CH 006 Feeling Pain Along With Happiness
CH 006 Feeling Pain Along With Happiness
As a successful 21st-century person who was deeply appreciated by his boss, being promoted from a regular worker to department head in just two years with an annual salary raised from ¥60,000 to ¥200,000, Lin Yuan might not be able to guarantee anything else, but he was a professional in swaying people in his favor.
He began with market analysis, then examined the public’s purchasing power, scrutinising the past and imagining the future.
"As long as soybean oil can be extracted, we don't need to worry about sales," Lin Yuan said enthusiastically.
Jiang Gui and Dao ge also listened excitedly. Oftentimes, the atmosphere could be infectious. Why else would so many multi-level marketing organisations’ pitchmen sound like they swallowed Jinsangzi Houpian by the handful?
(TN: literally 'golden voice throat tablet', a type of medicine for the sore and dry throat)
To tell the truth, Dao ge didn't fully understand, but he got the gist of it– that soybean oil could make money, and quite a lot of it. When Lin Yuan was analyzing, he also conveniently laid on the flattery. Dao ge took a gulp of wine to soothe his shock.
"Is it really possible?" Jiang Gui couldn't help feeling apprehension along with the excitement.
Lin Yuan smiled at him: "Jiang ge, I am not lying to you. If I say even one fake word then I shall be hit with heaven's lightning."
Lin Yuan thought with a serious face: ‘Sorry, I'm an atheist.’
"Excellent!" Jiang Gui hollered. "Pour the wine!"
Dao ge suddenly said: "20 people must not be enough."
Lin Yuan replied quickly: "Dao ge, xiao di currently has very little funds. I originally thought to have Dao ge's guys become managers, and as for the workers underneath, xiao di was thinking of finding the city's manual laborers to come work."
Dao ge looked at Lin Yuan, not the least bit angry: "200 wen per month. As for the workers underneath, I can point you in a direction. Last year, a group of people came from the southwest and are currently living outside the city's eastern gate. They are mostly whole families who don't mind manual labor, since even begging is feasible for them. I am familiar with their leader; we are sworn brothers and follow the code of brotherhood. All you need to guarantee are meals."
Only guarantee meals?
Lin Yuan: "Of course I trust Dao ge, but I am a stranger to them, what if…"
Dao ge waved his hand, giving off the feeling of Jianghu heroes: "Don't worry over this and that, if you agree then I will go speak for you. If they are lazy or commit crimes, there's no need for you to do anything, I will be the first to chop them up."
Though Lin Yuan remained outwardly expressionless, his interior was like the roaring sea.
An underworld gang leader talking about punishing others for committing crimes?
Dao ge's large hand patted Lin Yuan's shoulder, looking at him with an expression that conveyed: I have high expectations of you.
With a sigh, Dao ge said: "Nowadays, business is hard, the times are in upheaval, and my guys are nearly starving. As their leader I am guilty, I am guilty!"
This guy was already drunk.
Jiang Gui's face was flushed completely red, and he also started crying: "Dao ge, you are a good man, unlike me. Nowadays the government is in turmoil, the prison is full of the common people. I have a guilty conscience, a guilty conscience!"
Lin Yuan: "How about… we go back?"
Jiang Gui immediately pounced and grabbed Lin Yuan's hand, excitedly saying to Dao ge: "Dao ge, Lin xiao di is the number one good person I have ever met all these years, concerned with the welfare of the common people. Truly the heart of a Buddha. This kind of person, if we don't help him my conscience will hurt."
Lin Yuan looked on with a dead fish face. Ge, the fellow who accepted my 10 tael 1 guan bribery, was it you, or was it you?
Dao ge also looked towards Lin Yuan, asking absentmindedly: "Lin xiao di, you have yet to reach 20?"
Lin Yuan immediately replied: "My xusui is fifteen."
(TN: xusui (虚岁) means ‘one's age’. But when saying this, it means the speaker’s age is based according to the traditional Chinese method of reckoning (the number of Chinese calendar years in which one has lived). In this system, a person's age is 1 year at birth, and increases by 1 year at the beginning of the first solar term (Lichun; 立春) each year, rather than on one's birthday.)
