Alive

Huang Xiuyuan took the megaphone and cleared his throat: "Hello everyone, I am Huang Xiuyuan, the chairman of Blue Era. I've come here today mainly to announce a few things."

He looked at these ordinary people, these special people, before him. He didn't offer any long-winded lectures, choosing instead to show his sincerity.

"The first thing is that I am raising your wages. The base salary will be 1,500 per person. Beyond the eight-hour workday, overtime will be paid at double time, and triple time on holidays."

"Boss Huang, is there really that much money?" a burly man in his thirties asked, gathering his courage to speak up.

Huang Xiuyuan held the megaphone and replied with ironclad certainty: "My word is my bond. Whether you are a permanent employee or a temporary worker, we will sign labor contracts in the next few days, and it will all be written down in black and white."

Lin Zifeng, standing to the side, hurriedly began to applaud.

The group of sanitation workers also reacted, clapping their hands with joy. The applause sounded like thunder—it was the sound of their heartfelt appreciation.

He waved his hand to signal for silence and continued: "The second thing is that since we are signing contracts, insurance will also be arranged for everyone..."

He laid out a series of benefits and company requirements for everyone to hear. For these sanitation workers, they had never been this happy before; the waves of enthusiastic applause were a testament to their inner excitement.

Regarding Huang Xiuyuan's requirement that they could not bring trash home, along with the other rules, they all expressed their willingness to comply.

After all, with meals and housing provided, a doubled base salary, plus overtime pay, subsidies, insurance, special pension funds, and critical illness assistance, it was almost comparable to working in an electronics factory. If they were fired by the company for not following the rules, it would be a loss that far outweighed any gain.

After the speech ended, Huang Xiuyuan took a group photo with the sanitation workers and shook hands with them one by one.

The first sanitation worker to shake his hand was the middle-aged man who had asked the first question. He was both excited and shy, wiping his hands on his clothes over and over again.

Huang Xiuyuan overcame his minor germaphobia and gripped the man's hand tightly; it felt rough and warm. "What is your name? How many years have you been doing this job?"

"Back... back to the boss, my name is Zhang Jianshe, and I've been doing this for over three years."

"Judging by your accent, you're from Shu Province. We're practically fellow countrymen," Huang Xiuyuan said with a smile.

He shook hands with everyone and exchanged a few pleasantries before leaving Blue Era by car to head toward Guizhuling Industrial Park.

Upon arriving at Guizhuling Industrial Park, the ground for the first phase of the project had already been leveled. The concrete floor had just been poured, and part of the steel structure's frame had been erected.

The total planned area for the first phase was 100 mu, with 60 mu dedicated to factory construction, including 10 mu for employee dormitories, the factory canteen, and the office building.

The remaining 50 mu would be the recycling workshops—all fully enclosed facilities—housing a total of 10 processing lines.

Among them, five lines were prepared for municipal waste sorting; one for scrap iron, one for waste paper, one for comprehensive metal recycling, one for waste plastic, and one for waste glass.

The first phase was only for rough sorting and classification. It was estimated that the factory building would be completed around mid-April, and with equipment debugging, it would likely be fully operational by early June.

As for the second phase of the factory, which was also planned for 100 mu, construction would begin immediately after the first phase was completed.

In fact, the ground leveling, sewage pipes, and concrete flooring for the second and third phases were all being carried out simultaneously.

After all, the construction of the steel-structured factory buildings did not interfere with the foundation work for the second and third phases.

On the other side.

The district was actually paying very close attention to the actions of Suiren Company.

Whether it was the gas company—Hailu Environmental Protection Gas Company—or the sanitation management company—Blue Era Sanitation Management Company—neither was a small matter.

Especially regarding sanitation, as it involved over four hundred people; if the sanitation workers were to riot, it would certainly be a major headache.

Cai Haiyi, who had facilitated this cooperation, was keeping a particularly close eye on the situation.

Cai Haiyi, who was buried in official business, heard footsteps and looked up to see his assistant walking in quickly.

"District Chief Cai, Suiren Company has made a move."

He put down his work and picked up the teacup beside him: "Tell me about it."

"This afternoon, Huang Xiuyuan, the boss of Suiren, went to visit the sanitation workers. This is the placement plan provided by Suiren Company." As the assistant spoke, he handed over a rough summary of the situation.

Cai Haiyi hurriedly took it, flipped through it, and asked with some disbelief: "Are you sure this is Suiren Company's plan?"

The assistant also looked helpless: "I have verified the content with several sanitation workers. There shouldn't be much discrepancy, and since they are signing contracts in the next few days, it shouldn't be fake."

"How are they going to make money with these wages? That five million wouldn't even be enough to cover the payroll, would it?" Cai Haiyi frowned slightly.

The assistant was equally baffled. Based on the scale of Suiren Company's investment, it was almost impossible to recoup the costs. They couldn't possibly be looking for subsidies from the district, could they?

"Find an opportunity to probe Suiren and see if they need a loan. We can have the bank offer a lower interest rate."

"No problem."

Cai Haiyi was also in a difficult position. If Suiren Company went bust within a year or two, he, as the person in charge who facilitated the cooperation, would certainly face the consequences.

Helping Suiren Company at the right time was something worth considering.

After the meeting at Blue Era, the sanitation workers returned to their posts and began working even harder.

The happiness of the working class is often simple and humble.

Around ten o'clock in the evening, after collecting the last batch of trash, these weather-beaten people returned to their little nests, carrying their exhaustion and some leftover food.

Most of the sanitation workers were concentrated in the urban-rural fringe, and some even lived right next to the landfill.

Driving his battered tricycle, Zhang Jianshe bypassed the gate of Shanzhi Institute and entered a muddy dirt road; this was the land of Xinlou Village.

On both sides of the dirt road were piles of construction waste. At the end of the unlit road stood a row of makeshift "houses," built with either discarded mud bricks or scavenged bamboo and wood as simple structures.

The roof was covered in asphalt felt or asbestos tiles, with a few wooden poles propping up an old power line that lit the dim, yellow lights of a dozen or so rooms.

Behind several of the houses, chickens, ducks, and pigs were kept, all fed on swill scavenged from elsewhere.

Zhang Jianshe poured the leftover food into a large bucket.

His wife, meanwhile, took a bag of relatively clean leftovers and heated them up on an old, broken tricycle.

They busied themselves for over half an hour.

"Old Zhang, time to eat."

Hearing his wife's voice, he hurriedly washed his hands and sat on a rickety wooden stool nearby, shoveling rice into his mouth while picking up a piece of white-cut chicken.

These leftovers were packed for him by a wealthy family whose trash he frequently collected.

Watching his son wolfing down food nearby with a dirty little face, and thinking about how the boy would be starting primary school next year, Zhang Jianshe secretly made up his mind to work harder and earn more overtime pay.

His wife was not far away by the large stove, tossing leftovers and vegetable scraps from the market into a big pot, then fueling the fire with scrap wood from construction sites.

Once boiled and cooled, she would mix in some feed to give to the pigs.

This was the way of life for sanitation workers in small places, struggling to survive in an extremely harsh environment.

Thank you all for your support (ω｀), and thanks to book friends "Yuming Daoren" and "Guangsu Feng" for their tips!