vrcanaries Chapter 51 Day 1
Chapter 51 Day 1
"Why do you care how much they earn? We don't have to pay anyway. They hired ten people, and they hired one from their own family. There are nine vacancies left. They will start working the day after tomorrow. You can ask our relatives. There is not much work right after the autumn harvest. This is a good job." The village chief leaned against the quilt and took a deep puff of cigarette, blowing out a smoke ring comfortably. Suddenly, he remembered that Li Mingxia and the others had sent a piece of meat. Speaking of it, his family had not eaten meat for a long time. "Let's stew that piece of meat tonight to satisfy our craving."
The village head's wife picked up the two kilograms of meat, looked at it left and right, and rolled her eyes at him. "What are you eating? Our son will be home in a couple of days. What can't we eat at home? How can our son succeed in his studies if he doesn't eat something good?"
The village chief swallowed and wanted to say something, but the meat had already been taken out.
"Mom, our family doesn't seem to have enough food. Let's go to town tomorrow and buy everything." Li Mingxia returned home and looked around at the rice, flour and vegetables. It would take about five days for ten people to make enough food. Although it was just for lunch, it still didn't seem to be enough.
Zhang naturally had no objection, and the next day she took the children to the town. The meals they were provided with certainly could not be just japonica rice and white flour, so Li Mingxia bought 100 kilograms of cornmeal and coarse rice, and then some fresh vegetables, cabbage, potatoes, taro, eggplant and beans, and then cut three kilograms of meat and bought five large bones, which was almost enough.
After delivering all the things to Liu Da's ox cart, he took the children for a walk.
The three children were attracted by the sugar paintings. Li Mingxia directly paid for one for each of them. This made the three little kids very happy. They looked at each other's, and no one was willing to eat it first.
Li Mingxia ignored them and continued strolling forward. When he saw some snacks, he bought two for them. Finally, when everyone had had enough and had a great time shopping, they returned to the village.
After dinner that night, the nine people who were ready to go to work found by the village chief's wife all went to the village chief's house at the same time. They talked about this and that for a long time. Then a nephew of the village chief named Niu Dali spoke first.
"Uncle, isn't it said that Aunt Zhang is so poor that she can't even have food to eat? Why are they renovating the house again? Don't let us work for them in vain if they can't pay us." Niu Dali spoke directly, without caring whether what he said was unpleasant or not.
Village Chief Niu rolled his eyes. "They bought the bricks and sand and will deliver them tomorrow morning. They have already paid. How can they cheat you guys? Didn't you hear what Liu Da said? They bought rice, noodles, vegetables and other things in town, and also bought meat. I hear those gossipers in the village spread rumors every day. Zhang said that the wages will be paid every day. If you are afraid, don't go. There are many people who want to do this job!"
Niu Dali was not angry even though he was scolded by his uncle. He just chuckled and sat aside.
"Are you here for this matter today?" The village chief looked at the crowded people in the room and tapped the big pipe in his hand.
"How can you call me village chief? We are just here to chat. There is nothing wrong with that."
"The village chief is thinking of us, otherwise we wouldn't be able to do this job. We are grateful to him."
"That's it."
"Even if you can't trust the Zhang family, can you not trust the village chief?"
Niu Dali: But that’s not what you said at the door just now!
Village Chief Niu could of course see what these people were thinking, but he did not spoil their work. He just told them to work hard and be worthy of the wages. Of course, everyone agreed in unison.
The next morning, the bricks and sand were delivered. When everyone came to work, they saw that Li Mingxia and Zhang had already set up a small table at the gate of the courtyard. On it was a large teapot and three or five water bowls.
"Hello, uncles, aunts, and brothers. This is your first day at work. My mother said that we'll make an exception today. We'll settle today's bill before you start work, and we'll settle it tomorrow after work. We'll provide you with a meal at noon. We can't guarantee that the food will be good, but you'll definitely be full! If there's anything I can't take care of, please don't be offended!"
Everyone was stunned when they heard this. They were paid before they even started working?
Niu Dali's mouth was much faster than his brain, "Is there such a good thing? You better not be kidding me!"
Li Mingxia was not angry when she heard this. She also knew that Niu Dali had no bad intentions. She just took out the copper coins she had prepared long ago, counted out ten and handed them to him.
"Of course it's true. We live in the same village, how could I possibly lie to you?"
Li Mingxia's hands looked even whiter than jade in the early morning sun. Niu Dali took the handful of copper coins in a daze, and was then pushed to the back by the excited crowd.
Li Mingxia handed the purse to Zhang and went back to the house to prepare breakfast and lunch.
Zhang was still excited when she returned to the house. "These people are so polite. They keep calling me aunt or sister-in-law. I feel embarrassed to call them that."
Li Mingxia smiled and said, "I scream sweeter than them. Mom, you should give me a few coins. You can't let me do it for nothing."
Zhang was so coaxed into laughing by Li Mingxia that she actually took out a handful of copper coins and gave them to her, "Here, I'll give you whatever your daughter wants!"
After the ten people outside the door collected the copper coins, they felt full of energy. They took a sip of water and were ready to start working. It turned out to be sugar water?
"This, this water has sugar in it?!" Niu Dali poured a glass of water. The sweet taste made the water especially delicious, and he couldn't help but drink another bowl.
There were ten people, each taking a sip from a bowl, and soon the large teapot of water was empty. When Zhang came out, she picked up the teapot and saw that it was empty, so she looked up at the big sun in the sky.
The people who were working were a little nervous. Boiled water was not a good thing and was not valuable, but sugar water was different. It felt a bit unreasonable that they drank up the sugar water sent by the boss right after they started working.
"Da Li!" Zhang called out.
Niu Dali quickly agreed, "Auntie! What's the matter?"
"If you run out of water in the future, just come into the yard and tell me. If your aunt is not around, you can look for your sister Mingxia. You can't get thirsty while doing this hard work!" After saying this, Zhang took the teapot and went into the yard to add water.
No one said anything, but they were obviously working harder.
"One dish of stir-fried meat with shredded potatoes, one dish of braised cabbage with vinegar, one dish of bone soup, and one dish of cornmeal pancake."
Zhang was peeling potatoes while muttering about the dishes to be prepared for lunch. "Let alone Qianniu Village, I don't think any family in this area is as well treated as ours."