CM Chapter 2

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110 portions of food!

Ge Xiaotian built a straw shed in the old courtyard, summoned eleven strong men, kicked the shed down, and waved his big hand:

“Let’s go, we’re moving bricks!”

Climbing the wall, he saw that no one was in the alley, and he led his men straight to the brick kiln.

On the way, seeing such a group of burly and strong men, passers-by hurriedly stepped aside, avoiding them at all costs.

Upon encountering a few local ruffians wearing tank tops and bell-bottom pants, with hair dyed in red, green, yellow and blue, Ge Xiaotian deliberately approached them, with thirteen strong men following closely.

Seeing that they couldn’t avoid them, the red-haired youth smiled and said:

“Brother Tian, where are you going?”

“None of your business! Got a cigarette?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” The red-haired youth painfully took out a pack of cigarettes, “Brother Tian, my buddies and I have to leave for something. Can we treat you to a drink another day?”

“Sure!”

Scoring a pack of cigarettes and a meal, Ge Xiaotian was in an excellent mood.

Although there was no enmity between them, they all lived in the same village, and in his past life, Ge Xiaotian had called them brothers many times.

Now, regaining his footing… *tsk tsk*

Ah, why am I so tacky?

Ge Xiaotian shook his head and continued on his way.

There was a brick kiln in Sancha Township, which belonged to Ge’s village.

He remembered that in another timeline, a significant incident occurred in 2005.

At that time, during the demolition of a large chimney for pollution control, construction workers found a palm-sized gold nugget.

The brick kiln owner was unhappy when he found out, and the lawsuit lasted for several years. In the end, no one knew what happened.

Ge Xiaotian wanted to acquire the gold nugget early, but this was just a rumor he had heard, and who knew if it existed in this timeline.

Moreover, instead of searching for the gold nugget, he might as well move a few more bricks.

The brick kiln owner had a bit of a family connection with Ge Xiaotian.

Older Cousin’s third son, call him Third Uncle.

Growing up, besides greeting each other during the New Year, we barely saw each other.

However, he has a daughter who used to play with Ge Xiaotian when they were kids at their grandmother’s house, so they became familiar with each other.

When Ge Xiaotian found his distant Third Uncle, the short and thin middle-aged man was astonished to see the thirteen strong men standing side by side. He quickly put on a smile and greeted them with feigned enthusiasm:

“Yo, Little Tian! Long time no see, what brings you here?”

“Third Uncle, got any work?”

“Huh?” Lu Xingguo thought he had run into some local bullies asking for money but was relieved when he realized they were looking for work. He said:

“These days, the casual workers have been busy with farm work, so we’re short of a few hands!”

“How many people do you need?” Ge Xiaotian didn’t plan to leave all the strong men here.

In another time and space where he worked at a construction site, he had a rough idea of the brick kiln’s output.

The brick kilns in the countryside were not large, and even during the peak season, they could only produce around 50,000 bricks a day. Thirteen people moving bricks would be a pure waste of labor.

Moreover, there are different types of brick-moving jobs.

The first is moving the dried bricks into the kiln, which requires some skill.

The second is transporting the fired red bricks out of the kiln and stacking them into piles of 1,000 or 2,500. This is relatively hard work.

The third is loading and unloading the sold red bricks onto trucks and off at their destination. This is rare, as most buyers prefer to save money by doing it themselves, unless they’re dealing with a large quantity.

The strong men probably couldn’t do the first type, and the brick kilns already had fixed workers for that.

Ge Xiaotian wanted the second type, which was temporary and wouldn’t take away anyone’s job.

Lu Xingguo hesitated and replied with a troubled expression, “We don’t need too many…”

Ge Xiaotian took out his father’s red plum cigarette and handed one over:

“How about three people?”

“Three is more than enough!”

“Great, I’ll leave three people here, and we can settle the payment tonight?”

“No problem!”

