Back to 1978

Chapter 104: Are you going to break down for the sake of the child?
"Er Mianfei, as the production team leader, you are blatantly standing against the masses and going against everyone. What's the matter? You treat us as animals and just sell us away when you say so..." Upon hearing what Xie Hushan and Han Hongzhen said, a group of young men looked at Ma Laowu on the steps with dissatisfaction and started questioning him.

Why did they just assign me to do odd jobs for the sideline group without my permission? Why did they just assign me to do it without even mentioning how much bonus points I would get?

And listen to how harsh Xie Hushan’s words are. He tells the fourth sister that he should treat his brothers like animals instead of human beings.

Is this the attitude you should have when asking someone for help with work?

Everyone was complaining about Xie Hushan taking off his pants to fart. They are all buddies. If there is any work in the sideline group, Xie Hushan can just tell them directly and they can help to finish it privately. Why did he specially call them to gather and look for Ma Laowu?
Now that this beast has said such a decisive thing, there is no way that we can help him. We will definitely stand in a circle around him, put our arms around his shoulders and watch him work on his own, tiring himself to death, you bastard!
"Bang~" Not far away, Feng the Blind, the one-eyed man from Team 7 who specialized in making popcorn on the sideline of going door to door, turned on the high-pressure popcorn stove, which made a loud noise, and made a portion of popcorn. He called on the children who were watching the fun nearby to grab a handful each, soliciting business and tricking the children into going home to ask their parents for food and change.

The loud noise interrupted the militiamen's words, and then they took their anger out on him. The militiamen led by Chen Daxi grabbed most of Feng Xiazi's popcorn, put it in their clothes and walked over, eating while continuing to criticize Ma Laowu.

Just as these young militiamen were eating popcorn and had already made up their minds not to give Ma Laowu and Xie Hushan face, Ma Laowu said to them:

"Hu San'er will take you to the West Mountain to open a kiln. He will provide you with three meals a day and give you 15 cents in cash every day."

"If I wasn't too old and he didn't want me to go, I would have wanted to go too! If anyone doesn't want to go, please tell me now! I'll let someone else go!"

The resentment and disdain on everyone's faces immediately turned into gratitude. Without even bothering to eat popcorn, they hurried to Ma Laowu's side and stood around him. The look in their eyes when they looked at Xie Hushan had quickly changed from that of a buddy to that of a class enemy!
Although 1.5 cents in cash is not a lot, if you give it every day, it will be four dollars and fifty cents in a month.

The supply and marketing cooperative sells white Dacron shirts for eight yuan each, and Dacron floral dresses for twelve yuan each!
If you save up some money before summer and buy yourself a white shirt, it will be a plus on a blind date. Once you find a partner, you can buy her a skirt. Once she's touched, she might be willing to ask you to help rub her back in the evening.

It can be said that Ma Laowu's words of 1.5 cents a day in cash have made these hormone-rich people quickly think divergently, from 1.5 cents to successfully marrying the village beauty they like, and what to name the child born after rubbing someone's back.

Chen Daxi suddenly had an idea. He swallowed the popcorn in his mouth and said to Ma Laowu:
"Uncle Wu... well, it's not that I don't want to go... I just want to ask, can I sign up for my dad as well?"

"Yes! Uncle Five, my dad can go too!" Hearing Chen Daxi's words, others also spoke up.

When they heard that meals were provided and they could get 1.5 cents in cash every day, these guys immediately changed their disrespectful attitude towards Ma Laowu, and their words were full of respect and flattery for their elder, Uncle Wu.

If there is such a good thing, why don't you kill the scum like Xie Hushan in the sideline group? What are you waiting for?
The sideline group is the tail of capitalism and must be cut off harshly!

"What the hell are you signing up for? You're just here to make enemies, and you're signing up for your dad. What are you thinking?" Xie Hushan was so angry that he walked over and kicked Chen Daxi and the other guys who wanted to sign up for their own fathers, cursing:

"I don't want any of you eleven good-for-nothings, and you want to bring your families with you. You're really bold! Ma Laowu from the production team is the one who has the final say and is forcing people to share responsibilities. When I find a chance, I'll be the first one to kick him out!"

As early as the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Taoist Luo and Taoist Junior took a handlebar-type cart to Yakou. Jin Mancang took Taoist Luo to the Yakou Brigade to look for soil suitable for making bricks. Maybe it was good luck, and the Yakou Brigade was lucky. After searching for four days in the cold winter, Taoist Luo really found the red soil that he thought was most suitable for making green bricks in a valley.

The newly appointed production team leader Lao Jiang and accountant Jin Mancang have been leading the members at Yakou to carry out work such as leveling the ground.

Xie Hushan went to Ma Laowu and told Luo Laodao that he would definitely not be able to help with brick-making for a long time, as he had to go back to the mountains to practice, so the technology of brick-making and kiln building had to be mastered by the people of Team 3 as soon as possible.

He wanted Han Hongbing, Chen Daxi, Ma Saner, Wu Shuanzi, and Wang Chong to go with him to the cliff, so that they could learn Luo Laodao's skills and become technical backbones.

In this way, Production Team 3 mastered the technology, while Yakou Team was responsible for the heavy physical labor, working one-on-one and combining work and rest.

At the beginning, Ma Laowu kept nodding his head as he listened, and he agreed very much with Xie Hushan's words. Technology must indeed be mastered by one's own team, and the communication between the two sides was very smooth.

It was not until Ma Laowu heard Xie Hushan say that Xie Hushan would settle the wages of the people working in the brick kiln at Yakou to the Yakou Production Brigade where the laborers were located every quarter based on the number of people and the value of work points, and also subsidize each person with 1.5 cents per day, that he and Accountant Zhao went crazy.

