Chapter 45 Provincial Capital
With the help of the farm leaders, Li Minli successfully divorced. The room originally assigned to her became spacious and comfortable without the belongings of Fan Qixi and Wang Chuntao.
It doesn’t matter that three-year-old Ailian has no one to take care of her, because she lives in school anyway and can be taken with her to class and work. There are many children in the primary school, and they are innocent and cute. They all rush to take Ailian out to play. In such an atmosphere, Ailian smiles more and more, and her courage gradually grows.
Li Minli was extremely grateful for having made the painful decision to leave the mother and son who only knew how to suck blood. She devoted herself more to teaching. She was even more grateful to Tao Nanfeng who taught her to "risk her life and survive" and loved her like a sister.
Tao Nanfeng is very busy now, busy building a tea oil mill.
Wan Shengli, the director of the tea oil factory in Quping Town, is Jiao Liang's drinking buddy and ignores Xiang Bei, the new director. Seeing that they were purchasing tea seeds in bulk, he arrogantly lowered the price and insisted on buying them at 90 cents.
The truck driver from the farm delivered a truckload of tea seeds, but he couldn't sell them at a loss, so when faced with such a situation, he had to drag the tea seeds back the same way.
The average age of the current Xiufengshan Farm leadership is only 25 years old. When they heard about this, they were furious. After many negotiations failed, they simply slammed the table and said: Let’s build a tea oil mill ourselves!
Tea oil trees grow all over Xiufeng Mountain, but because they are wild, they are scattered around, with only about a hundred tea oil trees on one hill. Assuming that one tea tree produces 2-4 kilograms of tea seeds, if the money is distributed among the villagers, each household can only sell 50 to 60 kilograms of tea seeds in one season at most.
The current price of tea oil is 1.2 yuan per pound. Based on the calculation that four pounds of tea seeds produce one pound of oil, the purchase price of 1 cent per pound by the tea oil factory is reasonable. After all, machine pressing, labor, packaging, and storage all cost money.
The villagers pick the fruits from dawn to dusk, dry them in the sun for several days, and then manually open the shells to take out the seeds. Their hands are all black, and this is the only money they earn in a year.
A dozen dollars per household is the biggest income for the whole family.
Lowering the price by one cent is sucking the blood of poor farmers.
Xiangbei finally decided that Xiufengshan Farm would build its own tea oil factory, and this important task was given to Tao Nanfeng.
Building a factory is different from building a house. The process flow needs to be considered. Tao Nanfeng has never done any design in this area and feels a little nervous.
Xiangbei said, "Come on, I'll take you to the provincial capital. The provincial architectural design institute must have these design cases."
Tao Nanfeng felt relieved when she heard this. Yes, last time Jia Wei and Lin Shixiu from the Provincial Architectural Design Institute came to take her drawings, they also left their contact information. It was a good opportunity to go over and communicate with them.
In late November, Tao Nanfeng and Xiang Bei came to the provincial capital together. It was the season of clear and cool autumn weather in the provincial capital at that time.
Tao Nanfeng was wearing a small floral shirt with a dark green jacket on the outside. She had two big braids hanging in front of her chest, and the soft, tiny strands of hair on her forehead were floating above her eyebrows. Xiangbei felt itchy when he saw her, and he really wanted to help her brush away those naughty strands of bangs.
Xiangbei is tall and has an upright posture. He stands like a green pine beside the slender Tao Nanfeng.
The two set out from the farm, took a long-distance bus through Quping Town to De County, and then took a ferry from De County to the provincial capital, traveling tiringly all the way. After getting off the crowded ship, the provincial capital's dock was bustling with people, and everyone looked at this outstanding young couple with curiosity.
"This girl is so pretty, like a picture."
"The man looks impressive, but it's a pity that he has a scar on his face. Could he be a bad guy?"
Hearing the discussions of others, Xiang Bei suddenly remembered the twisted scar on his face. I was seriously injured at the time and was lucky to be alive. The wound on my face was caused by shrapnel. The surgeon at the field hospital sewed more than a dozen stitches during the operation. It looked like this after the stitches were removed.
Since ancient times, men valued talent over appearance, and Xiangbei didn't mind.
