Seeing that Zhang Yunqing was so polite and tactful despite her young age, Ge Yanqing secretly nodded in approval. Thankfully, this time they hadn’t recruited some difficult troublemaker.
Their first impression of each other was quite good.
“I heard from Director Liu that you’re not from a worker’s family at our factory, so you probably don’t know much about the situation here.”
Walking ahead to lead the way, Ge Yanqing began introducing the printing factory’s circumstances to Zhang Yunqing.
“Our Pingcheng Printing Factory used to mainly handle newspapers, textbooks, and government propaganda materials. We used the old letterpress printing machines imported when the factory was first established, so we could only print black-and-white materials.”
Zhang Yunqing nodded. In her previous life, she had worked in advertising, so naturally she understood the development of printing factories well. Although twenty-first century advertising printing had many more styles and techniques, the most basic printing machines were still widely used everywhere.
Ge Yanqing continued, “Last year, the provincial capital’s printing factory imported two offset printing machines capable of printing color products. They took over quite a lot of propaganda work that originally belonged to our factory. So this year, our factory gritted its teeth and managed to get two secondhand machines as well. The old typesetting workshop didn’t have enough technical skill, which is why Master Zhang recruited all of you.”
As she explained, Zhang Yunqing suddenly understood.
In the original novel, the factory recruitment had only been briefly mentioned, without any detailed explanation.
She had thought this hiring round was simply meant to take care of workers’ family members.
Turns out there was a deeper reason behind it.
Once the provincial printing factory took over the propaganda printing assignments from higher authorities, Pingcheng Printing Factory naturally lost its opportunity to stand out. Neither the factory director nor the workers could accept that outcome.
That was why they had obtained offset printing machines, preparing to compete directly against the provincial factory.
And color printing was far more complicated than black-and-white printing. It required color separation, plate-making, and manual correction, naturally demanding much higher technical skills from workers.
Because of the political movement, higher education had stagnated for years, and the printing factory hadn’t recruited fresh talent in a long time.
Aside from Master Zhang, the old employees in the factory practically knew nothing about the new machines.
Even after more than half a year of Master Zhang’s instruction, only the few dozen people Zhang Yunqing had seen in the workshop were capable of operating the machines without making mistakes.
As operation of the offset printing machines gradually stabilized and production efficiency increased, an even more critical problem surfaced.
People in this era were uniformly poor. Being able to eat enough was already considered good fortune. Naturally, no one had spare money to invest in children’s hobbies or artistic interests.
As a result, there was a severe shortage of people capable of drawing and making printing plates.
Master Zhang alone simply couldn’t keep up with the production schedule. More than half of 1972 had already passed, yet the production quotas assigned from above were still far from being completed.
If this continued, then when they reported their work in the provincial capital at the end of the year, they’d once again be mocked by the provincial printing factory staff right to their faces.
“Master Zhang already showed us the drawings you made. With you joining the plate-making workshop, we can finally breathe a little easier.”
Ge Yanqing patted her chest with lingering fear.
People like them had learned how to operate the machines, sure, but they truly lacked artistic talent. Often, they had to revise their work over and over before Master Zhang was barely satisfied.
Even with her cheerful personality, there were times when Master Zhang’s sarcastic criticism left her doubting her entire life.
Several times she had nearly decided to transfer back to the original typesetting workshop instead.
“Sister Ge, you’re exaggerating too much. What can a newcomer like me really accomplish? I was just lucky enough to catch the recruitment opportunity.”
Zhang Yunqing lowered her head shyly, while inwardly waving her hands frantically.
This was her very first day on the job. She hadn’t even touched the machines yet. Even if Ge Yanqing genuinely meant her praise, she absolutely couldn’t casually accept such expectations.
If she performed well, that was one thing.
But if she failed, people would only blame her instead.
She was just a tiny newcomer. There was no way she could shoulder such heavy responsibility.
Ge Yanqing paused, then remembered the almost absurdly lucky way Zhang Yunqing had gotten into the factory, and nodded in agreement.
“That’s true. Xiao Zhang, your luck really is amazing. Our factory posted the recruitment notice right in the middle of the day, and nobody else even saw it—yet somehow you did. I’m honestly a little jealous of your luck.”
If she had known earlier, she would’ve let her own younger sister try too. Whether she succeeded or not, at least it would’ve been a chance. Maybe she would’ve been just as lucky as Zhang Yunqing.
Shaking her head, Ge Yanqing pushed the thought away.
What was done was done. There was no point dwelling on it now. Better to quickly train Zhang Yunqing properly so the workload in the plate-making workshop could finally ease up.
Otherwise, every other workshop in the factory would finish work and go home while the plate-making workshop still had to work overtime.
For the past half year, she had practically never been home on time. Her son and daughter had already become noticeably less close to her after being constantly looked after by their grandmother.
The basic operation of the offset printing machine actually wasn’t difficult. Combined with the fact that Zhang Yunqing had worked with similar machines in her previous life, after Ge Yanqing demonstrated it once, she was already able to operate it independently.
This caused Ge Yanqing to repeatedly praise Master Zhang for his good judgment in recruiting such a genius into their workshop.
Only when the factory loudspeaker broadcast the end-of-work bell did Ge Yanqing slap her forehead in annoyance.
“Look at me, getting too anxious. It’s already mealtime. It’s your first day at work—I can’t let you miss lunch. Come on, big sister will treat you at the cafeteria.”
As she spoke, Ge Yanqing reached for Zhang Yunqing’s arm as though afraid she might refuse.
“Hmph.”
At some point, Zhang Xinmin had appeared behind them. He let out a soft snort.
“Since Xiao Zhang was recruited by me, it’s not your turn to be the one treating her.”
As he spoke, he handed over a stack of money and ration coupons.
“Take these. Payday’s still half a month away. Once work gets busy, you won’t have time to go home for meals. Eat at the cafeteria instead so it doesn’t delay work.”
Zhang Xinmin maintained a strictly businesslike attitude, and his tone wasn’t particularly pleasant.
Before Zhang Yunqing could say anything, Ge Yanqing acted without ceremony. She directly took the money and coupons from his hand and stuffed them into Zhang Yunqing’s.
“Since Master Zhang is giving them to you, just take them first. He’s right too—when our workshop gets busy, we genuinely don’t even have time to eat. At worst, you can pay him back after you get your wages.”
Holding the rough-feeling bills and coupons in her hand, Zhang Yunqing couldn’t help sighing inwardly. Most people in this era were still genuinely kindhearted.
Though Zhang Xinmin looked bad-tempered, he was actually soft-hearted beneath his tough exterior. He had even considered how she would manage meals during the half month before receiving her salary.
And Zhang Yunqing truly did need this money.
Back then, there was no such thing as giving children pocket money. Every cent was considered important family property.
During the time since she transmigrated here, Zhang Yunqing had searched everywhere the original owner might have hidden belongings and only found seventy-three cents tucked into the pocket sewn inside her underwear. Even that had been painstakingly saved by the original owner through extreme frugality.
As for ration coupons, she didn’t have a single one.
Originally, she had planned to endure another half month and wait until payday on the first of next month before finally improving her meals a little.
She hadn’t expected Master Zhang to be so kindhearted.
If she could avoid going hungry, then of course it was better not to go hungry. Just as Ge Yanqing said, she could repay Master Zhang once she received her wages.
Having thought it through, Zhang Yunqing smiled openly.
“Alright then. Thank you, Master Zhang. I’ll work hard.”
Master Zhang nodded and said nothing further.