"Get out, get out and go south to work, earn enough money to pay your sister's debt, and then come back."
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Yang Jian was driven out of his home by his father, and his suitcase was almost broken when it was thrown out of the yard gate.
Snowflakes were still falling from the sky. Glancing at the tightly closed iron gate, the stubborn Yang Jian picked up his suitcase and walked towards the village entrance without hesitation.
As a rural child who had just turned twenty-four, Yang Jian was actually quite promising.
After retiring from the armed police force in 2000, he returned to his hometown and worked as a carpenter with his cousin on construction sites.
In two years, he not only grew from an apprentice to a master craftsman but also learned to read blueprints and manage construction sites.
Tempered by his military experience, Yang Jian was very bold. After understanding the operational model of construction sites, he began to take on carpentry contracts and manage projects.
In 2004, construction workers in Jiangcheng earned only eighty yuan a day, but carpenters working on contract could earn two hundred yuan a day.
Since being a contractor required him to advance living expenses for workers and equip some machinery and tools, Yang Jian borrowed one hundred thousand yuan from his elder sister, Yang Hui, for investment.
Introduced by his cousin, Yang Jian received his first carpentry contract project.
At the end of the year, although the process was arduous, he successfully earned 120,000 yuan.
This sum was not a small amount for rural people at that time.
He returned home on the twenty-second day of the twelfth lunar month, and the whole family was very happy, especially his father, Yang Shuanglin, who thought his son was promising and had the potential to become a construction boss.
Unexpectedly, Yang Jian, instigated by his village companions, participated in gambling. From the twenty-second day of the twelfth lunar month to the last day of the twelfth lunar month, in seven days, he lost all twenty thousand yuan he had, including the ten thousand yuan he was supposed to return to his elder sister.
The gambling incident was initially kept from his family, but the amount he lost was so large that it spread through the village during the New Year's greetings at the ancestral hall on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
This caused an uproar at home. His mother, Zhou Fenglian, was so frightened that she fainted and was rushed to the hospital. Although she was rescued, she still had to lie in bed for a few days.
His father, Yang Shuanglin, who had a bad temper, was enraged and grabbed a shovel to hit Yang Jian, intending to drive him out that very day.
It was his grandparents who protected him, saying that even a beggar should celebrate the New Year for three days. Only then did Yang Shuanglin restrain himself until the third day of the Lunar New Year. As soon as breakfast was finished, he drove him out of the house.
Standing at the village entrance, looking at the falling snowflakes, Yang Jian didn't know where to go.
He only had five hundred yuan in his pocket, which was given to him as a New Year's gift by his brother-in-law when he came to pay his respects yesterday. Not yet married, he was still considered a child by his sister and brother-in-law.
Five hundred yuan was definitely not enough to go south to work. After deducting travel and living expenses, there wouldn't be much left when he arrived. Being in an unfamiliar place, if he couldn't find a job within three days, he would be reduced to begging on the streets.
As for borrowing money, there was no point in thinking about it. Rural people were superstitious; they wouldn't lend money before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, otherwise, they would lose wealth throughout the year. Therefore, no one would pay attention to him, not even his own elder sister.
Staying in a hotel in the county town, the five hundred yuan wouldn't last until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Yang Jian was filled with regret. Why did he have to gamble? According to his plan, he could take on larger projects in another year or two.
As a new-generation migrant worker with military experience, Yang Jian knew very well that the real estate industry in Hancheng was entering a period of vigorous development at this time, with an endless supply of projects.
Xinhe District was a remote district of the provincial capital, Hancheng, known as the "hometown of construction." More than twenty percent of its population was engaged in construction and related industries, providing unique development opportunities.
If not for this gambling incident, Yang Jian was confident that he could become a major boss capable of independently undertaking projects worth tens of millions within three to five years.
Now, all his dreams had been shattered. Without capital, he couldn't even undertake projects worth hundreds of thousands.
Among his relatives, only his brother-in-law, who drove a long-haul truck, had some savings. The rest were not well-off and couldn't lend money. It was also unrealistic to ask his elder sister for money again. Their family earned their money through hard work, and he had already squandered most of it. How could he have the face to ask again?
He took out his Motorola phone, wanting to see if anyone could take him in or give him some money at this time, just enough to last until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Even if he couldn't borrow money, he could still work on construction sites.
He scrolled through the names in his phonebook, one by one, excluding them. During the New Year, who other than relatives would take in an outsider? But he couldn't go to his relatives' homes, mainly because he had no face to face them.
Song Jianmin, a familiar name, was found. He was a former comrade-in-arms from the army, in the same squadron.
They had a very good relationship, inseparable during their time in the army. Their families were more than twenty kilometers apart. After their retirement, they went their separate ways and had little contact. Mainly, Yang Jian felt a bit inferior working as a laborer on construction sites, so he rarely contacted other comrades.
He decided to give it a try and dialed Song Jianmin's number.
"Hello, Jianmin, Happy New Year."
"Holy crap, Yang Jian, where have you been these past few years? You don't attend the annual comrades' gatherings, and you've changed your phone number. Have you forgotten your comrades while making a fortune in secret?"
"Fortune, my ass. I've been working hard on construction sites, laying formwork, and I haven't been doing well, so I was too embarrassed to contact you."
"I don't like what you're saying. Do we comrades distinguish between high and low status? Except for a few comrades in the city whose families were already well-off, aren't we all pretty much the same in the countryside? How much better can we be? Where are you? Let's have lunch together."
"Okay, where do you want to go?"
"I'm still visiting relatives. How about you go to 'Taste of Time' in the county town and wait for me?"
"Alright, see you in a bit."
'Taste of Time' was a tea restaurant, a popular gathering place for young people in the county town. It offered tea and chat, as well as card games and business negotiations. Yang Jian had only heard of it and had never been inside.
He took a rural bus and arrived at the county town in half an hour. This was the location of the district government. Although it belonged to Hancheng City, it was more than fifty kilometers away from the main urban area. Its prosperity was far lower than that of the main city, with a population of less than two hundred thousand.
Therefore, Yang Jian easily found the tea restaurant. He booked a booth by the window and ordered a glass of plain water, which was free.
The booth was very warm. Looking at the still falling snowflakes outside the window, Yang Jian felt a chill in his heart. He really couldn't figure out how he would ask his comrade for help later.
He didn't resent his father's actions because the family's situation was not good. His grandparents were eighty years old. Although they were still healthy, only his father supported them. His aunt had married far away and hadn't returned for several years.
His mother had poor health, suffering from lumbar disc disease for more than twenty years. She couldn't do physical labor and could only stay at home to take care of the elderly and children.
His sister's situation was slightly better. Her family had bought a truck, and she and her husband ran long-haul transportation, occasionally being able to help out her parents' family.
His sister Yang Rui was twenty years old and in college, with two years left before graduation.
His father was just a farmer with no skills. He could only work as a laborer in the county town during the off-season, earning less than twenty thousand yuan a year. With elderly parents above and young children below, the burden of life fell entirely on his shoulders.
Under these circumstances, Yang Jian losing two hundred thousand yuan at once, and his father only driving him out instead of breaking his legs, was already very merciful.