Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 330 Contradictions
To put it bluntly, the root of the problem is a lack of money. Normal construction sites hire a large number of security guards to patrol day and night, but Yan Hui can't afford that. And if he only wants to hire one or two night shift guards, Yan Hui doesn't have any particularly good options right now.

Why are the security guards at construction site entrances mostly relatives of the leaders?

It's not that this is a lucrative position, but rather that no one trusts outsiders to fill such an important role, because it's all too easy for someone in charge to embezzle!

After much thought, I still can't come up with a good solution. Building a wall now would not only cost a lot of money, but it would also take a lot of time.

If only I had a big warehouse here, sigh.
Renting a warehouse nearby would also be troublesome. With so many materials, it's impossible to move them around every day, and building a warehouse here would be both expensive and time-consuming.

In short, after thinking about it for a long time, Yan Hui decided to take the most rudimentary approach: to sleep on the construction site.

There's nothing that can be done about it. His margin for error is too low right now, so low that he can't afford to take any chances, and he has absolutely no way to make mistakes.

He couldn't even imagine the extent of the impact of a single mistake.

So he ordered several easy-to-move folding beds and bought a large number of warm quilts and mattresses, and sent them back to the construction site.

To save costs, he decided to sleep outside every night and provide subsidies to those who sleep outside.

With a steel-framed folding bed, mice and other small creatures have a harder time climbing up, and with enough mattresses and blankets, it's not so cold at night.

It's already March, and the temperature is still trending upwards. Once April arrives, it won't be cold anymore, which is the most effective method.

Having finalized this plan, Yan Hui decided to improve the workers' meals to foster a greater sense of ownership over the construction site.

At noon, Yan Hui found the construction workers and invited them to lunch at the service area a few hundred meters away.

"This place is pretty good. I've eaten here once; it's a buffet. A buffet means I pay for it, and you can eat as much as you want, but you can't take anything away or waste food," Yan Hui explained to the workers as they walked.

There were about 20 workers who came. None of them were drivers of the rented construction vehicles; they were all frontline workers. In particular, several workers who stayed here at night were also there.

"Can the boss make money?" someone asked.

"They must be making money running this restaurant, we just need to make sure we don't waste any. Besides, apart from the braised pork, there's not much meat in the other dishes, so everyone should be full!" Yan Hui's meal cost over 300 yuan, but he felt it was worth it.

“We’re all farmers, how could we possibly waste food!” one of the workers laughed.

Everyone followed Yan Hui into the store, laughing and joking. Yan Hui paid the bill, and everyone immediately took their plates to serve the food.

A pot of somewhat fatty braised pork was devoured in an instant. A little while later, the waiter brought out a large pot, which was also instantly taken away.

This bowl of meat weighed at least 20 jin (10 catties), but the workers were really big eaters. They were only satisfied after serving the second bowl. Everyone praised Yan Zong for being so generous while they ate.

For these manual laborers, fatty meat is no problem at all; being able to eat more than a pound of meat in one meal is something they wouldn't even dare to dream of on ordinary days.

“Last night, someone came to steal from the construction site, and a few brothers helped a lot. I want to express my gratitude!” Halfway through the meal, Yan Hui told everyone about what happened yesterday, and some people who didn’t know the details expressed their anger. “I’m staying at the construction site tonight too! Mr. Yan, will you still give me an extra 50 yuan per night?” someone immediately said.

"Yeah, yeah, I'd like to do it too if I could get 50 yuan for sleeping outside all night!" Several other people responded.

Last night was cold and dark, and many people didn't even have enough blankets, so asking everyone to come over was already a bit of a challenge. Yan Hui's strategy was to use a generous reward to attract volunteers. But tonight won't work. With the temperature rising, sleeping outside won't be a big deal. If sleeping outside every day could earn 1500 yuan a month, then everyone in the village would come.

“We’ve set up beds outside tonight, and each bed has four sets of blankets! We can’t make up that many tonight, so it’ll cost 20 yuan,” Yan Hui explained.

Of course, some people would be willing to take 20 yuan, but the situation is different now; there are only two or three people. That's enough.

Anyone willing to endure hardship during this time will be given a spot by Yan Hui once the weather warms up.

As everyone chatted merrily, the boss walked over. He had already noticed that Yan Hui was the person in charge and asked, "Are you from around here?"

"I was just here yesterday, you couldn't possibly be the driver, could you?" Yan Hui looked at the man with some suspicion. "What do you mean?"

"I'm the owner of the shop," said the fat man who looked to be in his forties. He spoke with some disdain. "This is a high-end service area; migrant workers aren't allowed in! Look at the people you brought; they're covered in mud and have dirtied all our seats!"

“We washed our hands before we came. There was some mud on our clothes, but you’re saying we dirtied your chair? How could that be!” Yan Hui understood what was going on as soon as he finished speaking.

The people I brought with me eat too much; the boss can't afford to keep up.

"Don't bother telling me that. After you finish eating today, you're not allowed to come back," the boss said, looking at the waiters who were with him. "From now on, keep an eye on things. People dressed in tattered clothes and covered in mud shouldn't be allowed in. It affects other people's dining experience!"

When the owner said this, the other diners in the restaurant agreed. The other customers genuinely didn't like those few tables of people.

"Okay, I understand." Yan Hui nodded. "I won't bring a bunch of people in mud-splattered clothes next time."

The boss didn't expect Yan Hui to be so understanding. He snorted a few times, turned around, and left.

"Never mind them, let's eat. Once we're full, we'll leave." Yan Hui didn't say much, just urged everyone to eat.

At this point, everyone lost their appetite, but these honest people couldn't bear to waste food, so they could only try their best to shovel the food into their mouths.

A dozen minutes later, everyone finished their food, tidied up the tableware and chairs, and left the store with Yan Hui.

Nobody is in a good mood.

As soon as they stepped outside, Yan Hui called everyone aside and pointed to a foreman next to him: "Old Sun, you take a count and see what size clothes everyone is wearing. I'll buy everyone a new set of clothes this afternoon. Starting tomorrow, after we finish work, we'll change into our new clothes and come over! From tomorrow onwards, we'll come over to eat every day!"

(End of this chapter)