On My Way - Chapter 27

Chapter 27 - You Must Be a Graduate of a Prestigious University

I hurried back to Uleji Village without a moment’s delay, and the first thing I did was look for Harina.

She was busy applying makeup in the internet cafe. She looked up at me, snorted, and said, "I thought you weren't coming back."

"If I don't come back, who's going to build your big house!" I said. "Come on, take me around the village, and I'll treat you to a meal."

She turned around and said to the boss, "My sister is back, I’m going out this afternoon!"

The boss was her uncle; he glared at her. "Since when do you have a sister?"

"None of your business!"

We pushed aside the cotton curtain and stepped outside. Cheng Xia was standing there waiting for me.

He had just vomited three times and was rinsing his mouth with mineral water. He stood there looking weak and weary, yet he still looked as fresh and handsome as a spring onion.

I said, "This is Harina, my little translator. And this is our architect."

Harina let out a small shriek, covered the eye she hadn't finished applying makeup to, and scurried back into the room like a wisp of smoke.

Cheng Xia looked bewildered and asked me, "What’s wrong with her?"

On the way back, I had a very vague plan in mind.

In reality, the root cause wasn't the conflict between Uleji Village and Jiaolong Village.

It was the chronic, underlying illness of rural architecture itself.

The houses in Uleji Village were too old; they were neither warm nor wind-resistant. The paths in front of and behind the houses were muddy, mixed with cow and sheep manure—walking was simply miserable.

Asking them to just stand by and watch outsiders move into new houses was unrealistic.

And the county had no money; it was impossible for them to come up with a budget to renovate the entire village. This was the dead end.

But I was wondering if it was possible to solve the problem from another direction.

"Harina says the thing they find most painful is the issue of keeping warm in winter. Coal and such aren't enough to burn; the people can grit their teeth and endure it, but every year a batch of livestock freezes to death," I said during my company report. "If we guarantee that we can help them solve this problem, they will definitely make concessions."

"But that will still require more budget, and will that really make them live in harmony with the people from Jiaolong Village? I don't think so," someone objected.

"I will tell them: either that, or we go build the village elsewhere, and they can continue to freeze," I said. "Their temperature drops to as low as negative thirty-seven degrees; this is a matter of survival."

Next came the issue of how to produce this plan.

The architect for this project wasn't skilled enough, and we didn't have the budget to find a higher-level designer to produce blueprints. Every day of work stoppage meant lost money.

And I had to get the drawings as soon as possible to negotiate with the villagers.

"I am not the best designer, but I am definitely your best choice," Cheng Xia said to me after hearing everything.

I had only intended to complain to him, but he immediately got up to pack his things. By the time I regained my senses, the two of us were already standing at the airport.

Spring had arrived, and as the snow melted, the village dirt roads became incredibly muddy; if you stepped in, you couldn't pull your foot out for a long time. Cheng Xia’s face was pale, and every few steps, Harina and I would have to wait for him to vomit.

Harina kept whispering to me, "Big Sister, is your leader a celebrity?"

Later, she looked at him with pure disdain: "He looks good but he's useless! You shouldn't look for a man like this."

Cheng Xia said, "No, it’s just that I feel like my entire foot has stepped into cow dung... Ugh—"

We finished visiting every house in the village, but it was already late. I had wanted to take him to a hotel in the county, but it was too late, so we had to stay in the construction site's prefab hut.

It was neither warm nor secure against theft. Apart from two boards to block the wind, it was no different from sleeping in the wild.

True to form, Cheng Xia immediately came down with a fever.

I laid out four layers of quilts, tucked in hot water bottles, and borrowed three electric heaters to blast at him.

His face was bright red, and he only poked his head out, looking like a silly goose.

"I'm so useless!" he made a sound like a goose.

I comforted him: "It's fine. I told them you're from the South, so you haven't brought shame to our Northeast."

"That's great." He was so feverish he was silly, yet he was quite happy.

I couldn't help but laugh, and I asked him: "Do you still want to live with me even if it kills you?"

