Liu Jun was still excited from the argument, driving with his neck stiff all the way. When he reached the company, his eyes were still bloodshot and his whole body tense. But he saw Luo Qing, who had already become a civil servant, joking around with old friends in the dormitory area, not at all like those civil servants he frequently encountered. Thinking that Luo Qing would also assimilate into that group in the future, Liu Jun felt sorry for Luo Qing.
The next day at work, the administrative manager came with a sheet of paper to give to Liu Jun. Liu Jun looked and saw that each government department corresponded to an association, along with various training certifications and such. The administrative manager’s handwriting was neither large nor small, yet it filled an entire A4 page. Seeing Liu Jun’s great confusion, the administrative manager explained: “After returning home from the industrial and commercial bureau last night, I thought for a long time and felt that always relying on Liu Jun to personally go argue wouldn’t work. Based on several years of experience, I’ve listed these fees that we’ll be pressed to pay this year…”
“Why weren’t there any last year?”
“Last year, we were in a trial operation phase. When these fees came in, I brushed them off, saying trial operations weren’t normal. This year we can’t escape.”
“Why can’t we escape? If it’s associations like the foreign enterprise association, joining would be quite good – we could obtain a lot of information.”
“The problem lies right here. The purpose of establishing foreign enterprise associations is very different from these associations on paper. For foreign enterprise associations, the government’s intention is very clear – to cooperate with the government in serving foreign merchants, improving the investment environment to further attract investment. But these associations I’ve written are different. Several years ago, not in ’96 but ’97, when the country implemented the civil servant system, I was managing personnel in an enterprise at the time. I watched a Labor Bureau building split in two – all staff in the east building became civil servants, while those in the west building became public institution staff. Different systems meant vastly different treatment. The west building naturally wouldn’t accept this. The east building staff, having been colleagues with the west building for so many years, naturally couldn’t be disloyal, so they helped the west building establish associations. When subordinate enterprises came to handle business, they wouldn’t provide services unless you joined the association, or they’d assign half the work to associations, like certifications, so subordinate enterprises had to obediently join associations and pay an annual membership fee that was neither too much nor too little. Collecting too much wouldn’t work – it would all be scenes like Liu Jun slamming tables at the industrial and commercial bureau yesterday. So, fees are generally a few hundred yuan, at most one or two thousand. The membership fees paid by enterprises in one area are enough to support several people who were separated through restructuring.”
Liu Jun looked at the number of associations on the sheet. “Each association’s membership fee isn’t high, but with so many associations added up, it’s quite a lot.”
“Yes. My previous enterprise, besides these associations on the sheet, also had to join government-led industry associations. In total for a year, membership fees amounted to one or two hundred thousand. Industry associations are mostly places where industry-specific leaders go to keep busy after retirement, so… with just one word from them, you have no choice but to join. Let’s continue talking about the West Building people who were separated through restructuring. The west building also established certification centers and training centers. The east building only needed to issue orders, designating that certain industries or professions under their management establish entry barriers – no certificate, no employment – then the west building would inevitably become the exclusive certification and training unit for entry permits. Exclusive, with no other branches, so training and certification fees are extremely exploitative. The seven or eight certificates our enterprise needs are also listed on the sheet. Training and certification fees for current employees, as well as annual inspection fees, are generally paid by the company, but the labor contracts stipulate that employees must compensate if they resign.”
“You mean that if I complain and slam tables every time I encounter an expense on this sheet in the future, I’ll be too busy throughout the year?” Seeing the administrative manager nod in agreement, Liu Jun continued: “So when encountering similar expenses in the future, I can only turn a blind eye?”
“Yes. Yesterday at the industrial and commercial bureau, I didn’t oppose Liu Jun slamming tables because we only encounter such situations once or twice a year – offending them doesn’t matter. But in some departments, our staff have to deal with them every few days, so we can only spend money to avoid trouble. Please understand, Liu Jun. Just consider it a social expense or public relations fee.”
Liu Jun thought for a long while before nodding. “Alright, consider me learning from Xianglin’s wife to donate thresholds. We can’t afford to offend those big and small ghosts.”
After the administrative manager left, Liu Jun remembered that before the foreign enterprise association meeting at the end of last year, the association had sent materials, including a booklet listing various unreasonable administrative fees that governments at all levels had vigorously eliminated throughout the previous year. When he saw it last year, he had mistaken it for benevolent governance. After hearing the administrative manager’s analysis today and understanding the origins of those various unreasonable administrative fees, he could only remain speechless. He wasn’t sure whether these fees would become the straw that broke the camel’s back if the enterprise experienced poor operations.
Later, when similar fees came for approval, Liu Jun could only helplessly ask whether that department was important. If it were important, he could only sign. He felt like a fat sheep that anyone could take a slice from.
When Liu Shitang heard that his son’s new car had arrived, he flew to Shanghai even earlier than his son, planning to pick up the car together. But when he met up with his son and saw the expensive new car, Liu Shitang wanted to cry. His son had spent a lot of money to buy a car that looked like an Xiali without a rear end. Including the rear hatch door, the entire car only had three doors, not even as good as a five-door Xiali that could seat two more people – to get in the back seat, you had to crawl. He couldn’t see any advantages inside the car either. The interior wasn’t exquisitely crafted, not the kind that looked bright at first glance. Only the GTI badge was polished very finely. Driving this kind of car out would immediately make people look down on it as a Xiali.
