booktalesy Chapter 44 The Power of Knowledge!
Chapter 44 The Power of Knowledge!
The placement test took an hour. Zhang Erya recognized a total of 100 characters and could write 10 of them, successfully earning 60 cents.
Since Old Jia died, she could only get three yuan a month from Jia Dongxu for her retirement. Now she earned six mao in one night. Zhang Erya was so excited that she let out three loud farts.
Yan Bugui pinched his nose and did the math, so angry that he wanted to call Zhang Chengfei "uncle" too, and this time he really meant it.
Zhang Chengfei watched Zhang Erya count the money and began to give instructions: "From now on, you need to recognize forty characters and be able to write twenty each day. I will check when I come back every day. If you miss recognizing a character, you will be fined two cents; if you can't write a character, you will be fined four cents."
A fourfold fine? So if there are four people who can't read or write, the whole day's work is for nothing?
Zhang Erya's face immediately fell, and she secretly felt disgusted with her third uncle.
The other people in the courtyard were overjoyed when they heard this.
After several reversals throughout the day, by the time he went to bed that night, Zhang Chengfei had successfully earned twelve skill points.
He didn't participate in the lottery; he planned to save it up and try it all at once later.
……
The next morning, before dawn, the sound of students reading aloud could be heard in the courtyard.
"Potatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes, eggplants, eggplants..."
The residents of the courtyard were awakened by the noise and gathered at the entrance of the Jia family's house, all complaining.
He Yuzhu yelled at the top of his lungs, "Aunt Zhang, are you crazy? It's only three in the morning! Everyone else is still sleeping!"
Xu Damao followed closely behind: "We have to go to work at seven o'clock, how can you be like this?"
Zhang Erya slammed open the window and poked her head out: "What business is it of yours if I'm making money—I mean, I mean studying? Have a problem with that? Go find Officer Zhou at the neighborhood committee!"
Liu Haizhong stepped in to smooth things over: "It's not that I don't want you to read, it's that I want you to be mindful of the time. Besides, could you please keep your voice down?"
Zhang Erya remained as feisty as ever: "I can't remember if you speak softly."
After saying that, without waiting for Liu Haizhong's reply, he slammed the door shut and continued reciting loudly: "Sweet potato, sweet potato, potato, potato..."
The people in the courtyard didn't sleep for most of the night, especially the deaf old lady in the backyard. As people get older, they don't need much sleep, and after being disturbed like this, her heart was pounding the next day...
The next morning, Zhang Chengfei carried a washbasin to the central courtyard and was startled to see a group of people with huge dark circles under their eyes wandering around the courtyard like wild ghosts.
"You guys went to steal sweet potatoes last night? What's wrong with you all?"
Xu Damao retorted indignantly, "How dare you say that? Isn't she your chubby niece?!"
He recounted Zhang Erya's crimes one by one, expecting Zhang Chengfei to say something, but the latter exclaimed, "This is the power of knowledge! It seems Erya has already felt the magic of knowledge."
Silly Zhu, standing nearby, spat on the ground: "What magic of knowledge? This is clearly the magic of money!"
Yi Zhonghai looked displeased: "Zhang Chengfei, you need to talk to Zhang Erya and tell her not to disturb everyone's sleep."
Zhang Chengfei said sincerely, "Er Ya's actions were indeed wrong, but she was responding to national policy and wanted to get rid of the label as soon as possible so as not to hold back our entire courtyard and the entire street."
Er Ya did something wrong, and as her uncle, I apologize to everyone.
After saying that, he bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle, leaving everyone speechless with embarrassment.
Yi Zhonghai thought to himself, "Even national policies didn't force Zhang Erya to get up in the middle of the night to memorize her lessons!"
Just as he was about to launch another attack, Zhang Chengfei began to bow sincerely again, saying that everyone should be patient, and that Er Ya was working hard to help their street get rid of its poverty label.
Then they said that Er Ya was determined to do well in her studies, and everyone should help her.
"The child is ignorant, I apologize on her behalf, and I ask everyone to be more tolerant of Er Ya." Zhang Chengfei said seriously.
Yi Zhonghai was speechless. If Zhang Chengfei's attitude was not good, he could take the opportunity to morally blackmail Zhang Chengfei and put him on the opposite side of everyone.
But now that this guy was using a softer approach, it made him feel powerless, like punching cotton. The other party had already lowered his stance so much; if he continued to be aggressive, it would seem rather cold and unapproachable.
Others shared the same idea.
They had no way to express their grievances, and in their hearts they cursed the uncle and nephew to the heavens, feeling that Zhang Chengfei spoiled the child too much, and their disdain came like a hurricane.
……
At 7:40 a.m., Zhang Chengfei had just reached the office door when Lao Tian stopped him.
"Dafei, are you free? If you are, I'll take you to see the materials for radiators."
"You got the materials so quickly? Brother Tian, your efficiency is impressive."
