Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 787 Key Projects
When we drove to Beijige Third Alley, we found that the area was fenced off, like a semi-closed construction site.

Oh, it was originally a construction site.

The entire alley has been restricted from traffic, and the road in front of the Prince's Mansion has been blocked off by roadblocks. The original courtyard wall of the mansion has been raised by about one meter. All that can be heard inside are the sounds of clattering bells and the roar of machinery, but it is unclear what exactly is going on.

The West Courtyard, which had been separated from the main courtyard, was now surrounded by walls. The main road next to the walls was not blocked, but a protective line was set up three meters away from the walls.

Construction in those days didn't have as many requirements and standards as in later years. Things like dust control nets, noise reduction nets, and dust suppression spraying only came into existence around 2010. Before that, construction was almost entirely done in a barbaric manner.

Therefore, when Chen Fan saw this scene, he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.

These isolation measures alone show that the construction company treats this place as a "key project," otherwise none of this would have been done.

I just walked halfway around the Prince's Mansion along the road, and when I stopped, it was right at the entrance of a blocked-off alley.

After getting out of the car, Chen Fan glanced at the roadblock but didn't cross it without permission. Instead, he looked inside.

Just then, a worker wearing a green hard hat walked to the door and looked this way.

(A high-end version of a 70s safety helmet)
Upon seeing this, Chen Fan quickly waved and shouted, "Comrade, could you please help me?"

The man immediately strode over, but the palace was quite large, and there was still some distance from the main gate. After walking for a while, he shouted from a distance, "What are you doing?"

Chen Fan pointed to Zhou Yali next to him and said with a smile, "This is the owner of this house. She came back to China today and came to see it."

Upon hearing this, the man's expression changed slightly. He looked at Zhou Yali, who was smiling, then at Chen Fan, and Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili standing beside him. He then recalled the story that the brigade leader had told everyone many times, saying that the men looked like celestial children and the women looked like fairies. He hadn't believed it before, but now that he saw it, it was clearly not an exaggeration at all. He began to believe Chen Fan's words to some extent.

Just as he hesitated, Chen Fan walked up to him. He immediately took out a cigarette, politely offered one to Chen Fan, and said with a smile, "An elder of ours usually comes over to look after us. Since she's back in the country this time, she came to visit us in person."

The man took the cigarette, his face already beaming with smiles, and said, "Understood, understood."

He then pointed to the Prince's Mansion and said with a smile, "However, bringing people in requires the captain's permission. He's inside. Please wait a moment while I go and call him."

Chen Fan waved his hand, "Thank you for your hard work."

The man said something polite, then immediately turned and ran inside.

Looking at his retreating figure and then at the roadblocks and protective facilities, Zhou Yali couldn't help but be surprised. "I didn't expect that China would attach such importance to production safety."

Chen Fan snorted twice, put the cigarette in his pocket, and said, "It's important, but the key is where and with whom it's important."

Zhou Yali's eyes flickered slightly. "Isn't that right?"

Chen Fan put his hands in his pockets and said softly, "If it were just ordinary house repairs, they definitely wouldn't do these things. This is probably because the city's urban construction bureau specifically instructed us to do so, which is why they are paying so much attention to it."

Furthermore, key factory projects will also be implemented in accordance with the highest standards.

As for ordinary construction projects, having a safety helmet made of impact-resistant plastic is considered good; some projects don't even have a straw hat.

Zhou Yali blinked and asked, "A bamboo hat? What's that?"

Chen Fan made a gesture, "The bamboo hat is a kind of homemade safety helmet that was widely used on construction sites before. It is a hat woven from willow branches. Because these willow branches have a certain toughness and elasticity, they can provide a low level of protection, so it became the most commonly used safety helmet in the past."

(Bamboo hat)

Although Chen Fan explained it very clearly, Zhou Yali still didn't quite grasp the concept.

Because I've never seen it before.

However, she also knew in her heart that hats made of plant materials could not provide much protection.
The four chatted quietly for a while before the man from before and another middle-aged man in his fifties hurriedly ran out of the palace gate.

Without a doubt, the middle-aged man was the captain that the other person had mentioned.

Chen Fan had a good memory. As soon as the captain got a little closer, he immediately smiled and said, "So it's Captain Qin. What a coincidence!"

The visitor was none other than Captain Qin of the No. 2 Engineering Construction Team of the Municipal Construction Bureau. Chen Fan's garden villa by Houhai Lake was built under his leadership.