But now standing next to Tao Nanfeng, Xiang Bei felt that the scar on his face was a little hot. He carried two people's luggage bags and turned his face slightly to avoid being seen by Tao Nanfeng.
Tao Nanfeng also heard the discussion of passers-by. He wanted to comfort her by saying that she was not ugly, but he was afraid that it would only make things more obvious. So he pretended not to hear it and made small talk: "Where is the Provincial Architectural Design Institute? Have you contacted them?"
Xiangbei secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "I called the post office in town and agreed to go to the design institute this afternoon. Let's wait a moment, Miao Jing will come to pick us up."
Miao Jing?
Tao Nanfeng looked up at Xiangbei: "Isn't he in Kyoto? Why is he in the provincial capital?"
Xiangbei smiled and said, "He was recently assigned to the Provincial Industrial Bureau, so he is free." What he didn't tell Tao Nanfeng was that Miao Jing was extremely interested in her and kept asking about Tao Nanfeng when he wrote to her.
Is she an educated youth from Jiangcheng? How old are you? When is your birthday? Where do your parents work? Do you have any brothers or sisters? Where did she learn such supernatural powers? Have you ever learned Kung Fu? Which school or sect did you learn from?
There were a lot of questions, but Xiangbei didn't reply a single word.
There was a man walking quickly in front of me. He was tall and wearing a beige long windbreaker. He looked very outstanding. He saw Xiangbei and Tao Nanfeng standing side by side, his eyes lit up, and he waved his hand and shouted: "Xiangbei——"
Tao Nanfeng shifted his gaze and turned to look elsewhere.
Miao Jing ran over and circled around her: "Tao Nanfeng, you're here too? Great, shall we try some more fighting?"
This person was a talkative person, and he kept chattering around him. Tao Nanfeng felt a headache from hearing this, so he replied unhappily, "You are a defeated general."
Xiangbei's mouth corners were slightly upturned, obviously in a good mood.
Miao Jing was not convinced and rolled up his sleeves: "Victory and defeat are common in the military, what are you afraid of, how about another fight?"
Tao Nanfeng flashed behind Xiangbei with a look of disdain on his face.
Miao Jing has a good family background and good looks, and girls in Kyoto have always been chasing after him. Unexpectedly, Tao Nanfeng hid when he saw him. He became more interested and said with a smile: "Why are you running? I won't eat you."
After saying that, he stretched out his hand and tried to grab Tao Nanfeng's arm.
A big hand stretched out from the side and intercepted Miao Jing's hand halfway. Xiangbei looked at him seriously and shook his head slowly with a hint of warning in his eyes.
Miao Jing was stunned for a moment, as if he understood something. His eyes darkened, he laughed and withdrew his hand.
"Let's go! I'll drive here and take you to the guesthouse first, and then we'll have dinner." Miao Jing quickly adjusted himself and his attitude became much more restrained.
Miao Jing, who put away his teasing intention, became a very qualified host. He provided the best guesthouse, the best restaurant, and the most authentic Hunan cuisine, making both the host and the guests very happy.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Tao Nanfeng and Xiang Bei came to the Provincial Capital Architectural Design Institute together.
Jia Wei and Lin Shixiu handed her the information they had prepared long ago, and smiled and said, "As long as you understand the size of the equipment and the production process, there will be no problem in designing an industrial plant. The geological conditions in your mountainous area are good, so the design of a one-story brick and tile house with a sloping roof is almost the same. It's actually not that complicated, don't worry, Chief Tao."
After Tao Nanfeng asked a few questions, he felt relieved.
Xiangbei stood quietly by the window, watching Tao Nanfeng communicating with several architects, and a strong sense of pride surged in his heart. Although she was only nineteen years old and had never been to college, she had made a name for herself with her intelligence. Even the engineers at the provincial architectural design institute praised her highly.
How could he not be moved and impressed by a girl like this?
"Engineers Jia and Lin, the people from the infrastructure department of the Red Star Steel Plant are here again, insisting that there is something wrong with our design. Now the uneven settlement of the house is very serious, and the whole house is tilted."
Someone came in hurriedly, reporting with an anxious look on his face. Tao Nanfeng didn't dare to interrupt him anymore, picked up the information and nodded politely: "Thank you, then we'll go back first..."
