Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

After listening to Guo Lin's explanation, his wife showed no dissatisfaction; instead, she readily replied, "Husband..."

"What's the big deal? I'm here to watch over the house, nothing will go wrong..."

"Several of my neighbors' husbands work in other cities, earning just over a hundred yuan a month. They don't see each other for months at a time, but they still manage to make a living."

“You work just outside of Beijing, so we can see each other once a week. We can even visit you at the farm. The key is that you can earn over a thousand yuan a month. You might not find such a good job even with a lantern. I’m already very satisfied.”

"Whenever my daughter and son are on holiday and you can't come back, I'll take them to the farm to find you..."

The father then spoke up: "Son..."

"Your dad and your mom aren't incapable of working..."

"With us at home helping our daughter-in-law take care of her grandson and granddaughter, there definitely won't be any problems."

“Boss Wang values ​​you so much and pays you such a high salary. Even if you can only go home once a month, we must do our job well. We absolutely cannot do anything to let Boss Wang down, and we must not betray his trust in us.”

"Anyway, you don't need to worry about things at home. With us two old folks helping out, there won't be any problems..."

"Tomorrow, your mother and I will stay home and look after the kids. You go to the farm to complete your resignation procedures, and while you're at it, help Boss Wang recruit more technicians and experienced workers to work there. Daughter-in-law, go look for a house outside..."

"Just like you said, since we won't be short of money in the future, let's buy a bigger house."

"I heard there are still quite a few people selling courtyard houses in Beijing..."

"It would be best if we could buy a smaller courtyard house."

Guo Lin then chimed in, "Father..."

"That's what Boss Wang suggested to me too..."

"Buying a small courtyard house facing the street is more cost-effective than buying an apartment."

"He said that the rooms in Beijing change every day, so buying a courtyard house is definitely a good investment..."

"Let me buy a one-courtyard house. If I'm lucky, it would be even better if I could find a two-courtyard house."

"When the family is short of money, we can just ask him for a loan, and the amount will be deducted directly from the farm's dividends before the New Year."

My father, having lived more than twenty years longer, was far more experienced and knowledgeable in life, and immediately chimed in.

"The fact that your boss can open such a big restaurant in Beijing shows that he has excellent foresight."

“Since he says buying a courtyard house is good, I think you should listen to him.”

The daughter-in-law wholeheartedly agreed.

If Wang Dong hadn't had such foresight, he wouldn't have been able to open such a large restaurant. He immediately replied, "Honey..."

"How about I go look at the courtyard houses tomorrow..."

Guo Lin already had this idea.

Wang Dong went to such great lengths to poach me from the Fifth Breeding Farm, so he certainly wouldn't try to sabotage me by selling my house.

Seeing that his parents and wife all agreed to buy four courtyards, he immediately chimed in, "Okay... let's buy a traditional courtyard house..."

"You decide on this matter. As long as it doesn't exceed ten thousand yuan, the bigger the better, and it would be best to move in as soon as possible."

…………

The Fifth State-Owned Livestock Farm of Sijiucheng.

Compared to the past, Guo Lin was clearly much happier today.

Unlike usual, he didn't enter the office with a sullen face or give the factory manager and others a friendly look.

Perhaps because he was about to resign, Guo Lin greeted the factory director and two other deputy factory directors with a rare smile when he ran into them in the morning.

"Master...did your wife cook you something delicious last night? Why are you so happy today?" Guo Lin was teased by his two apprentices as soon as he entered the technical department office. The other apprentices also looked at Guo Lin with smiles.

Guo Lin wasn't angry at his apprentice's and subordinate's teasing; instead, he smiled and replied, "Indeed, I've encountered a great opportunity..."

"This is not only great news for me, but also great news for you all..."

"All of you, come to my office. I need to talk to you about something... Hurry up..."

“Before, he often complained to me that the income from the farm was too low, and that he could hardly support himself and his family.”

"Now I'm giving you a chance to turn things around. Whether you can seize it or not is up to you."

The apprentices' first reaction was that their master was going to give them a raise.

But a quick thought made me reject the idea.

Although they were not factory leaders, as technicians in the factory, they had a good understanding of some of the factory's basic situation.

Given the current imbalance between income and expenditure at the farm, it would be good enough if they didn't even reduce the wages of these technicians, let alone raise them.

If they could find suitable technician jobs elsewhere, they would have quit their jobs at the farm long ago.

But their master, Guo Lin, would never harm them.

The group exchanged glances and hurried to Guo Lin's office.

Seeing that all his disciples had arrived, Guo Lin deliberately walked to the door and looked outside to make sure there were no outsiders around before closing the door and addressing them.

“Yesterday a big boss contacted me. He wants to open a large-scale breeding farm outside Beijing and wants to poach me to be the manager of his farm.”

"Because this farm started from scratch and is very large in scale, far exceeding the fifth farm we are currently in."

"Besides me, the factory manager, he also needs several branch factory managers, technicians, and a large number of supervisors..."

"Your farming techniques have all pretty much gone wrong..."

“Apart from Xiao Zhang and Xiao Li, everyone else is capable of being a branch factory manager…”

"I recommended you to others."

"The boss is very generous. He offered you a monthly salary of 250 yuan and a monthly bonus of 2550 yuan to poach you."

"As long as you work hard with him, are diligent and conscientious in your work, and don't cheat or shirk your duties, you will be guaranteed a minimum income of 450 yuan per month, which is six or seven times higher than now."

"Although Xiao Zhang and Xiao Li can't become branch factory managers, they can continue to work with me as technicians and learn the technology..."

"The boss offered a monthly salary of 150 yuan plus a monthly bonus of 150 yuan..."

"But this job is outside of Beijing. Because it's quite far from the city, even though the boss provides the farm with transport trucks, we can't go home every day because of the work..."

"Under normal circumstances, I go home at most once a week."

"If anything unexpected happens, the farm is quite busy, and I won't be able to go home even once every two weeks..."

"That's the only problem with getting a job at the farm."

"You should think about it carefully..."

"Do you want to work at my farm? If so, give me your answer before noon..."

"If you don't want to, then pretend I didn't say anything."

"But there is one thing I must remind everyone: given the current operating situation of the fifth farm, it certainly cannot sustain itself for long."

"Even if you don't want to work at the new farm with me, those who stay must start making a living on their own. We can't tie ourselves to the fifth farm." (End of Chapter)