Upon hearing Chen Fan's words, Captain Qin immediately laughed and said, "It's no coincidence. I specially snatched the renovation project of this Prince's Mansion. When I heard that you, Writer Chen, were involved in the reconstruction design, I knew that I would definitely learn a lot of new things. And when I saw it, it was indeed true."

While the exterior doesn't appear to have changed much, the addition of modern features to the original restoration, done subtly yet impressively, is truly eye-opening.

What's even more amazing is your underground construction plan. Cold, hot, water, electricity, and what you called 'low-voltage wiring'—it's all categorized so clearly yet each part doesn't interfere with the others. I've learned so much from it!

As he spoke, he was already standing in front of Chen Fan and his group of four, and even took the cigarette that Chen Fan offered him.

Before Chen Fan could speak, he said to the man from before, "Little Sun, these are the homeowners. Make a note of them. Next time you come, don't ask me, just take them in."

As soon as he finished speaking, he gestured to Chen Fan and the others, inviting them in, "Please come in."

Upon seeing this, Chen Fan decided to skip the formalities and simply lit a cigarette, saying with a smile, "Captain Qin is as decisive as ever."

Captain Qin chuckled, "Writers really know how to talk. The leaders all say I'm reckless, but you're the one praising me, which makes me blush a little."

Chen Fan looked at his sun-darkened face and couldn't see where the redness was.

Captain Qin continued, "After more than half a year of construction, the main project is now almost complete, and it will be finished in one or two months at most."

At this moment, Zhou Yali suddenly asked, "Captain Qin, what are you referring to as the main project?"

Captain Qin glanced back at her and immediately explained, "There are three main ones. One is to demolish the buildings that were illegally constructed later. The central and eastern courtyards are relatively better, with not many areas needing to be demolished. However, the western courtyard has been occupied for decades, with some buildings converted into shops and others used as dormitories."

Some residents renovated the dormitories after moving in, making the demolition work quite heavy for them.

After the illegal structures are demolished, the palace must be restored according to its original regulations.

He paused for a moment, then pointed at Chen Fan and said with a smile, "According to Writer Chen's design, the height and layout of some old-style buildings are not very reasonable. For example, some side rooms and annex rooms are too low and too deep, resulting in insufficient lighting. Therefore, adjustments and improvements are still needed."

The height was increased where needed, and doors and windows were added where necessary, so this part of the task was quite heavy, and could even be said to be one of the most important parts of the entire Prince's Mansion restoration project.

The third is the 'underground system,' which almost entirely needs to be rebuilt. The excavation and construction of this underground system were carried out simultaneously with the previous two; otherwise, the progress wouldn't have been so fast. After hearing his words, Zhou Yali was even more puzzled. "Since the main construction is almost complete, how can it still take two years?"

Upon hearing this, Captain Qin was at a loss for words to explain to her.

Fortunately, Chen Fan spoke up at that moment.

He waved his hand, drawing Zhou Yali's attention, then pointed to the beam above the main entrance, saying, "See the pattern on it?"

Zhou Yali blinked. "You don't mean to say that we'll just have to struggle with these patterns for the next two years, do you?"

Chen Fan nodded and said, "More or less. The main construction is indeed progressing quickly. If we don't require the restoration to be done as close to the original specifications as possible, including all subsequent work, it should be completed in the second half of this year."

He then turned to Captain Qin and asked, "Am I right?"

Captain Qin immediately nodded, "You're also an expert in construction; your project estimates are correct."

Chen Fan smiled, stepped across the gate, and said with a smile, "But to restore it according to the original regulations, that would be a huge project. The main halls in the main courtyard, and the east and west courtyards combined, which together comprise more than ten courtyards, all need to be decorated with patterns and carved with eaves beasts."

All of these projects can only be done by hand by ancient building restoration experts. I have no idea whether they can be completed in two years.

Because of the strong winds and sandstorms in Beijing during spring, exterior wall paint needs to be applied uniformly at a specific time to avoid affecting the paint's finish. This is difficult to achieve without experienced craftsmen.

Captain Qin immediately said, "Don't worry about Writer Chen. Since you promised to complete it in three years, we guarantee that we can deliver it in three years without any delay."

Chen Fan smiled and nodded, "Yes, I believe that."

We can just add more people. Since it's a "key project" in the city, it's definitely a top priority. We'll only be taking workers from other projects, and we'll never have our workers transferred away from other projects.

