Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 638 Leisure Chess
If you ask what's best about Shanghai right now, Chen Fan's answer is that it's a small city with close proximity.

Centered on one's own home, no matter where one goes, the distance is generally no more than 10 kilometers. For example, going to the airport is within this range.

There are exceptions, but not many.

Jiang Tiantian's school is quite far away, about 15 kilometers away. It takes her almost an hour to cycle there each way every day, which is really tiring. On rainy days, she can't get back and has to stay in the dormitory.

However, things will be better once you get your driver's license. It will only take less than 20 minutes to drive, and you won't have to worry about wind or rain.

Why does Fudan University choose to locate its campus so far away?
Chen Fan's thoughts had barely begun to wander when the car arrived at the small courtyard that Zhou Yali had recently bought.

Look, it's so close from the neighborhood office to the house.

The yard was about the same size as his current house, except that it didn't have that big tree and had a small pond of only three-tenths of an acre.

As Officer Wang led him inside, a veteran worker immediately came to greet them.

The old man took out a pack of cigarettes, but without even using his hands, he simply flicked the bottom of the pack twice, and three cigarettes of varying lengths popped out. He then handed the pack to the two men, saying, "Officer Wang, all that's left here is cleaning. We can finish it today."

After Officer Wang and Chen Fan each took a cigarette, he brought the cigarette pack to his lips, bit down on the last one, then put the cigarette in his pocket, dusted off his hands, lit it with the match Officer Wang handed him, and glanced at the shiny silver lighter in the young man's hand next to him, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

He had already found out that this house and another particularly large estate were bought by the same Chinese American. The young man in front of him should not be that Chinese American, mainly because he didn't look like someone who had returned from abroad.

But it must be related to that person; even if they're not relatives, they're still a representative.

There have been quite a few of these kinds of incidents lately, and he's heard about them quite often.

The work here has just been finished, and the next job hasn't been decided yet. Maybe it will be this young man.

The old master craftsman was originally a veteran worker on the construction team, and he had two years left before retirement.

However, at the beginning of the year, his eldest grandson returned to the city from the countryside, but he hadn't found a job yet, so he had his grandson fill in for him and he took on a casual job himself.

They are basically temporary workers with technical skills.

He usually relies on his old connections with the construction team and works under the local street office. When the construction team is too busy, or when they don't want to do something, he goes to work there to earn some money to supplement his family's income.

Otherwise, with that meager pension, after subsidizing his sons' families, he could barely make ends meet.

While I can still work, I'll try to earn as much as I can. Things will be better once my sons are all grown up.

Unexpectedly, after working for more than half a year, a few more old colleagues gave up their positions to their younger family members. The group decided to work together as a team, with each person taking on one or two new apprentices, and they actually formed a construction team of more than ten people.

Thanks to the connection between the neighborhood office and the original construction team, they are able to take on small renovation and remodeling jobs on a regular basis.

The restoration of this courtyard was a rare "major project" for them.

But now that the work is finished, the next order hasn't been secured yet. What if I could get involved in that big estate?
Thinking of this, he smiled and asked, "Officer Wang, now that this part is finished, is there any new work?"

Wang, the clerk, chuckled. "Master Qiao, I knew your cigarettes weren't so great. Before the project started, I could still talk to you, but now that there are no new projects, where am I supposed to find you one?"

Master Qiao didn't take it to heart. He had been making a living on construction sites with his father since he was a child. From the old society to the new China, although times have changed, human relationships have remained the same, and he was used to polite words.

Unlike those who have just started working in the new society, who always put themselves in the position of masters, pick and choose when doing work, and act high and mighty when they have nothing to do.

In his view, in the old society you were paid to do things, and in the new society everyone is equal, but you still have to do things well to be worthy of your salary and benefits. I'm not some stinking bureaucrat, why put on airs?

So he was extremely polite, forcing a smile as he said, "Isn't there a manor over on Huashan Road? I heard from Lao Qin that there's only a 10-person construction team working there..."

Before he could finish speaking, Officer Wang's face darkened, and he immediately interrupted him, "Hey, hey, hey, those 10 people are regular workers, with the same certificates and skills as you. Why don't you mention the twenty-odd temporary workers?"

While speaking, she couldn't help but glance at Chen Fan standing beside her. Seeing that his expression remained unchanged, she felt slightly relieved.

The young woman surnamed Zhou had repeatedly instructed that the repairs must be completed as quickly and efficiently as possible, while ensuring both quality and quantity.

But there was no way around it. If it had been a year earlier, he could have transferred all the construction teams from the entire construction company there, but the situation is different this year.

