Chapter 155: Coolie

18 bags of cement, 2 cubic meters of sand, up to the 6th floor with no elevator. Most people have no concept of what one cubic meter of sand actually looks like; if packed into gunny sacks at a hundred pounds each, it makes about 30 bags. Two cubic meters means 60 bags, which, combined with the cement, makes a total of 78 bags.

According to market rates, the minimum charge is fifty cents per floor, making it 3 dollars per bag to carry upstairs. That would come to 234 dollars for these 78 bags, but Lu Songyan was afraid of losing the job, so he agreed to 200 dollars.

The cement came in pre-packaged bags, but the sand was piled right in front of the building, waiting to be shoveled into sacks one by one. This kind of work is usually not done alone; four or five people would split the tasks of shoveling and carrying, taking shifts when they got tired. However, the more people working, the more the pay had to be divided. Lu Songyan hadn't found any work for two days, so today he hardened his heart and took on the whole job by himself.

He would take the whole day, resting whenever he got tired and hauling them up slowly.

He padded his shoulder with a dirty towel to keep the rough burlap sacks from scraping his skin, grabbed a corner of the sack, gathered his strength, and heaved it onto his shoulder. Most people are left panting just getting to the third floor, let alone with a hundred-pound bag of cement on their shoulders. The 5th floor was always the most grueling, but after gritting his teeth to carry the cement up to the 6th floor and dropping that hundred-pound weight, his body would instantly feel light and unburdened.

Walking back down was the time to rest. By the time he descended six floors, his strength had mostly recovered, and while he still had some energy left, he would go again!

Going up and down like this, Lu Songyan would have to make at least 78 round trips to pocket those 200 dollars.

After all, he was getting on in years and couldn't compare to his younger days. After just four round trips, Lu Songyan could feel his legs turning weak, and his dirty towel was already soaked through with sweat. In the thirty-degree heat, the slightest movement broke him out in a sweat, and the mixture of cement dust and sweat clinging to his body was indescribably uncomfortable. Anyone who has done manual labor for years knows the rules: you have to pace yourself at this point, or you won't be able to hold out later on. He set the cement aside, picked up the shovel, and started filling the woven bags with sand—for him, this counted as a break.

After another trip, as he came back down the stairs, he ran right into his son, Lu Qizheng, who was carrying a bag of cement upstairs. This gave old Lu a fright, and he rushed over to take it from him. "What are you doing here? You should be recovering at home!"

Lu Qizheng blocked his father with one arm and explained, "Dad, I'm all better now. I'm fine, just here to help you out!"

With a knife wound stabbed in that deep, it had only been half a month. Even though there was no immediate danger, what if he did heavy physical labor like this and burst the stitches open? No matter what Lu Songyan said, he refused to let his son touch the loads, and the two reached a deadlock.

After a long stalemate, Lu Songyan still couldn't win a stubborn argument with his son, and finally compromised. "Fine. If you want to help, stay down here and help fill the bags." Shoveling sand was relatively lighter work.

"Wen Xiaocheng is already down here helping shovel!"

"How could you let him do that?"

"I didn't make him. He said—he's my brother!"

Hearing that, old Lu stopped trying to argue. With three people working, the progress sped up considerably. However, Lu Songyan didn't dare treat his son and Xiaocheng as full laborers; the two young men filled the bags down below and took turns bringing them up to the second floor, while old Lu hauled them the remaining four floors by himself. Still, with that relay in the middle, the six floors were effectively reduced to four, allowing his leg muscles much more rest, making it relatively much easier.

As the three of them were working up a sweat with great enthusiasm, the sky gradually darkened. A thick mass of dark clouds gathered overhead, black and blotting out the sun. A cool breeze swept through, and the air carried a distinct smell of moisture—it was going to rain!

Lu Songyan hurried down from above and instructed the two young men, "Quick, get the cement into the hallway first!"

There were only a few bags of cement left anyway, and it took just two or three trips to move them all into the hallway. The sand wasn't too much of a problem either, except that getting soaked by rain would add a lot of weight.