The reason he said those words was to subtly remind Captain Qin that although they had already paid the advance payment, there was still a large sum of money left to pay. If the delivery was delayed, there would be a lot of trouble.

Zhou Yali nodded in realization, then looked towards the courtyard.

Well, there were potholes everywhere, excavated soil, new building materials, mixed cement pools... the entire square in front of the palace was a huge construction site.

She didn't even know where to put her foot.

Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili looked around blankly, trying hard to recall what the Prince's Mansion looked like from their memories.

Although this courtyard was dilapidated before, you could still see some of the grandeur and majesty of the former Prince's Mansion. But what about now?
Only a few houses remained in the original location, surrounded by rubble and building materials, making it impossible to discern anything.

They couldn't tell, but Chen Fan was extremely satisfied.

The whole scene flashed before his eyes, but the automatically repaired rectification diagram appeared in his mind.

Entering through the main gate of the Prince's Mansion and passing through the square in front of the palace, you will find the Yin'an Hall, the most central building in the entire mansion. On the east and west sides of the square in front of the Yin'an Hall are two two-story wing buildings.

The original railings on the second floor of the wing were all blocked with cement and converted into office space, losing all traces of its ancient architectural excellence.

Although it is still covered in dust and dirt, the railings on the second floor have all been knocked down and replaced with wooden pillar railings. The roof tiles and eaves have also been replaced with wood. Except for the fact that it has not been painted yet, it already looks about 70-80% like the original ancient building.

All that's left is to paint it and add patterns, and it will be fully restored.

(The restored wing)
He could tell at a glance which underground tunnels were water pipes, electrical wires, low-voltage wires, heating ducts, and so on.

Moreover, there was almost no difference between the design drawings he finally saw and the actual design.

This alone shows the capabilities of the construction team led by Captain Qin.

Although the completion of his previous garden villa had already proven Captain Qin and his team's capabilities, the construction of that garden villa was undoubtedly much less difficult than this one.

Now that he has seen it, he has no more doubts about the construction team.

Led by Captain Qin, the group found places to rest and wandered around most of the Prince's mansion.

The main purpose was to see the West Wing, which I hadn't seen before.

The changes here are the most significant. Almost 80-90% of the original buildings have been demolished, and many of the main materials of the old houses have been replaced. Now, the structure is exactly the same as that of the East Courtyard.

The East and West courtyards each have five courtyards, each of which is a separate small courtyard. Only the one in the middle of the two sides has been transformed into a small garden by Chen Fan.

The central courtyard consists of two main halls, a sleeping chamber, and a rear building.

The main hall in front is the Yin'an Hall, which is mainly used for receiving guests and holding events. After passing through the bedroom gate, there is a relatively private backyard. The backyard is mainly the bedroom, while the rear building is where the female members of the family lived. However, for a period of time, Prince Ning, Hongjiao, also lived there.

The rear building is the longest building in the entire mansion. It is shaped like an inverted "U" and its length is the same as the width of the main courtyard. It has a lot of rooms.

Like the Yin'an Hall, the sleeping quarters also have side halls on the east and west sides, as well as two additional halls, which are equivalent to the side rooms on both sides of the main house in a typical courtyard house.

A single main courtyard is enough to accommodate dozens of people, and even a hundred could be squeezed in. So there is no need to have so many side courtyards. In Chen Fan’s opinion, four side courtyards on the east and four on the west, a total of eight side courtyards, are too many.

However, many facilities are not yet perfect, the equipment is not good enough, and many ideas are difficult to implement. We'll talk about it again in a few years.

Anyway, he'll definitely build things like private swimming pools in the future, and he'll just use the cross-courtyard conversion.

what?
Does this courtyard belong to Zhou Yali?
Go ask Zhou Yali if she'll say no to Chen Fan's plans to renovate the Prince's mansion.

She's acting like an outsider, just following Chen Fan around in circles. If Chen Fan says it's good, she says it's good too, without offering any of her own opinions from beginning to end.

After the tour, Captain Qin saw them out, exchanged a few brief pleasantries, and then they said their goodbyes and left.

On the way back, Zhou Yali was bored again. "I'm so bored."

Chen Fan glanced at her and smiled, "Tomorrow I'm going to visit some martial arts masters. Although I'm going to ask them for a favor, according to the rules of the martial arts world, we'll inevitably have to spar a bit. Why don't you come along?"

Zhou Yali's eyes lit up, "Great!"

(End of this chapter)