Training the Heavens

Chapter 72 Internal Reference
The overgrown garden was now full of flowers and neatly trimmed by the gardener. The wrought iron railings in the house were repaired and painted in the same style as the original. The floors were re-tiled and the walls painted.

Except for the suspended ceiling, other hard decorations have been basically completed. There is no way to fix this for the time being. It is not easy to find a large suspended ceiling that can be used in a high-ceiling living room. I have to find a lighting factory to customize it.

Gao Jiawang was busy making furniture with his workers. His proficiency in using saws and planes surprised Gao Jialin, who quickly asked, "Brother Jiawang, I remember you didn't learn this when you were in the village. When did you learn it?"

Gao Jiawang put down the saw and said with a chuckle, "Master Xu saw that I was diligent, so he taught me a few tricks."

"I'm afraid it's not that easy?" No matter when, craftsmen will not easily teach others the skills they need to make a living.

"Let me show you what we've been working on!" Gao Jiawang led Gao Jialin outside and whispered, "I gave all the wages you left for me to Master Xu, and only then did he agree to teach me!"

Gao Jiawang also received wages for his work here. Gao Jialin paid him two yuan a day according to the standard wage for a laborer, and the supervisor's salary was also two yuan, which added up to four yuan a day. After working for a while, Gao Jiawang gritted his teeth and gave a hundred yuan to Master Xu, the carpenter, and promised to give him another hundred yuan after he learned the skills. Master Xu could not resist the temptation of money and began to teach him.

"It will take another two months to completely repair this house. I plan to find Master Ma to learn bricklaying next month. After this house is repaired, I can go to work at other construction sites!" Gao Jiawang has even thought about his future plans.

"Good brother! I knew I made the right decision to call you here!" Gao Jialin was very happy. Gao Jiawang's performance exceeded his expectations. It is really rare to find a partner who is smart and motivated.

"No need to go to other construction sites. I'll find you new work once I'm done here. How much do you earn working for others? We can earn more working on our own! Come on, let's see how your work has turned out!"

After looking around from top to bottom, inside and out, Gao Jialin was quite satisfied with the current progress and quality of decoration. With Gao Jiawang watching over it, the workers didn't play any tricks and put in the necessary effort where necessary.

Occasionally there are problems in a few places, and it's not their fault. It's also a matter of vision. These workers have only done ordinary work before and lack experience in high-end decoration work, so it is inevitable that there are shortcomings.

Gao Jialin pointed out the problems to them, and these people did not waste any words. They immediately expressed that they would correct them according to Gao Jialin's instructions.

In the evening, he took them out for dinner. After returning, Gao Jialin and Gao Jiawang talked alone for a while. Gao Jialin raised his salary to five yuan a day and advanced him some of his salary, asking him to send part of it home and use the rest to learn skills from the master.

The next day, after waking up in the morning and watching the workers renovating for a while, Gao Jialin went to the editorial office of "Mengya" to tell them that he was back and thank them for their help.

In the evening, I made an appointment with Xie Chao and Niu Xinliang to have dinner together, gave them the gifts I brought back from the south, and asked them if there were any good houses recently. Unfortunately, large villas as good as those on Tai'an Road are very scarce and there are none at the moment.

After eating and drinking, Gao Jialin went back to his villa to sleep. When he woke up, he went back to school. The renovations were very noisy and not suitable for writing. He planned to finish his article before school started. It would be better to go back to the dormitory. Not only was it quiet, but there was also a library where he could look up information. In order to facilitate the study of students staying on campus, the library was also open during the summer vacation. Gao Jialin went to the library to borrow a lot of newspapers, magazines, books and materials. Combining what he had seen and heard along the way, he excerpted the important content.

These tasks took several more days. When everything was ready, Gao Jialin concentrated on writing in the library. The style of this article was based on Wu Xiaobo's "The Turbulent Thirty Years", reflecting the changes in the era of reform and development through some typical examples.

For example, by comparing "a five-cent reward for unsterilized tea cups" with "customers shall not be beaten without reason", we can show the changes in working attitudes in Guangzhou's service industry, and then raise it to the level of reforming service awareness, which echoes the general trend.

For example, praise the various new concepts and changes in the Special Administrative Region, and carefully analyze the benefits of these changes in concepts.

Of course, Gao Jialin's articles are not all flattery. When encountering problems, he will also make criticisms, such as the problem of counterfeit and shoddy products, the problem of smuggled cars in Hainan, etc.

He is not afraid that these will cause trouble. Counterfeit and shoddy products are condemned by everyone, and the problems in Hainan have been realized. Several working groups are now investigating in Hainan, and severe crackdown measures will be introduced soon.

Moreover, with many years of work experience in central government agencies and having read so many archives from the reform and development period, Gao Jialin knows what is the most appropriate level to write about.

It took Gao Jialin several days to complete the first draft, and then he carefully revised and deleted it several times. He wrote this article much more seriously than he wrote "Young Friends Come to Meet". The latter is just a literary work and does not involve too many political issues. Even if there are some mistakes and omissions, it is not a big deal. The former cannot be sloppy. If there is a problem, the nature of the problem will be much more serious.

After finalizing the draft, I went to Zhang Changqing's home and gave him the article to review, asking him to help review it. Zhang Changqing was very happy after reading it. "Jialin, your article is much better than that novel! The superiors require college students in the new era to pay attention to the changes of the times, and your article is the best proof! When we hold the 'Second Classroom' activity results exhibition next semester, your article must be included!"

Since he said there was no problem, Gao Jialin felt more relieved. He immediately sent an express letter to Zhang Lifeng, a reporter from the Education Daily, and asked him to help correct it. If there was no problem, he asked him to forward it to the appropriate newspapers and magazines.

Since November last year, the postal department has launched domestic express delivery services in 24 major cities including Beijing and Shanghai. The price is 20 yuan for every 0.5 grams and its fraction, and 100 yuan for every 100 grams and its fraction for additional weight above 0.8 grams. It is much more expensive than ordinary mail, but this amount of money is nothing to Gao Jialin.

Facts have proven that the money was well spent. On the third day, Zhang Lifeng called Gao Jialin downstairs in his dormitory and said, "I've read the article. It clearly expresses the achievements Guangdong has made in the process of reform and development by using small details to see the big picture, and it doesn't evade problems. The quality of your article surpasses that of many senior journalists and is highly worth reading!"

"It's a shame to put an article like this in ordinary newspapers and magazines, so I've submitted it for internal reference for you. I think it will be published soon!"

　Thanks to the bald uncle for the tip on reading

　　
　
(End of this chapter)