Chapter 39

“How is it? The defects on this fabric are indeed significant, so even though it’s defective, not many people are buying it,” Li Fei sighed.

Ning Shu looked at the fabric. It was military green canvas, very thick. It was the end of October now, so it was probably intended for autumn or winter clothing. However, it was dyed black, which was indeed difficult to deal with.

Especially with black dye on military green, the color contrast was very obvious. In the eyes of ordinary people, the only use for this fabric would be to make cloth shoes.

When making cloth shoes, the bad fabric would be wrapped inside, and the good fabric would cover the outside. However, not many people made shoes, let alone using new fabric to make them.

The color of this fabric couldn’t be removed, and there were quite a few patches, but fortunately, each patch wasn’t very large.

Since the area wasn’t large, these small patches of dye could be covered, and then…

Ning Shu immediately had an idea. “Li Jie, I want to discuss a business deal with you. Would you like to hear it?”

Li Fei was taken aback, then laughed. “Little sister, you’re really something, you want to discuss business with me? What do you want to discuss?”

Ning Shu said, “Other ordinary people don’t need fabric tickets to buy this defective fabric, right?”

Li Fei replied, “Of course not. With such significant defects and so much of it, if fabric tickets were still required, who would want it?”

Ning Shu had been waiting for this response. “If I can find a way to deal with this fabric and sell it at a price higher than what the clothing factory offered, will your supply and marketing cooperative give me a share of the profits?”

“Well…” Li Fei fell silent for a moment, then said, “This fabric is priced according to what the clothing factory offered, around 5000. If you can quickly recover 5000, you can negotiate directly with the clothing factory and get half of the profit, which is 2500 for sure. If it’s higher than 5000, you know what I mean. But I can’t make this decision. I have to discuss it with the director. What’s your specific plan?”

Ning Shu said, “Change the color of the fabric and then sell it as finished products.”

Li Fei was stunned. “The defects on this batch of fabric are significant, and the color correction is impossible. Who would want to buy it as finished products?”

Ning Shu replied confidently, “I have a plan for this. Can I talk to the director now?”

Li Fei sighed in resignation. “The director will definitely think you’re crazy. How about this, let me ask the director first, and you wait for me.”

Ning Shu nodded. “Okay.”

Ning Shu didn’t wait long before Li Fei came back. Her expression was the same as before, but with a hint of resignation. “The director said this matter is too troublesome. Our supply and marketing cooperative is only handling this batch of defective cloth on behalf of the clothing factory. They don’t want to deal with anything else. If you have the ability to solve this batch of cloth, you can directly negotiate with the clothing factory. The purchasing officer at the clothing factory is named Zhang Jianyi. He’s not a bad person, just fond of getting a good deal.”

Ning Shu nodded. “I see. By the way, Sister Li, I’ll also buy some of this cloth.” She had the idea of selling this batch of cloth and sharing the profits, so she naturally had to make preparations.

After buying the cloth, Ning Shu put it in her basket and also took out six oranges. “Sister Li, try these. They’re a different kind of orange, also brought from outside. It seems like they’re newly cultivated in the orchard, so there’s a limited quantity. Let everyone taste them first and see how the market reacts. If people like them, the orchard will probably focus on cultivating them.”

The variety of fruits in this small county town was limited, and Li Fei had never seen oranges before.

But she was very satisfied with the sweetness of the oranges. Even before she ate one, the fragrance wafted out.

The scent of oranges was even stronger than that of mandarins, especially when they were peeled.

Li Fei peeled one and, smelling the fragrance of the orange, couldn’t help but exclaim, “This smells really good! In our area, it’s considered good enough if we can get apples and pears. It’s really incomparable to big cities. If you hadn’t brought these, I wouldn’t have known.”

Ning Shu smiled. “I’ve got fruits over here. I wouldn’t forget Sister Li.”

Even in the future, many small county towns wouldn’t have fruits until later on, and often, the quality couldn’t compare to that of big cities.

She remembered that ever since she went to college and left the countryside, every time she went back for holidays, she would buy more fruits in the big city.

Otherwise, even if she could buy fruits in the county town, they wouldn’t be very fresh, and if they were available, they’d be much more expensive.

“I’ll be waiting for you then,” Li Fei put away the oranges. “How much do you want for these oranges?”

“Who charges money when visiting relatives and giving gifts?” Ning Shu pouted.

“In that case, I won’t be polite,” Li Fei wasn’t the type to beat around the bush. “Didn’t you bring more fruits this time?”

Ning Shu shook her head. “There’s been less recently, just enough for myself.” She didn’t want to bother with this for now; making a few bucks here and there wasn’t her priority.

“By the way, Sister Li, are there any job openings in the factories in the county recently?”

Li Fei’s eyes lit up. “Are you looking to hire or sell a job? Selling a job might be more convenient.”

