Free Web NovelChapter 230: Chapter 202: Starting the Job and Getting Tools
Zhao Jun left Zhang Yuanmin’s house and headed home.
As Zhao Jun neared his front door, he saw Wang Meilan and Jin Xiaomei walking ahead of him, side by side, chatting and laughing. Both were carrying small baskets.
They must have gone shopping at the canteen.
It had to be said, Wang Meilan and Jin Xiaomei had been living quite comfortably these past few days.
Not only had they gotten back every last cent their husbands had squirreled away, but for the past few days, someone else had also been doing all the chores.
Unfortunately, once the second day of the second lunar month passed, the New Year’s holiday was officially over. Everything would return to normal. All the departments at the Forest Farm were formally resuming work. Zhao Youcai and Li Dayong’s days of suffering were finally coming to an end, which also meant Wang Meilan and Jin Xiaomei’s days of leisure were about to conclude.
The two women parted ways, and Zhao Jun followed Wang Meilan into their house.
Once in the courtyard, he saw Wang Meilan taking frozen pears out of her small basket one by one and burying them in the snow. When only five frozen pears remained, she turned around. Just as she was about to head inside, she saw Zhao Jun standing right behind her.
"Son, you’re back? Hurry inside." Wang Meilan held the basket in one hand and pulled the door open with the other, letting Zhao Jun go in first.
There was no need for ceremony between mother and son. Zhao Jun stepped right into the house, leaving Wang Meilan momentarily hidden behind the door she was holding open.
Zhao Youcai was busy by the stove. When he heard the door open and saw it was Zhao Jun, he said hurriedly, "Quick, give me five yuan."
Ever since he was found out, Zhao Youcai’s pockets were cleaner than his face. Wang Meilan had laid down the law: every month when he got his wages, Zhao Youcai was only allowed to keep one yuan. The rest had to be handed over.
In truth, one yuan had significant purchasing power in those days. But for Zhao Youcai, who was used to wearing over two thousand yuan stuffed inside his padded jacket and pants, having only one yuan to his name gave him an inexplicable sense of unease.
These past few days, Zhao Youcai had only one thought on his mind: how to get more money.
But he was busy at work all day and had little time to go hunting. While on the job, it wasn’t hard to scrounge up some food and drink from the kitchen, but getting money was a much trickier matter.
At home, there was indeed money in the cabinet in his bedroom, but he wouldn’t dare touch it for the life of him.
After mulling it over, Zhao Youcai decided to target Zhao Jun. In his mind, this whole mess was Zhao Jun’s fault. ’If I can get five yuan out of him,’ he thought, ’I’ll consider us even.’
But just as the words left Zhao Youcai’s mouth, a figure appeared in the doorway.
Seeing it was Wang Meilan, Zhao Youcai hurried forward and obsequiously took the basket from her hand. Facing her unfriendly glare, he forced a smile. "Meilan, if you wanted frozen pears, you should have said so. I would have gone to buy them for you."
"Hah..." Wang Meilan sneered. "If you went to buy pears, who would make dinner?"
"I..."
Before Zhao Youcai could finish, Wang Meilan cut in, "You’d go buy frozen pears just to skim some money off me again, wouldn’t you?"
"I..."
Wang Meilan shot him a glare. "If you dare ask our son for money again, you’ll see what happens."
Zhao Youcai fell silent. He simply turned, grabbed a small basin, placed the five frozen pears inside, then ladled cold water from the large vat into the basin to soak them.
These were Huagai pears, a variety found in both the northern and Southern Region.
But back then, the frozen pears eaten in the Northeast during winter were all shipped from the Southern Region.
After about half an hour in the cold water, a layer of ice would form around each pear, leaving them half-thawed and half-frozen.
At this point, you could crack the shell of ice to get to the pear inside, which would be cold and firm. Taking a bite was like eating a popsicle—chilled, refreshing, and sweet.
If you waited a bit longer for the outer layer of ice to melt away, the pear would thaw completely. Then, you could bite through the skin and suck out the sweet juice, causing the fruit to instantly deflate.
After eating a meal cooked by the cafeteria’s head chef and enjoying frozen pears for dessert, Zhao Jun lay leisurely on the kang. The thought of starting work tomorrow filled him with a sense of anticipation.
The night passed uneventfully, and Zhao Jun woke up early the next day.
