Reborn in 1977

The shipyard was very close, located on the outer slope of the river embankment, so the three of them simply walked there.

Exiting the water transport company and turning west, they walked for less than two minutes before ascending the embankment along a long slope.

Like the water transport dock in He County, both sides of the embankment here were also piled with twenty or so "small mountains," extending for several miles.

However, the outer embankment of the Yangtze River was very large, so no matter how much cargo was piled, it wasn't conspicuous. But the embankment here was much smaller than the Yangtze River, making it look somewhat spectacular.

Generally, the goods piled in the open air on both sides of the embankment were basically three types.

Yellow river sand and gray fine sand; these two are actually both river sand, but the yellow sand has larger particles, while the fine sand is the very common beach sand found by the riverbanks, very fine. In building materials, the two types of sand are suitable for different scenarios.

Besides these two types of river sand, the rest were all pebbles.

In northern regions, construction generally uses mined and crushed mountain rocks, but there are very few rock mines in the Jiangnan area, so they take materials locally, mining pebbles from rivers and large lakes for use. These pebbles come in various sizes, also suitable for different construction scenarios.

Before, when Chen Fan built his house, all the stone materials in the building materials sent by some teams were pebbles. The open space in front of his new home and that small sloping road were paved with cement mixed with pebbles, sturdy and durable.

On the other side, directly opposite the long slope, was the South Lake Commune water transport dock.

This was a purely cargo dock, with no passenger ships docking. All that stopped here were cargo ships.

Except for those passenger ships and fishing boats that came on their own.

Chen Fan walked onto the embankment and looked down, only to see a long yellow dirt slope extending all the way into the river. A cement boat, 30 to 40 meters long, was docked by the water.

Two "gangplanks" had one end on the ship's side and the other on the shore. A group of stevedores were unloading cargo onto the shore, and on the slope were rows of horse-drawn carts. Each time a cart was loaded, the driver would wave the whip, urging the horse to pull the cart uphill.

But now the water level was still a bit high, and the height difference between the embankment surface and the gangplank was less than 10 meters, with a dozen horse-drawn carts squeezed together, looking somewhat crowded.

Chen Fan looked at the cement boat, with the river water almost submerging the gunwale, his eyes full of curiosity.

This kind of cement boat was once popular in the 1970s. From Chongqing to the coast, such boats could be seen. At that time, it was originally to make up for the lack of steel production, so the method of using steel mesh covered with cement was adopted to produce this kind of boat, to replace the wooden boats that had been sailing on the water for thousands of years.

Even in 1974, a giant cement boat "Gutian" was built, 105.2 meters long, 14.5 meters wide, 8.1 meters deep, and weighing 3,000 tons.

But after only one voyage, this giant ship was shelved because driving this ship consumed too much fuel!

Originally, the higher-ups thought that if this ship could be put into use and generate benefits, they would promote the construction of this large cement ship, specializing in coastal transportation, and even armed use.

However, after the ministerial pre-examination jointly organized by the Ministry of Transport Construction and the General Bureau of Building Materials, experts from all aspects defined this ship, "Steel wire mesh cement ships have the advantages of easy maintenance, strong watertightness, and stable hull, but have the disadvantages of being not resistant to collisions and heavy hull, so it is not suitable for promotion."

At that time, whether it was a large wooden boat, a cement boat, or a steel boat, the power relied on the ship's propeller, which burned diesel.

So the heavier the hull, the higher the fuel consumption. The deadweight of that cement boat was as high as 3,000 tons, and then adding the cargo, how much diesel would it consume to run?!

Obviously, it wasn't cost-effective.

So the booming wave of cement boat construction came to an abrupt end.

In addition to the cement boats that were being built and already produced, in the next few years, the task list for cement boats visibly decreased until it was completely canceled.

What replaced it was steel boats.

Even the higher-ups had a clear plan to fully replace cement boats with steel boats to save fuel.

And that time was still 1974.

On the embankment, Secretary Tian saw Chen Fan staring at the dock and couldn't help but smile and said, "Teacher Chen is also interested in the cargo dock?"

Chen Fan looked back at him, then looked at An Quan, and said with a smile, "When I first arrived in Lujiawan, I had nothing. At that time, I was worried about how to live in the future. We can't expect to live on relief grain, right."

An Quan and Secretary Tian both nodded slowly unconsciously.

