Crossing the Western Tianshan Mountains

Ling Fengxi was stunned, "You don't agree?"

Wu Yongjie finished his meal. "I personally agree with Secretary Ling's great initiative, but my workers might not agree. Since they're going to have a holiday, why don't they take advantage of it to rest up and find a warm place to stay? Why go to the trouble of building a snowy road?"

Ling Fengxi frowned slightly. "If a road isn't opened in time, medical personnel won't be able to get up the mountain, and the herders' sheep will die of disease. The loss to the herders will be too great."

"What does their loss have to do with our engineering team? We're just doing manual labor and getting paid. We'd rather have a good night's sleep when we have some free time."

"Wu Yongjie, you can't be so selfish?"

"I'm selfish? Ling Fengxi, if you want to do good things, I won't stop you. You're a secretary after all, a public servant of the people, and you should consider the people's interests. But me, including our engineering team, are also people, and we need the service of public servants, not the order of public servants to do things that are not our responsibility. And you actually just told us so directly. Ling Fengxi, I think you don't put yourself in the right position!"

Wu Yongjie was not polite at all and left immediately. Ling Fengxi's eyes turned red with anger and he shouted after him, "The situation is very serious. If the disease cannot be controlled in a short time, I'm afraid most of the sheep will be infected."

Wu Yongjie didn't even turn his head.

That night, Fang Ya went to find Wu Yongjie. Wu Yongjie was playing cards in the dormitory with Lin Jinghui and other team leaders and foremen. The room was filled with smoke and a pungent stench that only men have. When they saw her come in, the others did not leave. Instead, they smiled and said, "Ah, Doctor Fang, you came to see our Captain Wu!"

"I said, our Wu team is the best, and only Wu team can attract Dr. Fang."

Wu Yongjie had a cigarette between his lips, a card in one hand, and waved to Fang Ya with the other, "Come and sit down."

Fang Ya couldn't adapt to this kind of atmosphere and wanted to find an excuse to leave, but because she had something important to discuss with Wu Yongjie, she still sat down.

Wu Yongjie held the cards in front of her. "Take a look. What do you think? A straight flush."

Fang Ya didn't know how to play cards, nor did she understand. She just shook her head and said, "Captain Wu, I have something to talk to you about."

Wu Yongjie hummed, "Wait until I'm done."

Fang Ya had no choice but to wait patiently. After a few minutes, the fight was over, but Wu Yongjie showed no sign of stopping. The other people also showed no sign of stopping. Instead, they kept joking and talking about vulgar topics. Fang Ya had no choice but to quietly pull the corner of Wu Yongjie's clothes, "Captain Wu, I——"

Wu Yongjie said to her again: "Wait a moment, this round will be over soon."

Fang Ya could only smile awkwardly, and everyone smiled at her and continued playing cards.

Fang Ya waited for a while, but Wu Yongjie seemed to have forgotten Fang Ya's existence. He even asked someone to go to the cafeteria to bring over some steamed buns and cook some instant noodles. He was hungry from playing cards...

Fang Ya stood up and walked out, but Wu Yongjie put down his cards and followed her out. Fang Ya said helplessly, "If I had known you would follow me out, I would have come out a long time ago and wasted a lot of time waiting for you."

Wu Yongjie smiled and said, "I'm sorry, actually I haven't thought it through yet. But when I saw you come out, I felt that some things don't need to be thought through in advance, so I should just wait and see."

"You know what I'm going to say?"

"What else could it be? Ling Fengxi must have told you that I don't agree to let the workers open the snow road."

"Captain Wu, this is a very important matter for the herdsmen of Western Tianshan."

"I know, but it has nothing to do with us. My workers are already exhausted from working on this project, and what good does it do to take on additional responsibilities? As a public servant, Ling Fengxi should be able to organize professionals to handle the problems instead of relying on us road workers."

Fang Ya thought about it and understood what was going on. She said, "Captain Wu, have you noticed that all the people and animals who come to the Western Tianshan Mountains are actually the same to the Western Tianshan Mountains? You have to fight hard to survive. There are no herders or workers here, just everyone struggling to face the harsh conditions of the Western Tianshan Mountains."

"I understand everything you said, but I don't want to do this." Wu Yongjie's temper flared up, "Our engineering team is not the savior, there's no need for us to do everything.

The workers are suffering. They can't eat or sleep well. A five-day holiday would have been a great thing for them. Now they have to build roads. Do you think this is humane?"

"The sheep in Hanati and Gulnar's homes are sick. Azati's and Portela's homes have also had sick sheep. The nearby herders have all found the medical clinic."

"So what? Don't they have their own mountain gods?"

"Captain Wu, when did you become so dissatisfied with the herdsmen?"

"I have no opinion."

"You must have an opinion."

Wu Yongjie thought for a moment and said, "If you must say there is, then there is definitely one. Didn't Hanati and his brothers try to extort money from us a while ago, but failed? This shows how cunning and ruthless these herders are. We even built a reservoir here to help them solve their water problem, and now they're saying their sheep are sick because they drank our water."

This was something Fang Ya had never heard of before, and she couldn't help but be surprised, "Who said that?"

"The herders nearby were talking to the workers about this. They talk about this topic every day. Some of them are even planning to take vengeance against us."

Wu Yongjie grew angrier as he spoke. "They said our modern technology and machinery had angered the mountain god, causing the sheep to become ill."

Fang Ya said, "I really haven't heard of it."

"You're a goddess, Ling Fengxi is a leader, they're not fools, how could they say that in front of you? You say they're uneducated, but they know that modern machinery and equipment can damage nature and water sources. You say they're educated, but they say the sheep are sick because of us? That's not right no matter how you look at it."

It turns out that this is where Wu Yongjie's heart is tied.

Fang Ya understood in her heart.

Wu Yongjie then added, "I have no reason to object to the selfless dedication of public servants, but my engineering team is dedicated to engineering and doesn't do anything else. If you absolutely must, please pay your basic salary and lost wages."

Wu Yongjie yawned after he finished speaking. "I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed first. I have to work early tomorrow. As for the loudspeaker announcement from Lingfeng West, our workers have heard it. If any workers are willing to go, I won't stop them. But personally, I want to continue into the tunnel and work tomorrow."