolan and Dingqing nodded obediently.
Baolan asked, “Sister Xiao He, what do they check in the medical exam?”
“They test vision, color perception, sense of smell, taste, and hearing, plus a basic physical exam to see if there are any obvious issues with your limbs or torso. Don’t worry—you’re both young, you’ll be fine.”
They soon arrived at the clinic. After He Aihua handed them over to the staff, the two girls were led in for their examinations.
It didn’t take long—they both passed with no issues.
When they came out, He Aihua was still waiting outside. Baolan felt they had truly come to the right place—the factory officials were so kind to workers like them.
On the way back, Xiao He mentioned that wages would be distributed next Monday.
Wages!
“But… we just started, didn’t we?” Baolan and Dingqing exchanged glances, their question sounding unmistakably naive.
“The factory pays wages on the 5th of each month. If it falls on a rest day, it’s paid a day earlier. It was supposed to be today, but since new employees are starting today, it’s been moved to next Monday,” He Aihua explained casually.
Heavens—getting paid without even working yet!
Baolan’s eyes lit up with excitement. She grabbed Dingqing’s hand and shook it eagerly. Their faces practically spelled out ‘we came to the right place.’
Dingqing leaned forward and asked, “Sister Xiao He, how much will we earn?”
Baolan looked at her eagerly as well.
After all—who wouldn’t care about wages?
He Aihua smiled knowingly. “Right now, our wages are calculated using a wage-point system.”
“Wage points?”
Seeing their curious, bright eyes, He Aihua softened and patiently explained:
“Well… let me put it this way. A few years ago, prices were unstable. The cost of rice and flour could change daily. If wages were fixed, you might end up unable to afford enough food if prices rose too high, right?”
Although Baolan and Dingqing had never lived in the city, they had experienced times before Liberation when grain prices fluctuated wildly. Even before 1953, they had heard about bandits and local bullies in the county driving up prices.
They immediately understood.
Both nodded in unison, like two skinny, fluffy little kittens.
He Aihua looked at them fondly and continued:
“So the state decided to use wage points to calculate pay. One wage point corresponds to five essential goods.”
“Here, that means: 0.8 pound of grain, 0.2 chi of white cloth, 0.05 pound of vegetable oil, 0.02 pound of salt, and 2 pounds of coal. Food, clothing, fuel—everything needed for daily life. Thoughtful, right?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Very thoughtful!”
Baolan and Dingqing chimed in enthusiastically—they truly agreed.
“When the prices of these goods go up, the value of a wage point increases. When prices drop, the value decreases accordingly. The value is calculated and published by banks and the finance bureau—very fair.”
“In the past couple of years, prices have been relatively stable. Here, one wage point is worth about 0.22 yuan.”
“So how many wage points does each person get per month? That depends on rank. There are seventeen grades, ranging from 85 to 470 points. As new apprentices, you’ll receive 85 points.”
Baolan quickly did the math: 85 × 0.22…
“18 yuan and 7 jiao!”
He Aihua looked at her in surprise. “That’s right—18 yuan and 7 jiao. You calculated that quickly.” She remembered from Baolan’s registration form that she had only graduated from a literacy class, not even primary school.
Yet her mental math was so fast.
Baolan smiled shyly.
Dingqing hugged her arm proudly. “Baolan is really smart.”
Baolan’s cheeks flushed. “I’m just okay at arithmetic. Dingqing learned about herbal medicine from her mother—she can recognize herbs and is good at treating colds.”
“I didn’t expect both of you to have your own strengths,” He Aihua said with a grin as they praised each other. Casually, she added, “Baolan could study accounting in the future. As for Dingqing, she could attend barefoot doctor training and work here at the clinic.”
It was just an offhand remark, but it stirred something in Baolan’s heart.
Accounting? Clinic worker?
As they approached the office building, Baolan pushed the thought aside for now.
Yu Heping, still sitting by the flower bed, asked eagerly, “No problems with the medical exam, right?”
Dingqing replied, “Don’t worry, Dad—everything’s fine.”
Yu Heping let out a sigh of relief. That was good. He hadn’t expected a medical exam for employment and had worried the girls might fail at this step.
Back at the office, with their medical results cleared, Ding Jianguo began processing their paperwork—running between the production department and the administrative office for stamps. After more than half an hour, their household registrations were transferred to the factory’s collective registry. They officially became city residents, and their onboarding was complete.
Once everything was done, they were issued factory ID badges and followed He Aihua to the dormitory.
Downstairs, Yu Heping learned they were heading to the dorm and quickly went to the gatehouse to retrieve their luggage.
He carried Baolan’s sack for her, which made her feel a bit embarrassed.
They were assigned Room 302 on the third floor of Building 1.
“Each room houses six people. You’re the first two to move into 302, so you can pick good beds,” He Aihua told them.
Aside from her, the three of them all looked like country bumpkins visiting a grand estate for the first time.
The dormitory building had three floors, with a staircase in the middle. Each floor had eight rooms, and there were shared toilets at both ends of the corridor.
The room’s walls were freshly whitewashed. Inside were three single beds on each side, a table, and a large cabinet with six compartments.
Baolan and Dingqing chose the two beds by the window and claimed two middle compartments in the cabinet.
Seeing them pick the cabinet, Yu Heping said, “You should buy two locks for it. Otherwise, others might want those middle compartments and move your things out.”
Baolan had originally been reluctant to spend money on locks, but remembering they would receive wages the day after tomorrow, she immediately decided to buy them.
After seeing that everything was arranged, He Aihua handed them each a key to Room 302.
“There’s only one key each—if you lose it, your pay will be docked.”
The two quickly tucked their keys away safely.