Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 9: Shan Ge's Past

As Yan Hui expected, after his fourth uncle took the initiative to propose fulfilling the contract ahead of schedule and paying the forest farm in advance, the forest farm was very willing to do so.

The price of the timber was in accordance with the contract, and the freight for two trucks was waived. Furthermore, we were given priority in selecting timber from the yard.

When "Xiaobianzi" and others got up, it was already time for lunch. They also had a car, so they went down the mountain after getting up, probably to eat something.

During this period, the Jiefang trucks had already gone up the mountain and started transporting wood.

Yan Hui really admired his fourth uncle at this time!

This is what business people do. Once they make a decision, they will do it wholeheartedly without any hesitation. He couldn't imagine how many resources his uncle had coordinated from last night until now!

Don't underestimate the "starting to move the wood at noon" task, as there are so many things to coordinate. The Jiefang truck was only responsible for hauling the wood to the train station and was not responsible for anything else, including unloading.

My fourth uncle is out of town, and it's really not easy for him to remotely control so many things.

In Shan Ge's words, there was absolutely no problem with this first batch of goods, so the truck was not inspected at all and loaded early. The two of them drove the truck and followed the Jiefang truck to the freight train station.

After arriving at the freight station, Yan Hui probably participated in the process of transporting the timber to the train station. It was a rather troublesome process, but Fourth Uncle had already made arrangements. Their main purpose was to find a suitable crane to unload the cargo.

"Today we have four truckloads of goods, just enough to fit two train cars," Shan Ge and Yan Hui said. "Go buy some food quickly. Don't be stingy. Pancakes with meat wraps or anything else will do. Take some and we'll eat them on the way. We'll follow these two trucks up the mountain later."

"Okay." Yan Hui hadn't spent the 50 yuan that Brother Shan gave him yesterday, so he ran to the entrance of the freight station and bought four large braised pork buns.

Really fragrant!

One day, I will be free to eat meat as I please!

After returning, the two followed the empty truck back to the forest farm.

In order to prevent Xiaobianzi and others from discovering them, they parked the car three or four hundred meters away from the forest farm and walked back to the forest farm.

When I came back, I could see Xiaobianzi and others watching the Jiefang truck loading in the wood stacking area, and I wonder what they were talking about.

The two of them were not worried because the forest farm would not proactively inform customers of their situation, and the forest farm was not stupid.

The forest farm could handle the loading themselves, as they had a crane. Normally, when loading wood, buyers would send someone to watch it to prevent any defects, but this first batch didn't require supervision, so the two of them waited outside.

After the Jiefang truck came down the mountain, Brother Shan drove up to follow it.

Xiaobianzi and the others looked around and felt that this car was the same as the one from yesterday. It should be that the forest farm moved it to the warehouse at the foot of the mountain by itself, otherwise there would be no way that there would be no buyers following. So they felt relieved and went back to play cards.

He has signed the contract, and as far as he knows, the other person who is going to pick up the goods will not get them until four days later, but he will start picking them the day after tomorrow, so he will definitely get priority to pick the good goods.

Yan Hui and the other man were busy until around three in the afternoon. Shan Ge suggested going out for a drink, but Yan Hui stopped him.

"Don't you know my driving skills? I can only drink half a pound at most, which won't affect anything." Brother Shan was a little unhappy.

In this day and age, there may still be people catching drunk drivers in big cities, but here there is no such concept as drunk driving at all. Many drivers feel that driving is not smooth without drinking a little.

"Brother Shan, how about we buy some wine and drink it back at the forest farm?"

"How can we drink over there? There's not even a small restaurant!" Shan Ge was a little unhappy. "It's okay, I'll just drink half a catty, and you don't have to pay for it."

Yan Hui was in a real dilemma now. He actually had no worries about drunk driving. He didn't understand this. He was just worried about delaying his fourth uncle's business.

Besides, Brother Shan is actually quite fierce. If he drinks, who knows how much he can drink.

When Yan Hui lit a cigarette for Shan Ge yesterday, he gave the box of cigarettes to Shan Ge. He had another box in his pocket, so he took it out, opened a cigarette, and used a match to light the cigarette for Shan Ge. Then, he gave this box of cigarettes to Shan Ge as well.

Originally, Shan Ge thought that since he brought a little kid out this time, he could decide everything by himself and do whatever he wanted, but after getting along with him, he found that this was not the case.

After smoking this cigarette, he felt too embarrassed to say anything tough to Yan Hui, even if he could beat 10 Yan Huis.

Yan Hui didn't say anything either, not giving Shan Ge a chance to attack.

Shan Ge was so angry that his teeth itched, but he still snorted: "Buy a roast chicken and go back to the mountain to drink! You drink with me!"