Such a good thing, this bastard Xie Hushan actually wants to give it to an outsider?
Especially when he heard that there were already twenty people helping the brick kiln to level the land, Ma Laowu's heart bleed. For twenty people, the subsidy for them would be three yuan a day, and he also had to pay the other production team wages according to the value of their work points.

This is not poverty relief at all, this is taking the money of Zhongping Production Team 3 and giving it to Yakou Brigade for nothing!

Ma Laowu disagreed no matter what, saying that he wanted Luo Laodao to come to Zhongping to look for suitable soil, so that when the brick kiln was opened, all the people would be employed. Xie Hushan argued with Ma Laowu for a long time, saying that the work points of the two production teams were worth different. The work points of a laborer in Yakou Brigade were only worth 20 cents a day, and 20 cents could make an adult laborer work for a day in the brick kiln.

How much is the work point of a laborer in the Zhongping Production Team 3 worth now? Thanks to the increase in income from the sideline groups, this year's work points have increased from 96 cents last year to 1.13 cents.

The money to hire one laborer in his own production team is enough to hire nearly six in Yakou Brigade.

Moreover, when doing business, it is best not to use family members. Otherwise, it will be very troublesome to manage. They are all relatives, so what if they make a mistake?
Lao Jiang and Jin Mancang now help him carefully select twenty hard-working and diligent laborers, and they are paid only seven dollars a day without any meals.

To put it bluntly, if the two braised pork stalls in his sideline group had good business, the money he earned in a day would be enough for him to hire a hundred members from Yakou.

But Ma Laowu believed that no matter how expensive it was to hire labor from his own production team, the money would eventually return to the team, and the year-end dividends would be shared by everyone in Production Team 3. However, no matter how cheap the people from Yakou Team were, they would still share the profits after their wages were paid at the end of the year.

The wicked Accountant Zhao at the side even gave some dirty advice, saying that there was nothing wrong with helping one poor person at a time, but that meant that the Yakou Brigade should send as many people as our Team Three, only then can we help one poor person at a time.

Ma Laowu nodded repeatedly after listening, praising Accountant Zhao's idea. He asked Xie Hushan to cooperate according to Accountant Zhao's method, and that Team 3 should send as many people as Yakou sent out.

Finally, after much persuasion, Ma Laowu squeezed eleven people into the team. These eleven people meant that no matter whether the sideline group's new brick kiln project made money or not, the sideline group had to settle their wages with the production team at the end of the year at the rate of one yuan and thirty cents a day. Because the road was long, they had to set up shacks and provide meals, which of course, were provided by the food team.

That's why Xie Hushan's face looked so ugly. Why do we need so many skilled workers? Since Ma Laowu is the one who is stuffing people in, don't blame him for treating the skilled workers as part-time animals.

"You're not selling braised pork and you want me to watch them?" Han Hongzhen asked Xie Hushan.

Xie Hushan took a deep breath and signaled Han Hongzhen to walk away from him, away from Ma Laowu and Han Hongbing, and then he whispered:
"You should also go home and pack up quickly, and go to the cliff with the team. They are going to build a brick kiln there. Your task is, first, to do some research there and see if you can set up a small stall with Taozi and earn back the subsidies that our sideline group gives out every day. I give it out on the first day, and you have to find a way to make them spend the money on our business on the second day."

Han Hongzhen's eyelids twitched, and she thought, why are you sending it? Wouldn't it be better to just deduct the money directly?
"Secondly, we need to ensure the logistics of these gluttons and see how their food problem will be solved. When the team provides food, should we share it with the families in the village or should we cook and supply it ourselves?"

"Third, learn from me. After Han Laoer and I go out, you have to understand how to manage so many people every day, what work to let them do, how to dispatch the drivers to transport firewood and bricks, and how to sell our bricks. Don't always think about the stewed pork stall. You are the deputy team leader, and you must have a broad vision and pattern."

"You want Taozi to learn from you?" Han Hongzhen asked Xie Hushan in confusion.

Xie Hushan raised his voice and said to Han Hongzhen earnestly:
"You are stupid, she is my girlfriend and she is so thin, how can I bear to let her get tired? What if she gets too tired?"

"Besides, Taozi and I are not married. She is from the Yakou Brigade, and you are from the Zhongping Brigade. We are the same team. Although she and I may have a better relationship in life, we have a better relationship at work. We are going to Yakou for work this time. No matter how good our relationship is, we can't confuse public and private. In terms of management and technology, they must be members of our team. Moreover, you and Lao Meng have worked so hard for so long, you must be promoted. You are the deputy team leader, and Lao Meng is the deputy team leader's secretary."

Han Hongzhen was amused by the guy's tone. Before she could say anything, Feng the Blind, who was adding charcoal to the stove next to her, heard Xie Hushan's voice and thought someone was here to take care of the business. While busying himself, he said to the two people not far away without even looking up:

"It's New Year's Day, why are you going to make a big pot for the kids?"

Then Xie Hushan saw that Han Hongzhen, who had finally gotten over the matter of stealing the bellyband and was able to talk to herself as a normal person instead of a gangster, blushed because of Feng Xiazi's solicitation. She glared at Xie Hushan fiercely, turned around and left, swinging her braids.

Xie Hushan thought that this had nothing to do with him: "Hey, I said, it's not me who said this, why are you glaring at me? If you want to glare, you should glare at Blind Feng."

"Can he see me glaring at him?" Han Hongzhen said with shame and anger on her face, and then walked towards the team headquarters.

Blind Feng also finished filling the stove and raised his head, looking at Xie Hushan with his only eye: "I say, is it going to collapse?"

Xie Hushan said unhappily: "Even if we have to fight, I won't fight with you."

(End of this chapter)