Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 955 North-South Canal

Director Xu waved his hand and said, "Your concern is meaningless. The business over there is so prosperous, and there are many residents. Not to mention opening one in the East Institute of Technology, you could open another one on the street without any problem. You have to calculate the flow of people and their spending power."

"And I think you shouldn't just focus on universities and colleges. Many high schools also have boarding facilities, and there are also large residential areas. I've seen your supermarket; it's completely geared towards ordinary people's daily necessities like rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea. It has all the products, and you can adjust the stock as needed. Why don't you find a place with lots of ordinary people? People have to make a living, right? They're no worse off than students."

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "That makes sense. I can't see it as clearly as you can."

Director Xu waved his hand and said, "Don't say that. I'm just showing off my limited skills in front of you, Boss Zhang. You still have to think about it yourself. This is just a suggestion. I'll contact them in the next couple of days and ask them to come and take a look. I think it'll work. Wait for my call. You can look for a place at the Police Academy and the Electrical Engineering Department in the next couple of days."

Xiao Wei said, "I should come over and talk to you more often, Brother Xu. I've found that you're more thoughtful than I am. I'm still too young and lack experience."

Director Xu laughed and said, "There's nothing I can do about it. I was born early, so I've lived for thirty or forty years. What can I do?"

Xiao Wei stood up and said, "Okay, I'll wait for your call. I'll go check out the police academy and the electrical engineering college."

The Police Academy, officially known as the China Criminal Police University, was originally the Northeast Public Security Technical Training Brigade, established in 48. In 54, it was renamed the Central People's Police Cadre School, and in 56, it became the First People's Police Cadre School of the Ministry of Public Security. In 81, the China Criminal Police University was established, sharing offices and personnel with the People's Police Cadre School of the Ministry of Public Security—essentially two names for one body—making it the de facto highest-level institution of learning within the public security system.

For a long time, Fengtian was the best in the country in terms of education and industry, which was due to historical reasons.

In industry, the first machine tool, the first gear, the first coin minting—so many firsts are concentrated here.

In education, it's home to the Police Academy, the first school in China's public security system. Then came medical universities, pharmaceutical universities, engineering universities, open universities, agricultural universities, and even the first vocational health school. Many schools and businesses now scattered throughout the country can trace their origins back to this place.

History has written everything, and the dust of history has covered everything up.

The Police Academy and Liaoning University are separated by only a river. If you come out from the commercial area and go north along Nujiang Street, then west across the North Canal, the back gate of the academy is about two kilometers away. However, in 92, you couldn't go that way. The North Canal, especially the north bank, was full of rice paddies. From the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, all you could see was waves of rice. There was no road.

You need to come down from Nujiang Street to Chongshan Road, walk west to Tawan, and then go north along Tawan Street to cross the canal.

Back then, this area consisted mainly of rice paddies, military garrisons, veterans' sanatoriums, and a police academy. There weren't many ordinary people; they were all concentrated along the canal. The development of the North Canal didn't begin until after 95, and by then, some sections of the North Canal had become small ditches.

The North Canal can be considered the mother river of Fengtian. It was excavated and built in 1906 for rice cultivation in Fengtian. The Weigong River (Xihe River) originates from here, and the South Canal, which was excavated in 1952, also originates from here.

The North Canal is the original course of the Hun River. Historically, the Hun River's course shifted from north to south, starting at the North Canal and eventually settling at its present location, bringing fertile plains, abundant groundwater, and countless lakes of varying sizes to the entire Fengtian region.

The South Canal was excavated because many inland lakes had become stagnant and foul-smelling, and their removal was no longer an option. The project to excavate the South Canal was originally called the Fengtian City Southern Urban Area Foul-Smelling Fog Reconstruction Canal Project.

The Northeast Daily reported that the project commenced on September 12th and was fully completed on December 4th. The entire 17-kilometer-long riverbed has been sculpted and a high dam has been erected. Twelve thousand workers and three hundred cadres participated in the construction, battling the foul-smelling mud with utmost enthusiasm. A total of 113 billion yuan was paid in wages, averaging 10,000 yuan per person per day, alleviating the financial difficulties of many unemployed workers.

Back then, the temperature in Northeast China in December was at least minus thirty degrees Celsius, and most of those working were women. It's truly admirable. Now, as people stroll through the beautiful South Canal Riverside Park, who can remember these excavators from decades ago? Do you know how hard the frozen soil was? A single stroke of a pickaxe would leave a white mark.

At that time, a small box of penicillin cost 15,000 yuan, and a bowl of soy milk in the morning cost 3,000 yuan.

……

After crossing the canal, all you could see were rice paddies. By then, the rice had already been harvested, and the landscape was desolate.

Turning past a cluster of messy bungalows and walking a few hundred meters north, you can see a large courtyard wall in the distance. There are no tall buildings yet, so the wall looks very tall and blocks the view.

Armed guards stood tall at the gate of the compound. There was no guardhouse or rain shelter; they just stood there on the ground at the gate. Two hundred meters past the artillery division compound and the sanatorium, you would reach the gate of the police academy. Further ahead were the Air Force 601 Institute and the artillery brigade.

It's getting lively here. There's a residential area between the police academy and the veterans' sanatorium, forming a market with a bus stop and shops. Across the street, there's another wall, and you can see rows of trees in the distance, with many huge buildings scattered beneath them—not tall, but occupying vast areas. That's a restricted zone.

The police academy also had a gatekeeper. Xiao Wei showed his identification and drove into the compound.

When Xiaowei arrived, he had already contacted Director Liu, so he went directly to the main administration building to find the dean's office.

The dean and Director Liu were at the same level and had frequent contact and a good personal relationship, so Xiaowei was able to meet the dean smoothly.

After explaining their purpose, the dean frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "Old Liu introduced us; we're all colleagues, not outsiders. I'm also quite familiar with Old Chen from the power company. How big of a place do you need to open this shopping mall?"

Xiao Wei said, "Two thousand square meters, at least, the bigger the better."

The old dean nodded and said, "Please sit down, I'll make a phone call." He pointed to the sofa on the other side of the office.

Xiao Wei sat down on the sofa. The old dean picked up the phone and dialed three times. Because the sofa was several meters away from the desk, and Xiao Wei couldn't pay attention to listen, plus the old dean spoke in a low voice, he couldn't hear what the old dean was saying.

After making three phone calls, the old director hung up, walked out from behind his desk, sat down on the sofa, and said, "I asked around, and the only place in this area that meets your criteria is the Artillery Division. They have more buildings; we and the 601st can't compare. And to be honest, our units can't really let you open a shopping mall in the compound; it's not really appropriate."

(End of this chapter)