This year, there has been a particularly large number of families buying, changing, or repairing houses.

Besides many overseas Chinese buying houses when they return to China to visit relatives, many ordinary families also have a need to improve their housing conditions.

Some are moving to a new house, and after moving, they need to do some simple renovations, right? Some who are not short of money even demand to demolish and rebuild.

Many people don't have the means to move, but when their children return to the city, they'll need to build a bed frame or create an attic.

Many of these tasks require professional construction workers.

For jobs that don't require formal employment, such as painting a wall or replacing doors and windows, the men in the family can handle it themselves. At most, they can ask a neighbor with a skill to help out.

Therefore, any task that comes to the neighborhood committee is one that cannot be turned away.

Nowadays, the construction company's several construction teams have long been broken up and assigned to various households to work. It would be good if they could arrange 10 full-time workers for that large estate.

So here's the question: if there's such a shortage of construction workers, why is Old Joe's construction team still short of work?

Of course, it's "all work is coordinated"!

Even roadside stalls that supply goods to others and sell them in busy areas are managed by the local street office. Otherwise, if they can't produce a letter of introduction, they are considered to be disrupting the market and will be taken away!
Even if the construction team is just doing manual labor, aren't you afraid that someone will be jealous and report you if you dare to take on other jobs on your own?
Therefore, it should be carried out under the unified management of the street office and housing management office; otherwise, it is unreasonable.

The housing management office didn't waste any work either, as they regularly assigned a lot of tasks to Lao Qiao and his team. Otherwise, the construction team would have grown to more than a dozen people in less than a year.

However, everyone has a desire to improve. Old Joe and his team no longer want to do odd jobs that don't pay much, and have their eyes on that lucrative "big project".

Master Qiao nodded repeatedly, smiling obsequiously, and said, "Yes, yes, they are all permanent employees."

He paused for a moment, then glanced at Chen Fan. Judging from the expression on Wang's face just now, he was certain that this man was definitely someone who could make decisions.

He then coughed lightly, finally adopting the air of a veteran, "Officer Wang, as you know, I participated in the construction of this little villa and the big villa over on Huashan Road back then."

If the employer insists on replacing it with a new one, I certainly won't say much. But since they're asking for a restoration to its original condition, I definitely have more say in that.

Wang, the clencher, pursed his lips, hesitated for two seconds, and ultimately decided not to take the blame. "Master Zhuang not only participated in the construction, but he was also the foreman."

Master Qiao's smile remained unchanged. "Yes, yes, but having more familiar people can improve efficiency, can't it?"

Having absolved himself of responsibility, Wang stopped talking and turned to Chen Fan, "Writer Chen, what do you think?"

Chen Fan smiled slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, then turned and pointed to the house, "Let's take a look inside first, then we'll talk."

As he spoke, he walked inside. The small villa was two and a half stories high, with white walls and red tiles, and the exterior walls were painted with gravel, giving it a very charming look.

Like Chen Fan's house, there is also a canopy in front of the gate supported by four Roman columns. The canopy connects to the second floor, and a door is opened and railings are installed to turn it into a terrace.

The main gate was a double door, which had been opened. Inside, several young people were lying on the floor, carefully wiping it with rags, while experienced workers were checking for and fixing any imperfections.

The floor and the one-meter-high wall panels are all made of teak wood, which gleam with a dark, glossy black-gold color under the sunlight streaming in through the three glass windows.

On the west wall, there is a well-restored fireplace.

Chen Fan turned around once and then continued walking inside.

Officer Wang and Master Qiao followed closely behind him. They wanted to introduce him, but Officer Wang remembered that Chen Fan was living in a small villa by himself, so he kept quiet.

Master Qiao cautiously gave a brief introduction: "As per Director Wang's instructions, in addition to repairing the entire house, we also installed a special power line to supply power to the air conditioner and installed a telephone line in the cable tray."

If you need to install a telephone later, you can simply connect it at the junction box on the back wall.

Chen Fan nodded slightly in response.

He even climbed up to the attic to take a look before hurriedly coming downstairs.

Only after walking out the door did he smile at Wang and say, "Master Qiao's skills are quite good. Let's ask him to go over there and help with the repairs tomorrow."

Wang, the clerk, finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Master Qiao, saying, "Aren't you going to thank Writer Chen?"

Master Qiao had already nodded and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Writer Chen, thank you."

After Chen Fan walked around to the other side of the car and got in, he gently tugged at Wang's sleeve and asked in a low voice, "Which writer is he?"

Wang, the clerk, gave him a subtle glare. "Old Qiao, you've only been away from the construction team for a short time, and you've already forgotten all the rules?"

