Riding the wind of rebirth

Even if Professor Ruan trusted Zhou Zhi completely, he couldn't help but hesitate when he got here. Could he really just ask for a million dollars so easily?

Unexpectedly, Zhou Zhi continued, "There are some companies in China that are very enthusiastic about public welfare. For example, I know about the Lantian Sunshine Group. They are very familiar with the modernization of the power system and their technology is very advanced in China. The most important thing about the power system for ancient wooden structures is safety. They have a military background and their safety level can be top-notch in China. They previously did a green energy poverty alleviation project in Liangshan with the Yutang Foundation, and the results were very good. Xinyi, you can also contact them. If they are also interested in participating in the Pingyao Ancient City power reform project, you can bring them in, which will save the local area a lot of money."

"At the same time, please ask Professor Ruan to contact the local government," Zhou Zhi said. "If they agree, we will also lobby the Yu Tang Foundation to launch a project to record the entire process of the ancient city's transformation and application for World Heritage status in video format. Director Chi Xueli should be interested in this project. If we can get her to direct, the quality of the film can definitely be guaranteed."

"Of course, the premise is that things must be done well. That is to say, the protective maintenance of this 400-meter street and the ancient buildings on both sides must reach or even far exceed the current requirements of the UNESCO World Heritage Foundation."

If the Municipal Cultural Relics Management Bureau hadn't personally called him to come over immediately, saying that a disciple of Master Wang from Beijing had discovered a large number of Ming Dynasty shell windows here, that the cultural relics protection work in Zhouzhuang hadn't been done thoroughly enough, and that Zhangting was failing in its protection efforts, he would have almost thought the young man was a fraud after arriving and finding that what he said was completely correct and admiring him greatly.

Weren't we initially discussing the preservation of the shell windows? How did the conversation escalate to the preservation of the ancient city of Pingyao? And why is it getting bigger and bigger, involving more and more people?
Professor Ruan decided to take the plunge and try his luck, even if it meant squeezing out every last drop of profit. He recalled how he'd negotiated a similar deal with several professors and experts when he secured 80,000 yuan for the city wall repairs in Pingyao back in the capital. Composing himself, he said, "I'll contact them when I get back. Xinyi, could you please contact the Yu Tang Foundation and see what kind of materials they need and to what extent? We'll compile and submit them immediately. Also, regarding the translation of the materials..."

"There's no need to trouble Tongji University with the translation of the materials; the Yu Tang Foundation has plenty of manpower on its own," Zhou Zhi said with a smile.

“Then let’s exchange contact information,” Professor Ruan said. “Fortunately, Xin Yi is at Tongji University. She can just come to the Planning Office to find me in the future. Even if I’m not there, my assistant is.”

After leaving Zhouzhuang, on the way back, Zhang Xinyi said with some worry, "Zhouzi, I'm afraid... I might not do a good job with this task you entrusted to me..."

“Xinyi, don’t worry.” Zhou Zhi smiled. “You’re just a liaison. Your main job is to collect needs from all sides and communicate with the foundation. It’s a very simple matter.”

"But you'll need a cell phone. We'll buy one when we get to town. We also need to figure out how the Yu Tang Foundation operates its projects. By the way, how's your English now?"

“General communication shouldn’t be a problem, but I won’t know the terminology in architecture and cultural relics.” Zhang Xinyi was still a little worried.

"I just need to be able to communicate and do simple interpretation work." Zhang Xinyi is a rather low-key person. He said that general communication is not a big problem, and Zhou Zhi believes that she is already capable of basic interpretation: "Actually, this matter is not complicated. The first thing for a project is the organizational structure. Once this is set up, more than half of the problem is solved."

"The so-called organizational structure is actually the arrangement of relationships, powers and responsibilities among various functional positions and personnel within an organization. It clarifies everyone's responsibilities and rights, avoids unclear responsibilities and unequal power and responsibility, and ensures that responsibilities are assigned to individuals and tasks are specifically implemented and carried out by individuals."

"Once this is clear, once things start moving forward, it will be very clear what all the actions and all the members should and shouldn't do, to what extent they should be handed over to the next task force, and how all parties can cooperate with each other." "This leads to the second aspect: task decomposition."

"For example, what we need to do now is to protect the ancient city of Pingyao and implement the 25-year plan formulated by Professor Ruan and his team. However, judging from the conversation just now, the results are not ideal. Faced with such a situation, we usually need to find a point as a specific starting point to promote this matter."

"We have just found the key: to take the opportunity of installing closed-circuit television for the residents of the ancient city to achieve the first renovation project—reducing the adverse visual impact of the large number of television receiving antennas and wires appearing above the houses in the ancient city."

"Taking this as an opportunity, we can also work with the local community on a second project, which is to launch the first core area renovation model project."

"And this model project can lead to many subsequent things, gradually promoting Pingyao's influence, getting the wheels turning, creating momentum that cannot be stopped, and that's when the project can be considered successfully launched."

"Of course, the first thing we need to do is to upgrade the closed-circuit television system. This mainly involves three parties: first, the Yu Tang Cultural Heritage Protection Foundation, which provides funding; second, the local government, which is responsible for implementation; and third, the Institute of Statistics and Planning, which is responsible for planning."

"The steps involved are generally the same: preliminary investigation, user statistics, fund allocation, signing of on-site agreements, project bidding, material procurement, project implementation, supervision and acceptance, and many other sequential or parallel steps."

“Xinyi, you don’t need to worry about these things. You just need to focus on the organizational structure. For example, we need to form three groups: one is the Pingyao Special Asset Management Group for the Protection of Yutang Cultural Relics, one is the Local Ancient City Renovation Pilot Project Group, and one is the Statistics and Planning Institute Group.”

"All the steps and specific implementation plans were written by the three groups themselves, then submitted, discussed, and discussed in meetings, and finally refined into a project progress management chart. The rest was just to supervise the execution step by step."

“And as someone who is involved in the whole process and understands it and organizes the organizational structure, you will usually hold two positions in this organization,” Zhou Zhi said with a smile: “either the project manager’s secretary or the supervisor.”

"Can I do this well? I'm afraid I won't do it well... and I'll embarrass you." Zhang Xinyi wanted to challenge her abilities, but this matter seemed a bit too big, and it was completely different from the work of the Student Union's Arts and Sports Department.

“Don’t worry, the whole process goes from simple to complex, from rough to meticulous. It’s a great opportunity for comprehensive learning.” Zhou Zhi smiled and said, “It looks complicated, but it’s actually simple as long as you grasp the main points. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just call me. Don’t be stingy with the phone bill. Now that you’re the liaison representative for the Yu Tang Foundation’s Pingyao cultural heritage protection project, all of these can be reimbursed.”

Zhang Xinyi finally smiled: "That's right, anyway, you've got my back! What do I have to worry about!" (End of Chapter)