tkworld Chapter 405 Cash in Hand, Migrant Worker Spirit Awakens, Homecoming Tide
Chapter 405 Cash in Hand, Migrant Worker Spirit Awakens, Homecoming Tide
At the construction site, the millions of yuan in cash that had just been received had already been distributed.
The men, having received the thick wad of eight hundred yuan in wages, didn't even bother to wipe the sweat from their faces. They grinned widely and squatted down on the nearby mound of earth.
They simultaneously pulled out their smartphones, whose screens were somewhat worn, and excitedly dialed a video call.
"Hey! Honey! Did you see that?! Eight hundred! That's your wages for today!"
A dark-skinned man waved a stack of red bills in front of the camera, making a rustling sound, his smile brighter than the sun.
"Don't listen to your brother's nonsense! It's not a lie! It's true! Brother Chen gave out the money on the spot!"
"I'll buy you and the kid meat when I get home tonight! Big chunks!"
Jiang Shitou was clutching the largest wad of cash in his hand; it was his double salary as a foreman and tractor owner, totaling several thousand yuan.
His large, fan-like hands could barely hold the phone, and his voice, as loud as a gong, roared into the video.
"Ergou! You bastard! Still screwing in screws at that crappy electronics factory down south?!"
"Look what this is!"
Jiang Shitou pointed the camera at the pile of red bills in his arms, then glanced at his coworkers who were devouring pig's trotters.
"See that?! Brother Chen's giving out real money! Eight hundred a day! Lots of fatty meat every meal! All you can eat!"
"You better get back here right now! If you don't come back, there won't even be a place for you to carry bricks on the construction site!"
……
Thousands of miles away, in the south, at the Huateng Electronics Factory.
The pungent smell of chemicals filled the entire workshop, and the lights on the assembly line were a stark white, devoid of any warmth.
Jiang Xiaohu and several fellow villagers from Qinghe County watched the video sent by Jiang Shitou on their phones, their eyes turning red.
The familiar faces in the video, the mountains of cash, the hearty way they ate meat—every scene was like a scalding steel needle, piercing their numb nerves.
"Damn it! I quit!"
Jiang Xiaohu was the first to explode. He slammed his employee badge to the ground, his young face filled with long-suppressed anger.
He rushed straight to the workshop supervisor's office door and kicked open the thin plywood door.
"Manager, a few of us quit! We want our wages settled immediately!"
The workshop supervisor, who wore gold-rimmed glasses and had his hair slicked back, was sitting with his legs crossed, reading a newspaper.
He raised his eyelids, glanced contemptuously at Jiang Xiaohu and the young men behind him, and a mocking smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"Resign? You bunch of peasants from the poor mountains, where can you go if you leave me?"
"Go back to dig in the mud?"
The supervisor laughed in a sarcastic tone.
"I'm telling you, it's not too late to regret it now. Otherwise, you'll be starving out there, and in a couple of days you'll be crying and begging me to take you in!"
"Please?"
Jiang Xiaohu sneered, shoved his phone directly into his supervisor's face, and opened the video of people handing out money.
"Open your dog eyes and see clearly!"
"This is our hometown! 800 a day! Cash!"
In the video, the bundles of red banknotes and the simple yet enthusiastic smiling faces explode with an unparalleled visual impact through the small mobile phone screen.
The workshop supervisor's mocking smile froze instantly.
His eyes were fixed on the pile of bright red bills on the screen, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, unable to utter a single word of rebuttal.
Even the most skilled master craftsman in his factory, working himself to the bone for a month and with all subsidies, only earns a little over six thousand.
They make eight hundred a day!
How can you compare these?
Jiang Xiaohu was too lazy to waste any more words with him and simply slammed his resignation letter on his desk.
"You have to pay me today's wages, whether you like it or not!"
Late that night, the green train bound for Qinghe County in Nanjiang Province was filled to the brim with young people carrying red, white and blue snakeskin bags.
The usual dullness and fatigue were gone from the entire carriage.
Everyone was excitedly discussing the same topic.
"Have you heard? That super-rich guy in Jiangjia Village gives out eight hundred a day!"
"My cousin works there, and he just received his paycheck yesterday. He even sent me a video; it's absolutely true!"
"Damn it, I've been working outside for five years and I've never seen so much cash! I have to go back and see it this time, no matter what!"
The atmosphere in the entire carriage was so lively it felt like an early New Year celebration.
A wave of migrant worker spirit awakening and returning home, ignited by Jiang Chen himself, is sweeping across the country with unstoppable momentum.
In Jiangjia Village, the village committee office is brightly lit.
Jiang Chen sat leisurely in the grand chair that belonged to his grandfather, drinking the top-grade Da Hong Pao tea brewed with the activated spiritual spring.
Wang Dagou grinned widely, reporting the situation with great excitement.
"Brother Chen! Everything's in chaos! Everything's in chaos!"
"I just received over a dozen calls, all from migrant workers wanting to come back!"
"At this rate, let alone tomorrow, I reckon even the able-bodied men from the neighboring counties will rush over here to register overnight!"
Jiang Chen picked up the exquisite purple clay teacup and gently tapped the table, instantly silencing the noise in the room.
His tone was so calm, as if he were talking about something trivial.
"Take as many as come in, we'll take them all."
"As long as they're willing to put in the effort, the Jiang Group can afford to support them all!"
……
at the same time.
Nanjiang Provincial Capital Development Zone.
Inside the top-floor office of the factory manager at the headquarters building of Huateng OEM Group, which is controlled by Chu family.
A middle-aged man named Zhang Jianguo was pointing his finger at the HR manager and swearing loudly.
"Useless! They're all useless!"
"Half the staff on several of the most important production lines deserted overnight? Where did they all go?!"
"What about this month's orders? Are you going to risk your life to fill them?!"
The HR manager, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, frantically wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief and answered nervously.
"Zhang...Zhang Chang, they've all...they've all run back to their hometown in Qinghe County!"
"I heard... I heard there's a rich guy named Jiang Chen over there who's gone crazy and is offering an exorbitant wage of 800 yuan a day to dig earthworks in the village..."
"Jiang Chen?"
Upon hearing this name, Zhang Jianguo's anger turned into a cold, sinister smile.
He immediately picked up the red internal telephone on the table and dialed the number of the secretary-general of the provincial capital enterprise alliance.
"Hello, Lao Liu? This is Zhang Jianguo from Huateng."
"There's some ignorant country bumpkin who's ruining our labor market in Nanjiang Province and trying to steal our cheap labor."
"Yes, it's time to teach him some manners."