These days, people go to bed early and get up early. Shi Zhen has to start work at 7:30 in the morning, then work until 11:00 for lunch, and then continue working at 12:00, finishing work at 4:30 in the afternoon.
They have to work a full eight hours, but even an Ironman can't work forever. They can take a break while standing. Around 2 PM, everyone will stop to eat something, otherwise they'll get too hungry.
Of course, I can't eat anything too fancy. I usually just eat steamed buns or mantou. Yesterday, I had steamed buns with a filling of pickled vegetables and dried tofu.
Yesterday was Shi Zhen's first day at work, and he wasn't very familiar with everyone yet, but today he's become familiar with everyone around him.
He's a seasoned businessman, so it's not difficult for him to win people's favor.
After they got to know each other, they started chatting about all sorts of things. Some people even asked Shi Zhen where he was from and why he was working as a laborer at such a young age.
All manual labor jobs are hard work, and locals in J City generally can't bear to let their young children go out to do such hard work.
Shi Zhen said, "My home is quite far away, not here. I came here to find my cousin... As for doing odd jobs, I can't find any other work."
He kept talking, but his hands never stopped working.
The person he was chatting with took out a cigarette from his pocket, leaned on his shovel, and rested in the middle of the river. Seeing Shi Zhen busy, he asked, "Your parents are really willing to spend money like that."
"Our family is too poor, what's there to be reluctant about?"
"That means I should work harder so I can earn money to get married," the man sighed.
This man was in his forties and had been used to hardship. He used to not even have enough to eat. The reason he was talking to Shi Zhen like this was because his child was about the same age as Shi Zhen.
Seeing Shi Zhen working hard, he started talking about other things: "Life is really getting better and better now. I almost starved to death before. Who would have thought that now I can not only eat my fill, but also eat meat from time to time."
The vegetables served at their construction site always have some fatty meat in them, so that the workers don't lack energy for their work.
Shi Zhen took the opportunity to chat with him and learn about Anshan Town at that time.
Although he still remembered some things from that time, he needed to talk to others to understand the specifics.
In this era, some things that could be industrialized and thus very cheap in later generations are quite expensive, while other things are very cheap. In addition, this place is indeed a coastal area and a place where private enterprises are developed, so everyone is thinking about doing business.
Today's lunch is pork blood and tofu soup.
The pig's blood and tofu soup was steaming hot, topped with a thick layer of lard, chopped scallions, and cracklings from rendering the lard.
Shi Zhen ate about half a bowl, and planned to take the rest back to Guan Baiyu.
"Old Wang, what do you want for afternoon snacks?" asked the forty-something-year-old worker who had been chatting with Shi Zhen earlier, to the junior supervisor in charge of them.
The man who hired Shi Zhen as a laborer because he paid him five yuan a day as a "tribute" was named Wang Chengfa. When he heard this man ask the question, he said, "I'm going to buy some rice cakes later."
Guoci is a local snack. It is made by mixing glutinous rice flour with water to form a paste, which is then coated and dried in a hot iron wok. It can be eaten directly or soaked in hot water before eating.
When new guests arrive, the host will definitely make a bowl of brown sugar rice cakes.
"That stuff isn't filling, can't we get instant noodles instead?" someone asked. "Before, some of them worked as laborers, and they were given a pack of instant noodles as an afternoon snack!"
"Dream on! Some places don't even provide meals or snacks!" Wang Chengfa said. Rice cakes are cheap, but instant noodles are not!
In the afternoon, he only bought a large bag of rice cakes. He then spent a few cents to buy hot water from a nearby vendor, and had everyone bring out their own cups. He made a bowl for each of them and added some saccharin.
Saccharin is a type of artificial sweetener. It is not sugar, but just a tiny amount makes it very sweet.
Shi Zhen didn't want the saccharin, which had long since disappeared in later generations, but everyone else did. Some people wanted it sweeter, so they added more saccharin, but it ended up tasted bitter. However, by adding more water, it was still sweet in the end.
These past two days, water has been leaking into his shoes from time to time. Shi Zhen's feet have become swollen and wrinkled from being soaked in water so much. He tried to dry them, but his toes almost went numb from the cold.
"Uncle Wang, how much is a pack of instant noodles?" Shi Zhen asked Wang Chengfa.
He remembered when he first came to J City in his previous life, Shi Xinghuo saw someone eating instant noodles at a construction site and was really craving them... It's a pity he didn't buy them for Shi Xinghuo.
There's also Guan Baiyu.
Guan Baiyu grew up with his grandmother. His grandmother, a rural old lady of her age, would stretch every penny to its limit, so Guan Baiyu probably never had the chance to eat instant noodles.
Wang Chengfa said, "Seven cents a pack."
The price was very high compared to his income at the time, but Shi Zhen still bought two packs after work.
I only found out after buying it that the 70-cent pack of instant noodles only contained one seasoning packet.
When he got home that evening, Shi Zhen gave Shi Xinghuo a packet of food, and took the remaining packet, along with the half-cup of pig's blood and tofu soup left over from lunch, to Guan Baiyu's place.
He finished work early, and when he arrived, Guan Baiyu had just returned and hadn't cooked yet, so Shi Zhen asked him if he wanted to eat instant noodles.
Guan Baiyu hesitated for a moment before saying, "No, I'll eat it next time."
After a while, he whispered again, "I've never eaten instant noodles before."
The fifteen-year-old boy was a little embarrassed when he said this, and then he smiled at Shi Zhen.
Shi Zhen felt a surge of emotion, though he couldn't quite describe the feeling.
Guan Baiyu has a very well-behaved appearance, and when he smiles now, revealing two small tiger teeth, he is even more adorable.
If Guan Baiyu could have children, his and Guan Baiyu's child would be this big by now.
Shi Zhen said, "I'll start a fire for you."
Guan Baiyu did not refuse: "Okay."
Shi Zhen started the fire, and Guan Baiyu put water and rice into the pot. When he saw that there were straw stalks in the rice that hadn't been rinsed properly, he scooped them out and put them aside.
He then steamed a bowl of pickled vegetables in the pot without adding any oil.
When his grandmother was alive, he was actually doing quite well, and... he didn't feel that he was any different from the people around him.
Everyone was poor back then.
But two years ago, his grandmother passed away, and the people around him gradually became richer, and everything changed.
His adoptive parents didn't completely ignore him; they still paid his tuition of over two hundred yuan per semester, but that was all. He was too embarrassed to ask them for money.
Salt is cheap, so he can afford it, but oil and the like are unavailable.
Other families can exchange their own rapeseed for oil at the oil mill, but where did he get his rapeseed?
He never expected that a...cousin would suddenly appear.
Guan Baiyu looked at Shi Zhen, paused for a moment, and then said, "Brother, thank you."
Shi Zhen was stunned.
He remembered that Guan Baiyu was a bit cold and didn't like to get close to people, so he always thought that it would take several days for Guan Baiyu to accept him.
On the third day, Guan Baiyu started calling him "brother"?
"You acknowledge me now?" Shi Zhen asked.
Guan Baiyu was puzzled—this was his cousin, how could he not acknowledge him?
Shi Zhen had originally planned to take things slowly and gradually get to know Guan Baiyu, but now that Guan Baiyu had called him "brother"... some things could be done faster.
Shi Zhen said, "It's good that you acknowledge me and are willing to call me brother. Don't worry, I'll take care of you from now on! How about this, starting tomorrow I'll buy some groceries and come over to eat at your place so you can eat better!"
He had already planned this; if he bought some groceries and cooked at Guan Baiyu's place, the meals for the three of them would be improved.
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