151: Chapter 149: A Chance Encounter with Zhang Yong 151: Chapter 149: A Chance Encounter with Zhang Yong The West Mountain mansion covered an area of, I dare not say too much, three to four hundred square meters at least.
How much would such a house be worth?
Chen Hai didn’t even dare to imagine.
What’s more important is, to procure such an estate in this location, an average person probably wouldn’t even qualify.
What was the Ye Family’s background after all?
Chen Hai actually didn’t have a clear understanding.
However, from his interactions with the Ye Family members over the past few days, it was clear that Ye Qingqing’s family was not of a small background.
For Chen Hai, this mansion was definitely a generous gift.
But seeing how casually Ye Rongzhong treated it, it seemed that such a mansion didn’t seem to mean much in his eyes.
Seeing his insistence, Chen Hai hesitated for a while before finally accepting the mansion without further refusals.
As Ye Rongzhong had said, having such a mansion for living did indeed make his cultivation much more convenient.
Ye Rongzhong and his wife Song Ling were both incredibly busy individuals.
Having briefly met and chatted with Chen Hai in the mansion for less than half an hour, they hurried off.
Ye Cheng was about to leave as well, but Chen Hai stopped him.
“Brother Ye, I have something to take care of in Yuedong in a couple of days.”
“I’m afraid I can’t continue with the freshman military training at school.”
“You have connections and influence, could you possibly arrange a leave of absence for me with the training officers?”
Pulling Ye Cheng aside, Chen Hai asked him with an apologetic expression.
He didn’t have to worry about the house anymore.
However, he still didn’t have much money in his pocket, so he needed to continue with the plan to sell antiques to Li Dajiang in Yuedong.
“Help you get leave so you don’t have to attend the military training?
Just that little thing, sure, I’ll let them know!”
Ye Cheng chuckled and continued, “These past two years, development in Yuedong has been rapid, but with the influx of outsiders, the security situation has unavoidably been a bit lacking.”
“When you’re in Yuedong, take care of your own safety.
If you really encounter any problem you can’t solve, just call me directly!”
He cautioned Chen Hai while casually making a promise.
“Alright, Brother Ye!” Chen Hai nodded.
After staying for another ten or so minutes, Ye Cheng finally left.
Once everyone had gone and he was alone in the West Mountain mansion, Chen Hai realized that the mansion was quiet and elegant, but it was also quite inconvenient.
For instance, if he wanted to buy something or have breakfast, there were no nearby shops; he had to go about a kilometer away.
Moreover, the place wasn’t too far from school, but if he relied on bus number eleven, the journey would be rather frustrating!
“After I return from Yuedong, I’ll have to find time to buy a vehicle!”
“I can’t afford one with four wheels at the moment, but getting one with two wheels should be manageable!”
He sighed, talking to himself.
He had already taken the time to scout the entire area.
Tube-shaped apartment buildings didn’t exist in this area.
The houses here were few in number, mostly single-family homes like Chen Hai’s mansion.
Ordinary people wouldn’t live here; those who did came and went in cars, and a little distance meant nothing to them.
Considering the mansion now belonged to him, he still needed to purchase some basic living necessities.
For the next two days, Chen Hai was mostly busy with these things.
Ye Cheng was very efficient, and in just two days, he managed to finalize all the transfer documents for the property and deliver them to Chen Hai.
If Chen Hai had to handle it himself, it would probably take ten days or even half a month to get these matters sorted out.
As for Hou Donggui, he had already taken care of switching his household registration to Xiangjiang.
It was only because of Ye Qingqing’s issue that he had to temporarily stay in the Capital City.
After resolving Ye Qingqing’s matter, the next day he took a flight to Xiangjiang.
Before boarding the plane, he specifically paged Chen Hai, and over the phone, they caught up and chatted casually.
On the morning of September 16th, Chen Hai took a train.
After a day’s delay, he returned to his hometown in Liuyuan County to pack up all his bottles and jars and take them with him.
It was only after 3 p.m.
on September 19th, after several transfers, that he arrived near the front mountain checkpoint leading into Haizhu City.
Only past the checkpoint was he officially in Haizhu City—the area outside still belonged to a neighboring town called Tanzhou.
“Boss, where to?
Need a car?”
“How much to Fourteenth Village?”
“Five yuan…”
Just as he got off the coach bus, numerous motorcycle taxis surged towards Chen Hai.
At this time, larger cities already had four-wheeled taxis, but they were generally few in number.
Like the ones he was now facing, drivers who bought a motorcycle to run a taxi service were very common, especially in Yuedong, where it was exceptionally so.
Five yuan was five yuan, Chen Hai didn’t haggle with them.
