RBCT Chapter 99 Next Road
Chapter 99 Next Road
At the end of 1959, the families of steel mill workers had just finished distributing the wasteland to plant radishes when the year-end grading exams officially began.
With Li Huaide's help, Jia Dong came to the power supply bureau and participated in the intermediate electrician certification exam administered by the labor bureau. He successfully passed the exam from level three to level five.
Wang Dali, the electrician team leader at the steel rolling mill, also took the exam. By reading extensively on electrical engineering, he finally passed the Level 6 exam.
Wang Dali originally had rich practical experience, but lacked theoretical knowledge. After making up for his shortcomings, he passed the Level 6 exam smoothly. However, due to relevant regulations, he could not participate in the advanced electrician assessment.
The same applies to Jia Dongjin; he can barely skip one level, but skipping more than one level is impossible due to policy restrictions.
But this speed is already astonishing. A level 5 electrician earns as much as 80 yuan a month, which is a truly high salary among workers.
The two newly promoted electricians returned to the steel rolling mill in high spirits. Jia Dongjin found Qin Huairu and inquired about the factory's grade examination. Yi Zhonghai was reinstated as a level seven fitter, He Yuzhu was promoted back to level nine chef, Liu Haizhong was promoted to level seven forger, and Qin Huairu remained stagnant.
No one in the electrician group was promoted this time. After being promoted to Level 5 electrician, Jia Dongjin became the second-highest level electrician after the group leader, Wang Dali, and even higher than the deputy group leader.
Before the end of the year when salaries were paid, Jia Dongjin finally received the good news of his promotion. He had already made great contributions, and as long as his seniority level kept up, promotion would be a natural thing.
"Comrade Jia Dongjin, upon recommendation by the electrician group, and after deliberation by the leadership, is hereby promoted to head of the electrician group of the steel rolling mill. Wang Dali, the former head of the electrician group, has been reassigned. This decision shall take effect immediately."
Zhang Xiaohui, the head of the power department, read out the appointment. Wang Dali and Miao, the deputy team leader, showed no joy or sorrow. The two led the electricians in applauding to congratulate the new team leader, Jia Dongjin, on his double blessing.
After a flurry of chatter, Section Chief Zhang of the Power Department said a few polite words, exchanged a few pleasantries with Jia Dongjin and Wang Dali, and concluded the minor appointment.
The electrician team leader is equivalent to a deputy section chief, not even a deputy section chief, but for ordinary workers, it is an important sign of promotion to cadre, which is incomparable to the general practice of being promoted to cadre.
When people asked about the original team leader, Wang Dali, they learned that he had been reassigned and was now holding his post for the last few days, but his destination was not mentioned.
Jia Dongjin knew the inside story. Li Huaide said that Wang Dali's transfer was a secret, which made Jia Dongjin panic. If he was transferred, the Jia family would definitely be ostracized in the courtyard, or the whole family would be far away from Beijing. Fortunately, the transfer was to experienced elites, and it was rare to transfer a young man like him who had just gotten married.
Wang Dali's transfer to another post served as a wake-up call for Jia Dongjin.
"The job grade is too high, there's a minor issue."
If the worker's level is raised to the limit of their ability, it is easy for things to become uncontrollable. For the sake of the Jia family, Jia Dongjin decided to follow the predetermined route, which is relatively safer.
Whether now or in the future, Beijing is the most stable area, without exception. Jia Dongjin understands the value of a Beijing hukou (household registration).
Unable to be promoted, Jia Dongjin could only focus on mechanical work. As a new leader, it's best to avoid making a big splash, especially for a junior team leader like Jia Dongjin.
He declared to everyone that everything would proceed as usual, and soon the electricians' group was filled with applause again, with Liu Ning clapping the loudest.
"Old team leader, please rest assured, I will definitely do a good job and won't ruin the reputation of the electrician team."
Jia Dongjin and Wang Dali went out for a round of inspections, carefully recorded Wang Dali's instructions, and after consulting and communicating with Section Chief Zhang of the Power Department, Jia Dongjin finally officially began his work as the electrician team leader—studying and studying mechanical engineering diligently.
If you want to make a living with your skills, you can certainly avoid bending over backwards and bowing your head, but you must have real skills and work hard.
In other words, for someone from the bottom tier to rise up, without real skills, it's just a pipe dream.
