I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 110 Not Bad
"Lulu, how are you?"

He said he would talk about it when he could no longer see his toes.

"..."

Teacher Li, the "old womanizer," was speechless and rolled her eyes wildly.

Compared to her husband, Zhang Da'an was truly a beast...

Fearing this might be a family trait, Ms. Li has been calling her husband whenever she has free time these past few days, listening intently to see if there's a woman's voice on the other end.

Fortunately, the only sound was the bubbling of the dog meat pot.

Uncle Zhang's return to Shazhou was at least on the eve of the Lunar New Year. Going to the countryside to scout locations and holding "village propaganda meetings" were things that Zhang Zhengdong was good at.

When he was the principal of Dongweigang Middle School, he used to go to the countryside to persuade parents to send their children to school instead of helping with rice planting, harvesting, netting, and fishing...

The only difference is that in the dozens of villages in Chenzhuang Town, Fengyi County, people speak Mandarin, not local dialects.

In fact, the number of teachers who could speak Mandarin at Dongweigang Middle School was only a handful, not even as many as the "Zhang'an Hope Primary School" which was under preparation.

At first, the villagers didn't trust Zhang Zhengdong, but Uncle Zhang always adapts to the situation. When they came to listen to the "villagers' propaganda meeting," each person was given a towel or three pairs of socks.

Outstanding effect.

One group of men, one group of women, and one group of children.

They give cigarettes to men, sunflower seeds to women, and candy to children.

All who come are guests, and everyone who sees it gets a share.

They even specially ordered two hand tractors. One tractor was loaded with a roasting furnace for stir-frying chestnuts and peanuts, while the other tractor was loaded with more than a ton of sunflower seeds, peanuts, and other nuts.

They ate and chatted, and after visiting seven or eight villages in this way, they basically got a clear understanding of the situation.

"We can postpone paying the book fee for now. However, every country has its laws, and every family has its rules. It's unacceptable to come to class without paying. The government provides subsidies, but they need to be kept on record. We're not saying we're short of a few dozen yuan; we're looking to the future. I doubt anyone would suffer generation after generation. The people of Fengyi County are no less capable than others, even if they're missing limbs. There's always hope, and better days aren't far away. Let's treat this book fee as an old debt, keeping it in mind to remind ourselves that we still have this matter."

"Director Zhang, what if I become poor and my son and grandson become poor? How will they support me?"

"Don't worry, brother, let me explain my reasoning. Since I dare to say this, there must be a reason."

Zhang Zhengdong, holding the microphone, continued speaking through the several circles of people, "First, I've already mentioned this to the liaison officials in the township, county, and city. Anyone sending their child to study here will be given priority for job placement. If they don't know masonry, I'll have people come to train them. They're all master craftsmen from the city, Jiangning, and Wudu; their skills are impeccable even in Luzhou. The school needs laborers for foundation work, pile driving, cement carrying, and steel reinforcement—it needs to do so many things inside and out. As long as they come, they'll be paid daily, no delays. You'll be paid daily..." Weekly or monthly payment, it's negotiable. This project isn't some shoddy work done by some small contractor to fool the officials; many eyes are watching. Of course, I'd also like to ask you all to keep an eye on it, to keep an eye on things. More eyes, more people, right? This school is being built in Chenzhuang Town, and everyone here is part of Chenzhuang Town. Regardless of your own situation, your sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons will still need to study and learn, right? How can generations of people be 'blind'? We need to read more, improve our education, so we won't be deceived by educated people in the future, right?”

"Wages? How much is the daily wage?!"

"Yes! How much is the daily wage?! Is it twenty?!"

"There are still thirty-one days left in the city!"

"Is the pay thirty?!"

The men erupted in cheers, and the women, cracking sunflower seeds, started chattering away. One said it was twenty-five yuan a day in one place, while another said it was more than thirty yuan a day in the city and province.

As for the little kids, when they were sucking on "Little Champion QQ Candy," they were thinking that ten yuan could buy twenty packs.

Oh~~
That feels great.

Uncle Zhang raised his hands to signal for quiet, picked up the microphone and was about to speak, but then clicked his tongue and said, "No, I need to have a sip of tea first, my voice is hoarse."

A burst of laughter followed, and then Zhang Zhengdong chugged down a large mug of tea in one go, wiped his mouth, and continued, "The wages were originally set at twenty-five yuan a day. Twenty-five for laborers..."

"Even a laborer is twenty-five? That's not bad..."

"Is it a skilled worker or a junior worker? Director Zhang is referring to a junior worker, isn't he?"

“It’s a laborer, I heard it. It’s a laborer.”

"How much does a master craftsman cost?"

"Dagong must also..."

Just as the noise was about to rise again, Uncle Zhang raised his hands to signal for quiet, then said with a helpless expression, "Don't rush, let me finish. I was saying that the original price was twenty-five yuan a day... Later, I quoted that number to the big boss who was paying. He was unhappy about it. Twenty-five yuan a day? That's looking down on him! Thirty-five yuan a day!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

A deep breath stirred the hearts of men, women, young and old alike, causing their emotions to rise and fall.

I almost thought they wouldn't be willing to pay the 25 yuan a day.

No... it seems he really doesn't want to pay twenty-five yuan.

"Thirty-five yuan a day—"

"This is impossible!"

"A laborer? A laborer, right?! A laborer gets thirty-five yuan a day?! How much does a skilled worker cost then?!" "Is plastering considered laborer or skilled worker?"

"I heard that even in the capital, it's only about this much, right?"

"Can't you save up ten thousand yuan a year in Beijing?"

"Director Zhang, are you a big boss from somewhere?"

