Chapter 121

Director Yang has been very busy at work recently.

Li Jiandong led the team to develop hydraulic excavators, so his work had to be shared equally by Director Yang and Deputy Director Dai.

Among them, Director Yang has the most responsibilities and has to go to the workshop to check several times every day.

There was no other way. Li Jiandong had done this before. With his example in mind, even if Director Yang wanted to be lazy, he would feel embarrassed.

I have gone to the workshop to check three times today. It takes more than an hour to go around so many workshops. I finally returned to the office and wanted to rest for a while, but the office door was knocked again.

Director Yang shouted weakly:
"Enter."

The door opened and it was Engineer Qi from the Engineering Technology Department.

"Director Yang, it's done, it's done."

When Director Yang saw the other party's excited look, he also became excited.

However, he still suppressed his emotions and asked in a deep voice: "Speak slowly, what is it?"

"The excavator has been made. The research on hydraulic excavator has been successful."

After Engineer Qi said this, he couldn't help but shed tears.

This is the world's most advanced hydraulic excavator. He has just seen the operation of the new excavator with his own eyes. It is not only very smooth to operate, but also very efficient.

The size is also much smaller than previous mechanical excavators. The lighter weight and smaller size means that it can operate in more complex terrain environments. In the past, it was necessary to open mountains and pave the ground before excavation, but now it can be driven directly to work.

As an engineer, he is well aware of the advancement of hydraulic excavators and feels honored to be able to personally participate in it.

"It worked? Really? That's great."

Director Yang's face also turned red with excitement.

"Come on, take me to see you."

The sun was scorching outside, but Director Yang and Engineer Qi did not feel any discomfort. They now focused all their energy on the hydraulic excavator and walked so fast that they almost ran.

They soon arrived at the testing site. At that moment, Li Jiandong was surrounded by a group of engineers. When they saw Director Yang coming, they made way for him.

Before Director Yang even came up to the excavator, he asked repeatedly, "Where is it? Where is the excavator?"

"Director Yang, isn't the excavator right next to you?"

Li Jiandong said with a smile.

Director Yang turned his head and took a look.

The thing next to it that looks like a tank with claws is an excavator?

How can you exert force when this lever arm is bent?

"Jiandong, have you tested this excavator?"

"Yes, I just finished the experiment."

"Can you dig things up?"

Seeing Director Yang's look of disbelief, the engineers around him all laughed.

"Yes, and we can dig fast and in large quantities."

Li Jiandong also said with a smile.

Previous mechanical excavators had two cross arms, one of which had an excavator bucket mounted on it, which was pulled straight up and down by a steel wire.

The excavator in front of us, apart from a chassis that looks a bit like a tank and a cockpit, has only a curved three-section lever arm. There is no fixed lower cross arm and no steel wire to pull the bucket.

It is understandable that there is no steel wire, after all, it is a hydraulic excavator, and perhaps the steel wire has been replaced by hydraulics.

But without a cross arm responsible for fixation, how can this three-section lever arm exert force?

Director Yang had only heard of hydraulic excavators but had never seen one. Moreover, Li Jiandong's three-stage lever arm was even more powerful than the most advanced excavator in the world today. It was future technology that was more flexible and complex.

"Dig one up and show it to me."

Director Yang didn't distrust Li Jiandong.

He knew that Li Jiandong would never lie to him about this kind of thing, so he just wanted to open his eyes.

Li Jiandong climbed back onto the excavator, started it, lifted the bucket, and easily dug up a bucket of stones from the side. His movements were graceful and took very little time.

Seeing is believing, Director Yang had no choice but to believe it.

I didn't expect that this strange-looking excavator is so easy to use. Not only can it dig up things, but it is also so convenient. You know, the original mechanical excavator sometimes takes a minute to operate a round, but Li Jiandong's few moves just now took less than ten seconds in total.