Ning Shu was puzzled. “Are jobs easy to sell? If they were, there wouldn’t be so many educated youths sent to rural areas.”

“It’s definitely not easy to sell, but there’s a way.” Li Fei teased.

Ning Shu was curious. “Come on, sis, tell me.”

Li Fei felt like Ning Shu’s personality was becoming more to her liking. “It’s the end of October now. In two months, 1970 will end, which means it’s the end of the year. Unlike other workplaces, many factories have an annual evaluation for outstanding employees.”

“I know about that. I grew up in the Workers’ Compound.” Ning Shu said. The original host grew up in the Workers’ Compound, with both parents being workers, so she was familiar with the evaluation of outstanding employees.

“Well, there you go. Do you know what some factories reward outstanding employees with?” Li Fei blinked, looking as if she were teasing Ning Shu.

Ning Shu suddenly realized, “Jobs?” Since Li Fei asked like this, it must be jobs.

But since Ning Shu’s parents had never been recognized as outstanding employees, the Ning family hadn’t mentioned this kind of thing, so the original host didn’t know about it.

Moreover, every place rewards outstanding employees differently, so the factory where Ning Shu’s parents worked might not reward job positions.

Li Fei said, “It’s a job, but not a formal one; it’s temporary. But once you’re in the factory, although it’s temporary, it’s not far from being permanent, don’t you think? So, some families who have this quota but don’t need it will sell the temporary job positions.”

“Aren’t temporary job positions expensive?” Ning Shu asked.

“Of course, they’re not cheap, not much different from formal positions.” Li Fei didn’t know the exact difference; there was some disparity, but not much.

“If you want to buy a job, it’s best to prepare before the end of the year.”

Ning Shu wanted to buy a job but didn’t have the money for it.

She had $200 in her bank account, spent $180 of the $250 Lin Guodong sent her on a bicycle, leaving her with $70.

After being hit by a bicycle and receiving $50 as compensation, she spent $20, leaving her with $30.

So, all in all, she had about $300, not counting the loose change.

Would $300 be enough to buy a temporary job? Wouldn’t she get kicked out by someone? Besides, she hadn’t even thought about buying a job.

She only wanted to hire workers to make money. A regular nine-to-five job wouldn’t work for her.

Moreover, now that she was in the county town, how could she continue scavenging in the mountains?

So, Ning Shu shook her head and said, “Forget about buying a job. I’ll just go check out job openings. You know I’m a military wife. If I bought a job and had to move with the military, it would be troublesome to sell it later.”

“That’s true,” Li Fei nodded. “If you’re going to check out job openings, you can go to the south of the city. There are many factories there, and they usually post notices at the entrance when they’re hiring.”

“Alright, I’ll go take a look,” Ning Shu said, not wanting to waste any time, and she prepared to head over there immediately.

“Oh, by the way, if you go to the clothing factory…” Li Fei remembered something. “I heard some insider information that there was a big problem with this batch of cloth from the clothing factory, causing significant losses. Some people were fired because of it. So, it seems like the clothing factory might be hiring. But I’m not sure if it’s true.”

“Thanks for letting me know,” Ning Shu said gratefully.

After saying goodbye to Li Fei, Ning Shu went to the south of the city.

The city was divided based on the department store as the central area. The department store, county government, radio and television station, and so on, were all in the central area.

Beyond the central area were the east, south, west, and north parts of the city, and beyond that was the outskirts.

So, the south of the city was still within the city.

It only took about 20 minutes to cycle from Li Fei’s supply and marketing cooperative to the south of the city.

There were indeed many factories in that area. Li Fei first saw the newspaper office, which was quite large because the printing press was also located inside.

Ning Shu lingered curiously at the entrance of the newspaper office for a while. Her curiosity about this era was not great, but she might have been in a similar mood to that of a tourist, just wanting to take a closer look at a tourist attraction.

Before Ning Shu could leave, the elderly gatekeeper came over. “Comrade, are you looking for someone?”

The gatekeeper was an old man, walking with a slight limp, but he appeared lively and had a loud voice.

The gatekeeper didn’t approach Ning Shu suspiciously.

She looked clean and was riding a bicycle, clearly not a bad person, so he assumed she was there to find someone.

Ning Shu shook her head. “No, I’m here to check out job openings. I want to see if there are any job vacancies here.”

Upon hearing this, the gatekeeper returned to his guard post. But after a while, he came out again.

“Comrade, the recruitment process at our newspaper office is different from those factories. Sometimes, we advertise job openings in the newspaper, like here.”

Was there job advertising in newspapers in this era? Ning Shu wasn’t sure, but she curiously took the newspaper from the gatekeeper’s hand.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Take a look here; we have job advertisements in the newspaper. See if there’s anything you need.”

The gatekeeper pointed to the section of job advertisements in the newspaper.

It was at this moment that Ning Shu noticed that this elderly gatekeeper, despite his age, could read.

