Transmigrated & Triumphant: Defying Destiny's Chosen One-Chapter 695 - 16: The Fish Took the Bait
For Chen Ningbai, earning 400 yuan a day was nothing worth mentioning.
But for those ordinary people still working in villages, at construction sites, in factories, and various obscure industries, 400 yuan a day was already a high salary they could rejoice over.
Even if working from morning till night, being able to earn money is better than anything. The worst fear is being willing to exert oneself, but having no one to hire you.
Sometimes, the gap between living and surviving is quite big.
At this moment, in a village in Ningde County, the over-fifty-year-old Old Zhao was slowly spreading small scattered pebbles evenly on the ground using a dustpan.
A neighbor suddenly came over from the paddy ridge, shouting at him from afar: "Old Zhao! Old Zhao—have you watched TV?"
"What TV?"
The small old man in the yard lifted his head and responded.
It had just rained, and the yellow mud in the yard was really muddy. Recently, his wife had fallen while gathering pine needles on the mountain, and now one of her feet was still lifted high.
With nothing else to do, he decided to fix the road surface.
Unfortunately, he only had one arm, so his efficiency couldn’t match others, and he could only tidy up slowly to maintain the family’s livelihood.
He looked up again, and this red brick house was still the one built when his son got married.
Unfortunately, just a year after getting married, his son encountered an accident on a trip and never returned.
Now, only the old couple was left, relying on a small plot of land to barely make ends meet, appearing much poorer than other families in the village.
The neighbor steadily walked over the pebble path.
"There’s an ad on the local station, saying some government collaboration for medical stuff—free prosthetics for arms and legs, no charge!"
"And once you have them fitted, you can work like normal, no hindrance!"
Old Zhao glanced at him: "Just talking nonsense!"
When his arm was first damaged, he had thought about getting a prosthetic. People on TV had prosthetic legs. But after inquiring about the price and understanding what prosthetic arms and legs involved, he knew—
Normal enough to keep up appearances, yes. But for working, definitely no chance.
Besides, even if there were good ones, they couldn’t afford them!
"It’s really not nonsense!"
The neighbor anxiously grabbed his arm: "Come, come, let’s go to my house to watch that ad. I guess it will be shown again later!"
In Old Zhao’s house was the TV bought when his son got married, but nowadays, the electric pole was out of order, sometimes working, sometimes not, and it had been about two years since the TV was last turned on.
"I’m not going!"
Old Zhao refused outright.
Over the years, he had heard plenty of strange news; it was probably just a publicity stunt. Maybe it would cost money when they get there, or the prosthetics won’t be fit for work...
But inside, his wife suddenly raised her voice: "Go have a look, it’s fine, and it might be real!"
They said it’s in collaboration with the government, so it might be reliable, considering the town had given them subsistence allowances, with money every month!
When the two of them walked along the ridge to the neighbor’s house, the TV began to bombard with the ad again.
To Chen Ningbai and Xie Rongzhao, the ordinary worker was nothing noteworthy, but in Old Zhao’s eyes, it was shining gold!
The whole arm exposed under the white vest, the silver-gray fingers dexterously pinching the fabric edge, and the shock of the worker saying they could earn 400 yuan a day...
All the words couldn’t compare to the "400 yuan a day"!
Old Zhao’s heart was warm, and he couldn’t even stop to consider what this mechanical limb was all about.
He started pondering—
He was only just over 50 years old; if he got an arm fitted and the construction site still needed people like that, earning 400 yuan a day, in a few months, he could buy all of his wife’s calcium tablets and milk powder!
In winter, the house could have an extra big iron stove, which would make boiling water at night convenient. Including when he needed to move or lift things at home, it wouldn’t be as hard...
Just this thought, and his eyes were glued to the TV, unable to look away. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
The neighbor’s stay-at-home grandson, quick-eyed and quick-handed, after finishing his game and seeing grandpa focused, picked up his phone and input the phone number from the TV.
He handed the phone over: "Grandpa Zhao, I saw there’s a phone number up there, why don’t you call and ask? If it doesn’t work, they say you can register at the town office."
"Okay, okay!"
Old Zhao eagerly wiped his palms, holding the phone his throat was a bit dry.
...
Meanwhile, in the distant Jiangshun Village, with no farm work to do in the snowy weather, everyone was staying at home stoking fires, chatting, playing cards...
