Small Shop Owner in the 1960s

Chapter 47

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The two children of the old Xu's family were going to take the exam at once. Li Jing regarded this matter as the biggest thing in the family, and suggested that Xu Jiansheng should find a way to get the exam questions ahead of time, so that the chances of winning would be better then.

Anyway, their family's old Xu has worked in the mine for so many years, and he is also the director. He is in charge of so many people, so it is definitely not difficult to get a test question.

When Xu Jiansheng heard this, he almost slapped her in front of the child.

Recruitment of workers is a major event in the mine every year. How many people have sharpened their heads to get in, so many people are staring at it, who dares to do it.

If this is caught by someone, the job will be lost. Even if you keep your job, don't even think about working in the mine.

Those who didn't pass the exam, don't have to spit stars to drown you.

As soon as Li Jing heard that there was nothing going on, she immediately turned her idea on the two children, so that they didn't even have school classes, and they were preparing for the exam at home.

"Anyway, the school curriculum is not important. It's okay to ask for a few days off. The key is the mine. If you pass the exam, you will be a serious working class. Wherever you go in the future, you will be superior to others. You can still get When it comes to supplying food, I get a salary of dozens of yuan."

Xu Meizi smiled and said, "Auntie, the two of us are taking the exam, and others will definitely be watching. If my elder sister and I don't go to class, and if we don't pass the exam later, people won't laugh at our family. Go to class, I don't have much hope anyway."

Li Jing also felt that it made sense. Eggs should not be put in one basket. If they were all broken, outsiders would have to laugh at them. So Xu Hong didn't go to class and stayed at home to prepare for the exam.

Xu Hong is also happy to have a holiday at home, but she is still very resistant to going to the mine for the exam. When I was sleeping at night, I complained to Xu Meizi, "What's the test? It's not that I don't want to support us anymore, I want us to make money to support her. Huh, I don't even think about it. If it wasn't for our old Xu's family, she would have been born like that. Have a good time?"

Zhang Cuiqin often whispered these words in her ears.

Xu Meizi didn't make a sound, and said after a while, "Auntie has already said this. If you don't go, she will definitely tell Nai. Then you still have to go. But if you really don't pass the exam, who can be blamed?" ? At that time, I can only continue to study. It’s okay, I’m going to bed, and I have to go to class tomorrow.”

Xu Meizi turned over, and soon fell asleep and started snoring.

Xu Hong squinted her eyes and looked at the ceiling, thinking about what Xu Meizi said just now, she seemed to have some inspiration in her heart.

The recruitment of workers in the mine has caused quite a disturbance among the families of many Kuangshang workers. You know, the mine hasn't recruited workers for several years. It's a rare opportunity. If you miss this round, you don't know when you will have to wait. Basically, most of the parents, as long as there are children of the right age at home, will help to sign up for the exam regardless of their education background. Especially for families with many children, they always feel that one more person has one more opportunity, and with so many, one can always be selected. As long as you pass the exam, the burden on your family can be reduced a lot.

Therefore, the recruitment examination has become the hottest topic in the mouths of these family members.

Because Li Jing also has a child who is going to take the exam, she often chats with these women, hoping to get some useful information.

"Speaking of which, your family has three children participating this time, Li Jing, don't worry, at least one of them will be selected."

"Our family only has two children, and the other two have to continue studying." Li Jing said. She wanted her two nephews to take the exam too, so she was worried that the old lady would fight her hard. Moreover, Xu Lei will take over from Lao Xu's class in the future, and there is no need to take the exam. Xu Long is not yet old enough to take the exam.

"Why aren't there three? Your family Xu Hong, Mei Zi, and Xu Nannan have all signed up."

Hearing this, Li Jing's complexion changed, and she said doubtfully, "No way, that girl Nannan hasn't graduated from elementary school yet. She has only been studying for a year."

"What, what year did that happen? This kid is really smart. After hearing that he came to the mine, he immediately applied for the night school at our mine. He studied for one semester and even got his graduation certificate in his hand. .My youngest son is in her class. I heard from the teacher that if Nan Nan can continue his studies, university is possible. It's a pity."

