SFS Chapter 403 The First Signs of the Return-to-Hometown Wave: Contractors Encounter Setbacks
Chapter 403 The First Signs of the Return-to-Hometown Wave: Contractors Encounter Setbacks
The next day, just as dawn was breaking.
The construction site on the western outskirts of Qingshui Town was already packed with people, and the noise was deafening.
Thousands of villagers from surrounding villages blocked the perimeter of the construction site.
Jiang Chen had made preparations in advance, and had Jiang Mancang, the most steady and honest man, move a table to the door to be in charge of registration.
"Don't push! Line up! One at a time!"
Wang Dagou, along with a dozen security personnel, maintained order at the scene.
Once the villagers received their numbers, they could go to the other side to collect brand-new work gloves and safety helmets, and then happily walk into the construction site.
Although there were many people, the scene was well-organized, and everyone's face was filled with anticipation for a new life.
The men were full of energy, wielding shovels as if they wanted to dig out and throw away all the poverty and oppression on this land.
……
at the same time.
Thousands of miles away, in the workshop of a large electronics factory in the south.
The pungent smell of chemicals filled the air.
Beside the assembly line, several young people from Jiangjia Village were blankly repeating the actions in their hands.
"Damn it! They docked my bonus again!"
A young man named Jiang Xiaohu looked at the payslip he had just received on his phone and angrily threw the screwdriver in his hand on the ground.
They had been working night shifts for a month straight, sleeping only four or five hours a day, and in the end, the workshop supervisor found various reasons to deduct most of their bonuses.
"I quit! I can't stand it for another day!"
"But where can you go if you don't work? Go back to farming?"
"That's what my companion said dejectedly."
Just then, Jiang Xiaohu, who was scrolling through his WeChat Moments, suddenly stopped and his eyes widened in surprise.
He shoved the phone in front of his companion.
"Look! The village distributed these!"
On the phone screen was a video of Jiang Shitou and the others receiving their money yesterday.
Those smiling faces, glistening with sweat, clutching thick wads of red bills, against a backdrop of piles of pork and steamed buns.
Below the video, there is a line of eye-catching text.
"Hiring in my hometown! 800 yuan per day! Food and accommodation included! Brothers who want to work, come back quickly!"
Holy crap!
"Eight hundred a day?!"
Several young people immediately gathered around, their eyes reddening as they watched the video.
This is far more than what they earn working themselves to the bone in an electronics factory, and it's right in their own backyard!
"Brothers, what are you waiting for?"
Jiang Xiaohu slammed his employee badge on the ground, his eyes gleaming with an unprecedented light.
"Resign! Buy a ticket! Go home!"
"This damn electronics factory, let whoever wants to work here stay!"
"Go home and do some work for Brother Chen!"
This decision, like a pebble thrown into water, instantly created a huge ripple.
On that day, more than a dozen young people from Qinghe County resigned en masse and boarded a train back to their hometown.
A "return-to-hometown wave" ignited by Jiang Chen is quietly taking shape.
……
At the construction site in Qingshui Town, everyone was working enthusiastically.
Just then, an extremely piercing car horn shattered the harmonious atmosphere.
A black, extended Land Rover, like a savage beast, blocked the entrance to the construction site.
Immediately afterwards, three or four dilapidated excavators belching thick black smoke arrived, completely blocking the already narrow road.
The car door opened.
Liu Dajin, sporting his signature beer belly, stepped out of the Land Rover.
The thick gold chain around his neck dazzled in the sunlight.
Behind him followed seven or eight thugs with tattoos, cigarettes dangling from their mouths, and roguish expressions.
Liu Dajin looked at the villagers on the construction site, who were sweating profusely as they worked with shovels and wheelbarrows, and curled his lip in disdain.
He shouted at the top of his lungs, in an extremely sarcastic tone.
"Oh my, who do we have here? It's just Boss Jiang playing house!"
"Why waste perfectly good machines and spend so much money hiring so many laborers to dig by hand? Did your money come from the Huai River floods?"