Outside of South Lake Commune, they knew almost nothing about Chen Fan's origins and thought he was a native Lujiawan commune member.

But within the South Lake Commune, who didn't know that Chen Fan was picked up from the water by Yang Chuanfu, the captain of the 6th team of Lujiawan. At this time, when they heard Chen Fan's words, they naturally understood what it meant.

Chen Fan continued with a smile, "At that time, Huang, the warehouse keeper, sent me 30 catties of white rice and half a bag of sweet potatoes. If I saved a little, I could last a month or two, but I can't just spend without earning, so I was a little anxious. Then a educated youth in our team gave me an idea…"

He said, pointing to the busy stevedores on the dock, and chuckled, "She said that when the water rises, I can come here to work as a stevedore. At that time, the water transport company's freighters are constantly coming and going, requiring a large number of stevedores. If I'm lucky, I can earn one or two yuan a day, or even more. As long as I work for a summer, I'll have enough food for the whole year, and maybe I can buy some meat for the New Year."

When he said that he was going to come here to work as a stevedore, Secretary Tian and An Quan were already grinning and chuckling.

After listening to his words, they were even more amused, looking up and laughing non-stop.

After a while, Secretary Tian gasped a few times before saying with a smile, "It's a waste of talent for you to work as a stevedore."

What is the concept of a stevedore? That is a coolie who can be called upon and dismissed at will.

Any official crew member on these ships parked in the water below has the right to find a few people to work as stevedores.

The commune members of the five production teams of South Lake Commune are also proud to have relatives who are official workers of the water transport company.

Especially when they are particularly busy, relatives who are temporary workers or apprentices are also useful!

They are all racking their brains to get in, just to earn that one or two yuan of labor fee per day.

This is the temporary stevedore on the dock!

And who is Chen Fan?

When he comes to the water transport company, Old Tian personally accompanies him, and sometimes even Secretary Qian of the commune does not have this treatment.

Compared to the two, it's like heaven and earth!

Now that Chen Fan said that he once planned to come here to work as a stevedore, how could Secretary Tian not laugh!

An Quan was also adding fuel to the fire, looking at Chen Fan with feigned contempt, "Hmph, do you think that if you want to be a stevedore, people will let you? Unless it's during the double抢 (harvesting and planting season), coming here to work as a stevedore is something that all production team members can't even imagine. How could it be your turn, a newcomer?!"

Chen Fan also deliberately bowed and saluted, "Yes, yes, I'm just wishful thinking, but didn't Comrade An come here to squat at that time? I'll pat Comrade An's ass, maybe your old man will soften and help say a good word in front of Secretary Tian, and maybe I can get a bite to eat."

An Quan and Secretary Tian looked at each other and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

An Quan shook his head and smiled wryly, sighing that Chen Fan's skin was really thick.

Secretary Tian pointed at Chen Fan and said with a smile, "Don't say anything else, as long as you show three points of your writing skills, let alone a stevedore, I can give you a formal worker's spot, and it's a cadre position!"

Chen Fan was already familiar with this kind of explicit and implicit recruitment, and immediately laughed and said, "Then you still don't know how to do business very well. In our current situation, you put on airs a little and say, 'Little Chen, if you don't write two articles for me, I won't give Lujiawan propellers,' then I will definitely serve you屁颠屁颠 (happily and eagerly), and the water transport company doesn't even need to pay wages."

Hearing this, Secretary Tian laughed again, turned around and waved his hand to walk forward.

But he was secretly sighing in his heart, as expected, Teacher Chen is not easy to recruit.

The three of them talked and laughed, and walked for half a kilometer before stopping.

Secretary Tian pointed to the large and small factory-style buildings on the outer embankment, almost submerged in the water, and said, "The big one is the dry dock. All ship maintenance and repairs are done inside. The small one is the spare parts warehouse and office."

He turned to look at Chen Fan and said with a smile, "Are we going directly to the warehouse, or do you want to visit first?"

Chen Fan grinned, looked at the repair shop, then looked at Secretary Tian, and asked curiously, "The water level hasn't flooded over yet. If the water level reaches the top, won't the repair shop be flooded?"

Secretary Tian didn't explain when he heard this, just laughed and said, "Want to know? Why don't you go and see for yourself, how about it?"

