During the first week of his vacation, Sun Zongyuan had essentially finished reading "An Outline of Road Engineering," filling three thick notebooks with notes. In his previous life, although he had directed road construction, he hadn't encountered the technical aspects, and his understanding wasn't deep. Fortunately, he still knew a good deal about the basics of road construction. Combining the theory of this life with the practice of his previous life, he had learned a lot. Over the next three days, he compiled the seventy or so questions he didn't understand into a single notebook for easier study.
Around July 15th every year, the city’s technical secondary schools have their summer vacation.
On July 16, Sun Zongyu rode his bicycle for more than 40 kilometers to the Normal School, found his former class teacher, Teacher Jing, and casually stuffed the two cans of honey in his bag into the desk.
The teacher and student chatted for a while, and then Teacher Jing asked, "Zongyuan, what brings you all the way to school to see me?"
"Teacher, I really need your help with something. I know that one of your high school classmates is a professional course teacher in the Urban Construction School. I have some questions that I don't understand. Could you please introduce me to that person?"
"Aren't you a substitute teacher in a middle school? Why are you concerned about urban construction issues?" asked Teacher Jing.
Sun Zongyuan explained to Teacher Jing the difficulties Secretary Li encountered, and also mentioned that he wanted to use the one-month summer vacation to learn how to build road projects.
"Okay, I'm fine now. The Urban Construction School is not far away. Let's go find my classmate, Teacher Yuan Cuncai."
After meeting Teacher Yuan Cuncai at the Urban Construction School, it was lunchtime, so Sun Zongyuan suggested finding a restaurant to eat and talk.
During the meal, Sun Zongyuan repeated what happened, took out his notebook, and said that there were more than seventy questions he didn't understand and he needed guidance from Teacher Yuan Cuncai.
"Zongyuan, you have a lot of questions. I think if you have time, you can stay in the school dormitory. I will explain this book to you systematically. If you don't understand something, I will explain it to you clearly. Combined with our school's professional textbooks, you can study it in depth and comprehensively. Then you will be able to handle road construction with ease. This will probably take twenty days."
"During the summer vacation, our school has a practical activity, which is to cooperate with the Municipal Transportation Bureau to build Provincial Highway 397. We provide technical services. It just so happens that students have a practical activity, so you can also participate and exercise."
"That's great. I'll go back and tell my family today. I'll pack my luggage and come see you tomorrow morning." Sun Zongyuan said quickly.
When I got home, I reported to my father-in-law about my study in the city. He said:
"You have to learn the technology well. I think it's very necessary to go to the Urban Construction School for comprehensive training. Technical talents will become more and more popular and valued in the future. Go and report to your Uncle Li."
At Secretary Li's home, Sun Zongyuan reported his study progress to Li Jianguo, who was very happy:
"Okay, okay, just go and study. I didn't know you had connections at the Municipal Urban Construction School. Bring some local specialties to the teacher. I'll reimburse your tuition and living expenses after you finish your studies. In the next few days, I'll call the County Education Bureau and transfer you to Honghua Township to practice on a road first. Once you're proficient, we'll work on other roads."
In just over ten days, Sun Zongyuan mastered the basics of road and bridge design, surveying, budgeting, and organizing construction. He also completed several school exams, scoring consistently above 70 or 80 points. Teacher Yuan Cuncai then gave him a few practical exercises, and his answers impressed him. After spending another day learning how to use surveying equipment, Teacher Yuan Cuncai suggested he follow him to several road construction sites in the city to provide on-site guidance on construction.
Two weeks passed in a flash. Sun Zongyu mastered many construction management skills on the road engineering site under the guidance of Teacher Yuan Cuncai. For some relatively complex projects, he could basically identify the existing problems and improvement methods.
"Zongyuan, your current professional level has surpassed that of the average graduates of urban construction schools. If you are organizing road projects in towns and villages, rural road construction should not be a problem for you. Tomorrow I will introduce you to several experts in road engineering, and you can go back the day after tomorrow."
"Thank you, Teacher Yuan. When I go back, I will put the knowledge I have learned into good use to solve the travel problems of the people. I will always remember your kindness!"
The next day, after meeting several experts at school, Sun Zongyuan proposed that Honghua Township encountered difficulties in road construction and needed the help of teachers. Many experts and teachers readily agreed, provided Sun Zongyuan with several professional books, and lent him several sets of construction equipment. After that, Sun Zongyuan returned home after completing his studies.
The next night after I came back, Sun Zongyan brought me a bag of apples and went to Secretary Li Jianguo's house. I reported to him about my studies and said that I could go to Honghua Township to carry out road construction work at any time. Li Jianguo was very happy and asked him to wait for the news at home.
After returning home, Sun Zongyu continued to look through the basic professional books he brought with him. As a mathematics teacher, he was adept at calculations in aspects such as road design budgets. He was particularly interested in field work, which was even more interesting than his teaching career.
In the past two days, students who graduated this year came to visit him to thank Teacher Sun for their education. In particular, several students with excellent test scores brought their parents and cordially invited him to a thank-you banquet at a restaurant in town. Sun Zongyuan received a lot of thanks and felt a great sense of accomplishment!
During this period, two students, Zhang Hongzhi and Shao Shicheng, told Sun Zongyuan that they wanted to go out to work and earn money to help their family because their academic foundation was not very good and their family burden was heavy. These two students had a very good relationship with Sun Zongyuan and their math grades were among the best. Unfortunately, their other subjects were average, so it was unrealistic for them to continue their studies. Sun Zongyuan secretly talked to them about his plans for adjusting his work. The two students said that if they had the opportunity, they would follow Sun Zongyuan to help and learn some skills, which would not be considered as going to work outside the province.
"You two wait for my news. I'll notify you as soon as there's any movement. Now go back and study these two professional books I have here first, so you don't end up being clueless when the time comes," Sun Zongyuan instructed.
On the evening of August 16, Sun Zongyuan received a notice from Li Jianguo at Secretary Li’s home.
"Zongyuan, I've got your transfer order ready for you. Tomorrow you can report to the Honghua Township Party Committee. You'll start as a technician. We'll build a 1.5-kilometer road in front of Honghua Township Primary School to practice. Then, after the fall, we'll work hard all winter to build a few more roads."
Sun Zongyuan took the transfer order from Secretary Li, glanced at it, then folded it and put it in his trouser pocket:
"Secretary Li, don't worry about the work. I'll do whatever you tell me to do, no ambiguity!"
"Okay, kid, I think you can do it. Work hard and make achievements!"
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