Chapter 124 Sixth Floor
The hot summer in June is like a scorching fire. Cicadas start chirping non-stop early in the morning. The repetitive and monotonous sound makes people feel restless.
Tao Nanfeng received a message from Fan Yajun and made an appointment to meet at the fertilizer factory at nine o'clock in the morning.
Taking advantage of the cool morning weather, I drove north to send Tao Nanfeng and Tao Shouxin to the fertilizer factory. Chen Zhilu's father Chen Dayu, mother Ye Yuan, and uncle Ye Chu were all standing in front of the office building waiting for Tao Nanfeng's arrival.
The two families are now slowly becoming familiar with each other.
Ye Yuan and his wife liked Tao Nanfeng's beauty and kindness, and were grateful to her and Xiang Bei for guiding their son to become more and more successful.
Knowing that Tao Nanfeng and Tao Shouxin would come over early this morning, Ye Yuan and the other two waited under the ginkgo tree in the office building.
Fan Yajun stood aside, not daring to talk much to Ye Yuan. Ye Chu was tall and thin, wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He looked at Fan Yajun with repressed emotions in his eyes.
Ye Yuan stood in front of his brother and glared at him: "Don't talk to this vixen!"
Ye Chu smiled bitterly and said, "I know." It has been ten years. Back then, he hated Fan Yajun because his father was sent down to the countryside, and the two broke up completely. But now when I see her, my heart is filled with ripples.
Especially when he heard that Fan Yajun was still unmarried, Ye Chu's heart beat like a drum. Could it be... that she still loved him?
This time, Fan Yajun did not come alone, but came with Zhao Liang, the leader of the design institute and head of the structure group. As this concerns the reputation of the design institute, the institute leaders attached great importance to it and invited Professor Liu Sen, who majored in mechanics at Kyoto University, to the site to investigate the problem of the tilting office building.
Liu Sen is about the same age as Tao Shouxin, in his fifties, tall and thin, with a Kyoto accent, and a hint of arrogance in his expression. He has extensive experience in construction and has participated in many large and small structural problem reviews. It is said that Professor Liu Sen can find the crux of the problem just by taking a look at the cracks in the wall.
The leader of the city's special investigation team is Ding Wangjian, deputy director of the Construction Bureau. He and three other members of the investigation team and three members of Party A's infrastructure department warmly shook hands with Professor Liu Sen to express their welcome.
"Oh, it's an honor for Jiangcheng to have Professor Liu here. You have rich on-site experience and a unique and accurate vision. You will definitely be able to help us find the problem and come up with a solution."
Liu Sen smiled and nodded: "Time is tight, let's check the scene first."
Tao Nanfeng stood aside. Seeing so many people coming, he asked Fan Yajun, "Why is there such a big scene today? Didn't you say you could go up and take a look quietly?"
Fan Yajun said softly, "President Fang said that this is a matter of reputation for the design institute, and we must find out the reason. It's a good opportunity to take advantage of Professor Liu Sen's presence to come up with a solution and see if there is any way to straighten the building."
Tao Nanfeng glanced at Director Fang Bo of Jiangcheng Architectural Design Institute. This structural engineer in his fifties, who smiled like Maitreya Buddha, seemed to have taken office after Director Ye Yintong stepped down. It was unknown whether he was the mastermind behind the purge of Mr. Ye, or just a lucky guy who reaped the benefits.
Since there were so many great experts present, Tao Nanfeng's attitude was very relaxed, as if he was just there to watch a lively event.
She chatted with Ye Yuan for a while.
“What was the sixth floor of the office building used for before?”
"The sixth floor was previously occupied by the Revolutionary Committee, which was very noisy every day and no one knew what they did. After the Revolutionary Committee was dissolved last year, this floor has been vacant and no one has gone up there."
"What about the three offices at the east end? Has no one ever been in there?"
"No one goes in there. It's locked and even the windows are nailed shut. I heard someone was hanged there before, so no one wants to go in there because it's unlucky."
"What about those people from the original Revolutionary Committee?"
"The director and deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee were both thrown into prison for corruption. The people under them were a mob. Some were arrested, some ran away, and all disappeared."
After hearing this, Tao Nanfeng knew that asking would not reveal anything, so he sent someone up to take a look and that would reveal the truth.
On the other side, Professor Liu Sen walked around the building, walked to the east gable and inspected the cracks in the wall for a long time, shook his head, and then walked to the corridor on the first floor and looked up at the damage to the floor.
