Awaken: I See Tags, I Rewrite My Life-Chapter 33: Job Competition

In the afternoon, Feng Rui took Chen Yong and Tian Xiang to the two household handicraft production groups he managed.

This so-called production group is a small-scale production group based on the community, recruiting unemployed individuals from each family.

This form of production usually cooperates with factories or supply and marketing cooperatives, where the other party purchases at a unified price, and we organize and are responsible for production, earning some labor fees to cover family expenses.

Although the scale of this production group is not large and its stability is not strong, it is an important part of community activities.

Currently, job opportunities are scarce. Some families have elderly and children to support, with seven to eight members but only one person managing to find a job. It’s hard to make ends meet with the little salary, so these production groups help alleviate the pressure on these families to an extent.

In other places, such production groups are jointly managed by the street and residents’ committees.

But on Red Fifth Street, these matters are entirely handled by the trade unions of several major factories.

No choice, the people on Red Fifth Street are highly organized and ideological, preferring to listen to the factory rather than others.

Gradually, all such matters have been shifted to the factory union’s side.

Because Tian Xiang lives on Sanli Lane, she wasn’t very familiar with the situation here. On the way, Feng Rui explained the key points to her.

Currently, Feng Rui manages two production groups: a weaving group and a construction team group.

Both groups are located over in the settlement area.

The settlement area on Red Fifth Street is shared by the five major factories, mostly consisting of old houses, large compounds, or row houses, similar to the environment at Sanli Lane.

Whereas, the family courtyards of the five major factories were constructed into apartment buildings ten years ago. Though crowded, they have unified toilets and water rooms, along with trees and flower beds in the courtyard. Some community courtyards even have basketball courts and ping-pong tables, making the amenities significantly superior and the appearance more pleasant compared to the previous cluttered lanes and small courtyards.

Everyone is vying to live in such apartment buildings, so it’s certainly not feasible to use them for production.

Therefore, the production groups of the Mechanical Factory are all set up in the settlement area.

Feng Rui first took the two to the weaving group.

This weaving group is set up in a dilapidated ancestral hall, with more than a hundred registered members, but only about ten actually working daily, most of whom are elderly people.

No choice, young people only want factory jobs; they find this work meaningless and bothersome.

When Feng Rui entered with the two of them, two master workers cheerfully greeted them and, knowing that Tian Xiang and Chen Yong were new union staff, enviously commented, "How nice, your future is stable now."

Who could disagree?

But one must strive to stick around to make it happen.

Tian Xiang walked around with a pen and notebook, roughly understanding the situation of the weaving group.

Upon leaving, she asked Feng Rui, "Mr. Feng, is this group only producing vegetable baskets and skimmers?"

Those were the only two things she noticed inside.

Feng Rui: "Not exactly, it’s just that these two items are in high demand, with multiple orders from the supply and marketing cooperative."

Tian Xiang further inquired about the procurement of materials and the ordering and sales situation.

Feng Rui explained everything to her.

Currently, everything they produce is handed over to the supply and marketing cooperative. If products become unsellable there due to seasonal issues, they might face production stoppages and reduced income for group members.

Tian Xiang had no prior understanding of this area, so she tried to note down everything Feng Rui said in her work notebook.

In contrast, Chen Yong was quite different from Tian Xiang. He had a notebook and pen but didn’t even open it. Although he nodded as Feng Rui spoke, seemingly very attentive, it was clear he wasn’t taking anything in.

Feng Rui, having been a teacher, had a fondness for students like Tian Xiang who loved to take notes.

Since she was earnest, he paid attention and explained everything.

After discussing the weaving group, Tian Xiang inquired about the construction team’s situation and whether they should visit that next.

Feng Rui chuckled, "The construction team doesn’t have much work; maybe only a few projects throughout the year..."

Feng Rui briefly outlined the construction team.

The so-called construction team is basically employed to fix roads or if someone wants to build a wall or set up a stove, providing work for the construction team.

Tasks like road repairs, mostly handled by authorities, are unrelated to residents. If authorities don’t approve them despite affecting residents’ lives, the union can request some funds from the factory to allow the construction team to carry out repairs.

As for individual residential construction needs, residents definitely have to cover the costs themselves.

The construction team has no office; tools are kept at the weaving group’s place. Work is done by gathering people and tools when there is a task.

Their presence seems very low-key, seemingly dispensable.

Tian Xiang asked, "Our union doesn’t just have these two production groups, right?"

Feng Rui nodded, "There’s also a matchbox gluing group and a sewing group, both managed by Qu Yingchun."

Bringing this up, Feng Rui advised Tian Xiang, "Tomorrow, you might want to talk to Director Li about joining Qu Yingchun’s group. Her work has mainly been focused on the family compound area, so she’s more experienced. The group members I just mentioned are all women with high enthusiasm for those areas, making it easier to achieve results if you take over."

There was one thing Feng Rui didn’t say. The two newly hired positions this time were set as one male and one female.

Although Chen Yong had to participate in the trial, due to his gender advantage, he was already a certainty. The real competition was between Tian Xiang and Tao Huilan.

This morning, Tian Xiang and Tao Huilan exchanged harsh words over group assignment, leaving Tao embarrassed at noon. Now if asked to return to that side, she definitely wouldn’t comply.

Furthermore, she noticed that Aunt Qu was clearly biased towards Tao Huilan, and their families might have some under-the-table connections.

If she insisted on joining in, partiality would be the least of her worries; the real concern was being deliberately disadvantaged, losing before the trial period ended.

Tian Xiang: "I’ll think about it. Mr. Feng, thanks."

No matter what, Feng Rui had good intentions.

Seeing Tian Xiang wasn’t receptive, Feng Rui considered for a moment, then said, "How about this: I’ll take you both to meet someone and handle a matter that even Chairman Jiang couldn’t resolve. Whoever among you two accomplishes this will earn a solid achievement in your work performance."

Feng Rui checked the time, "Let’s go to the school."

The three of them rode bicycles to Lixin Primary School.

The school is located next to Lixin Community, and it was built alongside the community’s family compound as a concrete building, looking new and spacious.

Tian Xiang thought they were going to the school.

However, upon reaching the gate, they took a turn into a small alley behind.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