Coming out of Hu Yang's house, Lin Zhenhua walked to his home. As soon as he arrived at the door, he suddenly saw a person squatting in the dark next to him, if it weren't for the cigarette butt in his hand being extinguished, Lin Zhenhua wouldn't have seen him at all.

"Who!" Lin Zhenhua was startled and asked subconsciously.

"Xiaolin, it's me." The man stood up and replied.

"It's the old bear." Lin Zhenhua recognized that this person was Xiong Lijun. He hadn't been seen since he left the small room in the morning, and for some reason he was now squatting at the door of his house.

"Xiaolin, I've been waiting for you." Xiong Lijun said.

"Then why don't you go into the house and wait?"

"Your sister is doing her homework, I'm afraid to disturb her." Xiong Lijun said. However, Lin Zhenhua also understood what he meant, Xiaofang was a big girl after all, and when Lin Zhenhua was not at home, Xiong Lijun stayed in the house and was alone with Xiaofang, which was indeed not suitable, so he asked for his surname to squat outside the door to smoke.

"Forget it, in that case, let's not go into the house, let's go outside." Lin Zhenhua said.

He put away his bicycle, went into the house to get a pack of cigarettes, and then came out to walk outside the factory with Xiong Lijun. The topic they want to talk about is a bit sensitive, and if they talk about it in the factory, it will be a little troublesome if it is heard by passing workers.

The Hanhua Machinery Factory is located in the eastern suburbs of Fenghua County, surrounded by farmland, and further afield are several local enterprises, namely fertilizer plants, phosphate fertilizer plants, pesticide factories and coking plants, all of which are polluting enterprises. This piece can be regarded as the heavy chemical industrial zone of Fenghua County.

The two of them walked out of the factory area and walked slowly along the ridge. Lin Zhenhua handed the cigarette in his hand to Xiong Lijun, Xiong Lijun took it, touched it with his hand, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "It's another pack of Marlboro, Xiaolin, it seems that you are really rich." ”

"How's it going, what do you think?" Lin Zhenhua asked.

Xiong Lijun said: "I have already thought about it and resigned." ”

"Really figured it out?"

Xiong Lijun nodded, he took out a Marlboro cigarette, put it in his mouth, lit it with a lighter, and said, "Speaking of which, what really made me decide was the pack of Marlboros you gave me in the morning." ”

"What do you mean?" Lin Zhenhua wondered.

Xiong Lijun recounted: "After I got out of the portership class today, I went to the Zhangjiang Embankment, sat on the embankment and smoked alone, thinking about what you said. I kept thinking about noon, and I didn't come up with a name. For a while, I felt that it was very attractive to come out to make money, and for a while, I was reluctant to give up that iron rice bowl. Thinking about it, when I went to touch the cigarette again, I found that I had finished smoking. I felt very sad at the time, I had been thinking about a box of Marlboro for so many years, but as a result, I finished smoking it before I could taste it, and I don't know when I will be able to smoke it next time. ”

Lin Zhenhua said: "Old Xiong, look at what you said, if you want to smoke, just tell me." ”

Xiong Lijun said: "I know that you Xiaolin is enough buddy, but I, Xiong Lijun, am also a seven-foot-long person when I stand up, stretching out my hand to beg for cigarettes and smoking all day long, do you think I don't feel ashamed?" That's it, I figured it out, even if I was just to be able to afford a box of Marlboro, I had to fight for it. ”

Lin Zhenhua said with a smile: "Old Xiong, if one day you make a fortune and set up a big business, then a big Marlboro cigarette box will be cast in bronze at the entrance of the enterprise to commemorate it." ”

"Xiaolin, do you think there will be that day?" Xiong Lijun asked.

"As long as you work hard, there should be." Lin Zhenhua said. According to his memory, the first batch of people in China who went to the sea to do business basically made a fortune as long as they were a little smarter and more diligent. Because there are very few people who dare to go to the sea at this time, they can sell anything casually, and making money is faster than grabbing money. By the mid-to-late eighties, when more and more people began to go to the sea to do business, there were fewer and fewer opportunities to make money.