Upon entering the outer room, he saw Wang Meilan busy at the stove. Zhao Jun walked over and asked with a smile, "Mom, how come you’re not making Dad cook today?"
Wang Meilan replied, "It’s my son’s first day of work. His mother has to be the one to cook his first meal."
"Heh, my mom’s the best," Zhao Jun said before heading out to the latrine, completely missing the dark expression on Zhao Youcai’s face in the eastern room.
As Wang Meilan had indicated, today was Zhao Jun’s first day of work, and she placed great importance on it.
She did something almost unheard of: she steamed white rice, made steamed egg custard, and stir-fried pickled cabbage with wild boar meat.
After finishing breakfast, Zhao Jun went to his room to get his things, then left the house with Zhao Youcai.
Once outside, Zhao Youcai shouted. Li Dayong came out of his house and gestured to him, and the three of them met up outside the courtyard.
After leaving Yong’an Village, Zhao Youcai took Zhao Jun to ride the small train.
This small train was established for the convenience of the Forest Farm employees, running them to and from work. It had only a single car and ran nonstop all the way to the farm grounds.
This was different from the commuter vehicle Zhang Yuanmin had taken last time; that one was for temporary road maintenance workers. This small train, however, could only be ridden by official Forest Farm employees on a normal day.
When the three of them arrived at the Forest Farm entrance, Zhao Youcai said to Zhao Jun, "Alright, have your uncle take you from here."
Without waiting for a reply, Zhao Youcai simply nodded at Li Dayong and headed off toward the cafeteria on his own.
"Let’s go! I’ll take you to Jianjun’s place to get your supplies first," Li Dayong said, leading the way with a nod of his head in Zhao Jun’s direction.
Zhao Jun knew where the Forest Farm’s logistics department was, but he couldn’t let it show, so he simply followed closely behind Li Dayong.
Just then, Zhao Youcai, who was already some distance away, suddenly stopped in his tracks. He turned his head to watch Zhao Jun’s retreating figure.
Zhao Jun followed Li Dayong to the entrance of the logistics department and saw Zhou Jianjun talking to someone by the door.
When Zhou Jianjun saw Zhao Jun and Li Dayong approaching, he hurried over to greet them. "Uncle Li," he said to Li Dayong.
"Jianjun," Li Dayong replied with a smile. During the two days that Zhao Jun and his father had been hunting the Lynx, Li Dayong had gone to the Forest Farm to complete his paperwork and was officially transferred to the dispatch team.
After spending two days with the dispatch team, Li Dayong had more or less figured out that he had Zhou Chunming to thank for making the final decision on his job change.
Li Dayong committed this favor to memory. He was grateful not only to Zhou Chunming but to Zhao Youcai as well.
What he didn’t know, however, was that if Zhao Jun hadn’t sent Li Baoyu to visit Zhou Chunming’s home, Zhou Chunming would never have thought of him when this good opportunity arose.
"Jun," Zhou Jianjun said, picking up a set of tools he had already prepared from a nearby table and handing them to Zhao Jun one by one.
There was a ledger, a fountain pen, and a bottle of ink, as well as the tools used for timber scaling: a scaling stick and a marking hammer.
"They’re all new?" Li Dayong glanced over from the side, asking in surprise.
Supplies were scarce in those days. When new employees started, they usually received old tools left behind by their predecessors.
New tools like these were typically reserved as rewards for veteran employees.
Besides the first batch of employees when the Forest Farm was founded, Zhao Jun was likely the only person to ever receive a new set of tools right from the start.
But then again, who was Zhou Jianjun?
In the entire logistics department, he called the shots, second only to the director. And because of his father, not even the director dared to cross him.
Today was his brother-in-law’s first day, so Zhou Jianjun had simply prepared a brand-new set of tools for him. As long as Zhao Jun brandished these tools, no one—whether in the inspection team or at the various Logging Camps—would dare to give him any trouble.
Zhou Jianjun smiled and patted Zhao Jun on the shoulder. "Do a good job."
"Yeah, Brother-in-law. I’ll definitely work hard," Zhao Jun said, nodding solemnly. In his past life, he had failed to appreciate his brother-in-law’s kindness. ’In this life, I can’t promise I’ll be the hardest worker, but I definitely won’t be a screw-up again.’
