It was no wonder he found them familiar.
The group of people before him were all from various government departments, and without exception, they were all the least senior members of their respective units.
It seemed they had all been sent to order electric kettles.
Although Xiao Li hadn't interacted much with some of them, he at least recognized their faces.
What? Why were they all the youngest and least experienced?
Don't ask, the answer is: they were too young!
"Brother Wang, are you here to order electric kettles too?"
Xiao Li tugged at the sleeve of the bespectacled man nearest to him. He knew him as a fellow intern from the adjacent department who had started a week before him, so calling him "Brother Wang" was appropriate.
"Yeah, those things are quite convenient. Once we use them, we don't want to go back to boiling water from the boiler room anymore."
Brother Wang nodded, then added with a look of indignation, "But the people at the auto factory are being too difficult."
"What's wrong?" Xiao Li asked, confused.
"Didn't you see?" Brother Wang scoffed, pointing to the crowd queuing in front of them.
Outside the iron gate of the auto factory, a table had been set up, manned by a young girl.
All personnel from the government departments had to form an orderly line and register with the girl one by one.
"The auto factory won't let us in. They said it's a production area and entry is restricted. They just put a young girl at the entrance to block us. Didn't you see? Everyone has to queue up here slowly to register their purchase information."
Brother Wang was indignant, feeling completely disregarded.
"Is there anything wrong with that?" Xiao Li pondered. "Inside the production workshops, there are all sorts of machines, lubricants, and oils. It's noisy, chaotic, and dirty. It's understandable that they wouldn't let us in.
As for queuing, there's nothing wrong with that. If everyone rushed in, it would indeed be undignified."
Hearing Xiao Li's reasonable points, Brother Wang said no more.
Soon, it was their turn. The young girl skillfully inquired about their purchase details.
"I need nine electric kettles," Xiao Li stated directly.
"Nine?" the girl nodded. She had been temporarily seconded from the finance department to handle the reception and registration work.
After a series of operations, she had become quite proficient.
"The selling price of one electric kettle is 20 yuan. The factory director has decided that we are currently offering a promotional price of 18 yuan per unit for this new product.
Furthermore, for group purchases, we can enjoy additional discounts: 95% off for three or more units, 90% off for five or more, and 85% off for ten or more.
If you buy nine units, it will be 16.20 yuan each, totaling 145.80 yuan. However, if you buy ten units, it will be 15.30 yuan each, totaling 153 yuan. It's actually quite a good deal."
The girl quoted the prices fluently, immediately tempting Xiao Li.
Honestly, 18 yuan was not cheap; it was almost half a month's salary for an intern.
However, with the group discounts offered here, the price difference between nine and ten units was only a little over seven yuan. He could probably stretch his budget a bit.
After all, money could be earned again, but it would save a lot of time and effort. It didn't feel that bad now, but when the weather turned cold, going to the boiler room to fetch hot water would be a chore, not to mention that hot water cooled down quickly.
"Then... I'll take ten."
Gritting his teeth, Xiao Li finally spoke.
The young girl's eyes lit up. The factory director's brother was indeed very shrewd; many people ended up increasing their orders like this.
"Alright, here is the order slip for ten units. You can choose to pay now and take the goods.
Alternatively, our factory's direct sales store will be opening tomorrow. The address is written on the back of the slip.
You can also choose to purchase with the slip at that time. Please keep it safe, otherwise, you will not be able to enjoy the discounted price!"
Listening to the girl's kind reminder, Xiao Li felt quite good.
It seemed queuing up was indeed beneficial; at least he could save quite a bit.
Of course, he would come back another time. Who carried that much cash on them? Besides, he needed to report the price to his superiors and colleagues before they decided whether to buy.
However, Xiao Li felt that they would very likely buy it, as it would be much more convenient.
With that in mind, Xiao Li turned to leave.
But after taking only a few steps and before he could even get on his bicycle, he was stopped by a group of people.
"What are you doing?" Xiao Li looked at the people in front of him. They all looked like educated intellectuals, wearing white shirts and black trousers, and the leader was even wearing a rare tie!
It was nearly May, and the weather was starting to get warm. Didn't they feel stifled?
"I say, what are you all doing here?"
These people were none other than the previous contingent from the Mechanical Industry Association. They had been shut out by Wang Yu yesterday and had to find their own lodging. Today, they intended to try again.
Perhaps due to the unfamiliar environment or their delicate constitutions, their leader, Director Xia Ping, had suffered from a stomachache all night and only felt slightly better after receiving an IV drip at the county hospital this morning.
After a day of dawdling, they finally arrived at the auto factory, only to be told that Wang Yu was not in and they should come back another day.
This angered them immensely. Even the charming and intellectual beauty Bai Yanbing looked very upset, feeling that Wang Yu was toying with them.
However, this time, Wang Yu was truly not to blame. After dealing with the previous day's troubles, he had spent the entire morning delivering gifts to various departments, completely forgetting about these people. And he genuinely wasn't there today!
But they didn't know that! Who could blame them, given Wang Yu's past behavior?
The group then began to grumble about teaching Wang Yu a lesson, before reluctantly turning to leave.
After all, their path was blocked by a locked gate. What else could they do but leave?
However, on their way back, they noticed the people from the government departments queuing up. Puzzled, they stopped the youngest-looking one, Xiao Li, who seemed to have no status, and began to question him.
"What does it matter to you what I'm doing?"
Xiao Li was preoccupied with thoughts of electric kettles and had no time for these people. Furthermore, Xia Ping's condescending tone made him very uncomfortable.
"I am the Director of the Mechanical Industry Association!"
Xia Ping snorted. Seeing that Xiao Li had come from the auto factory and appeared neatly dressed, unlike ordinary workers, he assumed he was some sort of minor leader.
He thought this person should surely understand the weight of the Mechanical Industry Association.
Xia Ping thought blandly.
"Mechanical Industry Association? Is that a government department?" Xiao Li was taken aback. The name had indeed intimidated him.
"It's not a government department; it's a voluntary civilian organization, but we are..."
Before Bai Yanbing could finish speaking, Xiao Li impatiently interrupted her.
"If you're a civilian organization, why are you acting so bossy?"
However, thinking that it might be impolite to be too rude in front of a beautiful lady, Xiao Li paused and then explained, "I'm here to order electric kettles. And I must say, the electric kettles produced by the auto factory are quite good."
"What? Kettles produced by an auto factory?" The people from the Mechanical Industry Association were completely dumbfounded.
"If you're going to lie and brag, at least prepare yourself! How could an auto factory possibly produce kettles?"
Xia Ping suddenly roared. He felt that ever since he had arrived in Jiangyang County, people had been constantly challenging the lower limits of his intelligence.