Chapter 50 - 49: A Day in the Life of Zhao Qianju (Part 2) [Double-length Chapter]

"Pa!"Zhao Qianju placed five bricks on the ground and wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve.

Then he looked up, gazing with awe at the mechanical behemoth roaring in the distance.

He wondered how those people from the Wei Mansion Main House managed to create this thing called an ’excavator’.

Could it be the product of some Artifact Refining Clan?

An excavator’s payload in just a few rounds could match the workload of three or four people in half an hour.

The time it takes to move bricks seven or eight times.

A massive foundation’s outline was quickly dug out.

Truly amazing.

Speaking of which, since arriving at the construction site.

Apart from the excavator astonishing Zhao Qianju, there was another thing that nearly left him dumbfounded—

This family called ’Huaxia’ not only arranged for these migrants to take a bath.....

They even distributed clothes!

And not just any clothes, but brand new garments that were clean, intact without a single tear, and made of comfortable, high-quality material!

Even in the Wei Mansion, known for its good reputation, such treatment was reserved for workers of over ten years.

Not to mention the excellent quality of the fabric used for these clothes.

It wouldn’t tear even if pulled hard.

Some wealthy families couldn’t afford such fine fabric for their daughters’ wedding outfits.

He wondered if they would take them back in the future...

If these clothes had a flaw, it would be the few words on them.

According to the manager from the Wei Mansion.

These words read ’Modu Second Construction’, though he had no idea what it meant.

Speaking of which.

A family capable of deploying so many excavators and distributing such a large number of work clothes must be several times stronger than the Wei Family.

Judging by the last beast tide battle.

This family called Huaxia.

They might have multiple High-Level Foundation Establishment individuals, or even one or two Core Formation Realm Cultivators sitting in command!

"Ring, ring——"

Just as Zhao Qianju was lost in thought.

A sudden burst of urgent bell ringing came from afar.

Alongside, a loudspeaker blared in Damo Language:

"It’s mealtime

Everyone can put down their work and come to the canteen for a meal!"

Zhao Qianju stared blankly in the direction of the loudspeaker sound.

After a few seconds, he swallowed in disbelief:

"My goodness, there’s actually a meal at noon?"

A few hours ago, when Zhao Qianju’s group first arrived at the site.

Considering the migrants’ physical condition, the rabbits arranged a simple breakfast for them.

Of course, this ’simple’ description came from the rabbits’ perspective.

For Zhao Qianju and the others

A bowl of noodles (or porridge), a white steamed bun, plus a dish of pickled vegetables with tofu and peanuts...

That was already considered a sumptuous meal.

They never expected to have a second meal within half a day!

Due to the recent land shortages in the Damo Realm.

Many middle-class families only eat two meals a day.

With this realization.

Zhao Qianju’s salivary glands started secreting some sort of liquid involuntarily.

With the tailor’s unique meticulousness, he neatly stacked the bricks.

He patted his clothes to dust them off.

Then he jogged all the way to the canteen.

The construction site’s canteen was formed by connecting three enormous military tents horizontally, measuring 30X12 meters in total.

The entrance was on the left, while the exit was on the right.

As Zhao Qianju arrived outside the canteen, a large crowd of migrants had already gathered at the entrance.

This group of migrants, under the guidance of several warriors, was orderly queued up in a long line.

Zhao Qianju silently followed the crowd, lowering his head and stepping gingerly.

As if he had committed a grave mistake, afraid of being noticed.

In his previous life experiences.

Being harassed and even beaten by overseers on construction sites was a common occurrence.

If you took an extra small pile of pickles, you could face a round of beating.

Sometimes the overseers hit hard and could even kill someone.

Only by cowering like a defeated dog could you hope to avoid punishment.

But just as Zhao Qianju passed by a certain spot, thinking ’they can’t see me, they can’t see me’.

A young warrior suddenly grabbed his sleeve and shouted in Damo Language:

"Comrade, wait a moment."

Zhao Qianju, reacting reflexively, leapt back with a start.

