The head of the Human Resources Department, Minister Feng Aiguo, was a very stern-looking, thin, dark-skinned man in his fifties. He looked at Yan Jin’er and Cheng Yu and said in a serious voice, “Welcome our two new colleagues. Please introduce yourselves.”
Cheng Yu glanced at Yan Jin’er and took the lead, gracefully completing her self-introduction.
Minister Feng led the applause, and the other colleagues followed.
When it was Yan Jin’er’s turn, having seen Cheng Yu go first, she was no longer nervous. She followed Cheng Yu’s template and introduced herself to everyone: “Hello everyone, my name is Yan Jin’er. I am sixteen years old. I am very honored to work in the Human Resources Department. In the days ahead, please take good care of me. Let us work together to contribute our strength to the beautiful future of the Textile Factory.”
Minister Feng again led the applause, and the others followed as well, while secretly thinking that the two new colleagues were really good-looking—one bright and generous, the other cute and delicate—and both spoke very pleasantly.
After the introductions, Minister Feng looked down at his watch and said, “Alright, it’s about time. Everyone, return to your posts and continue working.”
He then led Yan Jin’er and Cheng Yu to a plump middle-aged female colleague and instructed, “Team Leader Wang, please guide the two of them first.” After giving the instruction, he strode out of the department.
Team Leader Wang looked at the two new colleagues with a friendly smile and said, “My name is Wang Aihong. You can call me Sister Wang. From now on, we are all working in the same department, so don’t be too reserved.”
Yan Jin’er and Cheng Yu both politely greeted her at the same time: “Hello, Sister Wang.”
Sister Wang nodded. “Our department is relatively relaxed. The work mainly includes employee attendance records, recruitment and selection of workers, and file management, etc. For now, we won’t be hiring anyone else. For these three months, you two will just follow me and get familiar with the work process first.”
Yan Jin’er’s dimples appeared as she smiled, happily thinking that this was truly a delightful job.
The Human Resources Department was originally quite idle, and the staff was already sufficient. Yan Jin’er had been admitted through examination, and Cheng Yu had been added as well, so the workload had become even lighter. Because of this, the other colleagues were quite welcoming toward the new arrivals.
At present, the Human Resources Department only had five people in total. Aside from the minister and team leader, there were Yan Jin’er and Cheng Yu, and one more girl.
The girl was named Chen Xiaohong. She was nineteen years old and the daughter of Sister Wang. She had an oval face, big eyes, and a few faint freckles on her face. She was quite petite, but in reality, she was very fond of gossip.
In the morning, the work involved following Sister Wang to register attendance sheets collected from various workshops and departments, recording absences and their reasons, as well as leave and rest statistics, so that salaries could be calculated at the beginning of each month.
Because the Textile Factory was a large factory with over ten thousand workers, they were busy for almost the entire morning, but the work itself was relatively easy, and they occasionally chatted with colleagues.
There was a one-hour lunch break at noon.
For meals, they could go to the canteen, but it required meal tickets and money. According to Sister Wang and the others, the food tasted quite good, so they would occasionally eat there.
However, more often than not, people either went home to cook lunch or prepared food in the morning and brought it with them, which saved both money and meal tickets.
Yan Jin’er did not want to go back and forth, so she decided to eat at the canteen.
As for Sister Wang and the others, once it was time to get off work, they quickly left the department to go home for lunch.
In an instant, only Cheng Yu and Yan Jin’er were left.
“Sister Cheng, do you want to go to the canteen for lunch together? We can keep each other company,” Yan Jin’er asked with a sweet smile.
“Okay,” Cheng Yu replied. She appeared somewhat cold and did not talk much.
Yan Jin’er felt that even though Cheng Yu, the bright and beautiful woman, was a bit cold, she was still very beautiful. Cheng Yu had a pair of attractive fox-like eyes, her pupils shimmering like water, carrying a silent allure. Such looks were not very popular in this era. She did not know what kind of young hooligan she would end up marrying, and whether he would even be worthy of her.
Chapter 8 The food in the canteen was really delicious
The canteen was about thirty-odd square meters. Along the window side, there were more than ten sets of tables and chairs, and at the moment only about one-third of them were sporadically occupied.
There were five food service windows, and large sheets of paper were pasted above each window, listing the dishes being served today.
Yan Jin’er took a look around and bought a bowl of egg noodles. She then found a corner seat while waiting for Cheng Yu. Cheng Yu, on the other hand, bought two plain steamed buns and a plate of stir-fried cabbage. It seemed that Cheng Yu’s family conditions were quite good.
