Chapter 25 (1/2)
Picked Up a Good Girl
Long Bing appeared without a sound and disappeared without a trace. Xia Lei was accustomed to it. He wasn’t overly concerned about whether the Archaeological Bureau would go after Long Bing for taking the compass away either.
Thunder Horse Workshop opened for business three days later. Business was not as good as they’d thought but it wasn’t bad. Ma Xiao-An took on the normal tasks and Xia Lei handled the difficult jobs; their division of labour was clear. At the end of the day, after taking out the cost of materials, utilities and rent, they made 1400 yuan.
“It’s a tad little,” said Xia Lei, feeling a pang of dissatisfaction.
Ma Xiao-An, on the other hand, was happy. “Lei, be content. We didn’t do that much and still made 1400 yuan. We only made this much after working a whole week when we worked at the construction site.”
The two of them used to make an average of 100 yuan a day at construction sites, needing a week to make 1400 yuan. To be making this amount in one day now was a huge improvement.
Xia Lei felt better after thinking about it. “If the Archaeological Bureau paid us, we would have made 50,000 more. We would have to work for almost a year to make that amount in the past,” he said.
“The Archaeological Bureau is a government agency – it won’t stiff us on the bill. We’ll get paid sooner or later,” said Ma Xiao-An.
Just then, a woman appeared in the doorway. She was young – early twenties, apple-shaped face and big eyes. She was wearing a colourful short-sleeved checkered shirt on top, which was pulled tight by a huge chest. Her bosom was so large the straining buttons seemed like they would pop off any moment. On her bottom was a pair of cheap denim shorts, and her bottom itself was rounded and quite attractive. On her shoulder was a bundle wrapped in worn blue cloth and a dirty-looking white towel peeked out from a corner of the bundle. Her way of dressing immediately told everyone that she was from the countryside.
“Excuse me, are you looking for something?” enquired Xia Lei.
“I…” The woman looked nervous. “Who is the boss here?”
She had an accent which sounded like she was from Sichuan.
Before Xia Lei could speak, Ma Xiao-An pointed at him and said with a smile, “Girl, this is our boss. What are you looking for him for?”
The woman gathered her courage, looked straight at Xia Lei and bowed clumsily. “Boss, I… I… Are you hiring? I can do anything. I’ll wash dishes, stack plates, cleaning, cooking…”
Xia Lei smiled, “We aren’t running a restaurant so we don’t need someone to stack plates or wash dishes. I’m sorry, please ask at a restaurant.”
The woman bit her lip but did not press the issue, and turned and left.
Xia Lei looked at her feet and saw that she wore plimsolls. Footwear like this was uncommon for women, even in the countryside. Perhaps he was moved by the plimsolls, but Xia Lei’s heart softened and he called out to the woman, “Hold on. Can you tell me why you’re looking for work?”
The woman looked at Xia Lei, then looked away from his eyes and spoke carefully, “My father is old and cannot work. My younger brother wants to go to school but we have no money and I don’t want him to drop school so I’m looking for work.” When she got to that part, her eyes filled with tears, “B-But… I have no skills and all the restaurants have enough staff. It’s also not the hiring season at factories… I’ve used up all my money and I don’t know where I’ll sleep tonight. I…”
Xia Lei stopped her mid-sentence, “Stay, then. I will pay you 3,000 a month, including room and board.”
“Wha-?” The surprised exclamation came not from the woman looking for a job but Ma Xiao-An.
The woman looked at Xia Lei in gratitude, so overwhelmed she could not speak.
Ma Xiao-An pulled Xia Lei to one side and whispered, “Hey, Lei, why are you taking her in? I know you feel sorry for her but there are plenty of sorry souls out there. What can we do with our limited resources? Even if you take her in, you needn’t give her so much money. A country girl like her would be happy with 1,500, including room and board.”
“Doesn’t she need to support her little brother’s studies? We can take less profit and give her a little more so her family can lead better lives. What’s so bad about that?” said Xia Lei.
Ma Xiao-An sighed. He knew that Xia Lei had changed his mind and given the girl such a high wage because of her similar circumstances. He was against hiring because he wanted to save money but the boss of the workshop was Xia Lei. He had no further argument against Xia Lei’s decision.
The woman spoke only then, “Boss, Big Brother, I, I will start working now. What can I do?”
“Are you afraid that the boss would regret it? Don’t worry, your boss is a good man. He’s very kind and won’t chase you out once he’s taken you under his wing,” said Ma Xiao-An snappily.
The woman let out a breath and quickly said, “Thank you, Boss! Thank you, Big Brother!”
“We’ve been thanked. Don’t be so formal. Oh, right, what’s your name? I’m Xia Lei and he’s Ma Xiao-An,” smiled Xia Lei.
“I’m Zhou Xiao-Hong,” she said, then seemed to suddenly remember something and added, “Greetings, Boss Xia! Greetings, Big Brother Ma!”
Ma Xiao-An was uncomfortable about hiring her but when Zhou Xiao-Hong started sweetly saying ‘Boss’ and ‘Big Brother’, his heart softened. Zhou Xiao-Hong was also a young and pretty country lass – a big man like him couldn’t keep being mean to her, could he? That was so classless.
“You don’t have a place to stay?” asked Xia Lei.
Zhou Xiao-Hong hung her head and spoke sheepishly, “Um, my money… is gone. The hotel owner threw me out early this morning.”
Xia Lei considered some options and said, “Why don’t you stay in the shop for now. We have a foldable bed in here. I’ll order some delivery for you later so you’ll have to make do with it for now. I’ll help you think of something once you’re settled.”
“You’re truly a good person, Boss Xia. Thank you, thank you!” Zhou Xiao-Hong thanked him repeatedly again.