Chapter 27
The scale of Jiangdong Textile Factory was not comparable to large enterprises like coal mines and steel plants. It was only considered as a medium-sized enterprise. Moreover, it belonged to the less emphasized light industry sector in the country, so the personnel structure within the Trade Union wasn't extensive.
Apart from Chairman Sun, there were Production Committee
Member Zhang and Publicity Committee Member Hu. There were also individuals
like Lin who was a secretary, and Yan Xiaofang, as well as Su Yu who hold
positions similar to clerks.
Furthermore, there were also some lower-level workshop
management personnel who held part-time roles in the Trade Union to assist with
its regular activities.
Although the scale might seem small, even the office
occupied by the Factory Committee with its Factory Manager and Vice Factory
Manager couldn't override the Trade Union.
One reason was that the Trade Union was backed by the Provincial
Trade Union, which is a governmental entity. It was always advantageous to have
a strong support. Another reason was that the Trade Union also holds the
authority to distribute benefits.
Indeed, apart from its regular propaganda work, organizing
worker training and social activities, the Trade Union also holds the power to
distribute welfare benefits. In this day and age, besides wages, workers were
most concerned about festival bonuses.
Additionally, due to frequent interaction between the Trade
Union members and the workers, they held significant respect within the
workforce.
As the saying goes, ‘two tigers cannot share one mountain’.
Chairman Sun's dominant position has created an irreconcilable conflict between
the Trade Union and the Factory Committee. While it remained inconspicuous most
of the time, whenever an opportunity arose, the Factory Committee would try to
undermine the Trade Union.
Seizing the moment when Committee Members Zhang and Hu were
not in the office, Yan Xiaofang briefed these matters to Su Yu.
In the past, it might not have been appropriate to discuss
such matters, but now Su Yu was a part of the Trade Union, so she needed to
know who the enemies are. Cough, no, competitors.
After understanding these circumstances, Su Yu couldn't help
but find it amusing.
Where there were people, there was struggle. Even in such a
small factory, there were intricate schemes and strategies at play.
And she had nearly became a pawn in their schemes.
Regarding Yan Xiaofang's claims about the Factory Committee's
one-sided targeting actions against the Trade Union, Su Yu wasn't entirely
convinced. If the Trade Union was without merit, could they still be this
influential?
Nevertheless, regardless of the situation, she wasn't
planning to get entangled in the war between these two factions.
In her view, Jiangdong Textile Factory was just a temporary
base for her. She wouldn't limit herself on this small piece of land.
During the morning, Su Yu not only learned about the inner
workings of the Trade Union but also familiarized herself with its workflow.
Her job was quite straightforward, mainly assisting Chairman
Hu with propaganda work. Additionally, she organized various activities to
enrich the workers' lives and helped address their personal issues.
As for Yan Xiaofang, she was working under Committee Member
Zhang, focusing on assisting employees in the production department, helping
them with their difficulties. Lin, on the other hand, was rather extraordinary
– she was specialized in serving Chairman Sun. However, since Chairman Sun felt
having a female colleague around wasn't convenient for him as a male comrade,
he often went about his tasks alone, without much use for Lin.
Su Yu casually glanced at Lin, who was around her age and
already married. Sporting two long braids, she always maintained a cold and
aloof demeanor, seldom speaking.
Su Yu reaches a conclusion; if it were her in the past, she
wouldn't have needed a secretary like Lin. What's the purpose of having a
secretary? They should be versatile and resourceful to gather useful
information through various channels for their boss.
It seemed that even within this small Trade Union, there's
quite a bit of activity.
Su Yu mused quietly to herself.
At lunchtime, Yan Xiaofang invited Su Yu to have lunch in
the cafeteria.
Su Yu shook her head with a smile. "I haven't
transitioned to relying on the cafeteria for food yet. I still eat at
home." If she were to eat well in the cafeteria like she did at home, it
would attract unwanted attention; after all, she's used to having good meals at
home.
"It's about time you made the transition. I think you
should be independent now and not worry about your family." Yan Xiaofang
spoke seriously. She felt that Su Yu has dedicated too much to her family.
Su Yu sighed, "After so many years, I've gotten used to
it." Being more independent wasn't necessarily better. Without someone to
do laundry, cooking, serving tea, and cleaning, how would life go on?
Yan Xiaofang sighed as well. She couldn't press the matter
further – after all, it concerned someone's family affairs. Thankfully, now
that Su Yu had joined the Trade Union, her life was likely to improve compared
to before with her increased salary.
On the way back from work, Su Xiaozhi curiously inquired about
Su Yu's role within the Trade Union. He wondered if it was easy, whether she
had nothing to do but sit around, drink tea, and read newspapers all day?
"Nonsense!" Even if it were true, Su Yu wouldn't
admit it.
