Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 1073 - 558: Ceremony Commencement

Chapter 1073: Chapter 558: Ceremony Commencement

"Old Uncle Cai, once the shed over there is set up, come over and clean up this pathway a bit. Don’t bring a shovel, there’s no need to dig or pave. Just check if there are any rotten branches or black mulberries along this path and clean them up..." Early in the morning the temperature by the river wasn’t too high, but Heizi’s head was already covered in sweat.

Secretary Xiao Zhao told Yan Fei that ’these couple of days’ would last a bit longer than Yan Fei had expected.

Anyhow, messages kept coming, saying ’these couple of days, these couple of days,’ and before you knew it, another couple of days had gone by, and it was already August.

Yan Fei wasn’t overly anxious to start working. He didn’t build much, just had people start by constructing the kiln factory. The township was using earth kilns, not something that could be built in a day or two, so he decided to prepare in advance.

As for his early action, neither the township nor the county said anything about it. Everyone in the western village who had fields here was getting paid, and they were all so happy about it that they came with shovels in hand to help dig the earth when the work began.

Boss Yan said that it wasn’t their village’s turn to work yet, the workers were all from Shanglin Village and his hometown, Yan Village. However, the old secretary from the western village, grinning so wide his face looked like a blooming chrysanthemum, said, "It’s fine, our folks aren’t doing anything anyway, it’s not a problem to come and lend a hand, we’re happy to do it even without pay. Besides, there’s free tea to drink here, and we get three meals a day, so it’s not like we’re working for nothing, right?"

As a result, the kilns for brick firing were built, and the side of the road was dug up when a notice finally came through to get ready, this time they really had someone coming.

Having visitors was fine, but the excavated pits and bumps were unacceptable. They received instructions to find a spot that hadn’t been touched by construction yet, for later they needed to hold a groundbreaking ceremony with someone digging the first spade of soil.

When in jianghu, one cannot help oneself!

Actually, Secretary Xiao Zhao had vaguely hinted to Yan Fei about the underlying reason, which was that there’d been a leadership change at the top, and the new leader had been busy inspecting various places. He’d finally found some time to come down now.

In such matters, Secretary Xiao Zhao, being in the thick of it, naturally it wasn’t his place to say much. Whatever directive came from above, they just had to follow. Besides, the new leader would likely be here for at least a few years. What if one day they upset him and he decided to make life difficult?

Now Heizi was leading people in a ’pristine’ wasteland by the river, where they’d set up a shelter, prepared tables and chairs, waiting for someone to come and make a speech and dig a bit of soil.

Primitive as it was, the path still had to be checked. Otherwise, if there was a thorny branch or something that damaged someone’s clothes, that wouldn’t be a pretty situation.

The old man called Old Uncle Cai by Heizi was confused. He listened to Heizi’s orders and was puzzled for quite a while: "Heizi, what kind of cleaning are you talking about? Aren’t we supposed to let people through? If we dig up all this grass, flatten it out and spread some sand, wouldn’t that be better?"

Heizi quickly intervened: "No, no, we need this green grass everywhere. If you dig it all up, what would that be? Never mind, it’s just this short stretch, I can clear and inspect it myself..."

While speaking, he began to summon others, "Xiaofang, you guys, stop standing around watching others work, come over and help me clean this area. Check the grass nests thoroughly, make sure nothing’s hiding. What if you don’t notice a snake and it comes out and scares someone, what then?"

Old Uncle Cai, watching a few people inspecting, felt gloomy and was mumbling while working, "Heizi just loves to mess around. How can what he’s cleaning be called a path? Can leaders really walk on this? Even if they’re just going through the motions, shouldn’t you make it look the part?"

A young man working beside him listlessly said, "Old man, you’re out of touch. You can’t keep up with the times. Even going through the motions these days is all about returning to simplicity. Do you even know what that means? You don’t, right..."

The conversation was cut short as another old man slapped him on the back: "What are you prattling on about? Is that any way to talk to your Uncle Cai? And is that how you’re supposed to work? You call that an effort and yet you have the nerve to ask your cousin Xiao Fei for money? If you’re not going to work, then get lost back home, don’t embarrass our Lin family here."

Though the old man was advanced in age, he was still vigorous, and the slap resounded with such a slap that everyone around felt the sting in their own back, watching the young man grimacing and baring his teeth, they all burst into laughter.

This kid was none other than Yan Fei’s cousin, Lin Haihu. He’d undergone labor reform at a cattle farm last summer and, living up to everyone’s expectations, was about to start at a high school with a long history and quite a reputation as soon as the new term began — Tanghe County No.2 High School.

The school truly had a long history, its ancient buildings dating back three to four hundred years — the very high school Yan Fei was attending, located in Sancha River Town. There was no mistaking its reputation either; among the county’s high schools, No.2 High School’s college entrance rate had managed to firmly occupy one of the last three spots every year.

Mind you, Lin Haihu was only able to ’get into’ this high school; nobody said he actually passed the entrance exam. After all, he was Boss Yan’s cousin, and after shamelessly pestering Yan Fei for two days, he got Boss Yan to put on a thick face and ask for a favor to let him in to study, which wasn’t a problem.

That was already pretty good; you can’t ask too much of the boy. Didn’t you see how much he struggled with his studies over the year? Like bamboo shoots after rain, he grew taller and stronger. Now he’s hoeing away here with the tools, his stature is on par with the strong laborers around him, and even a small mustache had grown around his mouth, looking quite fierce.