Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 1080 - 561 Secretary Jiao Comes to Work

Chapter 1080: Chapter 561 Secretary Jiao Comes to Work

The next day, Yan Fei accompanied Secretary Jiao to the bustling construction site.

Looking at Secretary Jiao’s outfit, if an unknowing person were to see him, he would never guess that this man was the top official of the county. A white poplin shirt, a pair of army green pants, and a pair of Jiefang shoes.

He wasn’t wearing these clothes when he arrived; he and Secretary Xiao Zhao hadn’t taken the county committee’s car but rather the minibus that runs between Tanghe County and Sancha River Town—an episode that caused quite a laugh. Yan Fei and his group were waiting at the west end of the bridge when the two of them, too rule-abiding, sat in the bus until the final stop instead of calling out for an earlier disembarkation.

The group was looking towards the west, expecting to see the county committee’s car, only to find the two men walking over from the east and realizing that the people they were meant to receive had already arrived.

After arriving, Secretary Jiao saw that Yan Fei had notified Mayor Chen to come and meet him. They exchanged pleasantries and then he said, "My visit here today is not exactly official—I just came to have a look around Xiao Fei’s site. It’s the weekend, and those who should rest should do so, don’t let my presence interrupt your personal time. Everyone should just go about their business, it’s enough for Xiao Fei alone to accompany me, after all, he has to be on the construction site, right?"

He dissuaded Mayor Chen and his group from staying and then changed into this set of clothes, proceeding to tour the energetic construction site with Xiao Zhao and Yan Fei.

It was indeed lively; the hot weather matched the high spirits of the people, who toiled with sweat and smiles, sparing no effort in their work, emanating a vigor that made onlookers itch to pick up a tool and join in.

Secretary Jiao actually jumped down into the canal that had been dug more than half a person deep, while Yan Fei and Secretary Xiao Zhao were too slow to stop him. They could only watch as he picked up a shovel lying on the ground and cheerfully said to the person beside him, "I’ll give it a try too. I rarely do this kind of physical labor nowadays!"

A middle-aged man nearby heard this and glanced at Secretary Jiao’s hands, casually pulling out a pair of gloves from his pocket: "You’d better wear these. Which village are you from? Your hands look like they haven’t done much labor for a while; you really shouldn’t go without gloves."

Secretary Jiao gratefully accepted the gloves, "Thanks, fellow villager. Why don’t you wear them?"

The man grinned honestly, "Us farmers don’t need such things for work. Boss Yan is kind-hearted and takes care of us. The gesture is appreciated and the reason we keep the gloves is for later use—they’ll come in handy eventually."

Others working nearby could hardly contain their laughter upon hearing the man—they had already noticed Yan Fei standing just above!

Initially, Yan Fei wanted to call Secretary Jiao up, but seeing that Secretary Xiao Zhao didn’t react, he just stood there and watched. Hearing the man’s words now, he couldn’t help feeling amused and a bit touched.

The comment was funny, yet also slightly heart-wrenching.

The gloves, mere consumables, were hardly anything luxurious, even by Yan Fei’s generous standards. They were just the typical white cotton gloves commonly used for labor, overstock from the county cotton mill, sold at a few yuan per bundle, amounting to mere pennies per pair.

Yet these gloves were treasured by the workers, like the man who spoke earlier, and they were not alone—locals accustomed to work would hardly consider gloves necessary for farming or handling a hoe. The work on the construction site didn’t really require gloves either.

Gloves became necessary in the winter. During the cold weather, the gloves became quite useful—for example, when riding a bicycle to the market or visiting relatives, wearing gloves made it much more comfortable.

While others laughed at the man’s words without looking up, Secretary Jiao found it difficult to join in the amusement. Holding the pair of gloves, he hesitated for a moment then offered them back, "I can’t wear these gloves. You better keep them. Don’t think I don’t engage in manual labor; I used to do this type of work quite often..."

The man casually pushed the gloves back, "Why so formal? You’re not going to wear them out. I’ll just wash them later, and they’ll be good as new."

Unable to decline further, Secretary Jiao accepted the gloves and started working.

In fact, many had already seen Secretary Jiao arrive with Boss Yan. Although no one recognized him as the county’s leader, they could guess his status was no ordinary one—he had admitted that he no longer did this kind of strenuous work. Someone who doesn’t do physical labor couldn’t be one of the hardworking folks like them.

Those who did notice were careful with their words, and those who continued working while talking to Secretary Jiao were the ones that didn’t look up.

They didn’t know Secretary Jiao’s identity, so they felt free to speak their minds.

Fortunately, the workers chosen from the villages were all reliable people. Those who were reluctant to exert themselves wouldn’t be brought out by the villages. Embarrassing the village wasn’t the worst that could happen—the real trouble would be if Boss Yan took offense and didn’t allow the villagers to work on the site.

Reliable people might grumble, but most of them were grateful. The village had suffered a disaster, and now that they had work and could earn money, they were content. This included gleaning from Secretary Jiao’s deliberate and inadvertent inquiries about their current lives; although the villagers’ lives were not great by any standard, they felt things were much better compared to a few years back.

Mostly, they had good things to say.