Chapter 1295: University Students Onboarding

Wu Yunliang was a junior college student from Hebei Province, already twenty-eight years old, with his family in a rural village. He had long since married and had two children, while his parents remained in their hometown being cared for.

He had failed to gain admission to a bachelor's program, but his attitude toward studying was extremely earnest.

"Education changes destiny" was not a lie to people of the eighties and nineties. By earning his junior college degree, he had already changed his destiny. He might have been assigned to a factory, or perhaps to a government unit in his hometown, and his household registration would have been converted to urban status.

But he wanted something better, so he studied even more diligently, forgetting food and sleep. Majoring in machinery, he achieved the best grades in his department.

During job assignments, as the top student in machinery, he was assigned to Jin Ling Group. He knew of Jin Ling Group; he had known of it even back when it was the Jin Ling Textile Factory, producing water-jet looms, selling denim clothing, and earning foreign exchange. He also knew that Wang Yan had given a speech at Peking University and had organized the university student inspection tour.

He knew Jin Ling Group was an excellent unit, but he had initially refused because he did not want to be too far from home. However, when his advisor told him that going to Jin Ling Group meant receiving housing, a salary exceeding one hundred yuan, permission to bring family members, job arrangements for those family members, and nearly free medical care and education, among other generous benefits, he firmly declared his obedience to the state's arrangement.

Thus, he wrote a letter home stating his destination and describing the future. He packed his luggage, bid farewell to his dormitory classmates, took his personnel file, held the introduction letter issued by his school and the state assignment certificate, bought a hard-seat train ticket, and after quite a bit of trouble, arrived at Jin Ling Railway Station one morning.

"Jin Ling has arrived, Jin Ling has arrived... Everyone hold onto your luggage tightly, watch your valuables, and beware of pickpockets. Those with children, keep a close eye on them; with so many people and such a mix, a lost child is hard to find," the train attendant shouted at the top of his lungs.

The people in the carriage buzzed as they gathered their large and small bags, crowding to disembark.

Some were visiting relatives, some on business trips, some were merchants, and others were natives of Jin Ling returning from abroad. With people getting off and others getting on, it was extremely lively.

Wu Yunliang also shouldered his large and small bags, crowding off the train with the flow of people. For a stretch, his feet even left the ground, allowing him to truly feel the prosperity of the small Jin Ling County.

As soon as he stepped off the train, all he could see were people, and all he could hear was noise and clamor.

He felt somewhat at a loss, unsure where to go. Just then, he spotted a huge, conspicuous banner not far away, bearing the words: "Warmly Welcome University Students to Join the Jin Ling Group Family and Strive Together for Socialism" and "University Student Registration Desk."

He let out a long breath of relief and quickly carefully made his way through the crowd toward it. He saw a row of tables there, with over a dozen people sitting behind them handling papers and pens. Several others, who had arrived on the same train, were already standing before the tables conversing and signing documents, their large and small bags beside them.

"Hello, comrade, welcome to Jin Ling Group."

Seeing Wu Yunliang approach, a young man immediately came forward, smiling warmly. "We are from the Group's Human Resources Department, handling onboarding matters for university students. Please take out your personnel file, along with the introduction letter from your esteemed school and the state assignment certificate."

"Okay."

Wu Yunliang responded, deftly setting down his large and small bags of luggage, and pulled out his file and related documents from the army-green satchel slung across his body.

"Comrade Wu Yunliang, please come over here."

The young man from Human Resources glanced at the information, then led Wu Yunliang to a table to begin the onboarding procedures.

The clerk sitting behind the table found Wu Yunliang's name on the list, ticked it off, and then asked, "Comrade, how did you travel here?"

"By train," Wu Yunliang replied, confused, since they were, after all, at the railway station.

"I mean which class of carriage: hard seat, hard sleeper, or soft sleeper?"

"Hard seat."

"Please show me your ticket."

Obediently, Wu Yunliang took out his ticket and placed it on the table.

The person took the ticket, glanced at it, and then immediately picked up a handwritten accounting voucher to fill in the figures.

Writing as he spoke, he said, "Consider this a factory benefit; train tickets for all university students coming onboard are fully reimbursed. For hard seats, reimbursement is calculated at the hard sleeper rate. For hard sleepers and soft sleepers, it's actual cost reimbursement."

After finishing the voucher and setting it aside safely, he opened a box on the table and took out the cash equivalent of a soft sleeper ticket.

"Reimbursement complete; please keep the money safe."

Before Wu Yunliang could express his astonishment, the clerk took out a sheet of paper: "This is your application for household registration transfer; please sign it."

