Chapter 64: It’s bad for bragging, and you’ll be struck by lightning.
As soon as the snow starts to fall, the logging team will officially enter the mountains.
Without waiting for a mobilization meeting, each family had already started packing up their things very experiencedly, preparing clothes, bedding, and daily necessities for going up the mountain.
Yan Xue followed her instructions and asked the second old lady to help her make a bearskin mattress from the bear skin that was seen in the spring. She also put pickled vegetables and dried meat in it and gave them all to Qi Fang.
Even Yan Jigang had secretly stuffed a few pieces of candy in there, so that the stuff formed a huge pile on the kang and was completely impossible to take out.
Yan Jigang thought about it and took out the candies again.
Qi Fang took it and put it directly into his pocket, "It's okay, you can carry it."
He found an army green marching belt and tied some of the things together. When the time came, he would carry one, back one, and hold one in his hand.
On the day of departure, he did not wake Yan Xue up. He gently kissed Yan Xue on the lips and left with his things.
He had been quite busy these past two days because he had to go up the mountain, especially last night, Yan Xue was completely willing to risk her life for him.
She was so tired that she didn't want to move, but he said he was leaving today, so she forced herself to let him go.
The second old lady had prepared the meal early in the morning. After Qi Fang finished eating, he went out. When he arrived at the gathering point, he happened to meet Liu Weiguo who also had a lot of bags.
Liu Weiguo laughed when he saw him. "I thought my wife and mother were already full of extravagance, but I didn't expect you to be even more exaggerated."
In the past, when going up the mountain, Qi Fang was the one with the simplest and least things, but now it’s the opposite, he has become the one with the most.
When they arrived at the dormitory, Liu Weiguo was so surprised when he saw the bearskin mattress that he exclaimed, "Your wife really loves you. She brought such a nice thing up the mountain for you."
People were poor in those days, and even dog skins were bought at purchasing stations. Such a large bear skin would definitely be worth a lot of money if sold.
The other people in the dormitory also clicked their tongues, "Xiao Liu is fine, but Xiao Qi, you've been married for almost a year, and your wife is still so virtuous?"
Unlike them, the novelty of their marriage wore off after only half a year, and the first thing their wife said was, "If you want to eat, eat it, don't eat it."
Qi Fang said nothing and first found a place to put the big bag of food away.
After settling in, they went into the mountains that same day. The chainsaw operators and assistants had to go into the mountains three days in advance and maintain a safe working distance of 70 meters from other people.
Three days later, four 50-ton logging tractors rumbled up and transported the felled timber down the mountain.
This type of professional logging tractor is equipped with an oil wire rope. When in use, the oil wire rope is wrapped around the wood. Once the machine is started, the wood is dragged onto the trailer behind the tractor.
After the things are transported to the foot of the mountain and unloaded, someone will naturally load them onto a small train and take them to the town, or return them there.
Jin Baozhi and You Jinfeng were in the team that was responsible for lifting the wood, two people per pole, using manpower to lift the wood and place it neatly on the stack one by one.
In the past, the Gui Leng team was composed of men. Seeing two female soldiers, they couldn't help but question, "Can you two do it? Don't let anything go wrong."
This job is quite dangerous. If it is not done properly, injuries are common.
Jin Baozhi said nothing, but carefully checked the wooden lever again.
Eugene Feng, who had no men at home, was even more aggressive. "If you can do it, why can't we?"
"It's not something we men can do, but you women can definitely do it." This time someone laughed in the wrong way, obviously making a dirty joke.
Eugene Feng wasn't the shy young wife who'd just gotten married. She didn't even blush. "We women can give birth to children, but you can't. So who's more noble than who?"
He no longer paid any attention to them and called Jin Baozhi, "Come on, sister, go to work!"
Carrying wood is generally divided into four people with two pairs of poles, six people with three pairs of poles, and eight people with four pairs of poles according to the size of the wood.
Because Jin Baozhi and You Jinfeng were newcomers, they were assigned to the middle of the six-person group and were given an experienced leader to lead them.
The lead worker is less than 40 years old, strong and healthy, and his salary has been rated at level six. Before starting work, he doesn't say a word and emphasizes safety issues first.