Director Yang became very excited when he thought of this. After Li Jiandong jumped down again, he held his hand tightly and refused to let go.

"Jiandong, you really surprised me. Now that we have this thing, the speed of construction will be much faster in the future."

After Director Yang finished speaking, he suddenly remembered something.

He said with a smile: "I have to tell the leader about this good news and let him be happy with me. Jiandong, get ready. We will go to the Ministry of Industry together later."

Li Jiandong thought that Director Yang wanted to call the senior leader, but he didn't expect that he wanted to go there in person.

Soon the driver arrived.

Director Yang took Li Jiandong to the Ministry of Industry and met with Mr. Bi before leaving get off work.

The leaders of Bi University were also very happy to learn that the hydraulic excavator had been successfully developed.

He hadn't seen the real thing yet, and Director Yang couldn't understand it even after explaining it to him for a long time. He just thought that Director Yang was too excited, so he used exaggeration.

However, since it has been successfully developed, it must be promoted widely.

This is certainly not to show off, but to make the people of the whole country happy together, and at the same time to encourage everyone and make everyone more hopeful about the future.

It took Li Jiandong, Director Yang and others a whole morning to deal with the reporters who left the newspaper.

After a brief celebratory banquet, we began to rapidly set up the production line.

In order to produce hydraulic excavators more quickly, several machinery factories and steel rolling mills in Beicheng divided the work among themselves, with each factory producing several lines of parts, and then the Red Star Machinery Factory was responsible for the overall assembly.

Among them, the steel rolling mill is responsible for the manufacturing of the most important hydraulic parts because of the presence of Li Jiandong.

Three days later, the production line was completed.

Next, you just need to wait for the accessories to be made and then assemble them step by step.

Li Jiandong can finally relax.

However, the agreements with Xujiatuan and Gaijia Village have not yet been fulfilled.

That weekend, he got up early in the morning and went to the steel rolling mill. He drove a pallet truck specially made for transporting excavators, took two excavator workers with him and went straight to Xujiatuan.

At this time, 59 days had passed since the day Li Jiandong and Xu Jianjun agreed upon, and exactly one day left to go until two months.

Seeing that the amount of water in the Northeast Ditch has been getting less and less in the past two months, and the excavator that Li Jiandong promised has not been delivered yet, the villagers of Xujiatuan have begun to get anxious.

"Jianjun, do you think that Deputy Director Li can really get an excavator? It's been a long time, he should have gotten it a long time ago."

A villager finally couldn't help but talk about it.

Their contact time with Li Jiandong was not as long as that of Xu Jianjun and Xu Ershu.

I don't know much about Li Jiandong's personality.

The reason why they were willing to send the excavator to Li Jiandong was entirely because of their trust in Uncle Xu and Xu Jianjun.

However, after such a long time, Li Jiandong still did not deliver the excavator.

This made them wonder whether even Uncle Xu and Xu Jianjun had been deceived by Li Jiandong.

"Don't worry, Deputy Director Li wouldn't lie to us. It might be hard to find an excavator, so they can't arrange it right away."

Xu Jianjun still trusts Li Jiandong more.

He is capable and kind-hearted. Most importantly, Li Jiandong has a good relationship with Xu Damao and Xu Jianjun's families. Even if he really can't get the excavator, he will definitely tell them in advance and will never deliberately make them wait in vain.

However, the water in the Northeast Ditch is getting less and less, and there has been no rain in the past two months. If Li Jiandong doesn’t come again, they can’t wait any longer even if they are willing.

"Everyone, don't worry. If Deputy Director Li doesn't come tomorrow, I'll go to the city to ask him about the situation."

After hearing what Xu Jianjun said, no one discussed anything else.

After all, Uncle Xu and Xu Jianjun still have great prestige in the village. Even if they don't believe Li Jiandong, they still give face to Xu Jianjun.

At this moment, a villager suddenly shouted:
"Look, there's a car."