Wu Yunliang obeyed and did so.

Then the clerk tore off several slips of paper, writing on them while asking, "How many people are in your family?"

"Uh, we haven't split the household yet; there are sixteen of us in total."

"Then you must separate them out. Only immediate family members can accompany you into the factory—that means your parents, wife, and children," the clerk explained, pausing his pen. "How many children do you have?"

"Two, a son and a daughter. My wife is looking after them back home."

"Then your household consists of four people. Do you intend to bring your parents over?"

"I'd like to see first, and my parents may not necessarily be willing to come. Uh... can I bring them later?" Wu Yunliang asked cautiously.

"Anytime. You can even come to live here without transferring their household registration. You can consider it later; once decided, just submit a report upward," the clerk said, lowering his head to fill out the slips again.

A moment later, the clerk handed over the slips one by one.

"This is your housing allocation slip; it's eighty-five square meters, enough to bring your wife and children over. This is your furniture selection slip; you can choose two beds, one table, four chairs, one sofa set, and three cabinets.

This is your slip for daily necessities; you can claim one set of daily necessities at any state-run store. This includes two washbasins, one toothbrush, three tubes of toothpaste, two bars of laundry soap, two bars of toilet soap, one bottle of shampoo, one bottle of face cream, two sets of bedding and pillows, and two sets of home textiles. That means sheets, duvet covers, pillowcases, and so on, all produced by our own textile factory. You can also claim a set of cooking utensils, bowls, and chopsticks.

This is your bicycle slip; you can go to the bicycle shop and select one bicycle produced by our Jin Ling Bicycle Factory, any model you like, whether it's a 28-inch or a 26-inch.

You won't need a food ration relation slip; our staff canteen provides three meals a day, not counted per mouth and requiring no tickets. This is your grain booklet; this one is useful. Currently, grain and oil in our county are still under quota supply and must be purchased with coupons.

This is your medical booklet. For minor ailments like headaches or fevers, go to the clinic; the old traditional Chinese medicine doctor will prescribe a couple of doses, and you'll be fine. If the clinic cannot handle it, go to the county hospital; if the county hospital cannot, go to the provincial hospital, or even to Beijing or Shanghai.

This is your work assignment slip. Before you arrived, you were already assigned to the position of textile machinery research and development. Within one week, take this slip directly to the Textile Machinery Factory to report for duty; they will handle everything for you. The logistics department there will issue your work uniform.

However, don't worry; the position is not set in stone. Currently, assignments are based on your major, but after working for a while, if some comrades find they are not suited to it, you will be reassigned.

This is your salary slip; with this, you can go to the Finance Department to advance one month's salary to help you settle in. Since you haven't started working yet, there are no benefits, only the base salary. The base salary for junior college graduates is one hundred yuan, and for bachelor's graduates, it is one hundred fifteen yuan.

This booklet contains the factory regulations, this one the safety production ordinances, and this one the health and hygiene regulations. These three concern the rights and obligations of our staff and the security of collective property; you must read them carefully. Especially the factory regulations; it is best to memorize them.

This is the work handbook; wages, welfare benefits, medical reimbursement, pension, and so on, are all in the work handbook. You can find answers to many questions there.

Welcome to the team, Comrade Wu Yunliang."

The clerk stood up and solemnly shook Wu Yunliang's hand.

Wu Yunliang was still somewhat dazed; he mechanically shook the clerk's hand and muttered a "thank you."

The clerk did not mock him, as they had seen many such reactions recently; the other university students nearby going through onboarding were equally stunned, all shocked by Jin Ling Group's incredibly high benefits, and they were likely frantically thanking the state and the Party.

"Comrade, go with him; first go over there to have your photo taken, and after that, he will take you to select your housing."

"Okay, thank you, comrade."

Wu Yunliang responded and, led by the previous young man, went to one of the tents in a row nearby to have a color ID photo taken. Afterwards, he followed that person out, boarded a motorcycle, first went to claim a 28-inch bicycle for convenient travel around the county and for carrying goods, then went to advance one month's salary, and only then proceeded to the staff residential area, where he found someone to submit his slips, complete the registration, and receive the house keys.

By the time the dazed Wu Yunliang came to his senses, the young man from Human Resources who had brought him there had already left, closing the door behind him, leaving him alone standing in the eighty-five-square-meter apartment, which seemed very spacious because it contained nothing at all.

Sunlight streamed through the clean, bright glass windows, casting a golden hue over half the room. The floor was paved with marble tiles, and the walls were painted with clean white paint, making the entire interior appear very bright. Even the radiators had been painted a color that matched the room's brightness.