He gave a shy smile and nodded hard.

"Alright, tomorrow we’ll go to a hotel in the county," I said, tucking the quilt around him.

Cheng Xia asked again: "Did you live in houses like this the whole time you were in Africa?"

"Those were long-term projects, so the walls were much thicker," I said. "But at a construction site, the environment is never that great."

But in truth, I felt it was fine.

The house I grew up in was only thirty-something square meters, and it was packed with trash Grandma had picked up. In the summer, it was hot like a steamer, and in the winter, it was too cold—if I didn't hold a hot water bottle while doing homework, my hands would be frozen stiff.

So after growing up, even in the harshest environments, I never felt particularly unaccustomed to it.

What truly made me uncomfortable was going to those high-end hotels, those dinners filled with clinking wine glasses, and even Cheng Xia's home.

All of those things made me feel awkward and at a loss.

Just as Cheng Xia was unaccustomed to the prefab hut at the construction site.

We came from different worlds. Whether I climbed to the clouds or he stepped into the mire, entering each other's worlds would always be difficult.

I sighed, then sat at the desk and began to organize the day’s data.

Cheng Xia said, "You... should sleep for a while before doing that. If your spirit isn't good, your work efficiency won't be high either."

I said, "We have to meet with the county leaders in three days. This stuff has to be finished. You go to sleep first."

Cheng Xia tried to persuade me further, but under the dual effects of cold medicine and the electric heaters, he slowly fell asleep.

I looked over the drawings and calculated the budget repeatedly, but my head was throbbing with pain, and I couldn't focus at all.

I had no choice but to go outside and splash cold water on my face to wake up.

Outside the window was a starry sky so vast it was almost terrifying. The stars across the sky were as bright as a fairy tale, while the sound of dogs barking in the distance and the wisps of smoke from burning sheep dung constantly reminded me that this was still the human world.

I remembered that when I was very young, I lived in a single-story house with Grandma for a time. It was a small room attached to a bicycle shed. We had to burn coal briquettes to keep warm, but it was very cozy, and my little face was always toasted rosy red.

Why was it so warm there? Was it just because the space was small? As I thought about it, the starry sky before me turned into those rows and rows of bicycles. The handlebars were silvery and bright, the bells were crisp, and they rode rapidly toward me.

I subconsciously reached out to block them with my hands, but I couldn't stop them. The bicycles, which had turned into stars, sped past me with a series of joyful laughter...

When I opened my eyes again, it was already dawn. The sunlight was so intense that I couldn't keep my eyes open.

I was on Cheng Xia’s back, and he was struggling to carry me down the stairs.

I wanted to ask, but my throat was dry and hoarse; I couldn't get a single word out.

"Don't be afraid, we'll be at the hospital soon." Cheng Xia helped me into the car.

It was Harina and Qinglong. Cheng Xia said I had a fever so high I started having spasms in the middle of the night. He couldn't reach our company driver, so he had to find Harina to help.

It was said that she had cried and cursed while calling Qinglong over to send me to the county hospital.

I drifted in and out of consciousness, letting them drag me along, through sterilization, and hooked up to an IV drip.

Damn it, how could I get sick at a time like this? I was so desperate I wanted to cry, but I had no strength, so I could only lie there weakly.

Harina said, "The doctor said that if the fever doesn't break after this shot, it'll be dangerous and you'll have to go to a big hospital in the city."

"I'm not going... I need my computer."

Cheng Xia pressed me down firmly, his tone stern: "Let me tell you something—you can't always rely on risking your life to get through a crisis. When it’s time to rest and recover, you stay right where you are."

Harina was very angry. She didn't understand what Cheng Xia meant, but she put her hands on her hips and shouted back at him, "My sister is already sick! Why are you being so fierce? Being a leader isn't such a big deal!"

Cheng Xia sighed and said, "I'm not a leader. You... you can call me Brother-in-law."

While I was getting the injection, Tyrannosaurus and the others arrived. Cheng Xia said something to them, and then they left.

