Four tons of cement were moved in two hours. Yang Jian carried fifty bags, and Old Ma carried thirty.
The boss gave Yang Jian two hundred-yuan bills. "I have sand and tiles to move upstairs this afternoon. It's three hundred yuan in total. If you're willing to do it, I won't look for anyone else."
Yang Jian didn't know the going rate and let Old Ma decide. Old Ma agreed without hesitation.
The boss told them to rest in the villa. There were fast-food vendors outside, and they were to start work at one in the afternoon.
"Uncle Ma, here you go."
After the boss left, Yang Jian handed a hundred-yuan bill to Old Ma. This was their wages for moving cement.
Old Ma took the money and fumbled in his pockets for some change. He pulled out a twenty-yuan bill and offered it to Yang Jian. "Little Yang, you carried more today. You get 120, and I get 80."
"Uncle Ma, why be so precise? We did this together, so we should split it evenly. Take it. I'm new here and don't know the ropes. I'll need your guidance in the future."
"That wouldn't be right. I'd be taking advantage of you."
"Hey, Uncle Ma, stop fussing. What's twenty yuan? It's not taking advantage. Just call me if there's any work in the future."
Looking at the crumpled bills in his hand, Yang Jian felt a pang of sadness. A month ago, his income was over 200,000 a day. Now, he was doing the dirtiest, most tiring work for a hundred yuan. Falling from the clouds to the bottom – the contrast was too stark.
"Little Yang, you're such a good person. I'll definitely call you if I have any work. By the way, you're so young, why don't you work in a factory? It's much easier than this."
Old Ma didn't stand on ceremony and put the twenty yuan in his pocket.
"Uncle Ma, my ID card was stolen, so I can't get into a factory. I don't have much money either, so I can only do odd jobs."
"Oh, I see. Do you have a phone? Leave your contact information, and I'll call you if there's work."
"My phone and ID card were stolen together. I don't have money to buy a new one yet."
"Is that so? Do you have a place to stay?"
"No, I just arrived yesterday. Because I don't have an ID card and not much money, I haven't found a place to stay yet. I slept on a bench at the station last night."
Yang Jian had to lie. After all, living in a bathhouse every day was unimaginable for these low-wage workers. Such places were probably places they would never visit in their lives. Fifty-eight yuan for a bath was quite a luxury, and to do it every day.
Old Ma thought for a moment and said, "Little Yang, if you don't mind, you can come and stay with me. It's a bit small, and I'm afraid you won't be used to it."
"I don't mind at all, Uncle Ma. I'm from the countryside too. I've endured hardship, so I'll get used to anything."
Yang Jian was overjoyed to hear that Old Ma was willing to take him in. He no longer had to worry about where to sleep.
"Alright then, finish today's work, and you can come back with me."
"Sure thing, Uncle Ma. Come on, I'll treat you to lunch."
Yang Jian decided to have a good meal for lunch today to celebrate finding a place to stay.
The two of them left the villa and found a small restaurant nearby. They ordered braised fish chunks, twice-cooked pork, a plate of peanuts, and a bottle of Laojiao wine costing over ten yuan. The total was only fifty yuan.
Old Ma was clearly a man who enjoyed his drink and had a high tolerance. He drank more than half the bottle without any ill effects.
Since they had work in the afternoon, they only drank this one bottle.
The workload in the afternoon was quite heavy, with one truckload of tiles and one truckload of sand. The sand had to be bagged first, and then carried upstairs bag by bag.
It took a full four hours to finish the work. Even with Yang Jian's good physique, he was exhausted. Old Ma, on the other hand, had better stamina and didn't seem as tired when they finished.
Perhaps feeling that the afternoon's workload was indeed a bit much, the boss added fifty yuan to their pay and told them to take a taxi back. He also kept Old Ma's phone number, saying he would call him directly for future work.
They hired a moped for ten yuan. Each of them earned 270 yuan that day.
Yang Jian didn't have much of a reaction to this income, but Old Ma seemed very pleased, as work wasn't always available at the labor market.
Old Ma's rented accommodation was in an urban village near the bus station. This village, called Liuqiao Village, was filled with three- and four-story buildings. Due to the large number of migrant workers, villagers had converted these houses into rental properties.
Consequently, the residents here were all migrant workers from all over the country. It was a mixed bag, somewhat complex, and the public order wasn't very good.
"Little Yang, you see, my place is a bit small. Make do for now. Once your ID card is sorted out, you can work in a factory and maybe find a bigger place."
Old Ma led Yang Jian into his rented room.
It was a room on the second floor. The bedroom was about twenty square meters, with a small kitchen that could only accommodate one person operating at a time, and a small bathroom with a water heater.
The bedroom had two beds: a bunk bed, with bedding and a straw mat on the lower level, and miscellaneous items on the upper level.
At a ninety-degree angle to the bunk bed was a 1.2-meter wooden bed, also made up with bedding and a mat. This arrangement suggested that two people lived here.
There was also a dining table and three plastic stools in the room, as well as a wardrobe.
The room felt very cramped with all these items, making it difficult to move around if more people were present.
"Uncle Ma, how many people live in this place?"
Yang Jian asked curiously as soon as he saw the two beds.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Ma Dashan. My wife is gone. I have a daughter who is attending university in this city. She usually stays at school but occasionally comes back for a meal.
My son is seventeen and lives with me, but he's learning to barbecue from someone and is rarely home. You can sleep on the lower bunk of the iron bed. If he comes back, he'll sleep on the top bunk."
Ma Dashan briefly introduced his family situation. His family was from Xichuan Province, and he followed his daughter here because she was admitted to the university.
It was more profitable here than in his hometown. Even doing manual labor, he could earn enough for his daughter's tuition and living expenses. His son dropped out of junior high school. Since he wasn't yet eighteen, he couldn't work in a factory, so someone found him an apprenticeship at a barbecue stall.
For Ma Dashan, the hardest days were over. His current financial pressure wasn't too great. His daughter was very sensible and worked part-time as a tutor, basically covering her own living expenses.
It was just that his son was a bit mischievous. He didn't get paid as an apprentice and required several hundred yuan a month for pocket money.
In addition to that, there were rent, utilities, and living expenses. Ma Dashan was very diligent and had over a thousand yuan left over each month. He planned to work here for four or five years, save some money, and build a house back home to get his son married.
"Uncle Ma, how much is the rent for this place per month? I'll pay it from now on."
Yang Jian decided to cover the rent. He couldn't rent a place himself, and Old Ma taking him in was a huge favor.
"The rent is 380 yuan. You don't need to pay it. Just give me some living expenses each month. If there's work, we'll cook at home in the morning and evening. It's cheaper and healthier. However, our Xichuan cuisine is mainly spicy. I don't know if you can get used to it?"
"I'm used to it. I stayed in Xichuan for a while and really like the food there."
It wasn't time to pay rent yet, and he didn't have much money on hand, so Yang Jian didn't dwell on the rent issue with him.