Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 8 Construction Site

Old Xia put down the cleaned bone, wiped his hands with a rag, took a sip from his wine cup, and said, "It's up to her. If she wants to take the exam, she can take it; if she wants to work, she can work. You can't control that, can you? That's a pretty good idea."

Aunt Xia rolled her eyes and said, "It's all because you spoiled me."

Old Xia chuckled and said, "If I don't spoil her, who will? Besides, is Xiao Xiu bad at housework or at managing the household? She just loves to play. What kid doesn't play? Her dad earns money, so it's no trouble for her to eat and dress well."

Station Master Wang picked up his wine cup and clinked it against Old Xia's, saying, "That makes sense."

Xiao Wei silently gnawed on his bone, listening to the two doting fathers lecturing on their daughter.

After Lao Xia and Station Chief Wang had eaten and drunk their fill, Aunt Xia had taken a nap in the room next door, and Xiao Wei had also dozed off a few times on the sofa.

Old Xia, shaving his teeth, saw Station Chief Wang and Xiao Wei out, walking all the way to the main gate.

"No need to come tomorrow morning, I'll pick him up directly from your station," Old Xia spat and said to Station Chief Wang.

Station Master Wang washed his face at the tap by the gate and said, "Okay. Go back and lie down for a while. We're going back now. Come to my place for a drink sometime."

The three parted ways. Station Master Wang drove Xiao Wei through the county town, all the way to the south side of the town. The cement road ended abruptly there, and in front of them stretched an endless expanse of rice paddies. It was almost autumn, and the rice paddies were beginning to turn yellow. The wind blew, and the rice swayed gently in the wind, forming ripples.

After getting off the bus, Station Master Wang stretched lazily in front of the rice paddies and pointed to the side, saying, "Look there, see? That's where you'll be starting work soon, six buildings in total. Over there, that used to be a winery, they're going to build buildings there too, they've all been demolished, they're going to build a new county committee compound, all of this work is your Uncle Xia's. Work hard with him, I don't expect you to get ahead, just learn something practical so you can support your family in the future."

Xiao Wei nodded as he looked at the construction site in the distance and said, "Don't worry, Uncle, I understand."

……

The next morning, Xiaowei followed Station Chief Wang to the Agricultural Machinery Bureau. While Station Chief Wang went to work, Xiaowei sat in the guardhouse, chatting idly with the gatekeeper.

Old Liu was a retired employee of the Agricultural Machinery Bureau. Before retirement, he was the head of the agricultural machinery station in the commune, and could barely be called a cadre within the organization.

The two had become quite familiar with each other, and their relationship had improved. As a result, Grandpa Liu had become more kind and gentle, always smiling.

"Kid, you can't afford to miss out on education. Look at the world now, even veterans aren't very useful anymore. You need high school and college graduates. They become cadres, have ranks, and get promoted quickly. What can you dig out of the ground? How old are you? Sixteen? Have Station Chief Wang find you a place to study, take the exams, and you'll be good for nothing in the construction industry. You can't be a skilled worker, and you'll be working like a dog for a measly 0.8 yuan a day. You'll have trouble even getting a wife."

Xiao Wei laughed and said, "I won't pass the exam. I haven't studied for years, and I only know a few characters. There are so many subjects to take in high school and university, like math, politics, physics, chemistry, etc. I've never even seen the books. I also have to learn a foreign language. I'm too late. But I can build a house. I'll do my best. Don't let my skinny appearance fool you, I'm strong."

Grandpa Liu patted himself with his fan, sighed, and said, "You still have to go to the city. We can't do it in the countryside anymore. You can see the difference just by looking at the schooling. It's not easy for rural kids. When you go there, be more observant, listen more, do more, and talk less. Don't do things you're not allowed to do, and be careful, understand? Those are ten or twenty meters high. One careless move and you're done for."

Xiao Wei nodded in agreement: "Yes, my uncle told me, I've remembered."

A Duke car pulled up and stopped at the gate. Old Xia poked his head out of the window, looked around, and called out, "Xiao Wei."

Xiao Wei jumped up and ran out to reply, "Hey, Uncle Xia, I'm here."

Old Xia nodded to Xiao Wei and said, "Come on, get in the car, I'll take you there."

Old Liu came out with a palm-leaf fan and said, "Xia, have you made all the arrangements? Don't tire yourself out."

Old Xia said, "How could I not care about my own nephew? Don't worry, Old Liu. Has your son come back yet?" He took a pack of cigarettes from the car, stuck it out the window, and tossed it to the old man. The old man caught the cigarettes, looked them over, and said, "No, not yet. There's still a year to go. I'll come find you when he comes back."

Old Xia said, "What's the use of coming to me? You should just go to your bureau chief. This kind of thing needs to be discussed and prepared in advance."

Old Liu shook his head, stuffed the cigarette into his pocket, and said, "You know how it is. These new young guys are different from the old ones. They're from up there, so it's pointless to date them. I almost had to go home as a gatekeeper. I'll need you guys to help me out then."

Old Xia said, "Alright, if you, Old Liu, don't mind being coaxed, just let us know when the time comes. At worst, you can work for me. Putting aside everything else, supporting a family is definitely not a problem. Alright, I'm off then. Let's have a drink together sometime." With a wave of his hand, the Duke glided silently towards the south end of the county town.

Old Liu watched the car drive away, sighed, and went back to the guardhouse.

Inside the car, Lao Xia said to the driver, "A lot of people have come down from above this time, right? Agriculture, agricultural machinery, the court, transportation—it's all from above. It won't be so easy to get anything done from now on. Old Liu has been in the agricultural machinery business for most of his life, and look at him now, even his children have to ask me, an outsider, for jobs. Relationships are getting thinner and thinner."

The driver nodded and said, "Things are different now. Now it's all about money. You can't do anything without money. Society has changed a lot."

Old Xia nodded, lit a cigarette, and said, "Old Li is going to the city next year. He hasn't decided where yet. He'll either join the Organization Department or become a vice mayor. We need to keep up. We need to prepare and scout things out in advance. Next year, we'll go to the city to build buildings. It's all about making money, right? We men don't care about that."

The driver said, "Okay, I'll arrange for someone to go. There's really nothing in the city. I told you I'd go a long time ago, but you wouldn't agree. We have plenty of people from our county working in the city—a bunch of deputy mayors and bureau chiefs. Do you think we'd be at a disadvantage?"

Old Xia thought for a moment and said, "These favors, the more you use them, the less valuable they become. Forget it, I'll just take it one step at a time."

In the time it took to say a few words, the car arrived at the construction site. The three people got out of the car and walked in through the gate made of welded iron pipes.

Just inside the gate was a row of makeshift houses, pitch black inside and you couldn't see much. The driver called out, "Xiao Wu." A voice answered, and a man came out, greeting, "Brother Jianjun, hey, boss, you're here too! Come in and have a seat?"

Old Xia said, "We're not going in. Your room stinks, how can we go in? Grab a few hats, Jianjun and I will go in and see if anything's happened lately."

Xiao Wu turned and walked into another room, taking out his keys as he said, "Nothing much, just that the brick factory came to collect a debt, and I blocked them. We don't care about their small amount, I don't know why they're in such a hurry." He opened the door, went in, took out three safety helmets, and then locked the door again.