"Okay, Brother Shan, I'll accompany you!" Yan Hui immediately took over the conversation.

Don't look at his young age, he drank alcohol when he was in junior high school, and he could drink quite a lot. He was a very naughty boy in junior high school.

Without giving Shan Ge any chance to regret, Yan Hui immediately ran out and found a store to buy a bottle of Beida Cang.

This wine looks like a small trophy, and it says "Won the Excellent Product Award from the Ministry of Light Industry" on it. It is quite famous locally.

After buying roast chicken, pig cheeks and some snacks like peanuts, Yan Hui got into the car.

"Okay, I bought quite a bit," Shan Ge nodded in satisfaction when he saw the food. However, he became unhappy when he saw there was only one bottle of wine. "How are we going to drink this bottle of wine?"

"Brother Shan, I'm still a child, I'll drink less."

"You don't look like a child at all. I think you're smarter than a monkey! Go buy another bottle."

"We agreed on half a pound, didn't we?"

"If you drink half a catty of wine at the foot of the mountain, you have to drive. But if you go up the mountain, you don't have to drive, so one bottle per person is fine."

"Brother Shan, these few days are the most critical. We have to keep it secret. Can we wait until these two days are over before we talk about it?" Although Yan Hui spoke in a weak tone, his expression was determined.

"Forget it," Shan Ge said nothing more, started the car, and then asked, "By the way, is the 50 yuan I gave you enough?"

"That's enough. I still have 17 dollars."

"Okay." Shan Ge put the car into gear. "You kid."

"Brother Shan, please don't blame me. I'm just scared. My fourth uncle has changed his decision this time, and the risk he has to take is quite large." Yan Hui explained.

"You don't have to explain to me. Do you think I really don't understand?" Brother Shan snorted and muttered that no one with the surname Yan was a good person.

While driving, Shan Ge lit a cigarette and suddenly thought of something. He asked, "By the way, you still have 17 yuan left. Didn't you use the 50 yuan I gave you to buy cigarettes?"

"I can still afford to treat Brother Shan to a cigarette," Yan Hui said, "but Brother Shan, remember to hide the cigarettes. Don't let them be taken away by someone checking for fires later."

"He thinks beautifully!"

After returning to the mountain, Shan Ge didn't want to go back to his residence. That place was dark and smelly, and it was not suitable for sitting and drinking.

They simply went to the convenience store.

The people in the canteen were still playing cards. Shan Ge didn't buy anything either. He pulled up a chair and two stools, and sat down with Yan Hui to eat and drink. The boss didn't even look at them.

There was only one bottle of wine for two people to drink, and Brother Shan knew how much it was, and he also took the opportunity to see how much Yan Hui could drink.

When Xiaobianzi saw Shan Ge, he greeted him. Shan Ge politely asked them if they wanted something to eat or drink. They said no, they would go down the mountain to eat in the evening.

Brother Shan smiled and said okay.

I don’t know why, but when Shan Ge saw the small braid, he felt a special sense of superiority in his heart. This sense of superiority came from the information gap, from “I know but you don’t know”, which made him feel very good.

He even looked down on the other person: "Why are you staying here playing cards every day? You might as well go down the mountain and have some fun!"

Brother Shan would never admit at this moment that if it weren't for Yan Hui, he would actually be one of the people who came here to drink and play cards.

Yan Hui was afraid that he had talked about the wrong thing, so after thinking about it, he started talking about cars.

Brother Shan knows cars and loves to talk about them.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with talking about cars here.

In fact, the people playing cards didn't pay any attention to what they were talking about.

At first, Xiaobianzi also paid some attention to listen carefully for a few sentences, but after listening to the two people talking about cars, he no longer cared about anything else.

During this conversation, Brother Shan told Yan Hui some of his past.

Brother Shan has been in prison before!

Shan Ge did not mention why he had been in prison, but the prison he was in was in Changchun. There was an engineer from FAW who was in the same cell with him and was imprisoned for his corrupt practices.

Although this engineer's hands and feet are not clean, his skills are actually impeccable. He is responsible for testing the entire vehicle after assembly.

Brother Shan spent three years in prison and never touched a car, but he listened to this guy talk about it for three whole years!
Cars of this era don't have many wiring harnesses, and the high-tech aspect is mainly due to the materials and finishing, and the principles are actually not complicated.

Shan Ge, who had only been studying for a few years, dared to say that he was an expert after half a year, let alone three years.

After being released from prison, Shan Ge first found a job in a car repair shop.

You will get it once you get started!

It’s a pity that because of Shan Ge’s special background, a few months later, when the owner of the auto repair shop learned that Shan Ge had been in prison, he tactfully let him go.