Master Qiao was taken aback, then gently slapped his mouth, "My mistake, my mistake."

He paused for a moment, then asked, "So, I'm handing over the keys today?"

After thinking for a moment, Officer Wang said, "Go there to report for duty first thing tomorrow morning, and give me the key while you're at it."

She let out a breath, "I still need to go and say hello to Master Zhuang, otherwise he might not let you in. You're lucky that the homeowner came to inspect today and agreed to let you in. Otherwise, no matter who said it, it wouldn't have mattered. You can't argue with Old Zhuang."

Master Qiao laughed twice, "That's right, that's right, I also have to thank you for your help."

He wanted to ask if the young man was the homeowner, but remembering the rule of "doing the work but not speaking," he held back.

After Officer Wang got into the car, he waved and watched the van drive away before turning around and happily entering the yard to share the good news with his old buddies.

As Chen Fan drove towards Huashan Road, he casually asked, "Are there many people like Master Qiao? I mean, people who are short of work."

Officer Wang rolled down the car window, shook his head, and laughed, "It's not that we're short of work; even doubling the manpower wouldn't be enough. More and more people are changing or buying houses these days, and to solve the housing problem, the city is making plans to build several new workers' villages. Right now, there's a shortage of construction workers everywhere."

Master Qiao was originally a veteran worker in our district's construction company. His father was a construction worker in the old society and had worked with European construction companies in Shanghai, so he was very familiar with brick and stone construction. This skill was passed down in his family. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he joined the district construction company.

At the beginning of the year, the eldest son of the family came back from the countryside, but he was not assigned a job. Since all the other children were still in school and it was not time for them to work, he retired early and let his eldest grandson take over his job, while he took on odd jobs.

Later, I joined a few experienced workers in similar situations and formed the current construction team. Our housing management office assigned us the administrative affairs, so it was under the management of our unit.

This was also a coincidence. He was involved in the construction of the two houses your cousin bought, and that's probably where the idea came from.

In the end, he still covered for Master Qiao. Sentimentality always sounds better than making money, especially in this day and age.

After listening, Chen Fan summarized it into two points: Master Qiao has the skills, and the skills to build the most luxurious private residences in old Shanghai from the Republican era to the present.

Secondly, Shanghai is currently facing a severe shortage of construction workers.

This is somewhat similar to the capital city.

In the first half of the year, many construction teams were idle and had no work to do, so they could only repair old houses. Now, these small jobs don't need to be done by the construction teams anymore. Just send a few apprentices, and the master craftsmen go with the construction teams to do "big projects".

Construction is underway everywhere, from south to north.

He had some ideas in mind, but there was no rush. He would wait until he returned to Lujiawan and discuss it with Secretary Yang and the others.

Construction is an industry with great potential. There is a construction team in Lujiawan, which was formed specifically to build toilets for them.

If we could bring this construction team to Shanghai and cooperate with Master Qiao and his team, it would definitely be a win-win situation.

But Lujiawan is a treasure trove now, and it's uncertain whether people will be willing to come out.

If they're willing, he'd be happy to make arrangements for them; if not, then forget it.

At most, it's just one less big project where you can get shares in the future, and a little less money. For a bestselling American author like him, that's nothing.

Consider it a casual move, something that can be disregarded.

……

Before long, they arrived at the large manor on Huashan Road.

Unlike that small courtyard, the gate here was closed. After all, the space inside was too large and there was a lot of building materials piled up. There were quite a few idle people around these days, and if someone were to come in and take something, the construction foreman would have to take responsibility.

Officer Wang called for the door to be opened, and Chen Fan drove in. After getting out of the car, he drove around the empty space.

Compared to the small villa we just saw, this place is a huge construction site.

The swimming pool, which used to be filled with weeds and sewage, has been cleaned up. Even the tiles have been knocked off and all the equipment has been dismantled, in preparation for building a new swimming pool.

The three buildings standing not far away, one main building and two auxiliary buildings, have all been demolished into empty shells, and the old materials that were removed are piled up to one side, waiting for renovation.

One is already completed, while the other has only just finished demolition. The scale of the two projects is indeed incomparable.

In this state, there's no need for him to go in and look; he wouldn't be able to see anything anyway.

After chatting with Master Zhuang for a while, Officer Wang walked over and said with a soft laugh, "This place is a bit big, so the progress will definitely be a little slower. But once Master Qiao and the others join us tomorrow, the progress will be faster."

Chen Fan nodded slightly, offered Master Zhuang a cigarette, and then left with Manager Wang.

(End of this chapter)