Dao ge: "No wonder you are this smooth-skinned, I had thought you to be some family's lady."
Dao ge: "Hahahahaha!"
Lin Yuan: "….." This joke isn’t funny at all.
Dao ge laughed carefreely: "When does work start?"
Lin Yuan: "As soon as possible. Everything is ready, we just need workers."
Actually, the production cost of this oil extraction method was low for the amount of oil that was produced. The skills needed were also low, and even complete newcomers could quickly get the hang of it. The only disadvantage was that it required a lot of manpower as well as steam and high temperatures.
Dao ge: "I will have my people go over tomorrow. How many do you want of the eastern gate people?”
Lin Yuan: "Also 20. We can increase if the result is good.”
Dao ge slapped the table, full of heroic spirit: "Good! Come, drink!"
Jiang ge and Dao ge were sent home by Lin Yuan. Only Dao ge posed a bit of a problem as he didn't know where he lived, the only choice left was to bring him back to his place.
Looking at the drunk Dao ge who was still hollering about having more wine, Lin Yuan asked Er Liang with a headache: "If, in the morning, he discovers we left him to sleep on the floor, would he chop us up?"
Er Liang looked at his muscles, his arm wider than his own thigh, and replied seriously: "No need to use a knife, one fist and we’re gone."
Lin Yuan sighed. Reality was too cruel. He made fun of Er Liang: "Then we will sleep on the bed and you can sleep on the floor."
Er Liang didn't fall for it: "I will just curl up at the foot of the bed, the night is cold."
Lin Yuan: "Fine, did you buy tangpozi?"
Er Liang paused: "I forgot."
Lin Yuan: "Then you must curl up tight, don't get a cold."
In actuality, both Lin Yuan and Er Liang didn't take up much space. When they normally share the bed there was still a very large space left, enough for another person. But this Dao ge fellow had a rather tyrannical sleeping posture, arms and legs outstretched and taking up more than half the bed. Lin Yuan and Er Liang could only grievously curl up in the space left.
Er Liang whispered: "In the future I shall also grow big like him."
"Look at this physique, this is what's called a man."
Soon afterwards, Er Liang pinched his nose: "Only, the feet are too smelly."
Lin Yuan opened the windows, saying with difficulty: "It must be hard on you, how is this simply smelly? This is goddamn putrid, putrid as hell.”
Er Liang waved his hand: "You don't have to air the place, I’ve smelled it for so long that I’ve become numb to it. Now that the wind has blown in, I can smell it again.”
Lin Yuan held his breath: "Don't say anymore. Go fill a basin of water and help this fellow wash his feet. Put some vinegar in the water."
Er Liang went to put on his coat and left with a basin.
Lin Yuan sat at the edge of the bed and looked at the other's feet——his socks were black in color, but from the edges he could still make out that it was originally white. Lin Yuan sighed. Not only did he have to let him stay for a night, they even had to wash his feet for him. How lamentable.
Neither Lin Yuan nor Er Liang had any desire to actually manually wash his feet, so they just left them to soak in the water.
"Does it still smell?" Lin Yuan asked, he felt that his nose was already numb.
Er Liang sniffed carefully, not too sure: "I think so."
They looked at each other but in the end they let it soak for another candle length of time. The water was already cool when they lifted and dried his feet. Lin Yuan let out a sigh of relief: "Sleep quickly, we must wake early tomorrow."
Er Liang nodded.
That night, Lin Yuan could not sleep well. His dreams were filled with a giant pair of smelly feet chasing after him to have him sniff at the stinky smell. Lin Yuan shouted loudly in refusal but still could not outrun the other.
After waking up, Lin Yuan felt like he got a new lease on life.
Both in this life, and last life, he had never had such a scary nightmare.
"Young master." Er Liang woke up long before. He brought in a basin of water for Lin Yuan to clean up with.
Lin Yuan was a modern person and knew how much harm coarse salt could do to your teeth if applied directly. So he used water to disperse the salt before rinsing his mouth with it.
