Free Web NovelChapter 236: Chapter 205: Logging Camp Assignment
This Jiang Leader wore a marmot hat and a new, black, cotton-padded jacket.
Even if he went down In the Town, few people could match an outfit like that.
But in front of Xu Baoshan, this Jiang Leader was quite subservient.
He came trotting over to greet them, pulling an unopened pack of Flower-brand cigarettes from his pocket as he ran.
By the time he reached Xu Baoshan, he had already opened the pack, drawn out a cigarette, lit it for him, and asked, "Leader Xu, what brings you here in person?"
Xu Baoshan took a drag from the cigarette. After exhaling the smoke, he said to Jiang Leader, "Don’t even ask. A few guys took leave, so I have to cover for them."
"Leader Xu, you’re so considerate of your subordinates." Jiang Leader gestured for Xu Baoshan to go ahead. But after Xu Baoshan took two steps forward, Jiang Leader "naturally" noticed Zhao Jun.
Jiang Leader looked at Zhao Jun and smiled. "Hey, I don’t believe I’ve seen this fellow before."
Walking ahead, Xu Baoshan turned back. He raised the hand holding the cigarette and gestured behind him a couple of times, saying, "This is Xiaozhao, new to our acceptance team."
Xu Baoshan could call him Xiaozhao, but Jiang Leader didn’t dare. He quickly extended a hand to Zhao Jun and said, "Ah, Technician Zhao. I’m the Leader of this Logging Camp. My surname is Jiang, Jiang Fu."
"Zhao Jun. A pleasure, Jiang Leader." Zhao Jun politely shook his hand.
After the handshake, Jiang Leader tried to offer Zhao Jun a cigarette, but Zhao Jun refused.
The three of them then walked into the Logging Camp. By this time, the loggers and haulers had already gone up the mountain; only the Gui Ling workers were busy in the camp.
"Elder Wang!" Jiang Fu shouted as they passed a row of shacks, but no one came out.
Hearing no answer, Jiang Fu raised his voice and bellowed, "Elder Wang!"
"Coming!" The words had barely faded when an old man, his cotton-padded jacket and pants stained with grease and grime, pushed the door open and ran out.
"Hurry up!" Fearing Xu Baoshan beside him couldn’t hear, Jiang Fu yelled at the top of his lungs, "See what good food we have and cook it all up."
"You got it!" Elder Wang replied before heading back into the shack.
The workers at the Logging Camp ate and lived there most of the time, sometimes going a month or more without returning home.
Most of these men were temporary hires brought on by the Leader and weren’t managed by the Forest Farm, so the Forest Farm didn’t provide their meals.
To handle the food situation, the Logging Camp Leader would hire someone specifically to cook for the workers. However, with room and board provided, the wages paid were a bit lower.
After arranging the meal, Jiang Fu again invited Xu Baoshan and Zhao Jun inside for tea, but Xu Baoshan refused.
He hadn’t come here just to eat and drink. He had Jiang Fu lead him and Zhao Jun to a Log Pile.
A Log Pile was a stack of timber created after the Gui Ling process.
Xu Baoshan got right to work. He was about to give Zhao Jun some pointers, but the moment Zhao Jun started, Xu Baoshan’s jaw nearly hit the floor.
Only then did Xu Baoshan recall what Ma Liang had said back in the office.
’So, my apprentice wasn’t joking after all.’
"Not bad, kid. You’ve really put in the effort," Xu Baoshan said, praising Zhao Jun with a smile.
Xu Baoshan would never have believed that Zhao Jun could learn these skills in a single day. He figured that Zhao Youcai or Zhou Jianjun must have found a senior technician to teach Zhao Jun beforehand, allowing him to adapt to the job as quickly as possible once he started.
But regardless, in Xu Baoshan’s eyes, Zhao Jun was a motivated young man.
Praised by Xu Baoshan, Zhao Jun just gave a faint smile. He didn’t explain, simply continuing to work properly with his tools.
They worked like this for two hours, until Jiang Fu came to call Xu Baoshan and Zhao Jun for a meal.
The two followed Jiang Fu into a shack. This was the one Jiang Fu lived in himself, and it was kept neat, tidy, and spotless.
After all, he was the Leader, and the entire No. 47 Logging Camp was his contract. He could live in a private shack, while the workers had to sleep on communal bunks and eat from a communal pot.
Now that Jiang Fu was treating them, he was having a special meal prepared. Although there were only three people eating, the table was laid out with four dishes and a soup.
