Chapter 356 Hiring People
Sunday.
Lin Yan was busy in the house.
With the deepening of reform and opening up and the arrival of the end of the year, Lin Yan's work became increasingly busy.
The country is now extremely short of foreign exchange, and the main source of foreign exchange lies in commodity exports. The Ministry of Foreign Trade, as a ministry under national management and guidance, has a top priority in this regard.
Especially last year, due to the needs of national construction, the country's foreign exchange expenditure was huge, resulting in the foreign exchange reserves reaching an unprecedented negative US$1.296 billion. Therefore, filling the deficit and reversing the poor situation of foreign exchange reserves has been the focus of our work since this year.
This was the case when Lin Yan went on a business trip to Tianjin some time ago. These days, she has participated in the negotiation of a project in Yanjing. The negotiation is going quite well. Through the help of Mr. Du, she has reached an agreement with several Hong Kong companies to export a batch of handicrafts. Now the order has been received, and the next step is the subsequent production and export.
Lin Yan was in a good mood and hummed a song while cleaning efficiently. Song Yuanchao was also busy, fetching water, wringing cloth, wiping furniture and glass. It was a hard day in winter and his forehead was covered with sweat and steam was coming out of his head.
After working hard for a long time, he finally cleaned the rooms spotlessly. At this time, Song Yuanchao was so tired that he could hardly straighten his back. But looking at the other places in the huge yard that had not been cleaned up, Song Yuanchao smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"Yan Zi, take a break today and stop working." Song Yuanchao said while panting, sitting down on the steps under the eaves.
"Don't sit here. It's cold and you'll easily catch a cold if you sweat. Go inside and wash your face." Lin Yan pulled Song Yuanchao up and they went into the house. After washing their faces, Song Yuanchao felt much better.
After lighting a cigarette and taking a puff, Song Yuanchao looked around and groaned inwardly.
This courtyard is very good and nice, especially after being carefully renovated by the team entrusted to Professor Yao, the entire courtyard has basically restored its original appearance, showing its former style and layout.
Song Yuanchao was very satisfied with this. In addition, Song Yuanchao also bought a lot of Ming and Qing furniture and furnished them in various places in the courtyard. In addition, the calligraphy and paintings and antiques he brought from various places in the past two years added a lot of rich atmosphere to the courtyard.
But the problem is that this yard is too big. After all, this was Mu Zhang'a's villa in the past. It is different from Song Yuanchao's original yard where Lin Daoyuan's family lives now. In terms of area and number of rooms, this yard is bigger and has more rooms. Plus, Song Yuanchao is the only one living there on weekdays. Even if Lin Yan comes often, it is not easy for the two of them to keep such a large yard clean .
Just like today, the two of them have been busy since early morning and have only cleaned less than half of the floor. The weather in Yanjing has never been very good. In autumn and winter, the wind blowing from the north is mixed with sand and dust. If the doors and windows are open for a day, a thin layer of dust will fall on the furniture. Not to mention a week.
A big place has its own difficulties, just like cleaning is a problem now. Moreover, Song Yuanchao and Lin Yan are only free on Sundays. After a day off, they don't have time to go shopping and enjoy their own world. Instead, they spend more time and energy on this.
"Yan Zi, what do you think about me hiring someone to clean up?" Song Yuanchao asked.
"Hire people? Yuanchao, are you dreaming?" Lin Yan was stunned for a moment, reached out and touched Song Yuanchao's forehead, then touched her own forehead.
"What are you doing? Even if you're dreaming, you don't have to touch your forehead. I don't have a fever." Song Yuanchao rolled his eyes at her unhappily.
"You are sober-minded. I thought you were dreaming and had a fever." Lin Yan said with a smile, "You still want to hire someone? Who do you really think you are? A capitalist or a landlord? Or Mu Zhanga of the past? You have a lot of maids in your mansion, and you are the master behind closed doors? You just want everything to be provided for you? Don't you think this is possible? Let's not talk about whether you can hire someone. Even if you can, what will happen if this news gets out?"
"I know. I'm discussing this with you. We can't keep working on such a big yard all the time, can we? Look, we've been working on it for a long time and most of it is still not finished. If we finish everything, it will probably be dark by then. And this won't be just for one or two days. We'll have to live here forever. We can't always be like this, can we?" Song Yuanchao sighed and pointed around.
"You've just come to your senses now? Who told you not to consider these things in the first place? You had to build such a big yard to show off, you deserve it!" Lin Yan scolded with a smile. Although she said so, Lin Yan was very happy about this yard in her heart, especially when Lin Yuhang and Luo Lin held their wedding banquet here. When the people who attended the wedding came to see this yard, who didn't praise it nonstop?
But as Song Yuanchao said, the place is too big and there are too many rooms, and it is exhausting just to clean them every time.
Listening to Lin Yan's words, Song Yuanchao smiled bitterly in his heart, but at the same time felt helpless.
After all, it was only the end of 1981, and there was no need to hire anyone, especially someone to do these things at home. This was after the reform and opening up. If it were a few years ago, let alone mentioning such a thing, it would be unthinkable. The consequences of such an idea were extremely serious. It was oppression and exploitation of the working class and was the dregs of feudal society.
