"Don't go, it's hard to get into the hospital."
No matter how much we tried to persuade them, they just wouldn't go to the hospital. From what they said, they were all from all over the country. Their wives stayed home to farm, while the men went out to work. They relied on this little bit of money all year round. Of these two hundred or so people, half of them didn't even have the money to go home. They didn't get their wages before the New Year, and on New Year's Eve, they were lucky to be able to eat a bowl of boiled noodles.
"What do you do?" Hao Liu asked Lu Feng. He could tell that the fair-skinned young man in front of him was not from an ordinary family; he looked like a college student.
"I... I specialize in helping people get their wages back, specifically helping migrant workers like you get your pay!" Lu Feng said to them.
Everyone stared at him, somewhat disbelieving. Who would want to get involved in such a mess? They had come to the big city and seen too much of the glitz and glamour. City people helped city people, and rich people helped rich people. They were just construction workers. Some of them had been here for almost a year and hadn't even left this street.
Lu Feng sensed everyone's distrust and had no choice but to say, "I won't help for nothing. After it's done, everyone will give me fifty yuan. I'll cover all the expenses during this period. There are more than just these people who are owed wages, right?"
"There are so many. The people at the front haven't been paid yet. They said the second phase of the project started, and they had no choice but to leave. They'll come back next year. There are almost three thousand people," a man from Shandong squeezed through the crowd and said.
“Three thousand people, that’s enough. Fifty yuan per person, does everyone agree?” Lu Feng asked.
"Okay, no problem!"
Fifty yuan is a huge sum of money for them. The wages on construction sites are not high these days. A laborer only earns ten yuan a day, a skilled worker earns seventeen or eighteen yuan, and the highest is for a welder, who can earn more than twenty yuan a day.
"Let's go see a doctor, I'll pay first!" Lu Feng waved to the crowd and led the beaten men to the hospital.
We hailed a taxi first, and a few of us squeezed in to go to the hospital. Some of the foremen wanted to go with us, but they didn't want to take a taxi, so they walked.
Upon arriving at the hospital, an examination revealed that two people had fractured nasal bones, while the others suffered soft tissue contusions. After paying the fees and finishing the procedures, it was almost noon.
"Thank you, boss. Do you want the wages or not?" Hao Liu asked, squatting down by the hospital wall.
"Don't worry, we'll definitely get it, I guarantee it!" Lu Feng squatted down and asked the foremen, "Who is this Boss Sun?"
“General Manager Sun is the one who takes on projects; he’s the big boss. All the smaller contractors under us have already run away. They’ve already received their wages and gone home for the New Year,” Hao Liu replied.
"Is it possible that the money was given to the subcontractor, but the subcontractor ran off with the money?"
“Impossible. This company is different from others. We were directly connected with Jiafeng Electronics Group. They set up a subsidiary construction company. I heard that they originally approached China Construction or some other state-owned enterprise, but then someone interfered and subcontracted the work to this subsidiary. Back then, there were fights on the construction site every day.” Hao Liu recalled with lingering fear, saying, “I heard that people were even killed.”
"So, you mean Jiafeng put out a public tender, a state-owned enterprise won the bid, then there were people causing trouble at the construction site every day, and the construction company subcontracted the work to Jiafeng?" Lu Feng asked.
"Hey, do you think Boss Jiafeng has a screw loose?" Little Henan asked with a grin.
"Yes, that's right, he's out of his mind!" Lu Feng nodded and said, "If we don't do it this way, where will we make any money? Let them stay here and get medical treatment. Let's go back and buy some vegetables and meat. Can you cook on a construction site?"
"Yes!" Little Henan stood up, his eyes shining, and asked, "Is the boss treating us to dinner?"
"Yes, I'll treat you to a good meal, to celebrate getting your wages back in advance." Lu Feng stood up and said, "Let's go buy some vegetables and meat first."
The group hailed a taxi and headed straight to the market, where they bought half a pig, enough vegetables and steamed buns to feed two hundred people for one meal.
During this time, I also learned about Hao Liu and Xiao Henan. Hao Liu is from Hebei and is divorced. He does odd jobs all over the country. If he can't find any jobs, he works as a foreman or something. Xiao Henan is from Henan. He is seventeen years old this year. He dropped out of school after graduating from elementary school and farmed the land with his family in the village for a few years before being brought out to work by his uncle.
Xiao Henan also has a cousin, a few years older than him, whose salary is also in arrears.
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