Chapter 6 Base Area

"Erhu is a good worker and has helped me a lot in the past. You can decide how much to pay him." Liu Jun said.

"What did you do in your village before? How much did you earn in a month?" Xu Qiang turned to Erhu and asked.

"I just carry manure and farm the fields, seven... eight yuan a month... the most I can earn is eleven yuan a month." Erhu said after thinking for a while.

The price of work points is different in each village. Erhu's village is all mountainous, and the harvest is not as good as that of Xu Qiang's team, so naturally the money they get every year is very little.

"Okay, come here and help me work, I'll give you eighteen dollars a month!"

"Eighteen dollars!?"

"Why, you think it's too little?"

“No, no, no!” Erhu shook his head like a rattle, his face full of joy, and he kept saying, “Eighteen dollars is not a small amount, I’ll do it!”

It was obvious that the wages Xu Qiang offered far exceeded his expectations. It was at least two or three times more than what he had earned in the village before!
The reason why Xu Qiang paid him 18 yuan a month was that, no matter what, his salary could not be higher than Liu Jun's. After all, Liu Jun was from the same village and they had a very good relationship. He also had a horse carriage, so it was normal for him to have a higher salary.

Although Xu Qiang has some spare money now, he absolutely cannot pay these two people too much salary. He must leave enough room for bonuses in the future. Only in this way can the two maintain their long-term motivation without him having to invest too much.

"That's settled then." As he spoke, Xu Qiang took out a big unity note from his pocket, handed it directly to Erhu, and said, "I'll give you ten dollars first, and starting tomorrow, come to me to start work."

"Thank you, uncle!" Erhu took the Da Tuanjie and smiled brightly. He called him "uncle" very sweetly. Then he took out half a pack of Da Qianmen from his pocket and handed it to Xu Qiang respectfully, saying, "Uncle, have a cigarette."

"I don't smoke." Xu Qiang glanced at the cigarette box in Erhu's hand and frowned immediately. He saw that the paper box of "Da Qianmen" was almost faded, and it was obvious that it had been kept for a long time. Normally, this kid would not be willing to smoke it, but this time he met a "noble man" and took out his "family fortune".

"Uncle, there are several good girls in our village. You are so handsome. I will introduce you to someone later..."

"Come on, you're still working on a roof, don't worry about my business." Xu Qiang rolled his eyes at Erhu and continued, "Since you're willing to work with me today, let's be frank. Don't tell anyone about our work, and keep your mouth shut. Also, when I'm not around, you have to listen to Liu Jun and do whatever he tells you to do! If you do a good job, I'll give you a bonus, but if not, get out, understand?"

Xu Qiang and Liu Jun are friends, but he has no feelings for Erhu. There are many people like him who are good at work in the countryside. As long as you have money, you can have as many people as you want.

However, it seems that Erhu is obviously smarter than Liu Jun. At least he knows how to flatter. If such a person were to be in the future, he would definitely be a smooth-talking fellow.

"I understand!" Erhu replied straightforwardly.

"That's good." Xu Qiang nodded with satisfaction, then pulled Liu Jun aside and gave him a few words, and then returned home.

For Xu Qiang, he will have to go back to the factory to work and live most of the time in the future. As for this business in the village, it is currently just a trial investment and there are still many problems to be solved. Before the relevant equipment and raw materials are in place, he can only take it one step at a time.

But in any case, before reporting to the factory, Xu Qiang still needs to set up his own "stall" and sort out the relevant processes, and the subsequent work will be much easier.

The next morning, just as it was getting light, when Xu Qiang just walked out of the house, Liu Jun and Erhu were already waiting at the entrance of the village.

It was the slack farming season in early August, and the daytime temperature was relatively high, especially at noon when the temperature could reach over 37 degrees Celsius. So in order to work cooler, the three chose to start work early.

The mountain road leading to the swamp was still difficult to walk on, but for the farmers in the mountain village, they were already accustomed to it. It took them nearly an hour to finally reach the place where peat was dug.

"Can this thing really be sold for money?"

Seeing the peat left here dug out by Xu Qiang and Liu Jun yesterday, Erhu was somewhat skeptical.

In fact, Erhu's village also uses this kind of peat for burning. Every year, villagers will dig some and put them in their own yards to dry during the winter when farming is slack. In terms of combustibility, it is not as good as coal and can only be regarded as a substitute for coal.

So Erhu never thought about making any money by digging this thing up.

"What do you know?" Liu Jun rolled his eyes at Erhu and said, "My uncle is a capable man. You should do whatever he says. There's no need to talk so much!"

