Ukraine, Rivne Oblast.
At the Nokia factory in the northeastern suburbs of Rivni, it was shift change time at two o'clock in the afternoon. Thousands of people came in and out of the factory gates. Even though most of them were young people, the sudden temperature change inside and outside the factory was still... Many people who left subconsciously shrank their necks.
In Rivni in December, it snowed heavily recently for four consecutive days. Although it turned sunny, the daytime temperature dropped below minus 10 degrees Celsius.
Yelena Bodminskaya and Mary Ravikin are two ordinary workers among countless workers.
The two girls are the same age, both 23 years old, from the Nikolayev Oblast in southern Ukraine. Because they both have university degrees, they were able to settle in Rivni, the Rivne Oblast, which is currently very restrictive, and successfully entered the Nokia factory.
It is not easy to find such a stable job in Ukraine today.
Even if you smuggle yourself to Western Europe, according to feedback from some wandering relatives and friends, you can actually only do the lowest level of work. Because you are an illegal worker, you will not only be oppressed by your boss in various ways, but you may also face arrest and deportation by the immigration agency at any time. Many people People live like mice, and there are countless people who go astray.
It is human nature to pursue stability. If given a choice, no one would be willing to leave their hometown.
Therefore, the suddenly prosperous Rivne Oblast is no less attractive to Ukraine, which is currently in decline, than traveling to Western Europe.
Yelena and Mary followed the flow of people to the bicycle shed of the factory. Their boyfriends, Alexander Kuzminko and Sergey Bortayev, had already picked up their bicycles and were waiting here. They were meeting with several other acquaintances. chat.
After greeting everyone, the two boys left the factory on bicycles with their girlfriends.
While the bicycle was traveling, Yelena, who was sitting in the back seat of her boyfriend Alexander's car, had an extra piece of information in her hand, a promotional poster about the recruitment of civil servants by the Rivne Oblast government.
The next step was to go to the supermarket. After the two pairs of men and women left the noisy factory boundary, Mary, who was sitting side by side in the back seat, had already read the information and asked Yelena next to her: "Do you think it's possible for us to give it a try?"
Yelina's tone was mixed with expectations and entanglements: "We are only recruiting 500 people this time, so we will definitely grab the top spot. We have enough academic qualifications, but we are not locals in Rivne, so we are not as good as those with connections."
Mary was not discouraged and said, "It's okay to give it a try. The recruitment exam is in a month. Well, I don't know what else to prepare for?"
After Mary finished speaking, her boyfriend Sergey said: "Boris and the others just said that there is a special training class, and a month's training costs about 1,000 hryvnia, which is very expensive."
The two girls couldn't help but sigh after hearing this.
The current salary of the four of them is about 1,300 hryvnia, which also includes some night shift or full attendance subsidies. According to the current ratio of Ukrainian currency to US dollar of 46:1, it is actually only about 28 US dollars.
There is an element of the Ukrainian currency depreciating due to the financial crisis last year, but it is actually enough for them to live stably in this city.
Now, if they want to climb up the ladder, one course will cost them almost a month's salary. Considering the high failure rate, they immediately hesitate.
Elena's boyfriend Alexander heard the two girls talk and advised: "Let's ask around again recently. Maybe we can secretly find some materials and read them by ourselves without going to class."
When Yelena heard this, she said with some conspiracy theory: "I think it's definitely not possible. Maybe someone just wants to earn this training fee. If we don't go to class, but take the exam, we may be fired directly."
"That's right," Mary couldn't help but echoed, and hugged her boyfriend who was riding a bicycle: "The last time Sergey applied for a position in that power plant, he failed to pass the first round of exams. Sergey is a standard Graduated in electrical engineering.”
Hearing his girlfriend redressing his injustice, Sergey could only giggle.
Actually, when he applied for the job last year, his performance was really bad, because not long after arriving in Rivni, he easily entered the Nokia factory with his academic qualifications. After settling down, he inevitably slacked off. He never expected that there would be such a good opportunity. .
The regret can be imagined.
If he could enter that power plant, he would probably be no different from a civil servant. Maybe he would have saved enough money to marry his girlfriend now and there would be no need for the four of them to share an apartment.
