Chapter 140: Hope (Updated) (Ch 816986324)

One month has passed.
The festive atmosphere becomes stronger in February.
The cannery at the fishing port in Magong Town was relocated to the Yandunshan Fish Ball Factory. However, the location of this factory is not bad. Last year, the company purchased the factory building from the landlord and converted it into a specialty store.
In the specialty store, in addition to selling ordinary canned eels, yaki eel soft cans, and various frozen fish balls, there are also live eels and premium Egyptian catfish, as well as strawberries, tomatoes, ginseng fruit, and white truffles.
At the seafood market at the pier at the entrance, baskets of freshly unloaded mackerel, crabs, mantis shrimps, prawns and mackerel attracted many local customers.
“How much is this white eel?”
Xiao Li, who was packing tomatoes for the customer, quickly turned around and looked at the customer with a smile: “Brother, the premium white eel is 45 yuan per pound.”
“Special grade?” The bald middle-aged man used a net bag to scoop up a struggling white eel. Eels are also called white eels and mackerel in Lingnan and southern Fujian regions.
Xiao Li quickly explained: “This is specially bred, it doesn’t have an earthy smell.”
“Is it true?” The bald man was a little skeptical.
Xiao Li immediately guessed that the other person might be a worker who had just returned home from another place, so he smiled and asked, “Brother, you just came back from another place, right?”
“Yes! I just came back from Hong Kong. I didn’t expect my hometown to have changed so much.” The bald man sighed.
“Come on, big brother, try it.” Xiao Li took out a box of tasting samples from the thermal cabinet nearby.
He took the chopsticks and picked up a piece of steamed eel with shredded ginger. After taking a bite, the bald man’s eyes lit up immediately: “Huh? There really is no earthy smell. Is this white eel the same as the one in the pond?”
“Of course, big brother, our company is here. If you taste the earthy smell, just bring the fish back and return it. We will refund you in full.” Xiao Li assured.
“Give me one.”
“Brother, how big do you want it?”
“A little over two kilograms will do.”
“Okay, do you want to kill me?”
“No thanks.” The bald man waved his hand, took the lively eel in the bag, and bought a box of strawberries.
Just walked out of the store.
“Huh? Terry?”
The bald middle-aged man turned his head and looked at a tricycle opposite the dock. He found that it was his cousin Lin Taishun. He walked over with a smile and said, “Brother Shun, come and buy some fish?”
Lin Taishun put a large bag of fresh mackerel on the back of the tricycle, wiped his hands, took out a pack of Furongwang, took out two cigarettes, handed one to the bald man Lin Taili, lit one himself, took a puff and said, “Huh… When will you be back?”
“I just came back from the high-speed train at nine o’clock last night.” Lin Taili lit a cigarette, leaned against the side of the tricycle, and looked at the Hailufeng specialty store opposite.
“So early this year?”
“Without goods, business in Hong Kong is not easy.”
“What did you buy?”
“I bought it across the street, a white eel and a box of strawberries. You bought so many mackerels, are you going to make them into balls?” Lin Taili glanced at the bag of at least 30 kilograms of mackerels.
Lin Taishun shook off his cigarette poop and said with a smile, “Yes! But there is still 15 kilograms from big brother.”
“How is your health, brother?”
“He’s in good health. He raised Egyptian fish last year and made tens of thousands of dollars. This year, Yongqiang can take it easy.”
Lin Taili raised his eyebrows and said, “Yongqiang isn’t married yet, right? He’s already 27 years old. You and your sister-in-law should help him get married.”
“Hahaha, do you need me to tell you? Your sister-in-law has already introduced him to someone else, but he said he wants to renovate the house in two years, otherwise the girl will probably turn around and leave after seeing the house.”
“How much is left for repairing the house? I’ll give him the money.” Lin Taili asked.
“You know my eldest brother’s character. He won’t accept it.” Lin Taishun took another puff of his cigarette. “Huh… But don’t worry, my eldest brother’s two acres of fish pond can still make 120,000 this year. With Yongqiang working on the construction site and previous savings, we can make up about 200,000, which should be enough to renovate the house.”
Lin Taili shook his head: “What are you talking about? What can you do with 200,000 yuan? In my opinion, it is better not to repair his house, just tear it down and rebuild it. I will lend him 200,000 yuan, which is enough to build three floors, and he can use the 200,000 yuan for decoration.”
“You go and convince your eldest brother.” Lin Taishun looked helpless.
