Chapter 28 Choice
It would take several days to complete the formalities and transfer the files. Principal Zhou first took Song Yuanchao to the school's personnel department to fill out a registration form, and then took him to the school-run factory to familiarize himself with the location.
The school-run factory of No. 2 Middle School is just to the east of No. 2 Middle School. There is a small courtyard at the entrance. After entering, I saw two middle-aged women in work clothes busying around. When they saw Principal Zhou, they stopped and greeted him with a smile.
"Is Lao Ma here?"
"Director Ma is in the workshop. Let me take you there." A woman put down what she was holding and patted her gloved hands.
"No need, you guys go ahead and do your work, I'll go to the workshop by myself." Principal Zhou waved his hand and took Song Yuanchao to the workshop.
It would be better to say that it is a large warehouse than a workshop. The entire school-run factory is a two-story building. The first floor is connected from east to west, and raw materials and goods are piled on the west side. The rest of the space is where the workshop is located.
As soon as I entered the workshop, I heard bursts of noisy noises, including the sound of things being moved, people talking, and more importantly, the continuous sound of sewing machines .
The scale of the school-run factory of No. 2 Middle School cannot be said to be small. There are currently 35 people in the entire factory, including a factory director, a cashier who also serves as office labor, and a workshop director. These three people are formal school workers. As for accountants, they are concurrently served by the school's finance office. The cashier of the school-run factory usually liaises with the finance office.
Apart from these three people, 18 of the remaining 32 people are collectively employed, and the remaining 14 are temporary workers.
Among these ordinary workers, there are five men, who are mainly responsible for heavy work such as delivery and handling. The others are women, all over 30 years old, and the older ones are almost about to retire.
The cashier is a fat lady who is less than 40 years old. It is said that she used to work in the finance office of a local primary school, and was later transferred to the school-run factory of the Second Middle School for some reasons.
The workshop director’s surname is Luo, and everyone calls him Lao Luo. He is 56 years old this year and is not in good health. He has taken a long sick leave to recuperate at home.
The factory manager Ma Xun is four years younger than Lao Luo and is 52 years old this year. He has been the factory manager of the school-run factory for more than ten years and is considered one of the oldest employees here. These days, Lao Luo is on sick leave and the workshop is short of staff, so Manager Ma came to the workshop in person to supervise production.
When Song Yuanchao and his team entered, Director Ma was talking to a female worker. Because the scene was noisy and they were far away, Song Yuanchao could not hear clearly what they were talking about.
Principal Zhou took a few steps forward and shouted to Director Ma. Director Ma turned around and saw that it was Principal Zhou. He raised his hand and gestured to Principal Zhou, indicating that he should wait a moment. Then he continued to talk to the female worker for a few more words and quickly walked towards them.
"Lao Ma, this is Xiao Song whom I mentioned to you last time."
Principal Zhou introduced him to Director Ma. Director Ma looked at Song Yuanchao and smiled: "Song Yuanchao, you are Teacher Song's son, right? Your father and I are old colleagues. Just call me Uncle Ma."
"Hello, Uncle Ma." Song Yuanchao quickly stretched out his hands and shook hands with Director Ma.
"Old Ma, it will take a few days for Xiao Song's school to complete the formalities. I'll bring him over today to have a look and meet you. Once the formalities are completed, I'll let him report to you formally." Principal Zhou said on the side.
Director Ma immediately said that there was no problem and that he would arrange it.
Seeing that the two had met, Principal Zhou had something else to do at school, so he went back first. Song Yuanchao and Director Ma first sent Principal Zhou out, and then returned to the workshop.
"Our school-run factory mainly produces some labor protection products, such as gloves, masks, hats, and work clothes. In addition to supplying some of these products to labor protection product stores, some are purchased by several factories as their quarterly distribution..."
Director Ma took Song Yuanchao to visit the work in the workshop. Today, the school-run factory was making work clothes. These work clothes were ordinary blue work clothes, and the style was usually similar to a jacket. Nowadays, the work clothes of each company look basically the same, and the colors are blue, gray, etc. The only difference is that the factory name is printed in red on the chest to distinguish them.
The workshop was not very large, and he walked around while being introduced, and he quickly finished the tour. After the tour, Director Ma took him out of the workshop and went straight to the office on the second floor.
