Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 532: Black Pearl Gary, Instant Noodles Conquers Xiala Village

"It is said that the villagers in Xiala Village sleep for 10 hours a day," said Lin Yuan.

"I'm so envious. You can sleep for such a long time without worrying about not finishing your work?" asked director Eastwood.

"Work? Why do you think they need to work?" Lin Yuan replied, "Apart from sleeping for ten hours a day, they play for ten hours. In the remaining four hours, they take care of household chores or go to the next town to do some business."

"What will they eat if they don't work? Don't they have to struggle for a living?" Director Eastwood expressed his incomprehension.

Lin Yuan pointed to the jungle and said, "There are plenty of fruits in the jungle. Bananas and papayas can be eaten as meals. Pineapples, mangoes, and pomegranates are rich in vitamins and dietary fiber and can replace vegetarian dishes.

If you're short of protein, you can just hunt a few wild animals and take the leftovers to town to exchange for salt or other supplies. "Do you still need to work?"

After hearing Lin Yuan’s explanation, Director Eastwood felt that in all his years, this was the first time he had heard of a life without labor?

But looking at the fertile jungles surrounding Xiala Village, it is indeed as Lin Yuan said, does this incredible life really exist?
"I suddenly feel a little envious of them. I feel like their life is simply heaven," director Eastwood sighed.

Lin Yuan shook his head. “Maybe some people think that it’s a blessing to be able to survive without having to do almost any work every day, but all this comes at a price.”

"The price?" the director asked.

"Let's go into the village and take a look. I hope Gary can give us a little surprise, otherwise we will have a hard time in the next few days." Lin Yuan replied.

"It looks great here. Are we going to suffer?" Director Eastwood asked doubtfully.

"Yes, it's because the conditions are too good that people have become too lazy. You will know that things are not good when you enter the village." Lin Yuan said.

The last time Lin Yuan came to Xiala Village to scout the location, he was quite satisfied with the filming location.

But for Xiala Village...

He felt quite disappointed.

Originally, in his vision, Xala Village should be like Tukanba Village next to the Cherrapunji primeval forest, with many villagers who can provide services for them, and they can also use the living facilities of Xala Village nearby.

But he soon discovered that both expectations were dashed:

We wanted the villagers to provide services, but we found that the local villagers were too lazy to move. We didn't expect them to do anything, even if we paid them.

I wanted to use the living facilities in Xiala Village, but I found that there was nothing I could use. The Xiala villagers, who basically didn't cook, didn't even have a kitchen at home, and they slept on straw mats on the ground...

When he was in Tukanba Village before, Lin Yuan lamented that the local conditions were very difficult, but compared with Xiala Village, it was nothing.

At least there were houses in Tukanba Village that could shelter them from the wind and rain, but here there were only thatched houses.

The houses in Tukanba Village have kitchens, so at least they can cook some delicious food, but here they only have stone stoves, which can barely grill skewers.

In Tukanba Village, people have beds to sleep on, but here they can only sleep on the floor which is covered with insects crawling all over.

Now that I think about it, although there is a Xala Village where we can settle in, it is no different from setting up a camp in the wild.

The only good thing is that there should be no wild animals nearby.

The convoy finally arrived at the entrance of Xiala Village. When Lin Yuan and director Eastwood got out of the car, they saw the Tutsi "Black Pearl" washerwoman, Gary, waiting there with a group of black people hired from a large flatbed boat.

A few days ago, Buta and Gary arrived in Kisangani with 3 hired flatbed refugees. Their employment period was 400 months, with a monthly salary of US$516 per person (see Chapter for details).
Originally, Buta and Gary were responsible for managing them together, but because Buta had to wait for the crew to arrive in Kisangani with Lin Yuan, Gary first brought these 300 people to Xiala Village to be responsible for the early camp construction work.

In fact, a playboy like Buta was not good at detailed management of logistics. The reason why he was appointed as the leader of the team was because he was the first to rescue people in the shipwreck and had considerable prestige.

Gary, the deputy, is the real team manager. The management ability she demonstrated even surprised Lin Yuan.

Considering that she was of Tutsi descent and had received a university education, and had fallen to the bottom of society only because of the war and her husband's arrest, Lin Yuan could fully understand where Gary's abilities came from.

But no matter how strong Gary's ability is, Lin Yuan doesn't think she can achieve anything in just a few days.

It would be great if we could clear a safe area outside the village and set up temporary tents.

"Gary, we meet again. Is the camp construction going smoothly?" Lin Yuan walked forward with a smile.

Gary shook his head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Mr. Lin, things haven't been going very smoothly. A lot of the work has been stuck. It's my fault for not doing my job well."