While discussing hesitantly, they passed through the newly constructed asphalt highway in the northeast of the city in recent years and soon arrived at the supermarket adjacent to the community where they lived.
To be precise, it is not just a supermarket, but is also surrounded by schools, hospitals, cinemas and other places. It is the super resettlement community that the Westeros system invested US$200 million to build three years ago. Compared with the original plan, the resettlement community that is still expanding to the surrounding areas is completely a new city with complete supporting facilities, and the residential population has doubled from the original plan to 300,000.
Even so, apartments in this area are in short supply.
Because the four young people worked at the most popular Nokia factory in Rivni, and they also had good academic qualifications and sufficient work qualifications, they were qualified to rent a two-bedroom apartment here after several applications.
Because there are subsidies here.
After subsidies, four people only need to pay 1,200 hryvnia for an apartment. Although it is equivalent to their monthly salary, when divided, it is only 300 hryvnia per person. Moreover, compared with those who live in a house of eight people, The latecomers who live in a collective dormitory can live in an apartment with complete facilities. Even if the inevitable water, electricity and gas are included, the expenses are higher, but after all, this is the life of a normal person.
The next goal for the four young people is to move to a room and a living room where they can live a world together.
At that time, you can get married and become completely stable.
Of course, it's not easy.
After all, it will not just be a simple increase in rent, so it is best to change to a more promising job such as a civil servant.
In any case, the situation of residents in other cities in this country is much better than what you can easily see from newspapers. Even the capital Kiev is not as good as here.
The four of them parked the car in the supermarket and entered the three-story shopping mall, which covers an area of tens of thousands of square meters. Every time they looked at the dazzling array of products around them, the four young people who grew up in the former Soviet Union inevitably felt a bit like they were living in another world. Feel.
And, I want to buy, I want to buy, I want to buy.
Because the economy collapsed again after last year's crisis, the entire former Soviet Union is currently in a state of material scarcity. As the big brother of Russia, an important daily routine for many people is to queue up in long lines to buy the limited supply of cheap bread. As for Rivni, it is simply two worlds.
Because it was a Saturday, there were so many people around. The four of them managed to grab two carts before rushing into the shopping crowd.
Basically, they were shopping for the next week. In addition to bread, fruits and drinks, there were also some daily necessities needed for washing. Finally, after wandering around the clothing and shoes area, the two girls couldn't hold back and each bought a pair of discounted leather boots.
After checking out and walking out of the supermarket, it was already more than an hour later.
Thinking about the situation in other parts of the country, and seeing that we can buy so many daily necessities at very affordable prices, even the two boys who don't like shopping by nature are quite satisfied.
Carrying a bunch of shopping bags, they discussed for a while and did not go back directly. The two boys wanted to go to the Internet cafe next to them to play games online for a while. The four of them all had membership cards. Yelena didn't want to go, so she voted, three to one. 1. The minority obeys the majority.
The two boys were glued to the computer and couldn't leave. They were playing "Counter-Strike OL" from the United States. They originally planned to play it for two hours, but when they walked out of a large Internet cafe with hundreds of computers, it was completely dark outside.
After holding a large and small bag, we discussed it and went to a nearby Chinese restaurant for dinner.
The thing called 'hot pot' here is simply customized for winter. In this season, it is packed every day.
Even though the restaurant occupies an entire five-story building, the four of us still queued for more than ten minutes to get a seat.
After ordering and waiting for the waiter to serve the food, Mary couldn't help but think about it and said to her boyfriend beside her: "Sergey, we seem to have overspended again today."
Sergey and Alexander had already had a glass of strong wine first, and after hearing what his girlfriend said, he continued: "Yes, if you don't buy those shoes."
Mary felt guilty immediately, and couldn't help but retort: "Don't you think those leather boots are beautiful, and they're 50% off."
What else could Sergey say.
In fact, the two have been secretly saving a wedding fund. The initial plan was to save 20% of their salary every month, so that they could save 6,000 hryvnias a year. After two or three years, even buying a house was still a luxury, but in exchange for I still have the confidence to get married and have children.
As a result, almost a year and a half after arriving in this city last year, the two of them have only saved less than 2,000 hryvnia in their small coffers.
