Chapter 33: Competition for the Position

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In the afternoon, Feng Rui took Chen Yong and Tian Xiang to visit the two household handicraft production groups under his management.

These so-called production groups were small-scale operations organized within the community, bringing together unemployed members of local families.

Such businesses generally cooperated with factories or supply-and-marketing cooperatives. The other party purchased the goods at a fixed price, while the group organized and oversaw production, earning a certain amount of piecework pay to help cover household expenses.

Although these production groups were small and not particularly stable, they were an important part of community activities.

Jobs were scarce at the time. Some families had elderly parents above and young children below; in a household of seven or eight, only one person might be able to find work. Trying to feed seven or eight mouths on a single wage was terribly difficult. To a certain extent, establishing production groups helped ease the pressure on such families.

Elsewhere, these production groups were jointly managed by the neighborhood office and the residents’ committee.

But in Red Fifth Street, all such matters had been taken over by the unions of the major factories.

There was no helping it. The people of Red Fifth Street placed great emphasis on organizational affiliation. They did not listen easily to outsiders and preferred to follow the factories’ lead.

Over time, all these affairs had gradually been transferred to the factory unions.

Since Tian Xiang lived in Three-Mile Lane and was not very familiar with the situation here, Feng Rui gave her a brief explanation of the important points along the way.

At present, Feng Rui managed two production groups: the Weaving Group and the Construction Team.

Both groups were located in the resettlement district.

Red Fifth Street’s resettlement district was shared by the five major factories. It mainly consisted of old houses, crowded courtyards, and rows of connected little compounds, much like the surroundings of Three-Mile Lane.

The residential compounds for the families of the five major factories, however, had been uniformly built ten years earlier as apartment blocks. Though many people lived in them, they had shared toilets and washrooms, along with trees and flower beds in the courtyards. Some of the larger residential compounds even had basketball courts and table-tennis tables. In terms of community facilities alone, they were far more advanced, and visually much more comfortable than the disorderly lanes and cramped courtyards of the past.

Everyone fought tooth and nail for apartments like those; naturally, no one would use them for production.

That was why the Machinery Factory’s production groups were all located in the resettlement district.

Feng Rui first took the two of them to the Weaving Group.

The group was housed in a dilapidated little ancestral shrine. More than a hundred people were registered as members, but in practice only a dozen or so worked each day, most of them elderly.

There was no helping it. Young people only wanted to get into a factory. They thought this kind of work was dull—and that it hurt their hands.

When Feng Rui brought the two of them inside, two master craftsmen greeted them cheerfully. After learning that Tian Xiang and Chen Yong were newly hired union officers, they said enviously, “What a comfortable life you’ll have. Things will be steady from now on.”

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Who could say otherwise?

But they would have to earn the right to stay first.

Tian Xiang walked around inside with a pen and notebook, gaining a general understanding of the Weaving Group’s situation.

As they were leaving, she asked Feng Rui, “Teacher Feng, does this group only make vegetable baskets and bamboo strainers?”

Those were the only two things she had seen being made inside.

“Not exactly,” Feng Rui replied. “It’s just that demand for those two items is greater, and the supply-and-marketing cooperative places more orders for them.”

Tian Xiang then asked about obtaining raw materials, as well as orders and sales.

Feng Rui answered each of her questions.

At present, everything they produced was handed over to the supply-and-marketing cooperative. If the cooperative could not sell the goods, or if seasonal changes made certain products difficult to move, the group would also have to suspend production, and the members’ incomes would fall.

Tian Xiang had never looked into such matters before. She carefully recorded everything Feng Rui told her in her work notebook.

Chen Yong, by contrast, was the complete opposite. He had brought a notebook and pen, but had not even opened them. Though he nodded while Feng Rui spoke, appearing very serious, there was no doubt that the words went in one ear and out the other.

Feng Rui had once been a teacher, and he particularly liked students such as Tian Xiang who took notes diligently.

Since she was taking the matter seriously, he did as well, explaining everything he knew.

After they finished discussing the Weaving Group, Tian Xiang asked about the Construction Team. Were they going to take a look there next?

Feng Rui smiled. “The Construction Team doesn’t have much work. Over the course of a year, there may only be a few jobs…”

He then gave them a brief introduction to the team.

This so-called Construction Team was actually just a group that repaired roads in the residential compounds or handled jobs such as building a wall or constructing a stove for a household. Whenever someone needed such work done, the team had a job.

Road repairs and the like were mostly the responsibility of the authorities and had nothing to do with the residents. Only when the authorities refused to approve a repair that was nevertheless affecting residents’ lives could the union apply to the factory for funds and send the Construction Team to handle it.

As for construction needed by individual households, the residents naturally had to pay for it themselves.

The Construction Team had no office. Its tools were kept with the Weaving Group. Whenever work came in, the members were gathered together, the tools were brought along, and the job could begin.

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It seemed the Construction Team had very little presence, existing in a state that was practically optional.

Tian Xiang asked again, “Our union has more than just these two production groups, doesn’t it?”

Feng Rui nodded. “There’s also a matchbox-pasting group and a sewing group. Both are managed by Qu Yingchun.”

At the mention of this, Feng Rui advised Tian Xiang, “Tomorrow, talk to Director Li and see if you can return to Qu Yingchun’s group. Her work has always focused mainly on the factory residential compounds, so she has more experience than I do. As I just mentioned, the members of those two groups are all women, and they’re highly motivated in these areas. If you take over, it should be easier to produce results.”

There was one thing Feng Rui did not say outright: the two newly recruited positions had been designated for one man and one woman.

Although Chen Yong would also have to participate in the trial assignment, his advantage in terms of gender meant that he was already a certainty. The real competition was between Tian Xiang and Tao Huilan.

That morning, Tian Xiang and Tao Huilan had exchanged harsh words over the matter of group assignments. At noon, Tian Xiang had embarrassed her as well. Now, asking her to go back there was out of the question.

Besides, Tian Xiang had already seen that Aunt Qu was plainly partial to Tao Huilan. It was quite possible that the two families had some private connection.

If Tian Xiang insisted on going over there, favoritism would be the least of her worries. She was more afraid that they might deliberately set her up. Before the trial assignment was even over, she could already have lost.

“I’ll think about it,” Tian Xiang said. “Thank you, Teacher Feng.”

Whatever else might be said, Feng Rui’s intentions were kind.

Feng Rui could tell that Tian Xiang had not taken his advice to heart. After thinking for a moment, he said, “How about this? I’ll take you two to meet someone and deal with a problem that even Chairman Jiang has been unable to solve. Whoever manages to handle it will be able to make a significant note of it in their work record.”

He checked the time. “Come on. Let’s head toward the school.”

The three of them rode their bicycles to Lixin Primary School.

The school stood beside Lixin Community. It too had been built at the same time as the community’s family residential compound, a concrete building that looked both new and spacious.

Tian Xiang assumed they were going to the school.

But when they reached the gate, they turned a corner and entered the narrow alley behind it.

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