He knelt on the ground without even looking, continuously kowtowing:

"I’m sorry, warrior, I had eyes but failed to see....."

This accustomed action, ingrained in Zhao Qianju as much as recognizing fabric quality, had become instinctual.

Perhaps because he had never witnessed such a scene.

The young warrior was stunned for two seconds before quickly reaching out to support Zhao Qianju’s arms, trying to lift him up from the ground.

However, this action in Zhao Qianju’s eyes was misinterpreted as a prelude to an attack.

So he kowtowed even faster, clinging to the ground with all his might.

The young warrior, not having a broad build, found it difficult to handle Zhao Qianju’s low center of gravity as he lay prostrate. There was no way he could knock him out with a rifle butt, after all.

But letting him kneel there indefinitely was out of the question.

Firstly, Zhao Qianju’s age was similar to the young warrior’s father, and secondly, New Huaxia had long abolished the kneeling practice.

For these reasons, the young warrior couldn’t accept him kowtowing.

Unfortunately, with the language barrier and the persistent refusal to stand up.

The young warrior unhesitatingly bent his knees and knelt down as well!

A wave of astonished gasps erupted from the surrounding migrants.

The exclamations mixed with local language pulled Zhao Qianju from fear. As he lifted his head, he found a young warrior kneeling face to face with him!

Zhao Qianju momentarily forgot to kowtow, standing there dumbfounded.

Across from him.

The young warrior, seeing his ’move’ worked, showed a hint of joy in his eyes.

He took out a bottle of no-rinse hand sanitizer from his waist, gesturing to Zhao Qianju with his not-so-fluent Damo Language:

"Wash hands first, then eat."

Seeing no response from Zhao Qianju, the young warrior maintained his kneeling posture, smoothly lifting Zhao Qianju’s front arm.

Regardless of the mud on his hands, he squeezed some hand sanitizer onto them.

Made a hand-rubbing gesture.

Zhao Qianju instinctively rubbed his hands, the smooth and cool sensation in his palms helping him regain his composure.

Dear heavens, what just happened?

A member of an affluent family actually knelt down to someone like him, a migrant?!

Then, before he could react, the small soldier had already helped him up, bent over to pat the dust off his knees, and handed him a red rectangular tray:

"Fellow villager, take this to get rice and dishes."

The small soldier always had an extremely honest smile on his face, his eyes innocent and without a hint of nicotine.

Looking at this smile.

A sudden and inexplicable feeling of sourness welled up in Zhao Qianju’s nose.

He couldn’t remember how long it had been since someone smiled at him like this.

He took a deep breath, blinked hard, forcing the little bit of liquid in his eyes back.

With bloodshot eyes, he took the tray and bowed deeply to the small soldier.

Then he quickly followed the refugees in front and walked into the tent.

After entering the tent.

Zhao Qianju’s unsettled mood was startled once more.

"Goodness... so many dishes..."

Inside the tent, dozens of bowls filled with dishes lined up on tables put together, forming a food dragon over ten meters long.

The heat rising and the aroma filled the air.

Looking at the colorful and dazzling array of dishes in front of him.

Zhao Qianju was a bit at a loss for a moment.

Just as he was somewhat dazed, a chubby cook approached.

The cook pointed to the empty tray in his hand, and warmly said in a strong local Damo dialect:

"Fellow, I’m Fatty Wang, what would you like to eat?

Pick as much as you want! We won’t hold back!"

Zhao Qianju swallowed a mouthful of saliva, glanced around the dish table, and lightly sniffed with his nose.

He tentatively pointed to a bowl:

"This one?"

"No problem!"

Fatty Wang rolled up his sleeves and scooped up the biggest fish:

"A stinky mandarin fish! What else do you want?"

Perhaps infected by Fatty Wang’s hearty laughter, Zhao Qianju became a bit bolder:

"This... this... this... and that one..."

"Alright.

Stinky tofu, stinky amaranth stems, a bowl of snail noodle soup, a durian pastry, and a bowl of green bean soup!"