Seeing that the two men were listening attentively and nodded repeatedly to indicate that they had heard clearly, he and another person led the crowd forward.
The poles used to lift wood in the forest farm are all specially made, thin at both ends and thick in the middle, with a diamond hook hung under the groove in the middle with a thick nylon rope.
To lift the wood, one person would place the wooden bar on their shoulders, securing it with one hand while holding the hook with the other. Standing on either side of the wood, they would simultaneously bend over and hook the hook onto the wood. Then, standing straight at the same time, the hook would sink deeply into the wood.
As the leader shouted "lift", six people on the three poles in front and behind pulled the heavy wood up steadily from the ground.
Hundreds of pounds of weight pressed down on their shoulders, but Jin Baozhi and You Jinfeng's expressions didn't change at all. The leader in front shouted a slogan, and then followed it up with a "Howl!"
In the place full of men, there were only two women shouting their names so clearly and loudly that anyone who heard them would look sideways.
At first, some people were just there to watch the fun, pinching their throats to imitate the two, and then there was a burst of laughter. But as time went on, the laughter stopped.
The two men did not even utter a word despite carrying such a heavy task as lifting wood. Not only was no one unable to bear the fatigue, but they even became more and more adept at it the more they did it.
Sometimes someone would want to stop and smoke a cigarette, but when they saw the two women there, they felt embarrassed and couldn't help but curse, "These two women are really fucking capable."
The person who led the fight immediately looked at him and said, "If you are capable, why don't you work hard? Otherwise, you will end up being worse than a woman."
After a day's work, Jin Baozhi and You Jinfeng's cotton coats were soaked with sweat. They hung them by the stove to dry at night and had to put them back on to work the next day.
In comparison, tractor drivers like Liang Qimao have it much easier, especially experienced old tractor drivers like him.
After finishing a day's work, he drove his tractor slowly back home. Passing by Qi Fang's team finishing their work, he stopped to watch with interest. "Those new sawing hands are no good. They work too slowly. Two of them tied together can't catch up with one old sawing hand."
Then he looked at Qi Fang again, his face full of regret, "It's a pity that you were beaten back by the town, otherwise you would definitely be better than them. I heard from Old Hu that you are particularly good at using a curved-handled saw."
This is purely poking at Qi Fang's sore spot. What if it works well? Even if it works well, the town still beats him back.
The one who was not using the chainsaw well was already the one who was working on it, but he was still helping the chainsaw operator.
Ever since his affair with Cheng Yuzhen was discovered, Liang Qimao has been living in fear for the past few months. Not only does he not dare to harass Yan Xue, he doesn't even dare to talk to any female comrade.
Now that the logging team has gone up the mountain and no longer has to face Cuiyun, he can be said to have breathed a sigh of relief. But when he sees Qi Fang, the culprit who exposed the matter, of course he has to say a few words to him.
Liu Weiguo was walking next to Qi Fang, and his face immediately fell. "Captain Lin's wife is back?"
Isn't it just poking at someone's sore spot? Who wouldn't do that?
As expected, Liang Qimao's expression froze. "That was eight hundred years ago. Everyone makes mistakes."
He looked at the two of them meaningfully as he spoke, "You'll understand when you reach my age."
"Do you think everyone is the same as you?" Liu Weiguo didn't want to hear that. He immediately turned around and asked Qi Fang, "Does he have any other questions?"
This was using Qi Fang as an affair detector. Qi Fang looked at Liang Qimao and began to ponder.
This reaction made people puzzled. Liu Weiguo's eyes lit up immediately, "Really?" Liang Qimao's heart skipped a beat.
Qi Fang is such a weird person that he still doesn't know how he was exposed and was discovered by Qi Fang.
This made Qi Fang speed up the tractor before he could say anything. "You guys go slowly, I have to go back. Now the whole forest farm is revolving around these tractors. Not only has the logging workload increased, but the chainsaw operators are also recruited for this purpose. They have to be well placed."
Just as he finished speaking, the tractor, which had been moving slowly but still moving, suddenly stopped. The fire was still on, but it just wouldn't move.
Qi Fang had no intention of paying any attention to him, but when he saw this, he turned and looked at him with a deep look in his eyes.
