Chapter 3

Brother-in-law came and went, delivering 30,000 yuan in cash and some bedding, then left again.

It's not safe to carry money, so go directly to the second-floor infrastructure department to pay the housing fee.

Middle-level cadres' salaries, bonuses, and various subsidies combined amount to no more than 500 yuan a month, which is the wage level after adjustment. In previous years, it was only a few dozen yuan a month. To pay the housing fee, every family had to scrape together whatever they could. Many employees couldn't manage to gather enough and felt the house was too expensive and not worth it, so they decided not to buy it.

A newly employed college graduate, however, suddenly presented over 20,000 yuan, which left the head of the infrastructure department quite incredulous.

Holding the receipt, he returned to the dormitory, where Sister Yang from the security department was helping to clean.

This was a four-story building, similar in layout to the school. In the middle was a hallway, with rooms on both sides. A long corridor ran in front of the rooms, and the restrooms for men and women were at the end of the corridor. Female employees were on the third and fourth floors, families with children were on the second floor, and the first floor was for male colleagues or female cadres.

Cadres had their own rooms, which were neither too large nor too small. A curtain was hung in the middle to separate the living room from the bedroom. Meals were taken in the canteen, hot water was available in the canteen, and the bathroom was next to the canteen. Water and electricity were free, and the conditions were quite good.

Employees shared rooms with seven or eight people, sleeping in bunk beds, similar to the school dormitories.

Many female employees lived in the dormitories, but few were permanent employees. They were all contract workers or temporary workers recruited from various towns, paid for the months they worked, with no other benefits.

Equal work, unequal pay, was evident here.

Temporary workers earned about 200 yuan a month, contract workers about 300 yuan. Permanent employees also earned about 300 yuan, but they received a pension after retirement, full medical coverage for minor illnesses, and partial coverage for major illnesses. Cadres earned over 400 yuan, with a higher pension and full medical coverage for both minor and major illnesses.

Sister Yang was a military family member who returned with her husband after his transfer, and she was a permanent employee.

Being from the military, she was quick and efficient, and in no time, she had cleaned the room spotlessly, making Han Bo feel quite embarrassed.

"Take a break, Sister Yang. Have a drink of water first."

"It's nothing, I'm used to this kind of work. Director Han, don't laugh, but in the military, I did all sorts of odd jobs—cleaning, helping in the canteen, raising pigs, growing vegetables, you name it."

Some people changed their fate through education, some through military service, but she took a different path. She married a soldier from her village, and after he was promoted, she became a military wife for a few years. Once she met the conditions, she transferred her household registration to join him. After a few years in the military, they returned to their hometown together.

"Didn't the military arrange a better job for you?" Han Bo opened a soda he hadn't had time to drink and forced it into her hand.

Being a military wife was not easy. During the years her husband was away, she had to take care of everything at home, from the elderly to the young. Yang Xiaomei was straightforward and lively, and she smiled as if it were nothing: "The military is like a revolving door. There are many people who meet the conditions to join. One batch leaves, and another comes in. There aren't that many jobs to go around. Doing odd jobs and earning a bit of money each month is already a favor from the leadership."

"Now the hard times are over. Where does your husband work?"

"He doesn't have a good job. He's an organizational officer in Yongyang Township, which is far away and has low pay. He has only been paid twice since last year, with several months of wages owed."

Sihetown is the northernmost town in the county, and Yongyang Township is in the southwest corner, even further away, and there is no public bus service yet. To come to the county, people from Yongyang either ride bicycles or go to the neighboring Baoru Town to take a bus. It is indeed very far and inconvenient.

Low pay is common. Sihetown has several factories, and the wages of town officials and teachers are often not paid on time. Yongyang Township, which is even poorer, is having an even harder time. Perhaps her husband's current salary is even lower than hers.

