Chapter 9

PS: Thank you to Zha Shi for the 1988 tip.

Although the ventilation fans continuously pushed the foul air to the surface, the air here was definitely not pleasant. If it were someone's first time here, and they had just eaten, they might vomit.

Wei Xiaobei had been working here for almost three months and had already gotten used to the smell. He even felt a strange sense of security from the odor of engine oil, rubber, and a bit of sewage.

The time clock was located next to the elevator. After clocking in, he turned down two corridors and came to a wooden door with a sign that read "Rest Room." Wei Xiaibe pushed the door open and walked in.

As the name suggested, this was the rest room for the engineering department, where the daily morning meetings and employee changing took place.

In the middle of the rest room was a long rectangular table, surrounded by wooden chairs that showed their natural color. A bit further was a wooden workbench, and along the wall were rows of lockers. In the corner stood an old water dispenser and a full-length mirror, with a ceiling fan hanging overhead.

This was the entire content of the rest room. Compared to the punching bags, treadmills, and dumbbells in the security department's rest room, the beds and kitchen in the cleaning department's rest room, and the coffee machine, cloisonné tea set, chessboard, and ping-pong table in the company headquarters' rest room on the 37th floor, the engineering department's rest room was indeed rather shabby.

Even the full-length mirror and water dispenser were old items discarded by the security department.

There was no way around it. As Li Yuancheng, the electrician, put it, the engineering department was a money-spending department. The security department could collect parking fees, the cleaning department could sell scrap and charge extra for door-to-door cleaning, but where could the engineering department make money?

From the property fees paid by the owners?

Don't be ridiculous. That was the company's income. As for the additional charges for each extra service, the company's finance department collected them directly.

Indeed, in any property management company, the engineering department was a department that spent money but didn't earn much. Even if it did earn money, it went directly to the company's finance department. Thus, it was understandable that the engineering department's treatment was a bit worse.

While changing into his work uniform, Wei Xiaobei thought about these things and couldn't help but smile at the amusing parts.

"Xiao Wei is here. You're early today."

A middle-aged man with sunken cheeks, thick eyebrows, and large eyes, around forty-five or forty-six years old, walked into the rest room with a steady pace, holding a teacup. He opened his locker and greeted Wei Xiaobei.

"Brother Wang, you're not late either."

Wei Xiaobei fastened the Da Hao Property Management chest badge and replied.

This middle-aged man was Wang Weidong, who had applied for a job at Da Hao Property Management with Wei Xiaobei three months ago. He was a professional electrician who enjoyed acting like an old-timer, pointing out problems, and discussing technical issues.

During the interview with the HR manager, Wang Weidong had talked non-stop, leaving the HR manager speechless.

For a property management company like Da Hao, which specialized in office buildings, Wang Weidong's age was a bit on the older side. However, he was skilled in secondary water supply, elevator maintenance, and central air conditioning.

As an electrician who was also skilled in other areas, he was a valuable asset, and he and Wei Xiaobei were both hired by Da Hao Property Management.

Wei Xiaobei was also hired as an electrician, but his electrical skills were only honed in the military family housing complex. Compared to Wang Weidong, who had over twenty years of experience in property management, the gap was significant.

If it weren't for the fact that the HR manager was also a veteran, Wei Xiaobei might not have passed the first round.

With a learning attitude, Wei Xiaobei called Wang Weidong "Brother Wang" and learned some skills from him. Their relationship was quite good.

The two chatted for a while on the wooden chairs, and other employees gradually entered the rest room, turning the originally quiet room into a noisy one.

The number of people in the engineering department of Da Hao Property Management was not large. There were electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and the engineering department's engineers, totaling sixteen people.

Before everyone had finished changing, a man in his thirties with a balding forehead, a yellowish complexion, and deep nasolabial folds walked in with a thermos. Seeing the chaos in the rest room, he frowned and said, "We're about to start the morning meeting. Hurry up."

This was Zhang Gong, the engineer of the engineering department. Since there was no manager in the engineering department, Zhang Gong managed everything. Due to his expertise in strong and weak electricity, water, and central air conditioning, he had considerable authority among the employees.

Wei Xiaobei liked this. Just like in the military, in the engineering department, strength determined status.

However, due to his weak electrical skills, his status was not high, which made Wei Xiaobei a bit frustrated.

The morning meeting lasted twenty minutes. The night shift employees reported the night's situation and mentioned a few unresolved issues. Then, Zhang Gong began assigning tasks.

Currently, the work of the engineering department mostly involved minor issues, such as two light bulbs being out in the 03 corridor on the first floor, a leaky toilet pipe in the basement of the annex building, and a malfunction in the surveillance circuit of the Yongxin Electrical Wang Mall on the first floor.

After all, the twin towers had only been built three or four years ago, so there wouldn't be any major problems for a while.

However, these tasks had little to do with Wei Xiaobei. After the meeting, he brewed a strong cup of tea and headed toward the high-voltage distribution room.

To be precise, Wei Xiaobei's position in the engineering department was a high-voltage distribution worker. His main job was to sit in the high-voltage distribution room and adjust the power supply of the entire office building according to Zhang Gong's instructions, as well as record the operation of the high and low voltage equipment, and promptly deal with, repair, and report any issues.

Pushing open the wooden door, stepping over the rat barrier, and bypassing the distribution cabinet, he came to a long rectangular table with a monitoring computer on it. Above it was a small air conditioner, and in front of the table sat a young man in a work uniform.

The young man had a pale face with a slight flush on his cheeks and a small bump on his nose, which marred his overall appearance.

"Big Singer, time to go off duty."

Wei Xiaobei chuckled and greeted the young man, who lazily got up from his chair, glanced at Wei Xiaobei, and stretched. "Another day's salary earned, not easy. Good morning, Xiao Bei."

This young man was named Tian Xuecun, whose name was similar to a famous singer, so his colleagues called him "Big Singer." He was only one year older than Wei Xiaobei but liked to act like a big brother in front of him.

"Did you have a good night? No issues?"

Wei Xiaobei asked.

"No issues. I'm going to change."

With that, Tian Xuecun left the high-voltage distribution room.

The high-voltage distribution room operated on a three-shift system. The day shift was from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM, and the night shift was from 6:00 PM to 8:30 AM. Three people took turns on duty.