2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 195 Complaints from Frontline Employees

After winter sets in, Ningbo is shrouded in continuous rain, and the sea breeze brings a biting chill to those outdoors.

This kind of weather is a huge torment for office workers.

At seven o'clock in the morning, the alarm clock rang, and Xu Xinglei got up to the clattering noise of his roommates. As soon as he crawled out of bed, he felt a chill.

For a moment, Xu Xinglei really didn't want to get out of bed and wanted to crawl back into bed and sleep a little longer.

However, thinking about the shuttle bus that was scheduled to depart at 7:25 sharp, Xu Xinglei had no choice but to quickly get dressed and get out of bed to wash up, trembling, in order to avoid missing it.

If you miss the shuttle bus, you'll have to find your own way to get to the company. Public buses aren't convenient, so you'll have to take a taxi, which will cost you an extra 10 or so yuan.

"Brothers, it's fucking cold here. Are we going to have to turn on the air conditioning in a few days? It's freezing to death when I get up in the morning," Xu Xinglei grumbled.

The dormitory facilities are complete and accommodation is free. However, to avoid waste, the water and electricity bills need to be split among roommates. Generally, if it is manageable, no one wants to turn on the air conditioner. The cost of air conditioning in the summer is too high, which I still remember vividly.

"Yeah, what the hell is this weather like? It feels even colder than back home," another roommate, Zhao Xinbin, grumbled as well.

"Damn it, working in winter is such a torture. If only I could sleep until noon, that would be so great."

"Don't even think about it lately, I'm so busy I'm going to die. I reckon the next holiday won't be until New Year's Day."

"Damn it, this factory is fine in every way, but they give too few holidays. I only got one day off this month. It's so tiring."

"Stop nagging, hurry up and brush your teeth and buy breakfast, or you'll miss the bus," Xu Xinglei said with a laugh.

There are four people in the dormitory, all of whom are employees of the Flash Technology Export Processing Zone factory. Compared to the old factory, the new factory does not provide breakfast due to manpower, distance, and other reasons. Of course, these new employees do not know this.

Even if you know that, there's nothing you can do. The shuttle bus is on time every day, and after a brief morning meeting at the company, you have to immediately get to work. You simply don't have time to eat breakfast.

The man's washing and brushing movements were quite quick; Xu Xinglei finished in just five minutes, even after waiting in line for a while.

Without waiting for his roommate, Xu Xinglei rushed downstairs, followed by Zhao Xinbin's shout: "Buy me four steamed buns."

"Understood," Xu Xinglei replied without turning his head.

The two are from the same hometown, Linquan County, Anhui Province. They are 20 years old this year. Linquan County is a major source of migrant workers. Xu Xinglei, 20, has been working outside since graduating from junior high school. Although he is not old, he has been working for four or five years.

I was brought to Ningbo by a fellow villager. My job was unstable, and I didn't earn much money in four or five years. I spent my money wherever I earned it, and I couldn't bring a single penny home.

At the age of 20, more than a decade later, most parents would still treat him like a child and wouldn't expect him to earn much money. However, in this era, there are quite a few people like Xu Xinglei and Zhao Xinbin who have several years of work experience.

In northern Anhui, people generally get married at a younger age. In the village, people like Xu Xinglei, who are around the same age, already have children. Some people get married at 18 without registering their marriage; they just have a banquet and consider it a marriage. They will register their marriage when they reach the legal age.

20-year-old Xu Xinglei is still single, considered an "older" bachelor in the village. Not only are his parents anxious, but he himself is also a little worried because he has a younger brother who will graduate this year. If he doesn't get into high school, he will have to go out to work like him.

If it's delayed for a few more years, it will affect his younger brother's future. But the problem is that getting married costs money. Xu Xinglei, who originally didn't have much of a concept of money, also wanted to save some money.

By chance, I heard from a fellow villager who works at FlashTech that the company offers very good benefits. As long as you work hard, you can earn almost 1.5 times more than other companies every month.

Working two months' worth of work was equivalent to three months' worth of work, which was the envy of many. Unfortunately, FlashTech was not hiring during that period, so even if Xu Xinglei wanted to join, he had no chance.

However, Xu Xinglei was still careful and asked his fellow villagers to keep an eye on Shanchi's recruitment information and notify him as soon as there was a job opening. As a result, Xu Xinglei was among the first batch of employees at the new factory, and after completing the training, he was able to start working normally.

After hurriedly buying breakfast at a breakfast shop on the street, Xu Xinglei quickly ran to the factory vehicle parked by the roadside. There were already quite a few people in the vehicle, and Zhao Xinbin waved to Xu Xinglei from behind the vehicle.

"Here, take your steamed buns," Xu Xinglei said, handing over the buns.

"Here, two yuan." Zhao Xinbin casually handed over the money for the meal, and Xu Xinglei accepted it just as naturally.

They usually help each other buy breakfast; it's a regular part of their daily routine.