"Uh." Erhu responded and stopped talking.

In fact, like Erhu, Liu Jun was also skeptical about Xu Qiang's plan, but now that he had received the advance salary, he had no choice but to follow Xu Qiang's arrangements.

Today's work is still to build mud houses. According to Xu Qiang's plan, he must build a few houses next to this swamp. In addition to being used for rest and night watch, Xu Qiang also needs a simple laboratory to test the pH and purity of the raw materials and other indicators at any time. This is also indispensable for any chemical company.

This time with the help of Erhu, the construction progress of the mud and thatched houses was much faster. When the sun was about to set, a row of three mud houses had been roofed and completed. The speed was so fast that even Xu Qiang was very surprised.

Walking into the newly built mud house, it was very damp because the walls were not yet completely dry. But now it was summer and the daytime was very hot. It would probably be habitable in a few days. "We need a stove here so we can heat up our meals at noon..." Looking at the empty house, Xu Qiang thought for a moment and then said, "We also need to build a brick bed so we can rest here at noon..."

"That's easy. Give me another day and I can get it done." Liu Jun volunteered.

"We still need to buy a few locks, otherwise, they might be occupied by others." Erhu also interjected at this time.

"Yes, we should buy a few locks. We will come here to work every day in the future, and the tools will have to be kept here, so it is better to keep someone here at night. I have to report to the factory in a few days. Who of you two can stay here at night?" Xu Qiang turned around and asked the two of them.

"This..." The two looked at each other in surprise when they heard this.

Although Liu Jun and Erhu are both bachelors, they usually have their own livelihoods in the village, especially Liu Jun. He is also the village driver. Even during the slack season, he is usually ordered around by the secretary's family. It is impossible for him to stay here day and night.

"If you're willing to keep watch here at night, I'll give you three more dollars a month." Seeing the two people hesitating, Xu Qiang immediately held up three fingers.

"Uncle, this is really not about money..." Liu Jun was still a little hesitant.

"Five dollars!" Xu Qiang stretched out two more fingers.

"I come!"

"I come!"

The two of them widened their eyes almost at the same time and spoke in unison.

Under the reward, there must be a brave man.

A monthly salary of 25 yuan, plus the yuan "night shift fee", that's a total of yuan, almost twice as much as their wages in the village!
That is to say, working here for one month is equivalent to working in the village for two months.

Even those rotation workers who have just entered the factory only make this much money every month, which is too attractive for Liu Jun and Erhu.

With such a high salary, it is enough for the two of them to make this work their main job.

As for the work in the village, the management has become loose nowadays.

Since the end of last year, the rumor of implementing the land contract responsibility system has spread here. The production cadres are not so enthusiastic anymore and are all calculating their own retreat. As for the members, they are only active for three days and dry the net for two days. No one is willing to continue to work hard for the collective.

Feeling that the spring breeze of reform was about to arrive, most of the villagers changed their previous cowardly attitude when meeting the cadres. They began to straighten their backs and not listen to the team leader's orders. Their enthusiasm for work was not as high, and they just did their job to get by.

"That's settled then. When the house is ready for living in a few days, you two can take turns to come and keep watch at night." Xu Qiang thought for a moment, then continued, "Also, I plan to build a fence around the house to enclose this place, and I'll need to get another dog..."

"I'll bring my dog ​​here!" Erhu interrupted before Xu Qiang could finish.

Living alone in the wilderness is a bit scary, but if you have a dog, you will feel much safer.

Besides, what could be more terrible than being poor?

"I'm going to the county town tomorrow to buy some things...Erhu, I remember you said before that you are very familiar with the deputy director of the county supply and marketing cooperative?" Xu Qiang asked Erhu.

Now that he has a house, if he wants to start construction, Xu Qiang still needs to buy some tools and raw materials, and these things are only sold in the county supply and marketing cooperative.

"Yes! If our village wants to buy any in-demand goods, I'll be the one to find them. Uncle, what do you want to buy?"

"How about this, you come with me to the county town tomorrow, and let Liu Jun do the work here first."

"Okay!" Erhu responded straightforwardly.

"Then that's it for today."

Xu Qiang waved his hand, and the three of them began to pack up their tools and go home.

With these mud houses, Xu Qiang truly had his own entrepreneurial base. Standing next to the mud house and looking at the peat bricks piled up at the foot of the mountain, Xu Qiang felt that his peat farm had taken a big step towards the goal of "listing"...

(End of this chapter)