After the woman spoke, she cast a somewhat sarcastic tone, squinted at Li Jing, and then exchanged glances with the sisters-in-law next to her, all of which meant gloating.

Look, let you ignore your own daughter, but in the end, she even took her technical secondary school diploma. I don't care about my own good seedlings, but I have to take care of the wild seedlings. Not to mention Xu Meizi, but Xu Hong's grades are known to those who have children in the school. There are also those two nephews who go out all day, what can they do. That's why Li Jing is still proud of herself.

Although this person didn't say it clearly, Li Jing could hear the meaning of seeing her joke in it, and her face became a little stiff, and her goosebumps rose from anger. She made an excuse and went home. As a result, as soon as he entered the door, he saw Xu Hong sitting in the main room eating melon seeds, and walked over to pat the table angrily, "Eat whatever you eat, you have to take the exam, don't worry."

He took away the melon seeds again, and dragged Xu Hong into the room to read a book, "Hurry up and read a book, I will steam eggs for you at noon, and you will eat it alone, so as to nourish your brain. This time, that girl Nan Nan also has an exam, we It can't be worse than her."

Xu Hong was a little unhappy at first, but when she heard that Xu Nannan was also taking the exam, her eyes widened, "Impossible, Erya has never studied."

"I don't know where she studied it, but she went to the night school and got a technical secondary school diploma. This time, I also signed up." Li Jing said in a bad mood. Thinking of the jokes those women made to her overtly and secretly just now, she hated this girl to death. Why do you have to take the exam if you have nothing to do? Even if you know you can't pass the exam, you still have to apply for the exam, which makes people laugh at her. Can't you just stay in the corner of the cafeteria honestly so that people can't see her? He deliberately didn't make her mother feel better.

When she heard that Xu Nannan was self-taught, and she was studying at night school, Xu Hong scoffed at this, "What are you afraid of, what can you learn by self-study, the night school is not a formal school, it is not as good as our junior high school, what can you test, It's also a joke."

Li Jing also thought so, but she still said, "It doesn't matter if she passes the exam or not, you have to pass the exam anyway. Otherwise, our family will lose face."

It's your face that's lost! Xu Hong thought to herself, but she didn't say it directly, she followed Li Jing's push and entered the room.

When Li Jing left, she looked at the empty room, curled her lips, and fell asleep on the bed.

On the day of the exam, Xu Nannan asked for leave and didn't go to the cafeteria for the exam.

Everyone encouraged her to fight for her breath and make sure to pass the exam. If you pass the exam, come back and give her a good meal.

Zhu Fang was still worried that she was nervous, so she sent her to the examination place arranged by the Mining Committee, "Come on!"

Xu Nannan raised his fist at her, "Don't worry." Then he entered the examination room with a smile.

There are quite a lot of people who signed up this time. The Nanjiang Iron Mine is well-known in Nanjiang County, and the benefits are good, so not only the children of the mine workers signed up, but also other people of the right age in Nanjiang County who agreed with the requirements also signed up. However, not everyone has to take the written test. Some people know that their cultural achievements are not good, so they apply for some technical jobs in the mine. After taking these positions, you can't do regular work all at once, but start as an apprentice. But it is better than temporary workers. After learning it, the salary level will increase year by year, and it will become regular. Therefore, there are many people who apply for apprenticeship.

Like Xu Nannan, most of the applicants for positions requiring a high level of education are high school students and technical secondary school students. In total, there are about 80 people.

There are quite a lot of places for recruiting apprentice technical workers in the mine, but for this kind of mining committee, personnel department and other positions, one radish and one hole, each department only recruits one person, so all kinds of things add up. Six places.

More than 80 people competed for six places, and the competition was fierce.

Xu Nannan discovered that Xu Meizi and Xu Hong were among them.

Seeing Xu Nannan, Xu Hong pouted proudly. Xu Meizi smiled faintly at her.

Xu Nannan ignored them all and sat in his seat to prepare for the exam.

