Back to 1984: I built a chicken farm on a barren mountain.

Chen Youwei didn't get up until dark. To be precise, what woke him up wasn't the darkness, but the braised meat simmering in the pot.

In the evening, we ate braised noodles with diced meat at Jiming Mountain.

"When did Zheng Erli leave?" Chen Youwei asked, forcing his sleepy eyes open.

"In the evening, I asked Niu Da to go down the mountain with him. When he came down the mountain, he said he wanted me to ask you about the specific things concerning the factory."

Chen Wenfeng repeated what Zheng Erli had said before he went down the mountain.

Chen Youwei yawned and said:

"I'm not going back today. First, I'm too tired. Second, the food here is really good. Third, I want to talk to you in detail about the factory construction. This Zheng Erli actually chose the factory site diagonally opposite Han Laosi's soy sauce factory."

Diagonally opposite the soy sauce factory?

A map of Chenjiazhuang appeared in Chen Wenfeng's mind. Of course, it was more like a picture of Chenjiazhuang in his memory than a map.

The soy sauce factory was diagonally opposite what used to be a brick factory belonging to the production team; later, some people raised livestock there...

"Uncle Youwei, are you talking about the old brick factory?"

"Yes, that's it. It's a fairly large place with existing factory buildings. And like the soy sauce factory, it's located at the east end of the village, making it convenient to go to the town or county without having to go through these bumpy little roads in the village."

It is indeed a good place, and Zheng Erli is quite clever.

"I vaguely heard Erli give you a 30% share just now, which isn't a small amount, since the village will also take 10%, and the village will also invest some. But don't tell anyone about this."

I understand now. No wonder the village chief was so proactive. He's not only helping Zheng Erli, but he's also looking at the issue from Chenjiazhuang's perspective.

"Originally, I didn't want to do it in the name of the village committee, but Zhao Dabao reminded me that instead of letting people like Han Laosi make all the money, it would be better for the village to take some shares directly. Having the money in our own hands is what gives us real confidence. Zheng Erli actually has more than just you as an option, but I told him that if he wants to set up a factory in Chenjiazhuang, he has to find someone from Chenjiazhuang."

"Luckily, he's also from Chenjiazhuang. If it were any other boss, he would have left long ago and wouldn't listen to me!"

Chen Wenfeng listened as Chen Youwei, as if rambling incoherently, recounted the entire story in detail.

We didn't eat dinner outside because it was too cold; the biting wind could penetrate one's clothes.

Chen Wenfeng, Chen Youwei, Niu Er, and Lao Suntou sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the room, eating braised noodles on the kang table.

Chen Xiaohei lay down under the kang (a heated brick bed), and Chen Wenfeng specially placed a straw mat for it.

Inside the house, there was a warm kang (heated brick bed) and a hot bowl of noodles.

Outside, the wind was cold and the snow was falling.

The wind swirled and blew towards the earthen stove near the chicken coop, swirling out the still-burning firewood from the firebox and sending it flying onto the brambles.

Although there was a layer of snow on the thorn bushes, the ground underneath was dry, and the weeds inside were also completely dry, making them the perfect ignition source. With the help of the wind, the thorn bushes burst into flames.

A pile of miscellaneous items and firewood next to the thorn bushes also started to burn.

Chen Wenfeng and his group were eating braised noodles and didn't notice what was happening outside.

Chen Xiaohei is sensitive to fire. When it smelled the burning smell, it got up and crawled out of the house. Seeing the flames shooting into the sky and the black smoke billowing, it couldn't help but bark wildly.

Seeing that Chen Xiaohei was not in a good mood, Chen Wenfeng thought that someone had come to cause trouble. He lifted the thick cotton curtain and saw that the thorn bushes were burning brightly.

"Stop eating, everyone! Put out the fire!"

"The bramble bushes are on fire!"

Upon hearing Chen Wenfeng's shout, everyone put down their bowls and chopsticks and rushed out to put out the fire.

They say water and fire are merciless; if this fire were to burn down the chicken coop, we'd be back to square one.

Coincidentally, two of the four large vats that Chen Wenfeng had bought earlier were already filled with water. The four of them quickly drew water from the vats and poured it onto the bramble bushes with buckets.

Fortunately, due to the snow accumulation, there was snowmelt and ice water everywhere, and the fire had not yet spread to the vegetation on the hillside, only burning most of the thorn bushes.

In addition, after contracting Jiming Mountain, Chen Wenfeng also had a strong sense of arson. He cut the vegetation in many places to make paths and do some simple isolation.

This is also a very important reason why the fire did not spread up the mountain.

As the four of them frantically poured water, the water in the two large vats quickly dwindled, and the few remaining embers were extinguished by Chen Wenfeng and Niu Er striking them with wooden sticks.

It was a false alarm.

After the fire was extinguished, Chen Wenfeng, with a flashlight, led Niu Er and Lao Sun to inspect all the places. Chen Youwei, who couldn't stay still, also took a flashlight and joined in the inspection.

No problem.

When Chen Wenfeng inspected the earthen stove in the chicken coop, he noticed something amiss: several pieces of firewood were scattered outside the stove.

The other three people also came over, and they also believed that this was the cause of the fire.

"It's getting late today, so we can't get much work done. Tomorrow we need to figure out how to build up that circle of thorns and make a fireproof wall."

"Let's go back and continue eating!"

Everyone was already hungry, and they hadn't even eaten a few bites when they went through another round of fetching and splashing water, which made everyone even hungrier.

After the fire was extinguished, everyone was like a deflated balloon, not because they were tired, but mainly because they were scared.

Once we got back to the kang table and continued eating noodles, they tasted even better.

Chen Wenfeng was somewhat shaken. While eating noodles, he kept reviewing the situation and making assumptions in his mind to make improvements in the future.

If the fire gets out of control and spreads to the chicken coop, can the chicken coop catch fire?

How can we prevent similar incidents from happening in our daily use of fire?

Should a standard procedure be established for daily use of fire?

Should we increase personnel patrols?

Should we increase the number of water tanks used for fire extinguishing?

By the way, we need to equip ourselves with some fire extinguishers...

The fire in the bramble bushes caused no damage, but it served as a reminder to Chen Wenfeng, telling him once again that fire and water are merciless, and also reminding him once more:

Even if you have a fortune, it doesn't count if it's something with fur.

Zheng Erli came to cooperate with me on the feed mill, and he came at just the right time!

They ate the braised noodles with relish, and after they were full, Chen Wenfeng made a schedule:

Chen Wenfeng, Lao Suntou, Niu Da, and Niu Er each take turns on night shifts, patrolling for a while, mainly checking for fire sources.

That night, the north wind howled, and while on duty, Chen Wenfeng could almost hear the sound of ice cracking.

After a strong wind blew, the next day was a bright, sunny day.

As dawn broke, the area where the fire had started the previous night was now completely black. The "wall" that once surrounded Jiming Mountain—the thicket of thorns—seemed to have vanished, leaving only a few black remnants.

Chen Wenfeng took a shovel and dug hard. Fortunately, the ground was not frozen. It seemed that he would have to take advantage of the sunny weather to rebuild the wall.

After breakfast, Chen Youwei went down the mountain, and Chen Wenfeng brought him some local products.

Chen Youwei happily accepted the gift and made an appointment with Chen Wenfeng to visit the old brick factory together once the snow on the road had melted...