Era: 1962, the rise of vocabulary and related terms

Factory dormitory area.

Pushing open the door, a strange smell hit them – a foul, pungent odor – causing the two to frown.

The room was slovenly, with bedding haphazardly folded and cigarette butts strewn about.

The beds are bunk beds, with a total of 6 beds.

Xiao Zhang pointed to a bed near the door that was cluttered with various odds and ends, and said in a flat tone, "Here it is. You can make do with this tonight."

Whether you can stay or not depends on your performance tonight.

Seeing Zhang's nonchalant attitude, Yan Xiao took out a cigarette from his pocket and offered him one.

"Brother Zhang, you've really gone to so much trouble."

Seeing the cigarette offered to him, Xiao Zhang glanced at Yan Xiao and took it.

Taking this opportunity, Yan Xiao said, "Brother Zhang, I'm new here and don't know much about our steel rolling mill. What's the deal with Section Chief Sun?"

[A promise kept is in effect...]

Xiao Zhang was in a good mood at the moment, so he lit a cigarette before saying, "That Section Chief Sun is the head of the purchasing department, your direct superior, so I don't need to say anything about that."

"I bet what you're most curious about is this temporary worker, and the drinking party tonight, right?"

"Yes, yes." Yan Xiao nodded repeatedly.

Xiao Zhang, smoking a cigarette, replied, "Those of you who came through recruitment quotas are all temporary workers. The probationary period is three months. Whether you stay or leave depends entirely on your section chief's word."

"If he says you can stay, you can stay; if he says you can't, you're fired!"

As he spoke, Xiao Zhang patted Yan Xiao on the shoulder: "Do your best. Whether you stay or leave depends on your performance tonight."

"These past two months, Section Chief Sun has been extremely busy. I heard that many purchasing staff and even deputy section chiefs have been drinking themselves into oblivion because of the grain issue and haven't come to work for several days."

"If you do well in this matter, Section Chief Sun might be in a good mood and make you a permanent employee. Then you'll be different from the other workers."

Purchasing staff are employed under administrative positions, while most workers follow an eight-level worker system; their paths are completely different.

"Thank you for your guidance, Brother Zhang. I've got it. Thank you," Yan Xiao said.

"Alright, that's enough. Get some rest and prepare for tonight's drinking party. Oh, and here are your food coupons for today and tomorrow."

As he spoke, Xiao Zhang took out three grain coupons, a few cents, and a temporary identity certificate from his pocket.

This money is just enough to cover lunch, dinner, and tomorrow morning's meals, a total of three meals.

They really were prepared for him not to stay.

"Alright, tidy up the place and get some rest." With that, Xiao Zhang waved and left.

Yan Xiao looked at the miscellaneous things scattered on the bed, but he wasn't in the mood to tidy up. After a while, he went out.

Ye Xingguo was still waiting for news from the door.

"Uncle Ye, that's the situation."

"Sigh~" Ye Xingguo sighed deeply, his already dark face darkening even more: "I thought that coming to the city would give me a permanent job, but I didn't expect to be a temporary worker. I never thought it would be like this~"

He shook his head helplessly as he spoke.

"Uncle Ye, things have come to this, we can only do our best and leave the rest to fate. Don't worry, I will do my best to perform at the dinner party tonight and try to stay," Yan Xiao said resolutely.

"Okay! As long as you do your best, whether it succeeds or not is not up to you. If it really doesn't work out, you can just go back." Ye Xingguo wanted to ease some of the pressure on Yan Xiao.

Without saying much, Ye Xingguo whipped the donkey and drove back.

Yan Xiao also returned to the dormitory area, but looking at the messy environment, he had no mood to clean it up at all.

He touched the ring on his right ring finger: "Let's see if we can use this space for drinking?"

This is the outward manifestation of the special effect of "Greatness Lies in Inclusivity": a ring with a 1-cubic-meter space.

The item is old-fashioned, but very practical; others can't see or touch it.

Yan Xiao found a cup, filled it with water, and experimented on how to collect the water into his spatial dimension while drinking it.

But after several attempts, the final result was still failure.

"None of these will work?"

Simply storing still water in the ring's space is effortless.

but--

I wanted to take the water away during the exercise of drinking, but I couldn't.

"Does it have to be completely still? Looks like we have no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it. For now, we can only pin our hopes on the entries."

.......

Outside a room in a tavern.

"I've said everything I need to say. Once we're inside, just watch my signals and remember, you're in charge of drinking. Don't say anything else, understand?" Sun Yongkai whispered.

"Understood," Yan Xiao replied in a low voice.

After straightening his clothes, Sun Yongkai pushed open the door.

"Station Chief Ding, I'm so sorry, so sorry! There were so many things to do at the factory, it caused a delay. I deserve to be punished! I deserve to be punished! I'll punish myself with three drinks later! Three drinks! To apologize to you and Section Chief Yu!"

As he spoke, he strode forward and extended his hands to Ding Mo, who was in the main seat, in an extremely humble manner.

Ding Mo extended a hand in a very perfunctory manner, allowing Sun Yongkai to shake it symbolically.

Sun Yongkai's smile froze for a moment, but he immediately turned to Section Chief Yu, who was accompanying him, and warmly shook his hands with both of his: "Section Chief Yu, I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting!"

Knowing he'd only been in for a few minutes, Section Chief Yu immediately smiled and smoothed things over: "It's alright, it's normal for Section Chief Sun to be busy, we didn't wait long."

"I dare not accept such praise. I will punish myself by drinking three cups as an apology."

Since Sun Yongkai had said that, Ding Mo and Section Chief Yu naturally wouldn't refuse to give him face.