After carrying the last few bags of cement upstairs, the three of them took shelter in the stairwell and looked outside, taking the opportunity to rest. Lu Songyan lit a cigarette, took a few puffs, and sighed, "Daqi, if you can still study, just repeat a year and go back to school. Relying on brute force like your dad has no future!"

Lu Qizheng shook his head and said, "Dad, I'm just not cut out for studying. Xiaocheng said he's going to introduce me to a master in a couple of days, and I want to go check it out."

Xiaocheng quickly chimed in, "I know the boss of an auto repair shop. If you learn auto repair and become a senior mechanic, you can make four or five thousand a month. If you can specialize in the technical side and work your way up to a technical director at some car company, you'll make plenty. At least there's a goal to strive for."

Xiaocheng didn't mention anything about learning martial arts, afraid old Lu wouldn't agree. Anyway, it wasn't really a lie; martial arts and auto repair wouldn't interfere with each other, and he could learn either way.

Seeing that the rain outside was growing heavier with no sign of stopping, and the thick clouds in the sky stretched endlessly out of sight, it looked like it was going to rain all day.

"It wouldn't hurt to go take a look. I have a raincoat on my electric bike, you two boys ride home first, and I'll finish up these few remaining loads shortly." Seeing that the rain wouldn't stop anytime soon, Lu Songyan prepared to work through the downpour.

Naturally, the two boys couldn't just leave at a time like this. After another round of polite refusal, all three of them braved the rain and started filling the sandbags one by one.

Working alongside the young men, Lu Songyan felt a surge of energy throughout his body. Even though his son wasn't great at studying, he was at least honest, filial, and kind-hearted—where in the world can you find absolute perfection? With a son so sensible and considerate of his elders, things were already good enough! As for Wen Xiaocheng beside him, he was actually a year younger than his son. The bond between these two boys was forged through destiny; Xiaocheng was already a half-celebrity who had appeared on television, the city's math olympiad champion, yet he could set aside his pride to brave the rain and carry sand alongside his son. Being able to make a friend like that was his son's good fortune!

Sand drenched by the rain dripped water from the woven sacks. There was no rush to carry them yet; they piled them all up in a dry spot in the hallway and tamped them down to shed a lot of the excess weight. Once hoisted onto the shoulder, the dirty water ran straight down from the shoulder into the waistband of his pants, feeling chilly and filthy. Outside, they were already soaked through from the rain, and adding wet sandbags on top was a hardship not many could endure. But a laborer earns his living through this exact kind of suffering—having no other skills, he could blame no one else.

Two cubic meters of sand and 18 bags of cement were finally all hauled upstairs. The employer was lying on the sofa inside playing with his mobile phone, not even bothering to come out and take a look. Lu Songyan felt too embarrassed to ask for the money right away, so he knocked on the door and said, "Boss, we've brought everything up. Can I borrow your hose to rinse off?"

By this time, the three of them were basically soaked through. Working shirtless, their bodies were covered in sand and filthy water, with plenty of cement stains from earlier. As the tap water from the hose washed over them, it ran down in streaks. Rinsing from head to toe with the tap water made them shudder with a sudden chill, but at least their bodies were clean, making them look human again.

The dirty towel took several rinses to reveal its original color. Lu Songyan used it to dry the two boys, then half-dried his own hair before walking back into the inner room to tell the employer on the couch, "Boss, the work is all done."

The employer was a middle-aged man with a crew cut, short in stature, and slightly chubby. It was hard to tell what he did for a living, but he matched the physical description of a chef: a big head and a thick neck.

"Done? That was pretty fast. Let me see."

The crew cut stood up, walked out to the living room, and took a look. The cement was neatly stacked two layers high against the wall, and the sand was piled near the edge of the living room.

"Hey? Why is all my sand wet?"

——————

Compared to typing out words, I still feel that carrying bags of sand has a much brighter future.