Although I have done all kinds of dirty and tiring work in the village, I am still very tired after working on bricks, cement, and concrete all day long at the construction site. It's okay during the day, but when I lay on the bed at night, my whole body hurts, and my body feels like it's broken, and I can't move. But the next morning, as soon as the squad leader blew his whistle, you had to rush to the construction site and repeat what he had yesterday.
Fortunately, we people in the mountains are very strong, and after ten days, I adapted. He pushed a trolley of 200 to 300 pounds and trotted all the way without breathing. I hugged each hundred pounds of cement and swung my hands on my shoulders. It made the workers praised. Even the boss looked at me with admiration.
Because I do the same job as the male workers, the boss said that equal pay for , and they get the same salary. When I heard the numbers, I was so happy because in our hometown, it is unimaginable for a woman to get so much money a day. So, I am very grateful to my boss, and I work harder and do everything inside and outside. When I got off work in the evening, all the workers left. I often stayed to clean the tools and put them in place. My colleagues praised me for being diligent.
At the construction site, I deal with bricks and cement every day, day after day, and my life is very monotonous. But in a monotonous life, there are also many happy times.
After working on the construction site for a while, my colleagues and I became familiar with each other, and they were all very nice to me. Those older than me call me "Sister Hua", and those younger than me call me "Sister Hua". Especially the squad leader, Brother Wang, takes great care of me. I don't let some very heavy work do. Sometimes when I do heavy work alone, my colleagues will come up to help me when they see it.
Once I caught a cold and couldn't go to work. When the workers know, they all come to ask for their long and short questions. Brother Wang used his lunch break to buy me cold medicine. The boss also asked the kitchen master to make ginger soup for me and cook me a wardrobe. The enthusiasm of my colleagues made me, a woman far away from home, feel the warmth of home.
Women are always women, and they always work hard during the days of each month. Brother Wang will let me do some slightly easier work. When Xiao Li saw this, he was a little dissatisfied and asked Brother Wang, "Brother Wang, why should she do light work with the same salary?" Brother Wang twisted his ear and said, "Boy, how old is the child? Don't you know about women's things?" When Xiao Li heard this, he seemed to understand something, scratched his head, and went to work with embarrassment.
When resting in the workshop, the workers often joked with me, the only woman on the construction site. I understand them, and as long as it is not too much, I will just laugh it off. Sometimes I would tell them some jokes about my hometown, making them laugh. After talking and laughing, everyone went to work happily again. The workers said I was a pistachio from the construction site.
The male colleagues like to drink. Once, Lao Li and a few young people were drinking in the shed. I happened to pass by and they insisted on pulling me to drink a few sips. Since they look down on me, I can't take their face and have to deal with it.
As soon as I had a drink, Lao Li said to me, "My sister Hua, we have a rule here: Whoever gets drunk will pay for the alcohol." When I heard this, I realized that they didn't have good intentions and wanted to get me drunk and pay for them. But they didn't expect that my grandfather runs a winery, so I drank with a big bowl when I was a child. So I said, "Okay! Since I've participated, I will follow your rules."
They were so happy when they heard me and took turns to toasting me. As a result, I knocked down five of them. Not only did I have a free dinner, but the five people also had to invite me again. I was secretly happy. I drank once and saved six dinner expenses. It was worth it!
The most fulfilling thing for construction workers is watching the building grow taller day by day. I feel happy to think that we ordinary migrant workers have also contributed to urban construction.
The day when the construction site pays is the happiest time for the workers. That day, I got my salary for the first time. I didn't expect to get so much money, so I was so happy.I asked the construction site accountant to send the money back and asked my husband to pay back the urgent debt first. I originally wanted to go to the mall to buy a piece of clothing for my daughter and send it back, but I didn't dare to ask for leave because I didn't have a salary if I didn't go to work. I had to feel wronged my daughter first and buy it when I get home during the Chinese New Year.
Of course, women on the construction site are not all happy things. Living among men, there are also many troubles.
It’s nothing to be busy talking and laughing during the day on the construction site, but when I lay in bed at night, I miss home. I grew up to 35 years old and never left the village, nor my husband and daughter. Now that I have come to work thousands of miles away alone, how can I not miss them? I couldn't help but shed tears when I thought of my daughter's loveliness and my husband's tenderness.
Some of my colleagues also made me very upset. These workers came out after the Spring Festival and could not go home to reunite with their wives until the end of the year, so they always have some ideas when they see the opposite sex. Of course I understand their psychology, but if someone wants to offend me, then I am not easy to mess with.
One day after dinner I was organizing tools in the tool room. When Lao Zheng passed by, he saw that there was no one in the room, so he came in and said, "My sister Hua, what are you doing? Do you want me to help?"
I said, "It's Brother Zheng. No! Go back and have a rest early."
Unexpectedly, Lao Zheng came to me. His eyes were staring at me and said, "My sister Hua, you are so beautiful today."
I ignored him. But when he borrowed the tools to help me organize, his hands and feet became irregular. I was very angry and pushed him out of the door with a hard push. Lao Zheng's feet were unstable and he staggered and fell outside the door. A coworker happened to pass by and helped him up. The skin on Lao Zheng's face was broken. I walked out of the house and said, "Oh, it's Brother Zheng. You are so old, why are you so careless when walking?" As I said that, I brought him a Band-Aid. Lao Zheng glared at me fiercely and left angrily. After the incident of
, no one looked down on me, but there were still many troubles.
When I was collecting my clothes after get off work that day, I found that the underwear I had hung with other clothes was missing. I thought I was blown by the wind, so I searched everywhere, but I couldn't find it. I went to ask my colleagues again if they had collected the clothes wrongly. After checking, the coworkers said that there was no. I don't know what's going on either. I am the only woman on the construction site, who would want this thing? Fortunately, I still have one, so I don’t care much.
But a few days later, my underwear that I had hung outside disappeared again. Now I have to change it and there is no more washing. What should I do? This matter cannot be made public, and I was so anxious that I cried. When the boss passed by, he found out that I was sad and asked me what was going on. I was really embarrassed to tell him, but he asked tightly, so I had to say it. The boss was very angry when he heard this. He told me not to worry, he would handle it for me.
The next day, everyone went to the construction site. The boss went to the shed to search one by one, but found it under Xiao Guo's pillow. The boss asked Xiao Guo to come, beat him up, and finally asked him to apologize to me. Xiao Guo lowered his head and said to me, "I'm sorry, Sister Hua, I like you so much."
This kid really made me laugh and cry. From then on, I only dared to hang my underwear in the tool room. After the project
was completed, I and these workers separated. But the ups and downs of being with them have always been unforgettable for me.
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Statement: Original works by Wu Ping, reproduction is prohibited without permission. Please respect the author's labor achievements and his own face!