Borrowing six brick tongs and a wooden cart, Ge Xiaotian was going to teach the strong men how to use them. Surprisingly, the three strong men mastered the tools without any guidance. They could carry four bricks in one hand and eight in both hands. In the time it took to smoke half a cigarette, they moved nearly a hundred bricks.

Impressive!

With the remaining ten strong men in tow, Ge Xiao Tian left the brick kiln, ready to hail a minivan. Suddenly, he noticed an idle “Four-Not-Like” vehicle in the kiln.

The Four-Not-Like was similar to a tractor, with main components such as a steering wheel, chassis, front and rear axles, mostly taken from scrapped vehicles. It was then fitted with a powerful diesel engine and assembled in an auto repair shop. The driver sat next to the engine, and the back was the cabin. Ah! Whoever drove it knew how exhilarating it was!

Ge Xiao Tian went back to his third uncle, threw down a pack of cigarettes, and taught the strong men how to start the diesel engine one by one. With a roar, the group headed towards Zhang Lou Xiang, ten miles away.

There were also a few brick kilns there.

As they passed a cement factory, they saw two trailers full of cement parked at the entrance. Ge Xiao Tian stopped the car, brought the strong men, and barged in.

After some haggling, they unloaded 120 bags from four carriages. He left two strong men behind to work and continued on their roaring journey.

Huh? A sand factory? He left another two strong men behind.

It was a bold and exciting journey.

Driving the violently shaking Four-Not-Like, Ge Xiao Tian felt like a madam introducing her new “chickens” (prostitutes) door to door. After completing a round, all thirteen strong men had been assigned.

Instead of immediately returning, he went to a nearby brick kiln and transported bricks a few times, earning a small profit of ten yuan.

By 5:30 in the afternoon, he picked up the strong men one by one and returned to his distant third uncle’s brick kiln. After settling the accounts, Ge Xiao Tian handed over ten yuan:

“Third Uncle, this is the fuel money for the Four-Not-Like. Thanks!”

“Um…”

Lu Xing Guo scratched his head, watching the fourteen figures gradually disappearing into the distance, feeling something was strange.

Holding a stack of light blue banknotes, Ge Xiao Tian was as happy as a landlord’s foolish son…

Two strong men unloaded 120 bags of cement.

Two strong men loaded 100 bags of sand.

Nine strong men moved bricks, earning a total of 530 yuan.

In total, 750 yuan!

All in half a day!

Tsk, tsk…

“Farmer 01, in good physical condition, skills: Agriculture, construction.”

Ge Xiao Tian glanced at the strong men’s statuses, offered cigarettes to each of them, but all of them declined.

“Farmer One, are you tired?”

“Not tired!” Farmer One’s smile was very honest.

“Everyone worked hard! Let’s go, we’re going to a restaurant!”

Although the farmer’s daily expenses could be deducted from the system, there was not a bit of food in the system now.

Moreover, these men were all living, breathing human beings!

They could eat, drink, and do their business – there was no need to live like machines.

••••••

Sancha Township, as its name suggests, was located at the junction of three counties.

Forget about 99 years ago, even in another timeline 17 years ago, the township was not very prosperous after the change.

The main street was a provincial road, which had been repaired only once ten years ago. Now it was full of potholes and hardly any large vehicles passed through.

In 1995, a trailer loaded with flour had overturned, and by the next day, not only the flour but even the wheels were gone.

Later, after a crackdown, the situation improved a lot, at least no one dared to set up roadblocks in broad daylight.

Ge Xiaotian casually found a mutton soup restaurant, arranged for the strong men, and strolled out the door while munching on a pancake wrapped with spring onions.

Today was not a market day, but there were still some shops.

After taking a walk, Ge Xiaotian found that there were many things that could be recycled by the system.

Copper, iron, grain, meat, and so on.

However, according to the recycling ratio, there were some differences between them.

Five pounds of wheat could be exchanged for one portion of food.

One pound of chicken could be exchanged for two portions of food.

Wheat was 0.45 yuan per pound, equivalent to 2.25 yuan for one portion of food.

Chicken was 3.2 yuan per pound, equivalent to 1.6 yuan for one portion of food.

