country bumpkin

The next morning, the construction workers arrived at work on time. Kong Tongming woke up when he heard the noise.

The tall, dark-skinned man greeted Kong Tongming, "Good morning, Uncle!"

He was a villager from a neighboring village. Kong Tongming had met him a few times when he went to their village to look at the cemetery, so they were quite familiar with each other.

The other workers included people from this village and people from other villages. Some of the villagers called him "uncle," some "grandpa," and others "grandpa."

In the village, the Kong family holds a fairly high position in the family hierarchy. Some middle-aged men even call Kong Xiangyao "Uncle"!

Kong Tongming responded to them one by one.

At the foreman's command of "Let's get to work," everyone grabbed their tools and began to work.

The debris removed yesterday has been tidied up and piled into a large mound, which is now set aside.

Several young and strong men began measuring, positioning, and digging the foundation.

The foreman carefully directed the work from the side, constantly reminding everyone to pay attention to the dimensions and depth.

Kong Tongming wasn't idle either; he helped by handing out tools and occasionally giving everyone pointers.

Several young men worked with great enthusiasm, digging out the soil shovel by shovel, and soon the foundation began to take shape.

Mu Shuyun had already come over to boil water halfway through, but she still prepared the tea leaves first. Summer weather is too hot; without drinking some green tea, one might suffer from heatstroke.

Kong Xiangyao also came and stood by to supervise the work. Occasionally, he would help dig for a while.

Kong Xiangdong has resumed his business, still making and selling tofu.

It wasn't market day, so he went to town. When he had almost sold out, he went to a neighboring village to sell the remaining tofu. He only went home after he had sold everything.

At noon, Mu Shuyun cooked a big pot of rice again. Today's dishes were stewed meat with Chinese cabbage and tofu.

I steamed a big pot of buns again and also made mung bean soup.

During mealtimes, groups of two or three close workers would gather together to eat. Others would eat alone.

While they were enjoying their meal, the sharp-eyed Kong Xiangyao noticed a short man from a neighboring village secretly putting a steamed bun into his pocket.

He frowned, about to lash out, but was stopped by a look from Kong Tongming. Kong Tongming stood up and walked to the short man's side, smiling as he said softly, "Nephew, do you have many children at home and are thinking of taking this back for them to eat?"

The short man blushed and stammered, "Uncle, I... my family is really struggling. My wife didn't recover properly after childbirth and her health is damaged. She can't work and has to take medicine all the time. My parents are old and in poor health, and they need to take medicine all the time. I save all the little money I earn for their medicine. My two children haven't eaten steamed buns in a long time."

Kong Tongming patted him on the shoulder and said softly, "It's alright, we've all been through tough times, I understand. Here, after you finish eating, take a few more home. But don't tell anyone, okay?"

The short man's eyes reddened as he said gratefully, "Uncle, thank you so much. I will definitely work hard from now on."

Other workers who witnessed the incident also expressed their understanding. Besides, the short man's father was a skilled bricklayer in his youth. They were all very...

They only saw the short man hide a steamed bun, but they didn't hear what Kong Tongming and he were talking about.

After the meal, Mu Shuyun specially packed a large bag of steamed buns for the short man, secretly hid it in the shed, and told him to take it home after get off work that night.

The short man thanked him profusely, his eyes welling up with tears of gratitude.

After lunch, which was the hottest time of day, everyone took a 60-minute nap. Then they returned to their afternoon work, and the atmosphere on the construction site seemed even more harmonious than before.

The afternoon work was in full swing under the blazing sun. The tall, dark-skinned man worked for quite a while, finished his task, and sat down to rest.

He took out a pack of cigarettes costing two yuan from his left pocket and put it in his mouth.

He then took out matches from his right pocket, shook the matchbox, and made a "clattering" sound.

He took out a match with both hands, struck it lightly, and the match immediately caught fire.

He covered the matchbox with both hands and lit the cigarette. He then shook the burning match, which went out. He casually tossed it on the ground, stomped on it, and then put the matchbox in his pocket.

He held a cigarette between his hands and began to smoke, puffing away. While smoking, he looked up and began to look around, talking to the people around him.

"Hey, Shunzi! Take a break, wanna have a cigarette?" He said, pulling out a cigarette and handing it to him.

The short man named Shunzi was the one who hid the steamed buns.

He waved his hand and said, "No, Brother Dazhuang, I've stopped smoking. We're struggling financially at home, and we simply don't have the extra money to buy these luxuries."

Even the cheapest pack of cigarettes, costing only two yuan, can be considered a luxury by a grown man.

This is reality. Some people will stoop to low levels just for a bite to eat. Others will be willing to trade their daughters for a job.

The dark-skinned man named Dazhuang gave a wry smile and said, "If there's anything at home that urgently needs money, just tell me, I have some money here."

Shunzi nodded. "Okay, Brother Dazhuang. If something really urgent happens, I won't hold back." After saying that, he continued digging the patch of soil beneath his feet.

Da Zhuang, with his dark skin, looked up and was met with the blazing sunlight, so bright it made him squint. He quickly lowered his head and continued smoking.

After finishing his cigarette, he quickly finished his remaining work and went to help Shunzi.

The foremen have already assigned tasks, and everyone does their own work. Otherwise, some people would slack off, and others would complain, making it very difficult to manage.

People like Shunzi are simply slow and weak; they're not the type to slack off.

As for strong workers like Dazhuang, it's their own business who they help after they finish their own work, and nobody can interfere.

Different types of work have different wages. Those who build walls and lay bricks are considered skilled laborers. Those who work with cement and sand are considered unskilled laborers. Pushing and passing bricks are also unskilled laborers.

Construction teams mostly consist of laborers. These laborers do a lot of odd jobs, earn little wages, and the boss makes a lot of money.

There are only a few senior engineers; they're mainly there to direct and take on major responsibilities. Technical work is done by these senior engineers.

Although Shunzi is small and slow at work, he's still considered a skilled worker. That's because he knows how to build walls—a skill his father taught him!

Furthermore, Dazhuang had learned bricklaying from his father, so they were master and apprentice. Therefore, Dazhuang had always been very kind to him and would actively help him.

During holidays and festivals, we would also visit Shunzi's father.

Before the wall was built, the skilled workers and the unskilled workers did the same work.

Today was spent digging the foundation, and we didn't finish until dark. Tomorrow we'll start building the wall.