Chapter 64: Black-hearted Yuan’er

Chapter 64: Black-hearted Yuan'er

Over the past two days, they had been buying necessary supplies during the day, and at night, Tang Yuan would refine the blueprints.

Previously, she had used the team's letterhead paper, which was not large enough. At the Municipal Committee, she obtained several sheets of professional drawing paper from Guo Yan and enlarged the biogas pool design onto them.

Xie Weiran noticed that she was drawing without any professional tools, using only her hands and a handmade small wooden ruler. The ruler was only thirty centimeters long, with markings and polished smooth and round, but it was still just a small piece of wood.

He generously gifted Tang Yuan a set of professional drawing tools, including various pens, a T-square, a triangle, a three-sided ruler, dividers, compasses, and protractors, all packed in a large canvas tool bag.

Tang Yuan hesitated to accept them, "Mr. Xie, I'm not a professional drafter. These tools would be wasted on me; I only need a ruler, compass, and protractor."

Xie Weiran smiled, "How could it be a waste? You're drawing the biogas pool design today; who knows what you might draw tomorrow?"

With proper tools, her creative ideas would be easier to realize.

Although he didn't know where she got her ideas, they were valuable news material for him.

Tang Yuan offered to pay, but he refused, insisting that she share any good things with him, as he might gain inspiration from them.

After purchasing the components and fertilizer, they didn't wait for Shen Jiaming. Guo Yan arranged for two trucks to deliver the fertilizer, biogas pool components, cement, water glass, red bricks, and steel bars back to the Forward Team.

Xie Weiran and he naturally followed to observe the construction of the biogas pool.

In Tangjia Village, Tang Bingde was scolding some workers for their lack of care.

Ever since the fish deity appeared, he felt much better, but there were still those clumsy and stupid workers who made everything difficult, requiring others to clean up after them.

They were all men in their thirties and forties, yet they were as clumsy as pigs.

Just then, the boys ran back shouting that Cadre Ji and Tang Yuan had returned, "Two big trucks arrived, carrying lots of stuff!"

"And there's fertilizer too, Captain! They brought back a lot of fertilizer!"

Tang Bingde's heart raced, his eyes gleaming, "Fertilizer?"

Getting approval for a few bags of fertilizer from the commune was already tough; getting more was impossible, and Liu Guangming would lecture him about burdening the government.

Damn it, isn't growing crops and contributing public grain a contribution to the country?

Tang Bingde hurried to the village entrance with everyone else.

Sure enough, an old Dongfeng truck was parked by the roadside. They were unloading a wooden cart, setting up a plank to guide the mules down, and then moving various supplies.

The bags of fertilizer stood out prominently!

Tang Bingde's stern face broke into a wide smile.

He stepped forward and greeted them, "Cadre Ji, Yuan'er, what's going on?" Before they could answer, he saw Guo Yan and Xie Weiran and quickly welcomed them.

Tang Yuan smiled, "Grandpa Qi, wasn't our team approved as an experimental team by Cadre Ji? This is the fertilizer specially approved for us by Leader Guo."

Tang Bingde's gaze toward Guo Yan became intensely warm, and the other villagers looked at him with similar enthusiasm.

Guo Yan felt overwhelmed.

Last time, the captain was quite reserved, but ten bags of fertilizer turned him into a proud father.

Tang Bingde laughed heartily, "Leader Guo, Mr. Xie, Cadre Ji, please come to the team office. We must slaughter a pig today..."

Guo Yan interrupted him, "Captain Tang, no extravagance or trouble, it would be a mistake. We'll have a simple meal."

Tang Bingde didn't want to slaughter the pig either, as it wouldn't be ready until the end of the year.

But slaughtering a chicken was fine!

He sent someone to buy chickens from the villagers' homes to entertain the guests.

With this fertilizer, the wheat yield next spring would increase significantly.

More importantly, if he could build a good relationship with Leader Guo, he could get another ten bags next year, ensuring sufficient fertilizer for rice.

Tang Yuan and Feng Chen declined the invitation to eat at the team office, despite Tang Bingde's insistence.

To avoid giving the villagers a chance to gossip, they didn't want anyone saying they were eating for free at the team office.

They needed to unload the truck, which still had cement and red bricks.

