Chapter 58: Three Scenarios

Pointing toward Sister Ling and Xiao He, he said, "I've introduced them to you before. This is Chang Ling and Yi Xiaohe. Sister Ling will be in charge of connecting with Weiguo for now."

Sister Ling responded, "All right, Group Leader."

Stone Guanglin then pointed to the middle-aged colleague. "This is our deputy group leader, Shao Jiefang. Old Shao is extremely experienced and a pillar of our team. Weiguo, you should learn as much as you can from him."

Shao Jiefang slightly lifted the corners of his mouth and chin upon hearing this.

Finally, Stone Guanglin gestured toward three young men. "These three are Liu Yicheng, Li Xuetie, and Ge Xu. There's not much age difference between you, so you can hang out together.

I won't introduce anyone else for now; there's plenty of time to get acquainted."

Stone Guanglin took another sip of water and continued, "Now let me talk about this week's situation. Listen carefully.

The factory has been recruiting crazily lately, and now there are 2,000 more people than before. However, since it's the end of the year, the planned materials for the other two groups haven't come out as expected, so the gap is still huge.

What do we do about such a gap? We need to fill it ourselves.

So, the procurement task for our group is increased by 50% this week, and it must be completed.

Don't bother complaining to me; it's useless. I've already talked myself hoarse with the section chief. If you think you can convince the chief, you're welcome to try.

That's all for now. Sister Ling and Xiao He, make sure you keep detailed records.

Weiguo, stay behind. The rest of you, get to work."

After hearing the task increase by 50%, everyone wore heavy expressions and walked off to the side.

Xiao Weiguo stepped forward and said to Stone Guanglin, "Brother Lin, I'm not sure what my task will be."

Stone Guanglin recalled, "If I remember correctly, I told you before that as a temporary procurement officer, you would have no tasks in the first month, so you could get familiar with the situation. Tasks would start in the second and third months. But your situation is different. You'll be procuring a large amount of materials right from the first month."

He paused and called out, "Sister Ling, come here."

Then, facing Xiao Weiguo and Chang Ling, he said, "Here's what we'll do. Weiguo's situation is special. Sister Ling, you'll assess him for all three months together, combining the tasks and procurement quantities.

Weiguo, you can head back later. Your Brother Dali is still at your commune, and you should get him to cooperate with you.

Starting tomorrow, you must catch 500 pounds of fish each day until the pond is empty. If there are other places nearby with fish, you can do the same.

But you mustn't bring in less than 500 pounds a day.

Dali will come back to the factory every day, so coordinate with him.

As for the public-to-public remittance work with Qin Family Brigade, you'll gradually take over later. For now, I'll handle it for you."

"Got it, Brother Lin. I'll return to the commune this afternoon and begin fishing. I promise not to delay. But what if I catch more than 500 pounds in a day?" Xiao Weiguo asked.

Stone Guanglin explained, "A bit more or less is fine, just don't go too far over. Fish isn't like big steamed buns—it's just a side dish, and if you bring in too much, it's hard to use up. We don't have a huge cold storage either. Just stick to 500 pounds a day, and rest when you're done.

Sister Ling, later give Weiguo some basic knowledge, like attendance, reimbursement, welfare, and so on, since I'll be heading out of town soon. Sister Ling, keep an eye on things.

Also, Weiguo, note down our phone and fax numbers. Contact us immediately if anything comes up."

He finished, stood up, patted Weiguo's shoulder, and said, "Don't worry, take it slow, there's no rush."

Then he walked out of the office.

"Weiguo, let me give you a quick rundown now. If you have questions I don't cover, ask anytime—anyone from the three groups will help.

First, about attendance: because of the nature of our procurement work, you only need to report your specific procurement location and schedule to me and Xiao He. There's no mandatory office requirement, but you must return for Monday meetings, department gatherings, or when there's something important at the factory.

For reimbursement, it's basically the same as other factories, though our procurement standards are higher...

As for welfare..."

"Thank you, Sister Ling. I'll treat you to a meal sometime," Xiao Weiguo said gratefully.

"Forget the meal. Just bring back lots of materials, and I'll be happy," Sister Ling replied.

At that moment, as Xiao Weiguo finished chatting with Sister Ling, one of the young colleagues—wearing glasses, apparently Liu Yicheng—came over and greeted him. "Hello, new colleague. Let me introduce myself: I'm Liu Yicheng, from the Fuyang area. Let's eat lunch together later."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Xiao Weiguo, just call me Weiguo. I don't have a meal ticket—can we eat in the factory cafeteria?" Xiao Weiguo asked.

"That's no problem, just ask Mama Ling for one. Oh, we privately call Sister Ling 'Mama Ling,' just like my own mom," Liu Yicheng replied.

Xiao Weiguo considered this and said, "All right, I'll try the factory food at noon; haven't had it yet."

"Don't expect too much, it's just a place to fill your stomach. After lunch, we'll have to run around again—so many tasks, who's going to finish them all?" Liu Yicheng grumbled.

"What happens if we can't finish the tasks?" Xiao Weiguo wondered.

"Nothing much. We're official workers, so who can really do anything to us? Just get scolded, that's all. Brother Lin doesn't even scold harshly—it's just a bit embarrassing," Liu Yicheng replied.

"Come on, I'll show you around the factory area. When it's lunchtime, we'll come back for meal tickets and lunchboxes," Liu Yicheng said, then called out to a distant young man, "Ge Xu, let's go. Come with us and help our new colleague check out the girls."

The young man called Ge Xu heard Liu Yicheng and came over. He wasn't very tall, about five foot seven, and looked quite thin. He nodded at Xiao Weiguo as he approached.

"Ignore him—Ge Xu's got this quirk. He doesn't talk much, but he's quite chatty at work. Let's go, time to check out the girls," Liu Yicheng said to Xiao Weiguo.

At the door, as if remembering something, Liu Yicheng turned back and said to Sister Ling, "Sister Ling, give us meal tickets for lunch—me, Ge Xu, and Weiguo."

"Sure, come back at noon to get them. Weiguo probably doesn't have a lunchbox yet, so make sure he buys one," Chang Ling said to Liu Yicheng.

Then Liu Yicheng led Xiao Weiguo and Ge Xu toward the factory grounds.

"Why aren't we inviting the other two colleagues?" Xiao Weiguo asked on the way.

Liu Yicheng replied, "Which two? You mean Old Shao and Li Xuetie? They're not the type to hang out with us. Old Shao thinks he's management—he's the deputy group leader, a big shot.

As for Li Xuetie, he's a bit arrogant. I hear his father is a city official. He hasn't been here long either. When he first arrived, I invited him to join us in checking out the girls, but he sternly rebuffed me—I was so wronged."

At that moment, Ge Xu, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up, "You're just sleazy."

And then he fell silent again.