To please others? It's better to please yourself.

Xu Jing'an wandered back to H City, back to her own home. Only after registering her household registration and holding her own household registration booklet did she feel at ease.

When I went to bed last night, I discovered that the search function was more detailed.

Xu Jing'an went to work on the 28th. When she went to see Director Huang to report back from work, she handed over the two bottles of wine that Han Yi had asked her to give him. Xu Jing'an could sense that Director Huang was being much gentler with her.

When she returned to the archives, her partner, Wu Su-fen, was already there.

The girl had a round face and was 1.6 meters tall. She greeted Xu Jing'an very warmly.

"Comrade Xu Jing'an, you've finally arrived. I'm all alone, with no one to talk to."

Xu Jing'an responded politely, "Hello, Sister Wu. I'm new here. I'll have to trouble you to take care of me from now on."

Wu Sufeng shook her head: "You'll see after a few days of work. The job here is easy to pick up."

"You've come at just the right time," she said as she took off her gloves.

"Why do you say that?" Xu Jing'an asked curiously, and also went over to lend a hand.

"Our factory is paying wages today! Isn't it perfect timing that you've come?"

Upon hearing that she was going to receive a salary, Xu Jing'an smiled happily. "My timing is too perfect."

"We'll have a May Day holiday, and I heard everyone gets two ounces of white sugar," Wu Sufeng whispered in her ear.

"Really? That's wonderful!" Xu Jing'an was overjoyed. These days, it's not easy to get candy.

The two were chatting quietly when someone knocked on the door to let them know.

"Go collect your salary—go collect your salary now!"

"There aren't many people right now, so we don't have to wait in line—"

In no time at all, everyone had run away.

Xu Jing'an also lined up to receive half a month's salary of 18.75 yuan, 14 jin of grain coupons, and some other receipts.

When she arrived, Director Han had already arranged for her to receive a full month's salary. The receipts were from the local area and wouldn't be valid in H city, so she spent them immediately.

The steel mill is a large factory, and it's a heavy industry, so the employee benefits have always been quite good. In addition to two pairs of white gloves, two towels, and a bar of soap every month, this time everyone also received two ounces of white sugar, three ounces of mung beans, and a set of summer work clothes every year.

Xu Jing'an also went to the logistics department to collect her factory benefits: two sets of work clothes (one for winter and one for summer), two tea mugs, two lunch boxes, two towels, two pairs of work shoes, four pairs of gloves, and a thermos.

To be honest, Xu Jing'an was really surprised. She didn't expect the steel mill to have such good benefits. No wonder everyone wanted to be a worker.

There were quite a lot of things, so I put them all in one bag and carried them away in no time.

When Wu Sufeng saw that Xu Jing'an had received so many gloves at once, she said, "If you save up more, you can knit a sweater for yourself later."

The sweater Wu Sufeng was referring to was a type of sweater knitted from unspun gloves, which was popular at the time. Wool could not be bought without wool coupons, but the factory would distribute several pairs of white yarn gloves each month.

The skillful women all saved up their white knitted gloves. They'd take them apart and knit sweaters later.

Those who didn't like white sweaters would buy dye and dye them themselves. Those who couldn't even afford to buy dye would collect pomegranate peels and dry them.

After boiling, put the white yarn in and turn it over from time to time. The final dyed color is very beautiful!

Most workers wore work clothes year-round, saving their cloth ration coupons for their families. Even so, the clothes were always worn for three years, then patched up and repaired for another three years.

Not to mention the incredibly hard-to-get wool tickets!

But almost every working-class family has several hand-knitted sweaters and trousers.

Upon hearing this, Xu Jing'an immediately said, "Thank you so much, Sister Wu. I've always wanted to knit one, but I don't know how. I'll have to trouble you to teach me."

Wu Su-fen immediately said, "What's the big deal? It'll be perfect for us to keep each other company."

Xu Jing'an also sat down next to her and started learning to take off her gloves. The two chatted idly, exchanging a few words.

At noon, I went to the canteen with Sister Wu to get lunch. The steamed buns were big, four buns per pound cost two cents, and Xu Jing'an ordered two; a serving of vegetables cost two cents, and the total cost was twelve cents and four ounces of grain coupons.

Wu Sufeng walked around the cafeteria and came back saying, "Jing'an, there will be meat dishes in the cafeteria tomorrow, so you'd better come early."

"Sister Wu, you're incredibly well-informed!" Xu Jing'an exclaimed in admiration.

Wu Sufeng smiled smugly: "The head chef in the cafeteria is my cousin. You'll have to queue with me for food; you can get more, but not less!"

Xu Jing'an had an "I knew it!" look on her face. "I knew I'd get this thanks to you, Sister Wu. I usually only get food that's 80% full. This time, I'm completely full!"

"When I handed over my work to Sister Guo, she kept expressing her regret, saying it would be so difficult to find another partner like me!"

"I never expected my luck to be so good this time!"

Wu Sufeng laughed even harder. "The main thing is that we get along well. I have a day off tomorrow, so don't forget!"

"I'll never forget that!" Xu Jing'an replied decisively. Getting meat back now won't be easy.

When it was time to leave work in the evening, Xu Jing'an packed her things and went home.

I walked slowly for 20 minutes and arrived at the entrance of the alley.

"Little Xu is back?" Neighbor Sister Hua greeted him.

"Hey, did your sister-in-law just get back too?" Xu Jing'an replied as she walked.

Nowadays, as long as neighbors don't have a falling out, they'll exchange a few words whenever they bump into each other.

Within two days of moving in, all the neighbors knew she worked at the steel factory and was a cousin of Sister Qin. It was fair to say that everyone knew each other inside and out, with little privacy between them.

Before she knew it, the year was drawing to a close, and Xu Jing'an was having a very smooth time there. Her work was easy, and she got along well with her colleagues. She had taken over Guo Caixia's shift, and with Director Huang secretly looking out for her from time to time, no one in the unit was stupid enough to make things difficult for her.

The key to getting along with others is to maintain proper boundaries and sense of propriety.