Wu Yunliang knew this was real, yet he also believed he was dreaming.

His heart was filled with unease, as if suspended in midair. It felt just like when he was a child, exploring an abandoned, dilapidated house at the village entrance all by himself.

Only back then, he had felt fear; now, he felt excitement.

He walked around the room, looking at the bedroom, the kitchen, the floor, and the walls, until finally he opened the window, stepped out onto the balcony, trembling slightly as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, took one out to hold between his lips, and struck his match three times before finally lighting it.

He took a deep drag, feeling the breeze of Jin Ling, gazing at the architecture of the staff housing, and exhaled with satisfaction.

"The good days have truly arrived..."

He murmured to himself, a smile hanging on his face, his heart full of hope for the future.

At this moment, no one loved the Jin Ling Group more than he did!

After finishing the cigarette and calming his mood, he didn't even flick the butt onto the ground or throw it downstairs; instead, he extinguished it against the balcony railing, tucked it into his pocket.

He turned back into the room, unpacked his large and small bags, took out paper and pen, and lay directly on the floor to start writing a letter.

He wrote down his observations and the good news of being allocated a large eighty-five square meter apartment, stating that once he had settled in, he would take leave to go home and bring his wife and children over. He sealed the letter in an envelope, slipped fifty yuan inside, carefully sealed it shut, and affixed a stamp.

Next, he tidied up his small satchel, placing slips for daily necessities and furniture inside, locked the door, and left the apartment. Downstairs, he mounted his bicycle, first heading to the post office to mail the letter, then going to the state-run restaurant where he spent a few yuan on a boxed meal and drank a bottle of soda.

This was quite novel, as state-run restaurants usually sold stir-fried dishes, not this kind of boxed meal.

The introduction of boxed meals was actually very popular, mainly among children, or rather, it was launched specifically for the school-going children.

Since they did not work yet but benefited from the county's compulsory education, free textbooks, and free stationery costs, the factory could not afford to feed so many who ate without working, so the schools did not provide meals.

They either brought food from home in the morning or went home at noon to eat. Since the parents of the county's children were all dual-income workers eating at the factory, they had no extra time to care for their kids; plus, with life generally happy and earnings quite high, they would give their children money every now and then, letting them go in groups to the state-run restaurant to eat boxed meals and drink soda, which was very suitable.

Of course, retired elderly people also enjoyed this benefit; they could have a meal and a small glass of liquor whenever they had nothing else to do.

Retired elderly people still had work to do; besides sanitation, they maintained order on the streets during morning and evening rush hours or did other light jobs, achieving a relaxed state of being neither too busy nor idle.

As for the workers bearing production tasks, they loved to gather; every now and then they would invite friends to meet at the state-run restaurant, or else buy groceries to host at home. Inviting people every day would surely be unsustainable, but doing so every now and then was still affordable.

Otherwise, they didn't have many places to spend money; overall, the workers' consumption was still quite frugal.

It was only because the factory was developing well and their benefits were good that they were willing to spend money on food and drink; otherwise, they would necessarily tighten their belts to save more money...

After happily finishing lunch, Wu Yunliang went to the state-run store, where he found the slips for exchanging daily necessities and handed them to the clerk; the latter immediately led him to pick out a huge pile of items, packed them into a large mesh bag, and even helped secure them onto the back seat of his bicycle, displaying great proficiency in their duties.

At the same time, the clerk smiled and welcomed his arrival, welcomed him to join the Jin Ling big family, and asked if he could carry it all himself; if not, the clerk offered to have someone deliver it to his home, showing an incredibly good attitude.

Under the clerk's guidance, Wu Yunliang pushed his bicycle to the nearby furniture store, where the clerk was equally enthusiastic.

Led by the clerk, he selected a sofa, a writing desk, a dining table, chairs, cabinets, and more; he chose a large double bed, then added twenty yuan to select two single small beds along with mattresses.

Since the eighty-five square meter apartment had three rooms, he wanted to give each of his son and daughter their own room. He had originally intended to buy two sets of small desks and chairs, and also wanted a bookshelf, but he was already short of funds. After mailing fifty yuan to his family and adding money to buy the beds, he would have to wait another two months before receiving his next paycheck.

He didn't need to worry about moving the furniture; after he finished selecting the items and confirmed them, the clerk asked for his building address, told him to go home first, and said the furniture would be delivered shortly and arranged according to his requirements.

He pushed his bicycle back slowly, enjoying the warm sun, watching the happy flow of people on the street, and feeling the liveliness of the people.

