Chapter 9: 09 First Day of Work 2

"Old Zhang, this is Song Suisui. She'll belong to your Procurement Department from now on."

Zhong Zhengmin brought Song Suisui to Director Zhang of the Procurement Department, exchanged a few words, and then left.

Director Zhang looked to be about the same age as Song Jianjun. When he saw Song Suisui, he smiled broadly, appearing quite amiable.

After asking her a few questions, he led her to the Procurement Department office.

At this time, there were already three people in the office, and all of them were men.

None of them looked very young. Upon hearing from Director Zhang that Song Suisui was a newcomer, they all showed a hint of surprise.

After all, the Mechanical Plant's Procurement Department had never had a female employee.

Procurement work often involved running around outside, and with the world being so chaotic these days, it was somewhat unsafe for a girl.

Regarding Song Suisui's arrival, they didn't exactly welcome her, but they wouldn't go out of their way to make things difficult for her either.

After all, if three grown men were to make things difficult for such a young girl, they'd be laughed out of town if word got out.

Song Suisui had no intention of forming deep connections with them. Since they clearly looked like married men, it was necessary to maintain a distance.

The staff in the Mechanical Plant's Procurement Department wasn't large; including Song Suisui, there were exactly five people.

Since there were no business trips scheduled recently, she met all her colleagues on her first day of work.

After being assigned a desk, Song Suisui watched the other three—some chatting, some reading newspapers—and couldn't help but marvel at how leisurely this job was.

Lunch was eaten at the canteen. Song Suisui took her own aluminum lunch box and followed the crowd into the dining hall.

It had to be said that this mechanical plant truly lived up to its reputation as a large enterprise in Xinghai City; the food was indeed quite good.

At the very least, there were both meat and vegetable dishes, which was already top-tier for a canteen in this era.

After getting a meat dish, a vegetable dish, and rice, Song Suisui found an empty seat and sat down.

After a while, a young girl with a round face and two braided pigtails approached her.

"My name is Yu Fengyuan, from the Publicity Department. You're the newcomer, right?"

"I'm Song Suisui, from the Procurement Department. I just started working today."

"Oh~" Yu Fengyuan nodded, then asked her, "Is your family also at the mechanical plant? I haven't seen you around the residential compound."

"My parents are over at the textile mill," Song Suisui replied without hiding it, since this was something that could be easily looked up.

"I see! Since you just arrived today, you definitely haven't toured the factory yet, right?"

Song Suisui nodded. "Indeed, I haven't."

"I knew it. That group of big men in the Procurement Department wouldn't bother taking you around to learn the factory at all," Yu Fengyuan said with an expression of knowing the truth.

After saying that, she turned to Song Suisui again. "How about this: after we finish eating, I'll take you for a tour?"

Song Suisui nodded. Since someone was willing to act as her guide, she was naturally happy to accept.

Thus, after lunch, Yu Fengyuan took Song Suisui around for a tour.

After the tour, the two became much closer.

Yu Fengyuan was well-informed and loved to gossip. Although Song Suisui was fed a mouthful of gossip, she also heard quite a bit of useful information from her.

After they parted, they became ordinary friends; as for whether they could develop into best friends, that would depend on how they got along over time.

At least for now, Yu Fengyuan seemed quite nice.

When the Procurement Department was busy, they were running all over the place; when it was idle, they were just sitting in the office picking at their toes.

So, throughout the entire day, aside from looking through various materials regarding the mechanical plant's machinery and parts, Song Suisui had little else to do.

You might not understand mechanical knowledge, but you had to understand the performance of various machines in the factory; otherwise, if someone asked you a question and you knew nothing, it would be very embarrassing.

Therefore, Song Suisui spent the entire afternoon reading materials.

By the time she worked until the end of the shift, she had finally finished most of the materials.

At the same time, she gained a concrete understanding of the procurement job.

If she didn't understand something, she would ask the other three procurement officers in the office.

Although their attitude toward her was mediocre, they would still answer her questions.

It was just that the three grown men and a young girl like Song Suisui didn't have much to talk about.

After work, Song Suisui rushed to catch the last bus home. Sitting on the bus, she felt she should find a house closer to work for convenience.

More importantly, Boss Tan's black market was in this area. If she wanted to do business with him, she had to move here.

The mechanical plant had dormitories, but Song Suisui felt the conditions were worse than renting or buying a small house elsewhere.

Thinking of this, she thought to herself that it seemed she would have to go see Boss Tan again.

Currently, the only goods she could provide were those 100 bolts of fabric.

She might as well see what she could draw from a blind box tonight and decide then.

With these thoughts, she was nearing her stop.

Upon returning home, Song Suisui and Song Niannian were pulled aside by Ma Xiumei to be questioned about their first day of work.

Both said it was quite good.

Ma Xiumei wasn't quite at ease, so she pulled them both aside again to lecture them on how to interact with colleagues and how to deal with superiors—essentially all sorts of "social etiquette."

This was also her heartfelt love for her daughters, and the two of them listened to the end without complaining about the annoyance.

At nine o'clock, Song Suisui opened three more blind boxes. This time, she was visibly even happier than in the previous days!

Because one of her blind boxes contained ten boxes of sanitary pads.

For a girl, sanitary pads were truly an essential item; as for things like menstrual cloths, Song Suisui really couldn't bring herself to praise them.

The other two boxes also contained good things. With these items, she felt her housing situation was becoming more settled.

Thus, she fell into a sweet sleep.

As for Song Niannian's room, she was also contemplating the matter of moving out. With the existence of her space, she had to secure startup funds before the Reform and Opening-up.

Besides, her home was also a bit far from her workplace, so moving out was a good excuse.

Most importantly, if news spread that both she and Suisui had jobs, there would surely be many people around the residential compound keeping an eye on their home.

If someone reported them then, it would be trouble.

If she and Suisui avoided these people and removed themselves as the "protagonists," perhaps there would be less gossip.

She would find a time tomorrow to tell Suisui her plans.

If Suisui was unwilling to move out, then she would go and talk to her eldest brother.

Having made up her mind, Song Niannian was no longer troubled. She disappeared from her room and entered her space to tend to the crops she had worked so hard to plant.

...

When Song Suisui stepped into the office, she was the only one there.

The other three men all arrived right on the dot.

Once everyone was present, Director Zhang came over to call for Song Suisui.

"The mechanical plant is running low on certain types of steel. The day after tomorrow, go to the steel mill in the Imperial Capital and procure a batch of steel. The factory will prepare the train tickets. Once you arrive there..."

Song Suisui listened carefully; she knew this was a test Director Zhang was giving her.

If she did well, she could establish a firm foothold in the Procurement Department; if she failed, things would be difficult in the future.

"That's all. Comrade Xiao Song, you must work hard! Remember to come find me tomorrow afternoon to get your letter of introduction and train tickets."

"Understood, Director Zhang. I will work hard."

After returning to the office, the others were still slacking off, but Song Suisui was quite excited.

The capital in 1973 certainly wasn't as prosperous as in later generations, but she was still excited.

The capital in this era held several great male idols in the hearts of the entire Chinese people!!!

Song Suisui screamed wildly in her heart!!!

(End of Chapter)