The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 824 - 793

Chapter 824: 793

Afterward, He Tiantian and Huang Jingli talked a lot about business matters and life in general.

Huang Jingli suddenly remembered a question and said, "Tiantian, I have always had a doubt that I never asked you, when you were at Qijia Village, did you really see the Divine Dragon?"

He Tiantian was stunned and asked, "Why do you suddenly think of asking this question?"

Huang Jingli frowned and said, "When I am idling now, I recall the events of Qijia Village and find many unusual aspects. For instance, while other villages faced severe droughts, our village had water, not just enough for ourselves but also to aid other villages, which is one point; secondly, the produce of Taoyuan County was always higher than other villages; thirdly, there were the inexplicably appearing and just as inexplicably vanishing hot springs and so on..."

"Hehe!" He Tiantian laughed, "Once, when I was delivering something to my father, I was fortunate enough to see the Divine Dragon. At that time, we dispelled feudal superstitions, and even if we held them in awe, it was kept in the heart and not spoken of aloud. Hence, those who saw it did so with great difficulty; those who didn’t were always half-doubtful, half-believing."

"Ah?" Huang Jingli was taken aback, "My God, was there really such a miraculous thing?"

"Yes, I saw it with my own eyes." He Tiantian said, "I have no reason to lie to you. It’s enough that you know in your heart, just don’t tell outsiders to avoid disrespecting the Divine Dragon."

Even though the Snake King had left the Human Realm, the Snake King had indeed done a lot for Qijia Village, helping many villagers.

"Hmm, I made a note of it." Huang Jingli said, feeling even more reverent in her heart, and she decided to artistically refine this segment in her novel.

After having lunch there, Huang Jingli left satisfied.

Taking advantage of the snow stopping in the afternoon, He Tiantian went to the store to fetch some account books, as she needed to check the accounts.

At the same time, Huo Yingjie was working overtime, making a huge effort to complete various tasks before the New Year.

This project, under normal circumstances, would require at least ten months, but Huo Yingjie, eager to return home for the New Year, had compressed it to five and a half months.

Seeing how hard Huo Yingjie was working, Chief Engineer Sun felt compassion for him and came to talk to him privately, "Don’t push yourself too hard; take care of your body."

Huo Yingjie gave a wry smile, "Ah, my wife and children are all waiting for me to come home for the New Year. They would be very sad if I didn’t go."

"But this is urgent work that can’t be rushed." Chief Engineer Sun said, "Some experiments must be verified over time, and shortening that time might have negative effects."

Huo Yingjie smiled wryly, "I have already done my best and ensured the results. Chief Engineer Sun, I also hope that the next assignment you give me can be completed within five months. If it’s this tight again, I will choose to resign."

When Chief Engineer Sun heard Huo Yingjie talk about resigning, he became anxious, "Huo Yingjie, you have a brilliant future ahead, you can’t just talk about resigning on a whim!"

Hearing these words, Huo Yingjie felt weary, "I am so young; what if I work myself to death? What would happen to my family? And especially this ridiculous rule that one cannot leave during a project period. Although it’s for confidentiality, researchers are also human; they too have lives, emotions, and desires. We’ve dedicated our youth to the institute, so shouldn’t the institute treat us a little better? Look at how many people have died in our institute in the past half a year. One of them was just over fifty, and another was forty-eight, both worn out to death."

Huo Yingjie’s words plunged Chief Engineer Sun into deep thought.

"Ah, the tasks are just very pressing." Chief Engineer Sun said; recently, he felt more and more weak and his health was deteriorating day by day.

"The tasks are pressing, so everyone works hard, overtime, around the clock, and this consumes their lives." Huo Yingjie said, "They’re precisely the mature, stable, and experienced researchers. It takes a young researcher decades to grow into an experienced one, but dying from overwork is a loss to the country. Yet, when a researcher dies, the country still has countless other researchers, but what about their families, their loved ones? They only have them, and once gone, completely gone."

Chief Engineer Sun was silent.

Huo Yingjie continued, "It has always been about sacrificing the individual for the greater good, but when the individual is gone, where is the ’greater good’?"

"Do you have any good suggestions?" Chief Engineer Sun felt that Huo Yingjie was making a lot of sense, especially since a researcher had recently died at only forty-eight, so young and such a pity.

"Nowadays, rest days are being implemented everywhere; we should do the same here. We can’t just have a few days off during the New Year and then work all the other time in the lab." Huo Yingjie said, "This way everyone gets time to relax, to be efficient without affecting work."

After some thought, Chief Engineer Sun said, "Hmm, you make sense. During this time, I’ll talk to someone in charge at the institute. One day off every week; is that too little for you?"

Huo Yingjie, feeling a bit embarrassed by Chief Engineer Sun’s words, said, "I could take two days off every two weeks, so I could visit home. Spend a weekend at home and take the bus back on Sunday afternoon."

"Do you know how much manpower and resources that would cost?" Chief Engineer Sun said with difficulty – people like Huo Yingjie going out would need to be protected by at least two people. There were quite a few people like Huo Yingjie.

Huo Yingjie laughed, "That’s still less than losing a researcher to exhaustion. Nowadays, everyone has rest days, and while we sometimes work overtime for research, if there are no rest days, many grow weary of their jobs. And we researchers aren’t just whiling away time in the lab; we are developing new directions, new projects, and finding suitable methods. A balance between work and rest leads to high efficiency."

Chief Engineer Sun nodded and said, "Hmm, I’ll consider it. Take care of yourself."

"Hmm, thank you, Chief Engineer Sun." Huo Yingjie expressed his gratitude; if approved, he would be able to go home every two weeks starting next year.

After Chief Engineer Sun left, he kept thinking about this matter.

Back at home, Chief Engineer Sun couldn’t help but talk to Aunt Li about this issue.

Aunt Li smiled softly, "Compared to the blatant exploitation in capitalist countries, don’t you think that indoctrinating people to sacrifice the individual for the greater good is a very deceptive form of exploitation, making people voluntarily accept exploitation?"

Aunt Li had also studied abroad and majored in philosophy, and she had a broad vision.

Chief Engineer Sun was left speechless by Aunt Li’s remarks for a long time.