My 1978 Hotel

"How are wages calculated for hauling stones?"

Wang Dapao puffed on his pipe and looked at Han Fuguo. "Is it calculated based on work points, or what?"

Before Wang Dapao and his group arrived, Li Feng, Han Fuguo, and Han Futian mentioned that the wages for the pebbles and stones should be calculated based on the number of carts. However, there were quite a few types of carts, with wheelbarrows being the most common, followed by handcarts, oxcarts, and donkey carts.

There are also large wooden-wheeled carts; there are quite a few different kinds of vehicles in the countryside, varying in size, so it's hard to calculate the price.

"I called you all here to discuss something."

Han Fuguo flicked the match, extinguished it, and puffed on his pipe. "Should we calculate by work points or by vehicle? Gang Fengzi suggested calculating by vehicle. That way, we only look at the workload, regardless of gender or age."

"That's fine."

Li Da Yandai, who had been puffing on his pipe, slammed his hand on the table when he heard Han Fuguo say that the price should be calculated by the cartload. "I think it's better to calculate by the cartload. Just charge according to how many stones are transported."

“If we calculate it this way, wouldn’t those of you who live closer to the river be getting a huge advantage?”

Wang Dapao was not happy. Their Wangjiazhuang was quite a distance from the river, unlike Hanjiaba and Lijiazhai.

"We live close to the river, but far from the main road."

"Come on, what's so far away you guys are?"

Wang Dapao objected. "I think we should calculate it based on work points."

"What's wrong? You haul one cartload of stones a day, while we haul three and we get paid the same." Li Da Yandai was unhappy about this mess.

Li Feng finally understood why Han Fuguo and Han Futian hadn't spoken up earlier. Well, just two brigades and things had already escalated to this point. Li Feng really didn't know how to handle this; he'd never dealt with anything like this before.

"I think we should prioritize ease of repair."

Li Feng thought for a moment and said, "Uncle Wang, I think it's better to calculate it by car. Although the river is a bit far from Wangjiazhuang, Wangjiazhuang can send someone over there. So it's actually about the same."

"Fengzi's idea is great."

Han Fuguo said, "When it comes to road construction, there's no such thing as who suffers a loss or not. Wang Dapao, you just need to take a few more steps."

"alright."

After some thought, Wang Dapao realized that if they were to calculate the payment based on work points, the people in Hanjiaba might not be so willing. "How much would they pay for this truckload? It must have taken quite a bit of work to get here and back, right?"

"Loading and unloading stones, it would probably take at least an hour to finish one truckload."

Li Da Yandao took a puff of his pipe and said.

"A flatbed cart?"

"That's not."

“Alright, let’s go with the flatbed carts then, three people per cart, twelve carts a day.” Han Futian fiddled with the abacus. “Each person does four carts, so how about 15 cents per cart?”

"Fifteen cents, that's too little."

"Yes, this is very physically demanding work, and it consumes a lot of energy. One cent and fifty cents a truckload per person per day, which is about six cents a day, is probably only enough to eat." Wang Dapao's words were somewhat exaggerated, because you should know that going to the mine to cut stones only costs about six cents a day.

"That's right, you'd probably need to eat several pounds of grain to finish a day's work."

This time, Li Dayandai cooperated very well with Wang Dapao, and the higher wages benefited both of their brigades.

"Alright, I knew it was you guys."

"At most 18 cents, no more than that."

Han Futian said, "This road construction will also benefit you. It's not right for our brigade to bear all the burden."

"Eighty cents it is."

Wang Dapao and Li Dayandai exchanged a glance and discussed it. They decided to ask the women, elderly, and children from each household to help with the hauling. The more trips they made, the higher their wages would be. "Alright, it's road repair, so let's all lend a hand."

"That's it."

After seeing off Wang Dapao and Li Dayandai, Han Fuguo and Han Futian looked at Li Feng and said with a smile, "Sigh, those two old geezers, they've got a good idea."

"good idea?"

"Just you wait and see, there's definitely going to be a lot of stones."

Han Futian said with a smile, "Both teams will definitely have plenty of people. They'll be pulling carts and carrying stones, and by the end of the day, they'll probably have quite a few extra stones."

"That's it."

Li Feng thought about it and agreed. It was a job that made money, so everyone would be willing to do it; one person could probably fill five or six carts a day. "But Uncle Tomita, what they're doing isn't very smart, is it? After all, the total amount of stones is definitely limited."

"Three to five thousand cartloads of stones should be enough to repair the road."

After some consideration, Li Feng decided that it would only be necessary to fill in some potholes and pave two solid sections of road. It wouldn't be necessary to pave the entire roadbed, and it would be enough for three to five thousand vehicles.

"You."

