At the mine, two men covered head to toe in black dust took advantage of the midday break to eat and chat.
"Heard the news?" one of them said. "They're building a new settlement to the south."
"I'm not blind, am I? They're throwing up buildings all over that stretch of land. The way it looks, when it's done it could house several thousand people. Might not be a village at all — might be a whole town!"
"Our village isn't far from here. If they do build a town, is that good for us or bad?"
"How could it possibly be bad? You see how those fine folk toss money around by the fistful every day. Whatever slips through their fingers would be more than enough to choke the likes of you!"
"So you're saying life could keep getting better? That maybe we'll actually eat our fill?"
"Are you still going hungry? Stop asking such stupid questions!"
"What are you two going on about?" Another man walked over carrying a lunch box. Inside were two coarse-grain flatbreads, a plate of stir-fried greens, and a few visible shreds of meat.
The first two men quickly shuffled aside, and one said in a flattering tone, "Steward Liu, the food here is really something — you can actually see meat in it!"
Young Steward Liu took a bite of his flatbread and smiled. "It's heavy labor out here. Without a bit of meat and fat, you'd never hold up."
"That's the truth. But as long as they feed me like this every meal, I can take it however heavy it gets. Yesterday I pushed myself hard and earned ten wen. Today I'm a bit tired — probably only nine."
"I've worked it out. Here, I can earn three taels of silver in a year."
"Back home working my own land, I'd scrape together maybe one tael — and still eat out of my own pocket. Worse food too."
"As long as there's work here, I'll keep at it."
"And if the work dries up someday, a few years of saving could buy a few more mu of land. Life would still be a whole lot better than before."
"That's the spirit. Hope and a dream — that's what gives a man something to work toward."
"This work of ours will likely go on for a good long while. And even when things wind down here, there'll be other places to find it."
"Then I'm happy to do this for the rest of my life! Oh — Steward Liu, just out of curiosity, what do you earn in a day? Just asking, heh."
"Nothing wrong with saying. I handle scheduling, tallying, logistics — no heavy lifting — so my wages are a bit lower."
"Understood, understood. You've got the comfortable job. Earn less than us, but at least you've got it easy."
Young Steward Liu pressed his lips together to hold back a grin. "Since I'm posted away from home, I'm on Grade Three wages — one and a half. And since I've finished primary school, I get a daily supplement of two fen, so one and seven — that is, seventeen wen a day."
"Seventeen wen?" The man who had asked went blank. Suddenly his flatbread tasted like nothing at all, and something inside him refused to sit right.
This Steward Liu was no older than his own son, more or less. The man spent his days at the mine doing nothing in particular, wandering around like a street idler — and he pulled in seventeen wen a day?
Nearly twice what I make.
And here I am, working myself half to death every day for nine or ten wen. Where's the justice in that?
Bitterness settled in.
"Steward Liu, that — how would someone like me go about earning a bit more?"
"Simple enough. Xinghuo Village is opening its household registry in a few days. Go and apply for residency. Once a month's probation is up, you're a Xinghuo Village resident.
"Your own people get better treatment, naturally — piecework wages go up by half. So say you did ten wen worth of work yesterday — you'd take home fifteen."
"And in a few days, Xinghuo Village will be bringing over a batch of teachers from Taoyuan Village. Go to school, graduate properly, and as long as you're working in Xinghuo or Taoyuan Village — or anywhere under the master's enterprises — you'll receive a two-fen daily supplement for the rest of your life."
The man's breathing grew faster. "Steward, I — I'd like to take a day off in a few days to go to the village. No — just a half day. I'll be back in the afternoon to work."
"That's fine. No rush though — it'll be a few more days. I'll let you know."
"You all carry on eating. I'll go find somewhere with a bit more air." Steward Liu picked up his lunch box and ambled over to where a few other men were sitting.
"Old Li, you only made eight wen yesterday — that's a bit thin, isn't it? You know how much I make in a day, and I don't do any heavy lifting at all?"
---
Xinghuo Village.
At the entrance to the village committee, Jinwen and the others stood waiting and chatting among themselves.
Beside Jinwen were Mingcheng, Mingwu, and Mingjing.
Mingcheng was the eldest of the boys — he'd be turning sixteen after the New Year, and already looked no different from a grown man. Mingwu was the third, broad and powerfully built with a stern, resolute face that made him appear older even than Mingcheng. Mingjing was the fourth, with the slight, bookish look of a scholar.
In reality, looks were all it was. Every one of these young people had undergone extensive physical training.
"Mingcheng-ge, have you put out word at both mines and the steelworks?"
"Don't worry. Everyone's eager. Once the registry opens, those places might well empty out."
"Heh, of course — with the treatment we're offering, you'd have to be out of your mind not to jump at it."
"Mingjing, how are things going on the construction side?"
"Everything's on track. The workshops are nearly finished. Once they're done, we'll recruit women and older children from the nearby villages to tend the livestock and poultry."
"Right. Xinghuo Village is still a good distance from Taoyuan Village — two days' travel. We can't rely on them for everything. Better if we're as self-sufficient as possible here."
"Mingwu, handle your side of things on your own. If anything comes up, go talk to Elder Sister. That's not my concern."
"Understood." Mingwu was a man of few words.
"Oh — look over there. Isn't that the master's carriage?"
"Must be. What other convoy would come all the way out here?"
"Master!" Jinwen's face lit up. She hiked up her skirts and broke into a trot toward the approaching carriages.
There was still quite a stretch of road between them.
Mingcheng and the others shook their heads with a smile. Well, Jinwen was still a few years younger than them, after all. She could be as brisk and decisive and by-the-book as anyone — but at heart she was still a little girl, only turning twelve after the New Year.
"Hey — don't run, don't run! You'll fall!" Zhao Baihui was on the carriage, surveying the construction around him. He turned his head and caught sight of a girl in richly embroidered clothes trotting toward him.
The fine dress and the undignified jog made for an incongruous, jarring picture.
He looked again — wasn't that his own Jinwen?
He jumped down from the still-moving carriage and went to meet her, catching the breathless girl by the arms.
"You silly girl, what are you running for? Couldn't the carriage just drive to you faster than you could trot to it?"
"Master, I missed you so much!!!" Jinwen whined coyly.
For the past two years she had never once left his side. Now she had been out here on her own for a full two months, and seeing her master again, she could no longer hold back the longing she had kept bottled up.
Zhao Baihui felt a pang of tenderness for the girl. "If it's too hard, you could come back, you know. Someone else could manage things here just as well."
"No! I haven't accomplished enough yet. I'm not going back to have Elder Sister laugh at me!" Eyes blurry with tears, Jinwen refused with stubborn resolve.
"All right then. You've worked hard." Zhao Baihui patted her on the head, then looked up at the three boys who had followed behind.
By the standards of this world, they were not children. But in Zhao Baihui's eyes, they were still just boys of fourteen or fifteen.
"Master!" Their faces were bright with feeling, though they kept their composure well enough.
"Ha! You're all young men — I won't go on about hardship. I've read your reports. Well done, all of you!"
At the praise, every one of them stood a little straighter.