Chapter 51
After a short rest, Gao Qiang ordered a box lunch. Zhan Mu went over and opened the lid of the box. There was only one dish, braised pork with potatoes, and then some dry rice.
"It looks unpalatable." Lu Chao whispered to Zhan Mu, "How about I go to town and pack you a bowl of noodles?"
"It's not good. We are all here to work as temporary workers." Zhan Mu also lowered his voice and said, "It's too hot and sunny. You should take a rest."
Lu Chao looked around at the others and said irritably, "It's said to be half a day, but we came in the morning and worked three extra hours. Does that mean the salary is still 80 yuan?"
"The problem is that it's hard for us to say." Zhan Mu seemed embarrassed.
"You know what? This is the bad thing about doing business with acquaintances. You can't get over it psychologically and you're hesitant to talk about money." Lu Chao frowned and looked away from him. Seeing that Zhan Mu also had sweat on his forehead, he wiped it for him with the wet tissue in his hand.
"You simply..." Zhan Mu looked at him with a moving expression, as if they were sympathizing with each other during a time of hardship.
"I'm done. It's only 80 yuan, what's the big deal?" Lu Chao threw away the wet tissue and raised his chin towards a newly arrived truck. "See? There's another truck here, and those two newcomers are going to pick the best fruits. I don't believe they won't keep you guys busy all afternoon."
"If you can't even bear this little hardship, what's the point of doing anything else?" Zhan Mu sensed Lu Chao's disdain and felt a little unhappy.
He glared at Lu Chao. Just then, Gao Qiang said they should eat first. Then, the other farmhands took their own portions. Zhan Mu frowned and said, "If you really can't do it, just turn into liquid and rest. Don't come out."
Lu Chao pursed his lips, as if he was speechless, but he did not turn back into liquid. Instead, he glanced at Zhan Mu and went to the grape orchard with his parasol on his head.
Zhan Mu thought he was angry with him and went to work. He thought he had a bad temper. He also took the lunch box and started eating. It was said to be braised pork with potatoes, but there was not even a piece of meat. It might as well be called stewed potatoes.
Although the sun was strong, fortunately they were all hiding in this blue greenhouse. Zhan Mu finished eating quickly and then found that Grandma Zhan was standing there, picking the inferior grapes from a bunch of grapes.
"Grandma, have you eaten?" Zhan Mu looked at the table again, and the lunch box was gone. He had taken it all away.
Grandma Zhan said, "No, not at all."
"Oh, it's not enough. I'll call them and ask them to send more." Gao Qiang was talking to someone on the phone here, but when Zhan Mu listened carefully, it was clear that they were not talking about the farmers and workers' meals.
The proprietress, Sister Hong, was also discussing grapes with the men and women who had come to buy fruit earlier.
Zhan Mu looked again and saw that a younger woman had taken two lunch boxes by herself. It seemed that she was dissatisfied with the lack of braised pork in her portion, so she specifically picked out the vegetables and only had the rice.
At this point, Gao Qiang finally hung up on him and shouted, "How many people still haven't eaten? Shout! I've ordered 20 more. If you don't get them, they'll be gone!"
"My grandma!" Zhan Mu shouted.
He was actually a little angry. Looking at his taciturn grandmother, he asked impatiently, "Grandma, come on, why didn't you run faster when you got the food?"
"Stop it!" Grandma Zhan glared at him and said, "Did your boss starve you? You're working like that. That's what it's like to be a worker."
“…” Zhan Mu suddenly choked, feeling that his kindness was taken for granted - damn, you’re just a farmer and you feel sorry for your boss?
Zhan Mu shut up and drank the water he brought with him. He was just enjoying the cool breeze when Sister Hong beckoned him. She said, "Hey! That young man, Zhan Siwa! Come here. You're younger and learn things quickly. Come here. We need someone here. Come and learn how to wrap grapes from them. It's very simple."
Zhan Mu took a look and saw that the fruits were wrapped in a soft plastic net, then placed in a small basket and covered with a box. It was indeed easier than picking grapes under the sun with ultraviolet rays, and there was also a small stool to sit on.