Everyone looked in the direction of his finger, and sure enough, it was a big truck, but this truck was a little strange. It didn't have a big tall box bed at the back, but instead was towing a large tray with a strange-shaped object on it. It looked like a curled-up shrimp.

"Look what's on the truck? Is it an excavator?"

"The driver seems to be the deputy factory director surnamed Li. It seems that the excavator he mentioned has arrived."

The villagers became excited.

With the excavator, they no longer have to supply water to Gaijiazhuang. Even when the pond in Gaijiazhuang is dug, they can dig the Northeast Ditch deeper.

But soon someone overturned their speculation.

"Don't talk nonsense. That Li is the deputy director of the steel mill. How could the deputy director of a factory with 10,000 employees drive a truck himself?"

"I've seen excavators before, and they're nothing like this. They're much more powerful than trucks. The two front columns are like scissors, and the bucket is moved by steel bars. You can tell at a glance that this thing isn't for work."

The excavator bucket cannot be seen because of the truck's front end.

Just looking at the upper half, it is indeed completely different from existing mechanical excavators.

Xu Jianjun didn't say anything. He just waited quietly for the truck to approach. As the distance between the two sides shortened, the driver's appearance became clearer and clearer. "It's really Deputy Director Li. That's the excavator."

Xu Jianjun finally saw clearly that the person driving the car was Li Jiandong.

Since he is here, the big thing on the back of the truck is undoubtedly an excavator.

Xu Jianjun excitedly walked forward, and the others followed him. Li Jiandong drove the car to them, stopped, then opened the door and jumped out.

Smiling, Yinyin said:
"Jianjun, am I not late?"

It was agreed to be two months, and today is exactly the 59th day.

Xu Jianjun grinned and said, "Not too late, not too late. Deputy Director Li, you came just in time. There hasn't been a drop of rain in the past two months. If you don't come, the water in the Northeast Ditch will soon be insufficient for our two villages."

A young man next to Xu Jianjun couldn't help but ask:
"Deputy Director Li, you said you would help us get an excavator. Is that an excavator on this truck? My second brother said it's not an excavator. He has seen excavators that don't look like this."

A man a few years older than him suddenly pinched his arm and made a look to stop him from talking.

Li Jiandong laughed: "Yes, this is an excavator. It is an excavator produced by us. It is also the most advanced excavator in the world."

Li Jiandong is not bragging. The excavator he designed is definitely ahead of all the current excavators in the world.

Although the first hydraulic excavator was manufactured in China in 51, its maneuverability and flexibility cannot be compared with the one designed by Li Jiandong. Li Jiandong's excavator was designed according to the excavator standards of years later. In terms of efficiency, it is far better than all foreign excavators.

If Li Jiandong said such things in the future, he would definitely be criticized by many people for being ignorant, and some people would ask him to acknowledge the excellence of others and to go out and see more things.

In short, they are so "well-informed" that they would not admit that the products made in their own country are better than those made in Western countries.

However, during this period, people were willing to believe even big leaps, so when Li Jiandong said this, no one questioned it at all. Instead, they were all excited by the four words "leading the world".

"It turns out to be the latest excavator. No wonder it looks so cool."

"Such an advanced excavator must be very difficult to get. We thought that you, Deputy Director Li, had forgotten about it for us. It turns out that you were trying to get us such a good excavator."

The guy who spoke this time was the same guy as before. He told the truth and it seemed that his EQ was a bit low.

The other villagers from Xujiatuan all looked a little embarrassed. Xu Jianjun coughed twice and said:
"Deputy Director Li, it must have taken a lot of effort for you to build such an advanced excavator, right?"

Li Jiandong smiled and said:
"Of course. From approval to design to manufacturing, dozens of our engineers and hundreds of workers worked overtime. It took us 58 days. Do you think it took a lot of effort?"

"what do you mean?"

