Siheyuan: Happy life of veteran drivers

"Master Lao, please smoke."

Wang Hongtao first handed over two Daqianmen cigarettes to Master Lao and lit them before starting to introduce them.

"Let me first tell you my general idea. Master Lao, please see if you can do it. As for the money, it's easy to talk. As long as the work is done well, I'm not a slacker."

"Don't worry about that. If I don't do a good job, you don't even need to ask me. I'll go back and smash the sign myself!"

Hearing the craftsman's arrogant tone, Wang Hongtao couldn't help but ask curiously, "It seems that Master Lao's technique is inherited from his family?"

"Have you heard of Yangshi Lei?" Master Lao raised his head and said proudly.

"Oh, the feelings still come from the palace?"

In today's Sijiu City, Yangshi Lei is the most famous craftsman.

Most of the royal palaces in the late Qing Dynasty were renovated by their family, so it can be considered a golden signboard.

"Don't say anything nonsense. We are all serving the people." Master Lao explained quickly.

"I changed my last name to avoid suspicion. Boss, if you weren't Xu Damao's friend, I wouldn't dare tell you!"

Wang Hongtao naturally understood Master Lao's concerns, so he stopped worrying about it.

"I understand, Master Lao. Let me tell you my request first."

“The two big rooms are simpler. The main thing is to reinforce the walls and paint them white. You can tidy up the floors and roofs as you like. It’ll be fine as long as they look good and are comfortable to live in.

The main reason I'm looking for you is because of the small room next to it. I want to convert it into a bathroom and toilet. As for drainage, I want to lead it from the bottom to the outside of the wall, and then install a pipe to drain it out.

The subdistrict office has approved it. What do you think? Can it be done?"

Master Lao took out paper and pen and sketched out the general effect in just a few strokes.

"Look at the arrangement of the bathroom and toilet. The toilet is at the innermost part, and the bathroom is separated into a small single room with an iron bucket rack on the top. You can put cold water in it in the summer and hot water in it in the winter.

The kang is connected to the two big rooms next door, so you can just open the door of the room you want to heat up, which is very convenient.”

It turned out to be Yangshi Lei. The solution he came up with in just a few minutes was better than the one Wang Hongtao had been thinking about for several days!

"Okay! Master Lao, I'll do as you say!"

Next, the two men calculated the duration of the work, which would be about a week, and agreed on a wage of ten yuan per day, covering the work of the master and his three apprentices.

This price includes the labor but not the materials, and the host will provide lunch for you.

However, Wang Hongtao found it too troublesome, so he finally chose the plan that included the labor and materials, and required the chef to provide his own lunch.

Master Lao calculated and charged two hundred and one hundred, mainly because the pipes and the iron bucket in the bathroom were expensive.

"Okay, I'll pay you the price, Master Lao.

But let's be frank. If you can't do a good job, don't blame me for ruining your reputation." Wang Hongtao took out five big black tens and handed them over: "This is the deposit. I'll give you another 100 when the pipes are laid, and the remaining 60 when everything is finished."

"Is there any problem?"

"No problem, no problem. When it comes to work, no one in our Lei family is better than us!"

"Just wait and see!"

Master Lao took the money excitedly. It was very rare to find a boss as straightforward as Wang Hongtao these days. Many people were reluctant to pay even the deposit.

They did what they said. That afternoon, Master Lao and his apprentices started working. The sooner they finished the work, the sooner they could get paid.

In order to ensure that Wang Hongtao would not be left without a place to live, Master Lao specially left the small room in the middle to do the work.

After all, it is a style thunder. Although the price is not cheap, the work is really authentic.

……

Knowing that Wang Hongtao had the procedures from the street office, Yi Zhonghai did not go to him to cause trouble.

The neighbors in the yard just looked at him with envy, feeling that Wang Hongtao was worthy of being a driver and was really rich.

Only Sha Zhu spat from a distance: "Bah! Black-hearted thing, he has money to renovate his house but he doesn't know how to help Sister Qin's family, he deserves his house to be robbed!"

After Sha Zhu finished cursing, he looked at the empty house and thought of something:

If there is no food at home, you have to prepare some, otherwise when Banggeng comes, you will find that there is nothing!

How embarrassing would that be?

Also, since there's no hope for Qin Jingru and Yu Shui, we can't just sit there and waste time. We should go back to the matchmaker's house and ask if there's anyone suitable.

……

The rare day off passed quickly and I had to go back to work the next day.

