Not long after Zhao Hao ran along the Jinduo River, he saw Hua Bozheng and a few others pulling ropes and erecting wooden poles on both sides of the river, as if they were measuring something.

"What are you doing so early in the morning?" Young Master Zhao ran over with sweat all over his forehead.

"Prepare to build a concrete bridge across the river." Hua Bozhen had forgotten about going home and devoted himself to Xishan Island.

From the construction of the cement plant to the infrastructure of Xishan Island, he cares about everything, no matter how big or small.

These children from prominent families have never suffered from the harsh treatment of society and are more or less idealistic.

Middle-aged people like Hua Bozhen, who are in their forties and have just found the meaning of life, feel that time is running out. They wish they could use one day as two days to increase cement production as soon as possible so as to realize those grand blueprints as soon as possible.

Zhao Hao saw that he had a scruffy beard and looked much darker and thinner. He couldn't help but feel ashamed. He thought that he had been eating and sleeping well these days and had done a good job of being a hands-off boss.

Finally, he felt guilty and stopped running. He discussed with Hua Bozheng how to build the bridge so that it would not affect shipping and would facilitate crossing the river.

"We will build a small railway to transport coal in the future, so an arch bridge is not suitable. We need to build a flat bridge." Mr. Zhao rejected Hua Bozhen's elegantly designed three-eye arch bridge. "And the arch bridge is prone to siltation, which will affect shipping."

"But if it doesn't arch, how can the bridge deck relieve the force?" Hua Bozhen scratched his head. The Hua family had built bridges and paved roads countless times, but he had never seen a proper bridge that didn't arch.

"We have cement now, so we don't need to go through so much trouble." Zhao Hao smiled and said, "Remember one thing, cement is the best way to go!"

Then he taught him the method of making "bamboo reinforcement prefabricated board".

"The method is very simple. First, use wooden boards to nail a hollow long board model. Place bamboo tendons in the hollow part of the model... Just split the bamboo into strips and put them into the model. Then mix one part cement, one and a half parts sand, three parts gravel and half part water together, stir thoroughly and fill the model. After it dries, knock off the wooden board, and what is left is a prefabricated board as hard as stone."

"Great! Cement can be used in this way? Then this bridge will be much easier to build, and it can be built in a few days!" Hua Bozhen's eyes lit up. "And in the future, these 'prefabricated panels' can be used in building houses and repairing dams."

"This thing has many uses, take your time to figure it out." Master Zhao waved at him and continued on his way.

"Hey, don't go. I still want to ask about the lime kiln." Hua Bozhen asked loudly.

"Just do it as you see fit, it's pretty much the same as a normal brick kiln." The irresponsible Mr. Zhao ran further and further away: "It's not tasty to eat bread that has been chewed by others. It's more interesting to figure it out slowly by yourself."

"What are you talking about?" Hua Bozhen sighed depressedly: "Ah, all teachers have this problem, saying half and leaving the other half. How much trouble can I save by saying it all at once?"

This shows that Hua Bozhen and Zhao Hao still don't have much contact. Usually when Master Zhao says this, he doesn't even know what it means...

~~

When Zhao Hao ran back to the dock, the sun had risen.

Then he saw Ma Xianglan holding an oil-paper umbrella and carrying an exquisite lacquered wooden box, waiting there with a smile on her face.

Mr. Zhao came to Secretary Ma with a smile.

Ma Xianglan opened the lid of the box, took out a silver bottle the size of a bamboo tube, unscrewed the lid and handed it to Zhao Hao.

The bottle contains "white cardamom water" carefully prepared by Qiaoqiao using three herbs: white cardamom, licorice and calamus, which is said to relieve heat and dampness and spleen deficiency.

Zhao Haotian loses his appetite when he gets hot. Qiaoqiao found out about this recipe from Wang's family in Taicang, and made it for him to try. The effect is really good. The taste is also very smooth, and Mr. Zhao has a bottle every day.

Ma Xianglan took out another wet cotton towel and wiped his face while softly reminding him of today's schedule.

"Young Master will personally train the search team this morning on how to find pyrite. He has an appointment with General Jin for lunch at noon to discuss the expansion of the gunner battalion and the establishment of a military farm in Lutou, south of the island."

"Yeah." Zhao Hao nodded. These were all things that had to be arranged before returning to Kunshan. With his poor memory, he would definitely forget most of them without Secretary Ma's reminder.

"After lunch, the young master wants to play mahjong with the old man, and after dinner, he wants to talk to Liu Zhengqi about the next arrangements..."

As Ma Xianglan was speaking, she heard a few gongs sounding from the enemy tower, which was a signal that foreign ships were entering Dasheng Bay.

The two men saw a white-sailed boat coming from a distance.

With the previous experience of the Xu family causing trouble, the Gunner Battalion was very wary of foreign ships, and a patrol team immediately arrived at the dock to be on guard.

Zhao Hao also looked at the boat curiously, and saw someone on the boat waving a white flag, and shouted from a distance: "Don't get me wrong, my master is here to mediate!"

"Mediation? Let them go ashore." Young Master Zhao ordered. There were only seven or eight people on a small boat, and they couldn't make any waves.

After a cup of tea, the white-sailed boat docked.

With the help of several followers, a man in his thirties, wearing a Tang scarf, a silk Taoist robe, and a pair of bright red shoes with cloud-shaped patterns on their feet, got off the boat.

The man paid no attention to the vigilant militiamen, gently waving the gold-painted folding fan with a peony painted on it in his hand, and began to patrol the dock.

He also ignored Zhao Hao, who was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, and his eyes fell on Ma Xianglan, who had an outstanding temperament and was beautiful both inside and out, and his eyes lit up.

He quickly straightened his clothes, bowed gracefully and said, "Young lady, I am Wang Zhideng of Changzhou. I am honored to meet you."

"It's Mr. Wang. What can I do for you?" Secretary Ma nodded slightly and was about to return the greeting when he found that his hand was grabbed by Zhao Hao.

Ma Xianglan's pretty face immediately turned red, and her heart was beating sweetly.

With Miss Ma's intelligence and insight, she naturally understood that the young master was stimulated by Wang Zhideng's gaze and was swearing ownership...

Wang Zhideng, however, just thought that the boy was Ma Xianglan's younger brother or something like that, and continued to show off and said:

"Miss, what you said is wrong. Haven't you heard that 'A man of thirty-four is still a man of common people, and he is not affected by the dust of Beijing and Luoyang. A white colt is bright in the valley, and a yellow bird is chirping in youth'? I am still young, but I have nothing to do with the word 'old'..."

Before he finished speaking, the young man suddenly said in a cold voice: "Throw him into the lake."

"Uh, huh?" Wang Zhideng was stunned and asked curiously, "Kid, who are you going to throw into the lake?"

"It's you, Uncle Wang!" Zhao Hao smiled sweetly at him.

"Are you kidding? Do you know who I am?" Wang Zhideng didn't believe it at first, then he shook his fan and said with a smile, "I am Wang Zhideng, a famous poet and painter in Wuzhong. Try to move me?"

"Let's give it a try." Zhao Hao waved his hand, and several militiamen came forward, pushed away Wang Zhideng's entourage, and grabbed Wang Zhideng's arms like a chicken.

Wang Dacai was a little panicked. "Kid, don't mess around, you will cause trouble for your parents!"

With a splash, the militiamen threw him into Taihu Lake.

ps. This is the first of three consecutive updates. I have been interrupted countless times by various inquiries today. I will focus on replying to them later.