Returning to the county opera troupe in 77

After successfully securing staff dormitory accommodation for Chen Xiangdong, Zhu Zhengkuo made a trip to the regimental commander's office almost every day for the next few days.

Today, I applied for a new iron pot for the kitchen, and tomorrow I'll apply for a cast iron coal stove for heating the rehearsal hall. Later, I started worrying about the unmarried older men and women in the troupe, and offered to make a trip to the water conservancy and industry and commerce departments in several counties to organize a social event to completely solve the problem of employees not having partners.

Jia Dafang was initially worried about what kind of trouble Zhu Zhengkuo would cause, and had even prepared various countermeasures.

But after several days, he gradually became numb.

This guy surnamed Zhu always consults me on everything and applies for help when things get tough. He seems like a dutiful and responsible logistics manager who always tries to fill in the gaps. Yet, he doesn't show the slightest sign of wanting to seize power. All the hammers I've been holding for so long have been hitting a cotton ball with nowhere to strike.

Most importantly, these seemingly trivial matters were indeed long-standing problems in the theater troupe's compound that needed to be addressed but had not been.

If you approve it, since it was someone else who did the work, the actors and staff will only praise Zhu Zheng; if you don't approve it, that Zhu guy will just turn around and leave, only to come back with a smile and pester you again the next day.

Jia Dafang stood by the window, holding an enamel mug, watching Zhu Zhengguo rushing around downstairs, chatting idly with everyone.

He looked at it for a while, sighed, put the jar back on the table, and turned to sit down in the chair.

Lin Datou glanced out the window, then cautiously looked at Jia Dafang, who was keeping his eyes closed and silent: "Commander Jia, how about I go..."

"never mind."

Jia Dafang waved his hand, let out a weak groan, and looked up at the ceiling: "Let him do whatever he wants..."

It wasn't that he didn't want to stop them, but the opponent's point of attack left him with no way to use his strength.

Insisting on blocking them will only push people's hearts to the other side.

.........

On November 18th, Chen Xiangdong, who had just finished two bowls of cornmeal porridge from the canteen, was about to wash the dishes when Wei Tiesheng, the theater troupe's accountant wearing reading glasses, waved to him from a distance:

"Dongwa, come here, come here."

"Accountant Wei, what do you want?" Chen Xiangdong was taken aback. He walked over with his lunchbox and saw Wei Tiesheng standing at the cafeteria entrance. Wei Tiesheng adjusted his reading glasses and laughed, "Have you forgotten what day it is today?"

"What day is it?" Chen Xiangdong was even more confused. "Today is the eighth day of the lunar calendar, it's not a festival, is it?"

"You idiot!" Wei Tiesheng shook his head and laughed, "Didn't you officially become a full-fledged employee on the 18th of last month? Today marks exactly one month, so you're eligible for pay. Alright, come to the finance office when you start work at eight o'clock."

After the old man finished speaking, he walked away with his hands behind his back.

"ah!"

Li Zhangqing, Fu Xiaoyue, and a few other girls who were passing by after breakfast heard the words "receiving wages" and all their eyes lit up as they gathered around. Wu Xiaolian chattered excitedly, "Brother Xiang Dong is getting paid, don't forget to treat us to candy."

Han Nongyue giggled, "I want to eat White Rabbit candy."

Looking at the four girls' bright, sparkling eyes, Chen Xiangdong rolled his eyes in annoyance: "You guys have quite the appetite, always picking the expensive stuff! Fine, fine, after you finish class at noon, I'll take you to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy candy."

"What the hell!"

Li Zhangqing and the others immediately cheered. Guan Linlin, Zhou Meiying and a few other female students who had just finished getting their meals glanced at them with disdain. Guan Linlin pouted and said, "Look at those idiots, they've never seen the world before."

"Exactly, it's just a few White Rabbit candies, why are you getting so worked up? People from the mountains are so easily swayed." Zhou Meiying and the other female trainees chimed in, "White Rabbit candies are nothing, we have chocolates at home."

"You bumpkin!"

The voices drifted over from afar, making Li Zhangqing and the others blush and turn pale with embarrassment. Wu Xiaolian, however, was not one to back down easily, and glared fiercely at Guan Linlin and the others: "So what if you're easily offended? Did I eat your sweets?!"