Liu Weiguo laughed out loud, "Let him brag about his tractor, brag about it, and get struck by lightning."
Liang Qimao tinkered with it for a long time but couldn't fix it, so he had to turn off the engine, climb down to check everywhere, and then climb up again to restart it.
This time the tractor was able to move, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He thought he was really going to fail in front of Qi Fang today.
Liu Weiguo was obviously disappointed. "How can we leave again?"
"It's okay, maybe I won't be able to walk again in a while." Qi Fang was very calm.
Tractor engine stalling is mostly related to fuel supply, ignition system and mechanical failure, such as fuel pump failure or ignition coil damage.
However, if the engine does not shut down, the mechanical power is insufficient or the operation fails, it may be caused by the hydraulic transmission system.
Sure enough, the next morning, as soon as Liang Qimao drove out, his tractor went on strike again.
Not only his, the same situation also occurred in the other three stations one after another, and it became more and more frequent.
A few people asked someone from a small repair shop to take a look. After they replaced a component, the tractor resumed normal operation, but it soon returned to its old ways and even stopped moving completely.
After checking, it was still the same component. Xu Wenli realized something was wrong. "Why did it break so quickly? It shouldn't have happened this way."
Even if domestic technology is limited and the quality of some parts cannot keep up with demand, no matter how poor the quality is, it cannot be so bad that it breaks down within a few days.
He immediately went to the site and asked them to contact the town machine repair shop to send the items over to check if there were any other problems.
As a result, when Secretary Lang called, he found out that there was no vacancy at the town machine repair shop. Tractors at other forestry farms had also broken down and had been sent there first.
This is the trouble with the limited maintenance capabilities of small repair shops. If there is something that cannot be repaired here, it must be sent to the town machine repair shop.
The town's machine repair shop is not only responsible for one forest farm. If a group of machines break down, people have to queue up, and sometimes it depends on who has better connections.
Secretary Lang hurriedly asked how long it would take for them to get their turn. The result was not very ideal, so he tried to contact his acquaintances at the town's machine repair factory.
Since I have so many acquaintances, I told him directly, "You've all been waiting. I don't know what happened to the new batch of tractors that arrived this year, but they all broke down. The forest farms down there are pressing us for more, and the factory has been working overtime for two days straight. We can't handle it at all."
As he spoke, the other party yawned. Secretary Lang's face turned serious and he looked at Xu Wenli. "The new batch of tractors that arrived this year all had problems and can't be scheduled."
"Everything's broken?" Xu Wenli almost wanted to curse. "Ask him what the problem is. Is there a component that's breaking down particularly quickly?"
Secretary Lang asked about it and found out that it was true. The town machine repair factory has not yet found out the cause.
This is a problem. They can't find the cause, and they can't stop logging, so they can only use the components as consumables for the time being.
But the key is that even if they want to treat them as consumables, regardless of cost, they still need to have so many replacement parts. The batch the small repair shop has had was almost used up before, and there is only enough to replace two units, and it is not known how long these two units will last.
Ask the town machine repair shop for it. There are so many broken tractors in the forest farms of Chengshui that need to be replaced, and they don’t know if they can get one.
"How about taking out those two RT-12s and holding on for a while? It's better than just waiting here." There was really no other way, so Xu Wenli could only suggest.
"Those two RT-12s?" Secretary Lang obviously hadn't expected this. "Are those two RT-12s still usable?"
There had been a major flood at their forest farm, and the hangar where the tractors were stored was also flooded. He remembered it clearly, and the two RT-12s could not even be driven out.
"It works." Xu Wenli actually gave him an affirmative answer. "After the flood, we repaired the other machines, and we repaired it."
This was a pleasant surprise for Secretary Lang. "Then let's get those two RT-12s out and hold on for a while."
After saying that, he couldn't help but praise Xu Wenli, "Xiao Xu, you are really thoughtful."
"That's not what I thought," Xu Wenli said. "Xiao Qi said this batch of Jiji 50s had new equipment and was worried about instability, so he asked me to repair the two RT-12s as well, just in case."
"Xiao Qi? Are you talking about Qi Fang?" Secretary Lang was really surprised.
"Yeah, wasn't he seconded to me for a while?" Xu Wenli sighed. "He's really meticulous, and that's really putting him in good use."