Hearing Gary's initiative to take responsibility and his unshirkable attitude, Lin Yuan nodded secretly in his heart.

He did not blame Gary. He was well aware of the situation in Xiala Village. As long as he could clear some space and build a tent, it would be good enough.

Don't think this job is easy. Three hundred refugees and more than one hundred crew members require at least 400 tents.

Lin Yuan didn't even think he could complete such a task in just a few days, considering the tents for storing supplies and the fences for protecting against wild animals.

"Come on, take me to see the current progress. Now that I'm here, let's face any problems together and solve them together." Lin Yuan comforted.

"Mr. Lin, please come this way. I'll show you the camp." Gary led the crew members and walked towards the west of Xiala Village.

They didn't even enter the village. Since they couldn't rely on the village, they were not in a hurry to deal with the villagers.

Anyway, Mr. Kano has already sent someone to give instructions. It is enough that the villagers can accept so many people like Lin Yuan to stay here temporarily.

There is no need to rush for further contact. You can wait for the projection team to come and play the movie, build closer relationships like they did in the Barkawi slum, and then slowly deal with it.

"How are the relationships with the village being handled?" Lin Yuan asked again, "especially regarding the utilization of jungle resources."

This is very important. The villagers of Xiala Village may tolerate them living here to film, but if they are not allowed to pick fruits in the forest or hunt wild animals in the forest, it means that all daily necessities must be transported in from outside.

This is not unacceptable. It just requires a little more effort and the truck can make a few more trips to deliver supplies.

But if things are not communicated clearly, it will be bad if disagreements arise.

"The village chief of Xiala Village agreed to let us hunt wild animals in the forest, but made a request for picking fruits. That is, we should try not to pick fruit from trees within 500 meters of the village," said Gary.

The wild mixed fruit forest next to the village is large enough that even if the villagers and Lin Yuan, several hundred people, eat as much as they want, they still can't finish one tenth of it.

"Why are we allowed to pick fruits, but they specifically emphasize that we should try not to pick them within 500 meters?" asked director Eastwood.

"Because they are too lazy to go too far to pick fruits, and they are afraid that we will eat all the fruits nearby," said Gary.

After hearing Gary's answer, the old director was speechless again, and his understanding of the laziness of the Shara villagers was further deepened.

After walking over 200 meters and crossing a small hill, Gary pointed to the flat ground below and said, "This is the campsite."

"Is this the result of your four days?" Lin Yuan asked in disbelief.

This sentence can be used to express dissatisfaction with the results, or it can be used to express satisfaction with the results that exceed expectations. At this moment, it is obviously the latter.

Director Eastwood also looked at the scene in disbelief: "It's incredible!"

Gary and his team arrived only four days earlier than Lin Yuan, but by then a large and well-organized camp had already been built.

First of all, the camp was completely surrounded by a fence. This can prevent wild animals from attacking to the greatest extent and make the camp safer.

The second thing is the accommodation in the camp. It is not all tarpaulin tents, but dozens of decent thatched houses.

It can be said that the results demonstrated by Gary are much better than Lin Yuan’s best expectations.

How on earth did she do it?
With only four days, it was impossible to cut wood for a fence or build a thatched house.

Lin Yuan walked to the fence curiously and found that the bamboo strips and straw ropes used to tie the fence were all old, not new.

Considering that when I passed by Xiala Village just now, I found that there was no fence in the entire village, then the answer is not difficult to guess.

Lin Yuan then asked with a smile, "Were the materials for these fences and thatched houses taken from Xiala Village?"

Gary nodded. "Time is too tight. We didn't even have time to get the materials in such a hurry. This is the only way."

Hearing her words, Director Eastwood asked in disbelief, "Will the villagers of Shara Village agree to you doing this?"

"I traded my stuff with them," Gary said.

"Change? These people are so lazy, they may not even be willing to buy it even if you pay them." said the old director.

"Money means nothing to them, because they have to travel a long way to the town to spend it. But if you just give them food in exchange, they are still very willing to do it.

I traded two thousand packets of instant noodles for this bamboo fence," Gary said.

"Instant noodles?" the old director asked in surprise.

Lin Yuan standing by couldn't stop laughing. For the old directors from the upper class in Europe and America, instant noodles were just junk food that they used to deal with the situation when they had no other choice.

However, instant noodles with high salt, oil and MSG content are a complete blow to the taste buds of native Africans.

When have they ever eaten food like this?
The instinct coming from their genes tells them madly that this food is so delicious!