There's nothing you can do about it. You don't have a good father or a good godfather, and you still want to live a good life, so you can only work hard.
This is assuming the direction is correct. If one does not understand the rules of how society operates and chooses the wrong direction to strive for, then it is destined to be a tragedy in life.
It's like when all industries are in a slump, you stubbornly insist on opening a shop with your family's savings. It's not even as good as playing the stock market. If you lose money in stocks, you can pretend to be dead and maybe one day you can break even and make a profit. But once the shop opens, your savings are gone, replaced by rent, wages, renovations, and so on.
In his previous life, Jia Dongjin worked in a foreign-owned factory, where he worked himself to the bone. This laid a solid foundation for his present life, as his vision and abilities far surpassed those of the average technician.
Having witnessed the competence of the section chief and deputy section chief of the power department several times, Jia Dongjin felt confident. Apart from reviewing his lessons and completing necessary night school assignments during work hours, his work returned to Jia Dongjin's comfort zone.
It's impossible to work properly at work; slacking off is the main theme.
With Jia Dongjin's promotion and advancement, the people in the courtyard began to change their opinion of him and started to take this newcomer seriously.
In just a year and a half, Jia Dongjin had almost reached the top of the workers' ladder. His monthly salary plus subsidies was 85 yuan, which was on par with Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong. He also earned income from his handicrafts and fished to supplement his family's income. In total, he earned much more than the two of them.
Most importantly, Jia Dongjin is only 23 years old, so young that the people in the courtyard may not be able to handle him at any time.
When the gap between two sides is too large, normal people usually stop being envious and jealous, and instead feel admiration.
Whether it's Xu Damao in the backyard or Yan Jiecheng and his brother in the front yard.
He Yuzhu from the Intermediate People's Court was convinced, but he learned from Yi Zhonghai that Jia Dongjin had passed the grade-skipping assessment this year by taking advantage of a certain leader's connections. He Yuzhu was still somewhat unconvinced, but not envious, since he had also been promoted to a level nine chef.
Unfortunately, many people are not normal now, and Jia Dongjin's rapid progress will one day bring him bitter consequences.
The former street urchin rose rapidly, climbing to the top of the worker ranks in less than two years, becoming a match for Yi Zhonghai and holding his own in no way.
Upon hearing the news, Yi Zhonghai drank heavily for half the night, and his wife Gao Cuilan sat with him for half the night. Neither of them could have imagined that instead of successfully training the eagle, the other had actually become an eagle.
If it were a deaf old lady, it would be like a quiet person suddenly becoming a leopard.
What they found hard to accept was that the couple had a feud with the eagle. They had no children, so the eagle didn't even need to lift a finger. As the couple grew older, sycophants would naturally step in and help them deal with the two old folks.
It's no use for the two of them to have money. The other person is too young and has huge potential for advancement in the future, becoming even richer and more powerful. This is the sorrow of having no descendants.
"Zhonghai, why are you doing this? You still need to explain that matter, otherwise it will cause trouble ten years later. You might as well..."
Gao Cuilan spoke in a quiet tone, her voice seemingly emanating from underwater.
"Okay, I'll bring him back tomorrow."
Yi Zhonghai acted decisively. Early the next morning, he took leave and went out to travel. On the third day, he returned to the courtyard house, covered in dust and grime, with a young boy in tow.
"Old Yi, isn't this Liu Hong's eldest son?"
To conserve food, Yan Fugui was huddled in a sheltered spot in the front yard, absorbing energy by basking in the sun. Upon seeing the visitor, he couldn't help but ask what was going on.
Yan Fugui was in a good mood recently. In order to effectively improve his predicament, he gave up his noodles and went to plead with the retired principal.
He was lucky. The school leaders couldn't refuse his request and couldn't bear to see the six members of the Yan family starve. Just then, a math teacher fell ill and took a long leave of absence, so Yan Fugui filled in for the teacher.
To everyone's surprise, Yan Fugui taught math quite well, even better than the Chinese class he used to teach. The school took the opportunity to reinstate Yan Fugui to his job, and his salary returned to 47 yuan per month.
Some teachers were unconvinced, but after listening to a few of Yan Fugui's math classes, they couldn't help but give him a thumbs up. They said that his math classes were really good, especially the math examples he gave, which were all closely related to life. From a scallion and a clove of garlic to a toothpaste tube and a pound of cornmeal, everything was calculated clearly and thoroughly.