Jin Ling didn't look like a county town at all; he had visited his hometown's county town more than once, but compared to Jin Ling, his hometown's county town fell short by far.

Their county town hadn't even finished paving its cement roads, whereas here in Jin Ling, every road he had walked on was asphalt, with streetlights lining the sides. People on the streets generally pushed or rode bicycles, and even a few motorcycles could be seen puttering slowly along the streets, while various shops along the road were full of customers.

The feeling it gave him was one of prosperity.

He felt this word fit a county town very well, because the newspapers had long stated that Jin Ling was now the wealthiest county in the nation, having completely shaken off poverty, with all people able to eat their fill and dress warmly; furthermore, the newspapers stated that Jin Ling was expected to fully achieve socialism before the end of this century.

He did not know that Wang Yan's original words were that socialism would be basically achieved before the 1990s, but the newspaper leaders felt he was boasting too wildly and took it upon themselves to add another ten years...

His memory was good, and since the building signs were particularly clear, he successfully returned home on his first try.

"Yo, you must be a newly arrived college student, right?"

Just as he was busy carrying things upstairs, he encountered a middle-aged man who had just returned, dressed in a suit and leather shoes.

"Ah, yes, hello, comrade."

"We're all one family; come, come, let me help you carry this." The middle-aged man was very enthusiastic; without further ado, he directly picked up some items. "Which room do you live in?"

"Room 403. Big Brother, my name is Wu Yunliang; the factory assigned me to the Textile Machinery R&D Workshop."

"What a coincidence, I'm in Room 503, right above you. My name is Liu Wei, and I'm a salesman for our textile machinery; I just got back, so if you need anything in the future, just look for me."

"Ah, thank you, Big Brother."

"College students are treasures; you don't know that to ensure you can settle in peacefully, the factory set aside over a thousand apartments, mostly eighty-five square meters each. Who doesn't have a whole family to care for? Many families had their housing allocations delayed. The factory held meetings to soothe emotions and make the workers understand the importance of college students. This issue has been causing trouble for half a year, starting last summer.

It was only because our factory director had sufficient prestige that he managed to suppress this matter, but he couldn't completely suppress the workers' discontent. People are just never satisfied; their vision is narrow, and they are never done seeking advantages.

The director said that whether Jin Ling can basically achieve socialism in the next ten years depends entirely on how much this batch of college students contributes this year. Work hard, Xiao Wu; our director has high hopes for you all."

"Yes, yes, yes, I will definitely work hard." Wu Yunliang didn't know what else to say, so he simply agreed and made a promise.

With Liu Wei's help, the two quickly moved the items upstairs; Wu Yunliang thanked Liu Wei and said he would treat him to drinks later, but Liu Wei straightforwardly invited him to the state-run restaurant for drinks that very evening. The invitation was so sincere that he couldn't refuse, so he mentally noted the debt, planning to return the favor later.

After arriving home and sweeping the already cleaned room with a broom, he hadn't waited long before hearing a knock at the door. Upon opening it, he saw several men in their fifties standing at the entrance, carrying bed frames wrapped together.

"College student, the furniture has arrived."

"Uncles, come in, come in quickly. I just arrived; do you have any water..."

"No need, come, come, move aside a bit. We'll just enter with our shoes on; you can wipe the floor later."

"It's fine, it's fine." Wu Yunliang waved his hands repeatedly and moved out of the way.

Then, these men made trip after trip, carrying everything up. He even followed them down once, where he saw a tractor pulling a very large trailer, all loaded with the furniture he had selected. Six men made many trips, carrying all his items upstairs, using screwdrivers to assemble everything and placing it exactly where he indicated.

During the process, he chatted with these men, and only then did he learn that they were all rural workers who had entered the city. Although they did manual labor, they were also formal employees, earning fifty or sixty yuan a month.

He didn't feel that the work these men, who were about his father's age, were doing was very heavy, because before attending university, he had been farming at home and had participated in many public construction projects in the county, none of which were light jobs. Relatively speaking, this kind of moving and loading work wasn't actually that tiring, yet the money they earned was far more than what could be earned through harder labor elsewhere.

He felt an even clearer sense of Jin Ling's prosperity...

By evening, after chatting with Liu Wei from upstairs, he gained a more comprehensive and clear understanding of Jin Ling.

After a few small cups of liquor, he returned to his room, lay down on the brand new, comfortable bed, covered himself with a soft, skin-friendly cotton quilt, and fell asleep contentedly.

Scenes mostly similar to this were unfolding for the over one thousand college students who had arrived...