Yan Jin’er slurped a mouthful of noodles, and her eyes instantly lit up. The noodles were very chewy, carrying the fragrance of egg and meat, and the soup base seemed to have been simmered from meat bones. She kept eating one bite after another until her cheeks were stuffed full, looking like a little hamster.
The food in the canteen was really delicious. It seemed she could come here often in the future. She could cook herself, but her cooking tasted only average. After eating too much of her own food, even she did not want to eat it anymore.
As mealtime went on, more and more people came in. At the entrance, four to five young men and women arrived, surrounding a carefully dressed man and woman in the middle. One of the girls said something to the group, then quickly went to the window to buy a bowl of noodles. She then carried it over and walked briskly to Yan Jin’er’s table.
Yan Jin’er looked up and immediately recognized Zhao Jing.
“Jin’er, what a coincidence. Is this your colleague?” Zhao Jing asked with a smile as she looked at Cheng Yu.
“Yes, she’s Cheng Yu. She works in the same department as me and is also newly hired today.”
“She’s Zhao Jing, a colleague from the Public Relation Department.”
Yan Jin’er briefly introduced the two of them. Then she casually asked, “Are all those people just now from your department?”
“Of course not, only three of them are. The two dressed very eye-catchingly are from the Public Relation Department. Didn’t I tell you before that the Factory Director’s daughter also took the staff exam? That’s her. The man is her fiancé,” Zhao Jing lowered her voice and said quietly.
“Mm, mm, they do look quite well matched.” Yan Jin’er glanced at the man and woman sitting in the middle by the window. Both of them wore the same air of pride, and she nodded in agreement.
“They are indeed. Tang Miao is the Factory Director’s daughter. I heard Li Ping’s uncle is the Deputy Director of the Revolutionary Committee, so the two of them are considered well-matched in status,” Zhao Jing gossiped.
“Are they easy to get along with?” Yan Jin’er’s eyes flashed with a trace of sympathy. If both of them were difficult to get along with, Zhao Jing’s future work life might not be so easy.
“Li Wen is okay to get along with, just a bit arrogant. But Tang Miao has a rather sharp personality, and she watches Li Wen quite closely.”
Yan Jin’er and Cheng Yu both looked at Zhao Jing with sympathy.
“I won’t be wronged. As long as I do my job properly, no one can pick faults with me. It’ll be fine!” Zhao Jing also thought the same. As long as she was slightly sociable and did her work well, nothing would go wrong. There would always be difficult colleagues in any workplace. If she could get along, she would; if not, there was no need to force herself to fit in.
Yan Jin’er was about to say something more, but when she looked up, she found two people standing in front of their table, so she stopped.
“Comrades, hello. May we sit here?” two young men in their early twenties asked, tugging at their clothes and slightly blushing.
“Yes, of course. Please sit wherever you like,” Zhao Jing replied with a smile.
At this time, the canteen was already almost full, with only seats left next to Yan Jin’er and opposite Cheng Yu. After the two men sat down, they lowered their heads and ate quietly. Yan Jin’er and the others also stopped chatting and sped up their eating.
Only when they stood up to wash their lunch boxes did the two young men finally dare to look up. Their eyes were full of regret, and they still did not know which department those three beautiful female comrades were from.
When it was time to start work in the afternoon, Sister Wang and the others gradually returned to their posts.
Yan Jin’er and Cheng Yu were slowly organizing the documents in their hands.
After eating lunch, it was easy to feel sleepy. In the afternoon, they could not be too idle, otherwise they would easily fall asleep.
“There isn’t much to do this afternoon. Minister Feng won’t really mind either. You can find something to keep yourselves busy,” Sister Wang said while knitting rapidly, not even looking up.
Minister Feng looked like a very strict person, but in reality he was quite lenient with people in his department. As long as the work was done, he would turn a blind eye to other things.
Chen Xiaohong, meanwhile, came over with her yarn, wanting to chat with Yan Jin’er.
“Hehe, it’s great having new colleagues. I was almost getting bored to death,” Chen Xiaohong said excitedly. She could not casually chat with her mother, and there were no other colleagues in the department besides the director.
And she did not dare to casually chat with the director either. Now that two new colleagues had finally arrived, she could properly gossip—no, talk!
“Cheng Yu, Yan Jin’er, do you two have partners?” Chen Xiaohong’s eyes lit up. Before Yan Jin’er and Cheng Yu could even respond, she continued, “Come on, tell me, let’s chat together.”
Yan Jin’er subconsciously turned to look at Cheng Yu and instinctively pricked up her ears, waiting for Cheng Yu’s answer.