Chapter 122

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Wang Changgen didn't want to work with Zhang Zhongtian, because Zhang Zhongtian's previous embezzlement of demolition compensation had left him with little good impression of Zhang Zhongtian.

Li Xiulan, however, felt this was a good opportunity; she was terrified of poverty, terrified of hardship, and she didn't care what Zhang Zhongtian was like — as long as he could lead her to earn money, he was a good village cadre.

So she said to Wang Changgen:

"We can go talk to Zhang Liangang; this is a good opportunity!"

Wang Changgen said coldly:

"Talk about what? We already agreed to the other party; we've only been working for a little over a month, how can we go back on our word? Don't you want this month's wages anymore?"

Only then was Li Xiulan left speechless.

Right, if they reneged now and refused to do Zhang Liangang's project, Zhang Liangang would be completely justified in withholding their settled wages.

A month's wages — not a huge sum, but not a small one either; the two of them together added up to over one thousand yuan!

"You two discuss it first; when you've decided, just let me know. I'm in no rush either — work doesn't start until next month. I'll head out first and not disturb you any longer. That's it, goodbye!"

Seeing Li Xiulan and Wang Changgen about to start arguing, Zhang Zhongtian didn't want to play peacemaker on the spot, so he hurriedly stood up and said his goodbyes, leaving.

After Zhang Zhongtian left, Li Xiulan said angrily:

"This is a good opportunity! Zhang Zhongtian is capable; following him, we might well get rich in a few years!"

Li Xiulan thought of Niu Chunsheng; looking back, if Wang Changgen hadn't gotten jealous and made trouble, insisting she break with Niu Chunsheng, she would have kept running a shop with Niu Chunsheng and would probably have gotten rich long ago — how could she be struggling on the edge of the poverty line now?

She felt Zhang Zhongtian and Niu Chunsheng were very alike — both capable men; never mind their character, never mind whether they had embezzled the previous demolition compensation — as long as they could lead her to make money, that was enough!

She was truly terrified of poverty!

She also knew deep down that opportunities like this were already few and far between!

Miss it again, and she might never have such an opportunity in this lifetime!

However, Wang Changgen just smoked, his face dark, and rebuked her:

"Being a person requires a conscience; we can't earn money by going against our conscience! You think Zhang Zhongtian is really that kind-hearted? He might just cheat us!"

Wang Changgen's temperament was just that stubborn, that rigid.

This was also the reason why he never earned much money when he went to the city to work before.

With that rigid personality of his, he was destined to only linger at the bottom all his life.

"You still have the nerve to talk to me about conscience? If you really had a conscience, would you keep a mistress outside? Does your conscience answer to me?"

Li Xiulan's words directly shut Wang Changgen up.

The biggest mistake of Wang Changgen's life was that when he worked outside, he couldn't bear the loneliness and had two girlfriends — one was the girl Li Xiulan had caught him with at the market town before, the other was his coworker Liu Xiaoli.

Now, whenever he and Li Xiulan quarreled, Li Xiulan would bring this up to scold him, and he simply had no way to refute it.

In the end Wang Changgen could only change the subject and say coldly: "Anyway, I'm going to finish Zhang Liangang's project before doing anything else; if you want to go with Zhang Zhongtian, then you go do it yourself!"

Li Xiulan knew Wang Changgen's stubborn character — once he decided something, eight oxen couldn't pull him back!

So she was so angry she gritted her teeth, yet had no recourse:

"I'm leaving; can you handle it alone?"

Wang Changgen said coldly:

"Worst case I'll hire a small worker!"

Li Xiulan got angry and stubborn:

"Fine then, you go hire a small worker yourself; I'm going with Uncle Zhongtian to work!"

Wang Changgen said coldly:

"Don't think Zhang Zhongtian's 20 yuan a day wage is easy to earn; he might just work you like an ox or a horse when the time comes!"

But Li Xiulan didn't listen to Wang Changgen's advice, insisting on going to do the highway construction project with Zhang Zhongtian.

The next day she went and told Zhang Zhongtian she was willing to work with him, but her husband had to continue doing Zhang Liangang's project.

Zhang Zhongtian laughed and said:

"Fine, then just you come; I won't force anyone else!"

On Wang Changgen's side, he called Zhang Liangang and told him his wife had something come up temporarily and wasn't doing it anymore, so they needed to find a new small worker.

Zhang Liangang was quite stunned, but didn't say much.

Because this happened to save him a bit of money.

So he said:

"My wife is free right now; how about letting her come be your small worker? What do you think?"

Wang Changgen said:

"Sure, completely no problem!"

Zhang Liangang's wife was called Chen Dongmei; Chen Dongmei had always stayed in the rural hometown, raising children on one hand and doing farm work on the other. When Wang Changgen and Li Xiulan came to work at her house, the noon meal was eaten at Chen Dongmei's home, so Wang Changgen and Chen Dongmei had known each other for a long time.

Wang Changgen knew Chen Dongmei was a hardworking woman, so he readily agreed.

Just like that, the small worker by his side was swapped from his own wife to someone else's wife.

And Li Xiulan went off to work with Zhang Zhongtian.

Late August 1999.

The engineering team building the highway entered Shanggou Village in a grand procession.

Countless heavy trucks hauling earth kicked up billowing dust — a sight the villagers had never seen before.

The excavator sliced the mountain north of Shanggou Village in half at the waist, gouging out a massive trench.

The village children, including the three Wang brothers, all came over to watch.

The engineering squad Zhang Zhongtian organized took part in the expressway construction; they mainly did odd jobs.

For example, building retaining walls against landslides on both sides of the mountain, and building drainage ditches along both sides of the expressway, and so on.

The work was grueling, the engineering team's rules were strict — they had to put in enough hours each day before they could clock off, and they still had to manually haul large stones halfway up the mountain.

Li Xiulan lasted only a few days before she was exhausted beyond measure.

Only then did she understand what Wang Zhanggen had told her earlier: don't think Zhang Zhongtian's twenty yuan is easy money — he really works you like an ox or a horse!

Li Xiulan thought Zhang Zhongtian was another Niu Chunsheng; in reality, her judgment could not have been more wrong!

Niu Chunsheng was willing to partner with her and split profits fifty-fifty; Zhang Zhongtian would never agree to split profits fifty-fifty with her!

Zhang Zhongtian is actually just a foreman — he earns a commission!

The contract passed down from above paid him thirty yuan per worker per day, yet he only paid the workers under him twenty yuan a day!

The money passes through his hands; he does nothing, yet pockets ten yuan from each worker every day!

This time he hired over thirty workers in total!

In other words, he can skim over three hundred yuan a day in commissions!

In 1999, over three hundred a day means around ten thousand a month! That's no small sum — in the countryside it counts as a fortune!

Whether this expressway construction will enrich Shanggou Village's villagers remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: Zhang Zhongtian will definitely get rich from it.