Chapter 3

Listening to Zhou Wenyang pouring out his grievances, Li Dongling didn't find anything strange about it. Like other state-owned factories, Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1 was now overcrowded, and every office and department was packed with a pile of people.

The people in the Technical Department weren't necessarily all capable of technology and design; there were also a pile of people there through connections. People like Zhou Wenyang, who truly knew technology and wanted to get things done, instead became the "workhorses"...

This led to the state-owned factory becoming a "besieged city" just like marriage. Many people inside who had technology, ability, and ambition all wanted to get out and go to the special economic zones, Shanghai, or even go abroad to struggle. Meanwhile, countless people outside were breaking their heads trying to get into the state-owned factory because the benefits inside were good, the treatment was high, and it was a "guaranteed iron rice bowl," which was countless times better than farming facing the yellow earth and backing the sky!

The salary level Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1 offered Li Dongling was 158 yuan per month. This salary level was quite good in Pingyang City; many families in the countryside only had an income of a few dozen yuan a month.

Of course, such a salary wasn't enough to look at in Shanghai, Pengcheng, Yanjing, etc. Now, the housing prices in those places had risen to over 1,000 per square meter. As for the housing prices in Yazhou, Pengcheng, and other places, they were magically incomparable, soaring to 7,000 or 8,000, or even 10,000 per square meter this year. Being placed in an inland city, it was seen as a strange story. Of course, it also stimulated countless people to run to these places, wanting to get rich overnight.

"Li Dongling, your letter, from Xiyuan in the provincial capital!"

A voice came from below the tube-style building. The postman, riding a "28-inch" bicycle, shouted names one by one toward the tube-style building at the top of his lungs. To do this job, not only did one need good physical strength, but one's voice also had to be loud.

Hearing the postman's voice, the tube-style building instantly became lively. Many people ran downstairs to ask if there were any letters for them. In this era, communication still mainly relied on telephones, telegrams, and letters. The lowest cost was writing letters.

"If I call your name, there is one; if I don't, there isn't!" Facing a group of people talking all at once, the postman handled it with ease and accurately gave the letters to those who came to get them.

Li Dongling took the letter. When he returned upstairs, Zhou Wenyang had already gone to the factory canteen to get food, leaving two meal tickets for the factory canteen for Li Dongling.

Although the treatment at the Wireless Factory No. 1 wasn't as high as those large state-owned factories or municipal departments—which had cinemas, hospitals, schools, libraries, etc. —there were still canteens, bathhouses, and the like.

Looking at the letter on the table, with "Dongling, please open" written on the envelope, Li Dongling was all too familiar with that delicate handwriting. He hesitated for a moment before opening the letter.

"Seeing the words is like seeing the face, unfolding the letter is like meeting. I have already joined the Xiyuan Provincial TV Station and become an intern reporter for the provincial station..."

The letter was written by An Xue, telling Li Dongling about her situation in the provincial capital, joining the provincial TV station. With her family background, becoming a permanent reporter for the provincial station was just a matter of time. The letter also told Li Dongling her office phone number, her new pager number, etc., and then asked Li Dongling to reply to her as soon as possible.

Li Dongling certainly understood An Xue's intentions; she just wanted him to return to the provincial capital. Although she didn't say it in the letter, the meaning was clear: as long as Li Dongling wanted to go back, An Xue would beg her father to have Li Dongling's work transferred back to the provincial capital.

"Click!"

Putting down the letter, Li Dongling lit a cigarette. Amidst the flickering cigarette butt and swirling smoke, Li Dongling thought about his current situation.

Whether it was here at Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1 or returning to the provincial capital to enter that Machinery Design Bureau, there was no actual difference for Li Dongling.

The Li Dongling of his previous life lived a life of following the rules and sticking to conventions. When he looked back, he found that the world had already changed behind him. And now, this era that he hadn't paid attention to, and hadn't even liked that much, had become the "Golden Age" in the mouths of several generations of the country's people.

As long as one was willing to bend down and pick up something, one could become a person with a net worth of millions or even tens of millions. This was the perception of this era by those who came later!

Flipping the metal lighter in his hand, Li Dongling's gaze suddenly froze. He hadn't thought of it at the time, or hadn't paid attention to it at all, but even a single lighter could sell over 10 billion units every year, becoming a 10-billion-level industry.

Now was indeed the Golden Age, an era full of wild madness, but also one that couldn't help but make people reminisce and miss!

