Chapter 35: The Enthusiastic Crowd
As the eight o’clock work bell rang, the two entered the office building. At the entrance on the first floor stood a full-length mirror with the words “East is Red.”
Li Xiangdong glanced at his reflection, then followed Hou Jianshe up the stairs to the second floor, arriving at an office door.
Hou Jianshe pushed the door open and said, “You go in first and find a chair to sit on. I’ll call someone over to help you with the paperwork.”
“All right, Uncle Hou, you go ahead and don’t worry about me.”
“Uncle Hou? Didn’t you hear the bell just now? It’s working hours now. You should call me Section Chief Hou. No manners at all!”
After saying that, Hou Jianshe ignored Li Xiangdong and headed toward the large office of the Labor and Capital Section next door.
Tsk tsk tsk—
Just moments ago, he was so friendly, but now he turned cold in an instant!
Li Xiangdong snorted quietly and stepped into Hou Jianshe’s office.
The room was about thirty square meters, furnished with a desk and chairs, a tall cabinet, and two large wooden filing cabinets.
Near the door stood an iron rack holding an enamel basin, with two thermos flasks on the floor beside it.
Li Xiangdong approached and opened a thermos, seeing steam rise. He suddenly felt thirsty.
He had been chatting enthusiastically with Old Hou in the mailroom, and now his throat felt dry.
He no longer cared about formalities; after all, Hou Jianshe had just told him to call him Uncle Hou, so drinking a cup of water from him should be fine.
He carried the thermos over to the desk, opened the lid of the tea jar, poured some hot water in to warm it, then casually spilled some water on the floor—no need to fuss over the cement floor.
The cup filled with hot water was too hot to drink immediately and had to be left to cool.
Pulling out a chair, Li Xiangdong sat down and waited for about ten minutes. The hard wooden chair made his backside ache, so he stood up to stretch and was just about to drink the water.
At that moment, Hou Jianshe entered with a middle-aged woman.
Hou walked to his desk and noticed the tea jar was already filled with water. Feeling the temperature, he found it just right, glanced at Li Xiangdong, then took the cup and drank it in one gulp.
“You’ve got some thoughtfulness in you, kid.”
Li Xiangdong remained silent.
Hou put down the cup and, seeing Li staring at him, said, “Why are you just standing there like a fool? Hurry up and greet Sister Sun.”
“Oh, hello Sister Sun, my name is Li Xiangdong.”
“Hello to you too, Comrade Li,” Sister Sun replied with a warm smile.
“Sister Sun is an experienced clerk in the section, very proficient. Just follow her instructions, and you’ll be fine.”
Section Chief Hou introduced Sister Sun to Li Xiangdong, then instructed her, “Take Li Xiangdong through the onboarding process.”
“Sure, Section Chief Hou. You can leave Comrade Li with me,” Sister Sun said cheerfully, then turned to Li Xiangdong. “Comrade Li, come with me. We’ll go to the office next door.”
“All right, Sister Sun.”
“Section Chief Hou, you go ahead with your work. Sister Sun and I will handle the paperwork.”
Li greeted Hou and followed Sister Sun out of the office.
“Dongzi, remember what I said—young people should cut down on smoking. When you get good cigarettes next time, bring some to me, got it?”
Before Li Xiangdong reached the door, he heard Hou’s voice behind him. He immediately understood the meaning and turned back with a smile.
“I got it, Section Chief Hou.”
Hou saw that Li had caught the hint and smiled, saying no more, waving him off.
Once the two disappeared down the corridor, Hou picked up the office phone on his desk and dialed out.
In the hallway, Sister Sun glanced back at Li Xiangdong, warmly asking, “Dongzi, are you related to Section Chief Hou?”
Hearing Sister Sun change his title from Comrade Li to Dongzi, Li smiled faintly but said nothing.
Hou’s words weren’t really about asking Li for cigarettes.
A section chief of the Labor and Capital Section wouldn’t be short of two packs of cigarettes.
Those words were meant for Sister Sun—to let her know Li was under Hou’s wing.
Li didn’t want to explain or admit he was Hou’s relative.
Seeing his silence, Sister Sun smiled even more warmly.
“It’s a secret, huh? Don’t worry, I’m not one to gossip.”
“Sister Sun, it’s not that I don’t want to say, but you know how Uncle Hou is. During work hours, I have to call him Section Chief Hou, or he’ll give me a cold shoulder!”
Sister Sun believed Li’s nonsense.
“I get it, I understand everything you said.”
Li’s face expressed a “Yes, yes, you’re right” look, but inside he thought, “You don’t understand a bit! Not at all!”
Sister Sun eagerly led Li Xiangdong into the large office of the Labor and Capital Section.
“Everyone, quiet down! Let me introduce you. This is Li Xiangdong, who will be joining our section as a colleague.”
Sister Sun clapped her hands. The office, which had been bustling with chatter and laughter, instantly fell silent.
They wondered why Sister Sun made such a fuss over just a newcomer—they had seen many before.
But then they recognized him as the young man from the mailroom.
They had seen Old Hou chatting warmly with this young man.
Now, with Sister Sun’s formal introduction, they realized they were right—this young man was indeed a relative of Section Chief Hou!
Warm and friendly smiles immediately appeared on their faces.
“Comrade Li Xiangdong is truly a fine-looking young man.”
“Indeed, such stature is rare. We don’t have many like him in our section!”
“Comrade Li, are you married? I can introduce you to someone—guaranteed to be a flower of our passenger transport section.”
“Oh, already married? Two children, a boy and a girl? That’s wonderful!”
“Dongzi, you’re truly blessed!”
Li Xiangdong smiled and nodded in response. The warmth from these people was overwhelming.
He felt almost flattered. He was just a city returnee coming to complete his onboarding, yet they treated him like the child of some high-ranking official coming for an inspection!
“Xiao Wang, pour a cup of water for Dongzi.”
“All right, Sister Sun.”
Sister Sun led Li Xiangdong to her workstation and instructed the young man sitting to her right, then pointed to the chair opposite her.
“Dongzi, sit here. Did you bring your household registration book and a one-inch photo?”
“I did,” Li responded, sitting down and pulling the household book and photo from his cloth bag.
“This is our procedure. Don’t think I’m picking on you.”
Sister Sun began carefully examining Li’s household registration.
Verifying identity is standard in any organization. Just bringing a letter of introduction doesn’t mean they trust you blindly.
Verifying the information on the household registration and introduction letter is only the first step. Later, staff from the unit will check with the local street office.
For stricter units, they will trace all movements of the employee from birth to the time of reporting for duty.