Perhaps it was the medicine, but no matter how anxious I was, I drifted off into a heavy sleep. Cheng Xia and Harina left together and didn't come back until evening.

Cheng Xia brought many things with him.

They included a very thick set of pajamas, fuzzy slippers, a thermos, canned sugar water, coffee, hand cream...

He even took out a pack of Chinese herbal medicine for me to soak my feet in, and while I was soaking them, he helped me apply a face mask.

...Forget about being hospitalized; I had never been this pampered in my daily life.

"The more agitated and restless you feel, the more you need to live well," he said.

In the midst of the rising steam, my anxious mood calmed down a bit. The hospital environment was noisy and chaotic, but our little corner felt clean and fresh.

Cheng Xia sat on the makeshift bed, drinking coffee while drawing on his computer. For no reason, I felt a sense of peace in these quiet years.

...Peace my ass! The meeting was in two days!

I asked, "So what did you do all afternoon? You didn't just spend the whole time shopping, right!"

He said, "And soaking in the sun, feeling the wind here."

...

I was in the hospital, burning with anxiety, and you were out there being all poetic!

Cheng Xia smiled and said, "The wind here is a northwesterly wind."

"The reason you felt the bicycle shed cabin was so warm, besides the small area, was for two other reasons. First, the cabin was surrounded by buildings, and nearby high-rises blocked the wind. Second, sunlight shone into the bicycle shed, creating a heat-storage effect, which then conducted into the cabin."

He softly explained those convoluted technical terms in plain language for me.

"Why do we feel Uleji Village is so cold? It’s because the village’s architecture is scattered. When the northwesterly wind comes in winter and spring, internal cold wind channels are formed. If we insert the Jiaolong Village housing between the old houses and make the entire building layout concentrated and compact, it will help create a good micro-climate environment and allow the original buildings to avoid the assault of the cold wind."

At the county committee meeting, I tried my best to imitate Cheng Xia's manner, calmly and professionally explaining my new plan.

They were all very serious; apart from the sound of my voice, the whole room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

A leader asked, "Since the north-facing houses take on the role of blocking the wind, how do you ensure they stay warm?"

"By utilizing solar heat storage. The old houses have a major problem—they don't collect heat. We can add a sunroom—that is, add a glass warm corridor on the sunny south side. This can effectively preserve the heat from solar energy and then conduct that heat into the entire building. It also serves as a buffer zone, preventing the room from facing the northwesterly wind directly."

I showed the pictures on the PowerPoint; those were photos Cheng Xia had taken in other villages.

"This kind of sunroom has had a very good effect on keeping warm in many villages. In practical life, it can also be used to dry clothes and for leisure and entertainment. The functionality is quite good."

"But, the herdsmen raise livestock, and the room spacing is so close, it’s very inconvenient," someone else said.

"We can build a warm shed for livestock in this position," I said, pointing to the leeward side of the village. "This realizes the separation of residential areas and livestock areas. Each household's livestock can be heated centrally, saving resources and also improving the environment of the entire village."

Finally, we came to the most, most crucial part: the budget.

"At the same time, we are also compressing costs in terms of building materials. The raw earth and stone resources from the abandoned houses in Jiaolong Village can all be reused. Grass bricks made from local straw and wheat stalks can be used for exterior wall filling. This also includes environmentally friendly blocks made of fly ash, coal slag, and coal gangue produced by nearby cities. They have excellent insulation properties and are green, eco-friendly building materials. At the same time, because they are nearby, transport costs are also saved."

This was the result of the investigation by Tyrannosaurus and the others.

My body still wasn't fully recovered; after the report, I sat down and saw black spots before my eyes again.

But I could still see the leaders consulting with each other and then nodding slightly. Bater took the lead in applauding.

"This looks to be solid this time."

After the meeting adjourned, he excitedly said to me, "That report was brilliant! Oh right, I’ve never asked—which school did you graduate from? Domestic? You must be from a prestigious university!”