The Luckiest Man - Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Hong Xiaofu Doing Hard Labor

Hong Xiaofu was a happy-go-lucky person. Since he had decided on that, he would definitely persevere until the end and not be indecisive about it.

The next morning, Hong Xiaofu intentionally added an additional handful of rice while cooking breakfast. Moving bricks was hard labor. He would not be able to manage it if he did not fill his stomach.

They ate porridge and preserved vegetables as usual. After Hong Xiaofu was done eating, he patted on his bulging tummy and said, “Here we go!”

He went onto the streets directly. Before going to bed the night before, he had already researched where he could find such jobs in the city: Shencheng West Bridge.

In those days, except those who had little to no skills, not many people would be willing to do jobs that required physical labour.

When Hong Xiaofu was on the bridge looking for jobs, he attracted the attention of a few middle-aged men.

“Hey, little brother. Are you looking for a job here?” said one of the men who was wearing an unlined garment. His bronze-colored skin made his arms look extremely muscular. He had an average look with those features on his face. He also had a tall nose bridge and clearly was a decent man. He scanned Hong Xiaofu from top to bottom and said jokingly, “You have such thin arms and legs, would you be able to do that? You are still a student, right?”

Beside the man were a few more people who seemed to have worked with him for a long time. When they heard Hong Xiaofu, they smiled and said, “This is so rare. Not many people of your age would take on such jobs.”

“Yup that’s right. What’s your problem, little brother?”

Hong Xiaofu giggled as he greeted them and said, “I’m in need of some urgent cash back home, so I wanted to take on some part-time jobs.”

It did not matter how he earned the money, the important part was when he would be getting his pay. He was going to take his college entrance examination soon, he couldn’t afford to collect his pay monthly.

“The accounts are settled pretty quickly.” The man smiled as he walked over to pinch Hong Xiaofu’s arm, He said, “It feels okay, it is quite sturdy and it is definitely stronger than that of an average student. However, little brother, this job is not easy. I understand that you are in a rush to earn money, but you may take a long time to get used to such work, would you be okay?”

He was indeed speaking the truth. Usually, the first day of work for such labor was not that hard. It would not be an issue if he was able to bear with it. The real challenge, however, would begin the second day. After working and tiring himself out for one day, his muscles would be aching once he went to bed at night. If serious, he may not even be able to fall asleep.

Countless people have failed because of that, so the man emphasized it first. If the young man was not mentally prepared for it, it would be better for him to seek alternative jobs. Otherwise, he might even have trouble walking for the next few days.

“I think I would be fine.” Hong Xiaofu replied, “I wish to try it.”

Right after he said that, everyone started laughing and they said, “Aiyo, what a little brother full of ambition!”

“I like people with this attitude. Come, if you have work to do later on, I will look after you!”

“When you are assigned the work, let’s do it together, we will guide you in that.”

The group of people chatted noisily. The majority of the people there were easy to talk to, especially those doing hard labor.

To put it bluntly, among those who were slightly more educated, who would work in the physical labor sector?

“Brother, you are ambitious,” the man who had spoken earlier on smiled and said, “My name is Chen, you may call me Uncle Chen in the future. If you don’t mind, you can tag along and work alongside us today, we will guide you. Don’t think that this work is easy, if you do not have the correct skills when exerting strength, you will definitely be dead tired and lying on the floor after half a day.”

It was a good thing that he had someone to follow. Hong Xiaofu immediately nodded and replied, “Sure, no problem. I would have to trouble you.”

They patted on their chest—it meant that it wouldn’t be a problem.

Hong Xiaofu was still most concerned about the pay so he asked softly, “Uncle Chen, how do you usually set the pay rate for the job?”

“The pay?” Of course Uncle Chen was very sure about this, so he explained it to Hong Xiaofu, “Nowadays, many people say that their pay is lower than that of workers at construction sites. It would be an exaggeration to say that the monthly pay for moving bricks is above ten thousand—it is not that much in reality. That is because now we are not required to move the bricks for long distances. Our job is mostly to stack the bricks properly. In this case, the chief contractors would not offer you an extremely high price, a single brick would only be about a few cents. For part-timers like you, the pay rate goes according to the amount you finish, a single brick is about four cents. This means that if you move ten thousand bricks, you would be able to earn 400 dollars.”

At that moment, he looked at Hong Xiaofu and said, “Little brother, you have to trust Uncle Chen on this. Don’t be greedy. I suggest that you move between five thousand to six thousand bricks a day. Ten thousand bricks is a heavy workload. You would probably only be able to finish if you work from the morning until the night. After working like this for a day, you might not be able to get out of your bed tomorrow morning.”

Uncle Chen was being honest.

If he still wished to move bricks at construction sites, the pay would not be as high as he had imagined. Furthermore, youngsters had less strength in their arms so it would be very tiring to take on such jobs. Uncle Chen emphasized that he had to retain some energy, or else the consequences would be very serious.

Hong Xiaofu knew that Uncle Chen was telling him all those for his own good. He immediately nodded and said, “Alright, I got it. I will take note of that. Thank you, Uncle Chen.”

Uncle Chen giggled and replied, “Listen to what you are saying. People who work here don’t have it easy, all the best.”

Honestly, in current times, as long as people were motivated and were willing to work hard, they would not starve. The construction sector across all major cities was bustling—it really wasn’t difficult to find a job there.

Hong Xiaofu chatted with the men for a short while before the chief contractor, who was wearing a grey jacket, walked toward them. The moment he was there, he shouted, “Four cents for a brick, be quick if you want to do it.”

Four cents for a brick, it was exactly like what Uncle Chen said earlier on. The group of people quickly raised their hands and said, “I’ll go, I’ll go!”

The chief contractor looked at the people there and started choosing immediately as he said, “You, you, you, you, you…”

When he pointed at Hong Xiaofu, he was stunned for a moment and he asked, “A high school student? What is a high school student doing here?”

Hong Xiaofu replied, “I’m urgently in need of money. Could you count me in?”

“Need urgent cash?” The chief contractor looked at Hong Xiaofu from head to toe and shook his head as he said, “I’m sorry for your current situation, but I’m afraid that you would not be able to handle this work. If anything happens to you we cannot bear the responsibility.”

Hong Xiaofu hurriedly explaid, “Don’t worry, my stamina is superb! Oh right, I have also been Awakened!”

Awakened?

Everyone was stunned. Even the Awakeners were there to move bricks?

“An Awakener?” The chief contractor looked at Hong Xiaofu and asked, “Strengthening System?”

Hong Xiaofu shook his head and said, “Nope.”

The chief contractor further questioned, “Functional System? You can control the bricks like old Wu?”

There was such a weird power as to be able to control bricks?

Hong Xiaofu answered, “Not that either…”

The chief contractor said, “Then what are you here for?”