This is the result of conscious efforts by the two of them.
However, if you think about it carefully, just like you just couldn't help but go to an Internet cafe to play games, just like you unknowingly sat in this Chinese restaurant at this moment, in the past year and more, there have been countless times, and you can't help but go to the surrounding restaurants. Cabaret, bar, cafe, cinema...
It's like being trapped in a circle. Unknowingly, you spend as much as you earn.
The couple across the dining table also knew about their plans. They also thought about saving money to get married. Unfortunately, they just thought about it and didn't have much money left in their hands at the moment. If both of them want to apply for civil servant training courses, they may need to borrow some money from acquaintances or even ask for some financial support from their families so as not to make ends meet.
Alexander is the kind-hearted one. Now that his life is so comfortable, he wants to do so much. Seeing the two of them bickering, he joins in the fun: "In this case, two of you, are you still going to the resort for skiing tomorrow?"
The hot spring resort in the north of Rivni is the place that countless young people in this city yearn for.
However, according to their income level, going once every month or two is considered a luxury. Moreover, you can only make some basic and affordable purchases when you go there. Even staying overnight requires careful consideration. Hotels are very expensive.
Because it snowed a few days ago and it’s a good season for skiing, I planned to go there again.
Alexander asked, Mary hesitated a little, and Sergey nodded decisively: "Go, you must go."
The two people on the opposite side suddenly laughed.
After laughing for a while, Yelena suddenly took out the salary card of Rivni Commercial Bank and waved it towards the opposite side: "Mary, if you really want to save money, I can give you a suggestion."
"Um?"
"Don't always swipe your card," Yelena said: "No matter what you buy, try to use cash."
Mary was confused: "What do you mean?"
Yelena played with the blue card in her hand and said: "I also thought at first that this card can be used to buy anything here. It is really convenient, just like those in developed countries. However, I have thought about it recently. , I felt that this was intentional on some people’s part.”
"on purpose?"
"Deliberately using this convenience to make us consume unconsciously, we spend all our money without realizing it."
Sergey said: "It's not such a conspiracy theory. In that case, why don't you and Alec just use cash? Just now I saw you paying for shoes with a credit card."
Yelena said confidently: "I didn't want to save money."
“…”
After looking at each other for a moment, Mary said helplessly: "Maybe we should find another job."
Yelena shook her head directly: "You can't find it. The most scarce thing in Rivni now is job opportunities. Why don't our factories work overtime now? They can only work eight hours a day. Because they can hire enough workers and don't need to pay at all. The extra money makes us work overtime.”
Alexander also said: "Not only that, there are now many illegal workers in Rivni who have smuggled themselves over from neighboring countries. There are people from Romania, Belarus, Russia, and even Azerbaijan. They work 12 hours a day to earn five or six hundred dollars." Rivner. We should be thankful that Nokia is a big brand. We are worried about using illegal work and encountering public pressure, so we can have stable jobs."
Mary had also vaguely heard of this, and sighed: "Why don't they go to Western Europe?"
"Do you think it's so easy to go to Western Europe?" Yelena curled her lips: "Now the smugglers have clearly marked the price. Going to Germany costs 20,000 hryvnia. Can you afford it? Moreover, even if you can successfully arrive, if you don't have money there, you can It’s hard to say whether the relatives and friends who are taking care of him will be abducted and sold into slave factories.”
"But, I think five or six hundred hryvnias is a bit small, right?"
"It's very good. Those factories are responsible for food and accommodation. It's better than staying in your hometown without enough food," Alexander said, and laughed again: "It will definitely save more than us."
Sergei interjected at this time: "I will never do it anyway. I work 12 hours a day and only get half of our salary. Even if I can save it all, it is not a normal life at all."
Yelena was a little angry: "Normal people's lives, now in the entire CIS region, there are still a few normal countries, Russia almost collapsed, and here, only Rivne Oblast is better."
Before anyone else could comment, the waiter brought the food and everyone closed their mouths and started eating.
This kind of 'hot pot' from China is delicious, but it's also very expensive. It can only be eaten once or twice a month for four people. Of course, the meal cost is AA. We are friends, even if we don't want to make more, but I don’t want to suffer a loss either.