"Consider yourself inford, kid! I'll let you rest for an extra minute!" Uncle Liu smirked, clearly enjoying the flattery from Xiaobao.
Just like that, the two quickly began to take turns.
Xiaobao had poor stamina and did less work, while Uncle Liu had great skill and did most of the tasks.
Before they knew it, the morning had passed. The bag of fish bait Xiaobao rested on now bore the marks of his backside.
At 11:30 a.m., the machines on this side of the production workshop stopped on ti, and Xiaobao let out a sigh of relief, plopping down on the bag of fish bait, not even wanting to lift his head.
"Ti's up, let's go eat! If we're late, those bastards will finish all the at dishes!" Uncle Liu took off his work sack, casually brushed off the dust from his work clothes, and after ensuring there were no issues with the conveyor motor switch not far away, swaggered off to eat.
From start to finish, Uncle Liu didn't lend Xiaobao a hand, he just called him to eat.
Xiaobao now had no appetite to eat; after a morning's work, his whole body felt as heavy as if it were filled with lead.
"Get up! If you want to rest, eat first, then rest!" By the ti Uncle Liu reached the workshop entrance, he turned around and shouted at Xiaobao.
"Okay!" Xiaobao responded, bracing himself against the bag to stand up and followed reluctantly.
By the ti the two of them reached the canteen, sure enough, the ribs and chicken chunks were mostly gone, leaving behind a few lonely small bones, plus so potatoes and gourds.
"See? Didn't I tell you? I told you to hurry up and you dawdled! Now you can only eat potatoes and gourds!" Uncle Liu glanced at the food and subtly scolded.
"Next ti, I'll be quicker!" Xiaobao dared not argue, picked up a tray, and followed behind Uncle Liu.
Big white stead buns, stir-fried pork belly with green vegetables, plus a bit of scrambled eggs with tomatoes, the ingredients in the cafeteria's dishes were truly substantial, unlike so shady school cafeterias where one egg can make a whole pot of egg drop soup.
With more work cos a bigger appetite, and Xiaobao stuffed a large stead bun into his mouth, barely feeling anything in his stomach before finishing one bun. He stood up again to get another.
While grabbing the bun, Xiaobao intentionally glanced at Uncle Liu, noticing that Uncle Liu had speared three buns with his chopsticks, solving his need in one go, without going back and forth.
"What are you looking at? Don't mind , take as much as you can eat, no wasting!" Even though Uncle Liu was eating with his head down, it was as if he had eyes on his forehead, noticing Xiaobao's gaze. His tone wasn't great, but while speaking, his expression noticeably softened.
"Okay, okay," Xiaobao nodded, grabbed another bun, and began to take big bites.
After two buns, Xiaobao finally felt so fullness in his stomach. He wanted to get another, but Uncle Liu shook his head, "Considering your usual al size, two buns at lunch should be about right, being eighty percent full is just fine, have so mung bean soup to settle it! If you eat too much, you won't be able to work in the afternoon!"
"Got it, Uncle Liu!"
Xiaobao nodded and obediently went to fill two bowls of soup, handing one to Uncle Liu.
"You've got a keen eye, kid! You're pretty thoughtful!" Uncle Liu said with a cheerful smile.
"Heh, I've learned this from fishing with my uncle before! Always stay sharp, can't just be standing idly!" Xiaobao grinned.
"Not bad!"
...
After lunch, there was less than an hour and a half of rest ti, so instead of going back to the dormitory, Xiaobao and Uncle Liu, like the other workers, arranged a row of chairs in the dining hall to lie down and rest. The air conditioning temperature in the dining hall was much cooler than the fans back in the dorms.
While Xiaobao was learning to lie down like the others, Uncle Liu, instead of sleeping, sent a few ssages to Zhang Yang on WeChat.
The little guy you arranged to co here hasn't done much work before, but he learns quickly, is observant, and quite clever, but his nature is a bit slick.
Zhang Yang: "Got it, please keep an eye on him for a week, two or three days aren't enough to conclude anything!"
