Living in a Siheyuan

The next day, Li Pingan got up as usual and practiced Bajiquan in the yard. His boxing skills were not at the grandmaster level, but at the master level. With the blessing of cultivation, the power was even more terrifying.

After everyone at work left, Li Pingan finished washing up, packed up, and went to the steel mill with the recommendation letter and some information.

He rode his bike to the steel mill and was stopped by the security guard at the door just like the last time. After registering, Li Pingan went directly to the Personnel Department on the second floor of the office building because he had been there before.

Knocking on the door of the personnel department, there were still five or six people working inside. The one near the door was still Li Hongmei, who was in her thirties. Although Li Ping'an knew her, he didn't ask her name last time. He had no choice but to walk over and call out again: "Hello, sister, is Deputy Section Chief Lu here?"

Li Hongmei still had some impression of the boy who called her sister. She remembered that he had come here once before. When she heard that he was looking for Deputy Section Chief Lu, she stood up and said, "Deputy Section Chief Lu is next door. Come with me."

After that, she took Li Pingan to the office next door. After entering the office, it was a little smaller than the previous office. A middle-aged man in his forties sat behind a desk. Li Hongmei said to him, "Deputy Section Chief Lu, this comrade is looking for you."

Li Hongmei took the person and left. Lu Xiaojun looked at Li Ping'an and said, "Little comrade, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Li Pingan took out the recommendation letter from Director Wang and said, "Hello, Chief Lu! This is the recommendation letter from Director Wang of the Street Office. She asked me to come to you."

Lu Xiaojun took the recommendation letter from Li Ping'an and read it carefully. Then he said to Li Ping'an, "Director Wang and I are old acquaintances. Since she asked you to find me, we are not outsiders. It's not easy to be a buyer now. Have you considered it?"

"I've thought about it, Chief Lu. Aunt Wang told me some of the things inside before." Li Ping'an replied quickly.

"Okay, now that you know, I'll take you there to go through the onboarding procedures." Lu Xiaojun said nothing more. He took Li Ping'an back to the office and called Li Hongmei to tell her to take Li Ping'an to go through the onboarding procedures.

Li Ping'an is new here and still in the internship period. So he is the lowest level 23 clerk, earning yuan per month. He can only be promoted after three months or completing the task.

Li Hongmei helped Li Pingan to complete the formalities in the Personnel Department, and then took Li Pingan to the Purchasing Department. Now the two were already familiar with each other, and on the way Li Hongmei said: "Brother Pingan, the Purchasing Department is in the small building near the canteen. The Purchasing Department is now divided into three sections, and your section chief is Liu Zhiwei. You may be assigned to the third section. The deputy section chief in charge of your section is Zhou Changming. I will take you to find your section chief Liu Zhiwei, and then he will arrange you. After that, remember to go to the logistics department in the back to pick up your work clothes and other things."

Li Pingan replied: "Thank you, Sister Hongmei, for taking the trouble to make this special trip."

Li Hongmei also smiled and said, "What's the trouble? Don't forget your sister when you get something good in the future."

"No problem Sister Hongmei, if you need anything in the future just tell me and I'll try to get it for you."

When Li Hongmei heard this, she realized that there was a way to do this, so she became even more enthusiastic towards Li Ping'an.

The two places were not far from each other, and soon we arrived at the Purchasing Department. This was also a three-story building, and the Purchasing Department was on the right side of the first floor. There was a passage in the middle, with a row of rooms on each side.

Li Hongmei took Li Pingan directly to the innermost office, Section Chief Liu Zhiwei's office. After knocking on the door and entering, they found an office of about 20 square meters. In addition to a desk, there were several filing cabinets in the back. There was also a set of sofas next to it.

Liu Zhiwei was a man in his thirties, with a military temperament. He saw Li Hongmei and said, "Why is Comrade Li here?"

