Chapter 9: The Special Task of Felling Trees

  Near the Isolated Rock, the tranquility of thousands of years was thoroughly broken by Lin Chunhong and more than 30 people. Everywhere were the ear-piercing sounds of sawing wood, shouting and yelling, and from time to time came the crashing sound of giant trees falling. The wild animals in the vicinity had long since disappeared, and even in summer, snakes would have retreated in fear.

  "Hey, Lin Dehai shouted loudly again: "Dama'er, you've used all your strength on women's bellies? Today you're even weaker than a woman!"

  Dai Maoer hurriedly increased the speed of pulling the saw, and didn't show any disobedience to Lin Dehai. After a while, Lin Dehai scolded another person: "Second pole, you should have cleaned up the branches when there was no sawing, otherwise it will waste time again!"

  Two poles immediately took action again, silently clearing branches.

  It's no wonder that Lin Dehai was anxious and irritable. Lin Chunhong had already explained to everyone on the boat: those who participated in logging would be guaranteed a minimum of one or two silver coins per month as wages. All participants were divided into three groups, each with eight people, and a leader was assigned to each group. The logging area was designated, and for every tree with a diameter of over three feet that was felled and transported to Qingjiang, four silver coins would be paid. For trees between two and three feet in diameter, two silver coins would be paid, and for those under two feet, one silver coin would be paid. If the diameter exceeded four feet, eight silver coins would be paid. The money earned by each group would be divided among the eight members, with 70% being split equally and the remaining 30% being allocated by the leader based on individual performance. The leader's monthly minimum wage was one or two silver coins more than that of others.

  It's not that no one complained about Lin Dehai, the main target of complaint was that Lin Dehai couldn't calculate accounts. Lin Dehai indeed didn't understand how to calculate wages for each person. Lin Dehai knew his weakness and in order not to be ridiculed by others, every night, even if he was very tired, he would pester Lin Chunhong and Zheng Tiancheng to learn arithmetic, making the two of them extremely annoyed. Zheng Tiancheng was the leader of another group, and the target of everyone's ridicule was his relatively small strength. Besides Lin Dehai, there was also Guo Mingyan who pestered Lin Chunhong and Zheng Tiancheng to learn arithmetic. Everyone saw that arithmetic was useful, so they followed along and learned some too. So Lin Chunhong simply removed Zheng Tiancheng from the position of team leader and appointed Lin Deshao to replace him, while Zheng Tiancheng took charge of teaching everyone every day, assessing the grade of giant trees, recording the wages to be paid to each group, conscientiously performing his accounting duties. Zheng Tiancheng was also very satisfied, able to do what he liked every day, and no one was dissatisfied.

  "Come quickly and pull down this tree, fell that one, let's take a break!" shouted Lin Dehai from the forest.

  Before long, the tree fell to the ground. Eight people sat on the tree, exhausted, drinking water, chewing dry rations, and some took out their tobacco pouches to indulge in a smoke.

  "Yesterday we had wild boar meat, I wonder what Uncle Zhou and the others will bring back today?" Da Mao Er was looking forward to tonight's food. Lin Chun Hong knew that everyone's physical exertion was huge, so he made sure that everyone ate their fill at every meal, focusing on replenishing various nutrients, never letting anyone go without meat.

  "Should I say that San Shu's cooking is the best, isn't it her turn to cook today?" San Shu was one of the three cooks they had hired, and this move was most welcomed by everyone, even Li Mujiang was satisfied.

  "If it were three big girls who came to cook, that would be great!" Er Gouzi said with a smack of her lips.

  A watermelon exploded on Er Gouzi's head, and Lin Dehai laughed: "You're like this, still thinking of getting a wife? Wait for the next life!"

  "Why don't you want a wife? My mother has already agreed, and after making money with Boss Lin, we'll get married!" Now everyone calls Lin Chunhong "Boss Lin", and the people who came earlier intentionally or unintentionally call him "Boss Lin", which is of course promoted by Zhou Wang and others in secret.

  "Really? What does your wife look like? Are her breasts big and her butt round?" The crowd suddenly became interested, surrounding Erzhongzi to ask. When men get together, women are always an eternal topic of conversation.

  The two of them smiled complacently and intentionally kept everyone in suspense, only chuckling to themselves without saying a word.

  Everyone was anxious and scolded: "You'd better say it! Have you held her hand? Have you touched her?"

  The two of them saw that everyone was getting impatient, and only then did they say: "I haven't seen it either, but I heard from my mother that it's quite a sight!"

  "Alas", the crowd walked away in disappointment. Xi Lu Er Gunzi said: "You're just a coward, if it were me, I would have made a fortune by now."

  Two rods also don't care about everyone, one person is there secretly pleased with oneself.

