Ways to make money

  Lin Zhenhua didn't have as many thoughts as Yang Xin, and now the only thing he could think of was how to make money. Xiaofang's words reminded him that although he had some money now, it was very limited. He remembered that his current assets were just over 100 yuan in demobilization fees, plus a bonus of 100 yuan for helping Dongfeng Ceramics Factory renovate the kiln in Changsha. With assets of over 200 yuan, he could be considered a rich man in the entire Hanhua Machinery Factory, of course, it was far less than Guo Haipeng who drank soup and saved money every day. However, if he consumed according to the lifestyle of later generations, this 200 yuan would probably be spent within half a year.

  Lin Zhenhua couldn't think of any other way to make money in this era, and things like the Dongfeng Ceramics Factory were rare. Not to mention whether others would find him to solve problems, even if they found his door, wouldn't all the difficulties be easily solved? Although his predecessor was a graduate student at Huqing University, his ability was limited after all. Where in the world could you make money so easily?

  He naturally wanted to buy 100 winning lottery tickets like other crossers, but unfortunately there was no lottery in this era, and he didn't remember any lottery numbers. He also thought about making soap or glass to sell for money, but after going to the store, he realized that he wasn't a Qing dynasty crosser or a Ming dynasty crosser, but had crossed over into an era where modern industry was already quite developed, and the production technology of soap and glass were already very mature, so there was no need for him to invent them again.

  In this era, the country has already begun to allow private business, but unfortunately, Lin Zhenhua doesn't have any products to sell or capital to engage in long-distance transportation. Copying famous literary works from later generations and submitting them for publication might be a good idea, but after inquiring, he found that the highest standard for magazine remuneration is about 10 yuan per thousand words; how many masterpieces would he have to plagiarize and how many talented authors' futures would he have to ruin in order to achieve his goal of letting Xiaofang eat boiled fish every day?

  Alas, bad luck... Lin Zhenhua sighed and went to chat with Chu Hongyang. Chu Hongyang is currently working as a temporary worker in the warehouse, and he happens to meet him every day as a porter.

  "Hey Hong Yang, do you know of any ways to make money?" Lin Zhenhua asked, seeking advice from Chu Hong Yang with a problem that had been troubling him.

  Chu Hongyang carelessly smoked the Red Double Happiness cigarette handed over by Lin Zhenhua, saying: "You little brat served in the army for two years, now you always have Red Double Happiness in your pocket, what's the point of making money?"

  "These were all given by others, and there are only a few packages left."

  "If you were really short of money, you wouldn't be smoking like this, would you? You wouldn't sell it to a small store?"

  "Is this really necessary?" Lin Zhenhua had never thought of such a thing, "I think making money is also for spending it, taking all the good things to sell them away, then what's the point of making money?"

  "Well said! That's exactly what we brothers think." Chu Hongyang lavished praise on Lin Zhenhua.

  "But now I'm also living off nothing, with a monthly salary of only 37 yuan. Forget about smoking, even eating is tense. Last week, I spent... just to eat a steamed fish."

  "What's up, your family had steamed fish again last week? Why didn't you invite me?" Chu Hongyang stared at Lin Zhenhua with his eyes wide open and drooling all over the floor. The steamed fish made by Lin Zhenhua was really too delicious, and he still felt the aftertaste lingering in his mouth.

  "My goodness!" Lin Zhenhua cursed in a postmodern way, "Last time I treated you to fish, my sister didn't even get to eat a few mouthfuls. Don't I want to make up for it by giving her an extra fish? You bandits have left, how can she still get to eat?"

  "Are you two siblings eating together behind closed doors?" asked Chu Hongyang.

  "Uh... and my sister also invited Yang Xin."

  "You invite Yang Xin but not me?" Chu Hongyang shook his head, "I know why Peng Shaozhe said that about you."

  "What did he say about me?"

  "He said you value physical appearance over friendship, honestly speaking, are you interested in pursuing a relationship with Yang Xin?"

  "You're also too precocious, right?" Lin Zhenhua retorted, "I'm only 18 years old, still a tender age like a flower bud, very pure."

  "Cut it out." Chu Hongyang burst into loud laughter, actually, he didn't take his own words seriously either. A 17 or 18-year-old boy wasn't really at the age of infatuation with girls yet. Lin Zhenhua's mental age was more like 25 or 26, but when looking at 16-year-old Yang Xin, he couldn't help but feel a little hesitant to think about romance.

  "If you want to make money, there are some ways." Chu Hongyang smiled and began to give Lin Zhenhua ideas.

  "What's the solution?"

  "You can go and join the militia, every week there are two nights to patrol, each time you can earn 50 cents, a month is also four dollars."

  "How often does it patrol?"

  "Four o'clock."

  "Four hours of work for 50 cents?" Lin Zhenhua said, "Isn't that too cheap?"