Guo Yan and Xie Weiran didn't stay long at the team office, having only a simple meal with fried eggs.

Tang Bingde saved the stewed chicken for dinner.

In the afternoon, they went to the Feng family side to oversee the construction of the biogas pool.

Dad Tang led his team to work elsewhere and did not send his own team members to help, leaving Feng Chen and Ji Hongyue to handle the tasks.

Tang Yuan directed, while Grandma Feng provided water.

Tang Bingde assigned Tang Aiguo and Tang Aihua, skilled young men, to assist Tang Yuan, "Do whatever she says."

Initially, the main task was digging the pit, which took the entire afternoon.

Once the pit was deep, it was challenging to remove the soil, so they brought over the team's pulley system to facilitate the process.

When the workday ended, Liu Laosan and others also came to help under Dad Tang's lead, learning as they worked.

The captain had said they would install one for each production team soon, so they needed to learn early.

Tang Yuan planned to build a ten-cubic-meter biogas pool and explained its structure to everyone using the blueprints.

What are the feed and discharge ports? Where is the main fermentation tank? Where is the gas storage area? There also needs to be a movable pool cover and so on.

How should the metal fittings and rubber hoses be installed and connected? How should they be extended into the house?

For safety and to save materials, Tang Yuan decided not to install the gas stove in the main room but instead built a separate shed specifically for cooking.

This way, even if there were occasional leaks, it wouldn't affect people's health or safety.

During the construction, Tang Yuan supervised the entire process, and Tang Bingde couldn't help but roll up his sleeves and pants to help out as well.

He also had someone bring over lime and personally mixed the sturdy and waterproof three-soil mixture.

Although Tang Yuan had bought cement, Tang Bingde had a special trust in the three-soil mixture, believing that it could be used inside with cement applied on the outside.

To prevent water and gas leakage, the cement needed to be applied in seven or eight layers.

The internal waterproofing of the biogas tank was crucial and required meticulous work, taking several days to complete.

With Tang Bingde supervising, Tang Yuan and Feng Chen led others to prepare the inoculum for the fermentation tank.

Xie Weiran took quick notes, recording not only technical terms but also the colloquial expressions used by Tang Yuan.

"What is an inoculum?"

Tang Yuan smiled and said, "It's like using old dough starter when making steamed buns."

Xie Weiran carefully noted this down, but when he saw what Tang Yuan was preparing as inoculum, he almost vomited.

It was a mixture of pond sludge and human and animal manure. The smell made him wonder how he could ever eat steamed buns again.

However, the villagers didn't mind at all. This wasn't fresh manure but rather composted manure that had been fermenting in the pigsty for a long time, which could be directly used as fertilizer in the fields.

Even if it smelled, it was the scent of a good harvest!

Guo Yan watched with great interest and even helped Tang Bingde shovel some mud, but later gave up due to the physical labor and just stood aside watching.

Yes, neither Guo Yan nor Xie Weiran left; they decided to stay in Tangjia Village until the biogas tank produced biogas and Tang Yuan could cook a meal with it!

Though it might take a while, they both felt it was worth it.

Guo Yan thought that if Tang Yuan succeeded here, the project could be promoted to other counties, communes, and brigades.

This project would then be his own.

His promotion would be smooth and without resistance.

For the sake of advancement, all waiting was worthwhile.

In the office of Binxian County.

Gao Sheng had not been feeling happy lately, especially since the success of growing rice in Forward Brigade had caught the attention of the Municipal Committee, greatly hindering his path to wealth.

Xie Xingzhi seized the opportunity and was about to turn things around. Although he hadn't taken control of the entire economy of Binxian County, he had gained a part of it.

If this continued, would he end up like Liu Guangming, losing his means of making money?

With such a busy workload, his family added more stress. His nephew constantly caused trouble, either getting caught in romantic entanglements or fighting with others over permits.

He wanted to ignore it and teach his nephew a lesson, but his eldest sister would cry to him, reminding him of how she and his elder brother had suffered to support him.

Gao Sheng was already annoyed when the phone rang. He answered it, and it turned out to be a call from the Municipal Committee.

Ever since Ji Hongyue had tricked him in the city, Gao Sheng had secretly bribed a few office workers there to inform him if anything happened with Ji Hongyue.

