Chronicle of the 70s-Chapter 394 - 369: Aftermath

Seeing this, Li Xianglu quickly turned around and walked towards the living room. The decision had been made almost unexpectedly. Standing at the door, Chou Xue had a somewhat stiff expression and asked loudly, "Director Li, are the children all right?"

Li Xianglu smiled and said as she was about to enter the room, "They’re fine, no bleeding, but we still need to disinfect the wounds, you know."

Li Xianglu moved quickly, not stopping because Chou Xue spoke to her. Once inside, she headed straight for the window. Sure enough, there was Gao Kang, standing there, facing her, in front of half a window, and Qin Xi’s briefcase.

Li Xianglu glanced and hurried into the house for the disinfectant. Soon, the four children were moved to the living room. After applying the medicine to the chubby kid, Li Xianglu calmed the dispute by giving out a pack of White Rabbit Creamy Candies.

The chubby kid, clutching a pack of candy and incessantly smacking his lips, kept urging Wang Yanan to go home, eager to eat the sweets. But with four kids eyeing him like tigers watching their prey, he did not want to share and so started fussing to go home.

Thus, Wang Yanan and Zhang Dahu took their leave first, and everyone gradually followed suit. In the end, Li Xianglu gave a handful of candies to Han Xuemei’s daughter. Han Xuemei felt really embarrassed, having come without any gifts, and ended up leaving with both goodies and gifts.

After sending everyone off, Gu Niannian looked at her with a face full of expectation for praise: "Godmother, have I completed my task?"

Li Xianglu smiled and patted Gu Niannian’s head saying, "Yes, you did well. Your godmother will reward you!"

Li Xianglu then handed each of the three kids a bar of chocolate and a bag of candies but also warned them not to eat too much.

Gu Niannian, extremely proud and holding the treats, asked with confusion, "Godmother, why didn’t you let me bite that fatty’s arm until it broke?"

Li Xianglu smiled and tapped on Gu Niannian’s head, saying, "If you had, it would have turned into a big issue. A pack of milk candies wouldn’t have brushed off that easily."

Gu Niannian nodded, not fully understanding, and joined the twins to start eating chocolate in the living room. However, it was late, so they could only eat one piece each.

The story goes back to before dinner today when Li Xianglu was cutting meat in the kitchen. She saw that Wang Yanan’s cousin, taking advantage of his size and age, was bullying the others. The three kids were annoyed but held back since the chubby kid was a guest. So, Li Xianglu called Gu Niannian over. Gu Niannian was going to start first grade in September and was already smart. Li Xianglu gave the instructions, and she understood immediately.

That led to the scene where everyone came out to check on the kids.

Last year, Gu Niannian was taken in as godchild by Li Xianglu and Qin Xi. The two families were already growing closer, and despite Zhu Hong being somewhat petty, Gu Niannian was indeed a good child.

Li Xianglu gave Gu Niannian a gold medal as a gift, which thrilled Zhu Hong so much that it amused everyone.

In the evening, Qin Xi inquired about the afternoon events. Li Xianglu explained in detail, and after listening, Qin Xi nodded and asked, "She does not eat lamb?"

Li Xianglu affirmed. Qin Xi somehow found out that when people from his workplace came to his home for a meal, he specifically asked for lamb to be prepared and also for Li Xianglu to observe whether Chou Xue ate lamb or not. However, he did not reveal his reasons, only mentioning that he was still in doubt.

Li Xianglu was not a gossip, so she did not pry further.

Meanwhile, Leng Qing’s factory was expanding its workforce due to reconstruction, and Qin Xi implemented a policy that was even more beneficial for the people. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Of course, the policy was agreed upon in a countywide meeting and had been approved by the provincial government.

The policy was such that if Leng Qing’s factory could recruit locals as employees, addressing most of the surplus labor force, then the government would grant the factory tax exemption.

Of course, there were specific quotas; simply employing a few people wouldn’t suffice.

The skill level required for making chili sauce was not particularly high; anyone who was literate could do it.

However, after discussion, it was decided to set a minimum educational requirement to emphasize the importance of education to the public, thus indirectly raising the entire county’s awareness about the value of literacy.

After the decision, a primary school diploma was set as the minimum requirement for new hires, except for special talents. There were women with low levels of formal education but excellent sauce-making skills; these were considered technical talents, and educational qualifications were then less critical for them.

Leng Qing’s factory was hiring a hundred workers due to the reconstruction. Back in 1985, people didn’t put much stock in private factories, associating them with the oppressive foreign factories of the past, where workers were exhausted and oppressed while earning very little. Therefore, prospects were not viewed optimistically.

Leng Qing posted the recruitment terms, relative wages, and benefits. An ordinary worker, working a six-hour shift, would earn 22 yuan a month, without food tickets, but would receive ten jin of rice or flour as a monthly subsidy, and at least one month’s salary at year’s end, equating to thirteen months’ wages.

Even state enterprise workers only earned about seventeen or eighteen yuan, but they had various ticket compensations. Private factories didn’t have these, but now that it was 1985, food supply was increasingly deregulated. Except for rice and noodles from the state-owned canteen, which still required food tickets, vegetables and meat needed very few, and there were even private traders selling food, slightly more expensive than the supply and marketing cooperatives but much cheaper than the former black market. Twenty yuan was enough for a person’s monthly expenses in an era where a jin of pork cost 0.60 yuan.

Once the notice was posted, the whole town was abuzz.

Especially as these were just the wages for ordinary workers, like those who washed and dried things. The company’s wages for a technical worker, who worked at the machines on the floor, were even higher. It was rumored that a technician in the factory earned more than fifty yuan a month. In an era when a county head earned 108 yuan, this piece of news suddenly made unmarried men and women at Leng Qing’s factory highly sought after.

The future looked very bright indeed.

Li Xianglu herself was also getting restless. Having too much money lying around was a waste; why not buy some storefront property?

And the place she most wanted to buy was in Hong Kong or in Shanghai, where land values would skyrocket in the future.

Su Yan, seeing all this, was close to dying of laughter and ended up taking Li Xianglu’s money away, promising to buy her a plot of land in Hong Kong for her. Li Xianglu had her eye on a piece of land by the sea, which although not as valuable as a storefront, would eventually be purchased by someone in the future to build a high-end villa complex. Then she could also get herself a set, and the family could go there for vacations when they felt like it.