The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Chapter 748 Precast Concrete Slab Building

Looking at the father and son in front of him, who were clearly new to Southeast Asia, the landlord sneered and fanned himself vigorously with his palm-leaf fan.

"You think it's too expensive? If you think it's too expensive, go sleep on the streets."

Why don't you go out and ask around how many people are going to Southeast Asia every day during the Republic of China era?

Let me tell you, Singapore is now overflowing with gold, but there's nowhere to sleep!

This is still a fair price; there are dozens of people waiting in line to stay. You two, take it or leave it!

Lin Dayou was speechless.

This is the stark reality that supply and demand determine prices.

He touched the few five-yuan bills in his crotch, his heart bleeding.

This is all our possessions! After paying rent, we only have a dozen yuan left. We still need to eat and buy tools...

“Father…” Lin Xiaoshan tugged at his sleeve, his eyes filled with fear.

Looking at his son's sallow face, ravaged by seasickness, Lin Dayou's heart softened, and he gritted his teeth:

"We'll stay! We'll stay!"

After paying the rent, the landlord led them up to the second floor.

Upon entering the room, a strong smell of sweat, foot odor, and mildew almost knocked Lin Dayou over.

This isn't a room, it's practically a pigeon coop.

The originally spacious hall was divided into small cubicles of only two or three square meters each by wooden boards, which are called "rooms within rooms".

There were no windows, it was pitch black, with only a dim yellow light bulb shining in the corridor.

"This is the room." The landlord pointed to a corner partition that could only fit a tattered straw mat.

"The toilet is at the end of the corridor, shared by dozens of people. Remember to go early in the morning to queue up, or don't blame me if you poop in your pants."

After saying that, the landlord waved his hand, turned around, and left.

Lin Dayou put down his bedding and sat down on the ground with a thud, feeling as if all his strength had been drained.

Is this the Southeast Asian life he has always dreamed of?

Is this the legendary paradise?

Weren't we supposed to be fellow Hokkien speakers?

A violent coughing sound came from next door, sounding like a heavy smoker, as if he was about to cough up his lungs.

On the other side, there were the sounds of a child crying and a woman scolding.

The sound insulation is practically nonexistent.

"Dad, I want to go home..." Lin Xiaoshan said, his voice trembling with tears.

"Go back my ass." Lin Dayou cursed in a low voice, but there was not much anger in his tone, but more helplessness. "What else is there at home? Are we going to starve if we go back?"

They come, the security.

As long as Dad has a skill, we can settle down here.

He pulled a hard, dry steamed bun from his pocket, broke it in half, and handed it to his son: "Eat up, you'll have the strength to work when you're full."

Late at night.

Lin Dayou lay on the hard wooden floor, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

Through a gap above the partition, he could see the brightly lit area in the distance outside the window.

That place is said to have been the former Governor's residence of the John Colony, and is now the Singapore Government Building of the United States of Southeast Asia.

The lights there were so dazzling, so unreachable, as if it were another world.

On the edge of that world, people like Ah Xiu, wearing red headscarves, and newcomers like him, are like ants, silently carrying bricks in the darkness, trying to build themselves a tiny nest.

"Nanhua Construction Group..." Lin Dayou murmured the name to himself.

Tomorrow, I must go and check out that construction site.

Unbeknownst to him, a massive plan was brewing right there in the brightly lit area he was gazing at.

That plan would completely change the fate of millions of immigrants from Southeast Asia, like him and Ah Xiu.

-----

The next morning, before dawn, the entire Chinatown was already awake.

The sounds of emptying the toilet, brushing teeth and washing faces, and hawking breakfast blended into a noisy symphony of everyday life.

Lin Dayou and his son spent half a day queuing in front of the public toilet before they were finally able to relieve themselves.

After eating some leftover steamed buns from last night, the father and son headed straight for the construction site Ah Xiu had pointed out.

Upon arriving at the destination, Lin Dayou was once again awestruck.

This isn't building a house, it's practically magic!

The huge searchlights were still on, and the construction site was brightly lit.