At this time, the recruitment examination mode was quite simple, but it was not like the civil service examination that passed through five passes and six generals. It was a written test, an interview, retests, etc., and finally a physical examination. According to Zhu Fang, if you perform well in this exam, you will basically succeed. Of course there will be a political review. However, those who have taken the exam these years generally have no problems.

For this exam, the leaders of several departments who wanted to recruit workers came. Every leader copied the questions on the big blackboard in the meeting room. Take the exam below to answer the questions by yourself, you can choose to answer, or you can answer all of them. Anyway, it's performance in the end.

Seeing the topic above, Xu Nannan was not worried at all. These leaders probably took into account that the candidates who took the exam were from different majors and had different levels of education, so the questions they asked were all relatively basic questions in each subject.

For Xu Xueba, it was at his fingertips.

Without further ado, she took out her pen from the pen case and was about to write when she suddenly found that the tip of the pen froze.

When I picked it up, I saw that the tip of the pen was bent.

Xu Nannan's heart sank. She checked her test equipment last night. This is her habit for many years. No matter what test she takes, she will prepare it in advance. I didn't find any problem at all last night, why did it suddenly break down.

She saw that everyone had already started the exam. If she asked the leader for a pen at this time, even if they gave it to her, her impression of her would be greatly reduced. And at this time, pens are also rare things, and people must not be willing to give them to them.

Xu Nannan put his hand into the pen case, closed his eyes and went into the Taobao store. He quickly bought a Hero brand fountain pen, took it out with a calm expression, filled it with ink, and began to answer the questions.

On the other side of the examination room, Xu Hong looked at the questions on the blackboard, her mind spinning.

This is what ah, why did not learn.

Forget it, anyway, she didn't want to take the exam, so it doesn't matter what the topic is. It wasn't that she couldn't pass the exam, it was that she didn't like the job.

Behind her, Xu Meizi lowered her head and frowned as she looked at the copied titles, picked up the ones she knew, and slowly wrote them on. Occasionally, she would look back at Xu Nannan, see her writing vigorously, and smile inwardly. I don't believe Erya can handle such a difficult topic.

The exam is not finished by filling up the test paper. If you make a mistake, you might as well not answer it. If you don't understand, pretend to understand.

There were a lot of issues this time. It took two hours for the exam to end.

When the closing bell rang, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. It doesn't matter whether you do it or not, you don't have time to do it anyway.

Leaving the examination room, Zhu Fang and Wu Qing were waiting outside. Seeing her coming out, Zhu Fang ran over, "Nannan, how are you, how do you feel? Wait, don't say it, it won't work if you say it. We don't know anything." Don't talk, let's go eat."

She looked nervous, even more nervous than Xu Nannan.

There is no way out, this opportunity is so rare, it would be a pity if I didn't pass the exam.

Xu Nannan smiled and said, "I don't know how other people are doing. Anyway, I think the questions are not difficult, and I can do them. Whether I can pass the exam or not, it's not a pity."

Zhu Fang nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, no matter what the result is, as long as you do your best. Let's go to dinner, anyway, the result will come out in a few days."

Seeing her like this, Xu Nannan couldn't help smiling, and then saw Wu Qing next to her, "This time the mine has recruited so many technical apprentices, you should also mention it here. Will you bring newcomers?"

She and Wu Qing rarely talk at ordinary times. But I think this girl is very shy and soft-tempered, so sometimes I will take the initiative to talk to her. Seeing her and Zhu Fang waiting for him now, Xu Nannan deliberately expressed his intimacy.

Wu Qing pursed her lips, "I don't know yet. My master said that this time he wants to raise the salary of old apprentices by one level. I don't know if there is a place for me."

Xu Nannan comforted, "No matter what, it's a good thing to have a chance. Just do your best."

Wu Qing smiled, her eyes drooping. "If you pass the exam this time, you will be a regular worker in the future. It's the same as Zhu Fang."

"I don't know if I'll pass the exam yet." Although Xu Nannan was confident, he still didn't dare to speak out. As long as anything didn't reach the final result, something might go wrong.

