I didn't want to waste more of the day than I already had so I leapt on the bike and rode around for a few minutes before thinking "I need a head wash". I thought I'd invite A Wu to go for one too so rang him and he said to go to his new office on the other side of town. Of course things didn't transpire in the order I had planned, but it was Saturday and so ok.
I found his office with no problem, and parked the now dirty bike around the back at the car wash business that is the ground floor of his work. A Ni was there and noticed that the bike (her bike) was quite filthy and said we should get it washed. Fair enough, so I did. We then went to one of the head wash places I really like, but as we settled down for our decadency A Wu noticed that there was no air conditioning. Despite the fact that it wasn't oppressively hot, he steadfastly refused to stay, and so we moved on. I felt a bit bad, but not as bad as the employees there, but it wasn't as if it was their fault. Anyway we drove up 100 yards to a place on the other side of the road where they had electricity and had a sumptious hour making me wonder why we ever go back home. 20 kuai for the expensive shampoo and an hour's delight.
We then went back to A Wu's new office and I was introduced to the pick-up truck that A Wu had bought not three months ago. It was a Chinese dark green affair, branded "Sailor", which seemed slightly inappropriate. However, it was not a bad machine; two rows of seats and decent space at the back for moving stuff around, such as the futon that he'd just bought to go in his office. Additionally, in a move similar to many English and probably American car owners with a little too much extra cash, he had the numberplate "AWU655" - nice touch. ("Wu" also sounds like the number 5, hence the last four digits of his mobile are 5).
We were to go to his work, and he said I could drive his pick-up, maybe because I'd complimented it. Well it was nice to drive a manual vehicle in China for the first time. It was a noisy diesel, but had a bit of power and the gears were well spaced (not too tractor-like). I drove the ten minutes to his work place and only when I tried to drive up the loose-stoned road to his mountain did I discover that it was only rear-wheeled drive and not 4x4. It took a couple of reversing manoeuvres but I managed to get my Sailor up the hill and into A Wu's work. We stayed there for over an hour as he talked to his workers and took the day's takings from his older brother who I think now works there. It's hard to work out exactly how much is made per day/month as I don't hear about tax. But it looks like he can get from 10k to 50k kuai a day depending on what company is buying what type of stone from him. Typically I think it's 10k, and then he has to pay the workers. Again, it's hard to know exactly but drivers seem to get 2000 kuai per month and the digger drivers 2500. There are indubitably more people on the payroll but I get the impression the wages are good compared to other labourers, but a smaller fraction of the profits than perhaps elsewhere. You do have to counter that with the fact that if it rains for a day there is no work - people still get paid but you can't crush the stones for some reason. I did ask about the logistics of putting a cover over the whole plant but it would cost a bomb and probably blow away as soon as a big wind came. Speaking of which the wind had started blowing and precipitation looked not far away.
A Wu and his Sailor - note the numberplate
After more conversations, and a dry game of cai ma I played with one of the workers (another of whom drank the white alcohol when I lost), we finally got back in the pick-up and headed back to Pingguo. I'd told A Wu about the "Shui Shang Ren Jia" restaurant I'd visited last weekend with Xixi and we decided to have a look there. As I parked the car he rang some government official and found that he happened to be there just at that time. For some reason he was embarrassed and we walked around the outside of the place for five minutes before actually entering, why I will probably never know. But when we did enter we found a group of ten or so men sitting around the table that Xixi and I had taken pictures at last week. Most of the food had gone, as had a couple of dozen beer bottles. But as soon as they saw us (me?) they ordered fresh bowls and glasses and we ate and drank more than good men should in the two hours we spent there. One of the blokes was particularly half-cut. I found out he was the main government official of a town just outside Bangxu, but was here with his son. What irked me was that despite his level of inebriation he beat me at cai ma. In fact others did too so I had to call timeout as the fizz was getting to me. We managed to leave at around 9pm.
A Wu had had some beers too, so let me drive his pick-up to our house, which I did impeccably at a slow pace. At 10.15pm I got a call from Lu Hai asking where I was and I said I'd be at the seafood place in 5 mins. When I arrived 10 minutes later he was just arriving himself. Oh, the food was very good...lots of raw fish that you dip in a vinegarry, oily sauce, and add peanuts too. Glad I didn't eat too much at the other place. A Wu made his excuses and left after half an hour, but there were plenty of friends, and the owner and boss, to keep us company till the early hours. I went home knackered, but happy to have had a day of leisure.
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