Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 70: Summer (Additional chapter for the leader Zhiniao Village)
People really can't slack off. Yan Hui lay down for a while when he was at home. When he came back, he couldn't bear moving wood for half an hour. He was sweating profusely even in the middle of winter.

"Xiao Yan, I heard that when you were a foreman, you also helped move wood, right?" After moving a truck, Liu Fei went to chat with Yan Hui.

"Yes, Brother Fei, I've been following you all the time."

"Why do you look exhausted? Can you keep up?"

"No problem. I've fallen behind in the past few months since I came home."

"Okay, do a good job. I've heard of you. My uncle always says you're very smart. I guess you won't stay here for long. If you open a shop in the future, I might have to ask you for help." Liu Fei said.

"That's too difficult," Yan Hui shook his head. "I'll just get down to work first."

"Okay, get busy. I have to go to the big construction site with my uncle later."

Liu Fei left, and Yan Hui looked at his back without saying a word. Regardless, Liu Fei was much stronger than the previous Da Kai, but he certainly wasn't very cunning.

Yan Hui could understand. After all, Liu Fei came to take Yan Hui's place. Liu Fei must have wanted to test Yan Hui's attitude. The current situation was already pretty good.

As soon as Liu Fei left, Yan Hui went to his second brother's shop. His second brother was not there, so Yan Hui looked at the records and knew that three more trucks would be delivered today: one in the morning and two in the afternoon.

After the viewing, Yan Hui came back and talked to everyone, asking them to stay as much as possible. Everyone agreed. No one wanted to leave as long as there was work to do.

Soon, the last car of the morning arrived. Yan Hui asked everyone to work together. After they finished, the second brother drove back with Liu Fei.

Yan Hui only took a glance and knew that his second brother was in a bad mood, so he didn't ask any more questions. He went to the stove, picked up his iron lunch box, and drank some warm water.

The second brother walked into the warehouse and took a look at the registration plate. He knew that the car had been moved in the morning, so he looked around and saw Yan Hui and walked over.

"Uncle Li." Yan Hui took another sip of water and put down the lunch box.

"Xiaohui, do you still remember the last time we went to the construction site over there and what happened with Mr. Wang?"

"Remember, what happened?"

"Last time you said Mr. Wang likes to drink green tea, right?"

"Yeah." Yan Hui nodded.

"Then..." The second brother pondered for a moment, looked around, and made sure that no one else was around. He then said quietly, "I went to deliver green tea today, but it was returned to me."

"Huh?" Yan Hui was a little puzzled. "Then I'm not sure."

"It has nothing to do with you," the second brother shook his head, "I need to think about it carefully."

"Hmm." Yan Hui just felt a little confused.

As soon as the second brother left, Liu Fei came over and brought up the matter with Yan Hui again: "Didn't you say he likes green tea? We got the best green tea, what's going on?"

"Uh," Yan Hui said nonchalantly to Liu Fei, "Did you only take green tea?"

"My uncle gave me a red envelope, but I don't think it's necessary. Think about it, the timber they produce at their construction site in a year is only about 300,000 yuan, all wholesale, so the profit is only 30,000 to 40,000 yuan at most. If they take 10,000 yuan every time they go, how are we going to make money?"

"Well, maybe there is a problem over there." This is all Yan Hui could say.

"Of course, he is greedy. In this case, the worst that can happen is that he won't cooperate. What's the point of doing a business that doesn't make money?" "Yeah." Yan Hui nodded quickly.

Liu Fei left soon. Yan Hui stood there for two or three minutes, feeling a little dazed.

When my second brother first started last year, he was so smart, why is he like a child now?

You can give green tea on ordinary days, but it’s Chinese New Year and it’s not even the end of the first lunar month yet. It’s my first time there, so why not give some tea?
Having the tea returned to me is a slap in the face.
Yan Hui simply couldn't understand. Why would his second brother listen to Liu Fei?

This made Yan Hui suddenly more wary of Liu Fei. He hadn't originally thought Liu Fei was anything special, but now he saw that wasn't the case. Liu Fei was actually able to change some of his brother's decisions. It was truly impressive.

Is it because Liu Fei has a high school diploma?

Yan Hui pondered for a long time, but still didn't know the reason. Of course, he didn't need to know the reason, he just needed to know that he couldn't mess with Liu Fei in the future.

Who doesn’t know how to say nice things?

The timber business, especially wholesale, is certainly not a highly profitable business. Yan Hui stood there, pondering the issue, thinking his second brother might be right. Perhaps Mr. Wang was used to receiving these things, but the timber industry certainly didn't support such gifts.

Forget it, don’t think about it anymore. Yan Hui felt that this had nothing to do with him.

After going out to buy some steamed buns and eating them, Yan Hui came back to work.

Yan Hui is very good at thinking and summarizing problems. After finishing his work in the evening, Lao Guo called him to go out and play, but he didn't go. Instead, he went back to the house, lit the charcoal brazier, and wrote something in the notebook.

These things may seem like chicken soup now, but Yan Hui wrote them very carefully, and his pen sketches looked like calligraphy.

Second brother's place is destined to have no future. The center of everything has to return to the timber market itself.

Therefore, Yan Hui completely gave up maintaining his daily relationship with his second brother and Liu Fei. He was very polite to them in daily life and had no interaction with them outside of work. He focused all his energy on being a middleman.

To this end, he even recruited several drivers. One store even approached Yan Hui, promising him 30% of the profit from any order if Yan Hui could bring the customer to his store.

Time flies. Three months have passed in a blink of an eye. Yan Hui's income outside has completely exceeded his second brother's salary.

During this period, nothing new happened. Second Brother had already terminated his cooperation with the construction site, but this hadn't had much of an impact on him. From an outsider's perspective, Yan Hui wasn't sure whether Second Brother was doing the right thing, but his other businesses remained stable. Yan Hui had calculated that Second Brother's annual profit was about 10 yuan, which was clearly beyond Yan Hui's reach.

Aside from Old Guo, Old Song, and Old Wu, Yan Hui didn't have many friends. He saw Song Zhiyuan every weekend, and Yan Hui would help him out. But with others, like Ma Junliang and Qu Xiaoqin, Yan Hui's interactions with them became increasingly rare, and they barely exchanged letters anymore.

No matter what kind of relationship there is between people, without communication there is no continuity, without contact there is no communication, and alienation is inevitable.

By mid-June, Yan Hui had more than 16,000 yuan in cash.

During this period, Yan Hui felt both pain and happiness. The weather was getting hotter, he was wearing less and less, and sewing became more and more difficult.

He tied the money in a plastic bag and sewed it up. It was fine when he was out soliciting customers, but every time he moved wood, his clothes and pants would get soaked and it would be very uncomfortable.

Finally, Yan Hui made a decision. Even if Fourth Uncle's work would take several months to complete, it was time for him to leave.

On June 22, the summer solstice, Yan Hui formally submitted his resignation to his second brother and bid farewell to his job as a porter.

(End of this chapter)