Zhu Fang put her arms around her shoulders, "Stop talking, I'm so nervous, let's go, go eat something delicious first."

She put one arm around Xu Nannan, then stretched out her hand to pull Wu Qing, and they walked towards the cafeteria together.

The Xu family and Li Jing also prepared a table of food. For today's exam, she went to cut up half a catty of meat and came back, adding some meat to each dish, at least two meat and one vegetarian. It's almost time for New Year's Eve treats.

After all, many people in the mine are living in poor conditions, and they are still eating vegetables and drinking like in the countryside. In other words, her man has a high position, not only a high salary, but also a lot of food. Coupled with the food sent by the village, life is not too bad anyway. But that's the case, such a rich meal like today is not common in the Xu family.

This time, she didn't even let Xu Long and Xu Lei want to eat.

Xu Lei was not happy, "What's the big deal, why don't you just take a test, and you'll have to get married in the future." His grandma said that if the eldest sister can marry a good family in the future, it will be good for him. But the eldest sister also said that only by going to college can you marry a good family.

If the elder sister is really a worker, can she still marry a good family? What if you marry a worker like an uncle? He has to support a lot of relatives, how can he help him

Xu Long didn't say anything, and obediently waited for the others to come back for dinner with Li Jing. He didn't care if it was good or bad for Sanya to be a worker, anyway, his mother told him to listen to his aunt, and he would benefit from it in the future.

Looking at the two children, Li Jing also favored Liu Qiao's two children in her heart, and felt that the children born by Zhang Cuiqin, a fool, were not as good as those born by Liu Qiao. I just don't know if Xu Hong will pass the exam this time.

After waiting for a long time, Xu Jiansheng finally "returned triumphantly" with his two nieces.

As soon as she came back, Xu Hong immediately started to eat with the bowl and chopsticks, "I'm starving to death, and I don't have any energy for the exam."

Xu Meizi sat on the side, first poured Xu Jiansheng a glass of water, and then sat down.

Hearing Xu Hong say that she was hungry during the exam, Li Jing immediately panicked, "What's the matter, why are you hungry during the exam? Didn't you eat steamed buns in the morning?"

While eating, Xu Hong said, "The exam is so tiring, how can eating steamed buns be enough? As for our exam, people bring boiled eggs to eat outside. It smells delicious."

Li Jing regretted that she didn't cook an egg in the morning to replenish the two children's strength, so she asked again, "How did you do in the exam?"

"It's okay, I've done it anyway." After Xu Hong said something, she stopped talking, lowered her head and ate with big mouthfuls, occasionally picking up meat.

Xu Meizi smiled and said, "It feels okay. There are quite a lot of people taking this exam. The news will come out in a few days, so don't worry, auntie."

When Li Jing heard that the two children had done well in the exam, she also felt relieved.

The same question was raised in other families as well. Those who took the test were particularly confident, and some were ambiguous.

Anyway, there is still one word at the end, wait!

Parents, please stop asking, wait for the notification...

After waiting for three days, notifications came out one after another. These are mainly apprentices going to technical positions, with low requirements and low positions.

The families who waited for the notification were almost eager to set off firecrackers.

Li Jing almost gritted her teeth when she saw the smiling faces of the other selected families, "What's the big deal, isn't it just an apprentice, not a regular worker. It's still a dirty job."

Xu Nannan was relatively calm. Anyway, the position she applied for hadn't been notified yet, so she was in no hurry. Zhu Fang, on the other hand, went to the mining committee and the personnel department all day long to inquire about this matter.

"Nannan, Nannan," two days later, when Xu Nannan was still cooking in the cafeteria at noon, Zhu Fang ran over with the notice, surpassed a group of people, and handed the notice to her in a daze.

Others knew at a glance that this was Xu Nannan's admission letter.

Sister-in-law Liao quickly took the big spoon in her hand, and urged, "Hurry up, see if you are admitted, whether it is a regular worker or an apprentice, and which department."

Xu Nannan was a little nervous now.

This is related to her future work. And according to the current domestic situation, it seems that she will do this work for a long time.