To be honest, if Qi Fang hadn't brought it up, or even if his two apprentices hadn't gotten upset with Qi Fang about it, he might not have thought of repairing the two RT-12s.
But no matter what, it was fortunate that they had repaired the things before. Even Secretary Lang couldn't help but say: "Xiao Qi is indeed reliable."
"Then I'll have it taken out right away. I remember it wasn't returned to the hangar after repairs, so it's still in the small repair shop."
Xu Wenli wasted no time and rushed back to the small repair shop immediately. Fortunately, there was a silver lining in the misfortune, and his expression was not so solemn anymore.
His two apprentices were still surrounding a Jiji-50 that was waiting to be repaired. Seeing his expression, they relaxed and asked, "Is there a spot at the town's machine shop?"
"No." He walked straight to the workshop where the RT-12s were kept. "The town hasn't figured it out yet. Secretary Lang asked me to use those two RT-12s for a few days."
After a long while, no one responded, and no one helped him drive the two RT-12s out.
Xu Wenli couldn't help but look back, "Why are you all standing there like idiots?"
This time the two men finally moved, but their expressions were not very good. One of them wanted to say something but stopped, and the other pursed his lips tightly.
If Xu Wenli still couldn't see that something was wrong, he would be a fool. "You didn't repair it at all, did you?"
He clearly remembered that they went to repair it, and he even helped repair two important parts.
As expected, both apprentices shook their heads and said, "No, we repaired it."
But then the one who was about to speak but hesitated said: "But only one was repaired."
Xu Wenli's forehead veins popped out. "What do you mean you only fixed one? Didn't I tell you to fix both?"
"Both were repaired," another apprentice couldn't help but say, "but one was too badly damaged for our small repair shop to fix."
Xu Wenli was furious. "If you can't fix it, won't you send it to the town's machine repair shop? Won't you tell me? It's been months!"
But didn’t they think it was unnecessary?
Who would bother to repair something that is of no use? It's not like they don't have tractors at their forest farm...
The two apprentices remained silent, but even without them saying anything, Xu Wenli knew what they were thinking. "You guys still have the nerve to bully Xiao Qi. Look at what you've done! I even told Secretary Lang that we've repaired both machines. How am I supposed to explain this to him?"
"Who knew that this batch of 50 pieces of materials were working well, how could they break down suddenly, and even all at once?" One of the apprentices couldn't hold it in any longer.
Xu Wenli immediately glared at him, "You haven't done what you should have done, and you still think you're right!"
This batch of 50 pieces of timber has been in the forest farm for half a year and has been in good use. How could it suddenly go wrong? Xu Wenli also wanted to know.
But Secretary Lang was waiting to use him, and he really couldn't explain it, so he could only take the responsibility on himself, "This matter is my fault. I arranged it and didn't check it."
Two machines were not enough to begin with, and now they were reduced to just one. Secretary Lang's face turned unhappy. "Drive that one up first."
After saying that, he couldn't help but ask Xu Wenli: "Have you seen the other one? Can't we fix it?"
"It's really impossible to fix it," Xu Wenli said. "It's a very core part that's broken, and we don't have any parts."
The small repair shop was just a makeshift team, able to fix simple problems but not complex ones. Unlike the town's machine repair shop, which had several different divisions of labor.
Damage of this extent can only be sent to the town machine repair shop for repair, but the question arises again, can the town machine repair shop spare the time now?
This was completely unexplainable. Even Secretary Lang couldn't help but ask, "What's going on with this batch of 50 materials?"
Other forestry farms have used it before and everything went fine, but it just happened to them.
But speaking of the town machine repair shop, Xu Wenli suddenly remembered something, "I remember Xiao Qi used to work at the town machine repair shop. Why don't we ask him?"
Ask him what he does? He seems to know everything.
The two disciples following behind were secretly complaining in their hearts, but they dared not say anything because they had just been criticized.
Secretary Lang also showed some hesitation, "Can he do it?"
It’s not that he doesn’t trust Qi Fang, the key point is that Xu Wenli said it can’t be repaired, how old is Qi Fang?
