Chapter 41: Time is Running Out

Others might not realize it, but Li Xian knew that the retirees at the sanatorium were quite wealthy. Besides their monthly pensions of over two hundred yuan, every time their children came to visit, they would always leave some money. Staying at the sanatorium, they hardly had any expenses, making them walking moneybags.

However, it was useless since they wouldn't lend him any money.

Li Xian was feeling quite melancholic.

In this melancholy, three days quickly passed.

The cause of the forest fire was soon identified—it was sparked by an electrical pole in Dongfeng Forest Farm that caught fire due to a short circuit, which then ignited a nearby stack of firewood.

That's how it was in the forest area—there was an abundance of wood, and everything was sourced locally. The use of timber was sometimes wasteful to the point of being shocking. Behind each house, there was a stack of firewood more than two meters high, enough to last three or four years. These stacks, neatly arranged like a wall, were all made from split pine and poplar logs. The outhouses of each household were also built from the best timber, made into wide planks. For families with someone skilled in carpentry, their outhouses looked like miniature foreign-style wooden villas.

Even the electrical poles were all seven-meter-tall, forty-year-old pine logs, peeled and painted with black lacquer before being erected.

In such an environment, where everything in sight was flammable, it wasn't surprising for an electrical fire to occur.

For the past three days, Li Xian had been in constant contact with Wang Qinghe, asking him to organize the workers to resume construction. However, after the fire at Dongfeng, the forestry bureau was determined to take serious measures, and all the forest farms were extremely busy, so the able-bodied men were not yet available to return.

This made Li Xian very anxious.

With the deadline for the aluminum ingot contract from the Multiple Resources Bureau approaching, even in his sleep, he was haunted by the thought of the fifty-five thousand yuan. In his dreams, he kept hearing the iconic line from the future CCTV commentator, a phrase filled with deep regret and repeated countless times—"The time left for the Chinese team is running out!"

...

After the initial scare, the forest farms intensified their monitoring efforts. All fire watchmen were on duty, and observation towers on various mountain peaks were equipped with powerful two-way radios and high-powered fire surveillance binoculars, aiming to detect and report any signs of fire at the earliest moment.

It was said that at Dongfeng Forest Farm, everyone from the farm head to the watchmen, anyone whose name was on the fire prevention responsibility list, had been dismissed. This showed just how terrified the forestry bureau leaders were by this fire.

Finally, on the fifth day after the fire was extinguished, the initial reorganization of the forestry bureau was completed.

Every household's firewood stacks and straw piles were relocated, moved away from residential areas to places outside the forest farm where they were less likely to catch fire. According to Wang Qinghe, the firewood stacks in Bajiu Forest Farm were now piled up on the back hill, stretching for over five miles—a truly spectacular sight.

Thus, the renovation work could finally resume.

But at this point, Li Xian was already feeling hopeless—after a delay of nearly a week, there were less than ten days left before the deadline for the aluminum ingot contract. Given the current progress of the project, it was certain that he wouldn't be able to raise the fifty-five thousand yuan.

Yet despite this, the business still had to continue. But the thought of missing out on such a great opportunity made him feel terrible.

After notifying Wang Qinghe to organize the workers, he headed to the tile factory to arrange for deliveries.

After twenty days of hard work, the warehouse of the tile factory was almost empty.

A large portion of the mosaic tiles and bathroom tiles that Li Xian had used for exterior wall decoration were nearly depleted, and even the non-slip tiles had been highly utilized in a diamond pattern arrangement as part of the exterior wall design.

If Madonna could wear underwear on the outside, Li Xian could certainly lead the fashion trend of tiling the exterior walls. He even smugly thought to himself that he was pioneering a new fashion trend.

At the tile factory, Li Xian met with Yang Hongshan, who hadn't shown up for a while. Judging by the spring in his step, it seemed that acquiring the tile factory was going well.

Indeed, this was the case.

After Li Xian finished arranging the deliveries, Yang Hongshan pulled him into his office. Without saying much, he pulled out a large envelope from the drawer.

"Brother, I really owe you for this one. The tile inventory in the warehouse is almost gone now, so I'm holding up my end of the deal. Here, take this money!"

Seeing the stack of neatly bound hundred-yuan bills, Li Xian couldn't help but feel a bit excited. Since it was his earned income, he righteously stuffed it into his pocket, saying, "Thank you, Director Yang."

Yang Hongshan grinned widely. "No need to thank me. Hey, how about you stay for lunch? I have a friend I'd like to introduce to you."

Li Xian initially planned to go to the Industry and Commerce Bureau in the afternoon to check if his business license had been issued and wasn't planning on staying.

However, ignoring his protests, Yang Hongshan made a phone call and, after what seemed like inviting someone else, practically dragged Li Xian out of the factory.

At a decent-looking restaurant on Cross Street, Yang Hongshan seated Li Xian and introduced a middle-aged man who arrived almost at the same time.

"Brother Li, this is Director Cai Wencheng of our bureau's cement factory. We're good friends."

Cai Wencheng was about forty years old, slightly overweight, and dressed in the trendy blue jacket of the time, with his hair neatly parted in a three-to-seven style.

With the introduction from Yang Hongshan, he extended his hand to Li Xian, raising his thumb in admiration, smiling, "Brother Li, young and promising! I've heard about you from Old Yang, and I'm really impressed."

Though Li Xian felt this person was a bit oily, he politely smiled back. "You're too kind. I'm just a recent graduate. Director Yang gives me too much credit."

Subconsciously, Li Xian felt that for a factory director to be so humble, there must be some motive. So he responded cautiously, with a bit of reservation.

Cai Wencheng, however, didn't seem to notice Li Xian's slight distance and continued to shower him with praise, "Hey, Brother, don't be so modest. You came up with a great idea that cleared Old Yang's warehouse of tiles. That's no small feat. I heard you're only twenty-one this year? When I was twenty-one, I was still clueless and directionless."

Just then, the food and drinks were served.

At the dining table, Cai Wencheng continuously toasted, and before long, Li Xian began to feel a bit tipsy.

After three rounds of drinks.

Seeing Li Xian's face turn red, Cai Wencheng picked up a piece of food and added it to Li Xian's plate, then lifted his glass.

"Brother, to be honest, I have something I want to discuss with you today."

Li Xian's heart skipped a beat. Even though he was a straightforward guy, his sixth sense was still alarmingly strong.

Sure enough, there was no such thing as a free lunch!

With that realization, his tipsiness started to fade.

Cai Wencheng glanced at Yang Hongshan, sighed, and finally revealed his purpose.

It turned out that the cement factory, due to poor management, had produced a large batch of substandard 425# cement. This batch was originally intended to be sent to the province for construction use, but since the cement didn't meet the required standard, he couldn't risk sending it out. So, they had to produce a new batch to replace it.

As a result, over a hundred tons of cement were now stuck in the factory. Upon learning that Li Xian was currently engaged in renovation work, using a lot of cement and tiles, Cai Wencheng wanted to see if Li Xian could help consume some of it.

Afraid that Li Xian wouldn't agree, Cai Wencheng assured him that the price would be very reasonable and even promised that there would be some benefits for Li Xian.

The terms were very favorable, and Li Xian indeed needed money. Based on the price Cai Wencheng offered, Li Xian could save at least one hundred yuan on each exterior wall renovation project.

But this was something Li Xian didn't dare to agree to!