"Give so ti, I’ll figure out a way to scrape the money together and pay you back!" Mu Cidian said calmly.
"How long?" The man demanding the debt asked harshly.
After so thought, Mu Cidian said, "Three months."
"Are you kidding ?" The man’s face changed instantly, filled with rage.
"I just got out of jail and right now, even if you cut off our hands, we won’t have any money to give you. But if you give a deadline, if I still can’t repay you after three months, I’ll offer you both my hands!" Mu Cidian was seriously negotiating terms with the man.
"You think you can fool ? Three months, with your current situation, can you co up with the money?"
"Absolutely."
"Why should I believe you!" The man was still fuming.
"You can see our situation right now, even if you cut off my hands or kill us, you won’t get a cent. But if you give ti, just three months, you have nothing to lose if I can’t pay you back. After all, who knows," Mu Cidian said calmly, "I might be able to repay you. If you don’t give this deadline, you can say goodbye to your 50,000 yuan!"
The man looked Mu Cidian up and down as he listened to him.
He didn’t expect this unimpressive-looking man to make so much sense.
He gave it so thought.
It’s not like he hasn’t been owed money for a while now.
He abruptly pushed Mu Cidian away, very roughly, "Let tell you, this is your last chance. Three months. If you can’t co up with the money, you and your mother will never find peace!"
"Thank you." Mu Cidian expressed his sincere thanks.
Even though the man’s brute force almost pushed him over, he was used to enduring.
In prison, he had always been beaten up.
Couldn’t make a sound.
Couldn’t ask for help.
The consequences were even worse if he did so.
The man left with his people.
The door slamd shut heavily.
Only when these people had left did Wan Quan breathe a sigh of relief, she asked her son, "Can we have the money in three months?"
"I’ll try my best." Mu Cidian, having seriously studied many negotiation techniques, especially controlling the timing of a compromise, knew it helped in reaching an agreent.
For this situation, three months would be the maximum limit the other party would accept, anything beyond this line, negotiations would collapse imdiately. This was the longest ti he could buy for himself.
Wan Quan was actually very confident in her son.
From childhood to adulthood, be it studies or career, he had always been far superior to his peers, he matured much earlier than most, she believed that her son could provide the luxurious lifestyle that she once had, by then, she would put an end to Xin Zaozao.
With these thoughts in mind, Wan Quan asked, "So Cidian, how did your job hunting go today?"
Mu Cidian paused for a mont, then nonchalantly said, "No word yet. I’m considering applying to a few more places, to have more options."
"Soone of your caliber should be picky about jobs, you need to negotiate for the best benefits you can. Understand?"
Mu Cidian nodded, hiding the truth, "I’m going to head out again."
"Co ho for dinner. I’ll cook and wait for you," Wan Quan quickly replied.
"Do we have groceries?"
Wan Quan looked back and responded, "When you co back, buy so at. I haven’t eaten any in days."
"Okay."
Mu Cidian left the house again.
This ti, he swallowed his pride and looked for job openings at a few more places, the reasons for his rejection were either straight to the point - the company does not hire people with criminal records, or he was told to wait for news at ho.
Generally, waiting for news at ho ans not getting any news.
He walked the streets of Jin City.
For the first ti, he truly felt what it was like to be "a stranger in one’s own town".
He paused his steps as he stood before a lamppost.
A job advertisent was posted there.
He just stood there.
Silent, staring...
He stood there for a long ti.
He went to the site ntioned in the ad.
A construction site.
A site where a skyscraper was being built.
The ad said that the job paid 200 yuan per day, working 8 hours.
In his current circumstances, he didn’t have the luxury to choose his job anymore.
But he needed an inco.
Otherwise... they wouldn’t be able to get by.
He walked into the construction site, looking for the construction team leader.
The team leader gave him a glance, looking at his skinny figure in a suit, "Are you lost!"
"No, I ca for the job."
"What can you move with that body of yours!" the team leader said impatiently.
"You can try out first, I’ll work for free today," Mu Cidian quickly said.
The team leader wasn’t keen on hiring him.
Just then, one of the leader’s workers ca over and complained, "Boss, we’re really short of hands here. Zhang Bo injured his back yesterday and says he’ll need to rest for a few days. I can’t handle all the work myself! Jin City is so large, aren’t there any strong n available?"
The leader was also feeling irritable.
"I can do it." Mu Cidian interjected.
The team leader looked at him.
So did the worker.
"Since we’re so short on n, why not let try?" Mu Cidian insisted.
The leader seed exasperated and with a lackadaisical air, he said, "As long as you can withstand it, there’s no reason not to! I’m at my wit’s end anyway, and the client’s been pushing us hard for deadlines. Go, go, go, follow him!"
"Okay." Mu Cidian nodded.
He felt a thrill at that mont, simply for having found a job.
He followed the construction site workers to the site, registered, and completed the basic procedures. After that, he started doing physical labor.
His main duty was carrying rebar.
When he arrived, there were already a number of people there.
Most of them were middle-aged n over 40, but there was one who was noticeably younger.
The young man looked at Mu Cidian curiously, probably finding him unusual since they were about the sa age, certainly much younger compared to the n in their 40s and 50s. He took the initiative to greet Mu Cidian, "You seem too thin for this kind of work. Why did you take this job?"
"I’m broke." Mu Cidian didn’t try to hide it.
