Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 841 - 831. Braised pork in the canteen

Chapter 841: 831. Braised pork in the canteen

The speaker didn’t necessarily mean it, it’s just a habit to stir things up with their mouth.

But Old Xu really valued the client Song Tan, and it wasn’t like these workers hadn’t worked elsewhere. When it was time to ask for salaries, it was the same as asking him for the project’s payment - they would almost call him "grandpa".

So upon hearing this, his face turned stern:

"Those who don’t want to work, just say it! I can find other people."

"If you want it like before, either you build yourself a shack outside, you can mess around however you want."

"I’ll say it again, you can switch shelters with each job site, I don’t care. But I’m in this for the long haul, take it or leave it!"

His seriousness and the harsh words stopped everyone from saying anything more.

Instead, some of the veteran workers cheerfully smoothed things over: "Old Xu, why bother telling them so much? Let them stay here for a couple of days, and they’ll know better. If they really don’t want to work, there are plenty of people breaking their necks for the chance..."

Old Xu wouldn’t even want someone who wasn’t good at their work!

After saying these words, he checked the time: "Okay, leave an old-timer to show them around, go to the cafeteria for lunch at 12:30, and once you’re settled in the afternoon, come find me. I’ll arrange the work."

...

Once everyone left, the dormitory became lively as people started claiming their beds!

Including that picky one - he wasn’t stupid, he knew how good or bad things were despite what he said.

Checking out the environment, he went to see the bathroom: "Not bad, not bad at all, really nice. This is solid work... why only two months?"

Another laughed at him: "Big Mouth, if you talked less, don’t you think Old Xu would give you work?"

"Exactly! Your work is so good, but your mouth never stops yapping. You might as well tape it shut!"

At that remark, everyone started to laugh.

Zhou Dayong had just set down his luggage and now looked at the bare new 1.2-meter-wide bed board, and also thought about Old Xu’s rare seriousness, feeling a bit uneasy.

But it was fair to say, the four-person dormitory was decent, clean, and bright, more organized than his own home. It would be a pity to ruin it.

Living on the construction site, it was rare to have such decent accommodations!

While tidying up, when someone came to call them for a meal, he hurriedly took out his phone to take pictures of the surroundings to send to his family.

After thinking about it, he sent an additional one to Zhou Erbao, a fellow hometown brother he met today:

"Take a look, our living conditions are really not bad!"

On the other side, Zhou Erbao, seizing the moment to slack off, opened his phone and remembered the shacks he had built far away, tears of frustration welling up.

They say it’s subcontracted, but in reality, road construction mostly still requires locals. Many of them commute every day by motorcycle, and not to mention food, living at home is definitely more comfortable and reassuring.

Looking around, eight out of ten were local workers willing to do the job, and there were so few people from out of town to even talk to...

Ah, road construction! It really isn’t as good as thinking of a way to join that hometown brother!

Still, when he thought about the daily wages and the quality of the meals, he was quite satisfied. The road wasn’t long; all things considered, it was just one or two months of work, just around the end of the year.

He hoped they would pay out smoothly when it was time!

With that thought, he felt relieved. When he arrived at the place to eat and saw they even got a big chicken leg each, he was even more pleased and quickly took photos to send to his hometown brother:

"Look, there’s meat and veggies, the food’s really good here!"

There was no reply from the other side, but he didn’t mind and tucked into his meal.

...

Meanwhile, Zhou Dayong had become utterly spaced out.

They came out of the dormitory building at 12:00. Old Xu, who had specially stayed behind as a familiar hand, had been working here for half a year and was very familiar with every grass and tree on the mountain.

As they walked, he boasted:

"You guys really need to work hard! This job is the most comfortable one I’ve ever had. The bosses don’t nitpick, they don’t delay payments, and they often give us things during holidays!"

"Moreover, the food here can’t be beaten! Old Xu might have phrased it a bit crudely earlier, but he got the point across! And the chef’s skills—you’ll know once you have a meal."

"Of course, " he said, and then added mysteriously:

"According to Old Xu, the chef from his own home cooks even more deliciously! He has only tasted it once, and to this day dreams about drooling... tsk, tsk, how delicious that must be, I can’t even imagine."

"Our cafeteria’s Chef Jiang, his cooking is top-notch!"

After saying this, he stood at the entrance to the cafeteria and sniffed. He then confidently declared: "Braised pork! Hahaha, look how generous the boss is!"

Zhou Dayong listened silently to his fellow workers’ questions, and now he couldn’t help but be curious: Why do they all praise it? Is it really that good?

However, once he entered the cafeteria, he was immediately stunned—

It was true.

It really was that good.

The cafeteria was an extremely spacious hall, with stainless steel plates neatly stacked in a disinfection cabinet on the side.

And the long rows of tables were cleaned so cleanly. You know, Zhai Xiaofeng cleans up this mess every day, and her salary has risen to 4500!

Hard work is hard work, but if someone were asked to share her workload (and the increased salary), she wouldn’t be happy about it!

Of course, this was only temporary. Next year when more people are employed, permanent staff will definitely be recruited.

But right now, the workers’ eyes were glued to the food serving window and couldn’t be moved away.

Even though Zhai Xiaofeng was still dressed up brightly, standing at the window wearing a hat and mask, no one paid any attention to her.

This actually relieved Zhai Xiaofeng.

It was natural for her to love dressing up, but as a divorced woman who did not wish to find another man, it was fine to be wrapped up and ignored by others.

She thus worked with even more vigor!

But for the workers filling the room, all they saw was the braised pork.

Delicious!

Too delicious!

Jiang Xiaokang’s being Master Qian’s top apprentice was certainly well-deserved! Just this aroma, no one who smelled it could resist the temptation.

In that large stainless steel basin, there was a heap of glossy, ruddy, and slightly brownish braised pork.

The small cubes piled up, and with a stir of the spoon, the meat quivered as if about to burst with juice.

The new workers weren’t strangers to braised pork, but they had never seen such authentic braised pork in a construction site cafeteria!

There was not even a potato in it, just pure meat!

It might be too rich for others, but not for them, never!

Beside it was a large bowl of stir-fried shredded cabbage, cooked in a way no one knew. While normally they hated bland cabbage-type vegetables, the finely shredded cabbage were stir-fried to a color so green and fresh, almost white, like jade!

Set off by the braised pork next to it, it looked particularly refreshing.

The air was filled with pungent spicy aromas and the crispness of the cabbage, causing everyone’s gaze to stick to it, to the point that they didn’t even notice the tomato and egg soup simmering in a big pot on the side.