Dao ge was shaken awake by Lin Yuan.
"Who?!" The moment he opened his eyes, Dao ge was alert and aware. He even unconsciously made for his knife. Turning his head to see Lin Yuan, he let out a sigh of relief: "Lin xiao di."
Dao ge looked around.
Lin Yuan: "This is the place I rented. Yesterday, Dao ge and Jiang ge became drunk and as I don't know where you live, I brought you over to stay for the night."
Dao ge: "I have troubled you."
Just as Dao ge prepared to put on his outer clothes and get up, he discovered he could not find his socks.
He looked towards Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan: "……"
Ge, if I were to steal anything, it would be your knife. Who in their right mind would steal a pair of stinky socks?
“Last night was in a rush. Xiao di has prepared a new pair of socks, but I don’t know whether it will fit.” Lin Yuan handed them over.
Dao ge coughed, his slightly tanned face blushing a red that wasn't too obvious: "No problem."
Even he himself thought his feet were smelly, and never took off his shoes when sleeping during the winter.
Once Dao ge was ready, they went to eat breakfast together.
Breakfast was meat buns, cabbages, and white porridge.
In these times, this was considered rather rich and sumptuous. Poor families could not afford meat let alone white flour.
A bun that took Lin Yuan two bites to finish was swallowed whole by Dao ge. After blowing on the porridge twice, he directly spilled it into his mouth. Lin Yuan watched and felt afraid he might burn his throat.
After eating and drinking his fill, Dao ge let out a loud shout: "Feels great!"
It looked like the daily life of this gang leader was not as good as he thought.
Si Niang and Gou zi also sat at the table.
They did not take any of the meat buns, instead drinking the white porridge in small cherishing bites and only eating some cabbages. It was only with a look from Lin Yuan to Er Liang that had two meat buns added to their plate.
Si Niang took a small bite of the meat bun, warm and steamy, the white bun soft and tasty, the meat slightly oily in a good way.
She discreetly wiped the tear from her eye and focused on eating.
"Dao ge, we can rest a bit before going to look for workers."
Dao ge nodded, taking a drink from a tea cup. The tea leaves were not fine or expensive but even so, the common people could not afford tea.
The reason Lin Yuan was willing to collaborate with Dao ge was because he was a gang leader. Having both powers from the legal and illegal world participating gave him more confidence in the safety of his business.
Otherwise, a youngster from another region like himself, with no background or connections would only lose his business if someone wanted to take a bite out of him.
The illegal side had Dao ge and the legal side had Jiang ge.
Lin Yuan rubbed his chin, thinking that one Jiang Gui was not enough. If only he could have the support of an official with a higher status.
Dao ge: "Lin xiao di, why did you think of doing business at your young age?"
Lin Yuan said truthfully: "The times are in upheaval so my dad had me come over here to buy some property. If something does happen, the whole family has somewhere to retreat to."
Dao ge sighed: "That's true. If not for the tumultuous times, who’s willing to leave their home village for an unfamiliar place to be treated as outsiders and discriminated against?"
Lin Yuan heard this and thought that this was a person with a story.
Dao ge said: "Last year, my guys and I were porters but we could no longer make a living in our old hometown, so we arrived at Wu City. As outsiders we were often bullied and looked down upon, and had to stick together in order to survive. My village mates trusted me, so they had me be the leader. I must not fail them."
Lin Yuan agreed.
Dao ge patted Lin Yuan's shoulder: “Lin xiao di, if you can have my guys eat their fill and have warm clothes to wear… even if it is to pierce a hole in the heavens, your ge, I, will risk my life to help you.”
Lin Yuan began to feel the pressure, straightening his spine: "Definitely, definitely."
Ai~ the pressure of reality, it truly had him feeling pain along with happiness.
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.
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AN: Lin Yuan: "Please tell me your story."
Si Niang: "My man died, my two oldest sons died, my life is bitter."
Gou zi: "Dad died, older brothers died, my life is bitter."
Jiang Gui: "I alone must support six people, my life is bitter."
Dao ge: "My feet smell, my life is bitter."