After entering the office, Zhou Yuanchao poured a glass of water for Song Yuanchao. Zhou Yuanchao quickly took it and said thank you. At the same time, he took out a cigarette from his pocket and offered it to him. Director Ma took the cigarette, looked at it, and asked with a smile: "Xiao Song, do you smoke?"
"I don't smoke much and I don't have much of a smoking addiction." Song Yuanchao replied.
"It's good not to have a smoking addiction!" Director Ma sighed: "Smoking is not a good habit, but it's impossible for a heavy smoker like me to quit. But there is one thing you have to remember, smoking is only allowed in the office or outside the factory, and absolutely not in other places in the factory!"
"I understand. Fireworks are prohibited in the production area. Safety first." Song Yuanchao nodded repeatedly.
Director Ma was very satisfied with Song Yuanchao's answer. Although Principal Zhou had told him that Song Guangzeng's son Song Yuanchao would be assigned to work in the school-run factory as a school worker, Director Ma did not reject this decision. But at the same time, Director Ma was also worried about Song Yuanchao, whom he had never met before. After all, he had never seen Song Yuanchao, and he didn't know Song Yuanchao's temper and personality. If he got such a troublemaker here, he would definitely have a headache as the factory director.
Now, Song Yuanchao's attitude made Director Ma completely relieved. Come to think of it, Song Guangzeng is such a good teacher. How could the child of such an excellent teacher be an ignorant person?
He sat down and asked about Song Yuanchao's personal situation. When he learned that he had been an educated youth for eight years, Director Ma nodded slightly in his heart and his impression of Song Yuanchao improved a little.
"Most of the people in our factory are collective workers and temporary workers. There are only three janitors... Oh, no, it's four now that you've come."
Director Ma asked, "What do you personally think about your specific work arrangements?"
"Uncle Ma, I am a young man, and you are the elder and the leader. Of course, it is up to you to arrange this. Besides, I am just a brick in the revolution, and I will move wherever I am needed." Song Yuanchao answered very modestly.
Director Ma laughed immediately and patted Song Yuanchao on the shoulder: "You are still young, but you are so talkative. Come on, this is not the Revolutionary Committee, there are not so many rules. As I said before, your organization is a school worker organization, which is different from most people, so I can't let you do the same work as them. As for your work arrangement, I have some ideas..."
"Uncle Ma, go ahead." Seeing that Director Ma had almost finished his cigarette, Song Yuanchao promptly handed him another one.
After taking the cigarette, Director Ma nodded and said, "The first arrangement is to stay in the office. The workshop director Lao Luo is in poor health. He took sick leave before the National Day last year and has hardly come in the past few months. The workshop is now busy with production tasks. When he is not here, I am the only one to watch over it. When I go to the workshop, there are not many people in the office, and many things will be too late to deal with. You have graduated from high school, and your cultural level must be better than that of ordinary people. Stay in the office and help me with chores."
After saying that, Director Ma glanced at Song Yuanchao. Seeing that Song Yuanchao was still listening, he continued, "The second is to go to the workshop. I think Lao Luo will officially retire due to illness in a few days. When he retires due to illness, there will be no one to take care of the work in the workshop. I have a lot of things to do, and it is impossible for me to always be in charge of the workshop, so someone needs to take over. Xiao Song, think about it yourself. Anyway, it will take some time for you to officially report. Think about it carefully these few days when you go back and give me a formal reply on the day of reporting?"
After listening to Director Ma's words, Song Yuanchao immediately stood up and said, "Uncle Ma, there is no need to wait for the reporting day. I have decided to go to the workshop now."
Song Yuanchao's words surprised Director Ma. He originally thought that Song Yuanchao would choose the first arrangement. After all, sitting in the office is much more comfortable than working in the workshop, and it is more glorious to say it out loud than working in the workshop. But who would have thought that Song Yuanchao would choose the second arrangement without hesitation after listening to him, which was to work directly in the workshop.
Although going to the workshop was to prepare for taking over Lao Luo's position as workshop director, there were still many unknowns. Once he left the workshop, it would not be easy to return to the office. For this reason, Director Ma asked Song Yuanchao to think about it carefully and not make a decision so quickly.