Li Hongmei let Li Ping'an step forward and said, "I am here to bring you talent. This is Li Ping'an, a high school student who just joined today. We grabbed him especially for you. Our Deputy Section Chief Lu didn't give him to anyone else who wanted him, so you insisted that I bring him to you. How is it? I think this is enough to support the work of your procurement department."

Li Zhiwei also smiled and replied: "Then I have to thank you very much. I need people right now."

After saying hello, Li Hongmei said, "Chief Liu, you go ahead and do your work. I'll leave this young comrade to you. I'll go back first."

After Li Hongmei left, Li Pingan stepped forward and said, "Hello, Chief Liu. My name is Li Pingan. From now on, you can call me Xiao Li or Pingan."

Liu Zhiwei also looked at Li Ping'an. He was tall and straight, with a bit of a scholarly air. He was good-looking, with a firm gaze, and seemed like a nice person. He said to Li Ping'an, "Hello, Comrade Ping'an, please sit down first. Let me introduce myself. My name is Liu Zhiwei, and I am the head of the Purchasing Department. Our Purchasing Department is divided into three sections. Section One is responsible for the purchase of production materials for the factory, and Section Two is responsible for the purchase of daily necessities. The materials purchased by these two sections are all planned, and they are mainly responsible for coordination. Currently, there are enough staff. You are going to Section Three, which is mainly responsible for unplanned materials. I will take you to see your deputy section chief Zhou Changming later for details. Do you have any questions?"

Li Pingan quickly stood up and said, "No problem, Chief. I will follow the leader's instructions."

Liu Zhiwei nodded with satisfaction and said, "Okay, I'll take you to your three departments."

After that, Liu Zhiwei took Li Pingan to a room near the door. Pushing the door open, there was a large office inside. There were several desks lined up in the middle, which looked like a conference room. Now there were three people sitting there smoking. The office was also filled with smoke.

Seeing that it was Liu Zhiwei who came in, the three men stood up immediately. One of the young men in his twenties quickly said, "Hello, Chief Liu!" The other two also greeted him.

Liu Zhiwei looked around casually and said, "I have something to talk to Lao Zhou about. You guys go ahead and do your work." After that, he took Li Pingan into another small compartment. This compartment was even smaller, about 10 square meters. There was only a table and a filing cabinet inside. There was a small sofa and a small coffee table next to it. A man in his 40s or 50s was sitting at the desk.

Seeing Li Zhiwei coming in, Zhou Changming quickly stood up from behind his desk and said, "Chief Liu, why are you here in person? If you have anything, just call me over."

Liu Zhiwei didn't bother to be polite with him and said, "Old Zhou, I'm here to send you talents this time. Haven't you always complained that you don't have enough people and can't complete the task? Now that I've sent you people, don't make excuses anymore in the future."

"Thank you, Section Chief, for thinking of us. We will work hard to complete the task in the future," said Zhou Changming.

Liu Zhiwei pointed at Li Ping'an and introduced him, "This is Comrade Li Ping'an, who just graduated from high school this year. I had a hard time getting him from the Personnel Department, so you have to make arrangements for him."

Zhou Changming nodded and said, "Don't worry, Chief. We are all brothers in the same trench in the purchasing department. We will not treat you badly."

"Okay, I'll leave that person to you. You can arrange the specific work." Liu Zhiwei said, and then said to Li Pingan: "Ping An, you will listen to Lao Zhou's arrangements in the future. You can come to me if you have any difficulties."

Li Pingan also thanked Liu Zhiwei: "Thank you, Chief Liu. I will definitely follow your instructions and work hard."

After Liu Zhiwei finished his instructions, he left the office.

Zhou Changming smiled and said, "Your name is Li Ping'an, right? Sit down and talk first." Then he took out a cigarette and handed it to Li Ping'an and asked, "Do you smoke?"

Li Pingan took the cigarette with both hands and said, "Thank you, Chief Zhou. I don't smoke much and I'm not addicted."

