Era: 1962, the rise of vocabulary and related terms

The next day.

Yan Xiao, dressed in his work uniform, arrived at the office of the Purchasing Department 3 with an air of authority.

Take a deep breath and straighten your back.

dong dong~

"not good"

Inside the door, Xu Chunwang, Zhu Fugui, and Zheng Shuangxi were gathered together, chatting animatedly about their experiences over the past few days.

Startled by the knock, they all turned around and looked at the door.

What came into view was a slender young man with a somewhat childish face, standing there like a thin bamboo pole.

"Whoa!" Xu Chunwang patted his chest. "You scared me to death! I thought Sun Ke had come."

Zheng Shuangxi frowned, sizing up Yan Xiao, his tone carrying an undisguised air of dismissal: "Hey! Kid, you don't look familiar? Did you come to the wrong door? This is the purchasing department, no unauthorized personnel allowed!"

Yan Xiao explained, "No, I didn't go to the wrong place. I'm Yan Xiao, who joined the company yesterday."

"Started yesterday? How come I didn't hear a thing? Old Zhu, Old Zheng, did you know?" Xu Chunwang looked at the two people beside him.

Zhu Fugui scratched his thinning hair: "Yesterday I went to Donggou Village to collect mountain products. I was exhausted, and it was already dark when I got back."

Zheng Shuangxi shook his head repeatedly: "That's right, I went to the vegetable market in the western suburbs and came back late."

With the situation unclear, the three tacitly chose to remain silent. Since things were uncertain, they naturally wouldn't say anything rash.

Xu Chunwang casually gestured, pointing to an empty, dusty table in the corner: "Alright, come in first, find a seat anywhere."

"Thank you." Yan Xiao immediately sat down.

There aren't many seats, only about twelve or thirteen. Yesterday I was just familiarizing myself with the area, so I don't know which empty seats are occupied yet.

Upon seeing Yan Xiao enter, the three of them naturally refrained from speaking recklessly.

A moment later, another person walked in.

The man was about thirty or forty years old. His lips were pale and lacked color. He had puffy eyes with heavy dark circles, as if he had stayed up all night.

"Hey, good morning, Song Ke." Zheng Shuangxi was the quickest to react and greeted him warmly.

"Good morning." Song Guangfu, who was called Song Ke, nodded slightly, his response somewhat perfunctory.

Zhu Fugui chuckled and teased, "A rare guest, Old Song! Did the sun rise in the west today? What brings you here so early this morning?"

Song Guangfu waved his hand, his tone relaxed: "It's almost the end of the month, so I'm coming back to work. I have to come back and take care of some work."

"That's right, that's right." Zheng Shuangxi nodded repeatedly.

As for the truth, everyone can guess a thing or two; it was just about the social gathering the day before yesterday.

Song Guangfu is the deputy head of the third purchasing department, and he oversees three purchasing staff, one of whom is Zheng Shuangxi.

"Oh, who is this?" Song Guangfu noticed Yan Xiao.

Zheng Shuangxi immediately blurted out, "Song Ke, this is the new guy who arrived yesterday, his name is... what was his name again?" He paused, then looked at Yan Xiao.

"Yan Xiao".

"Hello, Comrade Yan Xiao."

"Good morning, leader." Yan Xiao said respectfully. Although he didn't know the other party's specific position, a general "leader" was always the right thing to do.

"Sit down, sit down, don't stand." Song Guangfu waved his hand, then strolled over to Yan Xiao's table: "Young man, where are you from...?"

Yan Xiao understood immediately; they wanted to find out his background, and he wasn't some powerful figure: "I'm from the Red Star Commune."

"Red Star Commune?!"

Upon hearing the local report, Xu Chunwang and his two companions couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"You really came from the Red Star Commune?"

"Genuine, guaranteed!"

"Wow! I didn't expect them to have such a powerful background!" Xu Chunwang clicked his tongue, his tone complicated.

