Chapter 818: Chapter 558: Mess Section Leader
The two executives from the listed company came to inspect.
Secretary Ye and Mayor Qian took it very seriously. After the meeting, they, along with Deputy Director of the Management Committee and Secretary of Sanhe Street, Chen Wenhua, rushed to Sanhe for reception.
With city leaders present, there was nothing left for Han Yu to do.
Senior sister said that they would not return to the downtown today, so the young couple rode their light motorcycle back to Bailong Port straight after work.
Before returning, they called Master’s wife. She had already prepared dinner and greeted them to wash their hands for the meal as she said with a smile, "Salted Fish, Ningning, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you."
"What is it?"
"I’m not that old, and if I stay idle like this, people might gossip. Yu Zhen said they are short of a custodian in their factory, someone in charge of the warehouse. I can’t do other things, but there’s no problem being a custodian, so I’d like to work at the clothing factory."
The Linghai people do have money, but they are also hardworking.
For example, those in construction go out at the beginning of the year and return at the end.
Also, at Bailong Port, elderly folks in their seventies or eighties who can still work are all doing some work. Director Ge and Master’s wife said that after retirement, people in the north may dance Yangko, but that’s non-existent in Linghai. Everyone’s busy making money.
Considering that Master’s wife is not even fifty yet, staying idle doesn’t seem right. Having something to do is good for mental and physical health. Salted Fish turned around and asked with a smile, "Does Director Ge know?"
Sister Wei said with a smile, "He knows, and he’s very supportive."
Han Xiangning then asked, "Master’s wife, the clothing factory is in the East City Industrial Park, quite far from Bailong Port. If you go to work at the factory, will you come back in the evening?"
"Yu Zhen comes back every day. I’ll ride with Yu Zhen."
Fearing the young couple might disagree, Sister Wei added, "Yu Zhen leaves very early every day and sometimes returns quite late. Old Qian is worried, so he said it’s good for me to help at the factory, at least to keep Yu Zhen company."
The current security is much better than before; things like highway robbery are unlikely to happen again.
But Yu Zhen coming and going late indeed causes concern, as everyone knows the "Three Golden Flowers" of the shipping company have money.
After careful consideration, Han Yu smiled and said, "All right, keeping Yu Zhen company sounds good."
Han Xiangning was about to joke about asking for some pretty clothes from the factory when Principal Gao showed up with Zhang Erxiao and Xiao Jiang, with Zhang Erxiao carrying a canvas bag.
Sister Wei hurriedly asked if Principal Gao and the others had eaten.
Principal Gao had eaten before coming, so he politely declined Sister Wei and Han Yu’s offer, sat down, and talked about sending Zhang Erxiao and Xiao Jiang to enlist in the army.
No need to ask, it was Xiao Yu who told both of them.
Han Yu looked back at the smiling senior sister and asked, "President Zhang, President Jiang, are you really planning to partner with our camp for military-civilian construction?"
"We must collaborate; even Boss Wu is working with you. What kind of relationship do we have? We have even more reason to support your work and collaborate with you!"
"There’s no problem working on military-civilian construction together, but the key is you both want to join the reserves and want to be officers."
"If Xiao Yu can be an officer, why can’t we?"
"Xiao Yu is a party member, a Changhang Public Security Officer, and a deputy branch-level cadre."
"Though I’m not a party member, I am a Political Consultative Conference Member."
As soon as Zhang Erxiao finished speaking, Xiao Jiang eagerly said, "Brother Salted Fish, I’m a Youth League member!"
Han Yu was completely defeated and looked at him with a smile, asking, "How old are you?"
"26, you know that. I, Er Xiao, you, and Xiao Yu are all the same age."
"A 26-year-old Youth League member?"
The soon-to-be son-in-law and Xiao Jiang have just been playing around these past two years.
Achieving success at a young age isn’t necessarily a good thing; the outside influences are not great. Principal Gao worried that if they continued like this, they might turn bad, feeling that sending them to the military to learn discipline was beneficial.
Upon seeing Han Yu bringing up the age issue, he couldn’t help but laugh, "Salted Fish, Xiao Jiang may not understand this, but I do. According to regulations, if you don’t hold an office within the league, you usually resign at 28 automatically, which means Xiao Jiang indeed is a League member now."
"When did he join the league? I’ve never heard of it." Han Yu was skeptical.
Principal Gao pulled out two brand new League member IDs, smiling, "Both of them have been League members for a long time, but never got their IDs. This afternoon, I took them to Four Factory to get their League IDs reissued. See for yourself."
The League committee is too lenient in developing members.
Last year, during Sanhe Street’s recruitment, several eligible youths who weren’t League members were also promptly issued IDs in the same way.
Han Yu took the League IDs, looking at the photos, unsure of what to say, when Zhang Erxiao suddenly handed over a phone, "Salted Fish, Uncle Zhang wants you to take the call."
"Are you kidding me? You actually pulled strings and asked Uncle Zhang to put in a word!"
"Uncle Zhang is waiting, quickly take it."
"All right, I’ll take it."
Han Yu took the phone and heard Old Zhang’s voice on the other end, "Salted Fish, about Er Xiao and Xiao Jiang joining the reserves, can you make some accommodations? Moreover, their willingness to be aligned with the organization and become a part of the national defense reserve is a good thing, something we should welcome."
Han Yu smiled wryly, "Uncle Zhang, they don’t just want to be soldiers; they want to be officers too!"