Chen Fan immediately smiled and said, "Respect is worse than obedience. I'll trouble Secretary Tian."

Following Secretary Tian downwards, the path led to the small warehouse and office. However, Chen Fan noticed a small path worn by footsteps, extending to a small door in the dockyard, obviously a shortcut made by the workers.

Soon, they entered the repair shop's office, and before Secretary Tian could speak, Chen Fan understood why this place wasn't afraid of flooding.

Inside the workshop, the space was divided into two levels. The lower level was empty, containing only some iron cabinets and desks, coated with a layer of red paint for rust prevention.

Chen Fan tried to lift a chair, and even with his strength, he felt it was quite heavy.

Needless to say, a normal flood definitely couldn't wash it away!

Above this level, there was another layer of steel structure, where the normal office area was located.

And this upper level was slightly higher than the surface of the levee.

Seeing this, Chen Fan understood, but he still didn't quite grasp one issue.

Even if they could work on the second floor, how would they get in and out?

Without needing explanation, he thought of the cargo ships at the dock just now and knew the answer.

Gangplanks!

The repair shop's workshop was less than 10 meters away from the levee surface. They could freely enter and exit with just a long gangplank.

No wonder they built the repair shop on the outer levee slope, unafraid of being flooded.

At this moment, two people came running down from upstairs. A middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, wearing work clothes stained with indelible grime, said with a loud laugh, "Secretary Tian, Section Chief An, you've arrived."

As he spoke, he took out cigarettes and offered them.

An Quan took the cigarette and said with a smile, "Hey, hey, hey, I'm not the section chief yet. If I don't get the position later, will you give me a section chief job?"

The man laughed heartily, "A section chief position, no, how about I give you this factory director position?"

Needless to say, this person was definitely the repair shop's director.

It's just that this repair shop belonged to the water transport company. He wondered if he had obtained a cadre status? Under normal circumstances, the director of the repair shop should be concurrently held by the deputy general manager of the water transport company, so he should be a cadre, right?

While pondering, Secretary Tian, holding a cigarette, pointed at Chen Fan and said, "This is Teacher Chen from Lujiawan."

Then he pointed to that person and said with a smile, "This is Cui Baozhang, the director of the repair shop, and also the deputy secretary of the water transport company."

As expected.

Chen Fan nodded inwardly and extended his right hand to Cui Baozhang, saying with a smile, "Hello, Deputy Secretary Cui."

Cui Baozhang immediately reached out to shake his hand, grinning as he said, "I guessed earlier if it was Teacher Chen. After all, there aren't many people who look so talented. Sure enough, I guessed right."

After a pause, he added with a smile, "Don't call me Deputy Secretary or Director. If you think highly of me, just call me Old Cui or Master Cui, either is fine."

Chen Fan smiled, "Then I'll call you Master Cui."

After a pause, he asked, "Master Cui, I'd like to take a look at those two sets of machines first. I wonder if that's convenient?"

Without a second word, Cui Baozhang gestured and said, "They're in the warehouse inside. I'll take you there."

As he spoke, he took the lead and walked forward.

Chen Fan quickly followed behind him, first walking to the middle of the workshop, then climbing up a U-shaped staircase to the partial second floor inside.

Cui Baozhang walked in front and turned his head to say to Chen Fan, "The machine parts here aren't actually that many, and they're mostly small parts. If there's damage to large parts, we usually buy them new. We don't prepare them in advance, because large parts aren't cheap, and it's not cost-effective to tie up the money here."

Chen Fan nodded slowly and followed him to the innermost part. Without needing him to introduce them, he saw two sets of sizable thrusters and immediately walked forward quickly.

While he was inspecting the thrusters, everyone else remained silent, even holding their breath, afraid of disturbing his inspection.

Even though Secretary Tian had spoken so freely just now, saying it didn't matter if they couldn't be repaired, a complete set of these machines cost more than 4,000 yuan.

An "Dongfanghong-12" model tractor only cost 3,500 yuan per unit, and a single thruster was more than 1,000 yuan more expensive than a tractor. How could he not feel the pinch?

Chen Fan inspected very carefully, but his speed was not slow.

After a few minutes, he stood up, looked at Secretary Tian, and shook his head slightly, "There aren't many problems with the diesel engine, steering system, and gear system. The main problems are with the bearings and propellers. The damage is very serious and almost impossible to repair."

