Country Driving [160]
In the courtyard of the Geley compound stood a cement pool and a cement stand with three flagpoles. Every day they flew the Chinese flag, a red Geley company flag, and the American Stars and Stripes. Geley’s products were sold in boxes that advertised “American Geley Professional Electrical Engineering.” Workers told me the business had investors from the United States, but when I asked around, I found no evidence of foreign money. Probably it was just a way of gaining prestige: people in factory towns believe that foreign-invested companies are better run. And Ji Jinli was clearly conscious of face. In Lishui he commissioned an impressive factory gate with two big cement lions, and the main entrance hall (cement steps, cement guard stand) featured a quote by the owner in his flowing calligraphy. The words had been reproduced in gold metal and blown up to such size that they covered half a wall:
THE TREMORS OF THE FUTURE
ARE HAPPENING RIGHT BEFORE YOUR EYES
This slogan was also printed atop the cardboard boxes used to ship Geley’s main product line, which was marketed as “The Jane Eyre Series.” The Jane Eyre Series consisted of plastic switches and electric outlet covers that began at a price of two dollars and ninety-seven cents. To some people, it might seem absurd or pretentious to name a light switch after a character in a classic Victorian novel. But such folks have probably never manufactured buttons for a living, and they most certainly did not grow up as peasants in Qiaotou.
Everything depends on perspective, and somehow Boss Wang always found himself looking up at his neighbors. Here in Lishui, he and Boss Gao had nothing to rival Geley: no cement lions, no gold calligraphy, no foreign flags, no Brontë protagonists. They hadn’t even put up a sign for their factory. But at least the Machine was in working order, and three days after setting off fireworks the bosses posted a handwritten notice next to the factory door:
WORKERS WANTED
Looking for 30 female workers
and 15 male workers
Qualifications:
1. Ages 18 to 35, middle-school education
2. Good health, good quality
3. Attentive to hygiene, willing to eat bitterness and work hard
Boss Wang needed men to handle the big metal punch presses, which manufacture the rough rings used on the Machine’s assembly line. Mostly, though, he planned to hire women. The majority of the factory’s jobs were unskilled and required little strength: workers had to sort underwire, monitor assembly lines, and package finished bra rings. Like other factory managers, Boss Wang expressed a strong preference for young female workers.
“Girls have more patience and they’re easier to handle,” he explained. “Men are more trouble—they start fights or cause some other problem.” When I asked about the ideal worker, Boss Wang said that she should be young and inexperienced. “If she’s already had other jobs, then I’ll just have to pay her more,” he said. For the same reason he preferred a candidate to have little formal education. It was a bad sign if she dressed well or had a distinctive hairstyle. Pretty girls were a risk. “I want a person to look average,” Boss Wang said. “I don’t want somebody who’s too complicated. I don’t want somebody who thinks, ‘If I feel like doing something, then I’m going to do it.’ That’s no good for me.” One of Boss Wang’s questions in job interviews was to ask about hobbies. If a candidate said “Playing cards” or “Spending time with friends,” that was a negative—too frivolous. “Reading books” indicated that an applicant was lazy. Worst of all was a job candidate who said she spent free time on the Internet.