"Good, good, I understand. I'll come to the city to have tea with you another day."

After hanging up, Gao Sheng's face darkened. The money spent was not wasted; the office worker from the Municipal Committee told him that Ji Hongyue was now promoting the construction of biogas tanks in Forward Brigade.

Guo Yan and Xie Weiran had also joined in the excitement.

Damn it!

Gao Sheng quickly called Liu Guangming and asked him to come for a meeting.

After a brief meeting, Gao Sheng and Liu Guangming, along with two cadres and a county newspaper reporter, rushed to the countryside in a truck.

When they arrived in Tangjia Village, they smelled the odor of composted manure.

Liu Guangming was very familiar with this smell. In households that raised pigs, to collect manure for the brigade, the pigsties had to be cleaned every early spring, summer, and late autumn.

The pigsty was a large square pit, and one round of cleaning could yield two or three carts of manure.

When the whole village cleaned together, the smell was unimaginable.

Liu Guangming had fallen into a pigsty as a child, which had left a deep shadow on him.

His already bad mood worsened.

He naturally did not know that this smell was caused by Tang Yuan leading the preparation of the biogas tank inoculum.

The Feng family's manure alone was not enough, so Tang Bingde had arranged for other families to contribute their composted manure from their pigsties.

The brigade provided work points for this.

The inoculum was piled in a pit coated with the three-soil mixture to ferment, covered with a plastic film to seal it. This step was to cultivate anaerobic active sludge.

Whether under high, medium, or normal temperatures, the active sludge from biogas fermentation could serve as inoculum to start the biogas tank.

This was a technology accumulated over decades, something that biogas tanks in the 1960s and 1970s did not possess.

Having started the anaerobic sludge in the biogas digester, gas production can begin within a week, and methane content can exceed 70% after a month, which is quite impressive.

Tang Yuan said to Xie Weiran and Guo Yan, "After this step, we'll have to wait about ten days."

In summer, fermentation takes only five to seven days, but now that it's cooler, even with added insulation materials like wheat straw, anaerobic fermentation still requires ten to fifteen days.

The biogas digester is still under construction; they are applying the fourth layer of fine cement now.

Gao Sheng and Liu Guangming are destined to see nothing when they come over, just a large pit divided into sections.

"Team Leader Guo, Journalist Xie!" Gao Sheng and Liu Guangming greeted them with smiles, shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries.

But deep down, they were far from pleased.

Why are you bypassing the County Party Committee again and directly dealing with the team?

This is called going below your level!

The two accompanying journalists snapped photos and took notes, only to find there was nothing to report.

They had to make small talk with Xie Weiran, hoping to peek at his interview notes.

Who is Xie Weiran to let others take credit for his work?

He had a hundred ways to string the two journalists along with useless information.

With no other choice, the journalists sought an interview with Secretary Liu, but what did Secretary Liu know?

They then approached Tang Bingde, who could only repeat that he dug the pit and applied cement, nothing more.

Interviewing other members of the cooperative yielded nothing but talk about manure.

Damn!

Finally, they turned to Feng Chen and Tang Yuan, ignoring Ji Hongyue, knowing he wouldn't engage with them.

Feng Chen ignored them too, giving them a cold stare that made them back off automatically.

Only Tang Yuan remained.

Tang Yuan showed them a blueprint, saying, "Cadre Ji is truly capable; he's so skilled!"

She lavished praise on Ji Hongyue.

The two journalists didn't know how to write this up—should they credit Ji Hongyue for all the achievements?

Wouldn't Team Leader Gao and Section Chief Liu be furious?

That night, Gao Sheng and Liu Guangming stayed overnight at Secretary Liu's place, hoping to have dinner with Guo Yan and Xie Weiran, but those two went to Feng Chen's house instead.

Initially, Tang Bingde had hosted them at the team office, but after Guo Yan tasted the pancakes with meat and vegetables at Feng Chen's, he preferred the taste and decided to dine there.

He brought enough meal tickets and money, not wanting to eat for free.

Xie Weiran naturally followed suit.

Tang Bingde weighed out some grain and bought a few hens that barely laid eggs to entertain the guests.

In the past, Tang Bingde wouldn't have been so generous with cadres, even Guo Yan and Xie Weiran didn't get such treatment.