"Okay, I'll get out of the way." Xiong Lijun said, "Xiaolin, I will go to the factory director tomorrow to apply for resignation." Then, I will hand over more than 100 catties to you, and you will have the final say on what to do. ”

Lin Zhenhua said: "Okay, tomorrow you go to handle the resignation first, and I will take you to see Lan Wufeng when I go back, and the two of you will work together in the future." As for how to do specific things, we can discuss it slowly, I don't really have much experience in business, we all need to explore. ”

"It's a big deal, just drop a few heels." Xiong Lijun said extremely honorably.

The next day, Xiong Lijun really went to find the factory director, and as soon as he said that he was going to resign, the factory director Chen Weiguo was furious, and he almost grabbed him by the collar and threw him down from the second floor.

"Little bear, your brain is burned out! If you don't do a good job of state-owned workers, what do you plan to do when you resign? ”

"Director Chen, I don't think I have any future as a worker, I want to try other ways."

"The other way, the other way? If you can say it, I'll let you go. ”

"I want to be self-employed."

"Self-employed?" Chen Weiguo's face was full of disdain, "The state is right to encourage unemployed young people to find their own way out. But you are not an unemployed youth, so why should you mix with those unemployed youth? You don't look at it, there are a few people on the street who are doing it, and a few of them are serious people, either they are usually idle, or they have been released from prison. ”

Xiong Lijun said stubbornly: "Director Chen, I really think about it, people only have one life, I want to do something I want to do." ”

Chen Weiguo sighed and said, "Little Bear, I'm the same age as your father, I can't watch you go down the evil path. It's true that your future as a porter is not good, but you are still young and can still learn skills. Look at Xiaolin, who is young, has now become the deputy chief of the technical department as a substitute for work. You have a good relationship with him, find time for him to teach you some skills, and strive to be able to switch to technical jobs as soon as possible, and then the income will be high and you will have status. ”

Xiong Lijun said: "Director Chen, thank you for your encouragement, but I have already made up my mind. I don't think I'm a person who is a technical material, so I might as well go to society and maybe break into something different. Staying in the Hanhua factory, even if you are a mechanic, what can you do? Guo Haipeng, the salary is higher than mine, and the technology is better than mine, but last month's physical examination, it was found that he had hepatitis, and the rest of his life is considered a waste. Why, it's because he wants to save money to get married, and he only drinks one soup every day to eat. I don't want to live like this. Director Chen, please fulfill my disobedient young wish. ”

Hearing Xiong Lijun's words, Chen Weiguo was speechless. He also knows the living conditions of young people now, and as a factory director, he has no ability to change this state. The country is in a period of adjustment, and state-owned enterprises bear most of the reform costs, and are generally in a state of policy loss. Although employees of state-owned enterprises can still receive their salaries on a monthly basis, they have very few other sources of income. Nowadays, the social atmosphere is gradually becoming more luxurious, and it is very common among young people to not be able to get married. Faced with such a situation, what reason did he have to persuade Xiong Lijun to stay?

"Have you really thought about it?"

"Think about it."

"Do your parents know?"

"I'll explain it to them."

"Okay then." Chen Weiguo took Xiong Lijun's resignation report, read it again seriously, and then picked up a pen and signed his name on it.

"Little bear, you take this and go to the Labor and Management Division to go through the formalities." Chen Weiguo said, "Also, being a self-employed person is very risky, if you encounter something and think that the factory can help, just tell the factory." Although you are no longer a person in the factory, Hanhua Factory is still your mother's home. ”

"Thank you, Director Chen." Xiong Lijun took the resignation report, took a step back, and bowed respectfully to Chen Weiguo, this was the first time he felt that this factory director was so respectable. In the past, under the shadow of the factory, I never felt that the factory was very important. Now, as he was about to leave, he suddenly felt a little lonely.

If you take this step, you will never be able to turn back, should you step out?

Xiong Lijun only hesitated for a second, and then resolutely stepped out. In order not to be a "Commander Tang" like Guo Haipeng, and in order to no longer beg others for cigarettes and smoke with a shy face, Xiong Lijun finally took this step.