He picked out a motorcycle taxi driver who looked decent from the crowd, shouldered his backpack properly, and then straddled the bike, sitting himself on the rear seat.
Before leaving Capital City, he’d made a phone call to Li Dajiang.
Li Dajiang only told him that once he arrived, there was no need to hurry to cross the border into Haizhu City.
Instead, he should take a car to Fourteenth Village first.
At Fourteenth Village, there was a small checkpoint that was rather lax—often one could enter Haizhu City without even a border pass.
Li Dajiang’s Huangxin Shoes was located in the vicinity of that area.
As for why Li Dajiang didn’t come to pick him up directly, letting him hurry to Fourteenth Village first?
Mainly because Chen Hai’s transfer here was very uncertain in timing.
Although they had pagers for contact, after receiving a page, finding a place to return a phone call could take a good half day if luck wasn’t on your side.
Instead of making Chen Hai wait foolishly after getting off the bus, it was better to let him come straight to Fourteenth Village, which was definitely quicker and more convenient.
It wasn’t far from the front mountain checkpoint to Fourteenth Village.
After about fifteen minutes, Chen Hai had already arrived.
The so-called Fourteenth Village, though a small village, was bustling with crowds.
To Chen Hai, it seemed even busier and more prosperous than Liuyuan County.
“Brother Hai…
Brother Hai…” He’d been strolling for less than ten minutes when an uncertain voice suddenly rang in Chen Hai’s ear.
Following the direction of the voice, he looked over.
Ten steps away, a tall fellow dressed in an obviously work-related sky-blue jacket was excitedly waving his hands at him.
“Zhang Yong?
What are you doing here?” As soon as Chen Hai made out who it was, he was taken aback.
“I was just worried I had recognized the wrong person, but it turns out it really is you, Brother Hai?” Zhang Yong had jogged over to Chen Hai in a few strides.
He chuckled and then said, “If I had known you were coming to work in Yuedong, I should have invited you to come with me.”
“My family still has urban residency, and both my parents have been laid off.
You’re still a rural resident; what future could you have stayed in our hometown?”
He looked Chen Hai up and down a few times and then continued, “You’re still carrying your luggage, so you must have just arrived here, right?”
“Have you contacted any relatives or friends around here?
If you really don’t have any acquaintances, you can come to my place, make do for a while, and settle down temporarily!”
“My cousin and I are renting a single room together.
The weather here is quite mild.
Just buy a simple bamboo mat, lay it on the ground, and you can have a good sleep.”
“Also, if you’re looking for factory work, don’t just pick any place.”
“Some factories around here are really exploitative; they make you work seventeen or eighteen hours a day, and the salary is just over three hundred.
And that’s not all; they may withhold one or two months of your wages.”
“If you work there for ten days to half a month and then decide you want to quit, don’t even dream of getting a single cent of your wage from those heartless bosses.”
…
It was rare to meet a high school classmate in this place, and Zhang Yong was very enthusiastic.
He talked nonstop like a machine gun.
Unfortunately, what he was saying might be useful to any ordinary newcomer to the workforce.
But for Chen Hai, no matter how much Zhang Yong said, it was almost equivalent to saying nothing at all.
“Cough cough…” After a few light coughs, Chen Hai chuckled and interrupted Zhang Yong.
“You’ve only been in Yuedong for less than a month, right?”
“Looks like you’re doing quite well!” He said with a smile.
“It’s passable, just scraping by!” Zhang Yong grinned.
Then he added, “My cousin has been in Yuedong for two or three years, and he’s well-connected here.”
“Actually, I planned to play at home for another two months, but my cousin urged me to come over, saying a new factory here was hiring and the conditions were very good.”
“The new factory he mentioned is a shoe factory.
My cousin previously worked in another shoe factory, so he’s experienced.”
“After joining the new factory, he was immediately promoted to team leader, and although I can’t match my cousin, with my high school diploma, I managed to scrape by with a position as monitor…”
At this point, Zhang Yong deliberately puffed out his chest.
He pulled a factory badge from his pocket and hung it around his neck.
His action was not meant to show off.
He just wanted to prove that what he had just said was true, and he hadn’t lied.
[Huangxin Shoes Industry Co., Ltd.
Employee Card, Position: Monitor, Name: Zhang Yong, Employee Number: XXXX…]
Zhang Yong wore the factory badge around his neck for Chen Hai to see.
All the information on the badge was immediately and completely seen by Chen Hai.
“Congratulations, congratulations, Zhang Yong, you’re amazing.
You’ve only been in Yuedong for a few days, and you’ve just started at the factory, and you’re already in charge!”
Chen Hai complimented him with a strange expression on his face.