He saw trucks bringing in something strange—huge, regularly shaped gray slabs of stone.

"What's that?" Lin Dayou asked a coworker who was smoking next to him.

"A new customer, huh?" The coworker exhaled a smoke ring, looking at him like he was a country bumpkin. "That's called 'precast concrete slab,' a new thing that Nanhua Group is making."

I heard that the walls and floors are already built in the factory, and then you just need to assemble them like building blocks.

"Building blocks?" Lin Dayou, being a carpenter, was very sensitive to structural issues. "Will that be sturdy?"

"Who knows?" The worker shrugged. "Anyway, I heard they're building incredibly fast. It used to take six months to build a building, but now? Hmph, they can build one in a month."

Just then, a shout came from afar.

"We're hiring! We need carpenters, bricklayers, and strong men too."

Lin Dayou's eyes lit up, and he grabbed his son and rushed over there.

In the crowd, he saw that red figure again.

Ah Xiu was carrying a load of mortar, walking on a shaky plank.

Her back was very straight, and her red headscarf fluttered slightly in the morning breeze, like a small flag.

Lin Dayou took a deep breath, squeezed into the crowd, and raised his calloused hands high:

"I'm a carpenter, an old carpenter, I can do any kind of work."

In this scorching concrete jungle, Lin Dayou's battle has only just begun.

-----

Time is like the rain in Southeast Asia—it comes quickly and goes quickly.

In the blink of an eye, Lin Dayou has been in Singapore for a month.

Over the past month, his skin has tanned from its original sallow color to a bronze hue, and the calluses on his hands have thickened, but his eyes are much brighter than when he first disembarked.

Now, he is no longer the obsequious newcomer, but a full-time carpenter in the third engineering team of the Xingzhou branch of Nanhua Construction Group.

"rise--!"

With a whistle from the signalman, the massive tower crane emitted a sickening metallic scraping sound as it slowly lifted the last heavy precast concrete slab.

The board traced a gray arc in the air and landed precisely on the top of the seventh floor.

赫鲁晓夫楼

"Click".

It's like building blocks fitting together perfectly.

"Alright! Great success in topping out!"

The squad leader, wearing a yellow rattan safety helmet, shouted at the top of his lungs, waving a small red flag in his hand:

"Attention all groups, prepare to enter the interior for operations."

Listen up, everyone! Helmet! Helmet!

If anyone dares to take that thing off and use it as a fan, don't blame me for deducting half a day's wages.

"If the inspection team catches you, I can't protect you either."

Lin Dayou subconsciously adjusted the rattan safety helmet on his head.

This thing is a specialty of Southeast Asia. It is woven from tough rattan, coated with a layer of hard lacquer on the outside, and lined with a layer of coarse cloth on the inside.

Although it's more breathable than those metal ones, it still makes my scalp itch in this sweltering weather.

The strap was digging into my chin, a bit uncomfortable, and sweat dripped down the strap, making me unbearably itchy.

But he dared not pick it.

After a month in Southeast Asia, he had practically internalized the "rules" of the place.

Back in my rural hometown, where the emperor was far away and the world was vast, aside from the local landlords, whoever had the biggest fist in the village was right.

But in Southeast Asia, the rules are the strictest.

Crossing the street without using a crosswalk? You'll be fined.

Spitting in public? Fine and street sweeping.

Not wearing a safety helmet to work? That's like throwing away your money.

A couple of days ago, a clueless guy in the next group took off his hat and hung it on his waist because he was hot, and he was caught red-handed by the inspection team.

Not only was he fined three days' wages, but he was also forced to do voluntary labor, spending an entire day under the scorching sun brushing the curb stones.

When he came back, the kid's face was sunburned and peeling, and he cried more miserably than if his own father had died.

The class monitor calls this "discipline".

He said, "To be a Nanyang person, you must abide by the rules. This is a civilized society."

Although Lin Dayou doesn't understand what civilized society is, he does understand money.

The fine hurts so much, it hurts even more than being whipped.