Han Futian said with a smile, "Although the total number is limited, the more a family does, the more wages they get. Do you think Wang Dapao and Li Dayandai agreed just now? By the time the other brigades find out and send people over, who knows how many truckloads those two families will have already transported?"

"No wonder."

Good heavens, none of them are pushovers. But it doesn't matter; even if it's 10,000 truckloads, it'll only cost a little over a thousand yuan. "Labor is so cheap now." Especially in years of drought, it's incredibly cheap.

Sure enough, the production team leaders who heard the news came the next day. Compared to Wangjiazhuang and Lijiazhai, who had the advantage of being closer to the source, they were a bit helpless because it was too far away. Fortunately, the weather was not too cold yet.

All the able-bodied women and men in the team came with several oxcarts, carrying as many carts of stones as they could, as making money was the priority. "Wow, this is really lively."

"There must have been hundreds of cartloads of stones that day, right?"

Wu Tong and his group had only seen so many people during the river dredging project; it was quite a scene. Even people in Hanjiaba were picking up stones. Li Feng was puzzled, wondering why they were picking up stones now, since no one from Hanjiaba was planning to send anyone.

To my surprise, it turned out to be a bunch of kids from the group, picking up pebbles one by one. "How much did you sell them for?"

"Five points."

Han Mingliang said proudly, "We collected five truckloads in one day."

"That's not much money."

Li Feng calculated that five cartloads a day would only cost a little over two cents. Han Mingliang pouted. Recently, the fish and shrimp in the reservoir were almost gone, and there were no prey in the mountains either. Even for a skilled hunter like him, he might not encounter any prey for three to five days.

Although picking up stones doesn't pay much, you can do it morning or night, and you can pick them up whenever you have free time. Once you've picked up a cartload, you can sell them, which is pretty good, right? You can earn a little over ten cents a day, enough to buy more than ten candies.

"Uncle Feng, do you still want some gray ash?"

"Yes, you caught it?"

"No, there's been a lot less dust these days," Han Mingliang sighed. "I even saw some weasels in the mountains starving to death a few days ago."

"Really."

That's pitiful, but right now, there's really nothing to eat in the mountains. The rats must have been dug up to extinction this year. "Later, try to catch a few gray twigs. Your uncle really wants to eat some."

"Ah."

Han Mingliang nodded formally. This kid is short of money lately. Li Feng remembered that he had saved up a lot of money before. Maybe he bought something, but he hasn't seen him bring it back.

"Mr. Li, what are you thinking about?"

"What are you doing here?" "There's nothing in the mountains, we have nothing to do."

Dong Qing said, "That's why we borrowed a car, hoping to make some money."

"you?"

Li Feng sized up Wu Yu, Chen Cheng, and the others. Goodness, they really dare to think big.

"Yes, we've already made arrangements with Han Mingliang and the others. They'll collect the stones, and we'll transport them. We'll pay them five cents per truckload."

Upon hearing Dong Qing's words, Li Feng could only give a thumbs-up, saying, "Impressive."

"Okay, do a good job."

Li Feng was quite pleased with himself, thinking how capable they were. Wu Tong and the others had exchanged their money and were not short of cash. Compared to Dong Qing, Wu Yu, and Cheng Cheng, their families were only considered average.

"Self-reliance is good."

"But you're not going to the furniture factory anymore?"

"It's none of our business now."

Dong Qing sighed helplessly. "Now the sanding work has been handed over to the apprentices, and the other jobs are done by hired carpenters. We've lost our jobs at the furniture factory."

"Mr. Li, when are we going to discuss the cooperation with the steel mill?"

Dong Qing was a little anxious. This guy, there was no work to do at the furniture factory. He used to be able to earn a few cents a day, but now he could only come here to transport stones. Of course, Chengcheng still had a job, but the two of them dragged her here to share the hardship.

"I just mentioned it to the commune a few days ago. This can't be rushed; we'll have to wait until we come back next time," Li Feng said with a smile. "Why the rush?"

"I am a little anxious."

Dong Qing also hoped that her design would come in handy and that she would receive a bonus.

"Don't worry, you'll get your bonus." Li Feng knew exactly what Dong Qing was thinking. "We need to make a sample here. When you get back, buy some materials and make a few samples first. That way, when we discuss cooperation, we'll have something to focus on."

"Oh yeah, how come I didn't think of that?" Dong Qing slapped his forehead.

"Isn't it all because your head is full of schemes?" Wu Yu muttered. "Boss Li, when are we going back?"

"Wait until Liu Wei and the others successfully lose weight."

Thinking of Liu Wei and his group, Dong Qing and Wu Yu, Cheng Cheng shuddered. They were so pitiful. Meeting Boss Li was truly the worst luck imaginable. Hahaha, wanting to earn 200,000 from Boss Li was just wishful thinking.