  "It's said to be a four-hour patrol, but it's not necessarily the case. Many times, just going out for a stroll is enough, and then coming back to sit in the security office playing cards. As long as you sit there for four hours, that's all that matters."

  " Forget it, I'd rather stay home and tutor my sister than waste my time on this." Lin Zhenhua said with disdain.

  Chu Hongyang said, "You don't want to earn this money, but there are many people who want to earn it and can't. Being a militia member isn't something anyone can do just because they want to. You're a veteran, Su Yongsheng will definitely come find you to participate, others won't have it so easy."

  "Never mind, I'm not interested in this money. Patrol for eight days a month and the money earned is just enough to buy a fish."

  "There's also the option of going to the construction site, which is another way to make money. If you work on the construction site for a month, you'll get an allowance of five yuan. However, if you want to go to the construction site as a porter, you'll need a leader to speak up for you."

  "Get lost!"

  "There is also a health subsidy when working as an electric welder."

  "Get lost!"

  "Radiology worker, saying there's some radiation, also has health subsidies."

  "Get lost!"

  Chu Hongyang sneered, "You don't do this and you don't do that. Don't even think about making money then. Actually, the electric welding worker and the non-destructive testing worker I told you about, you can't even get into those jobs if you want to. Everyone is fighting to get in."

  "This is what they mean by 'dying for money'." Lin Zhenhua sighed, he had some understanding of the production technology of that era and knew that the labor protection measures at that time were not comprehensive. For example, electric welding and non-destructive testing workers would suffer great harm to their bodies. Electric welders would come into contact with the toxic fumes produced by the welding wire, while non-destructive testers would be exposed to X-rays. Long-term engagement in such work would lead to many occupational diseases. But it was precisely this kind of job that, because of the extra health subsidies, everyone was eager to get, and some people even gave gifts to their leaders in order to obtain such a job.

  "Xiao Hua, you're already quite good, as soon as you entered the factory, you became a formal worker, unlike us who still have to be temporary workers for decades. What are you not satisfied with? Now that you smoke Red Double Happiness every day, of course, you feel like your money is not enough. In the future, if you switch to smoking Golden Leaf, your salary will still be enough." Chu Hongyang patted Lin Zhenhua's shoulder and comforted him.

  A monthly salary of over 300 yuan, eating a steamed fish stick and being nagged by my sister, inviting a girlfriend to dinner and worrying about the future father-in-law coming along, this kind of life is really unbearable.

  "Alas, it's time to get off work, let's go home." Lin Zhenhua sighed.

  "How about calling Yongqun and Shaozhe to play cards together tonight?" suggested Hongyang.

  "Playing cards is meaningless." Lin Zhenhua blurted out, only to realize afterwards that he had stolen Xu Sanduo's patented phrase.

  Hong Yang asked Lin Zhenhua, "Little Hua, I've noticed that you've changed a lot since you came back from the army. It's been ten days now, and you haven't played cards even once. Don't you like playing cards anymore?"

  "You guys should also play fewer cards and learn some skills. In a few years, the country's situation will definitely change. If you don't have skills by then, you'll be in trouble." Lin Zhenhua advised. He remembered that in the mid-1990s, when layoffs were most severe, there was a term called "4050 personnel", referring to workers between 40 and 50 years old at the time. These workers had low cultural levels and inadequate skills, and their original state-owned factories had gone bankrupt, while new private enterprises didn't want them either, making them the most miserable group in society. Looking back ten or so years, aren't these young workers who just entered the factory today's 4050 personnel of the future?

  "You're right too." Hong Yang nodded, his father was the head of the supply and marketing department, and he had inherited a clever brain from him. He knew that what Lin Zhenhua said made sense, if it were Zhao Yongqun, he would probably think that Lin Zhenhua was pretending to be knowledgeable.

  "My dad said, let me stay in the warehouse for a while first, and then change to a better job after a few days, learn some skills. Xiaohua, since you're so understanding of things, why don't you think of ways to switch to a better job? Don't you want to learn some skills?" Hongyang said.

  Lin Zhenhua smiled: "I just entered the factory, let's talk about it in a year or two. As for technology, I actually learned a bit when I was in the army. If you're interested, I'll tell you about it later at night, and you can play fewer cards."

  "Really?" Hong Yang looked at Lin Zhenhua with a skeptical gaze, "Can you also learn technology in the army?"

  "Uh, Vice Chairman Deng advocates for cultivating military-civilian dual-use talents, so I also learned a bit of factory knowledge. The things we learn in the troops are relatively new, and if there's an opportunity, I'll tell you about them."

  "Okay, I'll go tell Yongqun and Shaozhe. My dad keeps saying that when we're together, we don't study well. Now I'll let him see that even when we're together, we can still learn technical skills."

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