Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

Qin Huairu returned to her workstation and started slacking off.

She went to the steel rolling mill to learn fitter skills and has been studying for more than a month. She had worked hard before, hoping to be like Yi Zhonghai, study for a few years, pass the eighth-level fitter exam, and earn a monthly salary of 99 yuan.

Thinking about how she would earn 99 yuan a month and live a prosperous life, she worked especially hard to learn fitter skills.

But after more than a month of learning, she realized that she really couldn't learn it. Fitter skills were just too difficult for her. No wonder Jia Dongxu had been working in the factory for nine years and was still only a first-class fitter.

She couldn't understand those blueprints at all, as if they were gibberish. Right now, she could only process some of the simplest workpieces on her own, and even with those simplest workpieces, there were still quite a few defective products.

This drove Sister Hua to the brink of exhaustion. She had never seen anyone as stupid as Qin Huairu, who couldn't even process the simplest workpiece properly. She had been learning for over a month; even a pig would have learned by now.

Seeing that Qin Huairu had gone out for a while and then started slacking off again when she returned to the workshop, Sister Hua was furious.

"Qin Huairu, look at yourself! Do you look like someone who's learning a trade? You go to the toilet five or six times a day, each time for more than ten minutes, then you go to get water seven or eight times, each time for several minutes. When you get back to the workshop, you just slack off. I know you don't have the talent for fitter work, but you can't do this! If you keep going like this, you won't even be as good as Jia Dongxu. Jia Dongxu may be a bit slow, but at least he's willing to learn and hardworking!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Huairu pursed her lips and said with a wronged expression, "Sister Hua, I understand. I will definitely study hard."

Qin Huairu said this, but that's not what she really thought.

Anyway, she didn't have the talent to learn fitter work, so she might as well just drift along like this. She was a full-time employee, and the factory couldn't fire her.

Don't let her low salary fool you, she's earned quite a bit this month. She borrowed seventy yuan from Wang Mazi this month, and together with what she borrowed last month, she has a total of one hundred yuan. Today she borrowed another ten yuan, so that's one hundred and ten yuan.

Li Lei also lent her more than 30 yuan. In addition, when she ate in the canteen, Wang Mazi or Li Lei usually paid for her meals and she could take home steamed buns and meat and vegetables. In this month, she earned more than 100 yuan. If you add her salary of 27.5 yuan, her monthly income is about 150 yuan, which is higher than the income of Yi Zhonghai, an eighth-level fitter.

Sister Hua wanted to scold Qin Huairu again, but Guo Da Piezi walked over and said, "Qin Huairu, come with me for a moment."

"Okay, Director Guo."

Following Guo Da Piezi into the workshop office, Qin Huairu asked疑惑地问道, "Director Guo, is there something you need from me?"

Guo Da Piezi closed the office door, looked at Qin Huairu, and said in a deep voice, "Qin Huairu, you've been learning fitter work for over a month now, haven't you?"

Qin Huairu nodded: "Yes, Director Guo."

Guo Da Piezi snorted coldly: "Qin Huairu, be serious. I'm asking you, can you process the simplest F-type workpiece on your own now? You just joined the factory and got the first-tier salary. If you can't process this simplest workpiece on your own within two months, your salary will be reduced to the second tier."

Upon hearing that her salary was going to be reduced to the second tier, Qin Huairu immediately became anxious. The second tier salary was only 22.5 yuan, which was 5 yuan less than the first tier.

"Director Guo, I've been working very hard to learn fitter skills. Please be patient with me for a while longer. I have two children and a mother-in-law at home. Now the quota has been reduced by 10%. If my salary drops, how will I support my two children and my mother-in-law? Please have mercy on me."

Guo Da Piezi snorted: "Qin Huairu, do you think this steel mill is my family's property? There are rules in this factory. You're paid 27.5 yuan a month, but you don't do as well as someone who's paid 18 yuan a month. Tell me, is that fair?"

"Our factory rule is that if you can't process the simplest workpiece on your own within two months, your salary will be reduced to 22.5 yuan. If you still can't process it on your own after another two months, your salary will be reduced to 18 yuan. That's the lowest you can go. If you really can't do the fitter work, I'll transfer you to the foundry workshop."

"what?"

Qin Huairu's eyes widened in disbelief as she said, "Director Guo, the foundry workshop is a place for grown men. With my small arms and legs, I can't possibly do that!"

Qin Huairu knew that Yan Jie was now working in the foundry workshop, and he was exhausted every day, becoming skin and bones.

The foundry workshop is not only dirty and tiring, but also extremely hot, and the work is very heavy. Given her past, she probably wouldn't have been able to last even half a day.

Guo Da Piezi said in a deep voice, "If you can't do the foundry work, then go clean the toilets. Surely you can handle that. Each of our workshops has a monthly ranking. You're processing the simplest workpiece, and you're producing a bunch of defective products. Sister Hua will have to rework them for you all the time. This will affect the ranking of our entire workshop."

Upon hearing this, Qin Huairu pursed her lips and said pitifully, "Director Guo, I've been trying my best to learn. Please be lenient with me. I promise I won't hold our workshop back."

Qin Huairu knew that this Guo Da Piezi had been eyeing her, but not only was he ugly, he also didn't want to put in any effort. He just wanted to use work to make her compromise. How could she possibly agree?

Guo Da Piezi stared at Qin Huairu's bulging grain sack, his heart burning with excitement.

He didn't want to pretend anymore. He placed his hands on Qin Huairu's delicate shoulders and snorted coldly, "Qin Huairu, I'll give you one more chance. After lunch tomorrow, I'll wait for you in the abandoned warehouse behind the third canteen. I'll teach you some fitter skills then. If you still can't learn them, don't blame me."

Qin Huairu left the workshop office, her eyes red with grievance.

She never expected that Guo Da Piezi would be so shameless, actually using a pay cut and making her clean toilets to coerce her into compromising.

No, wages absolutely cannot be reduced.

But this was the factory's rule, and Guo Da Piezi was just doing his job. What could she do? Was she really going to compromise under Guo Da Piezi's coercion?

"Got it."

A sudden inspiration struck Qin Huairu, and an idea came to her mind.