“Leave it to me. He should change his picky personality. Otherwise, even if he marries his daughter-in-law, conflicts will easily arise. Things are different now than before.” Lin Taili threw down the cigarette butt and crushed it with the sole of his shoe.
Lin Taishun suggested: “It would be better not to demolish the old house and build a new one somewhere else. I don’t think my eldest brother and his daughter-in-law will get along. It would be better for them to live separately.”
Hearing this suggestion, Lin Taili nodded and said, “This is also a solution. By the way, the house site I bought before is not far from my eldest brother’s house. I can’t use it anyway, so I’ll build a house for him!”
“It’s good that you are willing to do so, but you’d better explain it clearly to your wife to avoid conflicts between the two parties.” Lin Taishun reminded.
“Don’t worry! Brother Shun, she doesn’t know how many houses and lands I have in the mainland. If you don’t tell anyone, she won’t know.”
“That’s good.”
“By the way, Shun brother, what are you doing recently?”
“Me?” Lin Taishun said with a smile, “I’m growing durian for the Hailufeng Company.”
“What?” Lin Taili touched his big bald head and was confused: “Did I hear it right? Planting durian? Planting it in Qiongzhou?”
“It’s on Yandun Mountain, east of our village. Didn’t you see it when you came back?”
Lin Taili was speechless: “It was night when I came back! It was pitch black, no one could see! In the morning I came to the dock from the south road.”
“Hehe.” Lin Taishun was a little embarrassed.
Lin Taili looked puzzled: “By the way, can durian really be grown in Magong? Why haven’t I heard of it before?”
“I don’t know either, but Boss Jiang has invested so much money. Not only does he have durian plantations in Magong, but he also has them in Hongcao Town and Gongping Town. Together, they cover more than 50,000 acres. It doesn’t look fake.”
“Fifty thousand acres? Is his Jiang family so rich?”
Lin Taishun said, “Boss Jiang is about to become the richest man in Shanmei now. He may surpass Lin Weihua in a few years.”
“I just heard about it. Brother Shun, tell me about it. I’m quite curious about Hailufeng Company.”
“Why don’t you just stand there?”
“Hahaha, it’s my fault. Keji Ma Yu Minced Fish, it’s my treat.”
“Wait a minute, I’ll go get a bag of ice.”
Lin Taishun quickly bought a bag of crushed ice from an ice shop opposite the seafood market and poured it into the bag of mackerel.
Then we drove the tricycle to the entrance of Ke Ji Ma Yu Minced Fish Shop not far away.
Before getting off the car, Lin Taishun shouted, “Ma Yu Lao, give me two bowls of Ma Yu Minced Meat and a plate of vegetable cake.”
“I know. Find a place to sit yourself.” The owner of the fish paste shop, who had only a tuft of hair left on his head, turned on two stoves, placed two small soup pots on the fire, scooped up two large spoons of porridge base that had been cooked in advance, and began to cook the porridge.
After a while, Lin Taili also came in.
“Ma Yu Lao, don’t let your hair fall into the mud!” Lin Taili joked.
“You, a Hong Konger, come to my roadside stall to eat? Don’t be so disrespectful!” The Ma Yu Lao cursed and laughed in Cantonese while putting a dozen pieces of eel meat into the boiling porridge and threw in a handful of small shrimps.
“Hahaha…”
The other locals in the store also laughed.
After all, Magong Town is too small, with only about 10,000 people in total, and everyone knows each other well.
Another dark-faced middle-aged man who knew Lin Taili was eating at the next table and asked, “Tai Li, when are you coming back?”
“Last night.”
“Where is your wife? Why don’t you see her? Aren’t you two always stick together?” The black-faced man teased.
“She was dragged by her sisters to the city for morning tea.” Lin Taili poured himself a cup of mango leaf tea: “Black Charcoal Head, are you still sailing?”
“No, there is no cargo near the coast in recent years, and my small boat cannot go to the open sea. Now I am transporting cargo for the Hailufeng Company.” The black-haired man replied with a smile.
“It’s already past seven o’clock, aren’t you going to work?”
The charcoal-haired guy took a sip of porridge and said, “It’s too early.”
“How much does your company make per month?”
“4,500 yuan.”
“That’s not bad!”
Lin Taishun, who was drinking tea, quickly interrupted and said, “Don’t be fooled by Heitantou. His 4,500 is the basic salary, plus five insurances and one housing fund, overtime pay and various subsidies, and stock dividends at the end of the year. Heitantou, how much dividends did you get at the end of the year?”
