Chapter 1499

The silent village surged in the night, the pitch-black mountain forest reflecting the farmers planting in the fields under the cover of night at the foot of the mountain.

The night shift for Yanran and the other two was still ongoing, and the vegetable seedlings, costing ten or twenty yuan per unit, made the farmers who had been tilling the land their whole lives feel constrained:

"How do you plant this large-leaf Malabar spinach? We haven't grown this around here."

"Do these pumpkin vines only grow tips? Is it the same as planting pumpkins then... Oh, oh, oh, they grow pumpkins too."

"Do these wolfberry sprout branches need to be cut for propagation? Just stick them into the soil, right?"

Yanran and the other two rode their electric scooters around the village, exhausted; thanks to the small number of seedlings, they managed to get everything sorted out by the time the moon was high in the sky.

But it wasn't over yet.

When they returned to the dormitory, the night shift security guards were changing shifts. Seeing them ready to set off, Tang Xiaodong suddenly let out another "Aiya": "Don't rush to lie down yet; come and study how to talk to the village about soil improvement and fertilization tomorrow."

The soil quality in many of their vegetable plots was mediocre, and any results were entirely due to diligent tilling. There were also some wild plots opened up in a rush during the spring where the soil was severely compacted; after a few waterings, the seedlings probably wouldn't even grow.

Qi Lin had stayed in the village for a long time and had long since stopped keeping night shift hours; by nine o'clock, he was too sleepy to open his eyes. Yanran was the same; at this moment, she was too lazy to even move when looking at the midnight snack prepared by the kitchen for the vegetable pickers, simply waving at Tang Xiaodong:

"Let's talk about it tomorrow, I'm too sleepy... I still have to eat early in the morning!"

Tang Xiaodong was actually yawning from sleepiness too, and his muddled brain thought for a moment: "What are we eating tomorrow morning?"

Yanran walked slowly toward the single dormitory on the slope next door, recalling the menu as she went—

"It seems to be tomato and egg dough drop soup, served with mugwort pancakes."

These past two days, many tourists had been picking wild vegetables, picking everything big and small, whether they recognized them or not. For some wild vegetables where there were only two or three plants, they hadn't taken them away.

Master Jiang had collected a small basket of white mugwort here; although it was a bit old, if you paired it with vermicelli and minced meat, and fried it in a pan with dough...

Tang Xiaodong's spirits lifted: "Then let's hurry back and sleep; we'll discuss it after breakfast at seven tomorrow!"

The fragrant mugwort pancakes indeed attracted everyone. Early the next morning, not to mention those who worked, even the night shift employees climbed up to wash their hair and faces, grab a bowl of appetizing and refreshing dough drop soup, and pair it with two pancakes; that taste...

It was incredible!

Sister Zikao, Brother Qiewei, and the others had been here for several months now. While eating breakfast, they were conflicted and sighed: "With food like this every day, will I even be able to find a job in the future!"

This was a big problem.

Being here, the night shift paid 1400 in bits and pieces, and with the day shift tea picking added together, someone as diligent as Liu Liu could earn 6000, and those who weren't as diligent could basically earn over 4000.

Apart from the lack of social insurance and housing fund, the conditions of provided food, housing, and no overtime were already quite generous.

If it were a big city, 4000 would really not be worth mentioning; it would only be enough to survive.

But in the village, except for the small shop, they didn't even have the desire to shop online, and instead could save more—this was just absurd!

Brother Qiewei had a small appetite; at this moment, he used a spoon to drink the dough drop soup slowly, biting the dough drops one by one, and finally said profoundly: "I'm different from you all. You are still young, able to strive, and have ambition."

He was finished.

After working for a few years, his stomach had been operated on, and all sorts of medical insurance and commercial insurance had ended up costing him a large sum of money. Although sales jobs weren't afraid of having no demand, after living a regular life for a few months, he couldn't handle the grind anymore!

No joke, he was too sleepy to open his eyes by eight or nine in the evening; if it weren't for the two hours of picking vegetables at night, he could sleep until dawn!

Therefore, Brother Qiewei was also sincere: "When I have time, I want to ask if I sign a contract to become a formal employee, can I also get social insurance and a housing fund?"

He spoke mysteriously: "You say, if they really pay for the housing fund, then when the houses in the town are built in two years, won't I have nothing to worry about?"

He spoke logically, clearly having thought about it more than once.

Sister Zikao was dumbfounded: "Brother, you finally managed to get out; isn't it good to go back to your hometown to retire and accompany your parents?"

Brother Qiewei gave a bitter smile: "Sister, you don't understand. People like us who come from poor mountain villages either listen to our parents our whole lives, getting married when we should and having two kids when we should. Or we are successful, especially successful..."

He sighed: "The hometown isn't that easy to return to."

It wasn't that he didn't have a good relationship with his parents; it was... the pressure, he couldn't bear it anymore.

He was a college student from a poor mountain village many years ago, majoring in marketing. After graduation, apart from sales positions, he was a "client manager." At first, he couldn't let go of his pride and had no performance, and the 1000 yuan base salary every month in the big city...

In Brother Qiewei's words: "I felt like begging for food."

But parents in rural areas are very hard to understand this feeling. In their imagination, once you graduate from college, you should have a good job and a good unit, or find a job with a certain annual salary... If that really doesn't work, you can take the civil service exam!

College major? Aiya, that's not important!

They couldn't understand, but they had also worked their fingers to the bone to support their child.

The reason Brother Qiewei worked so hard was because the pressure was too great.

Later, he earned money, built a house for his parents, bought home appliances, and wherever he went, people knew he had earned money. His parents were already arranging blind dates for him, preferably buying a house in the city...

Brother Qiewei worked even harder; he also wanted to have a place to settle down.

But now...

He wiped his face: "I haven't told my family yet, just said I changed to a new company and am negotiating projects in the mountain area..."

Sister Zikao was also silent.

But...

"If you keep working here, what will your parents do for their retirement?"

"I don't know." Brother Qiewei gave a bitter smile: "I really don't know—what's more, sister, with my current body, even if I return to the city, can I still have my previous performance?"

Staying up late to work overtime, accompanying people to eat and drink, which one could he handle?

Either be poor or die.

At least working in Yunqiao Village could steadily bring in four or five thousand, and most importantly, there was no corporate socializing at all.

With Master Jiang's skills keeping them hooked, they wouldn't even be willing to go to restaurants! He now takes a stroll after eating every day and even bought himself a game console.

As for near his hometown...

He thought about it and couldn't think of any job in the small city that could be like this. Watching the gate?

Several people were chatting about life and family, while Liu Liu had originally planned to go pick tea after eating—being able to save four thousand yuan a month while bringing up her child, for her, she was simply full of energy!

After listening to their chat, she only grasped one key point: "After we sign the contract, can we still have social insurance and a housing fund?"

Brother Qiewei was stunned: "The security guards have it... we should have it too, right? Aren't they arranging physical examinations for us?"

Liu Liu stood up instantly: "Aiya! Why didn't I know to ask before!"

She even tidied up the bowls and chopsticks and was about to go down the mountain immediately!

"Wait!" Sister Zikao stopped her: "Don't go directly to the boss! There's no room for maneuver if it doesn't work—look," she raised her head to signal to Yun Duo, who was serving food: "Isn't this the boss's assistant? Ask her first!"