Chapter 384

Xu Nuo led Wang Gensheng on a quick tour around the factory grounds. He wasn't lying; he was indeed a celebrity at the textile factory, to the point where there wasn't a soul who didn't know him. Everyone who saw Xu Nuo could accurately call out his name, then ask who the young man beside him was.

It would have been even better if, when people asked this, their eyes weren't filled with an internal monologue of: "Which poor sap has Xu Nuo scammed this time? This young man is finished."

Xu Nuo knew the people in the factory very well. His mouth barely stopped moving the entire way, as he kept introducing Wang Gensheng to the various departments, the relevant leaders, and the interpersonal relationships Wang Gensheng needed to understand as a new accountant in the Finance Section.

If this were an onboarding orientation, Qin Huai would give Xu Nuo a perfect score for it.

Wang Gensheng was just a bit shy as a workplace newcomer. Compared to a normal person, he was a little dull and his emotional intelligence wasn't that high, but that didn't mean he was a stupid person.

In this era, anyone who could get into university was a smart person, and a diligent, smart person at that. Wang Gensheng nodded and listened the whole time, memorizing things in his heart as he listened. It was clear he knew Xu Nuo was helping him by talking so much.

After finishing the tour of the factory, Xu Nuo led Wang Gensheng to Logistics to collect everything he hadn't received yet, letting Wang Gensheng happily acquire a basin, an enamel mug, two towels, three bars of soap, and some scattered money coupons.

Xu Nuo also casually asked how much money Wang Gensheng had on him. Upon learning that Wang Gensheng's family situation was not very well-off, that he had several siblings, and that his family had scrimped and saved to put him through university, he realized that besides the luggage he brought with him, he only had 5 yuan in his pocket. It could be said he was very poor.

Upon hearing how poor Wang Gensheng was, Xu Nuo immediately led the now-equipped Wang Gensheng back to Logistics to plead poverty. Under Wang Gensheng's dumbfounded gaze, he helped Wang Gensheng get two extra bars of soap and even got a month's salary advanced.

Xu Nuo handed one of the two bars of soap he had begged for to Wang Gensheng and tucked the other into his own pocket: "When a new employee joins, if they don't have money in their pocket and need to buy things, they can apply for a one-month salary advance."

"Of course, if you still can't afford to eat because you're too poor before you pass your probation, you can apply for another half-month advance. You apply right there in your Finance department; you'll know how to handle the procedures once you start working."

"These money coupons were supposed to be collected in your Finance department too, but your Finance department is..." Xu Nuo made a look of disdain and shook his head. "There are quite a few people in your Finance department, but not many who can actually work. They throw a lot of things they can't finish themselves to other departments to do; the people in Logistics are sick to death of your Finance department."

"Otherwise, my dad wouldn't have run off to Jin Ling to poach people, just to get you, a university student who studied finance."

"It's lucky it was me leading you to Logistics to collect things today. If it were your Section Chief Li or someone else... let alone giving you two extra bars of soap and letting you advance your salary, they wouldn't cut off a corner of your soap to give you 1/4 less, even if Sister Hu from Logistics is in a good mood today."

Wang Gensheng was carefully folding the money coupons into a cloth, putting the cloth bundle into his pants pocket. Just after stuffing it in, he felt his pants pocket wasn't safe, so he hurriedly stuffed it into his inner shirt pocket, keeping it close to his body.

One look at this inner pocket and you could tell it had been sewn on extra; the stitching was decent.

Xu Nuo was already used to Wang Gensheng not talking much; after all, he had another strange friend, Shi Dadan, who didn't talk much either.

Xu Nuo waited for Wang Gensheng to carefully put away his money before speaking: "Now, will you lead me to your dormitory to put your things away, and then I'll take you to the department store for a stroll?"

"Okay." Wang Gensheng nodded, leading the way, taking Xu Nuo to his dormitory.

