Chapter 55 Taking a Bath
The next morning, Xu Qiang, Wang Yongsheng and others were notified to report to Director Xue at the staff night school on the third floor of the Workers' Cultural Palace before noon.

After receiving the notice, Xu Qiang wanted to go directly there, but was pulled to the bathhouse by Wang Yongsheng and others.

"You're going to report in all this dusty and dirty. Isn't this a disgrace to our chemical workshop?" Wang Yongsheng glanced at Xu Qiang and said, "At least you should take a shower and change your clothes. I don't think the teacher will even look at you in the eye if you look like this."

Although the environment in the chemical workshop is not good and the dust is very strong, Wang Yongsheng is a clean person. Sometimes he takes two showers a day and seems to have hair oil on his head, which has an indescribable smell.

Xu Qiang felt that Wang Yongsheng was right. It was his first time to report to night school, so he should dress cleanly. So he took soap, towels and washbasin from the dormitory and followed them to the bathhouse.

The ticket to the employee bathhouse these days is only ten cents. When you enter, you are given a key tag wrapped with an elastic band. There are three-layer wooden storage boxes on both sides of the entrance. You throw your clothes inside, lock them, and then go in to take a shower.

The bathhouse is divided into a shower area and two small bathing pools. The water in the bathing pools is changed once a day. Some retired workers can get there first and take a bath while the water is the clearest. In the afternoon, the water starts to become turbid. Only a few children like to swim and play in this "mud soup" and have a lot of fun.

It happened that the water in the big pool was being changed at that time, so Xu Qiang, Wang Yongsheng and his gang went straight in to soak.

"Brother Sheng, we're not really going to take the college entrance exam, are we?" Several people were sitting naked by the pool, with only their heads exposed, and Little Cannon asked Wang Yongsheng.

"What the hell! Are you that kind of person? You even dared to copy my test papers during the school exams. At least I scored in the tens in every subject, but you only scored in single digits in every subject!" Wang Yongsheng turned his head and gave Xiao Gangpao a blank look, then continued, "The reason we signed up for night school is to infiltrate their intellectual community. If someone really gets into college and becomes a leader, we can be considered classmates with them, which will make things easier for us in the future..."

"Yes, yes, yes! Brother Sheng is still the one with foresight." Little Cannon praised.

"If you ask me, although we are just frontline workers, we should also look up." Wang Yongsheng held half a wet cigarette butt in his hand, blew out a smoke ring and said comfortably: "For example, some of the soaps and other things we buy are only affordable for those with dual incomes and cadres' families. These are all our important customers. As long as we have a good relationship with them, people will buy our expensive products..."

Xu Qiang, who was sitting next to him, couldn't help but laugh after hearing what Wang Yongsheng said.

But it must be said that Wang Yongsheng usually looks careless and sloppy, but he is still quite smart. He actually knows the importance of "high-end customers", which is not something most people can think of in these days.

"...Oh, that's right." Wang Yongsheng seemed to remember something, so he turned to Xu Qiang and said, "Qiangzi, which chemical factory in Shanghai does your relative work in?" "Shanghai Daily Chemicals Factory No. 3."

"Besides shampoo, what other products does their factory have?"

"Well..." Xu Qiang thought for a moment, then said: "There are also soaps, perfumed soaps and the like..."

Of course Xu Qiang didn't know what Shanghai Daily Necessities Factory No. 3 was. He had just seen the name of this factory on the products of the town supply and marketing cooperative before, so he just said it casually.

As for what this factory produces, he doesn't know, but considering that it is a daily chemical factory, it will definitely produce some daily chemical products for soap.

"Then please help us get some soap." said Wang Yongsheng.

"Soap? Don't we sell it here?" "The soaps here are basically produced by factories in Jiujiang, and the quality is not very good. People in our factory like to use soaps from Shanghai. Every time they come back from visiting relatives, they will bring some Shanghai soap. They don't like to use local soap even if it is more expensive." Wang Yongsheng said.

Most of the backbones of Shengli Machinery Factory came from Shanghai Radio Factory No. 3. In order to mobilize Shanghai workers to go to Jiangxi's Small Third Line, the central government and relevant departments in Jiangxi and Shanghai clearly stipulated that the wages of Shanghai workers transferred to Jiangxi's Small Third Line would still be paid according to the standards of the place of relocation, and they would enjoy the same wage standards as when they worked in Shanghai.

However, in actual implementation, there is a big gap in the wage levels between the two places. For example, the first-level B salary in Shanghai is generally 42.4 yuan, while in Jiangxi it is 30.5 yuan, a difference of yuan.

On the one hand, this wage gap affects the unity within the factory, and on the other hand, it also affects the consumption habits of many people.

Many Shanghai workers have a natural sense of superiority. Whether it is expensive home appliances or daily necessities, they prefer products from Shanghai and are more or less dismissive of local products.

It is also because of this that Shanghai products sell very well in the factory, and Wang Yongsheng and others mainly purchase goods produced in Shanghai when they purchase goods from outside.

"Then I'll ask later." Xu Qiang said after a moment of hesitation.

In Xu Qiang's opinion, since he can now produce shampoo, he can naturally also produce soap. The raw material formulas of the two are roughly the same, but there are some differences in the production process.

Xu Qiang didn't want to miss the opportunity for any product that could make money, and making soap was no problem for him.

"If the product makes money, you will definitely get a share of it," said Wang Yongsheng.

"Okay, I'll send a telegram this afternoon." Xu Qiang nodded.

Several people soaked in the bathhouse for a while, rubbed each other's backs, rinsed themselves clean under the shower, then changed their clothes and left the bathhouse.

After leaving the bathhouse, several people returned to their dormitories. When they met again, they had all changed their clothes.

Wearing a high-necked shirt, flared trousers and a pair of imported sunglasses, Wang Yongsheng is a typical modern trendy man.

Xiao Gangpao and the others were dressed in similar outfits, but their height, appearance and temperament were inferior to Wang Yongsheng. Their hair seemed to be coated with lard. Xu Qiang could not find any other adjective to describe it except "sexy".

"From today on, I will aspire to become a college student who builds the four modernizations!"

At this time, Wang Yongsheng had a heroic look on his face. He waved his hand and led everyone to the Workers' Cultural Palace in the factory.

Along the way, Wang Yongsheng, who was walking in the front, had a high rate of turning heads, and people would greet him from time to time. This guy was popular in the factory, but more people showed disdain and disgust towards them. After all, in this era, they were definitely "outliers"...

(End of this chapter)