The weather gradually ward up. In the morning, Qin Xi and Li Xianglu both rode bicycles to work, each on their own bicycle, with Xiao Xin sitting in the back seat of Qin Xi’s bike. The alley across the street was the community primary school, very close, yet the naughty kid insisted on riding their bicycle to school.
By May, the capital had already gotten hot, and many people wore blue thermal underwear with white stripes directly to work, which Li Xianglu thought was quite an eyesore, considering its popularity in future generations.
At least in the future, it was made in the form of sportswear, but now everyone was wearing real thermal underwear, essentially underwear.
At this ti, synthetic textiles had just co out not long ago and were very expensive, while cotton was cheaper. Sister Xing’s family was from rural Beihai, and their hotown was best at weaving those coarse cotton bed sheets and fabrics.
Li Xianglu used so Foreign Exchange Vouchers to exchange for four large pieces of coarse fabric from Sister Xing to make shorts and sleeveless vests for the whole family to wear and sleep in during the sumr, which were cool and snug but a bit rough.
Spring had begun, and there was still a bit of chill in the air. Li Xianglu wore a pink shirt inside and a blue cashre cardigan on the outside, while her pants were the black polyester ones issued by the bank, which were sowhat airtight, but it would be troubleso to change pants at the bank.
Although the bank officially opened at nine, they all reported for work at half-past eight, arrived early, and started organizing things so they could start business as soon as the gates opened at nine.
At this ti, not all seals were made of rubber yet; the bottom layer was rubber and hand-carved, while the handle was a piece of wood that was easier to grip.
Since ancient tis, whether it was the old ticket numbers or now banks, all transactions were handled and operated by individuals who would stamp their own seal, even on the kraft paper used for bundling deposits.
After half a month of internship, Li Xianglu had already beco familiar with the storage business, and now she was assigned to continue learning on the official accounts side.
Her ntor was an old craftsman, Pu Jianxin, who was fifty years old. Li Xianglu heard from the director that Pu Jianxin had returned from abroad earlier, working in the finance industry. During the ten years, he was affected and spent seven years in the cowshed with his parents, returning to the capital only in ’78 after being vindicated.
During those seven years, Pu Jianxin lost both his parents, and his daughter, overwheld, jumped off a building and died in ’74, leaving behind a 12-year-old granddaughter who now lives with Pu Jianxin.
Pu Jianxin wrote a letter to the organization, stating that he was only forty-eight years old and wanted to continue serving the nation, so he was assigned to the bank, where he has been for three years.
Li Xianglu found Pu Jianxin to be very capable, not only familiar with the business but also strong in his professional skills, probably the most authoritative business personnel in the entire bank.
Li Xianglu arrived at eight twenty, changed her clothes, and saw Pu Jianxin already sitting at the long desk, busy working.
Li Xianglu went over and brewed two cups of tea with Pu Jianxin’s cup, placing one for each of them on the desk, and then started to help organize so blank miograph papers.
The gates opened precisely at nine o’clock, and by then, seven or eight people were already lined up outside, mostly conducting storage transactions, and so exchanging gold.
At this ti, the country had not yet opened up the business of civilians buying gold, nor did they sell gold externally; they only bought it.
The gold price had soared from eight or nine yuan per gram in ’75 to over thirty-nine yuan, increasing fivefold in five years.
Throughout the morning, only two units ca to withdraw money, a straightforward task, and since Pu Jianxin liked to let newcors handle things, he directly let Li Xianglu deal with it.
Banks in the eighties still took a break at noon, not resuming work until one-thirty.
Li Xianglu rode her bike directly back ho, and on her way, she encountered Xiao Xin walking ho and took her along.
Sister Xing cooked noodles for lunch, and Li Xianglu had a hearty appetite lately, nearly consuming half a pound of noodles by herself, mixed with vegetables. Qin Xi also ca back for lunch, though a bit further away.
Li Xianglu was about finished with her last bite of food when her eyelids began to droop. Seeing this, Qin Xi hurriedly took her to sleep, with still an hour before work, they could at least rest for forty minutes.
Watching them finish eating and go to sleep, Xiao Xin disdainfully said, "Grandfather, isn’t Xiangxiang afraid of becoming a pig?"
Mr. Li nodded as he watched the departing figures, "Indeed, eating and then sleeping like this does make it easy to gain weight."
While Su Yan sipped on noodle soup for digestion, she heard the two gossiping and said peevishly, "Alright, stop minding others. Hurry up and eat. After eating, Xiao Xin should also take a nap, or else she won’t have the energy for class in the afternoon."
As soon as the afternoon shift started, there were two official accounts transactions to be handled, both withdrawal services for units. Pu Jianxin sat in the back and let Li Xianglu go ahead to handle them.
Being young, she quickly checked the docunts, verified and compared, then stamped the docunts, directing people to the adjacent window to withdraw cash.
Pu Jianxin watched from the side, nodding in approval and smiling, "Not bad, I think you’re about ready to graduate from training."
Li Xianglu smiled politely in response but said nothing.
Suddenly, a young girl with a large backpack called out to Zhou Qingfang at the savings business counter, "Sister!"
Zhou Qingfang was busy at the ti, but hearing a familiar voice calling ’sister’, she looked up and was surprised to see a young girl, montarily stunned before joyfully exclaiming, "Little sister, what brings you here!"
The young girl, referred to as ’little sister’, replied unhappily, "Didn’t I tell you I was coming to the capital to find you? Why is no one ho? I had to co to find you at work."
Their conversation caused the people lined up behind to conduct business to beco sowhat displeased.
The young woman turned around and addressed the queue, "What’s the hurry? I’m just speaking a few words."
This turn allowed Li Xianglu to get a clear look at the newcor, finding her face familiar.
The director, already standing behind the counter, noticed Zhou Qingfang talking with soone outside and affecting the work, he said displeasedly, "Zhou Qingfang, it’s working hours now."
Embarrassed, Zhou Qingfang replied, "Sorry, director, my sister’s here, I’ll settle her down first."
Saying that, she quickly went out through the side, pulling along the curious girl who was still standing there looking towards the counter, intending to continue exploring inside. However, just as they reached the side to leave, they saw Li Xianglu, dressed in a work uniform and organizing docunts, the girl’s eyes widened in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
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