The four dishes were chicken stewed with mushrooms, stir-fried cabbage with wood ear mushrooms, lamb stewed with potatoes, and badger meat stewed with daikon radish.
And the soup was a frozen tofu and cabbage soup.
It was quite a sumptuous meal.
The chicken stew with mushrooms wasn’t made with some tough, lean wild pheasant, but with a large, farm-raised rooster.
In those days, chickens weren’t raised on commercial feed. Roosters that grew up eating bugs, greens, and grain husks had excellent meat. Stewed with wild hazel mushrooms, the chicken was fragrant and the mushrooms were full of flavor—truly worthy of its title as a famous Northeast dish.
Moreover, the essence of the dish was in the chicken broth.
As it happened, to host Xu Baoshan and Zhao Jun, Jiang Fu had specifically asked Elder Wang to steam a pot of white rice.
Pouring that chicken broth, with its glistening oil, over the rice was pure bliss with every mouthful.
And then there was the lamb, which was even rarer to see in the mountains.
In truth, Jiang Fu had brought all these fine ingredients up from the foothills after the New Year, saving them specifically for entertaining guests.
What he hadn’t expected was to welcome an honored guest like Xu Baoshan on just the second day of work after the holiday. His preparations had not been in vain.
Because they still had work in the afternoon, Xu Baoshan declined Jiang Fu’s suggestion to have a few drinks. He and Zhao Jun picked up their bowls and dug in.
Once they had eaten their fill, the three of them relaxed and chatted idly.
Jiang Fu pointed at the leftover badger meat and daikon radish on the table and said to Xu Baoshan with a smile, "Leader Xu, I heard that Master Zhang’s son from our Forest Farm’s No. 2 Mess Hall had his balls ripped out by a badger."
"What?" Xu Baoshan, who had just broken off a piece of a millet stalk from the kang broom to use as a toothpick, froze. He subconsciously glanced at Zhao Jun.
Because he knew that when it came to Zhang Zhanshan’s family matters, no one would know more than the Zhao Family.
Seeing Xu Baoshan look his way, Zhao Jun smiled faintly and recounted the events of that day.
"Oh my god!" After listening, Xu Baoshan uttered the same catchphrase as Ma Liang. Then he added with a sigh, "Isn’t the kid ruined for life, then?"
"Apparently not," Jiang Fu said. "I heard that In the Town, a hospital doctor told Master Zhang that his son’s... ’equipment’... might still work, or it might not."
"’Maybe’...? How can something like that be a ’maybe’?" Xu Baoshan laughed. Then, suddenly remembering something, he turned to Zhao Jun. "Zhao Jun, I see you’ve really mastered the techniques. In that case, I’ll put you on log scaling duty starting tomorrow."
"Sounds good," Zhao Jun said with a smile. "Go ahead and arrange it, Leader. Whose shift will I be covering?"
"Cover someone’s shift...?" Xu Baoshan laughed too. "You’ve got your own work that nobody’s doing for you yet. I was originally going to find someone to cover for you, but now this is perfect. You can just manage your own assignments."
"So which Logging Camp am I heading to tomorrow?" Zhao Jun asked.
"No. 77 Logging Camp," Xu Baoshan said. "No. 77, 78, and 79. That was all Elder Li’s territory before. He retired, you started, so this whole patch is yours now."
At this point, Xu Baoshan asked, "You know where those three Logging Camps are, right?"
"I do," Zhao Jun replied. "Don’t worry, Leader. I can find them all."
"Alright then." Hearing that Zhao Jun could find his way, Xu Baoshan nodded. "In that case, you don’t need to come to the office tomorrow morning. It’s closer to go to the logging camp directly from your house. Our team is short-staffed right now, and I have to come back here tomorrow, so I can’t take you. You’ll have to go on your own."
"Okay," Zhao Jun agreed with a smile.
Zhao Jun didn’t think much of Xu Baoshan saying he couldn’t take him. It was much closer to get to No. 77 Logging Camp from his home than from the office.
In those days, you didn’t have to punch a clock, and for a job like a log scaler, all that mattered was turning in the ledgers on time. So Xu Baoshan’s words were really for Zhao Jun’s own good.
But just then, Jiang Fu, who was sitting beside them, leaned a little closer to Xu Baoshan and said in a low voice, "Ah, Leader Xu... that Elder Du at No. 77 Logging Camp is a real piece of work."
"Huh?" Xu Baoshan was taken aback, but Zhao Jun sneered inwardly.
’What you owed me in my past life,’ Zhao Jun thought to himself, ’I’ll make you pay back in this one—with interest.’
