Beijing, early April 1961.
The Qingming Festival had just passed, and the biting cold winter was finally receding, bringing spring back to the land and revitalizing all things. This brought a slight sigh of relief to the common people affected by the famine.
For no other reason than that spring had arrived, fresh leaves and wild vegetables were all considered food.
At a new construction site at the Steel Rolling Mill, a group of muddy young men looked at the massive factory building that had already been erected, a bit reluctant to leave.
They were unemployed youths in Beijing, spending their days wandering around aimlessly, jokingly referred to as "Hutong kids."
Before, each of them considered himself important, refusing to do this or that. But since the natural disasters began in 1959, leading to widespread famine across the country, these people, without work or income, almost starved to death.
So, in the face of survival, all pride was meaningless, and they could only take on odd jobs wherever they could find them.
It was also their good fortune that the Steel Rolling Mill happened to be expanding production and needed workers to build new factory buildings, so this group of people stumbled in.
Even though they were temporary workers, earning only 6 mao a day, which amounted to less than 20 yuan a month, this was equivalent to a year's income in the countryside.
There was also one more crucial point: the factory provided one meal. While it wasn't a good meal, at least they didn't starve to death.
Temporary workers were just temporary workers; even if they worked for half a year, they would still be temporary workers, never able to become permanent employees.
Now that the factory building was completed, they didn't know what their future held.
"Xiao Man, I heard we're getting a good meal for our farewell party?"
In the crowd, a thin young man with a pointed face and monkey-like cheeks walked in from outside, happily slapping Lin Xiaoman hard.
This fellow was Yan Jiacheng, who lived in Siheyuan Courtyard No. 95, Nanluoguxiang. After graduating from junior high, he had never found a permanent job and spent years drifting between various temporary construction sites.
The person who was slapped was Lin Xiaoman. The two were neighbors and in similar situations, though Lin Xiaoman was two years younger. In recent years, he had also been taking odd jobs everywhere.
Yan Jiacheng's slap just now was a bit forceful, and Lin Xiaoman, lost in thought, wasn't paying attention and was directly knocked to the ground.
This incident made the young people nearby laugh uncontrollably, mockingly ridiculing Lin Xiaoman without any sympathy.
After laughing, Yan Jiacheng helped Lin Xiaoman up, then feigned concern, patting the dust off Lin Xiaoman's clothes.
"Get lost, you bastard! Trying to act like a good person, huh?"
Lin Xiaoman snapped out of his contemplation and kicked him.
Seeing Lin Xiaoman's counterattack, Yan Jiacheng immediately let out a cry and squeezed into the crowd, his agility completely incongruous with his seemingly frail appearance.
The two were from the same courtyard and were roughly the same age. Yan Jiacheng knew that Lin Xiaoman had learned a lot of martial arts from a master since childhood, and several ordinary people were no match for him. His bones definitely couldn't take a beating.
After joking around with a few people, Lin Xiaoman used the excuse of going to the restroom and went to an open space on the other side of the factory area to sit down.
At this moment, a screen similar to a computer monitor appeared in Lin Xiaoman's mind, with several lines of small text flashing on it.
"Experience Points: 15"
"Do you want to start drawing intelligence?"
Lin Xiaoman silently thanked all the gods and then quietly said, "Start drawing."
"Please select the intelligence level to draw?"
At the same time, three options appeared on the screen: "Primary Intelligence," "Intermediate Intelligence," and "Advanced Intelligence."
This time, Lin Xiaoman was already prepared and directly selected "Intermediate Intelligence."
There was no light screen effect; after clicking, an icon on "Intermediate Intelligence" started spinning, just like a computer freezing.
About 2 seconds later, a line of small text reappeared on the screen.
"Intermediate Intelligence: Two days later, on Wednesday, the Steel Rolling Mill will organize a recruitment examination to hire Security Guards. The announcement for registration will be posted today from 2:30 PM to 3:00 PM, and the registration period will be today from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
The purpose of this examination is to resolve the issue of unplaced young people recommended by mid-level cadres. The number of people aware of the examination is limited, and the questions will primarily revolve around the 'Regulations on Administrative Penalties for Public Security' issued in 1957."
Lin Xiaoman carefully read the text on the screen several times, finally letting out a long sigh of relief. The wait during this period had not been in vain.
Lin Xiaoman was, of course, one of the many Siheyuan Courtyard transmigrators from later generations.
Slightly different from other transmigrators, he only awakened an intelligence system, along with a bonus space the size of a football field.
This intelligence system automatically gained 1 experience point every day, with irregular rewards at other times. For example, when he first transmigrated, the system rewarded him with 100 experience points.
According to the system description, 1 experience point could be used to draw one Primary Intelligence, 10 experience points for one Intermediate Intelligence, and 100 experience points for one Advanced Intelligence.
When he first arrived, Lin Xiaoman wasn't clear about the system's quirks. Seeing the newly rewarded 100 experience points, he drew an Advanced Intelligence once.
He thought that Advanced Intelligence must be high-level and definitely useful to him.
It turned out that it was indeed advanced; the system directly rewarded him with the latest international situation intelligence.
However, that information had little to do with Lin Xiaoman, who couldn't even get enough to eat at the time.
As a transmigrator, he naturally prioritized his life and dared not report this intelligence to the relevant departments.
After learning his lesson, he understood that Primary Intelligence consisted of simpler news, gossip, or low-value monetary information; Intermediate Intelligence, on the other hand, was information with certain practical value.
This time, he had saved up for over 10 days without drawing, finally accumulating 10 experience points. He didn't expect to actually open a big blind box.
In this special period, let alone a permanent job, even temporary jobs were hard to find.
As soon as the factory released news of recruitment, the Steel Rolling Mill's gate would surely be swamped. No wonder the security measures were so good.
What was even more deceptive was that, to follow procedure, they would put up a fake announcement, but the time for it was only half an hour during working hours, so it was unlikely anyone would see it.
The registration time was strictly limited to just one hour, and it was on a Monday, which was clearly meant to eliminate uncertain factors.
That way, even if someone raised objections later, they could still claim that the recruitment was fair and open.
Looking at the sun above, Lin Xiaoman estimated it was already past 2 PM, so he prepared to go inside the factory area to wait for registration.
Lin Xiaoman hadn't been transmigrated for long, but he had truly deeply felt how important it was to have a proper job in this era.
It could be said that with a job, one had money, a house, food, marriage, and everything.
Returning to the group of temporary workers, Lin Xiaoman saw Yan Jiacheng and suddenly felt a little ashamed.
Logically, since they were both from the same courtyard and had worked together here for several months, he should have told him the news.
However, before Lin Xiaoman could feel anything, Yan Jiacheng walked over first, a smile on his face.