Chapter 36: Chapter Thirty-Six: Xu Daming Enters Red Star Yagangchang

When Red Star Yagangchang was in the midst of a heated expansion, it also began recruiting workers; this time, the social recruitment offered a total of one thousand positions. Because Red Star Yagangchang has now been converted into a state-owned unit, the applicants have been flowing in continuously. From this morning until now, the registration office has been packed with people, and only after the security department staff came out to maintain order did the crowd get organized into three lines, but even so, the line still stretched from the registration office at the factory gate all the way to the corner of the street.

In the long queue, Xu Daming stood among the crowd. After hearing yesterday that Yagangchang was recruiting, Xu Daming deliberately got up early to come register, but he still underestimated how many people wanted to work at Yagangchang; even though he arrived early, there were already over a hundred people ahead of him.

He waited in line until noon before it was his turn to fill out the registration information at the registration office. As soon as Xu Daming entered the registration office, he saw a notice pasted on the wall in pale yellow large paper: "Those under sixteen years of age, please leave the registration office; this factory will not accept them."

Seeing this, Xu Daming felt a bit nervous, but he thought, what if I could sneak through? After thinking, Xu Daming walked over to the staff member and said, "Hello, comrade, I want to register as a film projectionist."

"Speak up, it's too loud, comrade. What do you want to register for?" the registering staff member said.

"Comrade, I said I want to register as a film projectionist." After Xu Daming said this loudly, the previously noisy registration office fell silent, everyone turned to look at Xu Daming in unison, which made the already nervous Xu Daming even more nervous.

After a long while, the registering staff member finally reacted and said, "Comrade, you want to register as a film projectionist? Do you have a film projection certificate?"

"Oh, that's how it is, comrade. I don't have a projection certificate yet, but I am currently studying in the film training class and will graduate soon. I can get a certificate from the school; would that work?" Xu Daming said, looking at the staff member.

When the other applicants saw Xu Daming say that, they lost interest in him, and the registration office returned to its previous noise.

The staff member, hearing that Xu Daming had no projection certificate, originally did not want to let him register, but thinking that those with certificates surely already had jobs—after all, certified film projectionists are few these days—said, "Comrade, fill out this registration form and then bring it to me in a moment," and handed Xu Daming a registration form.

While Xu Daming was holding the registration form and preparing to write, he noticed a line at the bottom that read, "I promise that the above information is completely true; the space for the guarantor below is left blank." Seeing this, Xu Daming felt discouraged.

But after thinking it over, he reasoned that it was just a registration form; worst case, he could go home and ask his father for a solution, or if that failed, he simply wouldn't come. Saying this, Xu Daming filled in the age column as sixteen, handed the registration form to the staff member, who then tore off the bottom line containing personal information and the position applied for and gave it to Xu Daming, saying, "Tomorrow afternoon, bring this slip along with your household register to the factory for the assessment."

Upon hearing that he also needed to bring his household register, Xu Daming froze in place, not expecting that requirement. Seeing that Xu Daming had not left, the staff member asked, "Comrade, do you have any other questions?" Xu Daming then replied, "No, it's fine, comrade—I just didn't expect registration to be so simple." After saying that, Xu Daming left the registration office; the staff member, seeing him go, muttered quietly, "This person is really interesting," and then proceeded to attend to the next applicant.

After leaving the registration office, Xu Daming sprinted to the Red Flag Cinema where Xu Fugui worked. Upon arriving at the Red Flag Cinema, Xu Daming was already drenched in sweat from exhaustion. He greeted the ticket seller and hurried upstairs into Xu Fugui's projection room.

As soon as Xu Daming entered the projection room, he shouted, "Dad, you have to help your son, or I'm doomed!" Just as he finished speaking, he saw Xu Fugui explaining to his apprentice Shang Zhiheng the precautions for operating the film projector. Xu Daming quickly corrected himself, saying, "Brother Zhiheng, you're here too."

"You little brat, always fidgeting, what trouble have you gotten into now? Can't you learn from Brother Zhiheng? If you don't study properly, why are you coming here?" Xu Fugui scolded.

Then he said to Shang Zhiheng, "Zhiheng, you stay here and watch for a moment; I'm going out for a bit." Then he told Xu Daming, "Come with me," and led Xu Daming to the rest room.

With his head lowered, Xu Daming followed Xu Fugui into the rest room. Seeing Xu Daming keep his head down and say nothing, Xu Fugui said, "Speak up, what's the matter? Why aren't you saying anything now?"

Upon hearing his father's voice, Xu Daming lifted his head and said, "Dad, I'm finished this time; you must help me this once." After saying that, Xu Daming recounted his entire experience registering at Yagangchang today. Hearing this, Xu Fugui rebuked him, saying, "You little brat, your courage keeps growing—what won't you dare do? If an investigation finds you've deceived the organization, you're finished for life, do you understand?"

