Sail across the sea

Chapter 438 I don't know if I can do it.

One reason why Wang Hui and Peng Yueyue's parents were willing to let their children work at Canghai Chemical was because they felt that Canghai Chemical offered high salaries.

The unemployed youths in the factory with only junior high or high school diplomas can earn nearly 200 yuan a month. My own child is a college student, and with his friendship with Gao Fan, how could he not earn 300 yuan a month?
In contrast, the starting salary for becoming a teacher in a rural middle school or a technician at a rural agricultural technology station is only 6 or 70 yuan, and even after becoming a regular employee, it won't reach 100 yuan, plus you have to endure hardship in the countryside.

Weighing the two options, going to Canghai Chemical is clearly the wiser choice.

As for the argument that Canghai Chemical is a private enterprise and not as secure as a government job, there are ways to resolve that. Look at Director Gu, Chief Engineer Liao, and Xu Zhenxin's daughter Xu Dan in the office—aren't they all keeping their government jobs while working for the company to make their own money?

Besides, Director Gao's genius son gave up studying at Peking University to come back and start a private enterprise like this. Could he not have some kind of backing? Director Gao is such a smart person, and Director Xu of the Chemical Industry Bureau is also someone who knows the policies inside and out. They both support the establishment of Canghai Chemical. Presumably, this company won't have any problems.

Peng Yueyue didn't care too much about the adults' concerns. For her, high income and interesting work were the two most important things. As for things like "iron rice bowl" or "mud rice bowl," she didn't understand them at all; she only knew that going into business to make money was fashionable these days.

Gao Fan readily agreed to give her a monthly salary of 150 yuan, and even promised that it would be more after she became a full-time employee. What else could she say?

She knew a senior from the previous year whose family had some connections. After graduation, she got a job at a company in Luping City, earning only about 70 yuan a month. Her starting salary was already double that of this senior; wouldn't all her classmates be green with envy if word got out?
"And you, Wang Hui, what position do you want to work for at the company?" Gao Fan turned to Wang Hui.

Wang Hui said, "I studied chemistry, so I'll do some technical work at the company."

How much do you know about surfactants?

"I definitely understand the basics, and if there are any resources available, I should be able to understand the more complex ones as well."

“If that’s the case, I’d like you to go to the chemical cleaning company as a technician first. Right now, it’s under the management of Section Chief Meng from the factory’s technical department. But Section Chief Meng will be retiring soon. Xue Chujiang, Xie Qin, Ning Mo and the others below him are fine with production, but they’re not good at technical matters. If you go there, you’ll be essentially the company’s chief engineer.”

"I don't know if I can do it..."

Wang Hui immediately wanted to back down. Previously, Gao Fan had asked him if he understood surfactants, and he had been quite confident, but he hadn't expected Gao Fan to want him to work independently at a chemical cleaning company.

He originally thought the company should have a group of knowledgeable engineers from whom he could learn the technology gradually. With the basic knowledge he had acquired during his three years at the teachers' college, he figured he would be more than qualified to be an apprentice.

But who has ever heard of someone going to work as a chief engineer in a company right after graduating from junior college?
“Let’s just put you in this position for now,” Gao Fan sighed. “If I had other capable people on hand, I wouldn’t have put you in such a heavy burden right away. But you don’t need to feel any pressure. The company was running quite well before you came…”

"Then what's the point of me going?!" Wang Hui was getting a little frustrated. What kind of talk is that?!

Gao Fan laughed, "What I mean is, it's not that scary. Section Chief Meng can still work for at least another two or three years. If you go, you'll essentially be his assistant. He'll make the major technical decisions, so your responsibility won't be that great. "The goal I've set for the cleaning company is two technical upgrades every year. I've arranged for people from Peking University to work on the new surfactants and new cleaning agent formulas. Section Chief Meng and you will mainly be responsible for receiving the research results from Peking University, organizing testing, and handling subsequent production."

“If that’s the case…” Wang Hui thought for a moment, then chose a safer approach, “I’ll give it a try first.”

"Your salary will initially be the same as what I just told Yueyue: 150 yuan per month during the probationary period. However, since you'll be working at the cleaning company, there will be some allowances, so you'll actually receive more money than Yueyue," Gao Fan said.

Peng Yueyue didn't show any dissatisfaction upon hearing this. She had already stated that she didn't want to do technical work and had chosen the relatively less demanding administrative job instead, so a lower salary was only natural.

Why should she be jealous that Wang Hui can earn more money?
"And one more thing……"

Wang Hui hesitated, a troubled look on his face.

Gao Fan waited a while, and seeing that Wang Hui still couldn't speak, he said, "Wang Hui, Yueyue, from now on, you'll be employees of the company. I can't guarantee that I'll take care of everything for you, but if you need anything from me, please feel free to ask."

"If I can do it and it doesn't violate company principles, I will naturally do it for you. After all, we are old classmates, and our friendship will last forever."

"If it's something I can't do, or something that violates company principles, I'll tell you directly, and you should understand my difficulties."

“Understood, understood. Public matters are public matters, and private matters are private matters. We can distinguish between them clearly.” Wang Hui and Peng Yueyue nodded repeatedly, indicating that they accepted Gao Fan’s statement.

"So, Wang Hui, you just said there was one more thing. What is it?" Gao Fan asked.

Wang Hui said, "Actually, it's still about Yueyue and me being assigned jobs. After graduating from junior college, we were assigned cadre positions. Our idea is to ask the county to reassign us to the factory first, and then, like Xu Dan, we can apply for a leave of absence without pay at the factory, so that we can keep our positions."

The factory Wang Hui was referring to was naturally Canghai Fertilizer Plant. They wanted to be assigned to Canghai Fertilizer Plant first, but this required Gao Yiping's approval; Gao Fan didn't have that authority. What Wang Hui meant was that he wanted Gao Fan to speak to Gao Yiping and ask the fertilizer plant to submit a report to the county to request that he and Peng Yueyue be reassigned to the factory.

This kind of thing would be extremely difficult for Wang Hui and Peng Yueyue to handle on their own. But if the fertilizer plant intervened, it would be much easier. In a small county town, all the rules are flexible, provided you can speak to the leaders.

Gao Fan thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "This is not appropriate. Always having empty slots listed at the fertilizer plant will cause controversy if there are too many. I understand your thoughts. I will talk to the county and try to find a solution that everyone can accept."

(End of this chapter)