Rebirth in 1960, My Industrial Age

Chapter 21 The Fourth Sister Enters the City
Zhou's mother said, "They are still in the fields. They probably won't be back until the afternoon."

Zhou Fengnian thought for a moment and asked, "Can we ask them to come back? I have something to tell them."

"Okay, I'll ask your sister-in-law to go and call."

After Zhou's mother finished speaking, she called her sister-in-law Qu Ying to go to the fields to call for help.

After a while, Zhou Fugui, Zhou Weitian and Zhou Jiaan came back.

As soon as Zhou Weitian entered the yard, he looked around. He saw that Zhou Fengnian's bicycle was empty and there was nothing much in the house either. He couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

Seeing this, Zhou Fengnian smiled and said, “Don’t look at my elder brother. He only brought two feet of cloth when he came back this time, but my mother put it away.”

Zhou Fugui stepped forward and slapped the greedy eldest brother, then asked: "Old Third, why did you come back so suddenly? Is there something urgent?"

The third son has been coming back too frequently recently. He hadn't been home for four years before, but now he comes back four times a month. This really makes him, as a father, feel a little uneasy.

"There is something going on, and it's a good thing. The eldest sister-in-law, the second sister-in-law, and the fourth and fifth brothers, please come over. It's related to the fourth brother."

After everyone in the family entered the house, Zhou Fengnian talked about the worker quota and said that he wanted to give it to the fourth child.

After hearing this, the fourth sister Zhou Chunhua was surprised, but a little bit unbelieving. Could she go to the city to work as a worker?
Zhou Fugui also listened to the end, but he was silent for a while before asking: "The third and fourth children will be able to get married next year, so what about the worker quota?"

After hearing what her father said, the joy on Zhou Chunhua's face instantly dimmed, but she was a soft-hearted person and did not dare to resist her family.

"Dad, we need female workers this time. Only my eldest sister-in-law, my second sister-in-law and my fourth brother can go. But if my eldest sister-in-law and my second sister-in-law go, they will be separated from my eldest brother and my second brother. Should we let Mom go?"

After Zhou Fengnian finished speaking, the joy on the faces of the eldest and second sister-in-law gradually faded.

After hearing this, they definitely couldn't go. How could they abandon their men to go work in the city? Besides, Zhou Weitian and Zhou Jiaan would not agree.

He married a wife and moved to the city, and only came back a few times a year. What's going on?

"It seems that only the fourth one can go."

Zhou Fugui looked at Zhou Chunhua and said that he couldn't let Zhou's mother go, otherwise there would be no one to take care of the family.

Zhou Fengnian said, "Dad, my fourth sister has been an apprentice for the past three years. She can give the family a subsidy of five yuan a month, which can be considered an income."

After hearing about the subsidy, the eldest and second sister-in-law nodded with bright eyes, and felt a little more balanced.

Zhou Fugui then made the decision, "Okay, then the fourth one will go."

"Mom, then you pack your things. I will take Fourth Sister back to the city today."

Zhou Fengnian said, "I'll arrange where to go. You can stay in the factory dormitory tonight and start work tomorrow."

Mother Zhou quickly left and said, "Okay, I'll go clean it up then."

I didn't bring much stuff with me, just mattresses, clothes and the like. The Labor Protection Department of the Daily Necessities Factory would provide them, and Zhou Fengnian could also help buy some.

Zhou's father gave some more instructions, and after Zhou's mother packed her things, Zhou Fengnian set off on his bike with his fourth sister Zhou Chunhua.

Everyone is happy. Zhou Chunhua will be a worker in the future. After his fifth sister Zhou Xiaomei goes to school for a few years, he will find a way to let Zhou Xiaomei go to the city to work as a worker.

The eldest and second brother's families should also take their time. After they become engineers, it will not be easy to arrange a few jobs for them. If that doesn't work out, they will be able to move to the city after the city opens up in a dozen years.

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After bringing Zhou Chunhua into the city, Zhou Fengnian first took his sister to a state-owned restaurant for a meal. He happened to have more than a pound of meat coupons, so he only spent four ounces this time. He then bought Zhou Chunhua some daily necessities before taking her to the machinery factory.

On the second day, Zhou Fengnian took Zhou Chunhua to find Bai Kang to handle the employment procedures. There were quite a lot of places to go, including running back and forth between the street office and the factory. Fortunately, Zhou Fengnian had a bicycle.

Before noon, Zhou Chunhua had become an apprentice at the Second Machinery Factory. She also had a city hukou and a fixed quota.

"Chunhua, it's not convenient to light a fire in your dormitory. Come to my place after work. Use this money to buy meal tickets. Tell me if you need anything."

While Zhou Fengnian was giving instructions, he took out ten yuan and stuffed it into Zhou Chunhua's pocket, but the latter quickly declined, saying, "Third brother, I have money. I haven't spent the money you gave me last time."

"Last time was last time, this time is this time, just take it."

After Zhou Fengnian stuffed it into Zhou Chunhua's pocket, he continued to remind her: "The new workshop hasn't started operation yet. You can read some books in my dormitory. Someone will train you after it starts operation."

Although the apprentices also have staff dormitories, they are all for ten people, which is far inferior to Zhou Fengnian’s single room. It is best to go to his place to cook at night, which also allows him to practice his cooking skills.

After settling Zhou Chunhua, Zhou Fengnian immediately went to take care of the affairs of the new workshop.

It is already November, and they have to produce a batch of hot pots and electric blankets before the end of the year. This way they can not only supply them to supply and marketing cooperatives across northern China, but also use these two products to negotiate with the Russians.

If these two products could be used to offset some of the foreign debt, the Second Machinery Factory would have made a great contribution, so Zhou Fengnian did not relax at all.

After the machines, workers and materials were in place, Zhou Fengnian immediately began training and on-the-job training.

Bai Kang was in charge of management and Zhou Fengnian was in charge of technical guidance. However, in the beginning of the new workshop, technical guidance was the busiest thing. He spent almost twelve hours in the workshop and still felt that the time was not enough.

Fortunately, the hard work finally paid off. In the middle of the month, the new workshop produced a batch of hot pots and electric blankets.

There are 100 pieces of each, and all are qualified products.

Moreover, Zhou Fengnian made some slight improvements before production, adding a timed power-off function, which greatly improved safety.

Bai Kang took the things and went to report to the factory leaders. When he came back, he was full of joy. He went to Zhou Fengnian's desk and poured him a cup of hot tea with a smile.

"Hey, Director Bai, we are friends now, just tell me what you want to say."

Zhou Fengnian asked with a smile: "What did the leader say?"

“Speed ​​up production!”

Bai Kang sat down and said, "The leader is very satisfied. He has just gone to the ministry. I guess we will talk to them next. But the quantity is a bit small. Director Zhou, how much can be produced by the end of the year?"

Zhou Fengnian pondered for a while after hearing this, and said: "Now the workers are gradually becoming more skilled, and the efficiency will be higher and higher after the work is divided into batches. By the end of the year, we can each produce 5,000."

"It's a little short. Can you make up 10,000?"

"How many!?"

Zhou Fengnian immediately glared and said, "Director Bai, there are only 60 people in our new workshop, including 30 apprentices. It's only two months until the end of the year. What you said is simply impossible."

"Even if it's 5,000 each, it can only be completed by working overtime and slowly becoming proficient in the future, unless you add more people to me!"

It is fine to keep the machine running, but there must be someone watching it.

If we add a group of more people, we can work in two shifts, so there is still some hope.

(End of this chapter)