Having set his path in his heart, what Li Dongling needed to consider was his first pot of gold. Lowering his face to return to the provincial capital to find the An family and seek help might be the easiest path.

But Li Dongling, who already had a deep understanding of the term "socially equal," understood all too well what it felt like to live under someone else's roof. When the gap in status and position was too large, every time he went to his wife's family, he would unconsciously lower his head, and he would have no room to speak at all in his wife's family.

Even when he had some achievements in the future, people would say that he relied on his wife's family to get ahead. As for what would happen if he didn't make any career achievements, Li Dongling had already experienced it in his previous life.

Shaking his head, Li Dongling put the letter away. Some paths had shortcuts, but the price was too high.

It wasn't just about going to the provincial capital, Pengcheng, or Shanghai to try his luck. In this wild, crazy, yet miracle-filled era, on this land, Li Dongling believed that in Pingyang, here at Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1, there would also be opportunities!

In the evening, Li Dongling also met Zhang Ao, who lived in the same room. Compared to Zhou Wenyang, who was still researching documents in the middle of the night, Zhang Ao was much more carefree, applying hair wax and wearing the trendiest clothes of this era to go out on a date.

As for work, promotions, treatment, etc., Zhang Ao didn't care at all. His family was from the supply and marketing cooperative, which was also packed full, so they could only squeeze Zhang Ao into the Wireless Factory No. 1 to collect a salary.

"Cough!"

The next day, just as Li Dongling and Zhou Wenyang walked out of the tube-style building, a cough came, attracting the attention of both of them.

Looking at Wei Hongying, who was drawing circles on the ground with one foot, a patch of skin on the ground had been worn bare by her. It was clear she had been waiting here for quite a while.

"I'll go over there first!"

Zhou Wenyang looked at Wei Hongying in the distance and showed Li Dongling a look that said he understood, "You're fast enough!"

"That," seeing Li Dongling come over, Wei Hongying gathered her courage, "I'm sorry!"

"Regarding yesterday's matter, I'm sorry. I also apologize to you on behalf of Qin Jie. Qin Jie really didn't mean it. Before, there were indeed hooligans who harassed Qin Jie, so we..."

"I know!"

Wei Hongying widened her eyes. She had prepared a pile of excuses, but she didn't expect to wait for just this one sentence from Li Dongling.

"I owe you one this time. If you have anything to do in the future, come directly to me. No matter what it is, I will solve it for you. I, Wei Hongying, never owe anyone!" Wei Hongying said to Li Dongling with certainty.

Li Dongling looked at her and just shook his head. He wanted to open his mouth to ask her what the relationship between Qin Fang and Liu Jiande was, but it was work time, and people were coming and going below the tube-style building, so Li Dongling couldn't ask much, just saying, "There will be an opportunity!"

The office with the sign of the Technical Department of Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1 didn't have many experimental facilities, but it was occupied by quite a few people. The Technical Department here was considered an office position, and the salary, bonuses, and treatment were not low.

What the Technical Department had to do was ensure that the few production lines for producing radios and black-and-white TVs—bought from abroad, and who knows how many hands they had passed through—didn't break down and operated normally. If the products produced met the qualification rate, then the Technical Department's task was completed. Many people who entered the Technical Department had never even stayed on the production line. As for researching new technologies, for the Technical Department of the Wireless Factory No. 1, it simply didn't exist.

After Li Dongling went over, he saw that in the Technical Department office, the men were drinking tea and reading newspapers, and many of the women were knitting sweaters and gossiping about housework, looking quite lively.

Finding a seat, Li Dongling picked up a local Pingyang newspaper and took a look. The front-page report was news about Shi Laoban of the Giant Group, who currently had the highest popularity in the country. The Giant Han Card continued its heat from last year this year, with sales increasing by 300% compared to last year, and the expected return of funds exceeding 30 million. At the same time, the picture also included the Giant Building built by Shi Laoban, which said it was to be built to 70 stories. At the beginning of construction, this building height was only 18 stories!

Besides the news about Shi Laoban, there was also news about a host of companies like Sitong Company, Boss Mou, Jinshan Company, etc. The news about this group of people who had transformed into millionaires and multi-millionaires in a few years made countless people itch with impatience, wishing they could fly to Pengcheng and other places right now to get rich overnight just like these people.

It wasn't just local Pingyang newspaper media reporting this; media all over the country were basically the same, constantly rendering the wealth myth of getting rich overnight. Looking at "money" in everything was the principle of this era.