Chapter 2 Thatched House (Minor Repair)

Tao Nanfeng and Xiao Aiyun were led by people from the Infrastructure Department through a narrow mountain road. After walking for more than half an hour, they finally arrived at an open slope.

Today feels amazing.

Chirp, chirp, chirp...birds fly across the valley.

Ding-dong-dong...spring water flows through the mountain walls and cracks in the rocks.

Ding ding ding—several people are hammering on rocks.

All the sounds enter my ears, interweaving into a very dynamic picture in my mind.

The world before my eyes seemed to tear open a veil, becoming clear and vivid. Unconsciously, Tao Nanfeng's steps became lighter and his walking speed was faster than usual.

There were seven or eight shirtless strong men on the hillside, some were fiddling with orange-yellow measuring instruments, and some were carrying miscellaneous wood and gravel.

Seeing the man with his back exposed in front of them, Tao Nanfeng and Xiao Aiyun turned around at the same time, looked at each other, and their cheeks flushed.

The men suddenly saw a young girl coming and were frightened and hurriedly put on the clothes hanging on the branches.

A man in a red vest complained, "Old Huang, what are you doing? We are a road construction team. Why are you bringing female comrades here?"

Old Huang was from the Infrastructure Department, about 40 years old. In response to the man's complaints, he just chuckled and looked at one of the men who was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and dark green military pants, his tone carrying a hint of submissiveness.

"Captain Xiang, these are the educated youth from Jiangcheng assigned by Luo Xuan today, Tao Nanfeng and Xiao Aiyun. They will follow your road construction team from now on."

Captain Xiang was very tall, with a straight back. Even with his back to the others, one could still sense his fierceness. "What does Luo Xuan mean?"

Old Huang smiled bitterly and said, "It is said that it was the instruction of Chief Jiao that men and women should work together and the work will not be tiring."

Xiao Aiyun had already felt that his future was bleak when he was assigned to the road construction team. He walked all the way under the scorching sun, his face was sunburned and his back was soaked with sweat. Seeing that the team leader Xiang, who had his back to him, seemed dissatisfied with the arrangement of the site office, he felt a little panicked and grabbed Tao Nanfeng's arm, shaking all over.

"He, if they don't accept us, what will we do with the ten work points?"

If they were sent back by the road construction team, it would take an unknown amount of time for the two of them to return to the site office and wait for arrangements. The dry food we brought has been almost eaten up. If this continues, we will have nothing but cold water to drink and wait to starve to death.

He did not express his opinion to the captain and continued to stand straight.

After not hearing a reply from the other party for a long time, Tao Nanfeng looked up at him and immediately lowered his head.

He has broad shoulders, long legs, a strong physique, skin that glows bronze in the sun, and stands upright like a green pine on the mountain. Tao Nanfeng had never met a man like this before, and for some reason she felt a little uneasy.

A thin man walked over to the captain's side, dragged Lao Huang aside and whispered to him.

"One of these two young women looks like a bean sprout, and the other looks like a flower. How can they work in the road construction team? Old Huang, take them back and find them a lighter job."

"A higher-ranking official can crush a person. When the list of assignments comes out from above, what can I do?"

"Damn it, Luo is a piece of shit! The road construction team asked him for people, they wanted men who can carry heavy loads, not delicate girls... just being a vase would be a hindrance. When they came, the team members couldn't even go shirtless, it was really unpleasant to work in such a hot day."

"Deputy Captain Mao, you also know that Director Luo is very stingy with money and food. If they don't earn enough work points, they won't get food. These two female students will go hungry. They just arrived yesterday. It's more than a thousand kilometers from Jiangcheng to here. They didn't even take a breath to get here. They are all spoiled children at home. It's not easy. Just think of it as pity for them and accept it first."

Tao Nanfeng heard every word of the conversation between Deputy Captain Mao and Lao Huang, and felt a lump in his chest, which was stuffy, bitter and astringent.

This person has a really vicious tongue. He uses words like bean sprouts, rich flower, vase, delicate... When these words are put together, it makes people angry and embarrassed. I have never been despised like this before, today I finally experienced it!

"Women are such trouble!" Deputy Captain Mao snorted reluctantly.

Tao Nanfeng felt sad, and suddenly heard a low, slightly lazy voice in his ear: "Stay."

This is... Tao Nanfeng suddenly raised his head and looked at the tall figure in front of him.

The sun was shining fiercely and the weather was so hot that it was hard to breathe, but the collar of his long-sleeved shirt was buttoned meticulously, and his appearance and posture were proper.

He had short hair, with every hair standing up. Sweat was rising from the tips of his hair and then flowing down his forehead. His eyes are not big and his gaze is calm, but he has a sense of majesty, like a napping tiger, with tremendous energy contained in his tranquility.

A slash suddenly appeared on his face. It was a scar that ran from the base of his left ear to the corner of his mouth, as if it had been cut by a knife or an axe. Just one look at it could make people feel a faint pain in their hearts.

Tao Nanfeng lowered his head, feeling that looking at him any longer would be an offense.

Old Huang breathed a sigh of relief and said to the two girls with a smile, "Captain Xiang accepted you. Why don't you thank him properly?"

When Xiao Aiyun heard this, he knew that he had a plan for dinner today. He tried to stand up straight, straightened his chest and said loudly, "Thank you, Captain Xiang!"

"Thank you." Tao Nanfeng thanked softly, her voice was soft and low, like the clear stream flowing, which made Captain Xiang look at her again.

"My name is Xiangbei." Captain Xiang raised his hand and took two straw hats from the tree and handed them to Xiao Aiyu and Tao Nanfeng.