“And dividends?”
“It’s not much! Just over two thousand yuan.” The dark-haired man waved his hand.
Lin Taili became more and more curious: “Did your company give you stocks?”
“This stock can only pay dividends. It seems to be called some kind of virtual stock.” The black-haired man said casually.
“This is not bad. My hometown has developed very fast in recent years!” Lin Taili sighed again.
The boss, Ma Yu Lao, brought two large bowls of ma fish and shrimp paste and placed them on the table of the Lin Taili brothers. He also swiftly picked up a plate of vegetable cakes from the stainless steel steamer.
Suddenly four pickup trucks stopped on the side of the road not far away.
There was a line of words spray-painted on the door of the pickup truck: Jianfang Hydropower Engineering Contracting Company.
Lin Taili took a bite of the mackerel, glanced at the pickup trucks, and asked his third brother, “Do we have any hydropower projects here?”
“It was invested by Hailufeng Company. It’s located in Baishafu, Nanhu Lake.” Lin Taishun said while eating.
Ma Yu Lao placed a plate of vegetable cakes in front of the two of them, and sat at the next table drinking tea.
“Ma Yu Lao, your business is not doing well!” Lin Taili started teasing again as he looked at the shop with only two tables of customers.
The fish man raised his mouth slightly: “Really?”
The charcoal-haired guy casually took a tissue and wiped his mouth: “Terry, don’t underestimate this old guy. He sold a self-built house to our company. His two sons are still working in the company, and one of them is now a team leader.”
“Ma Yulao, are you waiting for me here?” Lin Taili found that all his old friends in Ma Gong Town had become rich.
“It’s just to make a living.”
Just as he was about to say something, Lin Taili suddenly saw a familiar figure driving a small electric scooter passing by the dock.
“Isn’t that Yongqiang?”
Lin Taishun turned his head and took a closer look: “Really, why is he here?”
Lin Yongqiang, who was driving away on his electric scooter at this time, did not notice the two uncles. A bag of ginseng fruit was hanging in front of the pedal of his scooter, which was obviously just purchased from the Hailufeng store.
Lin Yongqiang drove his electric scooter towards the town health center.
Carrying a bag of ginseng fruit, he came to the door of a ward in the health center and knocked.
“Brother Qiang, why did you come here to buy things, and such expensive fruits at that?” On the hospital bed was a girl with her calf in a plaster cast. The girl had dark skin and looked to be about twenty-two or twenty-three years old.
Lin Yongqiang put the ginseng fruit on the bedside table with a smile: “It doesn’t matter, isn’t money meant to be spent?”
“Thank you, Brother Qiang.” The girl said in a low voice a little embarrassedly. Fortunately, her face, which was tanned by wind and sun, concealed a hint of shyness.
“Xiaoman, you should take good care of yourself. After all, you have injured your bones. Don’t go back to the construction site so soon.” Lin Yongqiang poured her a cup of hot water.
“Where’s my dad?”
“Old Liu asked another colleague to help buy groceries.”
“I don’t know if he can handle it all by himself.” Liu Xiaoman was a little worried about her father’s work. In the past few years, the father and daughter have been following the contractor to do projects everywhere, and they are mainly responsible for the meals on the construction site.
“Don’t worry, I can also help Lao Liu.”
Liu Xiaoman shook her head: “Brother Qiang, you are very busy with your own work and you have to take care of the family. There shouldn’t be any big problems with my dad, so you’d better not go.”
“It’s okay, I don’t have much to do.” Lin Yongqiang waved his hand.
The two chatted for a while, and seeing that the time was almost up, he hurriedly rode his electric scooter to the construction site. He was tying steel bars at the employee community project in Dongtian, Xinxiang, and it was at the construction site that he met Liu Xiaoman.
He felt that although Liu Xiaoman was not well educated, she was a simple person and was quite suitable for him.
If it were in the past, Lin Yongqiang would not open his heart to pursue a girl because he was very inferior. He felt that his family environment was too bad and he did not see any hope in life, so he did not want to waste others’ time.
Until last year, as the family’s financial situation continued to improve, Lin Yongqiang’s inner inferiority complex was reduced a lot, and he became more and more confident about his future life.
Just at this time, he met Liu Xiaoman, the girl who was busy in the simple kitchen at the construction site.
The first time I fell in love with her, although she was not beautiful, the smile on her face was very charming.