Yang Xiaomei took two sips of soda and said enviously, "College graduates are great. They become deputy directors right after starting work. My husband, Old Qian, has a low education level and suffered a lot during his placement. I don't know when we'll be able to make ends meet."

"Deputy director is not a deputy-level position. It sounds good, but it has nothing to do with education. When I paid the housing fee, I heard from the infrastructure department that the youngest deputy director in our factory is 17 years old, which surprised me."

"He is the deputy director of the sales department. I've heard of him. He doesn't come to work often. He has a relative who is a manager at an import-export company in Donghai City and can help the factory with business. If I had such connections, I could be a deputy director too."

Without business, the factory wouldn't have good performance, and without good performance, wages wouldn't be paid. In terms of personal interests, Yang Xiaomei, like most employees, had no objections to the 17-year-old deputy director.

Han Bo smiled and, while laying out the mat, asked, "Sister Yang, tell me about our department. I didn't see Director Jiang. You've been here a few days longer than me. What kind of person is he, and is he easy to get along with?"

"Director Jiang, like my husband, was in the military. He is easy to talk to. He went to the Public Security Bureau today for a meeting about the establishment of the economic police detachment. Tomorrow, we will measure our heights, and then go to the Public Security Bureau service company to buy police uniforms. It's quite funny—my husband just took off his military uniform, and now I have to put on a police uniform."

Economic police are not security guards but a formal police force within the public security system.

Their business is guided by the local Public Security Bureau, and their personnel relations are with the affiliated enterprises or institutions. The highest leadership body is the Seventh Division of the Second Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security. They have police officer certificates, and economic police in units like banks, oil fields, post offices, and power stations are equipped with guns. Their salaries and benefits are generally higher than those of the public security system.

You didn't expect it, and neither did I.

I never thought I would wear a police uniform and become a police officer, but for some reason, I feel a bit excited. Subconsciously, it seems that being a police officer should be my profession.

"How many economic police are there in our security department?" Han Bo thought for a moment and asked again.

"Including you, Director Han, there are 21 in total. The office has the 'Regulations on the Management of Economic Police.' If there are fewer than 21, the detachment is not approved. The age of the police officers must not exceed 40, and the captain must be a party member and cadre. Director Jiang is over 40 and cannot serve as the captain. Since you haven't arrived, the captain has been internally designated as you.

They say there are 21, but not many are actually in the main factory. There are nine in the three silk reeling factories, three in the dyeing factory, and three in the clothing factory. Excluding the two of you leaders, there are only four here, all of whom are veterans who have been placed here in recent years..."

This is the most important task for the security department recently, and Yang Xiaomei spoke about it with great familiarity.

The Sihetown Silk Factory is not just a silk factory. The main unit is the County Silk Company, which has a complete production chain from silk reeling, weaving, dyeing to sewing. The county's silkworm farmers can only sell their cocoons to the County Silk Company, which then sells them to the Sihetown Silk Factory for further processing.

Many enterprises in the county have gone bankrupt, but the Sihetown Silk Factory is thriving. The products are exported, and the equipment is imported. The small circular looms and rapier looms in the workshops are from Japan or Italy.

There are three silk reeling factories in the towns, and the main factory focuses on weaving. The dyeing factory and clothing factory are in the south of the city.

The work of the security department is both heavy and light. It involves fire prevention and theft prevention to ensure the safety of the main factory and the branch factories. It is also light because as long as the gates of the main factory and the branch factories are guarded, and there is time to patrol the bicycle sheds to prevent theft of employees' bicycles. The director and deputy director are cadres and don't need to stand guard at the gates all day; they just need to check the posts from time to time.

As for the economic police detachment, it is required by the higher authorities. Wearing police uniforms makes it more formal and sounds better. The people are still the same, and the tasks are still the same.

After understanding the general situation and tidying up the dormitory, it was still early before the end of the workday. Han Bo decided to lock the door and take a walk around the factory with Yang Xiaomei to familiarize himself with the environment.