Then they started eating steamed buns. There were many people like Xu Xinglei and Zhao Xinbin who hurriedly ate breakfast in the factory vehicle. The production line is physically demanding, and it is difficult to make it to lunchtime without eating breakfast.

People boarded the bus one after another. By 7:25, the driver saw that the bus was full and waited a few more minutes. It's difficult to get up in winter, so the drivers usually wait a few minutes before setting off. At 7:30, the first bus started moving, and the buses behind it started moving one after another, heading towards the export processing zone.

"Hey, our team leader said that the production tasks before the Chinese New Year will be very heavy. Overtime pay for those who volunteer to work overtime will be 1.2 times higher than usual, and the New Year bonus will also be higher than others. Do you want to work overtime?"

Zhao Xinbin quickly finished his steamed bun and muttered to Xu Xinglei.

This year's Chinese New Year is on January 28, 2006. Usually, we start thinking about taking a holiday around the 1th of the twelfth lunar month. There is only a little over a month left before the holiday. In order to encourage employees to work overtime, FlashTech is offering more generous benefits than usual.

Zhao Xinbin calculated that the anti-epidemic period would last about a month and a half. If he could work full-time, he could earn more than 7000 yuan. If he added the New Year's bonus and travel expenses, he estimated that he would earn nearly 10,000 yuan.

The reward was undeniably generous and very tempting. Although it wouldn't be strenuous, Zhao Xinbin still wanted to give it a try; he certainly wasn't planning to take a break for New Year's Day.

"I've heard about it from our team leader too. Are you planning to do it?" Xu Xinglei asked, turning to the side.

“Yeah, I’m going to do it. I didn’t save any money this year. If I don’t have any money when I go home, I won’t be able to do anything. That would be too embarrassing for the New Year.” Zhao Xinbin nodded.

"Sigh, I haven't saved any money this year either. Even if you hadn't said anything, I was prepared to take a gamble and at least bring back a few thousand yuan, otherwise my family would scold me to death," Xu Xinglei sighed helplessly.

"Then let's weather this together?"

"Just hang in there. It's only a little over a month at most. I've worked for more than a month without rest before, and I didn't get this much money then."

"Yes, this company's benefits are really good, but it would be even better if they also paid our social security contributions directly."

"Yeah, why bother paying social security? They might as well just give us the money directly. We're not locals, and we might move to another city in a few years. Paying social security would be a waste of money. I don't know what this boss is thinking."

"I heard the boss is from our province? Have you met him?"

Xu Xinglei nodded and said, "I've met him once. I trained at the old factory for a week before. The old factory's benefits were better than our new factory's; they even provided breakfast."

"Is he really from Anhui Province? Is he as young as they say?" Zhao Xinbin asked with some curiosity.

"I'm not sure if he's from our province, but it's probably true. I heard that the previous supervisor, Sun Yuming, was the highest-ranking employee who followed the boss. He was one of the first employees in our factory. I know he's from our province."

"I don't know how old he is, I've never spoken to the boss, but he looks younger than us."

"That's probably quite young, but it's normal for rich people to look young because they eat and dress well."

"No matter how young they look, it's impossible for someone in their 30s to look 20, right? They're not a celebrity, they're probably only a few years older than us at most."

"That's true. You can't compare people. Some people drive Audis and run factories with hundreds of employees in their twenties. What about us? We're working ourselves to the bone for a few thousand yuan," Zhao Xinbin said with a wry smile.

Xu Xinglei: "There's no way to compare with this kind of person. It's said that the boss even partnered with the Beicang government to set up an industrial base, which made the news. High-ranking officials even came to inspect it. I guess he has some kind of background, otherwise he wouldn't be so arrogant."

Zhao Xinbin: "That's true. We can't compare ourselves to people like them. We can only compare ourselves to people like us. Our salaries are still much higher than theirs."

Xu Xinglei: "Yeah, take this incentive as an example. If we get all the travel expenses and other benefits after the New Year, it will be close to 10,000 yuan. If we put it in the garbage dump, we'd have to work for half a year. Damn it."

Zhao Xinbin: "That's true. In my previous factory, the highest I ever earned was 1500 yuan a month. I was working like a dog. This boss is really kind-hearted."

Xu Xinglei: "It would be even more conscientious if the social security money were given to us directly."

Zhao Xinbin: "Haha, that's what I think too."

Xu Xinglei: "However, the HR manager who recruited us did say that if we honestly pay social security now and pay for 15 years, we will be much more free. But the problem is, who the hell will care about what happens after 15 years? We don't even know where we'll be in five years."

Zhao Xinbin: "That's what that guy told us too. Actually, I really didn't want to pay it at the time, but he said that if I didn't pay it, I wouldn't be hired. Apparently, it was a mandatory rule imposed by the boss. Oh well, let's not talk about this anymore. I'll take a nap."

Seeing this, Xu Xinglei didn't want to say anything more. He also wanted to take a nap, even if it was just for a few minutes. He wanted to make the most of every moment to rest, because the days ahead were probably going to be tough.

(End of this chapter)