TATLC Chapter 28 – Enviable Wages

As Liu Guiyong and his companions walked along the road, they couldn’t help but discuss the matter.

“Dad, that Chen Xiaomi seems like a good person! Not at all like what others said,” Liu Wen said.

Liu Guiyong’s group came from Dawan¹ Village, which was next to Dashi Village. Some people from Dashi Village had married into Dawan Village, so news about Chen Xiaomi had spread far and wide. A little inquiry was all it took to learn about his situation.

Because Chen Xiaomi’s offer seemed unusual, Liu Guiyong still made some inquiries when he returned home. After his investigation, he roughly understood why he did not negotiate their price.

After thinking it through, the men felt this job was acceptable. No matter how powerful Chen Xiaomi might be, he still had two children at home, while they were five strong men! If Chen Xiaomi didn’t pay them daily as agreed, they could simply quit.

However, after interacting with him for a day, Liu Guiyong realized the situation was far better than they’d expected.

Chen Xiaomi was quite friendly, and Lu Lin was generous too. They had cooked such a large pot of porridge for them, with vegetables and meat. The wages were high and paid daily as promised. The only drawback was the distance, but that couldn’t be helped.

Xiao Dali scratched his head and said, “That porridge was delicious.”

Before, Xiao Dali followed Liu Guiyong to build a house for a wealthy family. As an apprentice, he only earned fifteen wen a day with one meal provided at noon. But it was just rough rice porridge that never filled him up. His stomach would be empty again soon after.

In comparison, Chen Xiaomi was incredibly generous.

Mixed with those earth sticks², the porridge tasted amazing. Xiao Dali suddenly thought that after finishing work for Chen Xiaomi, he could dig some earth sticks from the mountains near Dawan Village to eat.

Xiao Dali thought the villagers of Dashi Village were fools! How could they push away such a good opportunity?

Chen Xiaomi bought a lot of bricks from the kiln, and the two apprentices helped transport them.

The villagers were wary of Chen Xiaomi but not afraid of the two apprentices.

“Hey, you two, working for Chen Xiaomi?” a villager approached the brothers to greet them.

Xiao Dali nodded.

“Do you know? That Shuang’er Chen Xiaomi is not ordinary…” the villager said mysteriously.

Xiao Dali just responded with an “Oh.” Since they’d already asked around before, he wasn’t particularly curious about the supposedly extraordinary Shuang’er the villager mentioned.

What kind of person Chen Xiaomi was had nothing to do with them as long as he paid them. Before, Xiao Dali also worked for wealthy households where the pay was agreed upon in advance. But when it came time to settle accounts, they would always nitpick about something being done poorly and dock his wages for some supposed flaw.

Working for Chen Xiaomi was different. The food was good, wages were paid promptly each day, and while working, Chen Xiaomi rarely gave orders or interfered, which gave them confidence in their work. The job was straightforward and reassuring.

And then there was that kang bed at the Chen house. It was truly a fine thing. If he could learn how to build one, it would be another valuable skill.

However, they had only been working at there for a few days, so naturally they didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask about the kang bed yet.

Seeing that the brothers weren’t interested, the villager grew anxious. “Haven’t you heard? That Shuang’er Chen Xiaomi has strange, powerful strength. He even killed a tiger before! He used to beat people up randomly, so the Chen family had no choice but to kick him out. Aren’t you scared?”

Xiao Dali glanced at the villager and said, “We’re just here to work. The master’s affairs have nothing to do with us, as long as they’re willing to pay.”

Xiao Dali thought the villagers of Dashi Village were making a fuss over nothing. So what if he was a Shuang’er? Even if he had killed a tiger, perhaps the tiger was already dead. Maybe he just dragged it down from the mountain.

Seeing that Xiao Dali and Xiao Dashi wouldn’t listen to his warning, the villager shook his head and walked away, disappointed at their stubbornness.

In just three days of working for Chen Xiaomi, the brothers had already been approached by several nosy villagers. Many looked at them with pity, which the brothers found ridiculous. After a while, they simply got used to it.

Lu Lin was well aware of the villagers’ behavior but was relieved that Liu Guiyong’s crew didn’t back out.

Of course, if they did decide to quit, Lu Lin wouldn’t mind. At worst, he could pay more and hire someone else.

Several villagers from Dashi Village had assumed the workers would quit after a few days at Lu Lin’s place, but they were surprised when the men stayed on.

At this time of year, many people were idle and looking for work. These days, there were more workers than jobs.

Sometimes people would wait all day in town, only to return empty-handed. Walking that far also meant eating more, and after several disappointments, many simply gave up.

Some villagers indirectly inquired about Liu Guiyong’s group’s wages and were immediately stunned.

When they learned that even half-grown helpers earned 20 wen a day, while the experienced workers got 40, many villagers felt bitter.

Chen Xiaomi paid higher wages than ordinary households and provided a meal.

Many families in the village were short on land. How could they let outsiders take such good opportunities? Lu Lin had no qualms about using the village head as an excuse, telling people that according to him, everyone in the village was busy and no one was willing to work for them.

While many villagers had their eyes on the wages, others were interested in learning how to build the kang bed. Without a proper reason, they couldn’t ask Chen Xiaomi how the kang was built. However, if they worked for him, they could not only earn money but possibly learn how to build the kang as well.

A few days later, several villagers approached the village head’s house, complaining that it wasn’t right for Chen Xiaomi to hire outsiders when there were plenty of able-bodied men in the village.

Such matters should involve villagers first, they argued. The village had plenty of workers, and the village head shouldn’t have dismissed the matter without asking around, letting outsiders take all the benefits. Zhang Jin was furious.

Zhang Jin had assumed that, given Chen Xiaomi’s reputation, no one would’ve been willing to work for him anyway. But now that outsiders were profiting, the villagers were suddenly unhappy.

After Liu Guiyong’s group had worked for Lu Lin for six days, several villagers came forward saying the village head had made a mistake. How could the village possibly have no one willing to work for them? There were plenty of people in the village who could build houses.

Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi discussed the matter and selected six villagers from those who came forward to help with the work.

The house construction had already been assigned to Liu Guiyong’s group, but Lu Lin also wanted to build a shed and expand the chicken and goose coops. There was still work to be done.