It is Thursday - audit day.
A bit more specifically, the Provincial Supervisory Work Committee visits the villages of our district. That means I have to send my female employees home, and their husbands come here instead, who often already have a job in the city, performing volunteer work. This way, the inspectors don’t realize that I don’t follow the rules. They think my entire farm runs on the villagers’ volunteer work, who also receive civilian credits for it. Good for them!
But actually, my company runs thanks to the women of the village, who work for me 40 hours per week and are paid for it. Officially, we can’t work more than 28 hours per week, but the Vaentjes can’t get along with that. I don’t care that this would be ‘unfair competition.’ The women like to work the entire week and earn their own money. Society wants them to stay at home, like one century ago. It is forgotten how the work and their income give them back their self-esteem.
The villagers are the only ones who know what I do, but they close their eyes to it, as we are on good terms. With the solar panels and two small windmills that I have, I generate sufficient energy for my company, but I can also provide the entire village with energy - for a far lower price than that for the energy that comes from the nuclear power stations. It’s a win-win for everyone. I can work on a larger scale, the women have work and an income, the men receive civilian credits for work they only perform once a week, and the entire village gets inexpensive energy.
Of course, the physical audit on Thursdays is not all there is to it. Our activities and the employees’ profiles are also constantly monitored online. But my son found a solution to that. He’s a Nano prototyping major and truly talented. He easily manipulates all relevant data that could expose us. It is illegal, he knows, but the idea that the family business comes first is strongly ingrained in him. I am so proud of him. All this means that once again, I can receive the supervisory committee with a smile on my face and show them around the company today without fearing that something or someone will betray me.
