Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

Seeing the director walk out of the office, Yi Zhonghai looked solemn, but he did not realize what he wanted to do.

The director gathered together more than a hundred workers who were working, and at the same time raised the twenty yuan he had just taken out.

Yi Zhonghai finally understood why the director had just said that he wanted to teach him a lesson he would never forget.

He wanted to explain himself to Bang Geng and make public the fact that he gave him money.

His face turned pale instantly, and he quickly ran to the director, pleading: "Director..."

"Please, I promise I will never do such a stupid thing again. Please forgive me this time."

"I, Yi Zhonghai, have been embarrassed several times in Workshop 1. I must not be embarrassed again, otherwise I will not be able to stay here any longer."

The director replied angrily: "If you don't make it public, you will save face, but what about me?"

"Moreover……"

"You, Yi Zhonghai, dared to come to my office in front of everyone to give money and plead for Bang Geng. Are you afraid that I will make this matter public?"

The director said this very loudly and many workers around heard it. For a moment, everyone focused their attention on Yi Zhonghai, trying to figure out what the director meant by what he had just said.

The director didn't let everyone wait too long. He raised the two big unity notes in his hand and said, "Comrades... have you all seen the twenty yuan in my hand?"

"This was just given to me by Master Yi from our workshop."

"Everyone must have a question in their mind: Why did Comrade Yi Zhonghai send me money for no reason?"

“The reason is very simple.”

"I just announced in the workshop that all apprentices will take turns to be porters. Yi Zhonghai's apprentice Bang Geng didn't want to be a porter, so Yi Zhonghai ran to my office to plead for him, but I rejected his request."

"We are all apprentices, and our monthly salary is 18 yuan. We don't get a dollar more or less."

"Why can some people cheat in the workshop every day and slack off in the name of learning benchwork skills, while others have to move raw materials and products back and forth between the workshop and the warehouse, doing the most tiring work in the workshop?"

"That's not fair."

“That’s why I established a system for all apprentices in the workshop to take turns to be porters.”

"Comrade Yi Zhonghai is an old comrade in our workshop. He used to be an eighth-level fitter in our steel rolling mill and was awarded the title of production model. I thought he was an old comrade who was very disciplined."

"In the end, he took the lead and ran to my office to plead for Bang Geng even though other workers in the workshop had no objections."

"After I rejected his plea, Yi Zhonghai did not give up. Instead, he took out 20 yuan to bribe me and asked me to open a backdoor for Banggeng."

"As the director of a workshop and the one who proposed the policy of apprentices taking turns to work as porters, how could I possibly slap myself in the face?"

"I am making this public today to warn those who are still trying to cheat in the workshop. I refuse to accept any intercession from anyone."

"As long as I am in a workshop, this policy will be implemented."

"In a steel mill, actively bribing superiors is a serious violation of the mill's discipline."

"For this reason, I have decided to downgrade Master Yi's work grade by one level."

"Of course, such a big matter is not something that I, a workshop director, can decide."

"I will report to the factory leaders that Master Yi asked me to help Bang Geng through the back door and even bribed me with 20 yuan. I will also write down my opinion on the punishment and ask for the approval of the higher-ups."

"As long as the leader nods, Comrade Yi Zhonghai will be demoted to a third-level fitter and his monthly salary will be reduced to 41 yuan."

"I hope everyone will take this as a warning and not do such stupid things in the first workshop in the future." Looking at the people around him pointing at him and talking about him, Yi Zhonghai's face quickly turned red. He lowered his head and hurried back to his workstation, not even having time to see the twenty yuan that the director threw to him.

Of course, what made Yi Zhonghai most sad was the punishment of being demoted.

He had already been embarrassed several times in a workshop at the steel rolling mill and didn't mind being embarrassed once more.

But the demotion cost him his life.

His current salary is not much to begin with, and after deducting various expenses, he can save at most 30 yuan per month for retirement.

Now that I have been demoted to a third-level fitter, it means that my monthly salary will be reduced by eight or nine yuan, which means that from now on, I can only save twenty yuan per month for retirement.

This is without any unexpected expenses.

If I get sick or something unexpected happens at home, I may not be able to save even 20 yuan for retirement every month.

If I don't have money for retirement, I will have to rely on the little salary I get after retirement. Even if Bang Geng and Qin Huairu help me with my retirement in the future, my old age life will not be very good.

more importantly.

Qin Huairu and Bang Geng are both very selfish people.

If the pension money I have is too little and they can't make much profit from me, Qin Huairu might divorce me one day.

By then, my old age life will definitely be even more miserable.

Thinking of this, Yi Zhonghai felt nothing but regret.

If I had known this, I should not have listened to his nonsense and should have stepped forward to ask the director to plead for him.

Bang Geng stood beside Yi Zhonghai, watching his stepfather's constantly changing expression. When he thought about the punishment the director had just imposed on Yi Zhonghai, Bang Geng felt very guilty, fearing that Yi Zhonghai would get angry because of it.

Seeing that Yi Zhonghai had no intention of getting angry at him, he spoke in a low voice: "Dad..."

"It's my fault..."

"If you had known that the director was so difficult to talk to, you shouldn't have gone to the director for my matter just now."

"You were demoted from a fourth-level fitter to a third-level fitter."

Faced with Banggeng's apology, Yi Zhonghai really wanted to curse.

But the words came to his lips and he couldn't say them.

Although it was Banggeng who instigated me to go to the director to plead for mercy, if I insisted on not going, Banggeng would not be able to do anything to me.

Moreover, the decision to give a gift to the master was completely made on my own at the spur of the moment and had nothing to do with Banggen.

The main reason why the director was so angry and demoted my work grade was that I gave him money without authorization.

So Yi Zhonghai couldn't find a reason to get angry at Bang Geng, so he could only stand at his workstation and sulk.

After two full minutes, Yi Zhonghai said to Bang Geng: "This matter has nothing to do with you. I brought this upon myself."

"I can't do anything about you becoming a porter."

"Even if your mother and your grandmother come together to make trouble for me, I can't solve this matter."

"Tomorrow you will go and report to the deputy director. He will tell you how to be a good porter." (End of this chapter)