Zhou Changming also sat back at his desk, took out a cigarette and lit it. Then he said to Li Pingan, "It's better to smoke less, but we are in the procurement business and will often deal with people in the future. We can't live without smoking."

After taking a puff of cigarette, Zhou Changming continued, "I will now tell you the specific situation of our third section. Now we have only six members including you in our section. Our section is mainly responsible for unplanned daily necessities, that is, food. For example, some major grains and vegetables, that are planned. They will be delivered when the time comes. But those things are not enough. Our steel rolling mill is also a large factory with nearly 10,000 people, and all the work is heavy physical. If the workers are not full, or they have no oil and water, they will lose their physical strength and something will happen. So we have to purchase some extra supplies, which requires the efforts of the staff of our third section."

After that, he picked up the water cup on the table and drank a sip of water, then said: "Of course, another major task is to purchase ingredients for the small kitchen in the factory. The small kitchen is used to entertain leaders and brother units, so we need some better things. These are also your main purchase targets in the future."

"You six buyers usually go to the countryside to purchase. They basically have their own familiar communes. You have to develop this on your own in the future, as long as you don't repeat yourself. Also, you must pay attention to safety when you go to the countryside. The situation outside is quite complicated now. You must protect yourself."

After introducing these situations, Zhou Changming looked at Li Pingan who was listening attentively. He then said, "Generally, the minimum purchase task for each of you is 30 yuan per week. Considering that you have just arrived, you should learn from them this week. We will calculate your tasks starting from next week."

After thinking for a while, Zhou Changming said, "When you go to pick up your things, you can also pick up a bicycle. It will be more convenient for you to go to the countryside in the future. Today I will take you to get familiar with it and pick up your things. You will start work officially tomorrow. Ping An, do you have any other questions?"

"Chief, no problem. I will do my best to complete the task." Li Pingan replied.

"Okay, then. I'll take you out and introduce you to other people. And let them take you around." After Zhou Changming finished speaking, he put out his cigarette, stood up, and took Li Ping'an out of the office.

When they arrived at the big office, the three people were still chatting and smoking. Director Zhou angrily slammed the table and said, "Have you completed the task? It's like a war in here. If you don't complete the task this month, the section chief will deduct your salary!"

Seeing that everyone was seated, he introduced: "This is our new colleague, Li Pingan. Please take good care of him in the future. Qingshan, Pingan will start work tomorrow. You should take care of him for two days to let him get familiar with the work." He pointed to the young man at the front and said to Li Pingan: "This is Ji Qingshan, also a veteran of the purchasing department. You can follow him and learn for a few days."

After that, he said to the others, "Hurry up and get the supplies. Don't come to me and complain when you fail to complete the mission. Qingshan, take him to get the supplies first, and find him a better bicycle."

Turning around, Zhou Changming said to Li Ping'an, "Let Ji Qingshan take you there. He is more familiar with the place. After you get your things, go home and rest. Come back to work tomorrow morning." After that, he returned to his office.

Li Pingan walked up and took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes to pass around to the three people, saying, "Hello everyone, my name is Li Pingan, please take care of me in the future."

The three of them took the cigarettes, and Ji Qingshan said, "You already know me, so I won't introduce you. I'll take you to the logistics department to pick up your things later."

Another person next to him also said: "Hello, my name is Feng Gaoge."

The remaining one also introduced himself: "My name is Wei Mingjie."

After the three of them introduced themselves, Ji Qingshan said, "We still have two people who are not here today. We will introduce them to you tomorrow. I will take you to get your things first."

So Li Ping'an said hello to the remaining two people and followed Ji Qingshan to the logistics department.

Arriving at the logistics warehouse, Li Pingan received two sets of work clothes, shoes, and lunch boxes. With the help of Ji Qingshan, he pushed out a bicycle that was about 70% new from the warehouse.

Today’s onboarding is completed and I will officially start work tomorrow.

Li Ping'an locked the factory's bicycle in the shed, pushed his new bicycle and went back with his things.