Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 80 In a Trance

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"Ah!" Yan Hui bared his teeth, hissing in cold air. "Brother, brother, slower... slower... slower!"

"I'm slow enough already. If you ask me, just listen to me. Stop worrying about your hairstyle. I'll just use scissors to fix it for you. I'll give you a quick trim and make sure I don't snag your hair." The barber said with a hint of helplessness, holding the clippers.

Yan Hui's hair is full of wood shavings. Manual clippers are prone to getting hair caught, not to mention sometimes they can get stuck in the wood. This haircut is not something a human can do!

Yan Hui was still a little reluctant to part with his hairstyle, but finally said helplessly, "Brother, make it look good."

"Never mind, leave it to me!" As soon as the barber heard that he could use his scissors, he immediately pulled out his freshly sharpened scissors and with a few quick snips, the tangled mess of hair fell down in clumps, making the barber's obsessive-compulsive disorder almost go away.

At Yan Hui's age, he actually cares a lot about his hairstyle. He, Lao Guo, Lao Song, and Lao Wu all have their own hairstyles, which are basically imitations of Hong Kong and Taiwan stars. Every time they go out, they are proud of it.

After getting his hair cut, Yan Hui looked in the mirror and froze for more than ten seconds.

The boy in the mirror looked completely different from usual; he was fresh, clean, and looked quite energetic.

This...this should look good too, right?
"Brother, does this hairstyle look good?" Yan Hui turned his head and asked.

"It'll definitely look good!" The barber was sweeping the floor. "Wash your hair first, you can do it yourself, there's hot water in the thermos."

"Okay." Yan Hui immediately noticed the thermos bottle next to him.

There was an electric kettle plugged into the thermos. Yan Hui pulled the kettle out along the power cord, then picked up the thermos and poured half a kettle of hot water into a bucket above the sink.

Then, he filled a basin with some cold water, poured it in, tested the water temperature with his hand, and turned on the tap under the hanging bucket to wash his hair.

On his head, neck, and arms, Yan Hui couldn't tell if it was stubble or wood chips. He simply took off his clothes and started wiping his upper body with a towel.

"Are you saying my hot water is free?" the shop owner said, sounding a little annoyed. "Isn't there a shower in the place where you work?"

"Today," Yan Hui said, his bent-over posture making it difficult to speak, so he turned off the tap and tilted his head to the side, "Brother, you don't know, it was the first day our factory started operating, and after everyone used up the hot water at noon, we forgot to refill it."

"In this weather, what's wrong with taking a cold shower? You're a grown man."

"Brother, our cold water is pumped from underground, it's freezing cold." Yan Hui said with a sigh. He was covered in sweat after finishing his work, and the temperature of that underground water was probably only ten degrees Celsius, which was unbearable.

“The groundwater here is cold,” the barber said, pointing to the thermos flask, seeing that Yan Hui was having a hard time. “You can use this whole pot of water. In a bit, clean up the floor and make sure it’s not wet everywhere.”

"Okay!" Yan Hui said, picked up a towel, washed himself, and began to dry his body little by little.

As Yan Hui stepped out of the barbershop, a gentle evening breeze blew over him. He touched his head, feeling reborn. He greedily inhaled the fresh air, pondering how to make tomorrow more comfortable.

This afternoon, earplugs and a mask were a great help. The most uncomfortable thing was my eyes. No matter how itchy they were or what kind of foam got into them, I couldn't rub or touch them with any part of my body.

While working in that basement, every piece of clothing and every inch of skin was evenly covered with sawdust, and wiping my eyes with any means was unbearable.

After pacing around for a while, Yan Hui finally came to a conclusion: there was nothing he could do. He could only wait until he changed the saw blade, then wash his face and hands thoroughly, and try to squint his eyes as much as possible. There really was no other way.

As he walked, perhaps because he was a little distracted, Yan Hui arrived at the place he knew best—the freight station.

Although it was night, the place was brightly lit and bustling with activity. Many porters were working hard to move timber, and various merchants and vendors were coming and going. Some people were even running back and forth with paper and pens.

Yan Hui stayed at this train station for a while at the beginning of last year, sleeping on the floor. This scene played out every day, but Yan Hui couldn't understand it at all. Later, he came to help his fourth uncle keep an eye on things, and he only knew a little bit about it.

When Yan Hui returned now, he saw the same scene, but what he saw was completely different.

Logs, planks, and strips; different wood species, sizes, and prices; warehousing and handling costs; and rail transport costs.
In Yan Hui's eyes, this was not timber, nor a train, but a chart marked with countless numbers, connecting countless people.

An outsider visiting such a freight station would only marvel, "How could they possibly use all this timber?" But what Yan Hui saw was...
Okay, enough bragging.
Yan Hui laughed at himself, realizing he hadn't reached that point yet.

Despite the laughter, the feeling in that moment made Yan Hui realize that this was what he should be doing.

While wandering around the train station, Yan Hui spotted a familiar figure in the distance. As he got closer, he realized it was indeed Brother Liu, the accountant from his fourth uncle's side.

Brother Liu is registering timber in a notebook; it looks like a truckload will be sent out tonight.

"Xiao Yan? What brings you here? You've been busy all day and haven't gone out to play?" Brother Liu greeted Yan Hui with a smile.

Yan Hui seemed very curious about these things, and looked at the boards: "Nowhere else is as interesting as this place? Are these the boards we broke up today?"

"Yes, that's part of it. We're shipping one and a half train cars tonight, 125 cubic meters." Brother Liu glanced at the notebook.

"Can you send half again?"

"Normally this wouldn't happen, as it would result in a loss in freight costs. But the customer needs it urgently today, so we'll have to split the 125 cubic meters into two railcars. There's no other way," Brother Liu said helplessly.

It's clear that the factory's operations aren't fully on track yet. Logically, each truckload of planks should be 80 cubic meters; sending less would make the freight cost unprofitable. In a well-established factory, like the one run by my second brother, they can usually find a way to fill the truck. Yan Hui had discussed this with my second brother before, but they hadn't had any concrete contact.

"No matter what, even if we earn less, we have to meet the customer's requirements. The customer's requirements are paramount," Yan Hui said thoughtfully.

Upon hearing Yan Hui's words, Brother Liu looked at Yan Hui with newfound respect, savoring the nuance of his words, and nodded slightly.

Yan Hui had nothing else to do at the moment, so he stood there and chatted with Brother Liu.

Brother Liu's job today was simple: tally the timber, settle wages, and finally prepare the invoices for the freight cars. Especially now, with the workers busy unloading goods, he only needed to keep an eye on things, so he was happy to chat with Yan Hui when he came over.

Don't underestimate Yan Hui just because he's a wood shavings collector. He's still a relative of Yan Zhihang. Is it possible for Brother Liu to offend Yan Hui so easily?

As they chatted and watched the workers move things, Yan Hui felt a moment of daze.
(End of this chapter)