The system seemed to have a preference for meat.

Pork, lamb, beef, fish – the higher the price, the higher the ratio.

By comparing and calculating, Ge Xiaotian found that recycling pork was the most appropriate!

Five yuan per pound, recycling into the system would be five portions of food.

That’s equivalent to 1 yuan for one portion of food!

Thinking of the bag of wheat he had recycled earlier, Ge Xiaotian felt heartache and wanted to pick his feet.

Oh dear, luckily he had been cautious!

If he had directly bought several hundred pounds of wheat, wouldn’t he have lost half of it?

In those days, there was no chilled meat in the countryside. Ge Xiaotian went around and saw a large meat stall in the distance.

Standing in front of the stall was a pretty young girl in her late teens.

She wore an apron on her upper body and the popular bell-bottom pants in the rural areas on her lower body.

As he approached the meat stall, he took a closer look at the girl’s face.

Her hair seemed to have just been straightened, and her appearance was quite acceptable.

Double eyelids, big eyes, slightly raised nose bridge, and moderate lips.

At first glance, these facial features may seem ordinary, but upon closer inspection – wow! – they become more and more captivating.

Especially when she furrows her brow and puts on that stern little face, she exudes an air of refreshing heroism.

Buying this car is a guaranteed win-win!

The only regret is that bricklaying might not make much money.

What a pity!

*Thwack!*

A boning knife is suddenly inserted into the cutting board.

Startled, Ge Xiaotian comes back to his senses.

The young girl’s face turns slightly red as she angrily hums, “Have you had enough of touching?!”

“Ah?!” Ge Xiaotian quickly puts down the piece of pork belly in his hand and thought about how much to buy.

He certainly can’t spend all 700 yuan, as he’ll need money for food and lodging later.

“Are you buying or not?”

“Buy, buy, buy! Definitely buying! I’ll take 500 yuan worth!”

“Ah? What do you need so much for?”

“To eat! Are you silly?”

“You!” The young girl angrily chops the pig’s head, “I’m almost out of stock, there’s not that much left! This is all I have!”

“Then I’ll take it all!”

Without a word, the girl puts all the meat into a woven bag and weighs it, “25 jin, 125 yuan!”

“Are you sure it’s not short?”

“Get lost!”

Heh, this girl’s got character!

Not far from the meat stall, Ge Xiaotian suddenly turns back and meets her bright eyes, he can’t help but blow a kiss.

Oh, my!

“Ptui!” The young girl spits lightly, her face flushed as she hurriedly lowers her head to clean up the meat stall.

Ge Xiaotian chuckles.

A man has to be a bit naughty!

He finds a secluded spot to collect the pork.

130 portions of food!

Huh? There are actually 5 more portions?

Which means, there’s an extra jin of meat?!

Good heavens, is that girl going to lose money selling pork?!

Well?

He’ll buy from her shop in the future!

Back at the mutton soup restaurant, the burly men have already finished eating.

In a random sketchy motel, I spent 10 bucks to rent two rooms, much to the reluctance and terror of the motel owner.

These little motels were pretty similar to college dorms, with bunk beds that could sleep eight people in a room!

Having settled everyone in, Ge Xiaotian pondered his next move.

They still needed to do the bricklaying and other odd jobs.

However, if their numbers grew too large, the few factories within a ten-mile radius wouldn’t be able to accommodate them all. Plus, there was no guarantee that the bosses wouldn’t collectively lower their wages.

He needed to think of another way.

Glancing at the muscular guys sleeping soundly, Ge Xiaotian stepped outside for a smoke.

He checked his watch: 8 PM.

On the pitch-black street without any streetlights, there was not a soul in sight. Occasionally, a farm tricycle would whiz past at breakneck speed.

From the next room, the motel owner’s familiar tunes wafted through the air.

“When the mountains have no edges, when the rivers no longer flow, when time stands still…”

“Let us wander this mortal world together, living free and easy. Let us ride our horses and share in life’s bustling prosperity…”

“Ah…”