As he spoke, he swaggered toward Jiang Chen.
His henchmen behind him also started laughing strangely, pointing and whispering at the villagers who were working.
Liu Dajin walked directly up to Jiang Chen, raised his chin high, and spoke in an unquestionable tone.
"Kid, I don't care who you are."
"I'll take on the cleanup work for this area!"
"Five million, one price! I'll take care of it perfectly!"
"You'll have less to worry about, and I'll earn a decent living. It's a win-win situation, how about it?"
He's got a very sharp mind.
He spent five million to contract the project, then turned around and spent another million to hire a group of cheaper workers, or simply brought in his own excavators.
In one go, you can easily make a fortune with nothing, netting millions.
In his view, this was a self-evident "rule".
However, Jiang Chen didn't even glance at him.
It was as if the coal boss spouting nonsense in front of me was just a wisp of air.
Jiang Chen turned around, took out two bottles of chilled mineral water from the box next to him, and walked over to his fourth uncle, Jiang Jianping, who was working hard.
Jiang Jianping was so tired that he was covered in sweat, and his shirt was soaked through.
"Fourth Uncle, take a break and have some water."
Jiang Chen unscrewed the bottle cap and handed the water over.
He glanced at the sky again and shouted something to the person in charge of logistics.
"Notify the kitchen that we're adding an extra dish for everyone at lunchtime today!"
"Add an extra serving of braised pork trotters to each table!"
"Okay, Brother Chen!"
Jiang Chen's actions were a complete and utter disregard.
Liu Dajin stood there, outstretched, his smile frozen.
He felt like a clown putting on a great show, but the audience wouldn't even give him a second glance.
A surge of anger instantly rushed to his head.
"You're asking for it!"
Liu Dajin's face turned ferocious.
"Damn it! They won't listen to reason, so they'll have to suffer the consequences!"
He suddenly waved his hand and shouted at the group of henchmen behind him.
"What the hell are you all standing there for?!"
"Go! Take all the weapons they have!"
"Work must stop at this site today!"
Upon receiving the order, the group of thugs immediately charged menacingly towards the crowd, reaching out to snatch the shovels from the villagers' hands.
This has really stirred up a hornet's nest!
Eight hundred yuan a day is like a golden opportunity that fell from the sky!
Anyone who dares to take away their livelihood is in serious trouble, worse than digging up their ancestral graves!
"Fuck your mother! You dare to lay a hand on me?!"
The burly man who was closest to him didn't even think twice before swinging his shovel and smashing it down on one of the thugs' heads.
The thug screamed in fright and quickly backed away.
"Fuck him!"
Wang Dagou couldn't hold back any longer. He grabbed a black riot baton from the patrol car and placed it directly at the front.
"Brothers! Someone's trying to sabotage our business!"
His roar was like a signal.
On the construction site, hundreds and thousands of men who were working hard all stopped at the same time.
They slowly straightened up and turned their heads.
Those gazes, converging together, were like steel blades quenched in fire, all aimed at Liu Dajin and his few insignificant henchmen.
"Clang—"
"Clang—"
One after another, shovels were slammed heavily into the ground.
Thousands of strong laborers, a dark mass, silently and step by step, surrounded Liu Dajin and his gang.
The encirclement is getting smaller and smaller.
That silent sense of oppression, formed by countless ordinary workers, is more terrifying than any shouts of violence.
Jiang Shitou, whose body was nearly two meters tall, was like an iron tower. He took a step forward and stood directly in front of Liu Dajin.
With his large, fan-like hand, he pointed at Liu Dajin's nose and roared furiously in his distinctively loud voice.
"You want to ruin our livelihood?!"
"You fucking ask the shovels in everyone's hands if they agree!"
"Should I say yes or no?!"
The roars of thousands of people converged into an unstoppable torrent, echoing throughout the valley.
Just moments ago, Liu Dajin was swaggering and arrogant, but when he saw the dark mass of angry people wielding shovels in front of him, his legs went weak and he almost collapsed to the ground.