Secretary Tian was slightly stunned, seemingly surprised, "There are no problems with the diesel engine, steering system, and gears?"

Cui Baozhang also said in surprise, "But the engineers from the province said that the entire system was unusable and told us to replace it with a new one."

Hearing this, Chen Fan couldn't help but fall into silence.

Could it be that there were some places he hadn't checked?

He thought for a moment, and without saying anything, turned around and re-examined them.

This time it took a little longer.

But even then, it was limited, because all the main parts were disassembled and placed there. Which parts were good and which parts were bad were almost immediately obvious.

More than ten minutes later, he stood up again, saying with a strange expression, "I've checked all the parts again. Apart from the impellers, shafts, and bearings having relatively serious problems and being almost irreparable, the other engines, gearboxes, brackets, and rudders, although they have some minor problems, aren't major and can still be repaired."

The three most critical parts of a thruster are the engine system, the steering transmission system, and the final propulsion system. The first two had no problems, only the propulsion system needed to be replaced, which was consistent with the ship damage situation Secretary Tian had mentioned earlier.

Therefore, only the propulsion system parts, including the bearings and impellers, needed to be replaced, and the parts of the other two systems needed to be slightly repaired, and these two sets of thrusters could continue to be used.

Why did the engineers from the prefectural committee and the province say they couldn't be repaired?

After listening to Chen Fan's words, Secretary Tian and Cui Baozhang looked at each other in dismay.

After several seconds, Cui Baozhang muttered, "No wonder I couldn't find any major problems with the engine. So there were no problems?!"

Secretary Tian didn't even want to speak. He simply picked up the cigarette that Old Cui had given him and lit it, smoking a third of it in one breath.

An Quan wiped his face, trying hard to suppress his laughter, and said with feigned righteous indignation, "Needless to say, either the engineers from the prefectural committee and the provincial city repair shop didn't check carefully, or they simply didn't learn anything. Who knows how they got their diplomas? If their skills aren't up to par, they naturally won't find the problem."

Chen Fan nodded secretly to himself.

Truth be told, among the college students who were recommended to universities in recent years, many talents had emerged. Some of them even later became academicians of the two academies.

However, from an overall perspective, the majority were still incompetent. Otherwise, the deputy general manager wouldn't have said, "Those are Tsinghua Middle School and Tsinghua Elementary School, not Tsinghua University" a few days ago.

At that symposium, their own school's professors and experts bluntly stated that some people's actual education level at the time of graduation didn't even reach high school. Some even only had the junior high school level of 10 years ago. And that was the result of the entire school's teachers putting in painstaking effort!

If that was the case there, the situation in Jiangnan might not be able to remain unscathed, right?!

Therefore, the "engineers" of this era might not be as reliable as the old masters who didn't even graduate from elementary school. At least those people relied on real skills to get promoted, rather than using diplomas to exchange for benefits.

In this situation, Chen Fan only wanted to compose a poem… but forget it, earning money from the thrusters was more important.

He immediately coughed lightly, attracting Secretary Tian and Cui Baozhang's attention, and said with a smile, "Secretary Tian, Master Cui, I don't know what the situation was like before, but based on my current inspection results, you only need to buy two new sets of bearings and propellers. As for the remaining minor problems, as long as you have level 5 or above welders, fitters, and blacksmiths to cooperate, they should be able to be resolved."

Master Cui immediately said, "Level 5 workers are just mid-level in intermediate workers. They're not particularly skilled. We have them in the repair shop."

Chen Fan nodded and turned to look at Secretary Tian, smiling, "Then it depends on whether Secretary Tian is willing to buy new parts."

In the end, it wasn't a question of whether or not to buy parts, but a question of trust.

So far, the only achievements Chen Fan could show off in the mechanical field were two: one was assembling two diesel engines, and the other was designing a small water tower. Compared to the engineers from the prefectural committee and the provincial city, he was far behind.

Who would Secretary Tian ultimately believe?

As a result, before Secretary Tian could speak, Chen Fan said again, "Or, let me make a suggestion, Secretary Tian. Since your water transport company is treating these two sets of machines as scrap, why not sell them to us at the price of scrap iron? That way, you'll earn a pure windfall, a guaranteed win-win situation. What do you think?"

Secretary Tian rolled his eyes, "Don't even think about it!"