In front of everyone, she slowly opened the notice and looked at the contents.

"Oh, it's a regular worker, or a procurement department." Sister-in-law Liao was the first to see it, and immediately laughed.

Xu Nannan was stunned, purchasing department? She clearly applied for the finance department. After all, her major is accounting, so she feels that the chances are better.

The others didn't care what subject she applied for, anyway, Xu Nannan passed the exam, and it was the procurement department. This is incredible.

In everyone's eyes, the procurement department is a good place. Not to mention anything else, if you usually have to travel or something, there are quite a lot of travel subsidies. And usually when I almost miss something, I can bring it back by the way when I am on a business trip, how convenient it is. How many people usually have to beg for work

The people in the cafeteria were very happy. Xu Nannan is giving our cafeteria another face.

Master Du smiled happily, showing his double chin, and said to those who came to the cafeteria to eat, "It seems that this exam is not difficult. Nan Nan from our cafeteria also passed the exam."

His words were paired with a smug tone and expression, which made people's teeth ache. What do you mean the exam is not difficult? Don’t you just want to say that the people in your cafeteria are amazing, and you will be admitted to a regular job and sit in an office.

However, the news spread along with it.

After eating, Zhu Fang didn't leave, stopped Xu Nannan, and said excitedly, "Do you know why you are going to the purchasing department? It was arranged by Deputy Mine Manager Li!"

Xu Nannan was shocked. Could it be that she didn't pass the exam, and Deputy Mine Manager Li gave her the back door

Seeing her surprised look, Zhu Fang smiled and said, "Aren't you surprised? Hahaha, let me tell you, you did very well in this exam. You said that you answered the last thought question very well, and the trade union is rushing to ask for you." Go. The Finance Section also wants you, and the Mining Committee also wants you. As a result, several leaders quarreled at the top. It was Deputy Mine Manager Li who made the decision and told you to go to the Procurement Section.”

Although she couldn't go to the finance department in the end, Zhu Fang thought it was a good thing. The finance department is not necessarily better than the procurement department. The point is that Xu Nannan was rushed by several people, which shows that she is capable. In the end, it was arranged in the procurement department, and Mine Manager Li spoke up. This has all caught the eyes of the mine manager. If there is improvement, the chances are greater, isn't it

Xu Nannan didn't think too much about it. She was relieved knowing that she was the one who passed the exam, and not deputy mine manager Li who got in through the back door. Otherwise, she would really have a little lump in her heart. After all, those who rely on their own ability are the most stable and confident.

As for which department she is in, she doesn't care at that time. Anyway, she had filled in the finance department before, but because of her major, she thought that the chances of winning would be better. As long as you can enter the mine, it doesn't matter what subject you are in.

"But I still have to go to our mining committee to study for a while, and we can stay together for a while then, Director Xu, I need a lot of advice in the future."

Zhu Fang joked with a smile.

"Officer Zhu, you are an old senior, and I will have to remind you as a newcomer in the future." Xu Nannan said seriously. Don't forget to blink your eyes.

Zhu Fang was delighted, and laughed, and said, "It's easy to talk, let's have a meal of sauerkraut and pork dumplings first."

"Okay, let's go after get off work!" Xu Nannan agreed without saying a word.

"That's what you said, so I'll come to you after get off work." Zhu Fang swallowed. She's good at it.

As for being polite to Xu Nannan, there's no need for it. Director Xu's future salary will be thirty-six yuan a month. There are still thirty catties of grain, enough to eat!

After the admission notice came out, some families were happy and others were sad. Li Jing sat at home and waited for a day, and asked Xu Jiansheng to inquire about it, but he didn't believe it.

"Li Jing, what are you waiting for? There's no notice yet. Has your old Xu gone to the mine to ask?" Sister-in-law Jiao next door asked while leaning on the low wall.

Li Jing said unhappily, "Where is it so fast, there are so many people, you have to notify slowly."

"That's not necessarily true," Sister Jiao shook her head, and then said gossipingly, "When Liu Guixiang went to the cafeteria to order food today, I heard from the people in the cafeteria that your daughter Xu Nannan passed the exam, and she is an official in the procurement department. work."