But this time, wasn't it about helping buy fertilizer? Didn't they want Guo Yan's help with future fertilizer purchases?

Didn't they want Xie Weiran to promote their efforts to secure more agricultural supplies?

Their team lacked diesel engines, harvesters, and tractors, but they planned to buy them once they saved enough money!

Previously, Tang Bingde never dared dream big, but now he dared to think of everything!

Gao Sheng and Liu Guangming wanted to dine at Feng Chen's, but Ji Hongyue was still there.

Even if they wanted to "set aside differences" and get along with Ji Hongyue, he would transform upon seeing them, either being sarcastic or criticizing indirectly, or bombarding them with soul-searching questions.

Even the most patient person would lose their temper, right?

Forget it; they'd talk to Guo Yan and Xie Weiran during the day while working.

Gao Sheng expressed concern for Secretary Liu's health and the progress of the Forward Team, "Uncle, you must stay strong and reclaim your power."

Secretary Liu sighed; party affairs were still in his hands, and Tang Bingde hadn't contested them. He still attended meetings at the County Party Committee and collected party fees.

Similarly, he couldn't interfere with the team's agricultural production, which Tang Bingde managed tightly.

Liu Guangming said, "Dad, you need to find out what's going on with this biogas digester, or Gao Team Leader and I will have come down here for nothing."

He had been upset with his father and didn't want to visit home recently, but work came first.

Secretary Liu replied, "I'll ask tomorrow and get the documents for you to review."

Gao Sheng instructed the two county journalists, "Don't just sit around; go interview people in the village."

These two were like wooden heads, moving only when prodded, doing nothing otherwise.

Relatives just don't cut it!

The two journalists exchanged glances, put down their chopsticks before finishing their meal, and hurried out with cameras and notebooks to conduct interviews.

It was early autumn turning to winter, and by seven o'clock, it was already dark.

Wearing coats, they didn't feel cold; instead, the temperature felt just right and quite pleasant.

The sound of leather shoes treading on muddy ground echoed with a dull thud.

Ding Aiping: "Let's take a walk. There are no factories in the countryside, and the air is so fresh."

In the county town, there are factories with chimneys spewing smoke, making the air much worse.

Jiang Chengsheng: "Who should we interview? Should we try that Tang Yuan again?"

As he spoke, he turned his head and saw a village girl by the roadside, wearing black pants and a red top, looking at them curiously.

He smiled at her, "Hello, little sister. I'm a county newspaper reporter. Can I interview you?"

Tang Xiang's heart leaped with joy; she had come out specifically to encounter the county leaders and reporters.

She hadn't given up on trying to approach the city leaders and reporters, but that Team Leader Guo and Reporter Xie seemed to have something wrong with their heads, completely ignoring her.

Every time she tried to get close, they were polite but distant, showing no intention of having a deep conversation with her.

How could she have any chance to show herself and get closer to them?

She suspected that Tang Yuan had said bad things about her to Ji Hongyue, who then influenced Team Leader Guo and Reporter Xie. Otherwise, these two wouldn't be so cold towards her.

Ever since she crossed over, she had always been loved by everyone, and flowers bloomed wherever she went. Whenever she wanted to befriend someone, they never refused her; only she could be cold, not others.

These two county reporters greeting her restored some of her confidence.

She smiled sweetly and spoke Mandarin clearly and correctly, which would surely pique their interest and earn their favor.

She replied, "Sure, what do you want to interview me about? I'll tell you everything I know."

She cleverly used idioms to showcase her literary skills, hoping they would notice that she was an educated young woman.

Indeed, Jiang Chengsheng's eyes flickered slightly. This village girl was quite cultured, using idioms and all.

They walked and talked as Tang Xiang introduced them to some matters of the brigade.

Ding Aiping grew impatient. She wanted to know the details about the biogas digester, but Tang Xiang kept talking about other things, eventually bringing it back to herself—how well she did in school, how helpful she was, and how... oh, she would also mention Tang Yuan, saying how rude and disrespectful Tang Yuan used to be.

Of course, she didn't directly speak ill of Tang Yuan behind her back; instead, she mentioned old stories inadvertently, telling them how Tang Yuan used to behave, implying that she wasn't as polite as she appeared now.

