Crossing the Western Tianshan Mountains

It was not until night fell and the entire camp gradually calmed down that Wu Yongjie passed the message to Ling Fengxi via radio.

Ling Fengxi was so excited that he couldn't sleep all night. From the information, he learned that Wu Yongjie might have found a way through the underground glacier. In other words, even if there was an underground glacier, the tunnel could still be constructed smoothly. Nothing could be more exciting than this.

The next morning, Ling Fengxi personally took the gong and struck it more than a dozen times, waking up all the workers in the camp. He then told them the news. The workers were also infected by Ling Fengxi's emotions and cheered collectively, "Good! Good!"

It's quite strange to say, but there's not a single worker stationed in the Western Tianshan Mountains who doesn't want to leave as soon as possible. It's just too cold here, and life is too hard. You never see the warm sun, and even if you do, it's dangerous. They're afraid the snow and glaciers will melt, causing floods...

Well, it’s better to freeze.

After a long time, the workers no longer know what true warmth feels like. If the construction of the West Tianshan Tunnel is stopped for some reason, they can actually go home early, or listen to the new dispatch and start a new project... At least they can leave this snowy place.

Some workers, based on what they had learned about the disappearances and various speculations, were also planning to leave at any time.

But when they heard that Wu Yongjie had found a way to continue construction of the tunnel, they cheered excitedly, as if they didn't want to leave Xitianshan at all.

Many workers didn't understand their own emotions. After cheering, they lamented, "But it must be very hard, right? After all, we have to cross the glacier."

"It's not only difficult, but also very dangerous. This is a glacier zone, which is even less safe than an active fault zone."

"Damn! Why do I feel a little regretful for cheering just now?"

"I regret it too... But if I can continue to complete this mission, I still want to completely..."

"Are you all stupid? This is a fight to the death..."

The cheers faded amidst this discussion. The workers' minds were still clear. They didn't have Ling Fengxi's determination and passion to cross the Western Tianshan Mountains. They only knew that when crossing the Western Tianshan Mountains, it was the workers who rushed to the front, and when faced with danger, it was the workers who fought desperately...

So they quickly realized what this news meant. It meant they might have to continue working in Xitian Mountain for another one to two years...

The workers returned to the dormitory with mixed feelings. After Ling Fengxi's excitement subsided, he also knew what the West Tianshan construction team was facing. He went to the cafeteria and asked the canteen's chef to make him some egg fried rice, which he slowly dug into. Fang Ya happened to be there getting two taels of steamed buns. Seeing him eating alone, she greeted him, "Secretary Ling, are you eating alone?"

Ling Fengxi responded and lowered his head to continue eating.

Fang Ya took the steamed buns and vegetables and came over to sit next to him. "The worker who was poisoned by the gas is almost recovered. Fortunately, it was discovered early."

Ling Fengxi nodded to indicate that he understood.

Fang Ya added, "The weather is getting colder. I heard that some workers in the dormitory have their own braziers. Be careful, it's easy to get into trouble."

This sentence made Ling Fengxi completely alert, and he began to conduct surprise inspections of braziers in all dormitories that night. The names of the workers in the dormitories where braziers and coal were found were recorded, and they were told that they would be fined and have their bonuses deducted. This really angered the workers, and they came out to curse.

"It's so cold, what's wrong with using a brazier? Did it offend Secretary Ling?"

"Ling, seeing that our Captain Wu is not here, you're bullying others."

"If the fine is paid, whose account will it go into? You're crazy, right?"

Ling Fengxi was scolded but he didn't react at all. He just fined him and recorded his name. But Ye Minglang told the workers about the dangers of braziers later, but the workers still didn't appreciate it. After all, Xitian Mountain was really too cold. What was wrong with using a fire to warm themselves?

Because of this incident, the workers went on strike the next day, refusing to clear the snow from the road. Fortunately, it hadn't snowed in the past two days. Although the previously cleared road surface was now covered with frost, it was still open and not blocked by heavy snow.

But if this continues for another two or three days, the mountain will be closed again due to heavy snow.

Ling Fengxi took a few young people from the office to sweep the snow. It seemed lonely and ridiculous to see only a few people working in the vast mountains.

The workers were completely on holiday and had made up their minds not to go out to work. Even after the holiday was over, they would go straight to the tunnel to work. In any case, they would never listen to Ling Fengxi and continue to clear the snow on the road.

Of course, Ayala and the others knew about the minor disturbance in the camp. Taking advantage of the opportunity she had to make milk tea with Gulinar that night and serve it to the workers, she muttered, "Why are you guys mad at Secretary Ling? Do you know? That brazier in the dormitory is very dangerous. Do you know what charcoal suicide is? It's not good to use it, it's the same effect. Do you all want to die?"

"How can it be that dangerous? We use it every day, it's fine."

"That's only if nothing happened. If something did happen, you wouldn't know whether it was okay or not, right? You only have one life, and you don't cherish it well, and then Secretary Ling cherishes it for you. And then you turn against Secretary Ling. You're not smart at all this time."

The workers gathered in a circle, each holding their milk tea, drinking it. They were surprisingly unfazed by Ayala's nagging. Gulinar chimed in, "Yeah, you're just bullying Secretary Ling because he's outnumbered, so you're bullying him because you're in numbers. But don't forget, Secretary Ling is your financial backer!"

What Gulinar said was not right, but the truth was there... Although the workers nodded repeatedly, no one was willing to go to the road to sweep the snow the next day.

After a few days of this, the holiday was already over.

The foremen of various departments were still very lazy... and still allowed Ling Fengxi to continue clearing the snow with some herdsmen, people from the medical room, and the young people in the office, and they turned a blind eye.

The impact of this incident can be said to be extremely bad. It was also the first time that Ling Fengxi felt that these workers were really cute when they were cute, and really hateful when they were hateful.

The West Tianshan Tunnel construction camp was equipped with earth heating, meaning a dedicated boiler room burned coal, so there was no open flame in the dormitories. While the temperature might be a bit unbearable, it was definitely not fatal. However, the presence of something like a brazier could easily result in death.

Ling Fengxi did not regret his decision to pay the fine.