When Bao Guowei came to his senses, he saw that the two people had already walked up to him.
"What do you do?"
Bao Guowei had just listened to their conversation, and now that he saw their clothes, he knew that they were in charge of the dock.
"I came here looking for an errand."
"Errand?" one person said.
"Oh, I'm just looking for work." Another person explained as he nudged the man with his right elbow.
The man scanned Bao Guowei up and down and saw that he looked upright and had a clean face, but his clothes were shabby. He must have been a young man from a declining family.
"It just so happens that we are short of people at the dock. Judging from your tender skin and tender flesh, I would never want you if it were normal times!" The man bared his teeth and his tone was very frivolous.
Bao Guowei nodded and quickly thanked him.
In the past, he had always looked down on such bullies, but now that he was hungry, he could only "kowtow".
The two stewards didn't have much of a conversation with Bao Guowei, so they ordered the other steward, Lao Le, who was supposed to be in charge of the labor handling at the dock, to take Bao Guowei away.
Just as he was about to walk, the two people behind him whispered something again, but Bao Guowei, who had been smart since he was a child, heard those words clearly.
“What about the money for renting wheels and going down the river?”
"It's okay. In the past few days, the dock has received a few more shipments. Let him work for a few days and then send him away."
Bao Guowei has learned a lot since he was a child, and he still knows something about the docks of the Republic of China.
It turns out that it was not that easy to work on the docks during the Republic of China.
First of all, you need to find a reliable person as a guarantee, and you also need to pay a one-time payment for "renting a wheel" (about 2 yuan) and "money for going down the river" (about 2 yuan, and you can only work on the dock after paying the money).
And for some special goods, you have to buy related simple tools yourself, such as baskets, poles, etc.
During the Republic of China, there was a lot of oil and water at the wharf, especially for foreign goods. Being a porter was considered a good job in the eyes of rural people.
If it hadn't been for the holidays these days, Bao Guowei probably wouldn't have had the chance to come here.
"After these few days, I won't be able to work as a laborer here forever." Bao Guowei murmured to himself.
Then, he followed Lao Le and continued walking forward. He led Bao Guowei to the dock and stopped.
Large ships docked at the pier, with sacks containing goods piled neatly on them as high as a hill.
The dock workers went to move the goods one after another. They were all tall, short, fat, thin, old and young, but without exception, their faces were all dark and yellow.
The younger ones are stronger and can carry two sacks at a time, while the older ones can carry one sack.
"Huhu."
As he was walking, Bao Guowei heard heavy breathing and turned his head to look.
I saw a tall, thin man carrying a pig onto the boat. From the looks of it, he was probably 1.9 meters tall.
He was naked to the waist and walked swiftly, clicking, every step was steady. Although he was not very old, he must be an old laborer who was used to the job.
However, although he is tall, he is really too thin.
Bao Guowei looked at his exposed ribs and the white, catkin-like fat on the half of the pig on his shoulders, and felt something indescribable in his heart.
"Hey! That kid, what are you standing there looking at!?" Lao Le scolded.
Bao Guowei came to his senses and followed Lao Le towards another large ship.
After arriving at the place, Lao Le began to bargain with Bao Guowei. Judging by his accent, Lao Le is also from the country. Seeing that Bao Guowei came to ask for a living during the festival, he didn't embarrass him.
Bao Guowei's salary is calculated on a daily basis, which is one yuan and ten cents a day.
At that time, a good dock laborer could earn more than 20 yuan a month. You must know that Lao Bao worked as a housekeeper in the Qin Mansion, which only earned 8 yuan a month.
Therefore, this salary is really not low.
After negotiating the price, Bao Guowei devoted himself to the labor of port handling.
Bao Guowei was still wearing his tattered cotton robe. He looked carefully at the people around him, and all of them were wearing single coats.
Although it was a cold day, the wind was not strong, and I was half-shirtless, so it was just cool.
The dock workers were covered in sweat. They were carrying sacks on their shoulders, shouting "Hey, hey, hey," and spitting out white mist.