Half an hour later, Liu Sen retreated three feet and whispered in Dean Fang's ear after confirming it was safe.
Others couldn't hear it clearly even if they pricked up their ears, but Tao Nanfeng, who had sharp ears and eyes, could hear it clearly.
"If there is no abnormal geological condition in the foundation, then it is a problem with the main structure design. The uneven settlement of the foundation is indeed the responsibility of the design institute.
Now the archived drawings of Party A and Party B have been destroyed and there is no evidence. You are saying that Party A did not provide accurate survey data at the beginning and that the structural engineer Ye Yintong at the time did not have enough preliminary data, which caused the uneven settlement.
Anyway, you blame me and I blame you, but in the end it always ends up in nothing. If it really doesn't work, let Fan Yajun come out and apologize. She is a woman, and I guess the reporters won't pursue the matter as long as she sheds a few tears. ”
Fang Bo nodded repeatedly and gave a thumbs up, praising: "Professor Liu, you are really smart!"
Tao Nanfeng rolled his eyes when he heard this: Smart, but not smart at all.
Fang Bo smiled and waved to Fan Yajun.
Fan Yajun walked up to him and said, "Dean, Professor Liu, do you see the problem?"
Fang Bo sighed: "You should have been at the site when the excavation was started, right? The geological conditions were normal, right?"
Fan Yajun said in a daze: "It's a six-story brick-concrete building with a foundation buried two and a half meters deep. If there is a silt layer underneath, it is invisible to the naked eye. So, although I was at the scene, I don't know if there are any abnormalities in the geological conditions."
Fang Bo asked her: "Did Party A provide geological survey data at the beginning?"
Fan Yajun shook her head and said, "No, but because the geological conditions nearby are generally good, we consulted Party A and designed it based on the bearing capacity of the old building."
Fang Bo glanced at Liu Sen and said to Fan Yajun: "The conclusions of the structural team experts who came to the site the first two times and inspected the site were basically consistent with Professor Liu's conclusions. It is likely that it is still a problem with the structural design. However, we cannot put all the responsibility on us, after all, it was caused by the incomplete basic information provided by Party A.
So... you can explain to Deputy Director Ding of the investigation team later that Party A did not provide geological information and the foundation bearing capacity data was inaccurate, so the structural design strength was relatively insufficient. Both parties bear half of the responsibility. Next, we came up with a solution to assist Party A in completing the building straightening project. ”
When Fan Yajun heard this, she thought that she was still prepared to take the blame.
She frowned and said, "Dean Fang, Professor Liu, is there a possibility that Party A changed the use of the property without authorization, causing the sixth floor slab to be overloaded?"
Liu Sen laughed when he heard this: "Impossible. If the sixth floor was overloaded, it would have collapsed long ago if the building was tilted!"
Fan Yajun shook her head: "I want to go up and take a look."
Fang Bo frowned, his tone becoming a little impatient: "Comrade, why don't you listen to advice? The office building is already tilted, and no one dares to disturb it. If the tilt exceeds a certain value, it is not impossible for the whole building to collapse, which will cause huge economic losses! We can't let the fertilizer plant suffer more serious losses because of your speculation."
Liu Sen said, "If you want to know whether the sixth floor is overloaded, why don't you ask someone from Party A? Why do we need someone to go up and check?"
Fan Yajun had inquired about it yesterday, but got nothing out of it. The rooms on the east side of the office building seemed to be a restricted area in the fertilizer factory, and no one knew what was inside.
The more mysterious it is, the more likely it is to be overloaded.
If it's not shameful, why lock the door and nail the windows? There must be a problem!
Fan Yajun was very determined: "I wrote a disclaimer yesterday, and the fertilizer factory leaders also signed and agreed. I will go up alone, and I will be responsible for anything that happens."
Fang Bo was very angry when he saw that his employees did not listen to his arrangements.
"Fan Yajun, you have no sense of organization at all. I am the dean, and I will not allow you to go to the sixth floor. Just do as I said just now, admit the mistake on behalf of the design institute, and start the building straightening project immediately!"
Fan Yajun shook her head stubbornly: "No, the structural design is the calculation book made by Teacher Ye, there is no problem. The mistake is clearly due to Party A's improper use. I want to find out."
When Fang Bo heard the three words "Teacher Ye", his expression changed.
"Ye Yintong is a bad guy, that's why our design institute criticized him. He was the one who deliberately sabotaged the structure, so there are problems with the structure. If you don't say anything, I will! It's just right to put all the blame on Ye Yintong."
