Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 228 Liu Hongliang's Liberation

Xiao Wei said, "Tear down as much of the third floor as possible, but be careful not to make a mess of dust and dirt everywhere. Keep it as clean as possible. Put all the debris in a corner at the back. Then clear the snow from the back of the house and the backyard, and open a large door on the side wall."

Huang Laowu asked, "Where did the snow go? To pile it up by the roadside?"

Xiao Wei scratched his head and said, "Let's just pile them up there for now, and then find a truck to haul them away with all the broken bricks we've taken down. But where are we taking them?"

Huang Laowu said, "Alright, I'll take care of it all for you. First, clear the snow over there, and then we'll dismantle this building a little later tonight. When you come over tomorrow morning, it'll be all sorted out. I'll get a truck to haul away all the snow debris and other debris for you."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, you know it better than us, so you do it. Xiao Hui, give Lao Wu five hundred yuan."

Chen Hui had become addicted to being a mobile accountant lately, always carrying a money bag on his back. After listening to Xiao Wei's advice, he counted out five hundred and handed it to Huang Laowu. Huang Laowu took the money with a grin and exaggeratedly counted it, saying, "Thank you, boss, thank you, boss! I'm so greedy!"

The group laughed, and Huang Laowu put the money in his pocket and said, "Then you guys get busy, I'll go find someone and a car, and get it all sorted out for you today."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, you can go directly to that courtyard. I'll go there as soon as Liu Hongliang comes back."

After Huang Laowu left, Li Gengsheng asked, "Boss, where am I supposed to go if they demolish the upstairs?"

Xiao Wei said, "We'll set up an office in the back for you all to use, and I'll partition off a finance room for you to use by yourself."

Xia Maosheng said, "I'll go up and talk to them about the transformer over there, then I'll go take care of the factory matters. Also, Liu Hongliang's driver's license isn't in order, right? That might cost some money. I stubbornly refused to pay for the two of us."

Xiao Wei said, "Let him get it done. He can pay for it himself; his family shouldn't be short of money. We'll just help him get it done. Aren't you waiting for the bus?"

Xia Maosheng walked upstairs: "No need to wait, you can use it, it's not far from here."

Chef Zhai and his companions came out of the kitchen, lit a cigarette, and sat down: "So you're converting the third floor into private rooms?"

Xiao Wei said, "Yeah, we don't have enough private rooms. Since they're all empty anyway, let's set up a few small rooms."

Li Wen let out a cry and slumped onto the table, saying, "I feel so sorry for you. If business is good, I'll have to climb up and down this mountain so many times a day. Luckily it's only three stories. If it had been five or six stories, I would have died here."

Everyone laughed. Master Zhai said, "It really is tiring. If the table is full, I'd have to make dozens of trips a day."

Xiao Wei said, "Let's see if we can install a lift. We'll have someone from Fengtian come over in a couple of days and have them take a look. I don't know much about equipment. If it's possible, we'll install one. Then Li Wen can go upstairs to pour water and tidy up, and whoever is handy can lift the vegetables up, and Li Wen can catch them from upstairs."

Li Wen raised her hand and shouted, "An'an, you must be safe! Boss, I support you!"

Xiao Wei said, "It's definitely safe. I'm more worried you might sell it one day." (He then pretended to sell it.)

Li Wen nodded and said, "Yes, yes, boss, you're right. We definitely have to sell, or the losses will be huge. Let's get things settled quickly."

Xiao Wei turned to Sister Shang and asked, "Sister Shang, have you found him?"

Sister Shang said, "I mentioned it to someone, and five or six people are no problem. Who wouldn't come if they could make money? The work isn't tiring at all. Machines do all the hard work you do."

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "Okay, you make the arrangements here. The machine should arrive in the next couple of days, and we can start working as soon as the license is issued. Oh, and we also need to get someone to do odd jobs over here. Liu Hongliang will mainly be driving from now on, so he needs someone to do the work."

Sister Shang asked, "What are the requirements?"

Sister Zhang said, "What are the requirements? As long as they have hands and feet and can work, that's fine. Why are you looking for someone from my workplace, little boss?"

Xiao Wei said, "Anyone in your family who has a capable person can come. If you really can't find one, just ask Jian'an. There are plenty of idle people there."

Sister Zhang said, "I'll go back and ask. I have several relatives whose children are idle at home, but I don't know if they like to work. These days, children are coming and going, so it's hard to say."

Xiao Wei said, "Go back and ask around. It's 220 a month, meals included." The salary can't be too high. Li Wen earns the lowest, 260 a month, Zhang Jie the highest, 340, and Shang Jie 310. And frankly, 220 isn't low for odd jobs these days. At that time, the wages for private businesses were higher than those for state-owned enterprise employees, and the gap widened even further in the late 1990s. It wasn't until after 2010, with so many job seekers, that the wages in private companies plummeted, falling below the average level of state-owned enterprises.

Li Gengsheng stood up and said, "I'm going to the bank to handle some business. I don't feel safe carrying that money without Liu Hongliang by my side."

Li Wen jumped up and said, "I'll go, I'll go with you. Sister Na, are you coming?"

Xie Na said, "Go ahead, there's nothing else to do here." The three of them left together. Li Bing lay motionless on the radiator; her period had started.

Liu Hongliang walked in, jingling his car keys. Xiao Wei said, "Alright, I'm leaving too. Let's go take a look over there."

Xia Maosheng came downstairs: "You guys haven't left yet? Okay, I'll take a car too."

Xiao Wei nudged Chen Hui, who was dozing off against the radiator: "Are you going or not?"

Chen Hui shook his head and said, "I'll take a nap, you guys go ahead."

Sister Zhang said, "There are blankets in the room, go inside and sleep."

Chen Hui stood up, stuffed the money bag into Xiao Wei's hand, and went into the night watchman's room.

Xiao Wei and Xia Maosheng went out. Liu Hongliang drove, first taking Xia Maosheng to the Labor Bureau, and then Xiao Wei and Liu Hongliang arrived at the courtyard.

Xiao Wei got out of the car and pushed open the iron gate. Liu Hongliang drove the car into the heated warehouse, and Xiao Wei closed the gate and walked towards the bungalow.

Several carpenters had already started working, nailing the billiard balls. In those days, there were no pneumatic nail guns; everything was done by hand hammering. However, there were nail guns for nailing wooden blocks to the wall. They were like big pistols, with gunpowder bullets in the back and nails in the front. With a loud bang, the nails were driven in. But later, these things were no longer allowed to be used because they could be modified to be used as real guns, which led to some stories of people being injured and robbed.

Xiao Wei entered the room, and Master Gong, standing on the ground, handed the prescription to the person on the ladder. Turning his head, he saw Xiao Wei and said, "There's still some prescription left. Nail it on first, and we'll put it on directly when the boards arrive. The factory doesn't have these boards; we ordered them from outside. They'll be brought over in a bit."

Xiao Wei said, "You can arrange it as you see fit. If it's inconvenient over there, you can ask me to settle the bill."

Master Gong said, "No need for that. I'll just write a report afterward. It's a government-run company, just the lumberyard in the city. They have drying machines there, so the boards are dried and won't warp. You can just give them a pack of cigarettes or something."

Xiao Wei nodded and said to Liu Hongliang, who came in after him, "Is there any cigarette in the car? Go get two packs."

(End of this chapter)