Chapter 849

February 13th, 1988, the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month. Beijing welcomed the coldest cold wave before the Spring Festival.

The strong cold wind blowing south from Siberia, carrying snowflakes, ravaged the land. Overnight, the temperature dropped to minus twenty degrees. Even the most cold-resistant person would be stomping their feet in the cold after standing outdoors for twenty minutes.

But in this kind of weather, outside the Light Auto Company's workers' club, thousands of people were lining up in sequence. Several long, winding queues moved slowly, looking like snakes about to be frozen stiff.

"Everyone, don't crowd. There's a share of New Year goods and bonuses for everyone. We are currently distributing to Casting Workshop No. 1. In twenty minutes, we will distribute to Casting Workshop No. 2."

"The rest of you shouldn't line up outside in such cold weather. Come back according to the notification schedule. Everyone, rest assured, no one's New Year goods will be missing..."

"..."

This was the main factory workers lining up to collect the reissued New Year goods and bonuses. The reason given by the main factory was that this year's profits needed to be coordinated and distributed.

So it wasn't that the main factory distributed less, but that they only distributed a portion, and the other portion would be distributed to everyone by Branch Factory No. 1.

This reason sounded reasonable, but thousands of workers were not fools. Who didn't understand what was going on?

If everyone hadn't gathered and made a scene earlier, who would have reissued your bonuses and added another portion of welfare New Year goods?

Why was the money distributed less the first time? It must be because the factory was short of money! What's this about coordinated distribution? Letting the people of Branch Factory No. 1 distribute money and goods to the people of the main factory—this loss of face has reached the ends of the earth, right?

Therefore, despite the loudspeakers outside the club constantly playing notifications, urging everyone to go back and come to collect welfare according to the order, it was of no use. The workers would rather stand in the wind and snow for a day than bet on the credibility of certain people.

What if others took all the goods and you didn't get any later? Could you still have a good New Year?

If the children at home couldn't eat enough meat, didn't have enough pocket money, or couldn't buy new clothes, the father could still scold them a few times to suppress them.

But if you received less than others, your wife wouldn't even let you touch her. Who could stand that?

So no matter how cold the weather was, they had to wait outside. If they didn't get their things today, they wouldn't leave.

It's just that when the queuing workers entered the club, their bodies suddenly warmed up, and their hearts were completely at ease.

Because there were four tables lined up in front, and behind each table were piles of New Year goods. The large leather suitcases on the tables were left open, filled with colorful banknotes.

And behind each table sat two groups of people: one group from the main factory's logistics and finance departments, and one group from Branch Factory No. 1's logistics personnel.

"Bring your work ID. Li Ming, Li Ming from Casting Workshop No. 1! Keep it in mind and don't mix it up. We have seven or eight Li Mings in our factory!"

"Zhang Shihai, this is your stuff. Take it well and count the money. Once you turn around, we won't acknowledge any claims!"

"..."

Workers who reached the front were required to show their work IDs, and then people from both Branch Factory No. 1 and the main factory recorded it simultaneously.

It's just that the recording methods of the two sides were different. The main factory flipped through the employee roster, while Branch Factory No. 1, having no roster, directly opened the FoxBASE database software on the computer and filled the data list with names, ages, and work departments.

This seemed to be both sides checking the numbers and amounts, but in fact, several insiders knew that this was Branch Factory No. 1's blatant distrust of the main factory.

When the main factory first proposed borrowing money from Branch Factory No. 1 for an emergency, Branch Factory No. 1 immediately refused. You were just given money in the name of employee welfare earlier, and you turned around and misappropriated it? Now that the money is given directly to you, what if you misappropriate it again?

So finally, Ma Ma Zhaoxian and the big factory director reached a compromise: both sides would distribute it on the spot, person by person, ensuring that every cent reached the workers' hands, and no one else could touch a single coin.

"Huang Qi, why are you from Assembly Workshop No. 4? We are currently distributing to Casting Workshop No. 1! Your Workshop No. 4 is scheduled for 1:30 PM..."

