On the first night of the three people in 502, Xiao Zhijie was extremely excited. It was already past ten o'clock, but he was still running around their room and Feng Yiping's room, turning the lights on and off. He was like a hyperactive obese teenager.
Haha, this kid has also been repressed for a long time. Since he started boarding school in the fifth grade, he has been going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, turning off the lights and turning on the lights at the same time. His current behaviour is like what is said in the widely circulated online meme 'When we have money', which is that he wants to make up for the shortcomings of the past.
It was after eleven o'clock, and he was still full of energy, carrying a tape recorder and listening to music with headphones. Feng Yiping woke up and gave him a few words of advice, but he just let it go. He will naturally know the consequences tomorrow.
Sure enough, at 6am, he couldn't be woken up no matter what, and he arrived at school in a daze, falling asleep directly on the desk.
This was not acceptable, so Feng Yiping put his things away in the drawer, looked at them briefly, and then dragged him to the canteen to wash his face with some cold water.
On such a cold morning, the water from the tap, when poured directly onto the face, has a really great effect of waking people up. Seeing Xiao Zhijie's teeth chattering from the cold, Feng Yiping felt so good!
When they returned to the classroom, the students who had gone out for morning exercise had already returned. After Feng Yiping sat down, he noticed that there was an additional silver-grey photo frame in the drawer, with a small note stuck next to it: 'Thank you for the present!'
He turned his head and saw Huang Jingping writing something with her head bowed. It seemed that she had noticed Feng Yiping's gaze. She lifted her delicate wrist slightly, brushing the hair that had fallen down behind her ear, revealing half of her face. Then, that half of her face slowly turned red.
This movement was quite charming. Feng Yiping was stunned, and saw that she was holding the pen he had given her in her hand.
But what do you mean by giving a photo frame without a photo?
...
The day of the Awakening of Insects was already at the end of the first month, and the wind had become much milder compared to half a month ago.
At noon, Zhang Zuodong patted the dust off his clothes and walked towards the restaurant at the corner, followed by a few apprentices who were shoulder-to-shoulder, several of them with cigarettes in their mouths, walking in an unkempt manner and laughing loudly.
Once inside, the restaurant owner's wife looked at them and her face immediately fell. Zhang Zuodong pretended not to see it and found a big table to sit at, while his apprentices went to order food.
After 3 pm, a family in the county town asked him to build a house for them. Originally, they had not planned to eat in the city, and they all rode their bicycles home in a hurry, at least an hour and a half each way.
It wasn't until a few days ago that one of the apprentices discovered this great place. For just 1.5 yuan, you can order a dish and add 50 cents to get as much plain rice as you want.
It's quite a bargain, so from that day on, the master and apprentices have been going here at lunchtime. Each person orders one dish, which together makes a pretty filling meal. As for the rice, well, they're all manual labourers, and even Zhang Zuodong, the oldest and shortest, has to eat three big bowls at each meal.
So after two days, the proprietress looked at them with a little bit of a strange expression. If this was the kind of customer they had to deal with every day, she really wouldn't be able to make much money.
But it was not easy to change this rule, as it was written in black and white and posted at the entrance. Besides, their family relied on this trick to attract business, and not everyone had a big stomach like these master and apprentice.
After eating three large bowls of rice in one go, Zhang Zuodong looked at his apprentices, who were still eating, and said, 'If we work hard, we can finish the work here in half a month, right?'
'Having half a month's work is enough,' the apprentices responded to him in unison.
When he was leaving, a man wearing leather clothes and followed by a young child stopped him. 'Master Zhang, right? My surname is Mei. I'm from Jiasen Decoration Company in the provincial capital. I wonder if I can take up a few minutes of your time?'
'Jia Sheng Decoration Company?' Zhang Zuodong listened to this unfamiliar name, "What is it?'
'Let's sit down and talk," Mei Yiliang invited him to come inside.
The table they were at was much more abundant, with fish and meat, and a pork rib soup. It seemed that they had just arrived, and the dishes had not been touched.
