Chapter 2

Xiao Yuanhang said with a smile, "Thank you for your encouragement, Sister Zhang. I will definitely strive to achieve a good ranking!"

"Sure, keep it up!" Zhang Chunyan nodded and said, "I'll go check on Director Tian and Sister Jiang. If anything happens on the train, just let me know."

"Alright, thank you, Sister Zhang." Xiao Yuanhang responded. After Zhang Chunyan left, he washed his face with cold water, returned to his berth, and found that Jiang Xuefang was not there. She might have gone to talk to Director Tian. He lay down on his berth, closed his eyes, and his mind flashed with scenes from his past and present life.

Xiao Yuanhang's family consisted of four people. His father, Xiao Qiliang, was the head of the crew office at the Guhe Railway Section. His mother, Bai Shuxian, was a custodian at the Guhe Mining Machinery Factory. His sister, Xiao Dongmei, after graduating from the Chuncheng Technical School, was assigned to work at the Guhe Printing Factory and had already married a train driver.

In 1983, Xiao Yuanhang was 16 years old and was in the first year of high school at the Guhe Railway Children's First Middle School. At this time, news came from the railway bureau that the last batch of succession procedures would be processed this year, and the succession system would be abolished afterward. Upon hearing the news, the Guhe railway area immediately buzzed with excitement. To ensure their children could secure a stable job, those who met the retirement conditions were eager to retire, and those who did not meet the conditions tried their best to retire. Every day, the personnel offices of various stations and sections were flooded with inquiries about retirement.

Since this was the last batch of retirement succession procedures, the Songjiang Railway Bureau and the Tongshui Railway Division, considering the interests of employees and their families, continuously issued policies to relax the retirement conditions. Male employees over 50 years old and female employees over 45 years old could retire due to illness. Employees within this age range, whether they were sick or not, either retrieved their medical records or sought connections to get fake medical certificates from the Guhe Railway Hospital, all to ensure their children could take over their jobs.

Given the significant impact on the interests of railway employees, with the tacit approval of the higher-ups, the staff responsible for processing the applications turned a blind eye. As long as the required documents were complete, they would process the retirement succession. The age limit for succession was also relaxed from 18 to 16 years old. In those days, getting into university was like crossing a narrow bridge, with only 20 to 30 students from the Guhe Railway Children's First Middle School being admitted each year out of 600 graduates from 12 classes, which was only 3% to 5%. It was even harder than passing the imperial examinations. Therefore, as long as parents could apply for retirement, regardless of their children's academic performance, they would require them to take over their jobs.

Under these circumstances, Xiao Qiliang decided to retire and let his youngest son, Xiao Yuanhang, take over his job. Why did Xiao Qiliang decide to retire resolutely? It was not because he did not meet the retirement conditions; he was 51 years old and had suffered from liver cirrhosis for three years, making him more than qualified to retire. However, as the head of the business office at the Guhe Railway Section, a section-level cadre, the railway regulations stipulated that only workers could have their children take over their jobs, while cadres had to retire and could not have their children take over.

To ensure Xiao Yuanhang could take over his job, Xiao Qiliang made a huge sacrifice by submitting a resignation letter, changing his status to a worker, and then processing his retirement due to illness. At that time, the retirement salary for workers was 60% to 75% of their in-service salary, while Xiao Qiliang's retirement salary would have been 100% with additional benefits. By changing his status to a worker, he sacrificed himself to benefit his son.

According to the principle that succession children should work at their parents' original units, those who took over at the Guhe Railway Section should work there. However, train positions were the face of the railway, representing its image, and generally only accepted women. Therefore, many male successors were assigned to other units. Since Xiao Yuanhang was only 16 years old, other train units only accepted employees aged 18 and above. He and another 17-year-old, Li Changjiang, were specially allowed to stay at the train section.