Fu Xiaoyue retorted angrily, "Look at you all, so capable! We're just saying what we want, what's it to you?"

Li Zhangqing and Han Nongyue were gentle by nature and dared not argue with them, but they stared wide-eyed at Guan Linlin and the others behind Wu Xiaolian.

Chen Xiangdong frowned as he listened. In his previous life, Li Zhangqing and the other girls from rural backgrounds had been bullied and ostracized by Guan Linlin, Zhou Meiying, and their gang.

Back then, he often saw Li Zhangqing and Han Nongyue secretly wiping away tears in a corner of the yard.

Now, among these rural trainees, there is a feisty girl named Wu Xiaolian, who has united their small group and made them dare to challenge Guan Linlin and the others.

Chen Xiangdong waved his hand at Guan Linlin and the others, and said irritably, "Alright, alright, you're all so idle. Instead of wasting your time, you should go back and practice your basic skills, so you can avoid getting scolded by Qiao Haizhu a couple more times."

Guan Linlin and Zhou Meiying dared to bully Li Zhangqing and the other girls, but they didn't dare to talk back to Chen Xiangdong and the other regular employees of the troupe. Although they weren't that much older, they were still trainees, and subconsciously they divided themselves into two unequal levels with the regular employees.

Just like even the most daring student wouldn't dare to go against the teacher.

Seeing that Chen Xiangdong had spoken, Guan Linlin and the others didn't dare to argue with him directly, and they all turned around and left angrily.

"They're just bored..." Chen Xiangdong muttered under his breath as he watched the group of female students leave. He then warned the four girls surrounding him, "If anyone bullies you again, stick together and give them a good beating! Some people are just bullies who prey on the weak. The more cowardly you are, the more they'll take advantage of you. If you stand up for yourself, they'll back down."

Wu Xiaolian held her chin high, looking smugly at the other three girls: "Listen to this! What did I say back then? Even Brother Xiangdong said the same thing, which proves I was right."

The other three remained silent upon seeing this. Chen Xiangdong gently pressed his hand on Li Zhangqing and Han Nongyue's heads, pretending to grit his teeth and say angrily, "Especially you two little cowards, did you hear what I just said?"

Pressing down with my palm caused no pain or itch, but instead made the two girls blush bright red to their ears.

Han Nongyue slapped away Chen Xiangdong's hand that was on her head, somewhat embarrassed: "Ugh, so annoying, I know."

Li Zhangqing shrank back like a startled rabbit, remaining silent, but couldn't help glancing at Chen Xiangdong furtively, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Just after eight o'clock, Chen Xiangdong couldn't wait to knock on the door of the finance office. Although it was called the finance department, there was actually only Wei Tiesheng in the entire department.

"Oh, you're here?"

Wei Tiesheng, who was fiddling with the abacus beads, saw the visitor, smiled, took out a kraft paper envelope from his drawer, and slapped it on his desk: "Here, this is your salary. New employees get a monthly salary of thirty-two yuan, plus the five yuan you earned as a temporary worker before you became a permanent employee, making it thirty-seven yuan in total."

Chen Xiangdong chuckled, picked up the envelope, opened it, and found several brand-new banknotes, a stack of grain, oil, and meat coupons, as well as coupons for non-staple foods and cloth.

Looking at Chen Xiangdong, who was grinning from ear to ear, Wei Tiesheng continued, "The first month you have to work a full month before you get paid. After that, you'll get paid at the beginning of each month along with everyone else. Hehe, in about ten days, you'll be able to get another month's salary."

Chen Xiangdong put the envelope in his pocket. He didn't have many expenses in the troupe. Of the fifty yuan he was awarded at the commendation meeting, he still had more than forty yuan left.

In a few days, after receiving next month's salary, his total assets will break through the 100 yuan mark. He'll be so happy!

One hundred yuan is a lot of money in Maoerduogou.

When I get home, I'll keep some of the money for myself and give the rest to my family. Oh, and I'll also buy my younger brother Chen Xiangbei a Lei Feng hat; that kid has been wanting one for two or three years.