Fan Yajun was so angry that she was shaking all over. "Teacher Ye is not a bad element. He was wrongly accused! There is absolutely no problem with the structure he designed. Don't throw dirty water on him. Class struggle is no longer popular now. Dean Fang, we must seek truth from facts!"
The people in the design institute started to quarrel among themselves, which made the client's people a little confused.
Ding Wangjian raised his voice to interrupt their argument: "Engineer Fan, you applied to enter the office building to investigate the situation and signed a waiver. We admire your attitude of not fearing sacrifice for science. It's getting late now, so hurry up."
Fan Yajun responded and looked at Fang Bo deeply: "President Fang, let me reiterate. There is no problem with the structural design, and Mr. Ye is not wrong!"
After saying that, he turned around and walked away quickly.
When passing by Tao Nanfeng, Fan Yajun stopped, tried to calm down his excitement, and said, "Then please help me keep an eye on it."
Tao Nanfeng nodded: "If there is any danger, I will let Xiangbei shout from below, and you will immediately retreat towards the stairs. Do you hear me?"
Fan Yajun suddenly felt a sense of tragedy as if “the wind is whistling and the Yishui River is cold”.
Fan Yajun believes Tao Nanfeng's judgment that the tilt of the office building is not a structural problem, but is caused by improper use. Even though it would be dangerous to go upstairs, she had to go.
It was her fault, she admitted it. It's not her fault, why should she admit it?
She walked up to Ye Yuan and bowed deeply. "Sister Ye Yuan, I was young and hot-headed. I mistook the secretary for a confidant and said something inappropriate, which caused Teacher Ye to be demoted to the northwest. Today I went in to investigate the basic situation on the sixth floor to prove Teacher Ye's innocence."
Ye Yuan looked expressionlessly at Fan Yajun, whose face was full of guilt, and pursed his lips without saying a word.
Ye Chu stood behind his sister and said softly, "There will be no problem with the structural design made by my father. I will go up with you."
Ye Chu is a college student majoring in civil engineering. Ever since his father was labeled a villain, he broke up with Fan Yajun and was transferred to the infrastructure department of a fertilizer factory, he has been living in a daze.
Every day I mechanically do routine work, including building several staff dormitories, daily road repairs, leak patching, waterproofing, and exterior wall repairs and maintenance. These jobs do not require any professional knowledge at all, and the ambitions I once had were thrown out of the window.
He didn't dare to stand out and was afraid of standing out. He just wanted to blend in among ordinary people and not let anyone notice his existence. Sister Ye Yuan didn't know how many times she had scolded him, but Ye Chu just couldn't muster the energy to do anything.
Ye Chu didn't want to get married or start a career, he felt the future was dark.
This time the office building tilted, and he suddenly came back to life. The architectural design of this building was done by Fan Yajun and the structural calculations were done by my father, so there should be no problems with this building.
When Fan Yajun heard Ye Chu say "I'll go up with you", she looked up at him in surprise.
The two looked at each other, and countless beautiful memories flooded into their minds.
Fan Yajun's eyes turned red, and she said coldly: "No need. One more person means more disturbance and more danger." He had ignored her for twelve years, and now she suddenly rushes out to be a hero. Who cares!
Ye Yuan reacted, grabbed his brother's hand tightly, and shouted: "You are not allowed to go up!"
Ye Chu felt that what Fan Yajun said made sense, so he nodded: "Then go ahead."
Under the gazes of countless people, Fan Yajun walked in through the main entrance, walked through the foyer, and went up the main staircase step by step.
The interior of the building is empty, and every time you take a step, you can hear a "thump thump" sound, which echoes in the long and narrow corridor.
The sound struck her heart hard, her eardrums felt a little stinging, her heart beat faster and faster, and her palms began to sweat.
Fan Yajun tried to slow down her steps and not make any noise.
There were many people standing in the open space outside the office building, all facing the stairs, looking up.
According to Fan Yajun's design, the stairwell is a single wedge protruding forward, and the platform is closed with a hollow concrete railing. Through the hollow cement grid, Fan Yajun's slender figure soon stood on the first floor rest platform, then the second floor, the third floor...
Everyone held their breath and dared not make any noise.
Only Professor Liu Sen and Dean Fang Bo stood far away, talking in whispers.
"Women's opinions! Even Party A couldn't clearly explain what the rooms on the sixth floor were used for, and she figured it out right away?"
