Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 220 Construction
Construction site in May.

"Xiao Yan, hurry up! What are you dawdling about?" Liu Jianlei cursed.

"Brother Lei, you're too fast!" Yan Hui said helplessly.

This guy named Liu Jianlei is the only friend Yan Hui has made in the last two months, and they have a decent relationship.

Liu Jianlei is from Jining and has been working in Jinan for three years. He is two years older than Yan Hui, and is a kind and honest man who is always very efficient.

They worked together to paint the high-rise building, one on each side, inside the same suspended basket.

"Hurry up, we can go home as soon as we finish this page!" Liu Jianlei said anxiously.

"Brother, we're hourly workers, not pieceworkers, what's the rush?" Yan Hui said, somewhat speechless.

"What do you mean by time or piecework? The foreman told me that I can go home after I finish painting this side today!" Liu Jianlei urged Yan Hui, "Hurry up."

"Brother Lei, is there some good news for you tonight?" Yan Hui asked, somewhat puzzled.

"What good news could I possibly have? I just got paid yesterday, and I'm thinking of going out for a few drinks tonight! That braised pork at the Ximen restaurant is absolutely amazing. I had a piece at noon and two bowls of rice with it! It's a shame I can't drink alcohol at noon, but I'm definitely going to have at least half a jin tonight!" Liu Jianlei was very interested in this.

“Okay, let’s go out for dinner together tonight, but I can’t drink.” Yan Hui quickened his pace.

"You're a good person in every way, and you're also quite capable, so why don't you drink?" Liu Jianlei said with some regret.

He and Yan Hui had been together for over half a month, and as a newcomer, he had seen Yan Hui's performance firsthand.

He's hardworking, can endure dirt, and isn't afraid of death; he's clearly good material for a job.

However, Yan Hui doesn't drink alcohol, which causes him great distress. His only hobby in life is a drink, and he's relatively moderate, only drinking in the evening and never at noon. It's understandable that he's in pain when he can't drink with friends at dinner.

"I really can't drink it, it's due to health reasons." Yan Hui didn't mention the warehouse job.

He was naturally concerned about his brother-in-law's warehouse. Every day when he came over, he would carefully check the surroundings for any suspicious people and see if anyone was following him.

"Oh, what a pity. Do you think the food wasn't good? When you have the chance, come with me to my hometown for a banquet. I don't believe you can't drink alcohol with that kind of food!" Liu Jianlei recounted the grand banquets he had attended.

"Sure, I'll go with you sometime," Yan Hui said with a smile.

Applying materials at heights is a very tough job. It's manageable at higher levels, but it gets more and more difficult as you go down.

The building Yan Hui was painting was 33 stories high, about 99 meters from top to bottom. The ropes got longer as you went down, and the suspended basket was prone to swaying in the wind.

This thing is quite safe. The suspended basket has a suspension rope and a safety rope. In addition, he and Liu Jianlei also had safety ropes tied around their waists.

As they were chatting, a gust of wind blew by, and the hanging basket began to sway. The two of them skillfully squatted down and waited for the wind to pass.

"This wind in May is really annoying, it just won't stop, how am I going to finish this?" Jianlei said, somewhat annoyed.

The hanging basket swayed back and forth, giving Yan Hui a headache: "Brother, aren't you afraid?"

"What are you afraid of? Don't we have safety ropes?" Liu Jianlei shook his head. "To be honest, I never say this job is good! When people ask me, I always say it's extremely dangerous, that several people have fallen to their deaths on construction sites! Guess why? Hey! I don't want them to steal my good job! If I could work a full shift from morning to night, making over 100 yuan a day, where else could I find this kind of work?"

"Brother Lei, what do you want to do with all that money you're making?" Yan Hui gripped the hanging basket tightly.

"Eat meat, drink alcohol, get married! I go home every two or three months to give my parents money and ask them to save it for me. I'm their only son, how can I not work hard?" Liu Jianlei retorted, "What are you saying? Who doesn't want more money?" "That's true." Yan Hui gritted his teeth and continued to endure the swaying of the hanging basket.

During this time, his mood gradually calmed down and his emotions returned to normal.

The more normal it seemed, the more frightening he became about the suspended platform. Suspended platforms of that era were very traditional, with safety relying entirely on safety ropes and helmets.

"Brother Lei, is the wind really not even level five?" Yan Hui felt the whole cage was floating.

He had barely finished speaking when he heard a loud bang as the basket slammed against the wall.

"Almost level 5. Hmm. Never mind, just squat down."

According to construction standards, high-altitude operations are not permitted in winds of force 5, but there's nothing anyone can do when that happens.

The suspended platform itself is usually fine, and the safety ropes are usually safe. However, if the wind is too strong and the platform is blown away, and then the wind direction changes suddenly, the platform will crash into a building. In that case, the workers inside the platform will be in no different from being in a car accident.

Fortunately, the wind didn't last long, and after a minute or two, we could continue applying the material.

Around 6 p.m., the two finished their work for the day and went straight to the restaurant near the entrance without even changing their clothes.

Yan Hui had a very good appetite, much better than last year, and ate a pancake in no time.

After finishing his meal, Yan Hui received a call from his brother-in-law.

"Xiao Hui, I'm going to the construction site to install air conditioners tomorrow. Are you free?" my brother-in-law asked.

"Tomorrow, morning or afternoon?" Yan Hui put the phone aside and looked at Liu Jianlei. "Brother Lei, what's the work schedule for tomorrow?"

"I don't know, but I'll definitely be busy tomorrow morning, and it's hard to say about the afternoon."

"Oh, oh, oh," Yan Hui then said to his brother-in-law, "Brother-in-law, what time are you tomorrow?"

"I need to go this morning, so you should ask for leave," my brother-in-law said.

In my brother-in-law's opinion, installing air conditioners is more profitable, and it's a skilled job, so he can work with me in the air conditioner business in the future.

"Okay, I'll ask for leave. I'll come to your company to see you first thing tomorrow morning."

"No need, you can just wait for me in the warehouse."

After they finished talking, Yan Hui asked Jian Lei, "Is it convenient for you to take the day off tomorrow?"

"Is it convenient? There's not much work left on this building. But once you leave, it's hard to say whether the suspended platform will still be yours when you come back," Liu Jianlei said with some concern.

"There's nothing I can do about it. If it doesn't work out, I'll do some odd jobs when I get back tomorrow afternoon, or I can just hang the ropes," Yan Hui said.

"Hanging the rope? Nobody's going to fight over that. Okay, go ahead. To be honest, my dad always tells me to learn a skill. Look at you, you have a skill, you can fix air conditioners, so you can even afford a phone." Liu Jianlei took a bite of his flatbread. "I'll just work hard here, there's plenty of money to be made here!"

"Okay, I'll come see you tomorrow afternoon." Yan Hui rubbed his stomach; he was already full.

Liu Jianlei could eat even more than him, and had a particularly good appetite, but Yan Hui was always willing to split the cost of meals with him, so the two of them always had a good relationship.

(End of this chapter)