"Let's give it a try." Xu Wenli wasn't sure, but he said, "Even if we don't look for him, we'll just have to leave it there anyway."
That's true. Instead of just leaving it there, let Qi Fang give it a try. There's still a glimmer of hope.
"Let him try," Secretary Lang decided. "Once the internal combustion engine is up, have him called down."
"I'll go with you. If someone else goes, I'm afraid I won't be able to explain myself clearly."
Xu Wenli packed up and followed the internal combustion engine carrying the tractor up the mountain.
The two new tractor drivers recruited by the forest farm this year both learned to use the 50 logging tractor. If they want to switch back to the RT-12, they have to be the two veteran tractor drivers, Liang Qimao and Zhang Dawei.
So this time it was Zhang Dawei who drove the tractor. Liang Qimao had been waiting at the camp for a long time. When he saw the internal combustion engine coming up, he was stunned for a moment, "Why is there only one?"
"The other one hasn't been repaired yet." Zhang Dawei drove the tractor down. Before he could say anything more, Xu Wenli asked, "Where is Liu Daniu's team?"
"Over there." Liang Qimao raised his hand and pointed in a direction. He wanted to ask what was going on, but Xu Wenli was already walking towards that direction impatiently.
Seeing Xu Wenli, Liu Daniu was also a little surprised, "Why are you here?"
"I came up to borrow someone from you." Xu Wenli didn't bother to be polite and asked directly, "Where's Xiao Qi? Lend him to me."
"He's making materials up ahead." Liu Daniu pointed ahead, his curiosity fading. "What are you borrowing it for?"
Xu Wenli went over there and asked, "Repair things, what else can I do?"
Not long after, Qi Fang was brought out of the work team. Last time he borrowed the money privately, but this time he took him away in front of the entire work team.
When the two men walked back to the camp, Liang Qimao had not left yet and ran into them head-on.
Liang Qimao was a little surprised. "Director Xu came up here to look for him?"
Xu Wenli hummed, not wanting to say more. But then he realized he was an experienced tractor driver, and he had to come and try to fix the problem. He turned back and called him, "Xiao Liang, do you have anything to do? If you have time, come with us down there and see if we can fix the other RT-12."
Liang Qimao actually didn't want to go down the mountain, mainly because he didn't want to be watched by Yu Cuiyun, but he was really curious about why Xu Wenli went to so much trouble to come up and find Qi Fang.
So he followed them to the small repair shop and watched Qi Fang dismantle the thing, inspect it, and then tell Xu Wenli, "It can be repaired."
Is this true or false?
He suspected that there was something wrong with his ears and subconsciously reached out to touch them.
Xu Wenli's two disciples also looked unconvinced.
Are you kidding me? Their small repair shop doesn't even have spare parts, how can they fix it?
Xu Wenli also remembered the spare parts. "Then I'll ask the town machine shop to send one over?"
It’s still unknown how long it will take, and the town’s machine repair shop doesn’t know if it has it. Qi Fang lowered his eyes and thought for a while, then asked if there was a spare part for Jicai 50.
Xu Wenli didn't realize why he was asking about Jicai50 at first, but then he realized, "You want to modify it yourself?"
"Yeah." Qi Fang seemed not to notice the shocked expressions of the others present. "The specifications are similar. It should work after some modifications."
Only Xu Wenli had seen him grinding parts by himself, and only Xu Wenli had seen him assembling a radio by himself, so he knew that he had this ability.
"Okay, I'll find you one." Xu Wenli turned and went to the warehouse where the parts were stored, and asked, "Is one enough?"
"Let's try it first." Qi Fang didn't say too much and took the accessories into the workshop.
Liang Qimao did not follow in, but Xu Wenli and his two apprentices did. When Xu Wenli came out, he was fine, but his two apprentices had some strange expressions.
Is this fixed or not?
Liang Qimao was just wondering when Qi Fang had already quickly installed the disassembled parts of the tractor.
After the installation, he wiped the oil off his hands with a rag before taking the hand crank and inserting it into the tractor body.
As the hand crank turned, the sleeping metal monster seemed to be injected with life, rumbling and vibrating, and soon made a sound of full startup.
Qi Fang then put down the hand joystick and looked at him, "Try to see if it can be driven normally."
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