In his previous life, he also participated in the division's technical performance competition through the section's technical selection. Although he had memorized the regulations thoroughly, the division's technical performance competition added a practical section. He scored full marks in the theoretical part without any doubt, but he lost 10 points in the practical section due to a miscalculation of the "miscellaneous fees." In such a competition with many skilled participants, a difference of one point could result in a significant drop in ranking, let alone 10 points. He went from being the top scorer in the theoretical part to the last in the overall ranking, and had to leave dejectedly.

The participants who won in that competition later advanced in their careers, becoming business officers and train conductors. Xiao Yuanhang could only watch as they were promoted, and it was not until three years later that he participated in the division's passenger service technical performance competition and won second place, earning the title of "Technical Expert." The following year, when a business officer position became vacant, he was promoted, but this small step cost him four years!

The crew work on passenger trains is generally divided among three units: the train section, the vehicle section, and the police team. The train section is responsible for passenger service, the vehicle section for vehicle maintenance, and the police team for security and fire prevention. The passenger service crew consists of the train conductor, business officer, announcer, baggage officer, water supply officer, and train attendant. Long-distance passenger trains have a dining car, which is managed by the train section's service company. The dining car crew includes the dining car conductor, head chef, chef, cook, and server. The vehicle crew consists of the vehicle conductor and inspector. The police team consists of the police conductor and police officers.

The train conductor is responsible for the overall work of the passenger train, overseeing the vehicle, police, and dining car, making them the highest administrative officer on the train. The business officer is responsible for ticketing, passenger flow reporting, regulation updates, and basic data management. The announcer is responsible for the train's announcements. The water supply officer is responsible for providing drinking water to passengers. The baggage officer is responsible for baggage and parcel services. The train attendant is responsible for serving passengers and ensuring travel safety in their assigned car.

Xiao Yuanhang had been working as a train attendant for nearly two years and was very familiar with the position. In his second year of work, due to his strong technical skills and being a core member of the youth group, he was transferred to the youth team, which operated the 292 train from Guhe to Huanghai. The youth team was the cradle for cultivating business backbone and cadres at the Guhe Railway Section, and many of the section's cadres, including Deputy Section Chief Tang Xuemei, who was in charge of passenger services, came from this team with a fine tradition.

Since he had been reborn, he decided to start from himself and from now, to prevent the tragedies and regrets of his past life from repeating. He would use his foresight to carve out a new path. After making this firm decision, he felt a wave of drowsiness and gradually fell asleep.

"Xiao, wake up, we're almost at the station!" When Xiao Yuanhang woke up again, the train was about to arrive at the Tongshui station. Jiang Xuefang had already packed her things and, seeing him still asleep, woke him up.

Xiao Yuanhang was pleasantly surprised to find that his headache, which had been splitting, had disappeared, and he felt refreshed and full of energy. He sat up, glanced out the window, and saw that the train was already on the Tongshui Bridge. The rumbling sound made him feel especially close. He put on his shoes, got out of bed, and picked up his backpack. There was nothing else to pack; all his work-related items were inside. Since he was participating in the technical performance competition, he had a few more regulation books in his bag.

When the train arrived at the station, everyone gathered their backpacks and headed to the door. There were 11 people in their group, including 9 participants, the head of the education office, Tian Fen, and the officer, Jiang Xuefang. After getting off the train, Tian Fen led everyone to sign in at the division's passenger service department and then to the division's guesthouse to check in.

Of the other 8 participants, all were female, including Tian Fen and Jiang Xuefang. The 8 female participants took two four-person rooms, and Tian Fen and Jiang Xuefang took a two-person room. Since Xiao Yuanhang was the only male, he was given a two-person room by himself, which made him very happy. The quiet environment would be very helpful for his review, and he planned to make full use of the valuable time before the competition.

After a simple lunch at the guesthouse canteen, Tian Fen called a small meeting, emphasizing that everyone should use the time before the competition to review and study hard to achieve good results and bring glory to the Guhe Railway Section. She concluded, "If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or Jiang Xuefang. We are here to serve and support you."

As soon as the meeting ended, Xiao Yuanhang immediately approached Jiang Xuefang, "Sister Jiang, I have a few questions about the passenger regulations. Could you help me with them?"

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{Piaotian Literature}