Chapter 942: Chapter 815: First Day at the Workplace

Slinging her shoulder bag with a short sleeve white shirt on top, olive-green military pants below, and a pair of white sneakers, Zhou Jiao marched spiritedly through the gate of the planning commission.

She had barely taken a few steps when someone behind her yelled loudly, "Zhou, come here!"

Zhou Jiao turned around and, oh boy, she ran into someone she knew.

She hurriedly jogged over and stood straight, just about to greet him as usual, when she suddenly realized he called her Zhou. Should she call him Uncle or Comrade?

"No one to accompany you for the registration? I just happen to be going in, shall we go together?"

Upon hearing this, she chuckled awkwardly at the middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and a square face, "Uncle Xu, after you please."

"From now on, call me Comrade Xu, you know?"

Zhou Jiao waited for him to walk ahead, then followed, a step behind, "The way you say it, I’m really not used to it. But what you tell your niece must be right, I’ll listen to you."

"Smart girl!" Xu Youliang said as he walked along, softly introducing, "Up ahead is the office, past that are the finance, organization, politics departments..."

Zhou Jiao, thoughtfully watching his back, followed him the entire way. Not knowing much else, she at least got a rough idea of the departments inside.

Almost at her registration point, Zhou Jiao bid him farewell. She didn’t want to suddenly gain an extra elder to accompany her; she got in fair and square, not through connections, so why bother?

Once inside, Zhou Jiao sought out a female comrade around thirty years old, with short hair, phoenix eyes, thick lips, who looked charming and seemed straightforward, to inquire. Before she could finish asking, she was led to an office.

Inside was a middle-aged man who, even without wearing a uniform, exuded a strong sense of military authority and strength with just a glance at him.

That kind of authority and strength couldn’t be faked. At this moment, the middle-aged man was sitting upright at his desk, buried in work.

Upon hearing a call for a report, Zhou Jiao happened to see him looking up somewhat displeased.

This man seemed about forty. His short flat-top hair was neat, his square face had thick, bushy eyebrows, and his thin lips were tightly pressed.

Upon hearing that Comrade Zhou Jiao was here to report, a smile immediately appeared on his face. His eyes narrowed with the smile, and there were some deep wrinkles at the corners.

"So it’s Comrade Zhou Jiao, I’m Bao Zhilin, welcome, welcome."

When he stood up, Zhou Jiao noticed that he was really tall, very broad-shouldered, and indeed quite tanned. The thick calluses on his hands proved he had been a soldier.

"Hello, Comrade Bao." Zhou Jiao greeted him, handing over the file bag containing her registration documents.

"Xiao Jin, pour some tea for Comrade Zhou."

Zhou Jiao quickly thanked but declined. If she guessed right, once this leader checked the notice, he would probably send her to the personnel office, finance room, or something like that.

Soon, after Bao Zhilin reviewed the documents, he organized and handed back the file bag to Zhou Jiao, "Let Comrade Xiao Jin accompany you for registration; ask her if you have any questions."

Bidding farewell, Zhou Jiao remained clueless. Upon leaving the room, with plenty of people in the corridor, she didn’t plan to query anything at the moment.

However, Xiao Jin warmly introduced colleagues to Zhou Jiao and led her through several departments, eventually completing handover procedures at the archives before returning to Bao Zhilin’s office.

With her work certificate hanging around her neck and a piece of paper in her right hand, the confused Zhou Jiao felt relieved to see Bao Zhilin again.

"Xiao Jin should have taken you to the office just now?"

Zhou Jiao gratefully smiled at Xiao Jin and nodded towards Bao Zhilin.

"That’s it then, just come directly to work when it’s time. You can leave now."

When Zhou Jiao saw he resumed his engrossment in work upon finishing his words, she rolled her eyes in secret, how impolite.

Upon exiting, she clung to Xiao Jin. Without a word, she followed her to where she’d be based in the future.

"Sister Jin, I’ll be troubling you to take care of me more in the future. Luckily, I had you today, otherwise, let alone completing the procedures, I’d have gotten lost with so many offices."

"Our office only has four people including you, we’re all colleagues, no need to be so formal. Just ask directly if you’re unclear about anything in future."

Since the other party opened up, Zhou Jiao wasn’t shy at all. She had just spent a lot of words negotiating to start work later in the month; meanwhile, her counterpart was present, so she had to say nice things.

"Is it really alright for me to start work later? Would it cause trouble for you guys? My brain isn’t very good at this kind of polite talk."

Pulling Zhou Jiao into the office, Sister Jin laughed heartily and pointed to a male colleague in his thirties inside, "Shen Zhao, did you hear? She said her brain isn’t good."

Shen Zhao stood up helplessly, looking at Zhou Jiao: "Let me first introduce myself in detail; my surname is Shen and my name is Zhao. I’m Wu Shaolin’s cousin, and I’ve had drinks with your husband Zhang Guoqing."

The person his age to his left burst out laughing immediately.

Shen Zhao pointed to him, grinning at Zhou Jiao, "You might not know him, but you should know his cousin Shao Qiuxue, right? And Sister Jin, she’s your eldest cousin’s niece."

Zhou Jiao almost blurted, "Damn." This world is too small!

No wonder her dad treated them differently. Like she said, when Zhang Guoqing went to military school, he had detailed info, and when it came to her, her dad said he believed in her!

She looked at them in grievance: "You guys are really something. Why didn’t you say earlier when I came in? You’ve revealed everything about me."

As she said this, everyone burst into laughter.

"Alright, since we’re all familiar, I won’t stand on ceremony. Besides Brother Shen, shouldn’t Sister Jin and Brother Shao give me your full names?"

"Jin Lijuan."

"Shao Dongrui. Don’t call me Brother Shao, it doesn’t sound good. Outside, just call me Brother Rui or Brother Dong."

"Right, your Brother Dong reminded correctly. Remember to call each other Comrade when there are outsiders at the unit."

Zhou Jiao thanked them for the advice.

Jin Lijuan seemed quite fond of Zhou Jiao, pulling her to the desk: "This is your spot, take a seat and let’s chat. I saw you didn’t arrange meals at the unit earlier, is it because of the child being small and worrying? Our meals here are pretty good."

Before Zhou Jiao could reply, she continued, "And what about the dorm assigned to you, why didn’t you take it? Are you waiting for your husband’s side to allocate a house?"

Since they were acquaintances, Zhou Jiao didn’t hide it, as it couldn’t be concealed even if she tried. She smiled, "I have a courtyard under my name, now donated to the Women’s Federation as an office place."

"Then doesn’t that mean you’re without a house now? Your situation is different from those with property looking for allocation. If you’re not waiting for your husband’s side, better take the dorm here first."

Regarding this issue, Zhou Jiao didn’t want to elaborate, but she appreciated the thought. Allocating a single dorm room also required someone to live in it. Who would stay from her family?

Jin Lijuan continued to casually chat about the unit’s weekly meals, salary days, regular benefits, etc.

Zhou Jiao listened for nearly an hour, finding her a wonderful person. Very warm yet never mentioning any other unit colleagues; very sincere yet never mentioning her future work duties.

Looking at her, Zhou Jiao really wanted to ask if she had the wrong last name, born into a different family; she should be Zhang Guoqing’s biological sibling.

Saying goodbye to the three colleagues, it was already lunchtime when she left. Had it not been meal time, Zhou Jiao figured Jin Lijuan would have chatted more. However, she also noticed the job seemed quite leisurely and well-suited for her.