Short-sightedness

  For several days, Hanhua Machinery Factory was immersed in a **restless mood.

  That day, Peng Jun, who had attempted to take his own life by poisoning himself, was rushed to the county hospital in a factory truck and was saved after gastric lavage and emergency treatment. However, the reason for Peng Jun's suicide attempt weighed heavily on the hearts of many workers in the factory like a heavy stone.

  It turned out that Peng Jun's reason for committing suicide was that his girlfriend, whom he had been dating for only half a month, had just broken up with him. This was already the fifth girlfriend he had lost, and the reason given by each of them for breaking up with him was the same: he was still a temporary worker.

  Peng Jun, who is already 27 years old, like many older sons in the factory, has been working as a temporary worker since graduating from junior high school, waiting indefinitely for the opportunity to be recruited into the factory.

  China's state-owned enterprises have recruited workers through several different periods. In the 1950s, factory recruitment was open to all of society, including rural youth, who also had the opportunity to enter factories and become commodity grain-eating workers. Before agricultural collectivization, labor-rich peasant households were even better off economically than workers, so the desire to be a worker was not urgent.

  After entering the 1960s, the urban-rural gap began to widen, and the state strictly controlled the number of urban residents who ate commodity grain. At this time, the scope of factory recruitment was reduced to urban residents, and rural children had almost no opportunity to become workers. However, during this period, the new employment pressure in cities was not great, and as long as a child grew up in the city, they could almost all be assigned work by the state.

  From the late 1960s, the employment situation in cities became increasingly tense. A large number of children born after the founding of the country entered the army of employment, while the state's economy stagnated due to frequent political movements, and the increase in job openings was very slow. To solve this problem, the state introduced the policy of sending educated youth to the countryside, pushing a part of young people from cities to rural areas to alleviate the pressure on urban employment.

  At this stage, the recruitment quota of state-owned enterprises became an extremely scarce resource. Each province and city, as well as each industry system, strictly limited the scope of recruitment to within their own jurisdiction and were reluctant to let it flow out easily. For example, the recruitment indicators for Hanhua Machinery Factory were generally issued by the Light Industry Department, and the recruitment scope was limited to the children of employees within the Light Industry Department system and graduates of chemical technical schools.

  Even so, for the birth tide of the 1950s and 1960s, the employment opportunities that enterprises can create are still very limited. In 1979, the state introduced a policy of returning to the city, and tens of millions of educated youth poured back into cities from rural areas, bringing catastrophic pressure on urban employment.

  The Hanhua Machinery Factory was built in the late 1950s. At that time, most of the workers were in their twenties and thirties. Now they are just entering the stage where their children need to find employment. According to statistics from the factory, there are over a hundred employees' children who need jobs. Peng Shaozhe, Chu Hongyang, Zhao Yongqun, Yang Xin, and others all belong to this category. However, they are still relatively young and not yet at the age of marriage, so their demand for becoming formal workers is not that urgent. But for someone like Peng Jun, who is 27 or 28 years old, the problem is very serious.

  In later generations, not being married at 27 is nothing, in big cities, it's already a rare thing to get married before the age of 30. But back then, the legal marriage age for men was only 20 years old, and most people got married between the ages of 22 and 23, so getting married at 27 was considered very late.

  Peng Jun's family conditions are not very bad, his parents are both working, and for the sake of this son getting married, Peng Gang and his wife have been frugal and have saved up a whole set of furniture, and they can also vacate a room in their house. The only obstacle that hinders Peng Jun from finding a partner is his temporary worker status.

  As a temporary worker, Peng Jun's monthly salary was only over 20 yuan. After getting married, unless he asked his parents for money with a thick face, the life of the small family would be relatively tight. The girls in this era are very practical and no one wants to marry a man who cannot even stand on his own economically.

  Like this, Peng Jun talked to five objects, all of whom were "kicked" by the female side without exception. Peng Jun felt that he couldn't hold his face up anymore, and also lost hope for recruiting workers in the future, so when his parents went to work, he stayed at home alone and drank a small bottle of insecticide.

  Fortunately, Peng Gang's wife had an errand and left the workshop early to go home. As soon as she pushed open the door, she smelled a strong medicinal smell, and upon closer inspection, she found her son lying on the bed, foaming at the mouth, and immediately let out a sharp cry. The surrounding neighbors rushed over together, after clarifying the situation, some hurriedly went to find the doctor from the medical office, some went to the workshop to shout for Peng Gang, and others directly called the factory's vehicle. Everyone worked together to put Peng Jun on the truck and sent him to the hospital, which barely avoided a tragedy.