"Alright!"
Exiting WeChat, Uncle Liu stuffed his phone into his pocket and began to lie down to rest his eyes as well.
At 1:25, Xiaobao promptly called Uncle Liu to wake him up, "Uncle, ti's up!"
"Okay! Let's go!" Uncle Liu got up swiftly, stretched his arms, and glanced at the ti.
As they walked to the workshop, the outdoor temperature felt like at least forty or fifty degrees, the sun scorching the earth, making even the air seem to warp.
Liu Ziqiang, mustering courage, asked, "Uncle, are we unloading bait again this afternoon?"
"Yes! Keep at it for a few days first! Since you've been assigned here, there must be a reason. Just be earnest and steady!"
"Alright," Xiaobao replied reluctantly, clearly showing that his enthusiasm for work was about to hit rock bottom.
The afternoon ahead promised another grueling battle.
Despite resting for over an hour at noon, Xiaobao not only hadn't fully recovered his strength but felt even more weighed down. His arms, lower back, and outer thighs also began to ache faintly.
Throughout the afternoon, Xiaobao even forgot how he managed to endure it. Standing all afternoon in the workshop the previous day didn't compare to today's an entirely different level of experience.
Dragging his almost exhausted body to the canteen, he filled his stomach with so random food, then trudged back heavily to the dormitory.
The clothes he had changed into that morning were now stinky, and Xiaobao, after sniffing them, frowned at once.
Two days in, and he's already gone through two sets of clothes, with two more left in his suitcase. After wearing those, he'll have nothing left to change into.
Just as he was contemplating whether to sleep earlier or take advantage of the cool evening to wash his clothes, Uncle Liu knocked on the door.
"What are you doing? Contemplating life? Here, I noticed you're still working in regular clothes, take this!" Uncle Liu casually tossed a set of inexpensive knock-off camouflage onto the bed. Pants, a top, plus a sleeveless undershirt.
The fabric was pretty thin, with a similar feel to dacron, but the size was just right for Xiaobao's fra.
"Thanks, Uncle Liu. How much was it? Let pay you! I have money with !" Xiaobao said, reaching for his pocket to pull out money.
"Doesn't cost much at all, don't worry about it! Just wash up and get to sleep early! There's a faucet outside, and apart from the kitchen, it's all n around here, so just get so water and wash up. The conditions here aren't like in the city, just make do!"
"Okay!"
Following Uncle Liu's advice, Xiaobao fetched a big basin of water, dressed in his boxers, and started washing up outdoors. Reserving half a basin, he dumped it over himself, shivering as he did, feeling his fatigue wash away significantly.
After bathing, he soaked his dirty clothes before realizing he didn't have detergent, planning to buy so from the nearby store tomorrow. So he hung them up first, deciding to deal with it the next day.
By just before 9 p.m., Xiaobao went to bed early, snoring loudly, while his phone buzzed with notifications from group chats on WeChat. He was so exhausted he couldn't even hear them.
The next morning, Xiaobao was completely baffled upon waking up.
His arms, lower back, thighs, even his pectoral muscles were intensely sore, feeling as though he had been hit by a truck and woken up after a nap. Walking even beca a stiff ordeal.
"Legs stiffened up? Seems like yesterday's drills were on point!" Uncle Liu couldn't help but smirk at the sight of Xiaobao walking.
"Uncle, what are we doing today? Still carrying feed bags? I don't think I can bear it!" Xiaobao pleaded, face scrunched up.
"No fish feed carrying today! Getting you sothing easier to help you recover! You'll be in charge of overseeing the power distribution room! Follow the instructions on the walkie-talkie to operate! Co on, I'll show you!"
"Alright, great, finally no more carrying feed!" Xiaobao almost jumped up in joy upon hearing the news.
However, he might have been a bit too happy too soon. Upon arriving at the power distribution room and seeing all the switches, big and small, Xiaobao was bewildered.
So many switches, how do you even control them? Forget controlling them, he couldn't even rember which code represented what.
User Comments
0 comments from readers