About twenty years ago, Qingwu County was still like a village, but in a short period, it kept developing. Especially in the past decade, construction sites were everywhere.
Buildings rose from the ground, and often they started selling before they were completely finished.
The house Qin Yun’s family bought hasn’t been handed over yet; they have to wait at least another year to get the keys.
While selling, the money from sales is used for construction, and this has obviously become a trend in selling houses.
Qin Yun’s father, Qin Guodong, worked at a construction site.
At this moment, not only Qin Guodong, but Zhao Mei was also here. She was pushing a small cart filled with gravel and other materials, clearly struggling as she moved it.
Qin Guodong had technical skills, but Zhao Mei did not. The construction site wouldn’t make Zhao Mei a regular worker, so her job was odd tasks, like carrying items. It was entirely a hard job, and her pay was much less than Qin Guodong’s.
However, Zhao Mei didn’t complain at all and worked diligently.
The May weather carried a hint of summer heat, and the sweat on Zhao Mei’s face kept flowing. As the temperature rose, work would become even tougher.
"Whew!"
Finally, after finishing her task, Zhao Mei wiped her sweat with a dusty towel. She went over to Qin Guodong and asked, "How many more days of work do we have here?"
Working odd jobs at construction sites like this doesn’t happen every day; perhaps Qin Guodong and others work for a month, but there are less than ten days of odd jobs needed at the site.
"We’ll have work here for some time. It should last until June," Qin Guodong exhaled deeply and said.
"That’s great." Hearing his words, Zhao Mei was instantly filled with joy.
"Old Qin, why are you all not leaving after work?"
A few people walked over from a distance, smiling as they spoke. They were all wearing vests, covered in dust, and their faces were dark.
They finished work early today, so they could rest a bit more.
"We’ll be leaving soon."
Qin Guodong also smiled as he replied.
These were his coworkers; they had been working together for over ten years.
Whenever someone found a construction site job, they would call the others, clearly forming a small group.
"Zhao Mei!"
Just then, a chubby man in a white shirt walked over suddenly.
"Lin." Seeing the chubby man, Zhao Mei quickly responded and hurried over.
This chubby man was the contractor of the site, responsible for the buildings here.
However, the chubby man liked to wander around, sometimes suddenly appearing in places, as if he didn’t trust the workers and was secretly supervising them, occasionally surprising people.
Plus, he often intentionally found faults, which made many workers unhappy with him.
But despite their frustrations, there was a lot of work at this site, enough to last over half a year, so they endured their dissatisfaction.
Looking at Zhao Mei, who was slightly bent forward, the contractor straightforwardly said, "You don’t need to come tomorrow. We have other workers."
"What?"
Hearing the contractor’s words, Zhao Mei was taken aback.
However, the contractor said no more and left directly after speaking.
"What’s going on? Old Qin’s wife was doing fine, and the contractor just fired her?"
"I think I saw someone else talking to the contractor today, and some middle-aged women came by, possibly people the contractor knows."
"The contractor likely gave the work to his acquaintances."
Seeing this, other workers began discussing.
Though the odd jobs at the construction site were tiring, they clearly paid more compared to working in shops.
After being in a daze for a while, Zhao Mei finally came to her senses and immediately became anxious.
"Old Qin, I got fired? What do we do?"
Zhao Mei urgently said, "How will we afford Yun’s college tuition, and the mortgage?"
She was so anxious that tears started to fall.
Zhao Mei was uneducated; her family was poor in her childhood, and she hadn’t attended school even for a year, barely recognizing a few characters.
With no education, there was little she could do. Outside the construction site, she would look for odd jobs elsewhere.
However, while the work at the construction sites was hard, it paid the most. If she lost this job, after paying off the mortgage, their earnings might not be enough to support both children’s education.
There were too many expenses, even the rent for their current place needed to be paid monthly.
As for borrowing money, they already owed money to several relatives.
"Don’t worry, I’m still here." Seeing his anxious wife, Qin Guodong quickly said, "I can apply to the foreman to advance some money."
Most of the money at their construction site is paid at the end of the year, with only some "living expenses" issued each month.
He consoled Zhao Mei, but there was also a hint of worry in his eyes.
The pressure of life sometimes felt overwhelming, like a mountain weighing down on Qin Guodong’s heart.
With heavy hearts, Qin Guodong and Zhao Mei returned home.
"Dad, Mom." Hearing the noise outside the door, Qin Yun quickly came out of the room, "You’re back from work."
The shop’s business ended at four, and Qin Yun returned home. Just two minutes later, his parents came back.
But before he could say anything, a middle-aged woman in a gray work uniform appeared at the door.
"Auntie."
Seeing the woman, Qin Yun was slightly surprised before calling out.
Qin Yun’s father, Qin Guodong, had three brothers, with Qin Guodong being the second. The middle-aged woman before him was the wife of Qin Guodong’s younger brother, Qin Guobin, named Feng Lan.
There’s no melodrama; the three Qin brothers got along well. Qin Yun’s uncle and younger uncle had also lent some money for the house purchase.
However, none of the three families were wealthy. Qin Yun’s younger uncle, Qin Guobin, and aunt, Feng Lan, both worked in a factory, each earning around four thousand yuan a month.
The Qin family had almost always been like this. In generations, they never had a wealthy person; life was always tight.
"Yun." Looking at Qin Yun, Feng Lan smiled and nodded, "The college entrance exam is coming up; you’ve always done well. Make sure to get into a good university this time."
"I will." Upon hearing this, Qin Yun quickly nodded.
In his impression, his aunt was quite talkative, or as commonly known, a "nag." Back in the countryside, Feng Lan and Zhao Mei could chat all day without getting tired.
After a few words of praise, Feng Lan looked at Zhao Mei and said, "Second sister-in-law, don’t worry. I’ll ask about the factory for you tomorrow to see if they need more hands?"
Earlier, Zhao Mei was very anxious, so she called Feng Lan to see if she could find a factory job for her.
Zhao Mei had worked in a factory before but not for long.