"How are Liu Wei and the others doing now?"

"Fortunately."

A smile appeared on Li Feng's lips. "The weight loss is going quite smoothly. They can lose more than a pound a day. At this rate, they'll succeed in about two weeks."

"Wow, you've lost more than a pound a day?"

Good heavens, Chengcheng found it terrifying just thinking about it. Dong Qing and Wu Yu swallowed hard as they listened. This was insane! It was like they were risking their lives to lose weight. Luckily, they weren't thinking of making money off Boss Li. Oh well, they'd better just stick to transporting stones.

Dong Qing and Wu Yu exchanged a glance. As for the design, they wouldn't be able to go back for another two weeks, so they decided to put it aside for now. After all, without a sample, it would be difficult to negotiate a cooperation with the steel factory.

"Mr. Li, you're busy. We're going to haul stones."

"Okay, you guys get back to work."

Li Feng watched as Dong Qing and Wu Yu pulled the cart away. The two were quite strong; pulling such a large cart of stones for more than a mile was no easy feat.

"It's a pity that Wu Tong and the others have exchanged a lot of money, so they do nothing but go hunting in the mountains every day." Li Feng thought about how to get these people to do some work.

"Yeah, I should have started a production team experience tour to learn the skills."

Li Feng regretted it a little; it was all Liu Wei's and those fat guys' fault. "We'll make them lose weight. When Anmin comes back, I'll have him give Liu Wei and the others more work. If they want to lose weight, they'll have to do at least sixteen hours of heavy physical labor a day. As for food, a little less won't hurt, just drink more water."

"Ah."

Liu Wei sneezed several times. What's wrong? Could he have caught a cold? No way, he's been sweating all day long these past few days and hasn't worn any clothes at all. His skin, which was originally very fair, has now turned a dark bronze color.

"That Mr. Li is a real bastard."

Liu Wei wiped away his sweat. He had never done more physical labor in his entire life than he had done in the last few days. Two hundred thousand yuan! Now he would rather pay thirty or fifty thousand yuan as long as he could go back. He didn't want it anymore. He didn't want the two hundred thousand yuan.

Last night, Zhang Wei and the others cried like children. Liu Wei also wanted to cry, but he held back because he was the eldest brother; it was just too hard. He had only seen the construction workers on TV before, and thought everyone worked with great passion and had smiles on their faces.

But now that I'm working on the river, it's like hell. It's so tiring. I don't know how others have managed to persevere. They feel like dying. They curse Li Feng, that heartless devil, every single day.

Li Feng had no idea that Liu Wei and his gang were now cursing him every day, wishing they could tear him apart. "This weather is really something, it won't even let a drop of rain fall."

"Sigh, if it doesn't rain soon, the well will probably dry up."

Han Futian sighed helplessly. "By the way, did you go to the construction site?"

"Look, there are quite a lot of people."

Li Feng laughed and said, "You and Uncle Fuguo were right, almost everyone from Wangjiazhuang and Lijiazhai has come."

"The elderly and children pick up stones, and the women pull carts."

Li Feng could hardly believe it when he saw it; the two villages had really managed to keep the carts running non-stop, even when people were resting. "I heard that people were even hauling stones in the middle of the night!"

"That's right, I heard that the accountants of the two brigades haven't had a good night's sleep for several days."

Han Futian was overjoyed when he heard this.

"Haha, really? Where's the scorekeeper?"

"The scorekeepers are sleeping on the other side of the river."

Han Futian was overjoyed as he spoke. "These ones, one by one."

"We haven't sent anyone over to check on these things?"

Li Feng wondered to himself, "Is no one faking this?"

"I'm not worried about that," Han Futian said with a smile, shaking his head. "Don't worry, with Captain Wang and Captain Li here, they wouldn't dare to do anything."

"That's it."

It seems that Wang Dapao and Li Dayandai are just like Han Fuguo, enjoying extremely high prestige throughout the brigade. "That's good. I was worried that someone might try to cheat."

"This is alright."

Han Futian did not deny that some people might have some underhanded tactics, but most people were fine. In particular, Han Fuguo had told their respective team leaders that whoever caused trouble should not come when the road was being repaired.

These words carried considerable weight. Besides, each brigade also had carpenters working in the furniture factory, which was a significant source of income. People weren't stupid; it wasn't worth offending Han Fuguo for no reason.

"I'm not talking to you anymore, I have to go check the orders with them."

Han Futian said with a wry smile, "Tell me, I'm so busy every day, where's your cousin? Perfect, she could come with me to check the orders."

"You mean Chengcheng? She went to haul stones."

"Why haul stones? Let her come with me to check the orders, I'll pay her a salary."

"Okay, I'll tell her later, she'll definitely be happy." (End of Chapter)