"Oh my, I have to go back to take care of the children in the afternoon! I've been queuing for two hours to get here, and you want me to come back in the afternoon? That makes no sense..."

"What makes no sense? If you don't follow the order, we can't distribute it to you..."

The people from the main factory's logistics department were angry. They had already had enough of the workers' cold looks today and were looking for a place to vent their anger! Now that someone was cutting in line, if they didn't block you, who would they block?

But Huang Qi had been standing outdoors at minus twenty degrees for an hour or two, and her anger was even greater than that of the logistics department people. She immediately started arguing.

"Do you still have any shame? Today, Branch Factory No. 1 is distributing things, not you. They haven't said anything yet! Who do you think you are?"

"Don't think I don't know about your dirty business. Branch Factory No. 1 gave you a sum of money a long time ago, and you fed it to people like Guan Liang. Now you're just beggars, and you're still trying to boss us around..."

And Huang Qi's sharp cursing immediately caused other workers to jeer.

"Oh~ oh~, the girl said it well. Say a few more words and shame these bastards to death..."

"Exactly. If you knew today would come, why did you act like that in the beginning? Wouldn't there be none of this if you were a little less greedy? Who are you putting on airs for now?"

"Alright, stop arguing!"

Seeing that Huang Qi had no filter on her mouth and was about to cause another laughingstock, Wan Kezhang hurriedly stopped the management personnel responsible for distributing goods with a dark face.

Then he asked Li Ye, who was from Branch Factory No. 1: "What should we do about people cutting in line like this? Once it causes chaos and mistakes happen, can we still have a good New Year?"

"How did I cut in line? How is it cutting in line after I've been queuing for two hours? Why don't you reflect on yourselves? Why didn't they distribute it directly to you, and then distribute it to our workshop?"

Seeing that they were about to argue again, Li Ye didn't say a word but looked at Xiao Ke Zhiyu, who was already the leader of the computer group.

Sometimes, some things should be said by subordinates.

Xiao Ke Zhiyu said calmly: "Our computers here have indexing and sorting functions, so theoretically there is no problem."

"But it's more troublesome on your side; you need to record the number of people on paper so that we can cross-check and verify later."

"Then let's do it that way!"

Wan Kezhang muttered a few words to the logistics department people with a gloomy face and distributed Huang Qi's things to her.

Little did they know that Huang Qi didn't leave after receiving her things and asked Li Ye: "Factory Director Li, is your Branch Factory No. 1 still recruiting people next year?"

"Hurry up and leave, hurry up and leave. Everyone is waiting in line to collect New Year goods! Are you going to delay everyone because of yourself? I'll ask your director later how he manages his workers."

"Don't try to scare me with our director. It would be better if you fired me! I'll just go to Branch Factory No. 1 to make a living; they even assign new apartments!"

"Forget it! Branch Factory No. 1's new apartments are prepared for technical personnel. Are you a college student? Are you a technical secondary school student?"

Wan Kezhang and the others looked at Huang Qi with contempt.

But Huang Qi shouted with her neck stiffened: "Although I don't have a diploma, I've been assembling car dashboards for ten years."

"I've always been first in technical competitions, but I've never been a technical pacesetter. If it's a mule or a horse, take it out for a walk and see who the technical talent is..."

"..."

"That's right, Huang Qi's assembly technology is absolutely top-notch. I can testify to this."

"I can also testify for her. She just doesn't have connections or a background..."

For a moment, the surrounding workers jeered again, testifying for Huang Qi one after another. The cheers, which were hard to tell if they were true or false, made the faces of Wan Kezhang and the others turn completely black.

Finally, Li Ye said: "Alright, alright, let's talk about this later. It's almost New Year, everyone should collect their things early and finish early. If it's not finished after five o'clock, we'll have to lose another sum of overtime pay!"

Wan Kezhang: "..."

【You'd be better off not saying that! If the workers make another scene because of overtime pay, then this New Year really won't be worth having.】