Chapter 40: An Unexpected Event

A fire in the forest district is no small matter.

What is the forest area of Lesser Khingan Mountains like?

The forests, towering tens of meters high, block out the sun, with various types of trees intertwining and overlapping. The ground is covered in a thick layer of dead leaves and underbrush, knee-deep in places, stretching across several mountain ridges. 

In such a terrain, even a tiny spark can turn into a major disaster.

Li Xian might not know much, but he clearly remembers the great fire in Mohe in 1987. Five forest districts simultaneously caught fire, and within just five hours, the flames spread over a hundred kilometers. In one night, from Mohe to Tahe, hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest were engulfed in flames.

Back then, Heilongjiang Province deployed nearly 40,000 soldiers. Countless forestry workers and professional firefighters joined forces. Over a hundred airplanes from the air force performed 18 rounds of artificial rainfall, and it took almost a month to finally extinguish the fire.

That fire wiped out seven forest districts and four timber storage areas, turning 40 million cubic meters of wood to ash. In 1987, the fire caused a loss of 2.5 billion yuan. Even Fei Xiang, who had sung "A Fire in Winter" on the Spring Festival Gala, was blamed for it.

People in the forest area rely on the forest for their livelihood. Dongfeng and Bajiu Forest Districts are only seven kilometers apart.

Seeing the anxiety on the faces of the few workers left in his construction team, Li Xian had no choice but to halt the work and tell them to return to their forest district and help build firebreaks.

Worried about his family, Li Xian also rode his motorcycle back to Bajiu Forest District. As soon as he entered the district, he saw his grandfather, Li Daoyun, standing on a hillside, gazing at the distant smoke with a worried expression.

"Grandpa! What are you doing here?"

Li Xian quickly stopped his motorcycle and called out.

"Your father heard about the fire in Dongfeng and insisted on preparing to move. I came over to assess whether the fire could reach us."

Hearing this, Li Xian was speechless.

"So, Grandpa, could the fire reach us?" he asked after a moment.

"It won't burn a damn thing. This year, our area is favorable—water dominates and fire is weak. I just cast a divination, and there should be rain in the late afternoon. This fire won't spread!"

As he said this, Li Daoyun exuded confidence, like a prophet predicting the fate of the land.

Just as he spoke, Li Xian felt tiny droplets of rain on his face.

It was really starting to rain!

The old man caught a drop with his hand and looked puzzled, "Damn it, the timing is off!"

In Li Xian's memory, there hadn't been any significant fire incidents in his hometown in 1992. Now that his grandfather had assured him that everything was fine, and with the rain beginning to fall, he felt even more at ease.

After informing Li Daoyun that he wouldn't be going home, Li Xian turned his motorcycle around and headed toward the Forestry Bureau.

On the way to the Forestry Bureau, he finally witnessed the immense power of the government; trucks loaded with forestry workers, each carrying large wind-driven fire extinguishers, hurriedly headed towards Dongfeng. The Forestry Bureau's fire engines, with caterpillar tracks, rumbled along, all heading toward the source of the smoke.

The entire Forestry Bureau was in chaos.

When Li Xian returned to the cadre rest house, he saw a group of elderly men, who weren't playing cards or chess as usual, but instead huddled around a radio, anxiously listening for updates on the fire.

These old cadres had all experienced the great fire of 1987. Although they were no longer in positions of power, they all understood that a forest fire could lead to thousands of people losing their homes. Most of these elderly men's relatives and friends were in the surrounding forest districts, so they were deeply concerned.

Because of the fire at Dongfeng, Zheng Weishi didn't have the energy to talk to Li Xian. He just mentioned the incident with the industrial and commercial bureau earlier that day and told Li Xian to go to the bureau to sort out the paperwork when he had time.

Li Xian hadn't planned to stay in the renovation business for too long, but now it seemed that there was still some potential for development in the Forestry Bureau. Thinking it might be useful to be part of an organization in the future, he decided to go to the industrial and commercial bureau.

The process went smoothly. Zheng Weishi had already informed the bureau in advance, and within less than an hour, Li Xian had completed the application process and was told he could pick up his license next week.

This streak of good luck seemed to extend to other areas as well.

After returning from the bureau and having dinner, the radio announced, with a tone of relief, that the fire at Dongfeng Forest District had been extinguished thanks to the joint efforts of the soldiers and forestry workers.

Looking out at the rain, which had now formed a steady downpour, Li Xian just smiled and said nothing.

The elderly men in the rest house all let out a collective sigh of relief.

It was only then that Zheng Weishi, who had been in a daze since hearing about the fire, seemed to return to normal. Seeing Li Xian lying weakly in a crooked position on a rocking chair, he asked, "Did you get frostbitten, kid?"

Li Xian pouted and explained how the fire had disrupted his renovation business, leaving it in a miserable state.

The old man was puzzled, "The work will be yours eventually. Why are you in such a hurry?"

Not hiding anything from his "general manager," Li Xian confessed that he had bought aluminum ingots from the multi-business bureau and was now saddled with a debt of 55,000 yuan.

When the old man heard that Li Xian had spent over 60,000 yuan on more than 20 tons of aluminum ingots, he was shocked.

"Did you get your head stuck in a door? What are you buying that stuff for!"

Li Xian, feeling wronged, explained how Deng Xiaoping's southern tour had brought about subtle policy changes in China. He then deduced from these changes that the Chinese economy was about to take off.

"So, as the economy picks up, raw materials like aluminum and iron ingots are bound to skyrocket. I bought them for 60,000 now, but who knows, they might be worth 120,000 or 200,000 in the future."

Listening to his confident analysis, Zheng Weishi waved his hand dismissively, "Give it a rest. Since the reform and opening up started in 1978, the policies have been fluctuating every year. Can you really rely on government policies? Li Xian, I think you're going to lose money on this one!"

Wang Linhe, who had come over unnoticed, chimed in, "I agree. Those aluminum ingots have been sitting in the multi-business bureau for over two years. If they were going to appreciate, do you think they'd still be available? Li Xian, you're oversimplifying things."

Li Xian wasn't fazed by their criticism.

In reality, the policies Deng Xiaoping announced after his southern tour were only made public within internal circles. People far removed from the political center still didn't know about them.

Many of those who would later benefit from this wave of reforms were bold risk-takers. In these times, few people would imagine that China would make the monumental shift to a "socialism with Chinese characteristics."

So apart from analyzing the clues that had already emerged, Li Xian couldn't explain much to them.

Seeing that Zheng Weishi and Wang Linhe were both skeptical, Wang Linhe furrowed his brows, deep in thought. Li Xian suddenly jumped up from his rocking chair and approached the three men.

"Although the fire has been put out, the various forest districts will be busy with follow-up work for the next few days, so my renovation business is bound to be affected. If that's the case, I might not be able to gather 55,000 yuan by the end of the month. Grandpa, could you pull some strings to get various offices to renovate their buildings?"

The three of them collectively turned their backs on Li Xian in response.

Seeing this, Li Xian became anxious, "Then could you lend me some money?"

The three completely ignored Li Xian, focusing on their Mahjong game instead.

"Your coffin isn't even fully paid for yet; you already owe us. Now you want to borrow more money?" scoffed old Wu.

"Repay nine for every thirteen lent! Repay nine for every thirteen lent!"

Li Xian stomped his feet, yelling in frustration.