"Bao Guowei! What are you doing standing there?!" Lao Le urged.
Bao Guowei looked at the torn cotton robe on his body, shook his head, and regardless of it, he picked up a sack and put it on his shoulder. Not to mention, the weight was really quite big!
"Uh... Huh." Bao Guowei breathed softly. His arms felt weak, but he could only bear the courage and move forward.
"Damn it, scream, scream, wait until I become famous, I will look better than you!"
…
There are a lot of goods and few people at the dock these days, so they are not allowed to take a break at noon.
They started working in the morning until almost dusk, when the workers slowly had time to sit down and take a rest.
"Ah..." Bao Guowei sat down on the ground, feeling his shoulders numb, spicy and itchy.
The tattered cotton robe on his body was soaked with sweat. There was no wind during the day, but this was the time when the wind was strong. If he took off his clothes now, he would definitely catch a cold if the wind blew.
He unbuttoned the first button of his cotton robe and exposed his shoulders. Due to the wrong posture when carrying things, his shoulders were red and swollen.
"Although this body is really of good quality, if you do this, your legs will not be able to walk in a few days. This is not a long-term solution!" Bao Guowei murmured.
He was thinking about how he could get out of his current predicament.
The most important thing now is opportunity. The dock is a place where people are sophisticated. If you keep your head down and work hard, as long as you can endure hardships, you will have endless hardships in the future.
The key is to take advantage of his English. But these days, although it is the time when the East and West are merging, foreigners are not common. Maybe there are more people in Jingkou, where trade is developed.
So after working for a day, he didn't even see any foreign goods, let alone foreigners.
Bao Guowei shook his head, don't think about this.
He was very hungry now. He had eaten the moldy pancakes left by those old people that day, so he took out some steamed buns distributed by the pier.
"Damn, it's still cold." Bao Guowei complained.
He took a bite and saw that it was full of crumbs. He knew at a glance that it was a steamed bun that had been left out for several days.
Bao Guowei was about to throw away the steamed bun in his hand, and he was about to curse, but his rumbling stomach didn't allow him to do so, so he had to forcefully drink cold water down his stomach.
"Hiccup..." Bao Guowei burped. He was finally full and had some strength.
"Gudong!"
A crisp sound of falling water rang in Bao Guowei's ears. He thought it was a worker who accidentally threw the goods into the river while unloading the goods.
The pier is crowded with people. Not only does goods fall into the river, but it is also normal for people to slip and fall into the water.
There was a faint voice calling for help...
"Help! Help!"
Bao Guowei's body trembled, "What the hell?"
At first, he thought it was a local dialect, but he immediately realized that it meant "help" in English!
The dock is not a place where you can meet foreigners within two steps, let alone at the moving site. Bao Guowei thought it would take a lot of effort to meet foreigners, but he didn't expect that they would come to his doorstep on the first day.
Now or never! There is no shortage of dignitaries in the dock. What is lacking is whether you can grasp the dignitaries when you meet them!
Without saying anything, Bao Guowei hurried toward the cry for help.
Everyone stood on the dock and deck, looking at the people who fell into the water, as anxious as a ball of ants on a hot pot.
While he was in a hurry, he heard another "dong" sound, and a white shadow fell into the lake.
That is Bao Guowei!
I saw how strong that figure was!
Bao Guowei swam to the man who had fallen into the water, but the man didn't know the nature of water and was very panicked. He kicked and crackled, keeping him away.
But Bao Guowei was experienced. He dived under the water, walked around behind the man, wrapped his hands around the man's waist, and raised the man's head to the surface with one force.
"Don't move, don't move! I'm here to save you, relax!" Bao Guowei shouted in her ear, and the man's struggling movements were indeed much smaller.
Bao Guowei held the man steady, and then he kicked hard with his two pairs of powerful long legs like duck webs.
After a while, the man was sent to the shore. The people on the shore stretched out their hands and pulled the man and Bao Guowei to the shore.