Communes were generally organized into units of "one commune per township" or "one commune for several townships," and were relatively large in scale.

In reality, it consisted of several townships (villages) and one commune, and Hongxing Commune happened to be one of the largest communes around the capital.

A few years ago, during the famine, many purchasing agents and factories of all sizes in the city went there to scavenge for grain.

The name of Red Star Commune is well-known in the purchasing circle.

"Not at all, it's just a small place, nothing like the city." Yan Xiao smiled. He knew very well that he was just a member of a production brigade under the commune.

"That's true, the countryside can't compare to the city." Zheng Shuangxi nodded.

The other three did not respond to this.

Tread-

Suddenly, a familiar sound of footsteps approached.

A figure hurried past.

The next second, Sun Yongkai strode in.

Looking at the people in the room, he saw Yan Xiao.

"Yan Xiao is here."

"Good morning, Section Chief Sun!" Yan Xiao stood up and replied.

"Good morning, come here, let me introduce you." Sun Yongkai waved his hand, then introduced Yan Xiao beside him: "If the others aren't here, that's fine, but if you're here, that's fine too. Introduce yourself."

"This is Yan Xiao, a new temporary purchasing agent in our Purchasing Department 3."

"Everyone, please welcome him."

clap clap-

There was thunderous applause.

"Xiao Xu, Yan Xiao just arrived and isn't familiar with the ins and outs of purchasing yet. You'll have to work hard these next few days to guide him and help him get used to our purchasing process and rules as soon as possible. It's almost the end of the month, so I'll let you off the hook for this month's purchasing task."

"Considering you're new here, your first month's quota will be halved. You need to learn diligently and work hard! Don't let me down."

"Yes, Section Chief! I guarantee I'll complete the mission!" Yan Xiao straightened his back and replied in a loud voice, his eyes full of enthusiasm.

Sun Yongkai was clearly satisfied with Yan Xiao's enthusiasm. "Xiao Xu, I'm entrusting him to you. Take good care of him! Explain the ins and outs of procurement to him clearly, don't hold back or be vague!"

"Understood, Sun Ke, I will definitely take good care of Comrade Yan Xiao!" Xu Chunwang nodded quickly.

"Okay." Sun Yongkai nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Song Guangfu, his face falling: "Old Song, you, come with me for a moment."

Immediately, Song Guangfu's face darkened, and he had no choice but to follow.

The office door clicked shut, isolating the inside from the outside.

"Kid, you're something else." Xu Chunwang patted Yan Xiao's chest. "You're the first person Sun Ke has treated so seriously. I've been here for almost half a year, and this is the first time I've seen this!"

From Sun Yongkai's few words just now, it's clear that he takes Yan Xiao very seriously; otherwise, he wouldn't have halved the amount, been vague, and explained things clearly.

"Really? I didn't see that coming from you." Yan Xiao pretended to be clueless.

"Tsk, still too green! You'll understand once you've spent more time with him. Sun Ke isn't much of a talker. Tell me, how did you manage to get Sun Ke's attention?"

Zhu Fugui and Zheng Shuangxi, who were standing nearby, were equally curious. When they first joined the company, they hadn't heard Sun Yongkai say so many things.

"It's nothing, it's probably because of the drinking party I attended with Section Chief Sun the day before yesterday..."

He briefly recounted the events in just a few words.

Hearing that Yan Xiao had actually drunk both the grain station chief Ding Mo and Section Chief Yu under the table, he was immediately stunned.

"What?! It's you?!"

"They got Station Chief Ding and Section Chief Yu...drunk?!"

"My God! No wonder...no wonder Sun Ke gave us a thorough dressing-down yesterday, calling us a bunch of good-for-nothings!"

This skinny bamboo pole in front of me is surprisingly unassuming.

However, despite their shock, the three of them did not entirely believe it.

When it comes to alcohol tolerance, hearing about it is unreliable; you only know someone's true capacity after a real drinking contest.