"You haven't seen how hard Sister works. There are only
a few people in the labor union, but they have to take care of the entire
factory. It's so demanding. Just organizing a table tennis match can keep them
up for a whole month without sleep. Before, I only used to work physically, but
now I'm using both my brain and working physically – it's exhausting!"
Su Dazhi and Su Xiaozhi were dumbfounded. This wasn't what
they were expecting.
Su Dazhi said, "Sis, should we go back to the factory
then?"
" What nonsense are you talking? Do you think the
factory is owned by our family? Besides, being in the Trade Union allows me to
take better care of you all. What's the harm in working a bit harder?"
Su Dazhi and Su Xiaozhi: "..." Their sister was
always thinking about them.
For lunch at home, they had corn rice mixed with pickled
vegetables. They also bought a bunch of greens and added a couple slices of
salted meat. It smelled quite delicious.
The whole family was enjoying the meal, except Liu Mei, who was
eating with a gloomy expression.
She occasionally glanced at Su Yu and then at Su Dazhi. Noticing
that her sister-in-law and her own husband were ignoring her, her mood soured
even further. However, she didn't dare to make a scene like before; she could
only express her dissatisfaction through her expression.
Su Yu acted as if she hadn't noticed and after finishing her
lunch, she went to wash her face before heading back to the factory. Su Xiaozhi
quickly put down his bowl and followed. Su Dazhi was about to follow suit when
Liu Mei grabbed his arm, "Dazhi, do you have no concern for me anymore?
I'm not happy. Why aren't you paying attention to me?"
"Why are you not happy?" Su Dazhi was confused. They
had good food and drinks; what could be wrong?
"It's about what happened yesterday."
Liu Mei complained in a sour tone. As soon as she came home,
she saw Su Lin sewing clothes.
Su Dazhi's expression changes instantly. He sternly said,
" A piece of cloth has you worked up? You're being too narrow-minded.
What's wrong if Sis bought something for Xiaolin? You're just heartless. When
Xiaolin had conflicts with you, it was Sis who stood up for you. Now you're
blaming Sis for a piece of fabric. You're an ungrateful person! If you still
show attitude to Sis tonight, go back to your parents' house."
He had seen through her attempts to drive a wedge between
them. He wasn't going to be fooled this time.
With that, he shook off Liu Mei's hand and rushed out.
Liu Mei stood there in a daze. Gradually, an uncomfortable
feeling began to creep into her heart. Although what her husband said was
harsh, it seemed... there might be some truth to it. Her older sister did
protect her before.
"Meizi, what's wrong? Did you have a fight with Dazhi?
Let me tell you, you're too naive. That sister-in-law of yours is quite
cunning."
Mrs. Liu entered the scene with a tray of dishes, seemingly
appearing out of nowhere.
Liu Mei was taken aback for a moment before her face turned
disgusted, "Aunt, can you please stop always focusing on our family?"
So annoying!
Mrs. Liu retorted, "... I'm doing this for your own
good."
"For my own good? I don't see you giving me a bite to
eat. At least my sister-in-law provides me with food and drink."
Liu Mei snorted and left, carrying her bag.
She wanted to prove to her sister-in-law that she was on the
same side as the Liu family. Her sister-in-law shouldn't be so biased! Why
should the youngest sister have something while she doesn't? It was so unfair!
Mrs. Liu looked at her niece from her husband's family in a
daze, at a loss for words, "Did she take some kind of hallucinogen? Your sister-in-law
is a devious person."
at a loss for words. Then, a basin of water splashed out
suddenly, nearly splashing her feet.
Startled, she jumped back, "What are you doing?"
Mrs. Lin entered the room, carrying the basin with a beaming
smile.
On the other side, Su Yu was contemplating her future work
arrangements. As for Su Dazhi who had caught up with her, fervently swearing
that he would stand by her side, she didn't take it to heart.
She wasn't worried at all about Liu Mei having any tricks up
her sleeve. When a person who used to be arrogant becomes only capable of
throwing tantrums and doesn't even dare to make a scene, that person is
unlikely to cause any major problems.
So, all the way until they arrived at the factory, she didn't
have the time to pay any attention to a single word from Su Dazhi.
Seeing Su Yu leaving, Su Dazhi asked, "Is sis
mad?"
Su Xiaozhi proudly replied, "I figured it out early.
Hahaha."
Sis was right, a bad wife can ruin three generations. Choosing
a wife is something to be taken seriously.
In the afternoon, Su Yu got into work mode. She began
organizing materials and helps Committee Member Hu in arranging the factory
newspaper.
The content of the factory newspaper was a monotonous stream
of study documents, making it quite tedious to read.
Su Yu felt that if it weren't for the circumstances, she
wouldn't bother with this kind of newspaper. The education level of the
frontline workers was not high, and the newspaper served no educational purpose
for them. After a tiring day of work, these workers wouldn't have the energy to
study the ideological instructions from the factory.