  The big cat's ears perked up high, and he started bragging: "I'm telling you guys, there's a girl in our village who has braids like a hemp rope, big eyes, and a white face - even whiter than a steamed bun! That day, she went to the river alone to wash clothes, and I just happened to be grazing my cow. She talked with me for an entire morning, you guys think this girl is interested in me?"

  "With your moral character, go ahead and brag!"

  "I swear, she really talked to me for an entire morning! Others tried to pull her away but couldn't!" Er Ge raised his hand, as if taking an oath.

  "What did she say to you?"

  "My cow's water had a bubble of urine in it, and she scolded me for an entire morning!" said Erzhong, expressionless.

  Everyone burst out laughing, some even rolled on the ground holding their bellies, all saying: "It turns out she's a shrew!"

  Linde Hai looked at everyone resting for a while, then urged everyone to get up and work. Under the humorous effect of Da Mao Er, everyone's enthusiasm was restored, and they began their arduous labor.

  In the mountains, it gets dark early, and since it's winter, everyone finished work very early. From a distance from the wooden house, they could smell the delicious meat, and everyone involuntarily quickened their pace. As they approached the wooden house, they found Zhou Wang and four others practicing archery, shouting in unison: "Uncle Zhou, what kind of meat is it today?"

  "Badger meat, all fat, greasy to death you bunch of rabbit bastards!"

  Everyone was even more delighted, walking up to surround Zhou Wang and others, watching them practice archery. But seeing Lin Chunyi, Chu Wenshan, and Li Zuguo just stretching out their arms with a stone hanging from each arm, they felt bored and went off to brag elsewhere. Lin Chunyi was picked by Zhou Wang at a glance and selected to participate in the hunt, while Chu Wenshan and Li Zuguo were new recruits. Following the principle of better fewer but better, there were only four people going on the hunt.

  Suddenly a curse came: "Qingpi, you son of a bitch, go further to pee, the stinky smell is suffocating me!" Qingpi didn't care at all, still doing his own thing, fertilizing the bushes by the small wooden house. Guo Mingyan saw Qingpi ignoring him, was about to walk up and kick him, but unexpectedly Qingpi suddenly turned around and said: "I love peeing here, what's it to you..."

  The urine that was not exhausted **shot towards Guo Mingyan**. The people around burst into laughter, Guo Mingyan stared at the map on his pants, crying and laughing, kicked the green skin's butt, and scolded: "I told you to move further away, you didn't, tonight you'll have to wash my pants for me!"

  Qingpi saw Guo Mingyan and didn't take it seriously, but felt a bit embarrassed, repeatedly saying: "Okay, okay, I'll wash, I'll wash."

  Lin Chunhong had originally planned for the three women to arrive, so he arranged for three more wooden houses to be built and a toilet was built downwind. He asked everyone to go to the toilet to relieve themselves. As a result, except for the three women, none of the men were willing to use the toilet, and they all solved the problem on the spot. Lin Chunhong had no choice but to ask everyone to walk a little further away to find a secluded place, as long as it was not around here. This point was barely achieved by everyone.

  The surrounding laughter did not affect the four people practicing archery, because Zhou Wang's requirement was that even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of them, they should remain expressionless and heartbeat-free; otherwise, they would have to hang more stones for half an hour. According to what Zhou Wang had previously taught Lin Chunhong: a general must remain calm, otherwise he will lose the ability to make correct judgments.

  At this time, Li Mujiang and Zhang Xiaocheng slowly walked back from the mountain road. Lin Dehai, Lin Deshao, and Guo Mingyan immediately surrounded them and asked in a flattering tone: "Uncle Li, how many trees did you choose today? Can you help us pick a few more thick ones?"

  "Uncle Li, look at you carrying such heavy things, come on, let me help." After that, the heavy objects on Uncle Li and Zhang Xiaocheng's bodies were snatched away in an instant. Uncle Li enjoyed this feeling of being valued, following them as they bustled about.

  "What are you guys arguing about? Don't worry, Young Master Lin has instructed me to give you the same number of thick trees. You ungrateful rabbits should be thanking Young Master Lin properly, if it weren't for him, you'd all still be going hungry!" Ever since Lin Chunhong rewarded Li Mujiang with ten taels of silver, Li Shu took every opportunity to speak well of Lin Chunhong.

  "Dinner is ready!" The shrill voices of the three wives came, and everyone hastily picked up their large ceramic bowls, standing in groups near the three wives, waiting for them to serve the dishes. Each meal had three dishes, one meat and two vegetables, and the rice was self-served on the side. This kind of life made everyone quite satisfied, as it was hard to get a full stomach at home. Before long, everyone was either squatting or standing, devouring the food in their bowls with gusto.

  In short, life in the mountains is laborious but nutritious, tense but vibrant, competitive but united, which is exactly what young people yearn for!