Before he could finish his sentence, two men in dark blue work clothes rushed in, and the leader shouted, "Where are the people in charge of designing the dormitory building for the steel plant? Come out quickly, the dormitory building is about to collapse, you are responsible!"
Jia Wei stood up and greeted politely: "Chief Liang, what are you doing? If you have anything to say, please speak up. Last time when the house settlement observation point deviated, we reminded you that concealed projects must be supervised at every step, but you didn't listen and insisted on continuing the construction. Now that there is a problem, you hold the design institute responsible. Isn't this unreasonable?"
There are many processes in house construction that cannot be viewed once completed, so they are called hidden projects. For example, once the foundation is backfilled, it is impossible to check whether the foundation cushion layer and foundation masonry quality are up to standard; once the reinforced concrete beam is poured with concrete and several steel bars are placed inside, there is no way to see whether the spacing between the stirrups is acceptable.
What Jia Wei meant was that there was nothing wrong with my design, there must be something wrong with your construction.
Liang Zhou was the head of the infrastructure department of the Red Star Steel Plant. He had a rude look on his face, put his hands on his hips, pointed at Jia Wei and cursed him unceremoniously.
"You stinking intellectuals keep talking about mechanics and calculations all day long. I have plenty of experience in building houses, and there is no problem with the construction. It's just that you insisted on having a big roof. If the building really collapses, you will be held fully responsible!"
Big roof? Tao Nanfeng looked at Jia Wei curiously.
Jia Wei explained with a wry smile: "It's not a big roof, it's just that the eaves of the sloping roof are a little longer. Our provincial capital is cold in winter and hot in summer, and there is also the rainy season. The eaves of a three-story residential building with a length of 1.5 meters can achieve a good sunshade effect. We calculated it repeatedly at the beginning and there is no problem at all."
Liang Zhou glanced at Tao Nanfeng with his eyes slanted: "Is this the new person in your design institute? She's pretty."
Such a look was very annoying, so Xiangbei walked over to block Liangzhou's sight and said to Tao Nanfeng, "Let's go back."
Jia Wei tried hard to retain Tao Nanfeng: "Chief Tao, let's go take a look together. The idea of large roof load-bearing that you proposed at the beginning really touched us. This time there is a problem with the steel plant dormitory, and we also need to consult with many parties. You have innovative ideas in this area and rich construction experience. We solemnly invite you to go over and check and find the problem."
Tao Nanfeng looked up at Xiangbei with a questioning look in his eyes.
Xiangbei could see that she wanted to go, and she seemed to have a deep interest in infrastructure projects. Xiangbei smiled slightly: "Okay, let's go and take a look together."
Tao Nanfeng smiled, turned to Jia Wei and said, "Okay, I'll go and study with you."
When Liang Zhou heard Jia Wei call her "Section Chief Tao," she asked curiously, "Engineer Jia, why don't you introduce him to me?"
After Jia Wei introduced her, Liang Zhou laughed: "So she is the head of the infrastructure section of the farm. She looks very young. Is there no one left in your farm? How could you choose a young girl to be the head of the farm?"
Xiangbei stood beside her, his eyes steady: "I am the director, if you have any dissatisfaction, come to me."
A chilly air rushed towards him, and Liang Zhou felt a chill on his back. He restrained his arrogance and said with a forced smile, "It's just a misunderstanding, I'm not dissatisfied."
Xiangbei took the documents that Tao Nanfeng was holding, put them in his briefcase, and whispered in her ear, "Show us your skills and discipline Section Chief Liang."
Tao Nanfeng's mouth formed an O shape. He smashed Luo Xuan's desk because the educated youth instigated him to show off his skills. I didn't expect that when I arrived in the provincial capital today, Xiangbei also joined the group that was instigating me.
There was a hint of doubt in her eyes, and she blinked towards the north, as if to say: Go ahead and do it, I'll help you out.
The corners of Tao Nanfeng's mouth gradually rose, and the depression he had just felt from being ridiculed by Liang Zhou suddenly disappeared.
The construction industry is heavily based on seniority, and young people are often ridiculed for their lack of experience. Thinking of his digging skills, the ability to see through weak structures and dangerous areas at a glance, Tao Nanfeng felt a surge of confidence in his heart.
——Okay, when I get to the construction site, I’ll know at a glance who has the problem, and then I’ll see how you shirk responsibility!
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