It is simply a supreme delicacy gifted by God!
This reminded Lin Yuan of a joke. It is said that many people born in the 70s and 80s in China, when they first ate the hard-earned instant noodles as children, had the ideal of being able to eat instant noodles every day for the rest of their lives.

Many years later, my wish came true, but I couldn't smile at all. I only felt an inconsolable sadness.

Go to the instant noodles!
The same goes for KFC!

But the villagers of Xiala have certainly not reached this point yet. Instant noodles are still their favorite.

Not to mention that instant noodles are very easy to cook. You just need to cook them in a pot on a stone stove and you can enjoy them, which is completely in line with the preferences of the lazy Xiala people.

In addition, instant noodles have the advantage of being easy to store and having a long shelf life, which is a pleasant surprise for the villagers of Xiala, where food always goes bad in tropical areas.

Thus, the scene before us appeared. Gary had purchased this entire bamboo fence for just 1000 packets of instant noodles. The packets were purchased in the United States and brought in by Lin Yuan's special plane, with a total price tag of no more than $.

So it can be said that by spending $1000, the security issues of the camp were solved, which is really a big deal with a small amount of money.

Even better, the deal satisfied both parties and brought them closer together, making it a win-win situation.

Director Eastwood pointed to the dozens of thatched houses within the fence, with several more under construction.

"Did you trade instant noodles for these thatched houses? I understand if I took down the fence and gave it to you. At most, you can hide in the house at night, and the wild animals might not dare to harass you.

But if the houses are demolished and given to you, where will they live?" Director Eastwood asked.

"Some of it was indeed demolished from Xiala Village, but not all of it," Gary said. "The rest was demolished from two nearby villages."

"You've extended your tentacles to the neighboring village? Is that possible? How did you gain the trust of the neighboring village in such a short time and accomplish this?" the old director asked in surprise.

"Of course I can't do it, but if the village chief of Xiala Village stepped forward and helped me communicate with the neighboring villages, it would be easy," said Gary.

Seeing that Lin Yuan and the old director were quite curious, Gary began to explain in detail.

Through her explanation, Lin Yuan finally understood what Gary had done in the past few days.

When Gary first arrived in Xiala Village a few days ago, he was also overwhelmed by the poor local conditions and the villagers' extreme laziness.

With only the three hundred people she brought with her, they could only set up a tent and were unable to build a fence in the few days before Lin Yuan arrived.

In the rainy tropical regions of Africa, if everyone lived in tents, it would not only be uncomfortable, but many people would definitely get sick.

Gary was determined to let everyone live in relatively comfortable thatched huts, and to surround them with fences to ensure safety.

So Gary took a fancy to the existing facilities of the Xiala villagers. She took the initiative to find the village chief of Xiala Village, used instant noodles as an inducement, and obtained the fence in exchange.

The thatched huts are more troublesome. There are only 500 people in Xiala Village. If you want the crew and employees to live in thatched huts, you may have to demolish the entire Xiala Village.

So Gary suggested to the village chief that they could collect materials from Xiala Village and several surrounding villages, so that each village would bear a little less pressure.

As for transportation, it is not a problem. In order to ensure the transportation of materials, the crew has plenty of trucks, and the problem can be solved by making a few trips back and forth.

Why is the village chief of Xiala Village willing to do so much to help?
After the crew left, they couldn't take the new village built with thatched houses with them, so they had to stay where they were.

Who would benefit from that?

When Gary suggested leaving the new village to Xiala Village, the village chief immediately agreed.

This deal is a great deal for Xiala Village!

If they sell one-third of their houses, they will get a larger new village in the future.

Now we are just giving up some thatched houses and fences temporarily, but in the future we can even get them all back with interest.

The villagers of Xiala are already dreaming of moving to the new village after the crew leaves.

What's more, the thatched houses are not sold for free, but you can get corresponding transaction fees.

This transaction also involved a large amount of instant noodles, as well as other canned fruits, luncheon meat, braised eggs, sausages and other fast foods, with a total value of approximately US$5,000.

In the eyes of the village chief and the villagers of Xiala, it is simply a great profit!

From Gary and Lin Yuan's perspective, they were able to exchange $5,000 worth of supplies for a thatched house in Xiala Village.

Together with the deals with two neighboring villages, the total price was $15,000, which covered the accommodation for the entire crew and post-production workers for three months during the filming period. It can be regarded as an example of spending little money to achieve great things.

In response to this, director Eastwood could only sigh: "What a talent!"

Lin Yuan was also quite satisfied. He felt that no one could do better than Gary's operation.

As the old director said, Gary is really a talent.