An old man, clutching a welding torch, asked a question that no one else seemed to care about.

“Since the school is called ‘Zhang An Hope Primary School,’ it must be named after Zhang An. Like me, he’s from Shazhou.”

"From the same county."

"It's still a large brigade."

Uncle Zhang didn't lie; everything he said was true.

The old man just thought they were fellow villagers, but Director Zhang's fellow villager... so generous?

Is this one of Director Zhang's relatives who went abroad years ago? Is he now back to do some good deeds and accumulate merit?

But this is too generous, and it's also quite strange. If you want to do good deeds, you can do it anywhere. It's not like you can't donate money or goods in Shazhou.

Director Zhang's seniority must be higher than that big boss's fellow townsman!

Just then, the old man finished burning a pot of welding fumes. Zhang Zhengdong took out an unopened pack of cigarettes from his pocket, tucked the microphone under his arm, quickly tore it open, took a few steps, shook out a cigarette, and handed it to him, saying, "Master, have one of mine."

"Oh, thank you, thank you..."

The old man, wearing a melon-shaped felt hat, tilted his head to borrow a light, lit it in a few quick movements, took a puff, put his hands on his knees, and then slowly exhaled two thick plumes of smoke from his nostrils.

He then politely asked Zhang Zhengdong, "Director Zhang, there's no worry about the book fees mentioned earlier being outstanding..."

"That's why I'm telling everyone to rest assured, there's a reason behind it all. I'm not just making empty promises, I need to have some basis before I can explain things clearly. Look, if a laborer earns thirty-five yuan a day, not to mention the tens of yuan for books, it's not a big deal to buy a set of school uniforms like those in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai in the future."

"What you have, I also have. You had it earlier, and I had it two years later, but I still have it. That's enough."

Zhang Zhengdong originally intended to put the cigarette back in his pocket, but seeing a row of men backstage breathing out their breaths and enduring the cold while listening to him speak, he simply tossed the cigarette over: "Distribute your cigarettes, finish this one, and we'll call it a day. I'll finish quickly, and the meeting will adjourn quickly too."

"it is good!"

"it is good!!"

If you treat me with respect, I will treat you with even greater respect.

Surprisingly, Zhang Zhengdong's straightforwardness eased the minds of several "stubborn" individuals who had no faith in cadres. They couldn't immediately agree to Zhang Zhengdong's proposal, but they decided to wait and see.

Take a look and see if they really introduce jobs and pay wages, especially for unskilled workers who get 35 yuan a day, which is really not low.

The laborers are those who do physical labor, such as transporting materials to the senior workers, or assisting with processes that require little technical skill.

Selling physical labor these days is tough, but it's true that "if you don't do it, someone else will."

Zhang Zhengdong showed no disdain for this profession, and he spoke his mind directly, without haggling over a mere dollar or three cents.

"The wages for laborers are 35 yuan a day, that's already settled and won't change. As for the wages for skilled workers, we'll have to wait for the construction company to come and discuss it. Because this project is building a school, not a high-rise building in the city, there's a unit in charge of the overall accounts, and the money doesn't pass through their hands, so we still need to discuss it further. But don't worry about the laborers, it's already been decided. And one thing, as long as they pass the test, we'll need both male and female workers on the construction site. As long as they can do the work, they'll get 35 yuan, not a penny less, and we'll also have insurance. The insurance is from an insurance company in Jiangning City, and you've met their people from that foundation before, they're all in cahoots. They have no connection with the city, county, or township, so you can rest assured..."

Some very subtle things that most people wouldn't notice.

For example, female workers. Generally speaking, because construction sites are particularly hard, ordinary people would not think that women would do such heavy physical labor.

However, that was not actually the case. In 1946, and even before, there were quite a few female workers engaged in heavy manual labor.

There are quite a few couples who work together, so Zhang Zhengdong is one of those who truly understands the actual situation. The two ministers from the provincial youth development foundation, on the other hand, were completely unaware of the actual situation and assumed that they were all men.

Therefore, when organizing the "Hometown Propaganda Meeting", Zhang Zhengdong specifically sought out several experienced and respected women directors in Chenzhuang Town and asked them to help talk to the women about the "distribution of menstrual products".

These details are handled quite well, which is why more and more people are coming to Zhang Zhengdong's "Hometown Propaganda Meetings," including some who are influenced by his wife's influence.

When the couple talks behind closed doors, they naturally touch on details that are not convenient to discuss in public. By putting themselves in each other's shoes, their wariness of Zhang Zhengdong will be greatly reduced.

In the beginning, when Zhang Zhengdong went to the countryside to distribute cigarettes, no one dared to come and pick him up; they just watched. Now that they can chat with each other from afar, it's all thanks to the effort he's put in.

After the "Little New Year in the North," Uncle Zhang followed suit. After contacting Fengyi County, he asked the postman at Chenzhuang Town Post Office to make the school enrollment notices for school-age children into a beautiful little card with a picture of a rather impressive "Zhang An Hope Primary School" printed on it, and then delivered it door to door.

Back in 1946, Zhang Da'an sent official notices to the students of the "Top Scholar's Accompanying Class," emphasizing that it was a legitimate organization. Uncle Zhang still vividly remembers that scene.

So you're the only legitimate organization, and I'm just a bunch of amateurs?
Anyone can do that.

Just have hands.

Originally, the people in Pengcheng City who were cooperating with the work thought that Zhang Zhengdong was just making a mess of things. However, the feedback from several rural areas in Chenzhuang Town was quite different. The parents of school-age children all thought that this school was really impressive!

(End of this chapter)