After Committee Member Hu left, Su Yu took her notebook and
also went out.
Seeing Su Yu leave, staff member Lin commented, "She
just arrived in the Trade Union and she's already running around everywhere.
This isn't good."
Yan Xiaofang explained, "Su Yu said she's going out to
understand the situation of the frontline workers. It's for her work."
"She herself came from the workshop, so what does she
need to understand?"
"Well, you can ask Su Yu about that later."
Yan Xiaofang continued to work with her head down. After
all, she didn't believe that Su Yu was out there playing around.
At the moment, Su Yu was in the factory interviewing an
elderly employee. She was talking to a soon-to-retire veteran worker, capturing
the most challenging stories she has experienced throughout her life.
After recording the key points, Su Yu said, "If we
could publish this in a newspaper, would you be interested? We could feature it
in our factory's newspaper."
The elderly lady immediately became excited, "What? You
want to put me in the newspaper? Well, if that's the case, maybe I should add
more details. I didn't explain everything clearly just now. Oh, why didn't you
mention earlier that it could be in the newspaper? I haven't prepared properly.
No, I need to tell you more. Actually, the thing I talked about wasn't that
remarkable; I have even more extraordinary stories..."
"Auntie, I mean that there's a possibility of it
getting published."
"Then let me make it good. That way, there will be even
more opportunities, right?"
"Alright, alright, please continue." Su Yu resumed
taking notes again.
It was close to the end of the workday when Su Yu finally
returned to the office. Seeing that there's still half an hour left, she started
organizing the story without saying much.
After refining and organizing, Su Yu condensed the life
journey of the elderly lady into an article of several thousand words.
Until the end of the workday, Su Yu still hadn't finished
writing.
Su Yu asked Yan Xiaofang to let Su Xiaozhi stay and wait for
her, and told Su Dazhi to go home. After a while, Su Xiaozhi came to the office
and waited.
He stood at the doorway, looking inside as he saw his elder
sister leaning over her desk with a pen, writing. A sense of admiration welled
up inside him.
It wasn't until his stomach rumbled that he saw Su Yu
getting up.
"Sis, you're working so hard."
Su Xiaozhi sincerely said. This time he truly believed it.
It had been quite a while since they finished work, yet his sister was still
working. That must be really tough. From now on, he wouldn't believe that the
office work was comfortable.
It might be better for him to do manual labor; moving a
cartload of stuff would still give him a chance to rest.
Su Yu responded calmly, "It's all for the sake of work,
there's no 'hard' or 'not hard' about it."
"Sis, let's go back and eat quickly. I'm
starving."
Su Xiaozhi held his stomach.
Su Yu said, "What's the hurry to go home and eat? Let's
go to a restaurant. I had you stay behind to treat you."
Su Xiaozhi's eyes instantly lit up, "Sis, you're so
great."
Su Yu smiled. Long-term physically demanding work without
good nutrition would deplete the body. Even emperors wouldn't treat their
soldiers poorly in terms of food.
When the brother and sister returned home in the evening,
everyone had already eaten. However, the atmosphere at home wasn't great. To be
precise, there was tension between Su Dazhi and Liu Mei.
Su Lin was leisurely sewing new clothes for herself on the
side, seemingly uninterested in the family affairs.
Seeing Su Yu came back, Su Dazhi hesitated to speak.
Looking at Liu Mei biting her lip, appearing somewhat
wronged, Su Yu asked, "What's wrong?"
"Sis, it's nothing. I just don't like how she's acting
and I said a few words," Su Dazhi explained.
Liu Mei, in a wronged tone, said, "I didn't do anything.
Why did you have to mention me?"
All she did was casually mention that her sister-in-law
hadn't come back for dinner, questioning why only the younger sister was left.
As a result, Su Dazhi suddenly got angry.
He even said that it was all because of her making trouble
that the family wasn't harmonious, making the elder sister upset.
Looking at the two of them, Su Yu frowned and turned to Su
Dazhi, "Dazhi, this is where you're in the wrong. So what if Liu Mei was
being moody? I haven't said anything yet, why did it become your turn to speak?
This is disrespectful to a female comrade. Liu Mei is a female comrade, and
male comrades in the family are not allowed to disrespect female comrades. Do
you understand?"
Su Dazhi: "..."
Elder sister, what exactly are you saying?
Liu Mei, seeing Su Yu stood up for her, was touched and almost
shed tears. " Sis, I really didn't mean anything. I don't have any
intentions. I definitely won't be so petty in the future."
"That's right. Female comrades should be more open-minded.
Otherwise, it's easy to age prematurely. Dazhi, get along well with Liu Mei and
stop causing trouble."
Su Dazhi: "..."
"Oh, by the way, Dazhi, I have class tomorrow. Can you
drop me off?" Su Yu said.