"Section Chief Sun, please have a seat."

After the four were seated, Section Chief Yu turned to Yan Xiao and asked, "Section Chief Sun, who is this young comrade...?"

"This is Yan Xiao. He just came to our Purchasing Department Two a few days ago. His father wanted me to broaden his horizons, so I brought him along to meet you two leaders. If you two don't like him, Yan Xiao, please leave!"

When you're out and about, your identity depends entirely on your words.

Yan Xiao stood up decisively to leave, but Section Chief Yu glanced at Ding Mo and immediately called out, "No need, no need, Brother Yan, please sit down. It's just bringing one more person, it's just a matter of adding a pair of chopsticks."

Ding Mo and Section Chief Yu naturally knew the composition of the Purchasing Department. Sections One and Two were full of people with connections; who knew what kind of background these people had?

Yan Xiao then looked at Sun Yongkai, "Since both leaders have spoken, you can stay. Remember! Observe more, listen more, and speak less!"

"Thank you, Section Chief! Thank you, both leaders!" Yan Xiao then respectfully responded and sat down again.

dong dong~

"Come in." A waiter with an expressionless face entered. "The dishes are all ready. Shall we serve them now?"

"Go! Go now! Don't let the leaders go hungry!" Sun Yongkai immediately ordered.

Before long, four dishes and a soup, along with a bottle of Xifeng liquor, were served on the table.

Sun Yongkai immediately opened a bottle of wine: "Come on, we were late just now, let's punish ourselves with three drinks, three drinks each."

As she spoke, she immediately filled two small ceramic cups for herself and Yan Xiao, almost overflowing them.

This small cup may look small, but it can hold 3 qian (approximately 15 grams) of wine.

"Drink!" Sun Yongkai glanced at Yan Xiao and immediately downed his drink in one gulp.

With his leader acting this way, Yan Xiao naturally had no choice but to drink it all in one gulp as well.

Before Yan Xiao could even recover from the effects of the first cup, Sun Yongkai had already filled the pot again!

Thump thump thump—

After drinking about 1ml of baijiu (Chinese liquor) in three cups, without eating anything, their faces instantly turned red.

The previous person had hardly ever drunk alcohol and had a very low tolerance for it.

After a sudden sip of liquor, Yan Xiao felt dizzy and his vision began to blur.

Fortunately, they managed to hold on.

"Great drinking capacity! Section Chief Sun's drinking capacity is as good as ever." Ding Mo immediately clapped and cheered.

Seeing Sun Yongkai's slightly tipsy appearance, Ding Mo felt a surge of excitement.

Back when he was still a section chief, Section Chief Sun would toast him, but never like today, where he immediately punished himself with three drinks.

"Not at all, not at all. This is all I can drink. It's nothing compared to what I'm capable of in front of you two leaders," Sun Yongkai said modestly, still not forgetting to flatter.

If it weren't for the factory's strict orders, he and the purchasing staff wouldn't have been in such a hurry to socialize.

"Young man, you can't hold your liquor!" Section Chief Yu said with a smile as he watched Yan Xiao's face light up.

Under the watchful eyes of the three, Yan Xiao knew he couldn't back down now: "It's...it's alright, it's alright. I didn't drink much at home before, but if I suddenly drink, I really...can't handle it."

"However... I must say, this wine... is quite... delicious."

"It tastes pretty good?"

"puff--"

"Hahaha!!!"

Instantly, the three burst into laughter, so much so that tears streamed down their faces.

The three of them laughed for a full minute before finally stopping.

Ding Mo looked at Yan Xiao with a mocking gaze, as if looking at an ignorant child: "Young man, you're still too young. When you grow up, you'll know whether this wine is good or not."

Section Chief Yu chuckled and chimed in, "Young people, they haven't experienced this before, so it's their first time trying something new, which is why they find it novel and interesting. But as time goes on and they drink more, they'll appreciate the true meaning!"

Sun Yongkai was quite satisfied with Yan Xiao's seemingly clueless response, nodding at him and giving him an encouraging look.

But unexpectedly—

"Since it tastes so good, drink more! Young man, this is a rare opportunity!"

Ding Mo's smile vanished abruptly, a glint of malice flashing in his eyes.

This sudden change startled Yan Xiao. He saw Sun Yongkai's brows furrowed, his eyes filled with astonishment and a hint of barely perceptible anger, but even more so with anxiety and urging—drink it quickly!

Yan Xiao understood that look in his eyes.

"Thank... thank you for your consideration, boss." He had to say thank you, but he still downed his drink in one gulp.

"Great! That felt good!"

Ding Mo, however, had no intention of letting it go so easily, and poured another full glass.

For the sake of work, Yan Xiao had no choice but to grit his teeth and gulp it down again.

Finally, fill the glass to the brim.

Yan Xiao forced himself to drink it.

He has now punished himself with six cups, drinking almost two ounces of liquor in one go.

Ding Mo was clearly intrigued by the young man's "hard work" and wanted to pour more wine, but Section Chief Yu stopped him and whispered, "Station Chief, if you pour any more, someone will die from drinking. We don't even know what kind of background this kid has."

Section Chief Yu's words instantly shattered Ding Mo's dirty intentions to mock Yan Xiao.

He immediately put down the Xifeng liquor, patted Yan Xiao on the shoulder, and said with great satisfaction, "Good lad, you've got guts! You're got potential! You can hold your liquor well! I have high hopes for you!"

"Thank you... thank you for the compliment, leader." Yan Xiao clenched his fists, suppressing the churning in his stomach, and forced a smile as he replied.