Chapter 210: Fooling Lei Gensheng

"Old Lei, do you want your craft to stop being passed down?"

Facing the disrespectful Lei Gensheng, Yang Qing brought out his trump card.

Lei Gensheng heard his words and indeed stopped.

He turned his head, frowned, and looked at Yang Qing.

"What do you mean? Yang Qing, are you making fun of me?"

He was already a bit angry, and now he wasn't short of work; in the street construction team he was a head, so asking him to abandon a fine position to listen to a youngster like you—are you joking?

Yang Qing saw him pause, smiled, hurried a few steps to his side, and pushed him back to the office.

"What are you in such a hurry for? First listen to what I say, see if I'm right, then decide; it's only a matter of a moment's delay."

Lei Gensheng was thus pushed by Yang Qing back into the office.

After they sat down, under Lei Gensheng's piercing gaze, Yang Qing finally began to lay out his reasoning.

"Master Lei, as far as I know, your ancestors were all workers of the Imperial Construction Bureau."

"The Lei family's construction methods have shone for centuries."

"But now that it has come to your generation, how much have we learned?"

"Look at the new houses we build: they're all brick-and-tile, with few tiled houses, mostly bungalows."

"How much of your family's heritage can be applied here?"

"Times have changed, Master Lei. If you keep working in the street construction team, in less than twenty years your Lei construction will truly become a thing of the past."

"And the senior craftsmen in your crew—having them haul bricks and mud every day, is that really appropriate?"

"Isn't that a waste of talent?"

As Yang Qing spoke, Lei Gensheng's complexion kept shifting, and finally he sighed dejectedly.

"What can I do? As you said, craftsmen like us are already outdated; I'm just a half‑baked worker. The ones who truly master the construction methods are those senior craftsmen."

"But you also saw that they can barely make a living. In the past three years, several have left. If you hadn't caused trouble and pulled us back together, they might still be scraping by each meal."

"You call it the Lei heritage, but now it's a joke."

Yang Qing slapped the table.

"Since it's already this dangerous, you should bring me over then."

"Only here can your techniques continue."

Lei Gensheng gave him a disdainful glance.

"You? Home renovation?"

"It's not that I look down on you; can a few home‑renovation jobs even scratch the surface?"

"Lei construction isn't just home renovation; houses, gardens, palaces, temples—that's where we truly apply our craft."

"Trying to fool me? You're still a bit green."

Yang Qing chuckled.

"You've misunderstood; who says home renovation is only home renovation? Take my house—did you say we didn't use old techniques?"

"We are applying to expand our business scope and will acquire many houses and courtyards."

"Should these houses and courtyards be restored?"

"Don't forget the garden city plan I mentioned before."

"In the future, those vast gardens in Jingcheng—won't they need people?"

"As a designer, do I have any say?"

"Many buildings in Zijincheng are already dilapidated; should they be restored in the future?"

"We have no money now, but that doesn't mean we're always broke; see, our Long-term Rental project is earning money, isn't it?"

"Home renovation is just our starting point, not the end."

"Moreover, in my plan, the street construction team will mainly build houses; the technically demanding jobs will later be transferred to our home‑renovation company."

"Actually, if you don't come over, you'll only be building houses in the future; even our public housing renovations will shift to the home‑renovation company."

Hiss…

Lei Gensheng didn't expect that Yang Qing had set a trap for him; if he doesn't agree today, will his future be reduced to moving bricks and mud?

That reason is more than enough—whether it's Lei construction or not, his future is the fundamental issue.

He looked at Yang Qing and hesitated.

"You really aren't trying to fool me?"

Yang Qing assured firmly.

"I'm 100% certain. If you don't believe it, let's see how it goes."

"If a year passes without meeting your expectations, you can turn and leave; I won't stop you."

Lei Gensheng didn't immediately believe him and kept wavering.

"I need to discuss this with my uncles and elders first."

"I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

Yang Qing knew that the matter was probably settled.

With this group, Yang Qing's home‑renovation business will fit the Siheyuan environment even better.

Old bottles with new water—then there's both an outer shell and an inner core.

After Lei Gensheng left, Wan Ling came over.

"Brother‑in‑law, you're fooling Master Lei like this—aren't you afraid he'll kill you later?"

"The current construction team is thriving; you're asking people to give up a bright future to follow you into such an uncertain project?"

"Girl, we all think Yang Qing is being completely unreasonable, just fooling honest folks."

Yang Qing glared at her.

"It's not like you said being idle is fine, yet you insist on finding something to do?"

"If you're going to do it, you still have to do it well?"

"If you don't do it well, losing face is a small matter, but causing trouble is a big one."

I've schemed so much, isn't it just hoping it would bear fruit? If it withers midway, doesn't that show they have a problem?

The substitute shift plan failed; now the Jiedao enterprise is his main business.

Regarding the substitute shift matter, he still holds a grudge; to this day he still doesn't know who sabotaged it.

He Yuzhu, this guy, is utterly unreliable; to this day there's still no word from him.

Maybe Xu Damao has some leads, but that guy, because of He Yuzhu's matter, has already drifted far from him.

Lou Xiao'e, upon seeing him, is no longer as enthusiastic.

Furthermore, behind the rumor of his affair with the widow, Yang Qing saw Xu Damao's shadow.

Yang Qing pondered these matters while Wan Ling chattered away beside him, not knowing what she was saying; in any case, he automatically tuned her out.

"Brother-in-law, did you hear what I said?"

Wan Ling shoved the absent-minded Yang Qing hard and demanded loudly.

Yang Qing came to his senses.

"Yes, yes, yes, what you said is right..."

The scene suddenly fell silent, and Wan Ling, fuming, wanted to lash out.

Yang Qing blinked, wondering if he had misspoken.

"Otherwise, could you say it again?"

He said it in a somewhat appeasing tone.

Wan Ling snorted, turned, and walked away.

"I'm going out; you stay home and watch the door."

"I'm so angry, I'm so angry."

Watching Wan Ling walk away, Yang Qing felt somewhat bewildered.

Outside the Jiedao, a donkey cart carried night soil past the gate; the workers laughed heartily, feeling no shame about their occupation.

Yang Qing looked at that person's appearance, and suddenly someone sprang to mind.

Shi Chuangxiang.

He is a legendary figure; their group made a huge contribution to Jingcheng's sanitation cause.

Old Jingcheng had no concept of sewers; there were only drainage ditches. Before the 1960s, human waste had to be hauled out of the city by hand, and the entire Jingcheng supported a large number of night soil workers.

After the 1960s, night soil workers continued as a profession into the 1990s.

True sewers only began to be built after the 1980s.