Even the parents noticed their children's improved math skills, and they all became little math whizzes. Many parents reported this to the school leaders, hoping the school would commend Mr. Yan Fugui. Mr. Yan's integration of mathematics with life is incredibly ingenious; he is truly a good math teacher for the people.
The saying goes, "A man should not learn a new skill after the age of forty." Yan Fugui never expected that his luck would turn around and he would be promoted from a Chinese teacher to a math teacher. It is said that the leaders even intend to make him the deputy head of the math group, which means he is about to reach the pinnacle of his life.
Objectively speaking, the Yan family's house-grabbing incident is actually quite common. Even though Jia Dongjin made a big deal out of it, people privately did not think it was a heinous crime. Many people sympathized with the Yan family and thought the punishment was too harsh.
Yan Fugui was a veteran at Hongxing Primary School, which was affiliated with the steel rolling mill. He had been teaching Chinese at the school since its inception. If he hadn't been too calculating and hadn't had a bad family background, he would have become a leader long ago.
No one objected to Yan Fugui's reinstatement, and the Yan family escaped a disaster. However, Yan Fugui still habitually pretended to be poor, and still told the people in the compound that his salary was 27 yuan.
"Old Yan, the three brothers were sent back to their rural hometown. Their relatives didn't even have enough food to eat. They wrote to the steel mill every day, asking for a solution. Liu Hong's colleagues were worried that the children would get sick from hunger, so they also came to me for help. I couldn't bear to see it, so I brought the eldest son over. It's a good deed."
Yi Zhonghai sighed repeatedly, his face full of sorrow and compassion.
"Uncle Yi, I will always remember your great kindness. Please let me go back. Even if I starve to death, I want to be with my brothers."
Liu Hong's eldest son, Liu Damao, was emaciated and so hungry that all that remained was a large head on his shoulder. He knelt on the ground, pleading and begging.
"Oh, what a tragedy! Uncle Yi, you're doing a good deed, so kind and righteous! Liu Hong did something bad in a moment of impulse, what does it have to do with the child? I, He Yuzhu, admire you more than anyone else."
He Yuzhu helped Liu Damao up and gave Yi Zhonghai a thumbs up in front of everyone. He Yushui, standing next to him, had a complicated expression and her brows were so furrowed that they could trap a fly.
"You can't call me Uncle Yi anymore, you have to call me Grandpa from now on, and you have to call me Grandma." Liu Damao was good-looking and spoke appropriately, and Gao Cuilan immediately felt sorry for him.
She never had children in her life, but she couldn't help but be close to children when she saw them, so she pulled Liu Damao into the house.
After washing away the dust and resting for a couple of days, and changing into his altered old clothes, Liu Damao finally regained some semblance of human appearance. Yi Zhonghai then took him to the neighborhood office to complete the adoption procedures.
As an old, childless man who had served as a steward for many years and was also an eighth-grade fitter at a steel rolling mill, the neighborhood committee was willing to give him some face. Liu Damao made a detour and regained his Beijing household registration, as well as a valuable quota.
Thus, Yi Damao made his dazzling debut, and the No. 95 courtyard house gained another person.
With Yi Damao by her side, Gao Cuilan quickly launched a diplomatic operation. Apart from the rival Jia family, she visited every corner of the courtyard, introducing herself to the neighbors. Her old face was beaming like a blooming chrysanthemum.
Liu Damao was not bad-looking; he had a large frame and was tall and thin. Like his father Liu Hong, he had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and was honest and kind-hearted. He was also good at talking, which won the sympathy of most people in the courtyard.
He Yuzhu's words make sense; Liu Hong is not a good person, but the child is innocent.
Of course, there was no shortage of private gossip among the people in the courtyard.
It's normal for Yi Zhonghai and his wife to adopt a child since they didn't have any children of their own, but their adoption of Liu Hong's son is quite intriguing.
"These are troubled times, truly troubled times! Old Yi made a terrible move; he went down a dangerous path and suffered a disastrous defeat."
Xu Fugui shook his head and sighed in the backyard.
To Xu Fugui's utter astonishment, this wasn't the first time things had gone wrong; once the floodgates were opened, there were no limits.