Congratulations!
A middle-aged man clasped his fists and congratulated him, saying, "Engineer Zhang, no, from today onwards, I have to call you Head Zhang."
Level 4 skilled worker, group leader.
You're the first one in our batch to make it big!
"Zhang Tou, you absolutely have to treat us today!"
"Yeah, yeah, Zhang, it's time to treat us!"
The surrounding crowd echoed their sentiments.
"Okay, okay, okay!"
Zhang Hong smiled and agreed, "It's a pity that the restaurants in the city haven't opened yet. How about this, I'll treat you to candy tomorrow!"
"You're so stingy!"
A familiar friend jokingly asked, "Are you planning to buy a house?"
"hey-hey……"
Zhang Hong smiled but didn't say anything.
After exchanging a few jokes, everyone went home.
Zhang Hong is a worker at the Ordnance Bureau. He fled here from the north before the Lunar New Year.
Because he came from a family of blacksmiths, Zhang Hong was quite skilled at forging steel.
After arriving in Dongning City, he also joined the Ordnance Bureau as a worker.
In the past few days, various construction teams have begun to classify job levels, and Zhang Hong has also been rated as a fourth-level technician, becoming the group leader and leader of their group.
He also has three level-three skilled workers, six level-two workers, and thirteen level-one apprentices under his command.
In addition to two meals of dry rice every day, a fourth-level skilled worker receives one shi (a unit of dry measure) of sorghum rice, ten jin (a unit of weight) of dried meat, and eight hundred wen (a unit of currency) in cash every month.
Such treatment was exceptional within the entire Ordnance Bureau.
They have no worries about food, drink, or clothing every month, and they also receive occasional care and attention from their superiors.
The only pity is that there's nowhere to spend all this money for now.
While browsing around the shops in Nancheng, Zhang Hong bought a bar of soap, three bars of soap, and a large bag of candy from Jiangnan before returning to his home in Nancheng.
He still lives in a dugout.
Fortunately, this dugout was allocated by the Ordnance Bureau and was inhabited by his family.
Zhang Hong fled from the north to Dongning City before the Lunar New Year, bringing his family with him: his elderly mother in her seventies, his wife in her thirties, and two children aged eight or nine.
The family huddled together in this dugout, which felt rather cramped.
During the day, the children play outside.
As evening approached, upon seeing his father return, he immediately ran towards him, shouting excitedly.
"Father, Father..."
The children cheered.
"My dear son, come here and see what delicious treats your dads brought you!"
Zhang Hong smiled as he unwrapped the candy, grabbed a small handful, and gave some to his two sons. "Here, have a taste..."
The two sons tore open the candy wrappers, popped them into their mouths, and ate them with great relish.
"So sweet..."
Zhang Wenxuan ran towards home, shouting, "Mom, Mom, Dad's back! He even sold candy, it's so sweet!"
"Wenxuan, slow down!"
Zhang Hong reminded him from behind.
"Wenzheng, let's go."
Zhang Hong patted his youngest son on the shoulder and headed towards the dugout.
Upon entering the dugout, he saw his wife and mother still spinning thread.
Although it was already dark outside, the two women were still skillfully spinning their spinning wheels.
Amidst the creaking sounds, the mother skillfully wound the spun thread onto the coil.
In one corner of the dugout, there were more than a dozen coils, all of which were spun that day.
"Mother, it's getting dark, let's rest for a while."
Zhang Hong walked in, put down what he was holding, and said, "Wenzheng, get some candy for your grandma and your mother to try. Go quickly."
"oh."
Zhang Wenzheng responded, took out two candies, and ran to his mother's side, saying, "Mom, have some candy."
"Zheng'er, give this to your grandma first."
His wife, Zhou, spoke up.
Zhang Wenzheng held the candy in his hand to his grandmother's mouth, saying, "Grandma, have some candy."
"Good grandson..."
Grandma affectionately patted her grandson's head and sweetly ate the candy.
Before long, another ball of yarn was spun up and taken off the spinning wheel.
The room went completely dark; after a busy day at work, we finally came to a close.
Zhang Hong reached out and put the spinning wheel aside, saying, "Mother, I'll have my wife cook you something."
"Don't cook, I'm not hungry."
The old mother waved her hand and said, "Xuan'er came back from getting food at the canteen this afternoon. I've already eaten, so I'm not hungry now."
I'm a little tired after sitting all day, I'm going to sleep now..."
As she spoke, the old mother staggered to her feet, slowly moved to the bedside, and lay down on the bed.
Before long, a soft snoring sound came from the bed.
It was a tiring day.
After putting their two sons to sleep, Zhang Hong and his wife also lay down on the bed.
The dugout was very small, with a large communal bed where five people from three generations slept.
The conditions are somewhat difficult, but there's no other way right now.
Fortunately, they had enough to eat and drink, and the whole family was alive, so life was still considered happy.
"Dad, why did you buy all this today?"
The wife, Zhou, complained, "The soap, the bar soap, and this bag of candy are all a waste of money!"
Holding onto the money, we'll be able to move into our new house soon...
I heard that the leader of our third picking team has already bought a new house in the new housing area in the east of the city.
He is a level four skilled worker…
"Level 4 skilled worker?"
Zhang Hong was taken aback, then quickly turned to look at his wife in the darkness and asked, "How much did the new house cost?"
"It seems to be a loan from the Prince's Mansion."
After thinking for a moment, his wife, Zhou, said, "We will pay back 800 coins every month for five years."
By the way, he gets eight hundred coins a month!
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