"Oh, okay." Zhan Mu agreed. He could do it at a glance. It didn't require any technical skills at all. He said casually, "Call my grandma and ask them to come and make it too..."
"Oh, you old woman, you're so clumsy," Sister Hong replied, "Please be careful with these grapes."
Zhan Mu nodded, then looked up to see his grandfather, sweating profusely, coming over with a box of pesticide spraying equipment on his back. Meanwhile, his grandmother, at Gao Qiang's beckoning, had re-hooked up her small basket and continued picking grapes in the fields.
"This one pays a bit more, 100 yuan." The old lady next door told Zhan Mu, "Besides, it's not exposed to the sun, and it's a bit easier. It all depends on whether you can pack it up."
Zhan Mu looked at the plastic net and laughed dryly: "This isn't that difficult."
"Be careful, some fruits are too small to pick! If they are not ripe, the buyer will not want them!"
"There are several varieties. Be careful, only pick the green ones! Don't mistake it for a Sunshine Rose! Aren't you all color blind?"
Gao Qianghong's voice called out again. Zhan Mu looked over and saw his grandfather who had just returned from spraying pesticides. He smoked two cigarettes and then rushed into the fields to pick grapes.
"You are not the third brother's son?" someone asked.
Zhan Mu: "No, my dad is the fourth child. The one you're talking about is my third dad, the one who runs a barber shop in town."
"Yeah, he looks different. Did you graduate from college?"
"That's right." Zhan Mu looked at the scorching sun outside the shed and thought of Lu Chao. He was a little worried about his safety. What if he got sunburned and was mistaken for an alien outside?
"Are you worried about your grandparents? Oh, they're both famously hardworking in our village." The neighbor said, "They're really hardworking. They work tirelessly, regardless of the weather. They're over 70 years old and still very hardworking. They dig in the fields all year round. Boss Gao loves to eat at your grandma's house."
Awesome! Holy shit!
Zhan Mu looked at Gao Qiang in shock, curious whether he was getting along well with the peasant employees, or was simply too lazy to cook to save some money.
"...My grandparents are in good health." Zhan Mu felt ashamed, but what he was thinking was: It's totally unnecessary. Farmers don't make much money these days. They are so old and still work so hard and hurt their health. Tsk tsk.
What's more, since he is so hardworking and works all year round, how could he not only not have tens of thousands of dollars, but he also has to rely on his children even to repair his old and dilapidated house.
The funniest thing is that your children think you were partial when you were young, and now they are unwilling to spend more money to help you.
Ultimately, it’s because of selfishness and poverty.
Having a child is not like drawing an SSR card. Even if you get a rare talent with high stats, don't be too happy too soon. You still have to bet on whether he still has the conscience to repay his mediocre parents after experiencing a series of setbacks.
More ordinary people still rely on their parents and can only support themselves.
——There are very few business tycoons who can start from scratch and even create glory.
Zhan Mu pursed his lips, his mind racing. He suddenly felt that his grandmother wasn't that worthy of pity. Often, a person's misfortune is caused by their own hands. It's best to refrain from interfering in the fate of others.
-
The cicadas kept chirping, but Zhan Mu was not tired. He just had to hold it in. He asked his grandmother for the key and planned to go back to his hometown to use the toilet. On the way, he also looked for Lu Chao on the way. Unfortunately, he didn't find him.
The advantage of his rural home was that it was spacious, but that was the only advantage. Zhan Mu found the toilet by memory: a small corner with a dim light bulb, no ceiling, and spiders clinging to the broken, old tiles.
Even the only groove where one could squat was covered with white maggots.
Zhan Mu's expression was numb, and he quickly took off his pants. He thought that this kind of scene only existed in games, but he didn't expect it to actually exist in real life - it turns out that art comes from life.
He put on his pants and wanted to leave, but he paused, turned around and looked around the old, dilapidated house.
He remembered that when he was a child, he was also here and was fed corn porridge by his grandmother. At that time, this house was still very young.
Zhan Mu felt inexplicably sad. He went up to the second floor and looked at the swaying green bamboos leaning against the wall and the falling leaves. He felt a rare sense of peace.