Lin Yuan lamented that he took a flatbed boat and unexpectedly received two talented people, Gary and Buta, which really made him feel like he had hit the jackpot.

Gary's strength lies in management, while Buta's strength lies in inciting emotions. Both of them can play a huge role if used well.

Gary brought everyone to a thatched house under construction. Lin Yuan looked at this African-style thatched house curiously.

It is actually a very simple triangular wooden structure, which is covered with waterproof cloth and straw.

Anyway, in tropical areas, there is no need to worry about keeping warm in winter, as long as you can avoid rain and stay dry.

This makes the construction speed of this kind of thatched house extremely fast. As long as there are ready-made materials, it is not a problem to complete dozens of them in a day. The speed is only slightly slower than setting up a tent.

"It is estimated that it will take another week to build all the thatched houses, so everyone will have to live in tents during this period.

It's my fault for not doing my job well, Mr. Lin, please criticize me." Gary said.

"You're making me feel ashamed. I can see how much thought and effort you've put into achieving this.

I don't think I can do better than you. You want me to criticize you. What can I criticize you about?

I can only criticize myself for paying you too little salary and making you feel wronged.

"From now on, I'd like to sign a long-term employment contract with you. I'll calculate the salary at $5000 per month. Is that okay with you?" Lin Yuan replied.

When praising subordinates, never just say it verbally, there must be real material expression. This is Lin Yuan's consistent style of doing things.

So after seeing Gary's abilities, he immediately chose to give her a raise.

In fact, with her abilities, she definitely deserves a better salary.

But giving too much at one time can easily lead to people's desires becoming inflated.

In a country like Congo, a monthly salary of $5000 is already a high salary that is unimaginable for ordinary people, but it is completely enough now.

When Gary achieves more in the future, Lin Yuan will not hesitate to give her higher rewards.

Gary was naturally overjoyed at Lin Yuan's reward.

Ten days ago, she was a laundry lady working on a large flatbed boat, washing clothes for others and earning a salary of more than ten dollars.

Now that she has received a salary so high that she could never have dreamed of before, how can she not be excited?
Gary was so excited that he couldn't speak: "Mr. Lin... I..."

"Stop talking and work hard. This is just the beginning, don't be satisfied, you will get greater rewards in the future." Lin Yuan encouraged her.

When saying this, Lin Yuan couldn't help but complain about himself in his heart.

In the past, he hated hearing his boss tell him to "work hard" the most. It was really a PUA-filled rhetoric.

But if his former boss also offered such a high salary when he said he would work hard, he would probably wish his boss would say "work hard" to him every day!
Lin Yuan felt relieved that he didn't live the life he hated.

"It's all because the villagers of Xiala Village are too lazy. They agreed to let us demolish the house, but they insisted that we do it ourselves, and they refused to work.

If they were willing to help tear down the thatched houses, we could build at least twenty more rooms now, and everyone would be able to squeeze in and have enough space to live in." Gary complained with a stubborn heart.

After receiving a salary increase from Lin Yuan, she felt more and more that she should do better to be worthy of the salary.

She was always bothered by the fact that she had not achieved perfection and that some people had to live in tents first.

Lin Yuan just smiled at her mentality and didn't say anything more.

After all, his employees are full of energy and want to do things more perfectly. As a boss, he knows that there is no need to do so, but how can he stop his employees from having such ideas?

This damn capitalist mentality!
Food, clothing, housing and transportation are the four most important things for human survival.

There is no need to worry about clothes.

After all, carrying a few sets of clothes for daily wear is not a difficult task at all.

The matter of changing clothes can also be handed over to Gary's logistics team.

Although there is no running water, you can just walk a few steps to the Congo River to wash your clothes.

The old director solved the two major problems of accommodation and transportation today, which had troubled Lin Yuan for a long time, and Gary also solved the problem of "accommodation".

The only thing left is "food".

Logically speaking, the village of Xala is right on the edge of the rich Congo jungle.

There are so many delicious fruits within the visible range of the naked eye, so there should be no problem in eating them.

But from the worried look in Gary's eyes when they met, it seemed that it wasn't that simple?
So Lin Yuan asked, "Have you encountered any problems with your diet?"

Gary nodded. "Yes, it's a big problem. I can sort out the housing issue, but I'm completely clueless about the food issue."

Lin Yuan was also surprised that Gary, who was so capable, actually encountered difficulties with diet.

"Tell me, what difficulties have you encountered?" Lin Yuan asked.

"The first is the problem of drinking water. The water consumption of 400 people in the camp every day is not a small amount. It is difficult for us to provide the water burden for 400 people." Gary said in embarrassment.

(End of this chapter)