Xu Chunwang composed himself, remembering Sun Yongkai's orders, and his attitude became much more serious than before: "Since Section Chief Sun has spoken, fine, I'll give you a proper explanation of the ins and outs of our purchasing department."

"To be honest, I only arrived three or four months earlier than you, and my knowledge isn't very deep, but it's enough to teach you the basics."

"The most important thing is, of course, the procurement task. Each procurement officer has a monthly procurement quota, which varies depending on their rank."

"You are now a level 12 clerk with a purchase quota of 15 yuan. Half of that is 7.5 yuan. It's not a lot. With a little thought and some legwork, it's easy to complete."

As he spoke, Xu Chunwang returned to his workstation, opened a drawer, and pulled out a mimeographed sheet with slightly curled edges.

"This is our purchase order, and the purchase price is shown on it."

Yan Xiao took a look and saw that the list included various supplies such as grains, vegetables, meat, fruits, mushrooms, and mountain products...

Grains are further subdivided into coarse grains, refined grains, etc.

The classification is very detailed, and the purchase price is also higher than that of the market.

"After all, we're purchasing supplies outside of the planned procurement schedule. The factory canteen and employee benefits depend on these! If the price isn't right, who will be willing to sell to us? We'll buy them at this price!"

"Besides buying with money, you can also exchange with coupons. Every month, the factory will issue a batch of special coupons to us purchasing staff, including grain coupons, oil coupons, cloth coupons, and so on."

Taking rice as an example, the market price is 23 cents per pound, and the purchase order is 27 cents. As long as you purchase 27.8 pounds of rice and complete the purchase quota of 7.5 yuan, you will have completed your task for the month.

Whether you can buy rice for 25 cents, 26 cents, or exchange it with coupons, it all depends on your own ability.

Nobody cares how much of the profit is made from the price difference.

"Of course, this procurement quota isn't a rigid, inflexible rule. This month's procurement quota can be slightly lower, but whatever the difference, you have to make up for it next month. If it's too high, you can also fall short next month."

"In short, we need to meet the corresponding procurement quota within three months, which is one quarter. We need supplies, not money. Whether you buy them from the black market or take them from your own home, we want results."

"What if we can't finish it?" Yan Xiao suddenly asked.

"If you don't finish, you'll be demoted first. If you're demoted two levels, you're fired. You're currently the lowest level, so if you don't finish, you'll be fired immediately," Xu Chunwang warned solemnly.

"Understood." Yan Xiao's heart skipped a beat, and he nodded solemnly.

This purchasing department is definitely not an easy place to work.

"Of course, there are other situations as well, but I won't go into details."

After saying a lot, Xu Chunwang concluded: "In general, as long as you can complete your tasks on time, being a purchasing agent is like living the dream! You can do whatever you want, and your time is very flexible."

"To be honest, once the mission is accomplished, you're the boss! Even if the Heavenly King himself came, as long as you don't miss the deadline, he can't order you around!"

No wonder all these people disappeared when Sun Yongkai was socializing the day before yesterday.

"Understood, thank you for your guidance, Brother Xu, it's been a great help!" Yan Xiao nodded in agreement. "By the way, Brother Xu, what's your purchase quota?"

Xu Chunwang blushed and held up three fingers: "I'm 30 now, but I'll be 50 soon, and then I'll be a level 10 clerk."

The administrative rank of a purchasing agent is directly linked to the purchasing quota.

"Impressive! Brother Xu is impressive! I'll need your guidance in the future." Yan Xiao offered his compliment at the opportune moment.

"You're too kind," Xu Chunwang said modestly, but he was secretly pleased. "I don't have anything to do today, so I'll take you to the countryside later."

"That's great! Thank you, Brother Xu!"

Just then—

Bang bang bang!

Suddenly, a series of slamming sounds came from Sun Yongkai's office, startling someone who was eavesdropping outside, who immediately ran away.