Xu Jianjun didn't quite hear clearly. Could it be that this world-leading excavator was created from scratch by Deputy Director Li in these 58 days?

Although they didn't understand the complexity of the machinery, they knew that something this big would not be easy to make.

After all, if even a tractor breaks down, they can only send it to the machine shop for repair, and it will take several days to repair it.

"Haha, okay, let's stop chatting. Jianjun, take me to Gaijia Village. I'll put the excavator down for them first. The pond in their village has dried up a long time ago. I'll help them dig out water first and then help you dig the Northeast Ditch."

Li Jiandong began to arrange the work.

Although he is free now, he cannot stay in Xujiatuan all the time. After arranging the work, he just needs to leave two excavator operators here to dig, and he himself has to go to the steel rolling mill to preside over the work.

During this period, he focused on research and development, which made Director Yang and Deputy Director Dai very tired.

Therefore, even after the research and development is completed, you cannot rest for a long time.

"Okay, then I'll take the bus too?"

Xu Jianjun said a little nervously that he had never ridden in a truck in his life, but he had driven a tractor a few times, and the two felt completely different.

"Of course, how about you walk over there?"

Li Jiandong said with a smile.

He has been to Xujiatuan several times, and it seems that there is not a single bicycle in this village.

Xu Jianjun scratched his head and got on the bus at Li Jiandong's call. There were two excavator workers on the bus. Li Jiandong asked the thinner one of them to crawl to the back of the seat and squeeze in, and gave the seat to Xu Jianjun.

It was Xu Jianjun’s first time riding in a truck. He was very excited but also very nervous. He didn’t dare touch anything for fear of damaging it.

Under his guidance, Li Jiandong soon arrived at Gaijia Village.

The people in Gaijia Village were also waiting for Li Jiandong. They knew very well that the people in Xujiatuan were willing to give them water only because of my deputy factory director, whose surname was Li. If the deputy factory director did not come with the excavator in two months, the people in Xujiatuan would definitely cut off their water supply. After all, without water, there would be no crops, and without crops, there would be no lives.

If it was some time ago, Gaijia Village would definitely go to fight with the people of Xujiatuan without hesitation in order to grab water.

But now, they have been asked to pump water for two months, and the water in the Northeast Ditch is almost drained out. They owe them a huge favor now. If the people of Xujiatuan cut off their water supply, would they still have the nerve to rob it?

But if you are embarrassed, your village will die without water.

"I hope the deputy director can come soon, otherwise we won't be able to survive without water."

The chief of Gaijia Village was wearing a straw hat and standing at the entrance of the village, praying towards the distant avenue. Just as he finished praying, the shadow of a truck suddenly appeared on the road ahead.

Village chief Gai thought he was seeing things, so he stared hard ahead. When he saw that it was indeed a truck with a strange-looking machine towing behind it, his heart beat wildly.

"It's coming, it's really coming."

"It's an excavator. It must be an excavator."

Village chief Gai was very excited. With an excavator, they could dig a pond. If the pond was dug deep enough, there would definitely be groundwater.

If there is water, there is food, and if there is food, there is survival.

Before he knew it, Village Chief Gai's face was covered with tears.

Li Jiandong drove the car to the front and saw that it was Village Chief Gai who was waiting there. Xu Jianjun laughed and said, "This Third Brother Gai is actually crying."

Even as he sneered, Xu Jianjun found that his nose was a little sore.

Farmers understand farmers, and he knows especially well how Gai Lao San feels right now.

What Li Jiandong brought was not an excavator, but food rations for nearly a thousand people in the two villages. If there had not been this excavator, who knows how many people would have died in the fight between the two villages alone, not to mention the possibility that more people would have starved to death due to the failure to produce food.

"Village Chief Gai, please lead the way. Let's drive directly to the pond."

This time, Li Jiandong did not get out of the car. He leaned his head out of the window and shouted to Gai Laosan.

"Okay, I'll take you there right away."

