“Your mother will wait outside. Go on in.”
Ma Laihua stood nervously by the entrance.
She had always been loud, straightforward, and fearless.
Truthfully, she wanted very much to accompany her daughter inside.
But she worried that her presence might affect Jiang Lai’s interview, so she remained rooted outside, unable to bring herself to step in.
Jiang Lai wasn’t bothered in the slightest.
She nodded.
“I’ll come find you as soon as it’s over.”
Watching Ma Laihua walk over to the sunny spot by the wall, Jiang Lai turned and entered the guesthouse.
The guesthouse was a modest two-story building.
The first floor consisted of a lobby with a staircase leading to the second floor directly ahead. Above the stairs hung a bright red slogan. Beneath the staircase was a small side room with a sign reading Boiling Water Room.
On the right side was another room with a small service window, which appeared to be the reception office.
The lobby was empty.
Instinctively, Jiang Lai walked toward the service window.
Before she could speak, a cheerful young woman’s voice rang out from inside.
“At your service! If you’re checking in, please present your introduction letter.”
“Hello. I’m here for an interview. Could you tell me where I can find the supervisor?”
The girl’s smile immediately became warmer.
“So you’re the one here for the interview!”
“Our director mentioned you this morning.”
“I thought you’d be an older woman. I didn’t expect someone my age.”
“My name’s Xu Hui. What’s yours?”
“Jiang Lai.”
As she led Jiang Lai farther inside, Xu Hui chatted casually.
“The director said you’re an educated youth returning from the countryside.”
“You don’t look much older than me.”
“How could your family bear to send you to the countryside?”
“It was… circumstances.”
Jiang Lai summarized everything in four simple words.
She disliked discussing personal matters with strangers.
It always made her feel strangely exposed.
Xu Hui sighed sympathetically.
Knowing how difficult the educated youth movement had been, she assumed Jiang Lai’s family must have been in an especially difficult situation.
She began introducing the job.
“Our work’s actually pretty simple.”
“When guests arrive, we assign them a room, deliver a thermos of hot water, collect meal coupons, and issue receipts.”
“The only strict rule is that you’re not allowed to leave the guesthouse while you’re on duty.”
“The previous receptionist had three children.”
“The second and third were only two years apart.”
“Her mother-in-law was getting old and couldn’t handle them.”
“So she kept sneaking home during work hours to check on her kids.”
“The director found out.”
“He didn’t fire her outright, but he politely asked her to leave.”
Back then, work positions were almost hereditary.
When an older employee retired, a younger family member could usually take over.
Employees were rarely dismissed.
As long as someone suitable replaced you, supervisors generally turned a blind eye.
The position Jiang Lai had obtained was one Ma Laihua had purchased from the former employee, making it a form of replacement hiring.
After turning right through the lobby, Xu Hui stopped outside the second office and knocked.
Only after hearing permission from inside did she push the door open.
“Director Tian, the interview candidate is here.”
The office was simply furnished.
One wall held a bookshelf filled with file folders.
There was a desk, a three-seat sofa with a coffee table, two potted plants, and beside the door stood a washstand with a thermos.
Though plainly decorated, the room carried a comfortable, lived-in feeling.
The middle-aged man behind the desk slowly lowered his newspaper and looked toward Jiang Lai.
“Come in.”
Xu Hui whispered,
“Director Tian has a really good temper.”
“I’m sure you’ll stay.”
“I’ve been so bored working here all by myself.”
Jiang Lai stepped into the office.
Xu Hui quietly closed the door behind her.
The sofa sat rather far from the desk.
Since it was their first meeting, Jiang Lai felt standing nearby would be more appropriate.
“Hello, Director Tian.”
“This is my personnel file.”
Without wasting time, she introduced herself while taking the thick file folder from her shoulder bag.
After Jiang Lai was born, her household registration had originally been under Hongxing Textile Factory.
Later, when Grandma Jiang arranged for her to take the Jiang family’s educated youth quota, her registration was transferred to the commune instead of remaining under her grandmother’s household.
Ordinary people only needed to transfer their household registration.
Educated youths, however, had official files documenting their academic performance, commendations, and disciplinary records.
That made her personnel file much thicker than usual.
Director Tian accepted the folder.
His first priority was reviewing her file.
The fact that Song Tian had once threatened her with damaging her record proved just how important it was.
The original Jiang Lai had never been one to stand out.
Her file was completely ordinary—no achievements, no disciplinary marks.
“Can you use an abacus?”
“The receptionist’s work is simple, but it’s also rather tedious.”
“Most of our guests are people traveling on business.”
“They need proper receipts to claim reimbursement from their work units.”
“So issuing receipts and calculating accounts with an abacus are essential skills.”
Jiang Lai nodded immediately.
“I can.”
“I worked as a work-point recorder in the countryside for a while.”
Director Tian didn’t ask further questions.
He reset the abacus beside him, pushed it toward her, and placed a receipt book on the desk.
“Three visitors from Xinghua Shoe Factory.”
“One single room at three yuan per day.”
“One double room at four yuan per day.”
“They’ll stay for three days.”
“Two evening meals totaling one yuan and two jiao.”
“Please write the receipt.”
Jiang Lai leaned forward slightly.
She neatly filled in the necessary information.
Although she could easily calculate the total mentally, she still used the abacus.
She knew Director Tian wasn’t testing whether she could do arithmetic.
He wanted to evaluate her proficiency with the abacus.
The interview was remarkably simple.
It lasted less than ten minutes.
Director Tian placed her file into a drawer.
“You’ll start work tomorrow.”
“Spend the first two days learning from Xu Hui.”
“You’ll work both morning and evening shifts.”
“When there are no guests, the two of you may take turns resting in the back room.”
“There’s a bed inside.”
“Once you’re able to work independently, I’ll adjust your schedules.”
“If you have any questions, come ask me.”
“Then I’ll head home.”
“I’ll report back tomorrow for my first day.”
Xu Hui was delighted.
“I finally have someone to keep me company.”
“I’ve been working alone every morning and evening for the past month.”
“I was bored to death.”
When Ma Laihua heard Jiang Lai had officially been hired and would start the next day, she let out a deep sigh of relief.
After lunch, she returned to her own workplace.
The next morning, Jiang Lai got up with the rest of the family for breakfast.
Now that she had settled in, no one deliberately slowed their movements for her anymore.
Even breakfast was noticeably more relaxed than the day before.
She had assumed being a receptionist would be similar to working at the front desk of a modern hotel.
She quickly discovered she’d been mistaken.
A guesthouse receptionist wore many hats.
Checking in guests.
Collecting payments.
Writing receipts.
Cleaning rooms.
The biggest difference was the housekeeping.
Rooms weren’t cleaned every day.
Nor were they cleaned after every guest checked out.
They were simply cleaned whenever they became dirty enough that they absolutely had to be.
Most days, she and Xu Hui simply sat in the office chatting.
Sometimes an entire day would pass without a single guest walking through the door.