The Luckiest Man - Chapter 50

Chapter 50: A New Talent Had Emerged in the Bricklaying Industry!

In all honesty, the chief contractor, Wang Zhen, had not intended to hire Hong Xiaofu as he looked very young—he must have been eighteen or nineteen.

Uncle Chen and the rest of the laborers, however, persuaded him, “Chief Wang, we have been friends for so long. This kid’s family seems to be in serious need of cash, otherwise he would not come here to look for a job, right? Didn’t he say he has Awakened? I heard that an Awakener’s physical qualities are superb? Why don’t you consider it?”

“This…” Chief Wang rubbed his chin. If Hong Xiaofu was an Awakener, his physique would indeed be significantly better, and he would have better stamina than others. He promptly replied, “Alright, alright. Let’s try. But if you are not cut for this job, please don’t force yourself.”

His words may have sounded harsh, but Uncle Chen and the rest of the laborers who knew Chief Wang personally were aware of his warm and caring character. Although he did not verbalize his concerns well, he had an incredibly kind heart.

Uncle Chen immediately patted Hong Xiaofu, “Congratulations, Chief Wang has agreed! Work hard.”

Hong Xiaofu smiled as brightly as the sun, “Thank you, Chief Wang.”

At that moment, Chief Wang froze as he saw Hong Xiaofu’s smile. His heart convulsed.

Indeed, Chief Wang did not know about the kinds of difficulties the young teenager was facing; yet Hong Xiaofu’s bright smile had significantly impacted him. There were not many people who showed optimism like that young man.

“You do not have to thank me.” In his heart, Chief Wang knew that it would be a good idea to recruit Hong Xiaofu into the team. But his unforgiving mouth would not admit to it, “I am not doing charity work here. Let me make it clear, you are paid according to the amount of work you complete. You will not be given bonuses, and you will definitely not be paid less. Now, get in the car!”

The group boarded the car. They headed toward a construction site ten kilometers south of Shencheng.

From afar, Hong Xiaofu noticed high-rise residential buildings with huge billboards surrounding them; on them were promotional slogans like “Splendid Villas, you deserve it,” and “Comes with landlines.”

Hong Xiaofu had heard about those villas units. It was said that the unit price of the first property developed had exceeded 20,000 yuan, which was considered a high price in Shencheng.

Hong Xiaofu himself did not understand the unit price was so high, but there must have been a good reason. After all, those who could afford such villa units were not fools…

“Okay, we are here! Everyone, alight!” Chief Wang ordered. After the laborers from the first vehicle had alighted, he distributed tasks, “Do you see the brick truck over there? There are about ten of them left, a total of a hundred thousand pieces of bricks. It would be best to finish it all today. If you do not have any questions, you may begin.”

What he meant by brick movings was that laborers would unload the bricks from the truck and transport them using cranes. There were a dozen laborers working on unloading bricks from about twenty trucks, while eight or nine more loaded brick trucks on the side.

Hong Xiaofu glanced around and spotted a middle-aged man in his forties among the crowd. The man was wearing a jacket and had a pair of sunglasses perched on his nose. He was standing idly, smoking a cigarette.

Then, bricks were flying out of the brick truck onto the ground. Although only one brick at a time was flying, and only two bricks were transported each second, the scene was extremely cool! After all, it was the ability to control and manoeuvre bricks… what a strong ability!

Seeing Hong Xiaofu observing the scene, Chief Wang said delightfully, “That is old Wu, the ace brick mover of our construction site. He can easily move fifteen thousand bricks a day. Don’t watch him, no one can compare to him.”

Hong Xiaofu hurriedly nodded, “Okay, I understand.”

Honestly speaking, Hong Xiaofu was jealous of old Wu. Look at how cool he was.

That laid back attitude, chic posture, cool sunglasses, and the continuous stream of flying bricks…

Fifteen thousand bricks a day. If a single brick was four cents, that was six hundred yuan a day! To earn six hundred yuan a day so leisurely would be racking up eighteen thousand yuan a month! He would not have to worry about putting food on the table!

Hong Xiaofu shook his head. He couldn’t compare their abilities. He had to focus on doing his job well.

As he was deep in thought, Uncle Chen walked over and patted Hong Xiaofu on the shoulder, saying, “Xiaofu, let’s work together, I will guide you.”

Hong Xiaofu immediately nodded, “Alright, thank you, Uncle Chen.”

Uncle Chen led Hong Xiaofu to the large brick truck and said, “You can stand here, and I will hand the bricks to you. Once you get the bricks, you can arrange them neatly on the ground.” As he spoke, Uncle Chen pointed to the pile of nicely arranged bricks on the side, “You can follow that arrangement, is it alright?”

“No problem,” Hong Xiaofu immediately nodded.

In fact, there was a logic behind the brick moving that Hong Xiaofu was unsure of. But Uncle Chen was a veteran in the field.

It was, in fact, more tiring to work on the truck. The reason was straightforward: to unload bricks from the truck, the laborer couldn’t stand up straight. If he straightened his back, the worker standing below would not be able to receive the bricks. Hence, the laborer on the truck would have to continually bend his back as he worked. Doing so for half an hour was bearable, but arching your back for long periods would be highly unbearable and uncomfortable.

As it was Hong Xiaofu’s first day at work, and he was skinny and inexperienced, Uncle Chen decided to take on the more demanding task. After the two had divided the work, they started. Uncle Chen hopped onto the truck and said, “This truck is bigger. When you receive the brick, be careful. Don’t drop it on your legs.” Then, using the brick clamper, Uncle Chen picked up five bricks and passed them to Hong Xiaofu.

The brick clamper consisted of two identical clamping plates and a driving device, and was divided into the main base body and the clamping body. The clamping body had a spring that connected to the base body; the spring would stretch and contract following the surface of the bricks—increasing not only the contact surface area, but also the amount of friction. The higher resistance, together with the elastic force, ensured that the bricks were clasped firmly. The device was easy to use.

Uncle Chen used the brick clamper to pass five bricks to Hong Xiaofu, and Hong Xiaofu neatly placed them on the ground.

Then, he realized that those bricks felt… rather light.

“Uncle Chen,” Hong Xiaofu said, “Are these bricks hollow? Why are they so light?”

“Huh?” Uncle Chen was stunned, “These are actual bricks. They are the usual kind we always talked about, I think they are normal.”

Hong Xiaofu: “Oh?”

Then, Hong Xiaofu picked up another brick… It was not heavy.

He pondered, and suddenly realized: he was an Awakener, that was one of his abilities. He usually did not remember that he was one. Now, he could finally enjoy the benefits of being an Awakener. His strength had improved significantly—he was going to be the king of bricklaying!

Hong Xiaofu: “…”

It seemed that he really did have a talent for bricklaying…

Hong Xiaofu immediately asked, “Uncle Chen, can I try this on my own?”

“Huh? You want to try this on your own?” Uncle Chen glanced at Hong Xiaofu and smiled, “Right, you are an Awakener. If you did not say so yourself, I would have completely forgotten about your abilities. Go ahead and try it, see if it’s tiring for you.”

“Alright!” Hong Xiaofu agreed and started to move the bricks. He started with moving ten bricks… Hmm, that felt alright, not a problem at all. Then, he added another five bricks… Oh, that felt just right! Hong Xiaofu had started his career in bricklaying: he had moved fifteen bricks in a single trip!

Uncle Chen: “…”

As he watched Hong Xiaofu from the side, Uncle Chen shook his head. A new talent had surpassed the old! Following old Wu, a new talent had emerged in the bricklaying industry!