Unfortunately, he never mustered up the courage.
It was not until he saw Liu Xiaoman fall down while driving that he felt involuntarily heartbroken and began to ask her about her well-being. Liu Xiaoman also felt his thoughts, and the two of them slowly approached each other in silence.
Maybe, this is love!
Maybe, this is life!
Maybe, this is instinct!
In this materialistic age, pure love is like the poplar trees in the Taklamakan Desert, too scarce and too fragile.
It’s not that we don’t want to love each other.
But the price of love is too high.
It is so big that it is daunting, so big that it makes people helpless, and so big that it makes people suppress their instincts.
Lin Yongqiang is one of the vast majority of ordinary men.
Liu Xiaoman became less and less.
Xinxiang Dongtian construction site.
Place the electric scooter at the door of the container house on the construction site, pull in a socket strip, and plug in the electric scooter.
After reporting to the team leader, he put on a reflective vest, a safety helmet, and a tool bag.
Lin Yongqiang came to the third floor of one of the buildings under construction and began to tie up the steel bars of the floor.
The winter sun rises as usual.
The sunlight shone on his face, and the light and heat brought a hint of warmth to his body, making his fingers, which had been stiffened by the cold wind, no longer tense and dull.
“Huh…it’s finally warmer.” Worker Jiang Dazhong exhaled white air.
“Brother Dazhong, didn’t your family have their land expropriated? Why are you still coming to the construction site?” Lin Yongqiang asked curiously while tightening the wire deftly.
“Don’t say anything. My old man didn’t give me a penny. I get angry when I talk about this.” Jiang Dazhong looked depressed.
Lin Yongqiang pulled out a piece of wire and continued to tie the steel bars: “I heard that these houses are built for the employees of Hailufeng Company. I wonder how much one square meter of this house costs?”
“How much more can it be? Just follow the market price! It’s estimated to be 6,000 yuan per square meter.” Jiang Dazhong muttered in a low voice: “However, employees of Hailufeng Company have internal discounts and subsidies, plus the provident fund, it is still quite cost-effective, and this house has no shared area.”
“real?”
“Of course it’s true. My family and Jiang Miao’s family are relatives, and after this construction site is completed, I will also be an employee of Hailufeng Company.” Jiang Dazhong said this, and he felt less resentful towards his old father’s stinginess.
After all, working in Hailufeng Company is a good job in the local area, even if he is just a security guard.
“It would be great if I could also work at Hailufeng Company.” Lin Yongqiang said enviously.
Jiang Dazhong stopped and took a sip of water: “Why don’t you apply for the job? You are from Shiomachi, it should be easy to get in!”
“I need to take care of my dad, he is deaf and dumb, and there is a pond at home.”
“So you are a landowner! How many acres do you have?”
“Two acres, earning hundreds of thousands a year.”
“Not bad. In the past, it was a blessing to earn 10,000 yuan a year. My old man planted three acres of duckweed and only earned 60,000 yuan a year.”
After much thought, Lin Yongqiang felt that if he wanted to marry Liu Xiaoman, he still had to have a stable and respectable job, otherwise it would be difficult to pass the test of his father-in-law: “I still want to join Hailufeng Company, what suggestions do you have, brother Dazhong?”
“Suggestions? Of course, choose the one closest to you! Since you live in Shio-cho, you can choose a feed factory, a breeding farm, a fish ball factory, or Nanhu Farm.”
“Okay, I’ll ask when I get back.” Lin Yongqiang nodded.
Jiang Dazhong tied a steel bar and reminded in a low voice: “Then you better hurry up and don’t drag your feet. After all, there are only 2,700 houses in the first phase of the project. Now there are more and more local employees, and there may not be enough houses to go around.”
“I know.” Lin Yongqiang indeed had the idea of ​​joining Hailufeng Company after seeing the house.
After all, there are no new houses in Magong Town, and the only place with new houses nearby is Jincheng Bay. Unfortunately, the houses there are too expensive, and there are also common areas. He feels that with his little money, he should not dream of buying a house in Jincheng Bay.
The residential community developed by Hailufeng Company at least gave Lin Yongqiang a glimmer of hope.
The most frightening thing for people is that at first glance, there is no possibility of changing reality.
The emergence of Hailufeng Company brought an economic miracle to the local area, and also gave many people hope for life, giving thousands of Lin Yongqiangs the motivation to change the status quo.
Perhaps, this is the significance of the emergence of Hailufeng Company!