The workshop machines were noisy, and the temperature was high. The loom operators were sweating profusely. A few maintenance workers and spoolers were sitting under the trees outside the workshop to cool off. They had nothing to do as long as the machines were not broken and the threads were not broken.

However, the walls were marked with "No Smoking," and smoking was not allowed around the workshops and warehouses. If caught, a fine of 10 yuan would be imposed, which is a day's wage.

They didn't recognize Han Bo but recognized Yang Xiaomei. As soon as they saw someone from the security department, they quickly extinguished their cigarettes.

As they walked to the warehouse entrance, several workers were loading goods onto a truck.

"Is that Director Han? Director Han?" A man in his thirties, dressed neatly, walked from behind the truck with a warm smile.

"Han Bo, deputy director. Who are you?"

"I'm Zhang Qingmin from the fleet. Director Han, I just heard from Little Sun in the infrastructure department that you got a house, 102 in Unit 1 of Building 3, right?"

"Yes, living on the first floor is convenient."

"My house is 101, right next to yours. We'll be neighbors in a few months."

"Really? What a coincidence!" Han Bo was surprised and tightly held his hand, looking incredulous.

With the new house almost in hand, Zhang Qingmin was particularly excited to meet his future neighbor for the next few decades. He patted Han Bo's hand and smiled, "Director Han, you are a college graduate. It's different to have an education. When the fundraising started, do you know what those people said? They said, 'Why spend so much money on such an expensive house? Of course, we should live upstairs, the higher the better.'"

"Standing high, you can see far. Going up and down the stairs is good exercise. They have a point."

"Once we get the keys, they'll regret it after climbing a few times." Since they were talking about the house, Zhang Qingmin turned back and asked, "Sister Yang, does your family want a house?"

"Captain Zhang, don't laugh at me. My husband's salary in the military was low, and he only had a small allowance before being promoted. I don't earn much either, and we have both elderly and young to take care of. How can we afford it? We'll just make do in the dormitory for now and think about it when we have more money."

"Take it easy, no rush."

It turned out that Zhang Qingmin was the fleet captain, a powerful figure in the factory, even more influential than the department directors.

They chatted and laughed as they walked to the front of the office building, where four cars were parked: two black Santana, one Crown, and one Toyota Crown.

Touching the car doors, Han Bo suddenly felt a strong urge to drive. He imagined the driving procedure in his mind: fasten the seatbelt, release the handbrake, press the clutch, shift gears, release the clutch, and gently press the gas pedal... It seemed simple, even simpler than riding his brother-in-law's Qianjiang 125 motorcycle.

How could this be? Could it be that everything in the dream was real, just happening in the future?

The more Han Bo thought about it, the more bizarre it seemed. He blurted out, "Captain Zhang, which car do you drive? Can I try it? You sit in the passenger seat, and I won't drive fast."

"I drive the second car, the Santana on this side. Have you learned to drive, Director Han?"

"A few days."

"Sure, I'll sit in the passenger seat."

The neighbor's request was not excessive. When he first learned to drive, he also had an itch to touch the steering wheel. Since it wasn't time to leave work and the main road in the factory was empty, Zhang Qingmin handed over the keys without hesitation.

Adjusting the seat, fastening the seatbelt, turning the key to start the engine, and gripping the steering wheel... His actions were natural and smooth, with no sign of unfamiliarity.

The only thing was that there was no power steering, so the steering wheel was a bit heavy when starting. After driving around the factory a few times, he became more and more skilled. When he returned to the front of the office building, to make it easier for the next trip, he didn't park directly in the gap between the three cars. Checking the rearview mirrors, he backed in smoothly, parking perfectly.

"Director Han, you're not a new driver; you're an experienced one, right?"

Really, it was really true!

A wave of shock surged in Han Bo's heart, but he maintained his composure and said, "I've learned, and I've driven a lot, but I don't have a license."

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