A few minutes later.

Zhao Qianju walked out of the tent, holding a full stack of lunch.

To facilitate dining for the refugees.

The rabbits specially prepared hundreds of medium-sized sun shelters.

Each sun shelter was equipped with plastic tables and chairs, allowing six to ten people to dine. (The difference in tableware was selectively ignored)

Just as Zhao Qianju was holding the tray, preparing to find an empty spot to eat.

Suddenly someone shouted his name.

"Old Zhao, Old Zhao!

There’s still a spot here, here, here!"

Zhao Qianju looked towards the sound and found it to be some acquainted refugees.

He immediately felt assured.

A smile appeared on his face as he recognized acquaintances, and he walked quickly to the sun shelter.

After entering the shelter, he placed the tray on the table.

He greeted several people at the same time:

"Pillar, Ah Hua, Mud... hey, Tie Mu, you’re here too?"

The one-eyed Wang Tiejimu nodded to him:

"The Huaxia people didn’t turn me away, so I came."

Zhao Qianju came at just the right time, their conversation had just started.

After sitting down, only to see ’Mud’ took a bite of a chicken leg, and sighed:

"Never expected, never thought, that the Wei Mansion Main House weren’t lying to us.

If I had known earlier they would give clothes, I would have brought my younger brother along."

The others nodded in agreement at these words, but the refugee called ’Ah Hua’ snorted coldly.

He retracted his right leg, placed his foot on the bench.

At the same time, his right hand settled on top of his thigh:

"Do you really believe this is the Main House of the Wei Family?

If the Wei Family had such abilities, could they have been hiding in this nook for over a hundred years?

They would have long captured Donglin City!"

Then Ah Hua picked his teeth with a fingernail, and changed the topic:

"But, to be honest, these Huaxia people aren’t lying.

They give clothes, provide food, and even three meals a day....

See what’s on this plate of mine?

I’ve never had meat the size of a fist in my entire life!

Oh right, they also seemed to mention that they would pay?"

Upon hearing the word ’pay’.

Pillar, who was stuffing his face, lifted his head and swallowed the food in his mouth, hesitantly said:

"That’s what they say, but who knows if they’ll deduct the wages.

When I was working over in Donglin City before, I never saw a manager who didn’t withhold wages.

After all, money is different from food, food can be given directly to us, but money has to go through accounts before it’s given out."

Mud nodded in agreement:

"That’s true.

Not to mention Donglin City, aren’t there families in Chixian City that withhold wages too?

Last time I worked a short gig for the Chang Family at the Celestial Fragrance Workshop, they said it was thirty coppers, but in the end, withheld half for me."

Ah Hua finished picking his teeth, spat out a piece of vegetable leaf, and revealed the stance of someone who had seen it all:

"Withholding half is considered little, all the big families in the world are the same, if they don’t withhold wages, could they still be called rich families?

This is called padding one’s own pockets, understand?

The entire Damo Realm is like this, as long as the blue... the sun doesn’t change, this kind of thing will never stop, the Huaxia people surely can’t avoid it either."

Wang Tiejimu showed a hint of annoyance on his face, just about to argue.

But Zhao Qianju, beside him, put down his chopsticks first, and said in a deep voice:

"I think these Huaxia people won’t cheat us, they won’t deduct our wages."

Pillar looked at him in surprise:

"Uncle Zhao, aren’t you the one who trusts these Huaxia people the least?

If it weren’t for your wife’s illness needing money, you wouldn’t have come at all.

Earlier on the cart, you even told me, there’s no place now that doesn’t withhold money even once.

If we finally get sixty percent of the money, we might as well just nod and accept it, no need to cause trouble."

Zhao Qianju was silent for several seconds.

The image of the small soldier kneeling and the hearty laughter of the fat cook flashed in his mind, warming his heart.

He slowly shook his head:

"Now I believe.

These Huaxia people are different from those families.

Because they...

truly regard us as humans."