Su Dazhi was instantly delighted, "Sure thing,
sis."
It seems that her sister was satisfied with his behavior.
That night, Su Yu unavoidably overheard things she shouldn't
have. She pursed her lips and turned over, deciding that when she had the
chance, she must get a bigger house. She'd separate from this couple far away.
...
The next day at the Trade Union, Su Yu started writing and
sketching again. Finally, in the morning, she finished organizing her drafts.
After Committee Member Hu was done with her busy schedule, Su Yu showed her the
manuscript.
"Committee Member, this is an idea I came up with
randomly. After all, I used to be a frontline worker, so I thought about some
things from that perspective. I think we can incorporate these ideological
concepts into stories, allowing workers to learn through reading stories.
Additionally, when I went to interview yesterday, I noticed that the workers
really like the factory newspaper. I believe this might also motivate the
workers."
Beside her, Yan Xiaofang heard this and chuckled, "So,
you were here for this yesterday?"
"Yes, just collecting these materials took a lot of
effort. I'm not sure if it will work out," Su Yu explained.
Committee Member Hu had been listening. Su Yu's writing was
simple, not particularly dazzling in style. Compared to literary giants, it
fell short by quite a bit. At most, she made the stories very clear, but it was
precisely because of this simplicity that they felt grounded and easy to
understand.
She felt that almost anyone who could read would be able to
understand these stories.
Of course, the more crucial point was that the content of
the stories was quite good. By describing the stories of certain workers, it
expressed the great spirit of the working class dedicating their lives to
social development.
"This idea is quite good. There should be more than
just one article, right?"
Su Yu smiled and said, "If you approve, I'm planning to
create a series. I'll call it the 'Iron Man’ series. Regardless of their
contribution, everyone embodies an iron-like will. We could even invite
submissions."
Committee Member Zhang said, "Little Su, this idea is
quite good. This way, we'll have another task on our hands."
Yan Xiaofang added, "The workers in the factory will
definitely like it. Our factory newspaper's demand will increase, and we'll
also have more interaction with the worker comrades."
"The key is that we can make this a distinctive
feature. I think this is innovative," Committee Member Hu said with a
smile. "Little Su, your innovation is quite good. We can give it a try.
So, this afternoon, let's discuss the specifics of how to implement it."
Su Yu rubbed her forehead. She was really building upon
others' insights.
With this plan, Su Yu quickly became busy, working
continuously for two days before finalizing the details.
Soon enough, the story Su Yu had written was published in
the factory newspaper.
"Isn't this Aunt Sun? She’s been featured in the
newspaper."
"I remember this incident. During the relocation of the
factory, I even helped out."
"Wow, it's really well written."
"Is this written by Su Yu, the one from our factory who
went to the Trade Union?"
"Look, it's still our workshop workers who take care of
us. Who from our side has been in the newspaper before?"
...
As soon as the newspaper was out, Su Yu frequently
encountered people greeting her on the way, and the conversations often turned
to discussions of their past struggles and hardships.
By the time she reached the factory gate, Su Yu was already
sweaty.
She felt like she had inadvertently dug a hole for herself.
"Sis!"
As Su Yu arrived at the factory gate, Su Xiaozhi excitedly
ran over. Behind him, Su Dazhi also had an admiring look on his face.
"What's up?"
"Sis, let's talk as we walk."
Su Xiaozhi grabbed Su Yu and led her outside.
Su Yu said, "Don't tell me about your hardships, I've
heard quite a bit of that today."
"It's not about that." It wasn't until they had
walked a fair distance that Su Xiaozhi eagerly said, "Sis, do you know,
the team leader of the loading and unloading team approached me today. He said
I could take over his position. Sis, I'm really going to be a permanent
employee."
For it to be done so quickly, Director Xu is quite capable,
and she managed to navigate this in a roundabout way. It won’t be easy for
anyone to figure out there was a transaction between them.
"Sis, did you arrange this? Master Liu didn't say anything.
I know it must be your connections at play, just like you mentioned
before."
Su Xiaozhi exclaimed with excitement.
Su Yu raised an eyebrow, glad that she had forewarned him;
otherwise, he might have thought he hit the jackpot by sheer luck.
She cleared her throat, "Calm down, it's not that big
of a deal. Didn't I tell you beforehand? Weren't you prepared mentally?"
"I'm prepared, but not this well-prepared," Su
Xiaozhi said with a grin.
Su Dazhi looked at Su Yu with a different expression in his
eyes. Getting a job was just that easy when his sister was involved.
His elder sister's capabilities were truly impressive.
He felt that he was becoming more and more unable to see
through his elder sister. He had no idea about the extent of her capabilities.
Well, she must be very powerful, that's for sure.
Su Yu asked, "Did they mention when they'll process the
paperwork? If things aren't finalized yet, don't talk about it outside."
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