Things got better after 1985. With the gradual opening up of social atmosphere and the emergence of the migrant worker group, many farmers began to move to the city to find work, giving rise to a special profession called "babysitter". The nature of this profession is similar to that of the previous servants, it's just a different name.
Later, formal housekeeping companies emerged, forming a new industry.
At that time, Song Yuanchao only needs to make a phone call and professionals will come to help clean on time. He won't have to do it himself to make the house spotless.
But it's still a long way to go before 1985, Song Yuanchao can't just keep waiting like this for the next few years, right? Not only is it a waste of time, but it also makes him exhausted every time. On his rare day off, he can't spend a wonderful time with Lin Yan, but instead spends all his time and energy on this.
"Yan Zi, what do you think about inviting Aunt Gao and Brother Zhuzi to our home?" Song Yuanchao thought for a moment and asked tentatively.
Lin Yan was stunned for a moment. She didn't expect Song Yuanchao to suddenly mention Aunt Gao's family.
Speaking of Aunt Gao, the relationship between her and Lin Yan is not simple. When she was young, Aunt Gao worked as a maid in the Lin family. Later, due to changes in customs and the situation, Aunt Gao left the Lin family. But even so, the relationship between the Lin family and Aunt Gao's family is still like that of relatives, especially during the years when Lin Daoyuan and his wife were down and out. If it weren't for Aunt Gao's protection, Lin Yan would probably have suffered more.
Seeing Lin Yan's hesitation, Song Yuanchao said, "Yanzi, you know the situation of Aunt Gao's family. Uncle passed away early, and there are only Aunt Gao and Brother Zhuzi in the family of four. Aunt Gao doesn't have much pension, and Brother Zhuzi's job is not very good. Most of the time he does odd jobs and doesn't make much money. And sister-in-law, I remember she works in an enamel factory, right? She only makes a salary of more than 30 yuan a month. I heard that their factory is not doing well now, and the family has to pay for the elderly and children, so life is tight."
"Aunt Gao and Brother Zhuzi are not outsiders. I know you have always wanted to help them, but it is not appropriate to give them money directly, and they will not accept it. It is better to let Aunt Gao and Brother Zhuzi come here to help. First, they are trustworthy, and second, you can help them in this way. What do you think?"
"This..." Lin Yan . She hadn't thought about these, but Song Yuanchao's suggestion made her somewhat tempted.
It's not because he and Song Yuanchao don't have much time to take care of it, but Song Yuanchao's suggestion is indeed feasible. Not to mention that Aunt Gao used to work in his family. If it weren't for the reasons back then, Aunt Gao wouldn't have left the Lin family.
And just as Song Yuanchao said, Aunt Gao doesn't have much pension, and the expenses of the old and young in the family all depend on Wang Dazhu and his wife, but the problem is that Wang Dazhu and his wife's jobs are not very good either.
Although poor, Gao's family never asked the Lin family for money. Instead, when the Lin family was in trouble, they took Lin Yan back to their home and took care of her for several years, treating her as their own daughter. From this point of view, it is not an exaggeration to say that Gao's family is the benefactor of the Lin family. However, neither Gao nor Wang Dazhu and his wife ever mentioned this matter, let alone made any demands on the Lin family.
In Lin Yan's heart, Aunt Gao is no different from her own mother. As for Wang Dazhu and his wife, they are no different from her own brother and sister-in-law. And there is also the lovely Wang Xiaoxiao. Every time she sees this lively little girl, Lin Yan imagines how great it would be if she also had a daughter who was as cute and lively as Xiaoxiao.
In the past two years, Song Yuanchao and Lin Yan often went to visit Aunt Gao's family. At first, they would bring some money or something, but every time they brought money, Aunt Gao would refuse it and even scold them unhappily, saying that they treated her as an outsider. How could they always give money to their own family members when they visited each other?
Because of this, Song Yuanchao and Lin Yan stopped giving money after a few times, but they never went empty-handed. Sometimes they would bring a few pounds of meat, or a bag of rice, or a bucket of oil, etc., using this way to express their feelings and provide some help.
"Do you think Auntie and Brother Zhuzi will agree?" Lin Yan asked hesitantly.
"Why don't you just ask? Besides, our place is big, and it would be a little crowded for you and me to live here alone. Can't you just bring them over to live with you? By the way, I remember that Brother Zhuzi is very good at taking care of flowers and plants? How much money can he make by riding a rickshaw every day? If not, let Shenghua Company sign an employment contract with him. As an employee of Shenghua Company in Yanjing, his salary and bonus will come from Shenghua. He can help us take care of the yard and do other things in his free time. It's better than doing odd jobs now, right?"
"This sounds good... but I have to go and ask. Let me think about how to tell Aunt Gao and her family first, is that okay?" Lin Yan was indeed tempted. This was a good thing. It would be best if Aunt Gao and her family could move in and live with them. In Lin Yan's heart, Aunt Gao's family were no different from her own relatives. After living together, she could take care of Aunt Gao in her old age and see her to the end of her life, and at the same time give some help to Brother Zhuzi's family. No matter what, Lin Yan would never treat them unfairly. Besides, living here is better than living in a slum, right?
