Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 1352 - 658: Repairing the River Embankment - Don’t Scare Me_2

Chapter 1352: Chapter 658: Repairing the River Embankment - Don’t Scare Me_2

"Now I realize, from what you just said, I can’t reach that level. It’s truly shameful to admit, but after all these years in business, hustling every day, I’ve forgotten that I too come from a farming background!"

Yan Fei continued modestly, "Don’t say that. It’s only because things are now running smoothly in the business that I have the time to do these things. The key is that our industries are different. If you write about how to make better cement, there aren’t that many who can use it!"

Boss Niu was still deeply moved. His earlier comment that he had rarely seen a boss who cared so much about the hometown folks wasn’t an exaggeration at all. At least, he had never met any. There were those who, even over the New Year, stayed busy in the office, writing away just so people could see what they’ve written at the earliest opportunity.

When he thought about Boss Yan’s age, he felt even more emotional: Young people at that age, shouldn’t they be off enjoying themselves during the New Year? Even his own son, who usually made him proud, had been out having fun during these days of celebration and couldn’t be called back home.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Yan Fei asked, "Brother Niu, did you come over for something else?"

Nowadays, with the convenience of phones, the two of them often kept in touch that way. Before the New Year, Yan Fei had called to say that it was inconvenient to travel back and forth during the holidays and that they could meet after it was over. Now that Boss Niu had shown up, there must be something important.

"Well, I won’t beat around the bush," Boss Niu still hadn’t recovered from his shock, feeling it would be a serious crime, morally speaking, to waste any more of Yan Fei’s time. "I was going to call you, but I thought it’d be better to come in person. I see your site is almost ready, so I wanted to ask you, are you going to need a lot of cement after the New Year?"

"Rest assured on that front, just keep producing," Yan Fei pondered briefly. "When you say ’almost ready,’ you mean the frame is nearly finished, but there’s still a lot to do. Landscaping, laying roads, building flowerbeds, fixing ditches, those will all require a good amount. Plus, I’ve been thinking, if the conditions are right, I don’t plan to stop the projects here. Gradually, I want to build an embankment around the complex, along the river..."

"Build an embankment? All the way around?" Boss Niu was startled and almost jumped up. "Young Brother Yan, let me say a few more words, and don’t be surprised! Do you know how big of a project that is? It’s not as simple as just piling up a wall. Not to mention a single enterprise, even our entire county would balk at constructing such a long embankment...Let me be a bit disrespectful, but if you asked Secretary Jiao, would he dare to make such a claim?"

"I don’t plan to build it all at once; I just want to take it slow, so the local folk can have some work to do off and on..." Yan Fei explained.

Before he could finish, Boss Niu interrupted, "Even so, it’s no small matter. First let me ask you, what will you use to build this embankment? Our county doesn’t produce stone materials, and you’ll have to have it transported from other counties. Leave everything else aside, do you dare to calculate how many truckloads of stone you’ll need to dump into that river? Two or three thousand truckloads won’t even leave the remainder. Have you even considered the transport costs, Young Brother?"

Although the two were on good terms, ever since Yan Fei’s project got underway, Boss Niu had been making steady deliveries to the site. Apart from occasional shutdowns for maintenance, his factory was running at full capacity.

It’s no exaggeration to say that if this continued for a year or two, Boss Niu’s cement factory could double in size; not because he was making a killing from Yan Fei’s business, but because having a stable sales channel allowed the plant to produce continuously, expand production scale, and even drive other cement manufacturers out of business with lower prices. Everyone knows that more production and sales means lower costs, and once an enterprise starts to grow, it sets off a chain reaction.

So normally, even though Boss Niu referred to Yan Fei as Younger Brother Yan and was mindful of their relationship, he never before had interrupted Yan Fei twice in a row as he did today.

But Comrade Old Niu was genuinely shocked. Yes, if Yan Fei embarked on this project, it would certainly use stone materials but also cement, which would technically be good for him. But for an enterprise to boast about constructing a ten-mile-long embankment, Boss Niu truly thought his young brother was being impulsive and not thinking it through.

At this moment, his concern was even if it meant earning less, he couldn’t let Young Brother Yan make such a blind decision. Thinking this way, Boss Niu was led by a sense of brotherhood, ready to go through fire and water for a comrade. The amount of cement needed for the embankment wasn’t just a matter of money—relying on it, he could live comfortably for years to come.

Just as he had said, two or three thousand truckloads of stones thrown in would barely make a scratch. And the cost of so many trucks, not to mention the price of raw materials, the transport fees alone were terrifying. To haul stone from the western counties here, they had to pass through at least two or four toll stations, usually with overloaded trucks requiring some ’extra’ fees, or else these trucks couldn’t make the trip... Did anyone dare to calculate the cost of these trucks making their runs?

Everyone who’s ever hauled cargo knows how those overloading vehicles are treated by every aspect of road traffic. So, unless the city is running a construction project and all departments have green-lighted it, there’s no chance of saving even a penny of those extra costs.

It seems like all Yan Fei has to do is pay for the goods and the raw materials would be delivered right to his door. But everyone knows who’s really bearing the cost of these hidden expenses – even a fool can tell.

On top of that, there’s a much larger expense – labor wages...

In short, projects like repairing riverbanks are a bottomless pit; no amount of money is ever enough to fill it.

Boss Niu truly wanted to stop Yan Fei. He was utterly genuine, "Think it over, really. I can’t advise you otherwise, I know what you mean. You want to keep running this project to allow the people in the countryside to earn some money. I can’t match you there, but I do understand your intentions. However, you really need to consider carefully. If you invest this money elsewhere, couldn’t you also provide work and food for another group of people?"

Yan Fei had long considered this; he also knew that talking about repairing riverbanks wasn’t something to be taken lightly, as others would certainly think his old problems were acting up again.

It was only at the end of last year, when the sales in the field shot up once again, that he dared to voice his thoughts.

Even so, Boss Niu still thought he was crazy, going as far as to say some rather inappropriate things, "Young brother, think about it – if riverbanks were easy to repair, would the term ’jerry-built project’ even exist?"

Seeing Boss Niu more anxious than himself, Yan Fei found it difficult to continue expressing his ideas and said, "Then I’ll think about it a bit more?"

"Right!" Boss Niu was overjoyed but then quickly caught himself. "I know you have your own ideas, and it doesn’t matter to me if you’re just humoring me. I’ve said all I can say. Just do me a favor as an older brother and reconsider, okay? Don’t you have a capable engineer on your side? Later on, just casually ask him to draft an estimate for you. If you really decide to repair, I’ll support you without a second word, okay?"

"Okay, okay, Brother Niu, have some tea first. You’ve been here persuading me for a long time without a sip of tea!" Yan Fei could only respond with this, otherwise, seeing Boss Niu’s state, he did not seem ready to let the matter rest. The key point was that the man was truly considering his best interests; he couldn’t just dismiss him, could he?

Boss Niu picked up his teacup and took a sip of the tea that had started to cool, finally calming down a bit and remembering the matter at hand, "So, I’ll keep ramping up production for the New Year, and as soon as you start working over here, I’ll continue delivering goods?"

Yan Fei nodded, "Right, the foundation works need a lot of cement, it’s needed everywhere, just keep supplying it as before. I’ll let you know in advance when we’re getting close!"

The two of them discussed a few more details, when suddenly they heard Lin Xiumei’s surprised voice from outside, "Master Liu, you... how come you’re here already?"

Then Liu JinXue’s voice followed, "There’s nothing much going on for the New Year, so I thought I’d come over early to take a look..."