“Why buy this kind of car?” From the moment Liu Shitang sat in the car and drove out of the dealership, he kept asking his son this question. But Liu Jun was happily playing with his new car and had no mind to pay attention to his father. Liu Shitang could only watch his son’s eyes sparkle as he operated the new car while sulking on the side. Four or five hundred thousand yuan to buy a Xiali-like car. He had always considered his son someone who could earn much and spend little, an extremely outstanding child. He never expected that while his son normally didn’t spend money randomly, when he went wild, he’d do something as stupid as spending four or five hundred thousand on an Xiali.
Only after Liu Jun had finally played with the performance once did he have the mind to tell his father where this car’s advantages lay. When turning, he asked, “Don’t you feel anything?” When starting, he asked, “Fast, right?” When shifting, he asked, “No jerking sensation, right?” Liu Shitang, having driven for many years, could feel the car’s advantages after his son’s few pointers, even without holding the steering wheel – it was truly like a small steel cannon. But he still unceremoniously pointed out: no prestige, uncomfortable to sit in, too noisy. He refused to ride this small-looking car home, preferring to continue his business trip by plane.
Shen Huadong, who picked up his car around the same time as Liu Jun, called friends together to celebrate getting his new car. On Sunday, they went for a test drive on a new road that the Shen family had a stake in, recently completed construction and inspection, waiting to open to traffic. Liu Jun notified Qian Hongming to come along. Qian Hongming readily agreed and drove his BMW to the destination alone. He arrived a bit early, and in a short while, he saw cars with very non-mainstream, very unconventional shapes gathering together with roaring sounds. Of course, there were also conventional cars like the BMW he drove, but today, conventional was not mainstream.
Qian Hongming watched drivers jump out of their cars one by one – those drivers had young, carefree faces. Jumping out of cars with those young men were beautiful girls, one after another. Qian Hongming thought to himself, indeed, they were all rich young masters. The first generation of local wealthy people weren’t very ostentatious – many bosses worth considerable fortunes drove nothing more than the most common joint venture cars on the street. Soon, Qian Hongming saw Liu Jun’s new car. When Liu Jun was buying the car, he had already looked up photos of this type of car online, but seeing it in person, he still couldn’t help shaking his head – it looked shabby.
As soon as Liu Jun arrived at the venue, before he could even greet Qian Hongming, he was grabbed by his car enthusiast friends to exchange information about each other’s cars. Liu Jun saw that Liang Sishen was also there, driving a Porsche, creating a momentary highlight at the scene alongside Shen Huadong’s car. Qian Hongming became a marginal figure at this point, following everyone to look at cars one by one, but couldn’t join the conversation. Those topics were far from him – they were all topics that could only emerge after having enough food and warmth. Qian Hongming didn’t force himself into conversations either. He listened silently, using his excellent brain to record like a magnetic disk. He finally understood what should be pursued after having enough food and warmth to avoid showing ignorance. But the blood-spitting prices of these cars – even Liu Jun’s tailless shameless car had such a flesh-biting price.
Although Liang Sishen’s Porsche was present, Shen Huadong stubbornly grabbed Liu Jun, demanding a competition. Liu Jun smiled: “If Tyson were to spar with a middleweight boxing champion, would people laugh at him? Find Miss Liang – very likely your start won’t be as good as hers, no, far worse than hers.”
Shen Huadong smiled lightly: “I’ve known her for ten years. How could I not know? I didn’t even expect her to come today. She associates with people of my dad’s generation. Come on, don’t be stage-frightened. I heard you specifically learned racing… or should I help you ask Miss Liang to lend you her car?”
Liu Jun called out loudly: “Miss Liang, Dongdong says he’ll race…”
Shen Huadong quickly covered Liu Jun’s mouth and had to change his invitation to race with Liang Sishen instead. Shen Huadong never expected that he would lose, losing at the starting line. Liang Sishen’s hundred-kilometer acceleration was too fast. When both cars returned from the finish line, Liu Jun laughed loudly at Shen Huadong: “Okay, Dongdong, I’ll race my four-cylinder car against you, no problem. I can win you even while stepping on the gas pedal.”
Everyone laughed at Shen Huadong, who felt embarrassed and had to facilitate other people’s races. While watching others race, Liu Jun noticed that the beauty who jumped out of Shen Huadong’s car wasn’t Yu Shanshan, so he asked: “You didn’t go find Yu Shanshan later?”
“Yu Shanshan? Her heart only has you in it.” Seeing Qian Hongming nearby, Shen Huadong asked Qian Hongming: “Manager Qian has met Yu Shanshan, right? Isn’t she very good to A Jun?”
“Very good, but not suitable. Both are hot-tempered enough.”
Shen Huadong greatly disagreed, feeling that Qian Hongming’s words sounded like those of a middle-aged housewife. What Shen Huadong disagreed with even more was Liang Sishen’s active attitude. He never expected Liang Sishen to play so wildly, willing to race any random car. After racing with him, she barely got out of the car. He felt something was abnormal.