Siheyuan: I Raised Ten Thousand Wild Boars

Li Guohua got up early the next morning because the textile factory where he worked was located in Balizhuang in the eastern suburbs of Beijing.

Balizhuang is at least ten miles away from my courtyard, so I have to get up early.

Originally, his elder brother Li Guoliang was going to accompany him to the textile factory, but he refused.

As an adult, if you can't even do this little thing, then there's no point in hanging around in the world and you might as well just stay at home.

Li Guohua washed up hurriedly, then took two steamed buns from the pot, carried a bag and went out.

As soon as I walked out of the courtyard gate, I met my next-door neighbors, Xu Fugui and his son Xu Damao.

Xu Damao pushed the bicycle excitedly, and Xu Fugui followed behind carrying a handbag.

"Guohua, are you going to...?" Xu Fugui asked in surprise when he saw Li Guohua wearing a clean shirt and carrying a bag.

"Hello, Uncle Xu. I am feeling better now. I am going to report to the factory to see when I can go back to work!"

I got to know a lot of people at the conference last night, including our closest next-door neighbors, the Xu family.

Xu Fugui is a projectionist at the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill. Xu Damao is a projectionist following his father as an apprentice. He is only 20 years old and has not yet married. The old couple of the Xu family have not yet moved out of the yard.

"Okay, that's good!" Xu Fugui answered perfunctorily, not knowing what he was thinking.

"Guohua, you are in good health now, don't be stubborn, take a rest if you can, and wait for Brother Damao to come back from the commune and bring you something good!" Xu Damao said on the side.

"I understand, thank you, Brother Damao!"

I didn't realize that Xu Damao is much easier to get along with than his father. He is indeed a social brother named Mao, and he has a very righteous side.

"Snapped!"

"How can a Guohua Technical Secondary School student not know his own body? Only you can! Guohua, we'll leave first!" Xu Fugui first kicked Xu Damao from behind, then said to Li Guohua with a smile.

Li Guohua shook his head with a wry smile. My brother Mao hasn't even started his career in society yet. He's being suppressed completely by old Xu.

But Xu Fugui is too thoughtful, so I have to be careful with him in the future.

Watching the two of them riding their bicycles away leisurely, and thinking about how I had to walk to the textile factory, I suddenly felt resentful.

I could have taken the bus, but seeing how crowded it was, I decided not to fight for a seat since I'm not in a hurry to go to work.

I grew up in the countryside and walked a lot to and from school when I was young. It was just a small problem. The most important thing was that I was not familiar with Beijing. I could open the map faster by walking around more.

After walking and jogging all the way, we finally arrived at the textile factory after more than an hour.

No, it should not be called a textile factory, it should be called a textile city. There is more than one textile factory here, it seems like there are several, and many of them are still under construction.

The Textile City is divided into two parts by a wide road. On the south side are tall factories, workshops, and some buildings whose functions are unknown.

The north side should be the place for accommodation and study, with shady trees, quiet paths, and multi-story tube buildings everywhere.

I heard that in this era there are factories, nurseries, kindergartens and so on, and they should be here too.

Big, very big, this is the first impression. It has a very 8090s and s feel, this is the second impression.

Being able to work in such an environment is definitely the first echelon of society in this era. No wonder everyone is scrambling to get a job in a factory.

Li Guohua took his ID and went to the personnel department of the textile factory under the guidance of a security guard who knew him.

After all, I have been working in the factory for more than a year, so there must be one or two people I am familiar with.

"Hello, comrade, what's your name? I woke up this time and I forgot everything!" Li Guohua asked a little embarrassedly.

After all, under normal circumstances, if you forget someone, it is simply a heart-breaking thing.

"It's okay. I went to your house to see you when you were sick. My name is Zhang Tao, and you used to call me Taozi. We had a very good relationship!" The young man looked at Li Guohua sincerely and said with some sigh.

Zhang Tao has thick hair, parted in a 1:79 ratio, and is a little taller than Li Guohua, about meters. Most importantly, in this era when most people are dark-skinned, he actually has a fair face.

"Thank you, Taozi!"

Even when I was in trouble, he still came to visit me at home. It seems that he really is my good friend.

Arriving at the Personnel Department, Zhang Tao was greeted by a short-haired lady, whom he called Director Zhang. The lady was about 30 years old, very capable, and a bit like someone who had come from the army.

Seeing that Li Guohua seemed very enthusiastic, she quickly pulled him to sit down and asked how his injury was recovering.

"Director Zhang, my injuries have healed, so I want to ask when I can return to work and whether I need to go through any procedures?"

Sister Li Guohua's enthusiasm made me a little overwhelmed, so I quickly explained why I was there.

"Now that you are well, you can come back to work anytime. I just need to register you here!"

"It was because of my injury this time that I forgot everything that happened before!"

Li Guohua also directly explained his current situation to avoid being in trouble when he returned to his post.

As for being transferred or something, it’s not a big problem. I just need a job to cover myself now.

"You've been ill for more than half a year. Thank God you've recovered! As for work, don't worry. Go back to your previous job and continue to learn from your master. Maybe you'll remember it someday."

Sister Zhang smiled cheerfully, and her tone of not caring at all made Li Guohua feel numb. I don't know anything now, can I still study with pay?

"Thank you, Sister Zhang!" Li Guohua stood up and said sincerely, and Director Zhang also became Sister Zhang.

"Hey, why are you thanking me? Come on, I'll take you to see your master, Lao Cao! During the time you were away, Lao Cao kept nagging you, saying that the other people couldn't learn as fast as you!"

Li Guohua was assigned after graduating from a technical secondary school. His internship period had not yet ended, and he was enjoying the salary of a technician at level 16, 37 yuan per month. Due to this unexpected disaster, the factory specially made him a regular employee, and now he is paid at level 15, 42.5 yuan per month.

After re-registering Li Guohua, Director Zhang decided to personally take him to the Technical Department. As they walked along the road, Director Zhang introduced the location of each department.

During my chat with Sister Zhang, I learned that her name is Zhang Guizhi, a military-to-civilian cadre, and her husband is also a cadre in Beijing.

Then there is the current situation of textile factories. Large-scale production is being carried out all over the country, and there are simply not enough technical personnel.

The same is true for the textile factory. It was built not long ago and has just started full production. It is full of machines, so technical talents like Li Guohua are in great need.

As for the fact that Li Guohua had forgotten what he had learned before, it was totally unimportant. She could see that Li Guohua was still educated, and with his previous foundation, he would definitely learn things faster than the average person.

Then there are the workers in the factory, many of whom were newly recruited. Some were recruited from the city, but more were recommended by the communes below.

Most of them do not have a high level of cultural literacy, so they asked Li Guohua not to learn from those old-timers, but to treat comrades equally and teach them more relevant knowledge when he has nothing to do.