After entering winter, Yongcheng became continuously rainy, and the encroachment of the sea wind made people outdoors feel a biting cold.
This kind of weather was a great torment for office workers.
At seven in the morning, the alarm clock rang, and Xu Xinglei got up amidst the clattering sounds of his roommates.
As soon as he got out of bed, he felt a chill.
For a moment, Xu Xinglei truly didn't want to get up, wanting to burrow back into bed and sleep a little longer.
However, thinking about the shuttle bus that departed punctually at 7:25 AM, to avoid missing it, Xu Xinglei had to quickly and shakily get dressed, get out of bed, and wash up.
Once you missed the shuttle, you'd have to figure out your own way to the company.
Buses were inconvenient, so you'd have to take a taxi, which would cost over ten yuan more.
"Brothers, the weather here is so damn cold. Are we going to turn on the air conditioning in a few days? Getting up in the morning is freezing my ass off,"
Xu Xinglei grumbled.
The dormitory was fully equipped, and accommodation was free.
However, to avoid waste, utilities like water and electricity had to be shared with roommates.
Generally, if they could bear it, no one wanted to turn on the air conditioning, as the cost of running it in summer was too high and still fresh in their minds.
"Yeah, what the hell is this crappy weather here? It feels even colder than our hometown,"
another roommate, Zhao Xinbin, also grumbled.
"Ugh, damn it, going to work in winter is such suffering. How nice would it be to sleep until noon?"
"Don't even think about it lately. We're busy as hell. I estimate the next holiday won't be until New Year's Day."
"MD, this damn factory is fine in every other way, but there are too few holidays. I've only rested one day this month; I'm exhausted."
"Stop bitching, hurry up and brush your teeth and buy breakfast, or we'll miss the shuttle bus,"
Xu Xinglei said with a laugh and a curse.
There were four people in the dormitory, all employees of Shanchi Technology's export processing zone factory.
Compared to the old factory, the new factory did not provide breakfast due to factors like manpower and distance.
Of course, these new employees were unaware of this.
But even if they knew, there was nothing they could do.
The shuttle bus was punctual every day, and after a brief morning meeting at the company, they had to immediately start work, leaving no time for breakfast.
The men's washing up was quite fast; Xu Xinglei finished in just five minutes, and that was after queuing for a while.
Without waiting for his roommates, Xu Xinglei quickly went downstairs.
From behind, Zhao Xinbin's shout came:
"Buy me four steamed buns!"
"Got it,"
Xu Xinglei replied without looking back.
The two were from the same hometown, Linquan County, Wan Sheng, a large county for out-migration.
Both were 20 years old this year.
Xu Xinglei had been working away from home since graduating from junior high school.
Despite his young age, he already had four or five years of work experience.
He came to Yongcheng with a fellow villager.
His work was unstable, and he hadn't saved much money in four or five years.
It could be said he spent money wherever he earned it, unable to take a single cent home.
At the age of 20, a decade or so later, most parents would still treat them as children and wouldn't expect them to earn much.
However, in this era, many, like Xu Xinglei and Zhao Xinbin, already had several years of work experience.
In northern Wan Sheng, the marriage age was generally earlier.
In the village, people in Xu Xinglei's age group even had children.
Some got married at 18 without registering the marriage; a wedding banquet was considered marriage, and they would register later when they reached legal age.
At 20, Xu Xinglei was still a "single dog" and considered an "older" leftover man in the village.
Not only were his parents anxious, but he was also a bit worried because he had a younger brother who was also graduating this year.
If his brother couldn't get into high school, he would have to work like him.
If he delayed for a few more years, it would delay his younger brother.
But the problem was that marriage required money.
Xu Xinglei, who originally had no concept of money, now wanted to save some.
By chance, he heard from a fellow villager working at Shanchi Technology that the company offered excellent benefits.
As long as you worked hard, the monthly take-home pay was almost 1.5 times more than other companies.
Working for two months was equivalent to three elsewhere, making people envious.
Unfortunately, Shanchi Technology wasn't recruiting at that time, so Xu Xinglei had no chance to join even if he wanted to.
However, Xu Xinglei kept an eye out and asked his fellow villager to pay attention to Shanchi's recruitment information, notifying him as soon as there was an opening.
As a result, Xu Xinglei was among the first batch of employees at the new factory and was able to start working normally after training.
After hurriedly buying breakfast at a street vendor, Xu Xinglei quickly ran to the company shuttle parked by the roadside.
There were already many people inside, and Zhao Xinbin waved at Xu Xinglei from the back of the bus.
"Here, your steamed buns,"
Xu Xinglei said, handing over the buns.
"Here, two yuan,"
Zhao Xinbin casually handed over the money for the meal, and Xu Xinglei naturally took it.
Helping each other buy breakfast was basically their daily routine.
Then they started eating their steamed buns.
Many people in the company shuttle, like Xu Xinglei and Zhao Xinbin, were hastily eating breakfast in the vehicle.
