Chapter 170

The workers in the transport team didn't think Lei Tingjun was exaggerating.

But I also think that getting on TV news is probably not an easy thing!

In A-Qiang's view, what his brother Lei says now carries authority.

He saw that Lei Tingjun spent his free time reading every night, and would often make annotations in the books. Anyone who didn't know him would think he was a diligent scholar.

Ah Qiang thought to himself, "What my brother Lei is doing must be right."

He's reading, so I, A-Qiang, will read too!

Besides, Ah Qiang is now considered the second-in-command of the Thunder Transport Team, so he has to follow Brother Lei's lead.

A-Qiang's full name is Chen Duanqiang.

The surname Chen is a common surname in any place; the character 'Duan' is the generational name of A-Qiang's family; and the character 'Qiang' embodies the hope for prosperity and strength.

So his father named him Chen Duanqiang.

When A-Qiang was a child, his father would always smoke his old-fashioned tobacco and tell him that their Chen family ancestors, going back several hundred years, had produced a top scholar and a high-ranking official, but their descendants were not ambitious enough, which led to their decline.

Ah Qiang thought that since his ancestors had produced a top scholar, he must have inherited the talent for studying; it was just that he was too naughty and ignorant when he was young.

Ah Qiang ran to Lei Tingjun and said, "Brother Lei, can I borrow the book you're reading so I can take a look?"

Lei Tingjun glanced at him, picked up a few high school review materials, and tossed them to him.

Lei Tingjun had already read and absorbed all of these books, so he didn't need to read them anymore. Since A-Qiang also wanted to learn some knowledge, Lei Tingjun lent them to him.

Like Lei Tingjun, A-Qiang also stopped studying after finishing junior high school.

First, he was rebellious and mischievous when he was fourteen or fifteen, spending all his time hanging out with his cronies in the county and having no interest in studying. Second, his grades were not good, and his homeroom teacher felt that he was dragging the class down and didn't care about him.

And so, after graduating from junior high school, A-Qiang started working with his father in the scrap metal recycling business.

After receiving the books that Lei Tingjun had thrown at him, A-Qiang chuckled, crossed his legs on the bed, and began to read them seriously.

But in less than five minutes, his eyelids started to droop, and he became sleepy.

What is this thing?!

Ah Qiang glanced furtively at the book in Lei Tingjun's hand, and seeing the fashionable magazine print on the cover, he laughed and said, "Brother Lei, I don't find this one interesting. Do you have another one like the one you're looking for? Can you lend me another one?"

Lei Tingjun was holding a copy of Reference News magazine, which was full of domestic and international political news reports and criticisms of current affairs.

Lei Tingjun casually pulled a book from behind him and tossed it to A-Qiang.

Ah Qiang took it with both hands, looked at it for a few moments, and was even more confused.

He recognizes all the words on this page, but when he reads them together, he can't understand even one sentence.

However, he was too embarrassed to bother Lei Tingjun again, so he pretended to be reading very attentively. In less than half an hour, the book covering his face slipped down, and he started snoring.

From then on, A-Qiang realized that although his ancestors had produced a top scholar hundreds of years ago, that gene might not have been passed down to him.

He should just work honestly and make more trips!

That day, A-Qiang and a few brothers went to pick up building materials again. They returned to Pingdong City from the local area around six or seven o'clock in the evening.

One of the brothers said with a bitter face, "Qiangzi, how about we find a place in the city to eat and drink some wine before going back?"

These past few days, not only has Brother Lei forced us to watch the news every night, but when we get back to the dorm, he won't let us play cards or drink. This has really made these rough guys feel stifled!

Ah Qiang actually felt that pretending to read books with Lei Ge every day was quite painful.

These people have the dull, unintelligent minds of common folk; no matter how many books they read, they can't absorb them. They're only suited for manual labor.

Things that require thinking are things that only capable people like Brother Lei do.

Since they are all people who are suited to physical labor, it is indeed easy for them to become bored if they don't find something to relax and unwind after finishing their work each day.

Ah Qiang thought, "If Brother Lei is in charge of being strict, then I'll be in charge of helping the brothers relax."

It's okay to slack off once in a while.

Besides, Ah Qiang has made quite a bit of money following Lei Tingjun. He always has money in his pocket and a lot saved in his savings account. He's just waiting to go back at the end of the year to tear down the old, dilapidated courtyard his father left behind and build a two-story house.

"Okay, then I'll treat the brothers to dinner. Everyone should drink a little less, no more than three bottles. That way we won't get scolded by Brother Lei when we get back."

"Three bottles is already very good!" Everyone was overjoyed.

A-Qiang and his group of brothers found a nice restaurant in the city, ordered a table full of dishes and two cases of ice-cold beer, and told everyone to eat and drink as they pleased, as it was his treat.

Everyone was drinking and playing drinking games. As they drank and got into a good mood, they completely forgot about the limit of three bottles per person that A-Qiang had mentioned earlier.

Ah Qiang let everyone else have their way, and joined them in playing drinking games and eating meat.

I drank four or five bottles myself.

They were all young and strong men in their mid-twenties; four or five bottles of beer were no problem for them at all.

After they finish drinking, it wouldn't be a problem to get them to work half a day on the construction site.

By the time the drinks were finished, it was almost 9 p.m.

When Ah Qiang checked the time, he realized that he had already finished reading Lei Ge's news. He figured they could just wash up and go to sleep when they got back, so he called out to everyone, "Let's go, let's stop drinking and go home!"

A group of four or five people drove the transport team's pickup truck towards the dormitory on the construction site.

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