Li Jing was a little confused after hearing the news, "What, I made a mistake."

"The notice issued by the Mining Committee can be wrong. You are happy now. It doesn't matter whether your niece passed the exam or not, but your own daughter did."

Sister-in-law Jiao said something strangely, and went back to her house.

Hmph, even though you made my old lady unhappy at the beginning, my old lady still wants to dislike you.

Li Jing couldn't stay at the house, and waited until Xu Jiansheng came back from get off work at night.

Xu Jiansheng's complexion was not very good, with a somewhat gloomy feeling.

Seeing him like this, Li Jing didn't dare to ask.

She's not stupid, if she hasn't been notified until now, it must be a dead end. Especially Xu Jiansheng still looks like this...

Because of this incident, Li Jing didn't cook anything at night. She boiled green vegetables and added steamed buns, and that's all for one meal.

The whole family sat at the table, except for the two boys who were eating heartlessly, everyone else was a little absent-minded.

Halfway through eating, Xu Jiansheng put down his chopsticks.

"This time, Hong Hong failed the exam."

Li Jing's heart sank to the bottom. Xu Hong's eyes lit up, and she began to eat with her head down, not looking at Li Jing's dark face anyway.

If you can't pass the exam, you can't blame her. If you have the ability, help her get a regular job.

Xu Meizi looked at Xu Jiansheng nervously.

Li Jing was also a little nervous, "What about Meizi?"

"... I got admitted as an apprentice. She operates a forging machine. She has a junior high school education. After one year, she can become a regular as long as she passes the technical examination. She can get 20 yuan plus 15 catties of grain every month."

"Apprentice?" Li Jing looked at Xu Meizi with some disappointment.

But when he heard the twenty yuan behind and fifteen catties of grain, his eyes also became hot.

Xu Meizi was startled, "If I didn't get into a regular job, it must be because I didn't study enough. I'll go to school honestly, and I'll go to university in the future and try to get a good job. I'll make my uncle and aunt look good in the future."

Li Jing disagreed and said, "Meizi, there is nothing wrong with being an apprentice. If you study hard, you will become a full-time worker after one year. It will be the same as a regular worker at that time. It's only this year. You How long does it take to go to university? You can figure it out yourself. Is it more cost-effective to be an apprentice?"

"Uncle, that's a technical position, I don't know how to..."

Technical female workers, who have been in the wind and rain all day in the mine, their faces are going to be blackened.

Xu Meizi felt a little regretful at this moment, she shouldn't have been greedy for this good thing before, and ran to take the exam. Now it's all right, she didn't pass the exam she should have passed, she shouldn't have passed the exam, she just failed the exam.

"Uncle, I..."

She wanted to say more, Xu Jiansheng shook his head, "Meizi, uncle also thinks you should go. I heard that because there are too many people recruited in the mine this time, there will be no more recruits in the next few years. In the future, even if you want to take the exam , and there is no chance."

Xu Hong was drinking at the side, feeling very happy in her heart, she deserves you to show off.

Li Jing looked at Xu Meizi and said, "Meizi, if you can't make up your mind, I'll go back to my hometown tomorrow, talk to your parents and your grandma, and let them make up their minds."

Seeing that Li Jing and Xu Jiansheng let Xu Meizi go, Xu Long also took Xu Meizi's arm, "Sister, you go, didn't Mom say, let's listen to uncle and uncle. Why don't you listen? "

Xu Meizi scratched the corner of her clothes, her lips quivered a few times, then she nodded, "Yes, I'll go."

The stone in Li Jing's heart can be regarded as falling. He said happily, "I'll go cut half a catty of meat tomorrow and come back. Let's have a good meal and celebrate."

Because Xu Nannan is a temporary worker in the mine, it is much easier to go through the entry procedures. However, her household registration is in a rural area, and this must be transferred as soon as possible, otherwise the food supply will not be distributed in the first month.

On the first day Xu Nannan went to report to the Mining Committee, she was given two days off and told to go back to her hometown to change her account.