  A factory is a small society, and Peng Gang's family affairs can't be hidden from others. In just half a day, all the workers in the factory knew the reason for Peng Jun's suicide. Those more than 100 unemployed children of workers felt a sense of sorrow when they heard about it. As for those children who were similar in age to Peng Jun, they were even more heartbroken, as if the person lying on the hospital bed at that moment was themselves.

  "Isn't it just a formal job? Is it worth going to extremes for this?" Lin Zhenhua couldn't help but bring up the topic while having dinner with Yang Xin.

  "You are a formal worker, of course you don't know what we temporary workers think." Yang Xin retorted.

  "Are you temporary workers?" Lin Zhenhua was taken aback, only then remembering that Yang Xin was also a temporary worker, in the same camp as Peng Jun. He hastily picked up his bowl and sniffed it again, looking at Yang Xin with suspicious eyes.

  "What do you smell?" Yang Xin asked.

  "I smell something and look, have you put dichlorvos in the rice?"

  "You're going to die!" Yang Xin cursed, "Even if I want to drink pesticide, I won't drag you down with me."

  "That makes me feel better." Lin Zhenhua said.

  "You don't care if I live or die?" Yang Xin said angrily.

  Lin Zhenhua said: "It's not that serious, is it? If being a temporary worker means death, then what if the factory goes bankrupt and everyone loses their jobs? Wouldn't Hanhua Factory have to be renamed a public cemetery?"

  "What nonsense are you talking about? How can a state-owned factory go bankrupt?" Yang Xin said.

  "Alas, if one does not plan for the future, he will be worried about the present." Lin Zhenhua said, putting away his joking expression and seriously telling Yang Xin: "Yang Xin, I'm telling you, no matter what happens, you can't go learn from Peng Jun. You must remember, there's no hurdle in this world that can't be crossed."

  "Xiao Hua Ge, you're speaking lightly. If I were a temporary worker, do you think anyone would want me?" Yang Xin asked tentatively, which was actually her biggest worry.

  "How can nobody want it? If really nobody wants it, I'll take it." Lin Zhenhua blurted out.

  "Phooey, who's going to give it to you?" Yang Xinhong scolded with a red face, but her heart was warm and fuzzy.

  "I'm telling you seriously," said Lin Zhenhua. "Yang Xin, actually, you don't need to care about formal or temporary workers at all. I'll tell you, as the reform progresses further, the employment system will definitely change. At that time, things like staffing and whatnot will be nothing but a cloud in the sky. As long as you have the skills, earning over 10,000 yuan per month won't be a dream. If you don't have the skills, even if you're a formal worker, they'll let you go if they want to."

  "A monthly salary of over 10,000?" Yang Xin laughed and said, "Little Hua, you should be more realistic when bragging, okay?"

  "How is it impossible? Do you know how much money Xiong Lijun makes in a month now?"

  "Hmm, I know he's made a lot of money, at least 200 yuan a month?" Yang Xin asked, she knew that Lin Zhenhua had shares in Xiong Lijun's business, but didn't know that Lin Zhenhua was actually the real boss.

  Lin Zhenhua sneered: "200? Who are you cursing? I'll tell you, Old Bear made at least 2,000 last month."

  "2000!" Yang Xin's eyes widened in shock, "How can he make so much money?"

  "Do you know what a market economy is?" Lin Zhenhua said, as if he had thought of something, got up and took out an envelope from the drawer, handed it to Yang Xin, saying: "By the way, this is your dividend, not much, 200 yuan."

  "What share of red do I want?" Yang Xin raised his hands and stayed far away from the envelope.

  "Old Bear's store is called Xinxin Store, using your name, this money is the usage fee for the name." Lin Zhenhua said with a smile, after he made the money, he always thought about giving some to Yang Xin. Although he hadn't formally decided to make Yang Xin his girlfriend, their feelings were very deep. Even if not considering romantic love, just as siblings, he didn't want himself to be making big money while letting Yang Xin's family live a tight life.

  "You deceived me, I don't want this money." Yang Xin insisted.

  "Just take it." Lin Zhenhua walked up and grabbed Yang Xin's clothes. Yang Xin couldn't struggle anymore, or she would look very ambiguous. Her face was burning red, her two hands still raised, and then she watched as Lin Zhenhua stuffed the envelope into her pocket.

  At that moment, the two people's bodies were very close together, and Lin Zhenhua could even feel the warmth radiating from Yang Xin's face.

  Will he take the opportunity to kiss me? Yang Xin thought with a pounding heart.

  Why don't you take this opportunity to kiss her? Lin Zhenhua is also fighting against Tianren.

  Relative or not relative, this is a question...