In essence, she suggested that Tang Yuan was hypocritical and needed scrutiny.

No matter how hypocritical Tang Yuan might be, the county newspaper wouldn't focus on her, right?

Ding Aiping: "Do you even know about the biogas digester?"

Tang Xiang: "Of course, I do. What's so special about it? It's outdated and unsafe."

In her previous life, during high school biology and chemistry classes, teachers mentioned biogas digesters, stating that many were built in rural areas during economically underdeveloped times but later abandoned.

Their abandonment naturally indicated that they were unsafe and outdated.

Ding Aiping became even more impatient. Who cares if it's outdated? Right now, I need to interview about the biogas digester.

She tugged at Jiang Chengsheng, signaling him to leave and find someone else to interview.

She remembered a few young men who helped build the digester and thought they could ask them.

Tang Xiang panicked, "Hey, don't go yet! I still have things to tell you!"

Ding Aiping had already pulled Jiang Chengsheng away, whispering, "Why are you chatting so much with a country girl? She knows nothing. What's there to talk about?"

Tang Xiang heard this and trembled with anger.

Me?

A country girl?

Knows nothing?

I swear... give me a set of high school math, physics, and chemistry exams. Are you better than me?

With the help of Tang Bingde and others, Tang Yuan managed to complete the household biogas digester in nine days.

It hadn't rained recently, and although the sun wasn't scorching, it was warm enough to speed up the fermentation process in the inoculation tank.

After three more days, the anaerobic activated sludge fermented sufficiently, and it was time to load the materials.

The design was scientific and user-friendly, with convenient inlet and outlet ports.

To facilitate winter fermentation and biogas production, Tang Yuan designed an insulation layer for the biogas digester and installed a heating and stirring device.

Although they couldn't start the heating and stirring device without energy, once the biogas started flowing continuously, it would provide power for heating and electricity.

This simple and useful heating and stirring device was semi-automated and could be operated from outside, using either human or animal power.

For the initial loading, the materials had to be full, with pig manure and human waste mixed in the correct proportions, along with the inoculum.

The inlet of the biogas digester connected to the pigsty, allowing regular cleaning and feeding of the digester.

The outlet was located in the vegetable garden outside the wall, where semi-solid digestate could be extracted for use as fertilizer. The liquid digestate contained various active, resistant, and nutritional substances, suitable for green pesticides and feed additives for livestock.

On the day of loading the materials, Tang Bingde mobilized many brigade members to bring human urine to the biogas digester.

Xie Weiran and Jiang Chengsheng stood by the roadside with cameras, snapping photos of the brigade members queuing up to deliver urine buckets to the digester.

This time, Dad Tang was sharp-witted. He organized a group of unmarried young men to queue up with urine buckets, instructing them to stand tall, chest out, and smile. When published in the newspaper, it would benefit the young men of the Forward Brigade in finding spouses!

Uncle Tang, Aunt Tang, and Tang Wu wanted to join in the fun and get photographed for the newspaper, but Tang Bingde scolded them away.

Not helping to dig the pond or scoop out the manure, you only show up for the photo op.

How can you have such thick skin?

Ding Aiping found it dirty and stayed far away.

These days they were assigned by their superiors to stay at the team until Xie Weiran left before they could go.

She was miserable.

Tang Xiang also pinched her nose and watched, "It definitely won't work; it won't produce gas. It might even explode."

Gao Sheng and Liu Guangming came specifically after hearing that the biogas plant in Tangjia Village had been built and filled with materials.

"Tang Fulin, when will this biogas plant start producing gas? When can we..." Liu Guangming gestured, "...turn it on and cook?"

Dad Tang, with his good temper, didn't mind him calling him by his name, "I'm just responsible for organizing people to bring urine here. I don't know when it will start producing gas."

Ever since he became the production team leader, Dad Tang has become more composed to gain respect. He used to be not good with words, but now he tries not to say anything unnecessary.

The members of the second team all respect him greatly, treating him almost the same as Tang Bingde.

Many even assume him to be the future successor to Tang Bingde's position.

Liu Guangming had no choice but to personally seek out Tang Yuan, smilingly asking, "Sister Yuan'er, who did you learn this biogas plant from?"

Tang Yuan glanced at him—was this person pretending to be ignorant?

