Chapter 125

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

All three children were in school now, and Li Xiulan was much more relaxed.

Rural schools were more like sheep pens; whether the children could actually study well was secondary — as long as they didn't stir up trouble at school, that was good enough.

Parents didn't have high expectations either; they only hoped their own kids would grow up healthy and safe.

If they could test into high school later, they'd go to high school; if not, they'd go out to work early to supplement the family income.

If a child wasn't willing to study, they wouldn't force it — going out to work was fine too.

Back then, who knew how many kids dropped out before finishing junior high to go work, some even dropping out before finishing primary school.

Li Xiulan's attitude toward the three children was the same — go with the flow, take it as it comes; if they could keep studying, let them study; if not, don't force it.

The children's grades — neither she nor Wang Zhanggen had ever pressed them hard about it.

When Wang Dashan used to rank bottom of the class, they'd get angry; now they didn't anymore, they'd accepted reality — Wang Dashan's head seemed congenitally missing a screw; not placing last would be abnormal.

Wang Erhai was also very mischievous, relying on a bit of cleverness, he didn't put his mind into studying at all — all day he just ran wild like a monkey, scrambling everywhere.

Only Wang Xiaohua still held a bit of hope.

In the blink of an eye, it was the end-of-term exams for last semester.

Wang Xiaohua took first place in the whole class with zero pressure, scoring full marks in both Chinese and math.

When Wang Xiaohua brought the award certificate home, Li Xiulan and Wang Zhanggen were both quite happy.

They pasted the certificate right in the middle of the living room wall, visible the moment you walked in.

"My son placed first, full marks in both subjects — impressive, right!"

Whenever guests visited, Wang Zhanggen would proudly show off to them.

His life had always been a string of failures, but his youngest son's existence seemed to let him glimpse a trace of success.

"So impressive! Your youngest son, so gentle and refined — one look and you can tell he's the scholarly type!"

The guests laughed and praised; Wang Zhanggen's vanity was greatly satisfied.

This year life seemed to show signs of a turn for the better — not only did the youngest son place first in class, but his masonry work at home was also gradually building a reputation.

This winter, right after Wang Zhanggen finished Zhang Dabiao's project, several more families came personally to invite him to raise buildings for them.

Wang Zhanggen's craftsmanship was good; most importantly, he was an honest man — his work quality was high, no cutting corners, no shady tricks, and his prices weren't high either, just the normal industry wage.

Even Shanggou Village's Party Secretary Zhang Zhongtian came to hire Wang Zhanggen to build a house.

"Zhanggen, I heard you just finished a project — how about you come help me build next year? This is a big project!"

Zhang Zhongtian walked into the living room and proactively handed Wang Zhanggen a cigarette.

Wang Zhanggen took the cigarette and hurriedly asked:

"Secretary Zhang, your family wants to raise a building too?"

Zhang Zhongtian laughed heartily and said:

"Yes, I plan to break ground next spring and build a Western-style villa even bigger than He Dazhu's!"

Wang Zhanggen was immediately surprised:

"That'll cost a lot — at least two hundred thousand!"

Wang Zhanggen's words weren't false — He Dazhu's Western-style villa was currently the most luxurious building in Shanggou Village, and its construction cost was naturally far higher than ordinary buildings!

He also asked Zhang Zhongtian:

"Secretary Zhang, do you have that much money?"

Zhang Zhongtian laughed heartily and said tactfully:

"Tighten the belt and save a bit, and we can still scrape together the money — you rest assured, your labor fee absolutely won't be shorted! Start as soon as you can, aim to move in by Spring Festival next year!"

Wang Zhanggen found it difficult:

"I'm afraid that's hard — doing it myself, I estimate at least a year and a half to finish, and that's not even counting renovation — after all, the workload is that huge."

Zhang Zhongtian said:

"Zhanggen, not to criticize, but can't you be a little flexible?"

"How to be flexible?" Wang Zhanggen had never thought about flexibility — he only thought of living off his craft, doing a day's work for a day's pay.

Zhang Zhongtian kindly suggested:

"How about this — I'll give you this whole project at a flat lump sum; you go hire some workers to work under you; however much you earn or don't earn in the end, I won't interfere — you just need to oversee it and guarantee the construction quality."

Wang Zhanggen's brows furrowed slightly, hesitating:

"Can that work? Work done by others — I can't guarantee the quality; I only dare guarantee the quality of what I do myself…"

Zhang Zhongtian couldn't help a wry smile:

"Just find a few trustworthy people to do it together! At worst, inspect the quality every day — I trust not only your craftsmanship, but also your character; that's why I'm comfortable handing the project to you!"

Wang Zhanggen still hesitated:

"This is a bit troublesome — I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it all…"

That's just how he was — severe small-peasant mentality; he only wanted to do his own share of work, earn his own share of money — even when a cooked duck was placed right in front of him, he didn't dare take a bite.

This was also the important reason why he never made anything of himself when he worked in the city before.

Actually, during that period the spring breeze of Reform and Opening Up blew across the land — if Wang Zhanggen had been just a little more flexible, just a little bolder, he should have been able to establish himself in the city easily, and might even have made a fortune.

Look at He Dazhu — in just a few years, he built a villa and a grand Western-style house, bought a small sedan, and even got a beautiful woman.

The reason a person stays poor, unable to get rich even in an era of great economic development, is more often poverty of thought and cognition.

"If you can't finish the project before the Spring Festival next year, then I'm afraid I'll have to find another foreman."

Seeing Wang Changgen's attitude, Zhang Zhongtian felt Wang Changgen probably wouldn't take on his project, so he said that line.

Wang Changgen indeed didn't want to take this project in his heart; he felt he couldn't handle it.

So he didn't press the matter:

"Alright then, you go find someone else."

However, at this moment, Li Xiulan walked in:

"Wang Changgen, what kind of talk is that! Uncle Zhongtian is our Shanggou Village's Village Committee Secretary, how can you refuse his project!"

As soon as Li Xiulan entered, she rebuked Wang Changgen thoroughly.

She had just been feeding chickens outside, and had heard Wang Changgen and Zhang Zhongtian's conversation in her ears.

She felt this was an opportunity to earn money, so she hurried over to stop Wang Changgen's mistaken decision.

"Secretary Zhang wants it finished before the Spring Festival next year, how can I possibly finish it? Open your mouth only as wide as the bowl of rice you can eat!"

Wang Changgen said coldly.

He didn't want to take the project only to fail to deliver on time at the end; that would lose the reputation he had painstakingly built up!

But Li Xiulan said:

"Didn't Uncle Zhongtian just say? We can contract it at a flat fare, then go find a few workers to come do it together! I think this matter is feasible; as long as we supervise the quality well, we'll definitely be able to build the building well and hand it over to Uncle Zhongtian before the Spring Festival next year!"

Wang Changgen wore a long face:

"Are workers that easy to find? Small workers can be found, but where would you go find big workers?"

Li Xiulan then said:

"If you don't look, how do you know you can't find them?"

Wang Changgen said coldly:

"You don't know shit! Big workers need skill! There aren't many people with skill!"

Seeing Wang Changgen and Li Xiulan, the couple, about to quarrel in front of him, Zhang Zhongtian hurriedly stepped out to smooth things over:

"Alright alright, stop quarreling, nothing to quarrel about! Family harmony brings prosperity in all things, harmony is precious, harmony is precious! How about this, you two discuss it first, discuss it well then tell me; if you don't want to take my project, I won't force it either, let's leave it at that, I still have other matters to be busy with, goodbye!"