Gai Laosan wiped away his tears, and fearing that Li Jiandong would get anxious, he ran towards the pond.

He ran very fast, fearing that he would neglect Li Jiandong and the others. Running in the scorching sun at his age, he soon broke out in a sweat.

When a car carrying an excavator drove through the village, many villagers heard the sound of the car and leaned over the rear window, or ran out to see what was going on. When they saw a car carrying a strange machine following Village Chief Gai towards the pond, they realized that this big guy might be an excavator.

So a group of people cheered and ran out of their homes, following the excavator towards the pond.

When Li Jiandong stopped the car, he found that there were more than a hundred people following the car.

"Village director, please ask everyone to make way for me so I can drive the excavator down first."

With so many people surrounding the car, the excavator couldn't get off. Li Jiandong at least asked Director Gai Village to come out and persuade the people to stay away.

Then Li Jiandong got on the excavator and started it while teaching the other two excavators: "Look, this is how you get on and off the excavator. You can also use this method when you encounter steep slopes."

Li Jiandong has the unique skill of combining man and machine, and he operates the machine very skillfully. He can drive the excavator off the truck pallet in just a few moves.

Then he drove all the way into the pond and gave the driving seat to one of the excavator workers.

"Be careful not to drive too far in at once. If you get stuck, it will be difficult to drive out. Find a good place to dig first and don't rush."

These excavator operators are newly trained apprentices who only have theoretical knowledge but have never put it into practice.

Li Jiandong taught them a few words and then watched them operate. Although their movements were a little slow, because the excavator was relatively advanced, they quickly succeeded in digging up the dry silt under the pond together with the sand at the bottom of the pond.

As the soil was dug up shovel by shovel, the dry and cracked pond bottom gradually became moist and water appeared.

The villagers of Gaijia Village all gathered around the pond and stared at the operations below. When they saw water being dug out, they all jumped up excitedly.

"There's water. There's water."

"Great! Now the crops can be saved."

"Thank you, Deputy Director Li, thank you."

When Gai Laosan saw water being dug out of the pond, he knelt down with tears in his eyes and kowtowed continuously in the direction of Li Jiandong.

The villagers around him also knelt down, followed by the third, fourth, and fifth.
Until everyone knelt down and kowtowed to Li Jiandong.

Xu Jianjun originally sat in the car and had no intention of getting off. After all, this was Gaijia Village, and they in Xujiatuan had often fought with Gaijia Village over water, so getting off was afraid that it would cause conflicts.

However, seeing this spectacular scene, he couldn't help but jump down and kowtow to Li Jiandong.

"Deputy Director Li, look."

The idle excavator worker noticed something was wrong around him. When he saw everyone kneeling in a circle by the pond and kowtowing to him, he quickly and loudly reminded Li Jiandong.

Li Jiandong turned around and looked at the simple villagers of Gaijia Village around him, feeling mixed emotions.

I felt relieved and accomplished, but also a little indescribable discomfort.

He climbed back up to the edge of the pond and helped Village Chief Gai up. When the others saw the village chief stand up, they also stood up.

"Village Chief Gai, I have work to do at the steel mill. These two excavator masters will stay here until they help you dig the pond deep enough. As for their food and accommodation, your village will help take care of them."

Village Chief Gai nodded repeatedly: "This is what I should do. Let the two masters go to my house. I will let the children move out and leave the kang to them."

The villagers nearby also spoke up:
"Third brother, there is still room in my house. Let Da Mao and Er Mao come and live with me."

"I have an old hen at home. Third brother, ask your wife to come to my house every night to get two eggs a day so that the masters can have something good to eat."

"I still have more than ten kilograms of white flour at home. I originally planned to save it for making dumplings during the Chinese New Year. I will give it to the chefs first, and then I will find a way to get some from other places after the Chinese New Year."

"My family is so full of soy sauce. If you need anything, come to my house and get it."

(End of this chapter)