"But they aren’t ordinary youths; they’re entrepreneurs from Linghai. Er Xiao is even a member of Linghai’s Political Consultative Conference. I guess there aren’t many Political Consultative Conference members serving in the Jiangnan Reserve Division. Moreover, they want to collaborate with your camp for military-civilian construction and sponsor you with a hundred thousand yuan."
"Buying rank with money?"
"Isn’t your camp’s budget funded by selling ranks? Others might not know, but I do. Besides, this is the Reserve, it’s similar to the Civilian Soldiers, not the regular army."
He had just spent a hundred thousand in the afternoon to buy two gold-plated plaques, and the camp’s budget was indeed a bit tight.
Unexpectedly, upon returning, someone came with money. Han Yu thought it could be accommodated considering the money and the introduction from the elders, and couldn’t help but smile, "It can only be a Lieutenant."
"A Lieutenant is fine, let’s settle it like this."
"Then I’ll hang up now."
"Go ahead, carry on with your conversation."
As soon as Han Yu put down the phone, Zhang Erxiao chuckled and said, "Salted Fish, I’m at least a Political Consultative Conference Member, being a Lieutenant is too low, how can I face people with that?"
Han Yu stared at him and playfully scolded, "President Zhang, you are being insatiable."
"I’m not being greedy, I can help you a lot, solve problems encountered in flood emergency management."
"How can you solve any problems?"
Zhang Erxiao opened the canvas bag, took out a machine that looked like a large stapler but also somewhat like a small sewing machine, found a socket, plugged it in, and "dada-da" operated it on the canvas bag’s opening before handing the sewn bag to Han Yu.
Han Yu took it, looked for a while, and asked, "This is a sealing machine from your rice mill, used for sewing the openings of woven bags filled with rice."
"That’s right, it’s a sealing machine."
"Interesting, how many sealing machines do you have?"
"The factory has two, but they need to be used there. Although this sealing machine is imported, East Sea has agents, it’s not difficult to buy. I’ve already spoken with Old Huang, he’ll go early tomorrow to help buy them for me, will four be enough?"
"That should be enough."
"Then can you promote me to a Lieutenant?"
"You indeed solved a problem for us, or rather, improved our efficiency. Your contribution deserves a Lieutenant rank!"
Zhang Erxiao was delighted, thinking Brother Salted Fish was right, to be valued in the camp, one must be useful to it.
Sister Wei, however, was puzzled and couldn’t help but ask, "San’er, why do you need a sealing machine?"
"It’s very useful, because in flood fighting, sandbags are used to hold soil. If the openings aren’t tightly secured, the soil will wash out quickly in the water, rendering it useless. But tying bag openings takes time, and there’s not always enough string available on the riverbank."
Han Yu lifted the portable sealing machine and smiled, adding, "With this little machine, not only can it seal quickly, but it also seals the soil-filled bags tightly, even more securely than manually tying with string."
"But this uses electricity. If there’s a typhoon or a flood, is there electricity on the riverbank?"
"There wasn’t before, but there will be in the future. Executing rescue tasks can’t be done with work during the day and rest at night. Considering nighttime work’s lighting needs, the Binjiang City Flood Control Command and Linghai Water Resources Bureau procured emergency supplies with two diesel generator sets included, and our camp plans to form a power support squad."
"So did Erxiao really help you a lot?"
"Not a lot, but he helped a bit."
A little help is fine, at least enough to earn a promotion to Lieutenant.
Zhang Erxiao took the sealing machine and, taking advantage of the momentum, asked, "Camp Commander, can I have a position, not just a rank? Can I be a Company Commander?"
Han Yu cast him a glance and said irritably, "Don’t push it, even Xiao Yu couldn’t be a Company Commander, let alone you."
"Then what should I do?"
"You can serve as the deputy squad leader of the logistics support company’s cooking squad."
"Cooking squad... you want me to cook?"
"The cooking squad is a platoon-level unit responsible for feeding nearly 300 people, a daunting task. If you can do this well, you’ll have the chance to become the logistics support company’s Deputy Company Commander in the future."
Knowing nothing else, it seemed he could only be the head cook.
Zhang Erxiao thought for a while, grinned, and asked, "Brother Salted Fish, can I be the logistics support company’s Deputy Company Commander and the squad leader of the cooking squad? I’m not good at anything else, but I excel at logistics. I assure you, support will be on point!"
He contributed money, suggested using the sealing machine for sandbags, and even planned to buy the sealing machines himself; just making him a squad leader seemed unfair.
Han Yu smiled, looked up and said, "Alright, but be prepared mentally. Once you join our Reserve Camp, you become a Reserve Officer, an essential part of the People’s Liberation Army of China. If you violate regulations or are negligent in your duties, you’ll be held accountable!"
"I know, don’t worry. I’m your brother, how could I disgrace you."
"Good to know."
"Brother Salted Fish, what about me?" Xiao Jiang couldn’t help but ask.
Han Yu smiled at him and said, "You can only be a Lieutenant; we’re already overstaffed with officers, I can’t give you a promotion to Lieutenant."
Xiao Jiang, having been Zhang Erxiao’s sidekick for years, was grateful to be any sort of officer and didn’t aspire to be a Lieutenant, "The rank doesn’t matter, what I want to know is what I will do in the future?"
"You know electric welding, you’re an experienced welder, join the repair shop and work under my brother-in-law."
"Sure, I can help my brother-in-law weld things and repair simple machines too."