Xu Daming, face filled with despair, replied to his father's words, "Dad, I know I was wrong now; what should I do? I am the only son of the old Xu family."

"What should we do? You're asking me what to do now? What have you been doing all along?" Xu Fugui said, slapping Xu Daming across the face.

After being slapped, Xu Daming said nothing and sat in the chair with his head lowered.

Xu Fugui lit a cigarette, thought for a moment, and said, "It's not that there's no way; it's just the age—change it, and it's done. However, the people in the courtyard and your classmates know your real age; changing the age isn't impossible, but what do we do after it's changed?"

Upon hearing that, Xu Daming asked, "Dad, then what should we do?"

Xu Fugui pondered again and then said, "Go to the training class now to get a certificate; I'll handle the household register matter. Don't worry about anything else. After you finish, go home and wait for me to return." Having said that, Xu Fugui left the rest room to go find the director to ask for leave.

As Xu Fugui was about to leave, he instructed Xu Daming, "If the training class asks about your age, say that when registering your household register, they only recorded the year and not the month, so it was written incorrectly." After saying that, Xu Fugui left the cinema.

Xu Daming walked out of the cinema and headed to the film training class. This film training class was established in 1950 in the Southern Capital Prefecture, and only this year opened a branch in Forty-Nine City. Now, to obtain a projectionist certificate, one must undergo training at the training class. Therefore, having studied film projection with Xu Fugui for over a year, Xu Daming came to the training class to study.

Upon arriving at the film training class, Xu Daming found the Academic Affairs Director Bai Changlin, explained his purpose, and Bai Changlin said, "Daming, I recall that when you came here you filled in your age as fourteen; you don't seem old enough to work, do you?" After hearing this, Xu Daming told Bai Changlin what Xu Fugui had instructed him to say.

Bai Changlin glanced at Xu Daming without speaking, then wrote him a certificate. As for whether it was truly accurate, Bai Changlin didn't bother to think about it—after all, it was just a certificate—and since Xu Daming's father, Xu Fugui, is a senior figure among projectionists, he didn't want to offend Xu Fugui for no reason.

The luckiest thing in Xu Daming's life is that he was born in a hospital. While pregnant with Xu Daming, his mother slipped and injured her leg, causing heavy bleeding. Xu Fugui, seeing this, rushed her to the hospital opened by the Russians. Upon arrival, due to the mother's massive bleeding, Xu Daming was born prematurely. Later, the hospital issued Xu Daming a birth certificate. At the time, Xu Fugui paid no attention and simply tucked it away somewhere at home.

After returning home, Xu Fugui began rummaging through boxes and cabinets. Seeing the house turned upside down, his wife asked, "Old man, what are you looking for? Look at the mess you've made."

"It's not anything else—it's because of what your son did," Xu Fugui said, then continued searching. Eventually he found Xu Daming's birth certificate inside a tin box for biscuits. Seeing the yellowed paper, Xu Fugui laid it on the square table, took a small knife and gently scraped off the "8" from "38," changing it to "6." He then wiped it with tea water and afterwards kept anxiously watching the stain dry.

After the stain dried, Xu Fugui let out a quiet sigh, took the household register, and left the Xu family home for the street police station.

After Xu Fugui finished changing Xu Daming's age at the police station and returned home, Xu Daming was sitting indoors waiting for him. Upon seeing Xu Fugui return, Xu Daming stepped forward and asked, "Dad, how did it go?"

After returning indoors, Xu Fugui took a sip of water and said, "Let me tell you, Xu Daming, if there is a next time, I will no longer have you as my son." He then handed the household register to Xu Daming.

Xu Daming opened it and saw that the age had been changed. Excitedly he told Xu Fugui, "Dad, rest assured there won't be a next time; from now on I'll go to work and will properly support you and Mom." After saying that, he thought of the people in the courtyard house and said, "Dad, the household register has been changed, but everyone in the courtyard house knows I'm only fourteen."

Xu Fugui lit a cigarette and said, "We've only been living in the courtyard for a few years; how would they know about the past? Just tell them the age was previously recorded incorrectly, it's no big deal, and they think lowering the age is beneficial. Now, because we need to start work, we've changed it back." He then produced Xu Daming's birth certificate and slapped it on the table, saying, "If they don't believe it, show them this." As for the Russians' hospital, it had left Forty-Nine City and returned to the motherland before liberation.

The next afternoon, Xu Daming came to Yagangchang for the assessment. To say Xu Daming still has some skill: among the three applicants for the projectionist position, Xu Daming firmly took first place, smoothly entered Yagangchang, and became a projectionist.