Wang Gensheng's dormitory was about the same as the one Qin Huai had seen for Shi Dadan before, except that Shi Dadan, as a super-connected person specially introduced by Xu Nuo, had a small single room to himself, while Wang Gensheng lived in a double room, with two single beds in the room.

Wang Gensheng putting his things away wasn't just putting them away; he sorted everything into categories and even swept the floor while he was at it.

Xu Nuo had no intention of doing any work, leaning halfway against the door watching Wang Gensheng work, his mouth not idle either, constantly asking questions.

"You're from Shancheng, went to university in Jin Ling, how did you think of coming to our cotton mill in Suzhou?"

"More money, the cotton mill will give me an extra 3 yuan subsidy every month." "Your college entrance exam score was so high, how did you think of studying finance? If it were my dad, my dad would definitely have made me study physics, mathematics, or chemistry."

Wang Gensheng answered almost every question: "I like calculating accounts. My mom said I'm a natural accountant. When I was a child, there was one time my brother stole money from the house, and my mom found that the money was missing but couldn't figure out where it was missing from no matter how she calculated."

"At that time, I was in the third grade of elementary school, standing beside my parents listening to them go over the accounts on the ledger for a whole night. Finally, the money had a problem the morning of the previous day, and after my parents carefully checked, they found it should have been my brother who moved the money."

"Everyone felt that I would definitely be able to be an accountant in the future, so I also studied finance in university."

Xu Nuo was very moved: "Knowing what you want to do since you were a child, that's really great."

Wang Gensheng was a little surprised, his hands organizing things pausing: "You don't know?"

"I don't know." Xu Nuo shook his head. "My dad wants me to take the college entrance exam, my mom wants me to join the army, and my grandma hopes I stay by her side, even if I'm just a second-generation heir, it doesn't matter."

"My brother thinks my brain is active, my mouth is sharp, and I'm very good at observing people, suitable for being a salesperson. My sister-in-law thinks my snacks are made especially well, and that it would be quite good to be a chef at a state-run restaurant, but she has never dared to say it; she's afraid my parents will scold her."

"I feel that none of these are what I want to do."

"On one hand, I feel I shouldn't just stay in Suzhou; I should go to other places to run around more. But I don't have a proper job, and running around everywhere makes it easy to be caught as a vagrant."

"But on the other hand, I feel that staying in Suzhou is very important, because there are many of my relatives and friends here, and there are people who are very important to me."

"I always feel that there is one thing I must do, but I don't know what this thing is."

"My dad says my situation is just being idle, that life is too good. It's caused by eating, drinking, and playing outside with fox friends and dog pals every day without going to work; taking a college entrance exam would be fine."

Wang Gensheng didn't know what to say for a moment. On one hand, he felt Xu Nuo was a pretty good person, being so open and honest just after meeting, leading him around to introduce the situation, and revealing his inner thoughts.

On the other hand, he felt that as an ordinary employee, he shouldn't be gossiping about his dad with Xu Nuo; after all, his dad was the factory director.

Wang Gensheng could only say: "Policies are always changing. Perhaps one day, even if you don't have a formal job, you can run around all over the country."

Xu Nuo smiled: "You really are worthy of being a university student. When I say this to another friend of mine, he basically just nods and then asks me what we're eating for dinner."

Wang Gensheng also smiled, digging out a jar wrapped in cloth from his luggage, opening it; it was a jar of chili sauce. Wang Gensheng quietly glanced at Xu Nuo, a little hesitant, thinking for a while before he had to stand up and hand the jar to Xu Nuo.

"This is chili sauce my mom made." Wang Gensheng said, "I know you all don't really eat spicy food here. If you don't eat this, I... I didn't bring anything else. If you don't like it, I'll write a letter to my mom to ask if there is any cured meat at home."

Xu Nuo didn't have any hesitation, his eyes almost lighting up as he took the chili sauce: "Chili sauce, I like it too much."

Wang Gensheng breathed a sigh of relief: "As long as you like it."

(End of chapter)