The daily life of "temporary" migrant worker Li Hongtao
Originally published in Rural Youth, No. 8, 2021
Text/Reporter Liu Shuchen
Winter is getting slower and colder. On rare weekends, everyone cats in the room, covering the quilt and blowing air conditioning. In a community in Beijing, which should be bustling, there are no children playing, old people playing chess and cards, only the rumbling of air conditioners and the sound of workers shoveling sand.
At 11:30 a.m., the workers finally put down the shovels in their hands and rested on the sidelines. A tall, dark-faced man was particularly striking, for he was extremely strong in shoveling sand and limping when he walked.
The dark man's name was Li Hongtao (not his real name), and he and the resting workers were from Xiaojing Town, Dongming County, Shandong Province. They are not "professional" workers in construction companies, but farmers who come to Various Construction Sites in Beijing to find work in their spare time. They do not have a fixed salary, let alone five insurances and one gold. Sometimes it is charged by day and according to the type of work; sometimes it is waiting for the work to be completed and the foreman has passed the acceptance, and the money is settled according to the amount of the project, and everyone distributes it by themselves.
Every year, by working odd jobs at various construction sites in Beijing, Li Hongtao earns more than he does in the family farm. However, it is also not easy to get the opportunity to work. A few years ago, Li Fan (pseudonym), the "third brother" in the village, approached him and said that there was a construction site in Beijing that was short of people, 300 yuan a day, and worked for 20 days. At that time, Li Hongtao, who had just finished harvesting wheat, was going to go somewhere to earn some money to supplement his family, and Li Fan's suggestion made him both heartwarming and worried: he earned a lot, but Beijing was so far away that he had never been. I heard that eating and living there are very expensive, can you adapt to it? Listening to his worries, Li Fan couldn't help but sigh and comfort him: "Aren't you just worrying about it, can the construction site still have no place for you to live?" Which with your money. We are not a restaurant under the sky, the foreman manages the meal at night, and at noon we can't spend a few dollars on instant noodles. You can't come, many people in our village want to come with me." It's not because you're young and have two babies at home that you want to take you. Hearing this, Li Hongtao immediately went home to discuss with his wife, and the next day he followed Li Fan on the road to Beijing.
When he arrived at the construction site, Li Hongtao knew that it was not easy for Li Fan to go south and north over the years. Foreman Wang Gong was known when he was working odd jobs in Hebei, because Li Fan worked hard and never stole and slipped, Wang Gong left Li Fan's contact information, and every time there was a shortage of people, he would look for him. Once, Wang Gong subcontracted the renovation of an old residential area in Beijing, which needed more manpower. Li Fan took the initiative to take over the work and found 6 young men from the same village to work together. In this way, Li Hongtao followed Li Fan into Beijing to work every year.
Taking a nap on Li Hongtao's left side was Li Fan: a tall, thin, thick-eyebrowed, big-eyed Shandong Man.
"Don't look at me limping now, my dad and I studied a little bricklayer, and I was working on the roof before my foot injury." Working at height earns more, but..." Li Hongtao, who was chatting, looked at his feet and sighed deeply.
Under careful questioning, I learned that during the lunch break 5 days ago, Li Hongtao slept in the shade downstairs as usual, who knew that a car pressed on his feet when reversing. After the doctor's diagnosis and treatment was not a big problem, but it was difficult to get out of bed and walk, and it took 4 days to reduce the swelling, so he hurried back to the construction site to work.
When asked why he didn't keep it for a few more days, Li Hongtao said: "Although I also have lost work expenses, I live in an uncomfortable place. Moreover, we are not giving money on a daily basis this time, the work is just that, everyone does it together, and if I don't do it, they will do more. I might as well lie down and do what I can, and I feel comfortable. ”
Listening to Li Hongtao's simple words, I couldn't help but be awe-inspired.
At 2 p.m., the workers began to work again.
Four hours later, a van slowly approached, and Li Hongtao and his co-workers packed up and got into the car. The van drove for 20 minutes to where they lived. It is far from the city, the road has changed from asphalt road to gravel road, not to mention the supermarket convenience store nearby, and there are very few residents.
The appearance of Li Hongtao's dormitory
The car ended up in a compound flanked by simple houses made of sheet metal, with more than a dozen huts on each side. There are three bunk beds in the house, thin sheets, and a "dining table" made of barrels and wooden planks next to the beds, and the whole dormitory can be seen in an unobstructed view.
When I got to the dormitory, after a short rest, everyone rushed to the canteen to cook, one bowl of egg fried rice for one person, not enough to eat can be continued. Every morning at 8:30 a.m., from the dormitory to the construction site, this is the whole picture of their work and life.
Accommodation conditions
Is this kind of life bitter and tired? Li Hongtao was very calm, smiled and said: "It is not easier to plant corn and harvest wheat at home." I earn a lot here, but I may eat and live almost. However, my two children are in need of money, and it is not very good to be able to earn them money for cram schools in these ten or twenty days. ”
In his hometown in Shandong, Li Hongtao's wife lives with two children, a boy and a girl. The eldest one is just in junior high school, and the younger one is in elementary school. Listening to Li Hongtao, in order to let the children study well, the couple sent them to a private school in the county where they could stay. In this way, the child's daily life is taken care of, and the two people with low academic qualifications no longer have to worry about tutoring the child's homework. It's just that tuition fees are higher and the couple is under more pressure. This "temporary migrant worker" work model can not only greatly subsidize the family, but also do not require him to be in the field all year round, and the children will not become left-behind children.
"You said that my boss, everyone's children want to play, but she always feels that she can't learn enough." Yesterday I called and wanted to apply for a math cram school, the tuition fee was 3,000 yuan, you said that I am not angry feet..." Talking about his family, Li Hongtao will always be happy. His injury to his foot may be his biggest worry now, after all, he heard that there have been many renovation projects in the old residential areas in Beijing in the past two years, and immediately there is another construction site waiting for him to show his skills.
Final Judgement: Lin Yuhong
Reviewer: Li Zhiguo Liu Zhu Baby
Editor: Liu Shuchen