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墨書 Inktalez
Minister Liu's speech was powerful, as he called out names one by one to inquire about yesterday's work. Those being questioned summarized their responses in a single sentence, with some simply saying "nothing."
Despite this, the meeting lasted quite a while. Everyone present had their heads down, listening. Song Pearl stood there feeling the strain. Just as Minister Liu was getting into the swing of things, someone knocked on the door from outside. Song Pearl shifted to the side and opened the door.
"The new Inspector brought this back for testing." The person at the door was someone Song Pearl had seen twice before; upon seeing her, he handed over what he was holding.
Song Pearl quickly caught it in her hands.
"Alright, let's wrap it up for today," announced the plump and round Minister Liu, casting an annoyed glance at Song Pearl as he declared the meeting adjourned.
Song Pearl was confused; she was certain she didn't know this Minister before, so why had he glared at her twice this morning?
Though puzzled, she didn’t ask any questions. She took the two bags of soil and walked out of the Quality Department, examining them as she went. To her eyes, they were just two bags of soil—one black and one yellow.
What set this soil apart from others was its uniform color and even granules, as if it had been specially processed.
"What are we testing this for?"
Back at the Inspection Station, Song Pearl asked Gao Xiaoxia.
Gao Xiaoxia put on a work uniform over her down jacket. Although the uniform was oversized, it still couldn't cover the fluffy down jacket underneath, making her look quite comical as if she were wearing a vest.
"I don't know," Gao Xiaoxia shook her head. "This is probably a raw material for a new product from Six Workshop!"
"A new product?" Song Pearl inquired.
"Six Workshop just installed a new set of equipment aimed at producing fertilizers tailored to agricultural needs," Gao Xiaoxia said as she sat down at her desk, took out a mirror, and checked her bangs.
Song Pearl had seen fertilizers before; her family used them every year for farming. The white crystalline granules were urea, while another type that looked like white sugar was potassium fertilizer.
When she was in school, Wang Xingxing mistakenly took a bite of potassium fertilizer thinking it was sugar, and it tasted both salty and spicy...
Isn't it just to test those things?
She had learned about testing in school, covering topics like feed and animal quarantine. This semester, she also participated in the Inspector qualification exam.
As long as it's testing, the theoretical knowledge and operational methods should be the same.
If there is an experimental guidebook to follow, it would be quite simple.
Gao Xiaoxia handed her a manual with several burn holes in it and said, "We all operate based on this; you can study it."
Song Pearl looked at the tattered white paper filled with dense text and felt a bit confused. She hadn't encountered the technical terms written there before. The few familiar words were phenol, ethanol, and distilled water.
Maybe it would be better to wait until Gao Xiaoxia demonstrated it before learning, Song Pearl thought.
However, throughout the morning, she didn't see any work assigned to her.
Gao Xiaoxia was munching on gum one moment, eating roasted chestnuts the next, and then enjoying an apple. Song Pearl felt that Gao Xiaoxia's bag was like a treasure chest filled with various snacks.
Gao Xiaoxia invited Song Pearl to join her for a snack, but Song Pearl shook her head, saying she had already eaten breakfast.
Having just arrived and not having money to treat others, she felt embarrassed to eat someone else's food.
Sitting at the table watching Gao Xiaoxia eat felt awkward for Song Pearl. She decided to tour the six rooms under the Inspection Station again and noticed many areas that hadn't been cleaned properly since yesterday afternoon. So she grabbed a bucket of water and a cloth and wiped down everything from the windows to the workbench.
When Song Pearl returned the bucket and walked back into the Inspection Station, still feeling warm from her efforts, she found Gao Xiaoxia cleaning up the messy table while holding a mop.
Minister Liu paced back and forth at the entrance of the Inspection Station with his hands behind his back. When he saw Song Pearl approaching, he scolded her, "I just said not to wander around. Where have you been? If you're new and don't know how to work, you should learn more from your seniors. Look at Gao, she cleans this large area spotless all by herself, while you disappear without a trace..."
Gao Xiaoxia hung her head in silence, diligently mopping the floor. Even after Minister Liu finished his reprimand, she had yet to clean the one-foot-square area next to the desk.
Song Pearl bit her lip and lowered her head without saying a word.
"Alright, Gao, let Song Pearl take over this task. You come with me to plan this month's bulletin board," Minister Liu said to Gao Xiaoxia.
Gao Xiaoxia straightened up, handed the mop to Song Pearl, playfully smiled at her, and then followed Minister Liu out.