Knowing how to read was already remarkable in this era, let alone for someone of his age.

Ning Shu smiled at him again and then looked at the job advertisements in the newspaper.

On October 15, 1970, the City News published a recruitment notice for “Editorial Trainees,” with two main points:

1. Applicants must be over 18 years old, regardless of gender.
2. Education level required is high school diploma or equivalent, or higher.

If no diploma, self-assessed sufficient knowledge is also welcome to try.

After reading these two points, Ning Shu realized she only met one requirement: being over 18 years old.

She didn’t meet the second requirement because when the original host was 16 years old, she went to the countryside and had just finished the second year of high school, so she hadn’t even obtained a high school diploma.

Of course, she had always claimed to be a high school student. Ning Shu wondered when she could go back and get her high school diploma.

As for the second point, she didn’t need to think about it. Knowledge: learning ability, level of knowledge, or even talent.

She definitely didn’t have that ability.
So, the newspaper office wasn’t suitable for Ning Shu to apply for a job.

Ning Shu handed the newspaper back to the gatekeeper. “Thank you, I’ll go look somewhere else.”

Just then, two female comrades came out from inside. Seeing them, the gatekeeper asked, “How did the interview go?”

One of the female comrades shook her head dejectedly.

The other female comrade noticed Ning Shu standing next to the gatekeeper and asked, “Grandpa, is this comrade here also here to interview for the editorial trainee position? If so, I can take her in.”

The gatekeeper looked at Ning Shu, who shook her head. “I’m not.”

Upon hearing this, the female comrade withdrew her gaze.

The dejected female comrade continued, “Well, I’ll go then. Although I didn’t pass the interview, I still want to thank you.”

The other female comrade patted her shoulder. “I’ll let you know if there are other job openings next time. You should also go to other factories to check.”

“Okay.” After saying goodbye to her friend, the dejected female comrade also left.

Ning Shu didn’t stay here either; she also wanted to check out other factories. But Ning Shu noticed that they were both heading in the same direction.

After walking for a while, the two women made eye contact again. Ning Shu spoke first, “Hello.”

The female comrade replied hastily, “Hello, are you also here to look for work?”

Ning Shu nodded.

“With the current situation in the countryside, everyone is looking for work, so it’s very difficult to find a job. Are you here for that too?” the female comrade asked again.

Ning Shu shook her head. “No, I’m from outside the countryside.”

“Oh?” The female comrade looked at her again. “Then your family must treat you well.”

Judging by her appearance, she hadn’t suffered from being sent to the countryside at all.

In fact, she seemed to be living better than the locals in the city.

It must be because her family treated her well, and she must be receiving a lot of subsidies from home after going to the countryside.

Ning Shu just smiled without saying anything.

Soon, the two of them arrived at a factory, where they saw several people gathered around the entrance.

Their eyes lit up. Was there a notice? The female comrade immediately went to check, while Ning Shu first secured her bicycle.

Although there were quite a few people crowded around the entrance, Ning Shu managed to squeeze in quickly.

Huh? This is a clothing factory? Ning Shu hadn’t paid attention to the name earlier, but now she saw the factory’s name at the notice board: X City First Clothing Factory.

What a powerful name! Anything with “first” in it always sounds impressive.

Then she looked at the job openings:

1. Workshop workers, with primary school education or above, aged 16 to 50, any gender, recruiting 3 people.
2. Procurement officer, with high school diploma or equivalent, aged 20 to 35, any gender, recruiting 1 person.

The deadline for applying for the above positions is 5 p.m. on October 24th, and there will be a unified written test at 8 a.m. on October 25th. Please bring identification documents for the test.

Workshop worker? Ning Shu thought she could give it a try.

The main task of workshop workers is to make clothes, and she was sure she could handle that.

So… Ning Shu’s eyes lit up; she decided to apply.

Today was October 23rd, and the application deadline was tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, she could come for the written test.

As for the procurement officer position, Ning Shu hadn’t considered it.

Even if she passed the test, what if the job didn’t sell? Would she have to work there for a few days? Procurement involves a lot of tasks, and one might have to be ready to travel at any time.

She didn’t like traveling.

So, Ning Shu immediately signed up for the workshop worker position.

After signing up, Ning Shu didn’t leave right away. Instead, she went to find the security guard at the clothing factory.

The security guard was also an elderly man, but he moved quite briskly compared to the gatekeeper at the newspaper office. “Hello, sir. My name is Ning Shu. Director Yang from the supply and marketing cooperative recommended me. I’m here to see Zhang Jianyi from the procurement department about the issue with that batch of cloth.”

The issue with that batch of cloth was well known throughout the clothing factory, so when the security guard heard it was related to that, he didn’t dare to delay. “Comrade, please wait here. I’ll go get someone.”

Of course, the security guard’s promptness was also related to Ning Shu’s appearance.

After all, she was dressed quite decently.