"Even if the Revolutionary Committee secretly used it to store some items, it would not exceed the maximum load value and would not cause the building to tilt."
"She just likes to be in the spotlight, and she's afraid that others don't know how brave and fearless she is. This woman is very ambitious, and it seems that she is aiming for my position as dean."
When Fan Yajun's figure appeared in the corridor on the sixth floor, everyone called out softly.
"She's here, she's here, she's on the sixth floor."
"The office building is fine, there's no movement."
"Does she have the key to the room? The windows of those three rooms are nailed shut. How can we open them and see?"
After hearing the last person's words, everyone's attention began to turn to whether Fan Yajun could successfully open the door of the room on the sixth floor.
Tao Nanfeng has been concentrating on watching carefully, not daring to relax for even a moment.
So far, there has been no noticeable change in the light pink area on the sixth floor. Although small red dots of light gathered as Fan Yajun approached, they were not enough to cause major changes.
Ye Chu didn't dare to breathe, staring at the slender figure, his eyes full of attachment and love.
She is still so brave and so energetic. Her love for architecture is always so passionate. Knowing that there is a tiger in the mountain, I still go there.
Compared to Fan Yajun, Ye Chu felt that he was both cowardly and incompetent.
Her father’s tragedy was not Fan Yajun’s fault alone; it was the fault of the times.
If we really talk about evil, the secretary and director Fang Bo at that time were the real villains. However, he dared neither fight against the evil people nor hate the society, but instead took out his pain on the weakest person, Fan Yajun.
Fan Yajun finally arrived at the door of the room at the eastern end.
When she stood still and took out a small axe from her bag, everyone below gasped.
"Heh...this Fan Gong is so barbaric."
"I was curious about how she opened the door without a key, but it turns out she was planning to destroy it!"
"Such decisiveness! She is truly a heroine."
Fan Yajun took a deep breath and chopped hard at the lock.
As Fan Yajun struck down with great force, the scene in front of Tao Nanfeng suddenly changed!
Countless small red dots gathered from all directions and accumulated at Fan Yajun's feet, and the color became darker and darker.
Tao Nanfeng yelled, "Danger!"
The roar pulled his abdomen, causing a pain. Tao Nanfeng protected his stomach with one hand and pushed towards the north with the other hand.
Xiangbei reacted quickly, and immediately used his hands as a megaphone, shouting towards the sixth floor: "Danger, retreat!"
Fan Yajun heard it, but did not retreat immediately. Instead, she reached out and opened the door.
Xiangbei gritted his teeth secretly and shouted again: "Fan Yajun, retreat——"
The door was half open, and Fan Yajun upstairs' back was obviously stiff. She was stunned for half a second and quickly retreated to the stairs.
Reinforced concrete columns are installed at the four corners of the stairwell, which have higher rigidity and strength than other places. When Fan Yajun retreated to the platform, the previous red light spot disappeared, and Tao Nanfeng finally felt relieved.
As soon as she relaxed, she felt her abdomen tightening and she had trouble breathing. It was a contraction!
The reminder in the "Pregnancy Manual" flashed through her mind. Tao Nanfeng hurriedly took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, and gently stroked her belly with both hands.
After taking a dozen deep breaths, my abdomen finally stopped being tight and the violent fetal movements also stopped.
Tao Shouxin was watching his daughter repeatedly "inhale! exhale!" and massaging her belly. He was frightened and held her back. "What's wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
Tao Nanfeng waited until the contraction was over before she calmed down and smiled at her father: "I'm fine, it's just that the kids were a little naughty and kicked me a few times."
Tao Shouxin felt relieved and frowned, saying, "We still have to take it easy."
"Yeah." Tao Nanfeng nodded.
Others had never seen Xiangbei before, and they were very unhappy to see him shouting and yelling there. But his roar was too loud at the time, and everyone was so scared that they didn't dare to speak.
When Fan Yajun quickly came down from upstairs, everything was normal and nothing had happened, and then the discussions began to be heard.
"Where did this reckless man come from? What is he yelling about?"
"Danger, there is no danger at all!"
"So many structural experts have not said anything, and he is the only one talking nonsense!"
Fan Yajun didn't care about what others were saying. She walked up to Tao Nanfeng and said with gratitude: "Thank you, thank you!"
As she chopped down those few blows with the axe on the sixth floor, her fear grew stronger and stronger. When Tao Nanfeng's warning sounded, she hesitated for a moment.
The door is right in front of me, so I take the risk and open it to take a look.
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