Tao Nanfeng subconsciously raised his head, raised his hand lightly and grabbed the edge of the straw hat. A faint burning sensation came from the tooth marks, as if reminding me of something. She quickly placed her right hand over the back of her left hand, and the straw hat in her hand just covered the red scarf wrapped around the back of her hand.

He pointed to a rock in the distance to the north and said, "Put on your hat and sit over there." After that, without looking at the two girls again, he directed everyone to continue the survey and quickly got down to work.

Xiangbei's words were too concise. Tao Nanfeng and Xiao Aiyun looked at each other, not knowing what he meant for a moment.

Looking in the direction he pointed, I saw that half of the rocks on the side of the road were hidden in the mountain, with only a small section dug out and exposed outside. Above there is a large pine tree more than ten meters high, standing tall and vigorous and green, casting a large area of ​​shade over the rocks.

You don’t have to do anything, just put on your hat and sit on a rock to rest. Is there such a beautiful thing?

Xiao Aiyun was already out of breath due to the heat. She cheered and walked over first, sat down on a stone, and fanned herself with her straw hat.

Tao Nanfeng looked around. This was a road that had just been opened. The yellow dirt road was only wide enough for two people to pass. There were weeds on both sides of the road and many tree roots were twisted and twisted.

Judging from the color of the soil, it is clay soil. This kind of soil has a large bearing capacity and can be used directly as a foundation without the need for artificial treatment.

When his father had free time, he would take Tao Nanfeng with him to draw drawings and visit sites. Half of his knowledge of architecture came from his father's dictation and the other half came from the professional book boxes in his study.

His father's thin face appeared in his mind. Tao Nanfeng shook his head and dared not think about it anymore. He slowly walked towards Xiao Aiyun. As soon as my body touched the edge of the stone, I felt a cool sensation.

Xiao Aiyun leaned close to Tao Nanfeng's ear and said with a grin, "This stone is so cool, come and sit down and take a rest."

Tao Nanfeng straightened his clothes, sat down diagonally, and gently supported himself with his left hand——

boom! The stone split in two along the base of the palm.

With a cry of "Ah--", Xiao Aiyun rolled off the stone and fell to the ground. He stared at Tao Nanfeng in disbelief with his eyes wide open.

As Tao Nanfeng pushed forward with his left hand, a hot current flowed out from his fingertips, the stone cracked, and the whole person fell out due to inertia.

She felt no pain at all and got up in a panic, supporting herself with her left hand on a short and sturdy chinaberry tree on the side of the road.

Crack! The chinaberry tree was broken into two pieces, and the cut edge, as big as a bowl, was flat and smooth.

If she hadn't finally reacted and steadied herself this time, she would probably have rolled down the hillside.

Tao Nanfeng stared blankly at his left hand wrapped in a scarf: splitting rocks and breaking trees, what kind of power is this! What was that heat flow just now?

Xiao Aiyun got up from the ground and ran to Tao Nanfeng's side. She didn't notice that her braid was stained with grass leaves. There was a hint of panic in her voice: "Tao Nanfeng, what's wrong with you? What happened just now?"

The teammates of the road construction team were attracted by the noise, stopped their work and gathered around. Some looked at the stones, some looked at the broken wood, and they couldn't help but marvel at it.

"The cracks in the stone are smooth, as if they were cut by an axe."

"If it was a tensile force, the cut should be at a 45-degree angle and slanted downward. Looking at this fracture, it is clearly caused by a huge shear force."

“Although the wood of the chinaberry tree is loose, this tree is as thick as a bowl, and even an adult cannot make a judgment with just one palm.”

“It’s still a horizontal section, and it’s still shear force.”

There was an engineer with a background in road and bridge construction in the road construction team, named Yang Xianyong. He often taught the team about mechanics, so that everyone could analyze things clearly and every sentence involved mechanics.

After the discussion, everyone looked at Tao Nanfeng with curiosity in their eyes.

Engineer Yang Xianyong, who was about 40 years old and short, was wearing a white safety helmet. He looked kind and gentle, and asked her gently, "Did you do this?"

"I don't know." Tao Nanfeng's face looked a little pale.

——Chop rocks with your palms and break trees with your fists.

When I woke up in the morning I noticed I had more strength, but I didn’t expect it to be this much! Is it because of that dream?

Although she didn't say anything, Tao Nanfeng, with her fair skin and beautiful face, looked like a painting standing there, which made people feel pity for her.

"How could she have done this? The stone would have cracked long ago."

"The chinaberry tree has a rotten core and cannot withstand impacts."

"This girl looks like she can't carry anything with her shoulders or hands, how could she possibly have that much strength?"

Hearing everyone's discussions, Tao Nanfeng moved his left hand slightly, and the burning sensation at the teeth marks on the back of his hand gradually became stronger.

It was like a reservoir, filled with water after days of heavy rain. If it wasn't released, it would burst out. There was also a powerful force in her body that was eager to be released.

Tao Nanfeng took a half step back and his calf hit a half-broken stone lying on the side of the road.

"Ah--" With the exclamations of the crowd, the stone weighing about a thousand pounds actually fell off the cliff because of Tao Nanfeng's slight touch.

Gu...Boom boom boom!

Huge rocks rolled to the bottom of the valley, making an earth-shaking sound.

Gudong——

The sound of collective swallowing.

My God, splitting rocks and breaking chinaberry trees... this girl must have done it!

The mountain breeze blew, blowing up Tao Nanfeng's bangs, revealing a pair of curved willow-leaf eyebrows and big eyes as bright as stars.

Who would have thought that a soft and pretty girl could be a hidden strongman?