Chapter 174

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Zhang Zhihao originally did not want to recruit Zhu Zhiming, but was moved by Wang Dashan's behavior, so he said:

"Fine then, I'll give your friend a chance, but I must clarify in advance: you two each get a base salary of five hundred yuan per month. If you don't earn sales commissions, it might not even cover your expenses. Can you stick with it?"

Wang Dashan laughed brilliantly:

"Yes, definitely yes! This bit of hardship is nothing!"

Zhu Zhiming, however, was not too willing.

He had been an apprentice at the Auto Parts City, earning over one thousand yuan a month, close to two thousand, yet after jumping ship to the Computer City to do sales, he only had a base salary of five hundred yuan?

How was his salary getting lower with every job change?

But considering Wang Dashan's good intentions, he did not refuse the job.

That afternoon he started working alongside them.

Zhang Zhihao treated Zhu Zhiming and Wang Dashan equally.

He had Zhu Zhiming read the instruction manuals first, memorizing various computer models, configurations, processors, and other data, then take the initiative to receive customers when they arrived.

Zhu Zhiming looked at several computer instruction manuals and felt his head swell. Distracted, he thought, how could he understand this stuff, how could he remember it?

That afternoon, quite a few customers came to the shop, but only Wang Dashan sold one computer; Zhu Zhiming didn't sell a single one.

Actually, he had had several chances to close a sale. Zhang Zhihao had taken the initiative to let him receive customers, but he spoke with very little confidence, stammering and hesitating, driving away customers who had intended to buy. This made Zhang Zhihao extremely depressed inside.

"You should just read the manuals properly for now. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me. Once you're familiar with all the computer configurations, then go receive customers. Also, don't be afraid—be confident, just like Dashan, warmly and generously welcome customers. Don't act so lacking in confidence!"

Zhang Zhihao was kindly reminding Zhu Zhiming, but hearing this, Zhu Zhiming felt Zhang Zhihao was lecturing him.

This made him feel wronged and somewhat unhappy.

That evening after work, he and Wang Dashan went to dinner together, and couldn't help but complain:

"This boss is really not human! I've only been at the shop one day, and he's already saying this to me. I just started the job and don't understand anything—isn't it normal that I can't sell computers? Does he have to say it like that! A base salary of five hundred yuan, treating me like a beggar! I really don't want to do this anymore!"

Hearing this, Wang Dashan felt speechless inside.

This was a job he had worked so hard to help Zhu Zhiming get! Mr. Zhang originally had no intention of hiring anyone, but now he had helped him secure this job. He had only worked one day—no, to be exact, only one afternoon—and already he didn't want to do it!

That was just going too far!

"Don't be discouraged. New hires always need time to adjust. Also, those of us in sales shouldn't fixate on the base salary; what matters most is the commission. Selling one computer earns eighty yuan in commission. Even selling one a day is better than working at the Auto Parts City, don't you think?"

Wang Dashan patiently comforted Zhu Zhiming.

He had long known that Zhu Zhiming couldn't settle down to work.

If Zhu Zhiming could settle down to work, he wouldn't have changed jobs nearly ten times in the two years since graduation.

"What you say makes some sense. Then I'll try to stick with it a bit longer!"

Zhu Zhiming sighed, and in the end still chose to keep working.

Because he had no way back. When he quit the Auto Parts City, he had a falling out with the boss there.

The job at the Auto Parts City had been introduced to him by a relative. The boss had let him work as an apprentice out of respect for his relative, but he hadn't learned any skills at all and ran away after a few months.

To be honest, he felt he had let down both the Auto Parts City boss who had taken him in and his relative who had introduced him to the job.

"The stuff in those manuals is so hard to memorize! So many dense lines of text, all mixed with chicken-intestine handwriting. How am I supposed to remember it?"

Zhu Zhiming complained about this at that moment. He felt Zhang Zhihao telling him to read the manuals was simply perfunctory, a form of torture.

Wang Dashan gave a dry laugh:

"I also find it hard to memorize, but no matter how hard, you have to memorize it. Working is about earning a living, not playing around! It's not like school anymore. In school, if you couldn't recite the text, at worst the teacher made you stand as punishment or hit your palm. But if you don't do your job well, you'll be poor for a lifetime, and might even starve to death! I've already been scared of being poor; I don't want to stay poor for a lifetime!"

Although Wang Dashan was not good at studying, he was still very clear about right and wrong when it came to major issues.

Once you're out working, you can't just do whatever you want.

This might be related to his having served two years as a conscript. In the army, he couldn't do whatever he wanted either. If he dared to act up, the instructor would kick him flying in a minute, and make him run ten kilometers with a load before coming back to apologize and admit his mistake.

Zhu Zhiming didn't have such experience, and had been lazy and slack since school, so in his subconscious he brought that laziness from school into his work.

For him, this could be called a fatal shortcoming.

If he didn't correct this attitude in time, he estimated he would never turn his life around, and would only be able to remain the poorest of the poor for a lifetime.

"What you say is also right. If you can't endure the hardship of studying, now you can only endure the hardship of working!"

Zhu Zhiming sighed emotionally, then had the boss bring two bottles of beer, and started drinking with Wang Dashan.

After finishing two bottles, it wasn't enough, so he ordered two more.

After finishing those two bottles, it was still not enough, so he ordered two more again.

What he was drinking was actually not alcohol, but the bitterness of life and the confusion about the future.

Inside he was actually very fearful, especially seeing that Wang Dashan had just retired from the army and came out to find a job, and was doing computer sales so well—only two days on the job and already making a name for himself—while he had been muddling through society for over two years and still had achieved nothing!

As the saying goes, without comparison there is no harm; comparing people to people can anger one to death. Under such comparison, he felt some pain inside.

In the end, Zhu Zhiming got drunk again.

Wang Dashan carried him back into the rental house.

After throwing Zhu Zhiming onto the bed, Wang Dashan went to take a shower by himself.

He had no drunkenness at all, possibly because of his constitution—his alcohol tolerance was very good. This bit of beer he drank like water, with no alcohol reaction at all. He never expected Zhu Zhiming to already be drunk to the point of unconsciousness.

After the shower it was already past nine in the evening.

At this time Wang Dashan thought of his mother. He felt his mother was back in their hometown and would probably worry about his situation.

To be honest, when he first came to Guangzhou, he should have called home to report his safety, but these past two days had been busy, and he hadn't called. So now he thought, since he had time, he would call home.

So he dialed his father Wang Zhanggen's phone number.

Actually, just like his younger brother Wang Xiaohua, he felt a rejection from the bottom of his heart toward his father, but right now only his father had a mobile phone at home; his mother Li Xiulan did not have a mobile phone, and she didn't even know how to use one, so if he wanted to contact home he could only call his father.

The call rang for a while, then connected.

"Hello, Dad, it's me, Dashan. Have you all eaten dinner?"

Wang Dashan hurriedly asked after their well-being.

"Just ate. How about you?"

A familiar yet strange voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Ate, also just finished."

Actually ever since he went to serve as a soldier, he had rarely been in contact with his father; the distance between him and his father had grown far, and they had become strangers. Now on the phone he didn't know what to say for a moment.

So there was nothing to say between father and son on the phone, an awkward silence.

In the end it was still Wang Zhanggen who hurriedly spoke to dissolve the silence:

"Your mom is right next to me. Why don't you say a couple of sentences to her?"

Wang Zhanggen handed the mobile phone to Li Xiulan, and the atmosphere only then eased a little.