"Ah, too." The boy said with excitent, as if he’d found a kindred spirit, "I’m 19 this year, just graduated from high school, and got into Jin University. But my family doesn’t have money, so I want to earn a bit more during the holidays to lighten my parents’ load."
Mu Cidian glanced at the boy.
Besides work, he basically doesn’t speak much. Even if he felt sothing in his heart at that mont, he just responded indifferently.
The boy took special care of Mu Cidian.
He guided him, taught him what to do.
In essence, it was all manual labor, like several people working together to load and unload rebar from a truck or deliver it to a designated place.
Perhaps due to being young, the boy was quite talkative.
He chatted with Mu Cidian while working tirelessly.
Mu Cidian rarely responded, but he didn’t stop the boy from talking incessantly. This was how he began his first day of unpaid work.
Seeing Mu Cidian from afar, the foreman felt that the man looked so thin that he might be crushed by a single piece of rebar. But after watching for a while, he found that he was actually quite dedicated to his work and not as weak as he had imagined.
So, the foreman considered him to have passed the test.
He turned to survey other areas.
One of his workers quickly approached him, "Boss, people from the client’s side have co for an inspection, they said the big boss is here! There was no notification beforehand."
"Where are they?"
"Already on the construction site!"
"Damn it, why didn’t you say so earlier!" The foreman swore.
The next second, he hurried to greet them.
He greeted the group of visitors with a fawning look on his face.
The leader was a woman, dressed in a black business suit, her dium length hair tied back in a ponytail, wearing a safety helt on her head.
The construction site was dusty, which seed completely at odds with her status.
But this high-ranking person still personally inspected their construction progress from ti to ti to prevent them from cutting corners.
"Chairwoman Xin, welco. If I had known you were coming, I would have greeted you at the entrance."
"I’m just here for a look. Mr. Wu, you don’t need to be so polite. Feel free to go about your business, I’m just taking a casual stroll." Xin Zaozao seed quite gentle.
But her gentleness now was different from before.
Her present gentleness ca off as imposing.
The foreman didn’t dare to leave, claiming hastily, "It’s no problem, I’ve already delegated my tasks. Let accompany you."
Xin Zaozao didn’t say much else.
She knew very well that these contractors were most afraid of being inspected and then required to make corrections.
Song Lifei was also by Xin Zaozao’s side at the mont.
Actually, he hadn’t planned on coming to the construction site today. But after a eting about a partnership, as they were on their way back, Xin Zaozao suddenly said she wanted to review the construction progress, so they ca.
Sotis, Song Lifei thought, Xin Zaozao was so serious and diligent in her work, it would be unfair if she didn’t have a good ending.
In fact...
She was already very influential in Jin City.
When people talked about powerful won, the first na they would think of was hers!
In the dirty and ssy construction site...
Xin Zaozao was scrutinizing every detail of the construction.
Compared to the progress made since her last visit, the progress made this ti seed rather large. Whenever there was an unusual situation, like construction going too quickly, she would wonder if there were quality issues.
After conducting a round of inspections and reviewing the contractor’s procurent lists and construction schedule, in short, confirming that there was nothing irregular, she turned to leave. But just at that mont...
"Clang!"
A violent noise suddenly rang out from not too far behind them.
It seed like sothing had fallen.
Everyone on the site was startled by the sound.
Xin Zaozao’s heart tightened, and she quickly asked, "What happened?"
"I’ll go check it out, I’ll go check it out!" The foreman rushed over.
He saw a piece of rebar lying on the ground, not knowing from how high it had dropped, but obviously, regardless of its height, if it fell on soone, it wouldn’t be good.
The foreman turned pale with fright.
Because at that mont he saw a man lying under the rebar.
Others quickly lifted the rebar off him.
The foreman rushed over, "How is he?"
Mu Cidian was enduring the pain.
The intense pain.
To him, the mont the tal pipe hit his shoulder, knocking him down, it was as if he had lost his breath.
Through the difficulty, he said, "It’s nothing."
Saying it was nothing, he slowly started to stand up.
It should have been just a superficial injury.
The rebar probably only fell from about 2 or 3 ters, not high enough to be life-threatening.
Startled to almost crying at that mont, the boy said to Mu Cidian, "Brother Mu, are you okay? If it wasn’t for you saving just now, I would be the one lying under the rebar. Thank you, thank you!"
Mu Cidian waved his hand dismissively.
At that mont, it was difficult for him to say anything.
"Regardless, I’ll take you to the hospital." The foreman quickly offered.
Mu Cidian shook his head.
Actually, it wasn’t necessary. He could just buy so dicine and rub it on himself, and he would be fine.
He was just about to refuse...
But then he heard a familiar voice. She sounded neither hasty nor slow, as if she was accustod to facing anything without being surprised. She asked, "How is he?"
Mu Cidian’s body stiffened suddenly.
He was with his back towards her.
He didn’t turn around.
"Does he need to go to the hospital?" Xin Zaozao continued to ask.
She looked at the injured man with his dusty white shirt, the torn sleeve on his rear facing elbow, revealing his bloody wound. Perhaps there were other injuries hidden under his clothes, and this man didn’t even make a sound!
"I can take him, I can take him." The foreman quickly assured, "I’ve had a look just now, fortunately, they all appear to be superficial wounds. There’s nothing serious, nothing serious."
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