However, there is not much difference between work and rest for Wang Hongtao. He just picks up and drops off Director Li once in a while.

When Wang Hongtao has nothing to do, he likes to find a bunch of men in the Transportation Department to brag and chat. He doesn't do it for anything else. The people in the Transportation Department have traveled far and wide, are knowledgeable, and are all talented and speak well.

"Brothers, don't think that we don't have to pay attention to safety because we are driving. The more relaxed we are, the more likely we are to get into danger."

"I'm not trying to scare you, just think about what would happen if something really happened one day?

If your wife takes your pension and remarries, and then finds another man to spend your pension, sleep with your wife, and beat your child, then you will feel aggrieved, won’t you?!"

On the small platform, Wang Hongtao was giving a safety education to a group of experienced drivers around him.

Wang Hongtao's statement was simple and crude, but effective. It was much more deterrent than those rigid rules and regulations. The experienced drivers below were all stunned when they heard it.

"Don't say that, Master Wang. It sounds scary. Can't I just listen to you from now on?"

"That's right, Master Wang. I didn't realize the importance of safe driving before, but now that you've said that..."

"Okay, we must behave ourselves when we go out in the future, and we must not take advantage of the wild men outside."

The whole morning passed with everyone playing around, but Wang Hongtao also took this opportunity to stand out in the transport team and successfully integrated into it.

At noon, the lunch bell rang on time.

"Master, let's go to the canteen to eat today. I heard that they have fried celery and pork there." Liao Xiaolong suggested.

"Okay, let's go and take a look."

……

When he arrived at the cafeteria, Wang Hongtao rejected the advice of the experienced drivers in front of him and stood obediently at the back of the line.

There are about twenty people in front.

As a result, I was tapped on the shoulder as soon as I entered the queue.

Wang Hongtao turned around and saw a young girl who was less than 20 years old.

"Are you Wang Hongtao?" Yu Haitang asked deliberately.

The girl was not particularly pretty, but her voice was very pleasant, like a lark.

In fact, Yu Haitang had already heard the old driver's greeting, but she just deliberately found an excuse to come over and start a conversation.

Wang Hongtao nodded.

"Hello, Comrade Wang. My name is Yu Haitang, and I'm the announcer at the factory."

Wang Hongtao smiled. He naturally knew that the girl was Yu Haitang, the younger sister of Yu Li from the third uncle's family, and also an important female supporting role in the play.

She first dated Director Yang's nephew, then when problems arose she fell in love with the "honest man" Sha Zhu, but was "intercepted" by Xu Damao halfway. I heard that she later divorced and dated several men. In that era, she was considered a "female sea queen".

But anyway, in Wang Hongtao's eyes, this is not a big mistake.

Three? That’s already a small number! So Wang Hongtao actually has no prejudice against Haitang’s “Sea King attribute”.

But Wang Hongtao saw something else in Yu Haitang's eyes.

Is this woman attracted to me?

Being unbiased doesn’t mean being interesting!

Although both are unmarried, there is a huge difference between Yu Haitang and Qin Jingru!

Not for any other reason, I'm just afraid that once I get involved it won't be easy to get rid of.

So for the sake of the vast forest, Wang Hongtao decided to stay away.

"Hello, Comrade Yu Haitang."

After saying hello, Wang Hongtao turned around and continued to queue without staring at Yu Haitang any longer.

Yu Haitang blinked. What's going on? Am I not being proactive enough?

I am the beauty of the steel rolling mill. Why should I be treated so perfunctorily?

Besides being surprised, Yu Haitang became more interested in Wang Hongtao.

At this time, Sha Zhu just walked out from the kitchen, and the first person he saw was Yu Haitang instead of Wang Hongtao.

Who made Sha Zhu like beautiful girls? Even though Yu Haitang is still a grown-up girl and her figure is not as good as his sister Qin's, she is still the most beautiful girl in the factory, right?

If only I could marry someone with the best face attributes!

When Sha Zhu saw Yu Haitang, he habitually wanted to serve her food.

Look at the results again.

Damn, the person in front of her is Wang Hongtao!

Seeing Wang Hongtao's indifference to Haitang, Shazhu got even angrier!

Damn it! I can't even lick you fast enough and you still despise me?

"Ma Hua, please step aside and let me serve the food."

Sha Zhu looked at Wang Hongtao and couldn't help feeling evil. It would have been fine if it had happened before.

But Wang Hongtao's behavior in recent days really made Sha Zhu unbearable. Today he was going to teach Wang Hongtao a lesson and let him know whose territory the first canteen is!