"Hey, I've worked in the factory for over twenty years. I can't say for sure about other things, but I can definitely get free materials and stuff." Old Tian said with a chuckle as he led Zhang Cheng toward the small warehouse.
As they walked, he pulled out the heating system design drawings from his pocket and showed them to Zhang Chengfei: "The most suitable thing for a single-story house is to modify a household stove and then lay heating pipes along the wall..."
The stove can burn firewood or coal. The advantage of firewood is its low cost, while the advantage of coal is that you don't need to get up repeatedly in the middle of the night to add firewood. The installation methods and principles for both are the same; it just depends on which one you prefer.
Looking at the design drawings handed to him, Zhang Chengfei had to admit that although Lao Tian was not formally trained, the design drawings were actually quite good, comparable to those made by many vocational school students.
He carefully examined the diagram and looked at Lao Tian: "Let's use coal instead. I'm lazy, and I definitely won't be able to get up in the middle of the night to add firewood. If the stove keeps going out, the heating will be a waste."
"You bet! Spending a little more money makes you feel much more comfortable." Old Tian nodded in agreement and then started asking Zhang Chengfei how the design drawings for the mini-tiller were coming along.
"You, Xiao Ke, and Team Leader Tai have been working overtime every day; shouldn't you have finished the detailed drawings by now?"
Zhang Chengfei chuckled and said, "You really shouldn't ask me. I only know about my own progress, not others'."
Old Tian frowned: "You're in the same office, yet you don't communicate with each other?"
Zhang Chengfei: "I'm the newest one, the least experienced. Since the other two didn't say anything, I felt awkward speaking up."
Old Tian glanced at him seemingly casually: "I believe Old Tai won't say anything, but with Xiao Ke's personality, do you think he can keep quiet about nothing?"
Zhang Chengfei laughed: "Brother Ke does love to talk, but because he talks too much, he always falls behind schedule and has been scolded by Lao Tai a few times. Now, when he enters the office, he's like a wilted eggplant and doesn't say a word."
Old Tian said thoughtfully, "I thought Old Tai would keep up with your progress every day."
Zhang Chengfei shook his head again: "Perhaps he has other plans."
Old Tian stopped dwelling on the topic and simply told Zhang Chengfei not to talk to Lao Tai too much unless absolutely necessary.
Zhang Chengfei nodded, saying only that he understood.
Old Tian suddenly sighed again: "I really wanted to get involved in the design of the mini-tiller, but unfortunately Old Ma is too old-fashioned and focuses too much on academic qualifications."
Zhang Chengfei thought to himself, "I'm just a roughneck; why would I care about academic qualifications?"
However, he nodded in agreement, saying that he could tell from the blueprints that Brother Tian was very capable.
"I've just started working here, and I'll inevitably have to ask Brother Tian for advice in the future. I hope you won't hesitate to teach me then." He looked honest and naive, like a newbie with boundless trust in the veteran.
A flash of smugness crossed Lao Tian's eyes: "It's about helping each other out. I'm the only one not on duty in the micro-tiller project, so I'll probably have to ask you about the progress a lot in the future."
"Actually, since the boss has already spoken, I could have waited until you finished drawing the diagrams and started assembling before learning about the project."
But I'm the kind of person who worries a lot; once I start something, I want to do it to the best of my ability. So I wanted to understand the project's progress in advance, so I wouldn't be caught off guard and fall behind schedule.
"Brother Tian is an old hand after all; he's very meticulous," Zhang Chengfei praised. "If you want to know anything later, just ask me. I'll tell you if I know the answer."
Old Tian: "Actually, I'm really curious about what you were thinking. How did you come up with the idea of a mini-tiller, such a great piece of agricultural machinery?"
To be honest, I later tried to reverse engineer it myself, but I got stuck when I got to the power system...
This is what it means to have Zhang Chengfei help explain.
Zhang Chengfei looked apologetic: "I'm really sorry, but the section chief instructed me not to tell anyone about this..."
Old Tian: "..." No, you just said you'd tell me everything...
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When the two arrived at the small warehouse, Zhang Chengfei saw that all the necessary items for making a heating system were readily available. He praised Lao Tian's skills again and said that he could pay for these items.
Old Tian waved his hand: "I got these from steel mills, machinery factories, and car leaf spring factories through connections. It's fine to take them home and use them myself for free. If I actually paid for them, I would be making a mistake."
"But this is all done with your face, Brother Tian..." Zhang Chengfei hesitated.
"We're all in the same department, so there's no need to be so formal." Old Tian insisted on not taking any money. "Once I've got everything set up, I'll come to your house in a couple of days to install it for you. It's almost December, and it could snow anytime soon, so I can't let it delay your use."
"Thank you so much, Brother Tian."
Old Tian joked, "When we get there, you'd better hide the blueprints for the mini-tiller well, so that no one who shouldn't see them gets to see them."
Zhang Chengfei chuckled: "Why would I need to avoid you, Brother Tian? We're in this together."
Old Tian patted him on the shoulder: "Then it's settled."