Watching their retreating figures, Song Pearl angrily tossed the mop aside, sat down on a chair to catch her breath, and found the scattered fruit peels on the floor quite unsightly. She stood up, grabbed a broom, and swept the area before mopping it thoroughly again.
After finishing everything, it was still not time to clock out. Song Pearl looked at the two bags of soil in self-sealing bags repeatedly before taking them into the laboratory.
The laboratory was equipped quite simply; aside from routine testing instruments like beakers and graduated cylinders, there was an electric stove and an old inspection device. Song Pearl examined it closely and read aloud, "What measuring instrument."
The character for "what" was so blurred that it was unrecognizable, so in Song Pearl's words, it became "what measuring instrument."
Should she try putting some soil into it?
After hesitating for a moment, Song Pearl dismissed that idea.
She didn't know what components this soil contained or how to measure them; it would be best to leave it here for now.
Since she arrived, no one had trained her at all. It seemed that Hongqing Group sent her here to handle things independently; the village chief hadn't lied to her!
This Six Workshop must be the workshop where the homeroom teacher fell into a well. I wonder what it's like? Song Pearl recalled that she hadn't visited Six Workshop during her wandering last night and decided to check it out later.
Minister Liu just won't allow anyone to leave their posts, so we'll have to wait until after work.
When it was time to leave, Gao Xiaoxia still hadn't returned, and the young man who delivered meals came over again, carrying a lunch filled with care.
Song Pearl felt that this young man was not a good match for Gao Xiaoxia. Firstly, he was a head shorter than her when they stood together. Secondly, he wasn't good-looking at all; he had a sharp face and a thin build, and his eyes were too lively, giving off an unreliable vibe.
The young man brought two dishes: sweet and sour fish and spicy chicken. Another bag contained steamed buns and two bottles of juice. He placed the food on the table and ran off to find Gao Xiaoxia, not daring to invite Song Pearl to join them.
Even if he had invited Song Pearl, she wouldn't have stayed, but his attitude made her uncomfortable.
Song Pearl stood by the door, watching as Gao Xiaoxia and the young man came over before she turned to leave. She was worried that if she left too early, stray cats might come and steal the food, leaving her unable to explain.
When she arrived alone at the Helper's door, a line had started forming again.
Hong Xinran spotted Song Pearl from the open medical room and called out to her loudly.
"There’s a restaurant across the street; let’s go eat dumplings there. I’ll treat you and cover yesterday's meal and transportation costs. How does that sound?"
"Sure." Song Pearl nodded. She hadn’t spent much money yesterday either, so since Hong Xinran was willing to treat her, she was happy to join.
Hong Xinran quickly tidied up the table, took off her white coat, locked the medical room door, and then walked with Song Pearl toward the main gate.
"This morning really wore me out; so many people with colds came in for medicine... I wonder how they managed before there were doctors?" Hong Xinran complained a bit. "Maybe my medicine is just too cheap!"
"It's better to be busy; I spent the whole morning just cleaning up without any real work to do, and in the end, I didn’t even get anything done," Song Pearl also expressed some frustration.
Song Pearl felt that having someone to talk to in life could alleviate many worries. She met Wang Ziyan during school and now had Hong Xinran at work. They treated her quite well; it was just that the secrets in her heart were things she couldn't share with anyone.
"Hong Xinran smiled and said, 'Your department has a lot of people, so there should be competition. You need to perform well and not be too timid, or others might think you're easy to bully.'"
"Song Pearl nodded. She didn't feel like anyone was bullying her yet; it was just that the Minister was a bit too serious."
When they reached the entrance, Hong Xinran approached the window of the Gatekeeper's room, where there was an open iron box with many red and green tags hanging from it.
"What is this?" Song Pearl asked.
"It's the attendance tags. The class teacher told us yesterday that you have to flip this to mark your attendance at work. Yours is here too," Wang Ziyan pointed to a red tag with Song Pearl's name on it.
"One side is green and the other is red. You flip to red when you leave and green when you arrive. You have to flip it every time; if you forget, there's a fine." Hong Xinran flipped her tag to red.
Song Pearl remembered that Minister Liu had mentioned this during the morning meeting, but she hadn't understood it at the time. Now that she saw Hong Xinran demonstrating it, she finally understood.
"Yours is red, so you don't need to flip it yet. You can do it after lunch."
After two cars passed by, emitting exhaust fumes, Hong Xinran pulled Song Pearl across the street.
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