The phone suddenly rang. Zhan Mu picked up the phone but didn't answer it. However, he saw Lu Chao on a small hill not far away out of the corner of his eye.
Zhan Mu picked up the phone and asked him, "Where have you been?"
His voice was calm, without any impatience, which made Lu Chao, who had skipped work out of spite, feel embarrassed. He replied, "I didn't go anywhere. I didn't want to spend the afternoon in the sun for such a small amount of money. I just took a walk and strolled around."
"Okay." Zhan Mu did not blame him. After all, Lu Chao had never asked anything of him, so he couldn't force him to make money.
Zhan Mu was just about to hang up the phone when he heard a faint meow. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a dirty plastic basin covered with dead bamboo leaves, with five little kittens in it.
"Wow, they are kittens." Zhan Mu leaned over to take a look. There were five very small kittens, as if they were just born not long ago. Their voices were soft and sticky. They were all black, white and gray, and their eyes were also black.
It should be a tabby cat.
Zhan Mu poked one of the cats' noses with his fingertips and said, "How about we get a few cats?"
Lu Chao had already seen them through his phone camera and was a little disgusted, as he didn't like pets and thought they were dirty. But Zhan Mu wouldn't let him refuse. He had already taken off his sun-protective jacket, wrapped up the five kittens, and happily carried them downstairs.
At the gate of Grandma Zhan's old yard, under two osmanthus trees, Zhan Mu was holding a cat with a joyful look on his face, showing it off to Lu Chao, and said, "Isn't it cute? I have a cat too~"
Lu Chao narrowed his eyes, flicked the cat's body slightly, and said, "See? There are fleas. Raising a cat takes a lot of effort. You have to feed it, sterilize it, deworm it, and clean its fur. It's all very tedious... And you plan to raise five cats at once? What will happen to your business?"
"Then, I'll just raise one." Zhan Mu nodded, and immediately carefully selected the one he thought had the best appearance. He pinched the back of its neck and handed it to Lu Chao, who had a sullen face.
Then he went upstairs and returned the other four.
"Let me tell you first, it's your cat, so you have to take care of it yourself." Lu Chao looked at Zhan Mu, who had a maternal look on his face, and showed a slight sense of speechlessness and suffocation.
Zhan Mu had already held the cat in his hands and was intoxicated.
Lu Chao laughed: "You are quite manly, why do you like these little girls' toys sometimes?"
"You don't understand." Zhan Mu glanced away from him and continued petting the cat, muttering, "Little Gray Gray, how about I just call you Little Gray Gray? From now on, you'll have a good life. You'll be different from your brothers and sisters. You'll eat cat food, live in a cat bed, and even have a litter box, okay?"
"..." Lu Chao was admiring his idiotic moment from the side.
-
The sun set, and Boss Gao's business was finally completed. After Zhan Mu received the 100 yuan he earned through his labor, he was not as happy as if he had adopted a cat for free.
"Oh, that cat upstairs." Grandma Zhan recognized it and said in annoyance, "I don't know what it's like to raise a cat. It's so annoying. I didn't know it was a female until she gave birth."
"I like it." Zhan Mu ignored him and suddenly had an idea. He said, "Where does civet coffee come from? If I buy some coffee beans to feed my cats, can I open a coffee shop?"
Lu Chao: "I'm a civet cat, not a tabby cat."
"It's not surprising that I'm giving it all to you." Grandma Zhan said, greeted her grandson, and called her husband to go home for dinner. Zhan Mu said he had to go back to give the cat a bath first.
As the sun set, the golden light shone on the hunched backs of Grandma Zhan and Grandpa Zhan, making their figures seem very far away. Zhan Mu called out, "Grandma—"
The old man turned around and saw Zhan Mu rocking the kitten with a smile on his face. He said confidently, "I will work hard to make money and get rich soon so that I can build you two a better new house."
Lu Chao looked at him with a gentle look in his eyes.
Grandpa Zhan tilted his head and said, "An? I can't hear you clearly."
"Okay, okay, you work hard." Grandma Zhan didn't care. She waved her hand and treated it as a joke. She pulled her husband and shouted, "He said he would repair the house for us."
"Oh oh oh, be good."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
