After settling Qin Jingru in, Zhou Junfeng donned a handsome Zhongshan suit the next day, hopped on the second-hand bicycle his father had left behind, and headed to the Rolling Mill with his letter of introduction to report for duty.
As for why Zhou Junfeng didn't take a few more days to rest and was in such a hurry to start work: as an ordinary person without a spatial storage or any supernatural "cheat," he would have no money if he didn't work. Fate had destined him to be a laborer in both his past and present lives; even if he had won a lottery, he likely wouldn't have lived long enough to enjoy it.
Upon arriving at the gates of the Rolling Mill, Zhou Junfeng took out his letter of introduction. "Hello, comrade. I’m a fresh university graduate assigned to the Rolling Mill. Could you tell me where I should go to report?"
The Security Section officer glanced at the letter, saw everything was in order, and pointed him toward the Personnel Division. After a bit of back-and-forth, Zhou Junfeng successfully found the reporting office.
Upon entering, he saw a middle-aged woman along with a few young men.
The woman had the unmistakable air of a section chief. Zhou Junfeng approached her and asked, "Hello, comrade. I’m a university graduate from this year's class. My name is Zhou Junfeng, and I’ve been assigned to the Rolling Mill. Could you tell me whom I should see to process my employment?"
"Young man, you must be Zhou Junfeng? Factory Director Yang mentioned you to me. You’ve come to the right place; we can handle your onboarding right here. You truly are a promising young talent."
"Not at all, not at all. It’s all in service to the people," Zhou Junfeng said modestly.
The woman poured Zhou Junfeng a cup of tea and asked, "It’s excellent to have such awareness at such a young age."
"By the way, young man, are you seeing anyone? My daughter is about your age. Although she’s only a high school graduate, she works in an office at the textile mill, and she..."
Zhou Junfeng interjected, "I already have a wife. We just got married..."
The woman from the Personnel Division sighed, "What a pity. Good men are never available on the market for long."
Zhou Junfeng: "..."
"Your file is excellent. While in school, you developed several pieces of machinery and solved significant production issues. The factory director is very pleased with you. Your compensation will be adjusted to that of a Grade 9 engineer once your probationary period ends, with a monthly salary of 106 yuan."
Zhou Junfeng was stunned. He had been so preoccupied with getting a wife that he’d forgotten to tap into his predecessor’s work skills. This was incredible—with his qualifications, the original owner would have been considered a top-tier technical talent anywhere.
"Isn't a Grade 9 engineer position a bit too high? I’ve just graduated; I still need more experience."
"It’s not too high at all," the section chief insisted. "Many engineers work for years without achieving what you did while you were still in school. Your record speaks for itself; don’t worry about what others might gossip about."
After chatting for a while longer, the section chief, Sister Li, directed her subordinates to help Zhou Junfeng collect office supplies from the Logistics Department. Afterward, she prepared to assign him housing.
One piece of good news followed another.
Zhou Junfeng said, "Sister Li, my younger siblings are still young, so I’d like to live closer to them. Is it possible to be assigned a place in a Courtyard? The size doesn't matter, as long as it's one of those."
Sister Li called over the director of the Logistics Department. They checked the available housing and found two vacant rooms in the middle courtyard, right across from Shazhu’s place and next to the Jia Family.
Zhou Junfeng: "..."
Sister Li then wrote out a housing voucher and told Zhou Junfeng to take it to the Sub-district Office to collect the keys. The properties were managed by the Sub-district Office, and the rent would be deducted from his salary. It only came to eight or ten yuan a year, and in the later years, one could even buy the property outright—it was practically being given away.
After living through several years of his new life, he had accumulated so many Courtyard homes; it wasn’t a bad deal at all.
His children and grandchildren would live in comfort. The dream of "lying flat" that he hadn't achieved in this life would be fully realized by his future children.
With his office supplies in hand, Zhou Junfeng headed to the Sub-district Office to get the keys. The previous tenants of the newly assigned rooms had left recently; after a bit of cleaning and buying some furniture, he would be able to move in right away.