'Master Zhang, come, let's drink and chat,' Mei Yiliang poured him a glass of the shop's old rice wine.
'I don't drink much,' Zhang Zuodong declined.
'That's fine, help yourself,' Mei Yiliang said.
Zhang Zuodong felt uncomfortable, however, unable to relax. From the time he had sat down, the little boy had been staring at him from time to time, as if he had a face full of flowers carved into it.
'Yiping, come, eat,' Mei Yiliang gave Feng Yiping a pair of chopsticks, 'Chef Zhang, I see you have things to do this afternoon, so I'll get straight to the point. You are also in this industry. Construction is booming everywhere, especially in the provincial capital. I have opened a decoration company in the provincial capital. At present, the three decoration teams under me are all too busy. That is why I have come to you in particular, to ask you to come to the province and help. Rest assured, all the treatment will be excellent. I dare not say more than that, but it will at least double your current income.'
'How did you know about me?' Zhang Zuodong took a sip of the rice wine.
Mei Yiliang glanced at Feng Yiping, of course from him, but said with his mouth, 'Before this year, my second elder brother was also in the neighbouring county, doing the same business as you in our county. I heard people talk about you, saying that you have been in this industry for many years and many of your apprentices have already become independent.'
Mei Yiliang was also puzzled. He received a phone call from Feng Yiping after getting off work at 15:00, saying that he had heard from a classmate about someone and that he must come back and make sure to invite this person to the company.
So he met up with Feng Yiping yesterday afternoon, who had rushed over on holiday. This morning, he was taken to an intersection on a bicycle borrowed from the hotel, where he waited for his prey, watching Du Zhangzuodong come out of the village inside, before slowly following on his bicycle, like a scout.
He was surprised. Wasn't he just a small construction contractor in the countryside? Was it worth all this?
Feng Yiping also looked at the person in front of him, whom he later also called 'Dad'. Of course, he was much younger, still short, still had very little hair, and still had a hearty laugh.
When he suggested that his brother-in-law get into the renovation business, he had a vague idea that he would first pull Zhang Zuodong in, and then it would be a natural step to get in touch with Zhang Yan.
His father-in-law was one of the first construction contractors in the countryside, but he was too family-oriented and missed some good opportunities. Until he got old, he kept spinning around in the county, earning some money, but it was incomparable to his apprentices who went out to work hard.
Now there is a company with a professional counterpart, so let's bring him in first.
This is the advantage of partnering with your brother-in-law. If you had chosen any other partner, who would have cared about such a headless request?
The best partner is something that can be encountered but not sought after, even after more than 20 years, let alone at the moment. At the beginning of a business, if you have a choice of partners, that is a very luxurious thing, and most people will definitely not encounter such a good thing.
Moreover, partnering with a relative is not the least ideal. The saddest thing is that you are the boss and your wife is the boss's wife.
From the moment you wake up in the morning until you go to bed at night, you may be talking about business all the time. If you disagree about something, you may argue about it from the shop to the bedroom.
Besides, my brother-in-law hasn't been idle for years. Feng Yiping has only said a few words, and look at what he's saying now. Zhang Zuodong is still a little hesitant. He always feels a bit unsure. What kind of day is this? How did such a good thing just happen to come knocking at the door?
He hesitated, waiting outside the door for a while. Not seeing him go out, the apprentices who had come in again were persuaded by Mei Yiliang. One of the more mature ones suggested, 'Take some time to go and have a look, Master. It's not a bad thing after all.'
'Yes, seeing is believing. Master Zhang, you arrange it. Take some time to come and have a look at my place. I'll pay for the expenses.'
'Go and have a look?' Zhang Zuodong asked, looking at the apprentices around him.
'Let's go and have a look!' the apprentices said in unison. If they went to the provincial capital and had the right connections, they would certainly earn more than they did in the county. After all, who wouldn't want to go to the big city?
In the end, Zhang Zuodong agreed. Unlike later generations, he was still young and full of energy. Besides, the people had come a long way to find him, so he had to give them his time.