She smiled, "Of course from Cadre Ji. He's very capable."

Liu Guangming quickly interrupted her to prevent her from excessively praising Ji Hongyue, "After filling it with materials, how many days until it starts producing gas? We'll come back then to see it in action."

Tang Yuan didn't deceive him, after all, the biogas plant is a beneficial public project. If other teams need help, she would be willing to assist.

If Liu Guangming wanted to know, he would naturally find out.

She said, "About ten days."

Liu Guangming calculated in his mind and smiled, "We'll come back then."

Seeing Tang Yuan's attitude was good, unlike Feng Chen's cold demeanor or Ji Hongyue's hostility towards him, he invited Gao Sheng over to talk.

He came to test the waters; if he got rejected, it would be embarrassing for him, but not for Gao Sheng.

Gao Sheng treated Tang Yuan warmly, praising her intelligence and quick learning, as well as her looks.

If he could win her over, Ji Hongyue would have worked in vain.

Tang Yuan dealt with him professionally, outwardly warm but inwardly indifferent.

"Little Tang, are you interested in working at the County Agricultural Bureau? I can get you a position."

Gao Sheng thought to himself, how much more does she want? Does she want a position for her husband too?

Don't be too greedy!

He smiled somewhat stiffly, "Tell me."

Tang Yuan: "Director Gao, could I ask you for something else?"

Gao Sheng thought, what now, still not enough? Wants more? Not trying to get a position for her husband, is she?

Don't be too greedy!

He smiled stiffly, "Go ahead."

Tang Yuan: "Director Gao, I know our county leaders care about the people. Our team's land is barren, and we don't have enough fertilizer. Every year we don't get enough. Could Director Gao help us secure an additional three to five thousand pounds of fertilizer each year?"

Gao Sheng: !!!

Liu Guangming: !!!

Little girl, don't go too far!

Do you know how expensive fertilizer is?

This is more valuable than seeds, pesticides, and herbicides combined!

Ji Hongyue, who was eavesdropping nearby, couldn't help but almost laugh, clenching his teeth and biting his tongue, making him grimace in pain.

Feng Chen, equally worried about his wife being bullied by Liu Guangming, glanced at him, signaling him to keep quiet and not shout out.

Ji Hongyue continued listening, tears streaming down his face while covering his mouth.

Caught off guard by Tang Yuan's request, Gao Sheng and Liu Guangming couldn't refuse outright.

Of course, they could refuse, being leaders, they could easily say, "Agricultural supplies are strictly regulated," and Tang Yuan couldn't do anything about it.

But if they refused her, would they still feel comfortable coming back to see the biogas plant producing gas?

Yet agreeing would truly hurt, causing them various pains and regrets.

Gao Sheng took a deep breath and smiled bitterly, "Little Tang, you're overestimating my power. I'm just a deputy director. How could I have such authority? Look, even Director Ji can't approve it."

Director Ji is higher ranked than me; why doesn't he approve it for you?

If it weren't for you pushing him aside, how could he have no power?

Gao Sheng didn’t expect this rural girl to be so composed and resolute, showing no fear in the face of a county leader like himself.

Especially her clear, moist eyes, which seemed to see through everything, as if she were the leader instead!

Damn, truly infuriating.

Having no choice, he gritted his teeth and said, “We really can’t approve more than that. Look, even Team Leader Guo can only approve a thousand pounds. We can help buy six or seven hundred pounds.”

Tang Yuan immediately thanked him crisply, “Thank you, Leader Gao, for getting us eight hundred pounds of fertilizer!”

Gao Sheng: “...”

This girl is too devious; she’s practically a smiling tiger.

Liu Guangming: “...” How come Father never mentioned there was such a hidden gem in the village!

If we had known earlier, we would have brought her to the county to help.

Upon hearing that Gao Sheng was also willing to help buy fertilizer, Tang Bingde rushed over to express his gratitude. His originally stern face now broke into an overly humble smile.

“Leaders, you must come to our team for dinner today. We’ll kill a chicken, we must kill a chicken!”

Gao Sheng’s heart bled. Do I crave your tough old hen?

I prefer young chickens!

He smiled warmly, “Captain, there’s no need to be so formal. Serving the people is our duty.”