Return to the 1982 Staff Compound

Chapter 38 Printing House

Qiu Huoming had packed up the materials to take to the printing factory, and it was almost 2 o'clock.

"Let's go, let's get going." He walked out of the small room carrying a backpack filled with materials.

Chen Suniang is relatively relaxed today. Yesterday, her colleague asked her to temporarily switch shifts. She doesn't have to go to the factory this afternoon, but will work a whole day tomorrow to replace a colleague who has to go back home for something.

There have been personnel changes in the unit in the past two days. The factory director has been changed and new policies have been introduced. Many positions require competition. She excitedly applied for a logistics position. She only has an elementary school education and is very familiar with the factory's production processes and material losses. She is just waiting for the assessment next week.

If she can pass it, it will be a big leap for her. Not to mention the salary, at least she will be able to go to work and come home normally in the future.

She was secretly observing the movements in the small room in the living room. This time, Xiang Zhuang glanced over inadvertently and found that Qiu Huoming and his group were getting ready to leave.

She hurried out the door and asked, "Why don't you sit for a while?"

"It's time for extracurricular activities, Mom. I won't be back for dinner, so don't leave any food for me." Qiu Huoming said.

When Chen Suniang saw her son walking away with his classmates, she suddenly relaxed a little.

Qiu Jianshe walked out of the inner room, "Suniang, call big sister and little sister and let's go out for a walk. I heard that there is a very good movie showing in the cinema..."

"Why spend that money? You have no idea how much money you earn..." Chen Suniang rolled his eyes at him.

"I have tickets." Qiu Jianshe proudly pulled out four movie tickets from his pocket. He had forgotten what he had originally thought of saying, and blurted out, "My son gave them to me."

The sharp-eared little sister heard this in the room and immediately ran out, "Sister, come quickly, my brother bought movie tickets!"

The eldest sister pushed her homework book aside, ran to the door of the room in a few steps, and looked at her parents in the living room with burning eyes.

Chen Suniang was not happy with Qiu Jianshe, but she was reluctant to scold her son. She was dazed for a moment, took the movie ticket and took a look at it, "3 o'clock? Let's go quickly."

"Red leaves, red frost, let's go and watch a movie."

"Suniang, wait a minute, I want to drink some water."

"You are the one who is always bothering. Big sister, please close the window of your room. Little sister, go get an umbrella to prevent rain... Oh, and there are chickens. Lock them in the firewood room..."

The whole family suddenly became busy in a panic.

-

Wucheng County Welfare Printing Factory is small in scale. It is located near the moat on North Street, with its entrance in an alley.

There were several carts parked in front of the factory gate, revealing a depressing atmosphere. Gu Xiaoran frowned and put the bicycle and the cart together.

Qiu Huoming took a look at the sign hanging on the door and found that it was indeed the address and factory name given by Gu Xiaoran.

As soon as I entered the door, I saw a little girl with a disabled leg, who was cleaning the carved board with her head down.

Inside is the workshop, which looks more like a workshop. There are a few workers standing around the machines, and several workbenches are piled with miscellaneous items.

There were several slogans written on the wall, and a photo of the great man was hung in the middle.

There are several desks placed near the windows.

The room was very dark because it was a cloudy day. Behind the desk at the back sat a middle-aged man with an untidy beard. He was wearing a military cap and a short green military coat. He was puffing out cigarettes, and the small area around him was filled with smoke.

This guy is a heavy smoker.

"Uncle Zhou!" Gu Xiaoran had already walked over.

Qiu Huoming hurriedly followed.

"Xiaoran, why are you here?" Director Zhou stood up hurriedly, put out the cigarette butt casually, and waved his hand in the air a few times, but the smoke was still thick.

He turned and opened the window a little.

Then he came out from behind the table and said, "Sit, sit."

He turned his head and looked behind Gu Xiaoran, "Who are they?"

"They are my classmates. His name is Qiu Huoming and his name is Ding Yu."

"Qiu Huoming wants to print some things. Last time I heard you said you worked in a printing factory, so I recommended you to him..."

Director Zhou smiled with wrinkles all over his face. "It's rare that you still think about your Uncle Zhou. Please sit down. I'll go make some tea."

The little girl with a broken leg at the door stood up from the ground, supporting herself with a smooth crutch under her armpit.

She took out three enamel cups from the cabinet behind her. Her voice was clear and crisp. "Director, I'll make some tea. Please go and talk to the guests."

Qiu Huoming was a little restless. How could he let a disabled person pour tea for him? Probably seeing their awkward expressions, Director Zhou burst into laughter.

"Plum blossom may be dry, don't underestimate her."

Meihua's movements were very agile, and she could use the crutch as easily as her arm, not much slower than a normal person.

"Uncle Zhou, are you the factory director?" Gu Xiaoran asked.

"Oh! I am both the factory director and the workshop director, and I am also the sales and purchasing manager of our factory..."

As Director Zhou spoke, he moved out a chair and sat closer to them.

"In the past, we could live well because we received orders from above. But now there are more printing factories and life has become tight. Several people have left, and only the old, weak, and disabled like us are left..." He looked around the simple workshop with a wry smile.

"If it weren't for the factory director, we would have been starving long ago." Meihua walked over with three cups in one hand, a kettle in the other, and a crutch.

Qiu Huoming quickly took a few steps and took the thermos from her hand, "I'll do it, I'll do it."

Meihua smiled and put the cup on the table. There was already a thin layer of tea leaves in the cup. Qiu Huoming opened the thermos and filled each cup. The tea leaves were ordinary, but the fragrance of tea wafted out, somewhat covering up the smell of engine oil and smoke in the air.

The factory name is printed on the enamel cup. The porcelain on the edge has fallen off, and circles of fine lines remain at the gap.

Qiu Huoming took out a well-packaged tape of Teresa Teng from his schoolbag, and then took out his own blank tape.

"Uncle Zhou, I want to print a cover like this, with the same font, and a different portrait. And this..." He took out the folded lyrics and opened them, "I want to make a batch of cassettes with songs I choose..."

He described his requirements in detail, and the picture of the shepherdess was placed aside. This was the sample picture he chose as the cover.

"Should we follow the record company name on the cover?" Director Zhou asked, pointing at the logo.

"This..." Qiu Huoming hadn't thought about it. "Make it in this style, change the name to Sparkling Records, but don't use the logo."

He just came up with this name casually. It can be used to distinguish the tapes he copied from others. He can imagine that as long as this thing becomes popular, there will definitely be a lot of people following suit.

Director Zhou took his sample, examined it carefully, and said, "We can do what you said, but the minimum print run is 300 yuan." Director Zhou measured the sizes of several items that needed to be printed, "Color needs offset printing, which will probably cost..."

He took out his abacus and swiftly moved the wooden beads with his fingers. Then he picked up his pen and wrote down a number...

He was doing some writing and calculations here, leaving Qiu Huoming aside.

Qiu Huoming asked Gu Xiaoran in a low voice: "Does he always talk to himself like this?"

"It was fine before. I didn't realize he was like this."

Ding Yu couldn't sit still, so he ran to watch Meihua working on the typesetting.

After seven or eight minutes, Director Zhou looked up and said, "Come back in a week and I can make 1200 sets for you. This price is not exaggerated at all. You are Xiaoran's classmate, so I will give you a discount."

"Although our factory is small, the equipment is not bad. The machine on the east side was donated to us by the Shenhai City Printing Factory in 80. Although it is a donation, the technology is absolutely first-class in our county..."