The production line involved physical labor, and it was hard to last until lunchtime without breakfast.
People boarded continuously.
By 7:25 AM, seeing the bus was full, the driver waited a few more minutes.
Getting up was difficult in winter, so drivers usually waited a few minutes before departing.
At 7:30 AM, the first company shuttle started, and the several cars behind it also started one after another, heading towards the export processing zone.
"Hey, our team leader said that the production tasks before the New Year would be very heavy. Overtime pay for voluntary overtime is 1.2 times higher than usual, and the New Year bonus will also be higher than others. Do you want to work overtime?"
Zhao Xinbin quickly finished his steamed buns and whispered to Xu Xinglei.
This year's Chinese New Year was on January 28, 2006.
Holidays were usually considered around the twentieth of Layue.
There was only about a month left until the holiday.
To encourage employees to work more overtime, Shanchi Technology offered even more generous benefits than usual.
Zhao Xinbin had calculated that about a month and a half of hard work would pass quickly.
If he maintained perfect attendance, he could earn over 7,000 yuan.
If New Year bonuses and round-trip travel expenses were added, it would likely be close to ten thousand yuan.
The rewards were undeniably generous and very tempting.
Although it meant hard work, Zhao Xinbin still wanted to try, at least he wasn't planning to rest on New Year's Day.
"I also heard our team leader mention it. Are you going to do it?"
Xu Xinglei asked, turning sideways.
"Yeah, I'm going to do it. I didn't save any money this year. If I go home with no money, I won't be able to do anything fun, and that would be too embarrassing for New Year's,"
Zhao Xinbin nodded.
"Sigh, I didn't save any money this year either. Even if you didn't say anything, I was planning to go for it. I need to bring at least a few thousand yuan back, otherwise, my family will scold me to death,"
Xu Xinglei also sighed helplessly.
"So, shall we tough it out together?"
"Let's tough it out. It's only a little over a month at most, and it's not like we haven't gone without rest for over a month before, but we didn't get this much money."
"Yeah, this company's benefits are really good. It would be even better if they just gave us the social security money directly."
"Exactly, what's the point of paying social security? It would be better to just give us the money directly. We're not locals; maybe in a few years, we'll go to another city. Paying social security would be pointless then. I don't know what this boss is thinking."
"I heard the boss is also from our province? Have you seen him?"
Xu Xinglei nodded and said,
"I've seen him once. I trained at the old factory for a week before, and the old factory's benefits were even better than our new one; they even provided breakfast."
"He's really from Wan Sheng? Is he as young as they say?"
Zhao Xinbin asked curiously.
"I'm not entirely sure if he's from our province, but it's probably true. I heard that Supervisor Sun Yuming, who used to be closest to the boss and was considered our factory's first employee, is from our province, that much I know."
"As for his age, I don't know; I haven't spoken to the boss. But he looks younger than us."
"Then he's probably quite young. But rich people eat well and dress well, so it's normal for them to look younger."
"Even if he looks young, he can't be in his 30s and look 20, right? He's not a celebrity or anything. He's probably only a few years older than us at most."
"That's true. Sigh, people just can't compare. Someone in their 20s drives an Audi, runs a factory, and has hundreds of employees. And us? We work ourselves to death for a few thousand yuan,"
Zhao Xinbin said with a bitter smile.
Xu Xinglei: "You can't compare to people like that. Apparently, the boss even partnered with the Beicang government to set up an industrial base, it was in the news, and major leaders even came to inspect it. He probably has some background, otherwise, he wouldn't be so impressive."
Zhao Xinbin: "Yeah, you can't compare to people like that. We can only compare ourselves to people like us. Compared to them, our salaries are still much higher."
Xu Xinglei: "Yeah, take this incentive for example. If we get the travel expenses and everything after the New Year, it'll be close to ten thousand yuan. In a crappy factory, you'd have to work half a year for that, damn it."
Zhao Xinbin: "That's true. In my previous factory, I earned a maximum of 1,500 yuan a month, working like a dog. This boss is really very conscientious."
Xu Xinglei: "It would be even more conscientious if they just gave us the social security money directly."
Zhao Xinbin: "Hahaha, I think so too."
Xu Xinglei: "However, the HR manager who recruited us did say that if we diligently pay social security from now on, after 15 years, we'll have a lot more freedom. But the problem is, who the hell cares about what happens 15 years from now? We won't even know where we'll be in five years."
Zhao Xinbin: "That guy told us the same thing. Actually, I really didn't want to pay then, but he said if we didn't pay, we wouldn't be hired. Apparently, it's a mandatory rule from the boss. Oh well, let's not talk about it anymore. I'm going to doze off for a bit."
Seeing this, Xu Xinglei also stopped talking.
He also wanted to doze off for a bit; any minute of sleep was a minute gained.
He wanted to seize every moment to rest, as the upcoming days would probably be tough.
(End of Chapter)