As for how he later followed his fourth uncle, Brother Shan did not mention it.

It wasn't a big deal for Yan Hui to drink half a pound of wine, but he still felt something.

Having seen a wolf yesterday, he knew that he should not run around after drinking at night. So he drank and ate slowly here. It took the two of them more than two hours to finish the food.

After eating, they went straight back to sleep.

In the next few days, Brother Shan called his fourth uncle every day, and his fourth uncle even asked Yan Hui to answer the phone to communicate.

On the fourth day, Fourth Uncle even praised Yan Hui!

According to my fourth uncle, the price of timber has started to rise. If we only have a contract, the forest farm will definitely have other requirements when we order the goods tomorrow.

Timber prices didn't rise dramatically in early 1995, but they've been rising rapidly in recent years, with prices rising every year. Coincidentally, with the announcement of the logging ban and the end of the logging season, a small price increase was inevitable.

"Do a good job," Fourth Uncle encouraged, "Xiaohui, I believe in you over there. Wait for Fourth Uncle to give you a red envelope!"

For some reason, Yan Hui felt that his fourth uncle was a little excited. It wasn't a happy excitement, but a feeling of being under a lot of pressure.

My uncle has already secured nearly 30 yuan worth of goods, and he hasn't even seen them yet, so he's definitely feeling the pressure. It takes at least four or five days to ship the goods by train, and now all the goods are on the way.

At this time, Xiaobianzi and others also started transporting goods, but the forest farm made a temporary request, saying that the price of diesel had risen and the freight had to be increased, otherwise they would find their own vehicles to transport the goods.

Yan Hui saw this scene and wanted to laugh. Xiaobianzi and others have won hundreds of dollars from the people in the forest farm these days. I don’t know what they are thinking.
Forget it, don’t judge others.

Yan Hui and Shan Ge worked diligently, and in the past few days, his understanding of logs became much more thorough than before.

Logs are not that simple. If you want to know the quality of logs, you must first look at the tree species. This is the fundamental thing.

Don't think you can identify the tree species at a glance. The logs here are all in sections, so it's not impossible to sell something under the guise of selling something else. Expensive tree species may be mixed with a few cheaper woods of similar color, and those with poor eyesight can't tell the difference at all.

After determining the tree species, the next thing to look at is the diameter, length, curvature, bark damage, cracks, insect pests, disease spots, and knots.

Knots must be checked, as large knots directly affect the processing of wood.

The third thing to look at is the moisture content.

The wood here was all cut down this winter, so the moisture content doesn't need to be checked, but Brother Shan still explained to Yan Hui the identification method, which mainly involves looking at the color, feel, and weight.

Brother Shan has been with his fourth uncle for several years, so of course he knows more than just cars.

After being busy for four or five days, the two of them finally had some free time.

Fourth Uncle is completely out of money. All the funds he can mobilize have been used up. He has to wait a week for all the goods to arrive and sell them before he can continue purchasing.

Fourth Uncle must have been under a lot of pressure these days, but this has nothing to do with Yan Hui. He can indeed take a break for a while.

After finishing his work, Brother Shan drove down the mountain to drink, but Yan Hui didn't ask anything. He even saw Brother Shan bringing an older sister with him, but he didn't ask any more questions.

The money Brother Shan gave Yan Hui was not much, but it was enough for him to spend.

These days, when he had nothing to do, Yan Hui went to the Mu Gang several times.

He knew that the logging season for the timber gang still had three days left, and after three days, those who needed to go home would go home, and those who needed to go down the mountain would go down the mountain.

I just don’t know where Uncle Wang is going this year.

Yan Hui certainly knew that Uncle Wang must have had a place to stay in previous years, but this year Uncle Wang's brain was a little more problematic than in previous years, so he still needed to pay more attention.

Most of the people in the Mu Gang were straightforward. They thought Yan Hui was a good guy, so they really treated him as one of their own, without any "inspection" process. Every time Yan Hui came, he would bring cigarettes for the old men. Although they were cheap, they still got everyone excited. At this time, everyone in the Mu Gang was most short of money. After three days of paying the bills, the canteen would be cleared out in a day.

Yan Hui is very careful. He noticed that the convenience store has been stocking up these days, which shows that they have experience.

The two large yellow dogs at the entrance to the Wood Gang had become quite familiar with Yan Hui. Every time he came, he would bring them something to eat. He had saved the bones from the roast chicken he'd eaten last time for them. As time went by, the two dogs were free to touch him. This kind of life was quite comfortable. Yan Hui even worried about how he would survive in the mountains after the Wood Gang members left and he had nothing to do.
(End of this chapter)