Crossing the Western Tianshan Mountains

The owner of the ethnic minority shop overheard their conversation. He was placing a large plate of thin-skinned buns in front of them and continuing their conversation, "Haven't you heard recently that the workers in the Western Tianshan Mountains are all coming down to spend money? The workers have money, and we have food, so we have to express our enthusiasm. Everyone hopes to have a happy and enjoyable time somewhere!"

Wu Yongjie and Ling Fengxi understood immediately. Wu Yongjie thanked the boss and said, "Is there any other boss in the world as stupid as us? We're giving money to the workers to spend down the mountain. Even the small business owners here know they have money."

Ling Fengxi said, "This is a good thing. If the workers really do become ill from being cooped up in Xitianshan, then this kind of environment should be the best way to heal them. It's much cheaper than hiring a professional psychologist."

Wu Yongjie said, "That's right! There are discounts everywhere! These small business owners are so smart!"

As expected, there were quite a lot of workers on this street. Some of them recognized the two leaders but pretended not to know them. After all, it was vacation time and the generals were away from home, so they were not subject to military orders. When people are away from home, the leaders may not know them!

Fortunately, Wu Yongjie and Ling Fengxi were afraid that such a good atmosphere would be ruined by themselves, so they strolled out of the food street after dinner.

Wu Yongjie saw a stall selling small accessories on the street and insisted on buying some hairpins for Fang Ya, which cost a few dollars each. He even dragged Ling Fengxi along to choose for a long time.

Ling Fengxi didn't understand, but he knew it was absurd to buy women's jewelry at a small stall. He asked quietly, "Isn't this too cheap? Is it worth giving away as a gift?"

Wu Yongjie rolled his eyes at him. "That's why you're still single. You're just too narrow-minded! As long as it looks good, it's fine. It's not your wallet that's being tested, it's your taste!"

She raised a hairpin with ethnic characteristics in her hand and said, "You can't buy this in expensive stores."

Wu Yongjie readily paid and left, entering a scarf shop.

Ling Fengxi's eyes were still drawn to a hairpin on the stall, which had a touch of ethnic and Han style. The middle-aged woman selling the jewelry said, "Boss, buy it. It's not expensive. Ten yuan is enough! Your wife will definitely be very happy if you buy it!"

Ling Fengxi then paid for the hairpin and put it in his pocket.

When he tried to look for Wu Yongjie again, he found that he couldn't find him. Thinking that Wu Yongjie might want to buy this and that for Fang Ya, and who knows how long it would take, Ling Fengxi was too lazy to continue shopping with him, so he simply went to the government.

It has to be said that in one's life, shopping, spending money, eating, drinking and having fun can indeed relieve worries. No matter what disease you have, as long as you stroll among the crowd and gather with people, most of your energy and spirit will be restored.

From inviting barbers to the West Tianshan Tunnel construction camp to cut workers' hair, to workers going down the mountain to spend money, to their return full of energy and vitality...

This is simply a matter of course.

After basking in the warm sun at the foot of the mountain, eating all kinds of delicious food, and admiring the beautiful girls and boys on the streets, the workers' originally dead minds came alive again. After returning, they chattered about what they had seen and heard at the foot of the mountain, and sometimes there was a burst of booing.

The atmosphere in the camp was obviously much better. Si Yuguang, who had been fighting before, gradually realized that he was impulsive and brought his brothers to apologize to Wu Yongjie.

Wu Yongjie patted him on the shoulder. "Gangzi, you are indeed the best blaster on our engineering team. I have always been satisfied with your work. After your fight this time, we didn't educate or punish you because we know that the project we are facing now is different from previous ones. We are all crossing the river by feeling the stones. The key is to cross the river by feeling the stones. The technical team's suggestions are very important..."

Wu Yongjie turned on his computer and showed Si Yugang the explosion simulation diagram sent by the technical department. "Look, this is where we were at the time. Look where we are..."

Si Yuguang could also fully understand this map. He saw a straight line extending from the tunnel at the burial depth, and then it said two thousand meters.

There were also dotted lines used to represent the mountain, and the blasting locations they had planned in the tunnel at that time. As Si Yuguang looked at them, sweat broke out on his forehead.

He also drew a schematic diagram of the radiation and force at the planned blasting location. However, on the left side, there seemed to be a layer of broken rock connected to an underground river. Surprisingly, the cavity above the underground river was very large, and it was an obvious underground glacier belt.

If the blasting had triggered a collapse of the shattered rock layer, the consequences would have been disastrous. The entire tunnel would have been destroyed, and water could have flooded into the cave, triggering a collapse above the glacier. A single mistake could have caused the entire mountain to collapse, burying all the workers at a depth of two thousand meters...

Then the Xitianshan Tunnel will become the deepest tomb in the world, right?

Si Yugang looked at it for a long time, and suddenly said in shock, "Two thousand meters! This, this——"

Wu Yongjie hurriedly said, "Don't shout, ouch..."

Wu Yongjie's solemn expression forced Si Yugang to suppress his emotions. He said, "Captain Wu, I didn't feel it normally. I just felt that the tunnel was getting longer and longer, but I never realized that the tunnel was already so deep. This makes the blasting work very difficult and too dangerous!"

Wu Yongjie nodded. "That's why I'm talking to you alone. This 'in-depth' discussion is absolutely necessary, because such in-depth discussion will bring tremendous psychological pressure to the workers. Even if they don't know the data, they will suppress their emotions because of the special environment and geographical conditions they work in. Therefore, the current data is kept confidential from the workers. However, since your blasting work is very special, if you don't understand the seriousness of this matter, I'm afraid there will be problems in coordinating with the technical department later. So..."

He looked at Si Yugang with a complicated expression, "This matter will bring you pressure, but you still have to work hard under the pressure while knowing it in your heart, and you have to keep it confidential. Gangzi, will you back down because of this pressure?"

Si Yugang certainly felt immense psychological pressure. When he saw the figure, "buried two thousand meters deep," he truly felt a strong urge to escape. But he knew this was not the time to retreat. He had worked on the engineering team for so long, cherished by many workers and valued by his superiors. He wasn't meant to run away at a critical moment.

"Captain Wu, don't worry, I won't run away. I promise to complete the mission!"