Crossing the Western Tianshan Mountains

By the evening, Ling Fengxi received a report from Fang Ya, saying that Li Jianguo's head injury was not serious, but he had a mild concussion. The leg injury was also a flesh wound, but the wound was deep, and he would probably need to rest for a while.

Dinner was another cabbage stewed with vermicelli, with some fatty pork slices in it. Ling Fengxi asked someone to call Wu Yongjie over. There was a big bowl on the table covered by another bowl. Ling Fengxi motioned Wu Yongjie to sit down.

Wu Yongjie looked unhappy. "I was just about to go to bed. What did you ask me to do? I'm telling you, it's no use trying to persuade me. I'm going to report to the company. We're not going to do this project anymore."

Ling Fengxi opened the bowl and found that it contained steaming braised pork with bright red oil.

Wu Yongjie's eyes lit up immediately, and he sat down without hesitation. He grabbed his chopsticks and was about to pick up the red meat, but just as the tip of the chopsticks touched the meat, Ling Fengxi knocked him, "You don't want to do it anymore, and you still dare to eat my braised pork."

"You're so stingy! If you don't want to eat it, then don't eat it!" Wu Yongjie threw away his chopsticks with dignity and sulked with his arms crossed.

Ling Fengxi picked up a particularly tempting piece of braised pork and waved it in front of his nose. "You can eat it if you want. Take back what you said just now."

Wu Yongjie turned his head and said, "What did you say? I forgot."

"You are not allowed to eat it unless you take it back."

The piece of braised pork almost went into Ling Fengxi's mouth. At that dangerous moment, Wu Yongjie suddenly snatched the piece of braised pork with his bare hands and put it into his own mouth.

Feeling the aroma of meat filling his mouth, he said proudly, "I already said I forgot what I said. What else do you want? I'm definitely going to eat this meat today."

Two strong men, with just one bowl of braised pork, neither of them was polite. Their chopsticks, hands, and feet were fighting, but their mouths kept eating.

After eating and drinking his fill, Wu Yongjie rubbed his belly and said, "This is strange. Back in Shanghai, I almost got tired of all the delicacies from land and sea. I'd also tried all the fine wines. I couldn't even get a table for braised pork. How come braised pork here is so delicious too? Is it made from local pigs?"

Ling Fengxi rolled his eyes at him. "There are no farmers here, and it's so cold, where did the native pigs come from?"

He added, "Made of frozen meat."

Wu Yongjie sighed again, "The chef's cooking is really good! When I get back to Shanghai, I'll introduce him to a good restaurant in Shanghai to be a senior chef!"

"Then I thank you on behalf of our chef." Ling Fengxi's voice was full of fatigue. He was too lazy to explain to Wu Yongjie that in such a cold environment, people need high-calorie food to help them resist the cold. In this place where supplies are not scarce, transportation is still a bit troublesome. The aroma of food will be doubled.

After resting for a while, Wu Yongjie returned to the workers' camp and talked to Lin Jinghui for a while. After confirming that Lin Jinghui had no intention of backing down, he called the foremen of each group into the tent to have an in-depth discussion on various issues that had occurred during this period.

"Everyone knows the difficulty of this project. We repeatedly warned you before we came, but you didn't back down and chose to come. However, what has happened in the past few days is truly speechless. The technicians on the engineering team are doing something that affects the safety and smooth progress of our subsequent projects. As for Li Jianguo, you have acted so cold-bloodedly."

Wu Yongjie was heartbroken. "Ling Fengxi, you know, the project leader has seen your performance. What do you think he'll think? Where's our cohesion? Where's our loyalty?"

He pointed at one of the team leaders and said, "You were also on our previous mountain stream bridge project in Hunan, right? That project was no small feat. You were injured while saving a colleague. I personally gave you our banner of commendation, right?"

The team leader's face flushed slightly. "It's all in the past. Why bring it up again?"

Wu Yongjie sneered, "If you hadn't looked back and were so loyal, would you have gotten this project? Tell me honestly? How's the salary this time?"

The team leader's face turned even redder, and he lowered his head. After a long pause, he said, "This time is different from that time. This project is very difficult. Since I got here, I feel that every pore in my body has not felt comfortable. Although there is a saying that birds die for food and people die for money, we are just small workers who want to earn a safe salary."

"So you feel that you are unsafe now? You have no chance of survival?" Wu Yongjie had an expression that showed that he was determined to discuss the issue thoroughly.

Without waiting for the team leader to answer, he continued, "Who among you wants to leave? Raise your hands now. I can report it. I guarantee I'll give you an answer tomorrow. I won't keep anyone who wants to leave."

The difficulty of this project lies here. Because of this, we need people who are responsible and brave enough to take on the responsibility. Don't think that there are no more people in the world, no more engineering teams. Do you think you are Li Jianguo? You can be replaced at any time. "

The team leader's expression suddenly changed. "Captain Wu, that's meaningless. We are not important."

"Is it important or not? Don't you know? Anyway, if you want to leave, tell me. I won't force you. If you don't want to leave, just work hard for me. What's the point of complaining? How dare you take advantage of the situation? Do you think I, Wu Lao Hu, am a pushover?"

"I'm telling you, even without you, my Wu Lao Hu team can still function! If anyone wants to leave, report it immediately, and then get out!"

At this point, the team leaders were silent. Everyone looked at each other for a while before someone said, "Captain Wu, don't be angry. We haven't done anything here, have we? We haven't said we're leaving. As for the salary increase, it was just a joke. We had already agreed on the salary before we joined the team."

As soon as this sentence came out, everyone knew that the salary increase was out of the question.

Since I can't get a raise, there's no point in making a fuss...

Now that you're here, leaving will waste time and money running back and forth, and you may not be able to find a high-paying engineering team again.

Wu Yongjie said, "You guys won't leave. You said you won't give me a raise. Remember this. Don't blame me for being rude when we talk about this later."

The team leaders' expressions changed at this moment. They all smiled and said, "Captain Wu, I remember you used to be able to joke around. Why can't you help yourself now?"

"That's right. We're rough people, so we say whatever's on our mind. We don't necessarily mean it. We just want to have a lucky break. What if we get a raise?"

It is impossible for Wu Yongjie to really fall out with this group of people, after all, the official project is about to begin.

He said with disappointment on his face, "Come on, come on, stop explaining. Anyway, since we're all here, we have to share the joys and sorrows and the same fate. We can't lose this sense of loyalty. In this harsh environment, we need our brothers to be loyal to each other even more. Do you understand?"

He brought up the matter of eating, "Did I eat from the same kitchen as you guys during this period, and not have a separate kitchen?"

At this time, a team leader whispered, "You didn't open it, there's still oil on your mouth!"

"Yes, I saw you and Leader Ling eating braised pork just now..."

Wu Yongjie wiped his mouth awkwardly. "Isn't that interesting? I just ate a piece of meat. You guys are going to have braised pork tomorrow, too, okay?"