Chapter Eleven: When the Family is Poor, All Matters are Worrisome

  In the following days, Liu Lao and others continued to discuss how to implement the plan of using hot fog machines to accompany the powder rust prevention. At the same time, they contacted Nan Kai University and brought over a batch of synthesized powder rust preventer.

  Several people in charge of chemical plants also came to prepare for the production of powder rust inhibitor spray and powder rust inhibitor emulsion. Along the way, Liang Sanping made two phone calls to his elder brother to report safety.

  Li learned that Li Sanping was already the head of the production department in the field and also the deputy captain of the eleventh team. Although Li Daping didn't understand how this trick worked, being able to become a leader was better than being an ordinary worker for decades, wasn't it?

  Of course, Liang Sanping did not neglect his official duties. After all, he was the officer in charge of the Production Department of Jianghai Farm. So after making inquiries from various sources, he finally learned about the situation with Zhou Maocai, the head of the Production Department of Jianghai Farm.

  Liang Sanping made a scene at Jianghai Farm on the day when Zhou Maocai happened to be away in the second district for inspection and was not present in the department. The two parties did not meet, but after returning, there was suddenly an additional cadre in his own department.

  Zhou Maocai was also helpless about this matter. He went out to inspect some work and when he came back, there was an extra subordinate. Anyone would be shocked by this.

  But the director spoke up and the secretary acquiesced. What else could he do as a production department head?

  It's fortunate that Liang Sanping was invited by the two hospitals in South China, which means that this new doctor's technical level is definitely good. This comforted Zhou Maocai a bit.

  Later, Liang Sanping called him to report the situation with a very good attitude, which made him look up to Liang Sanping even more. The background is quite hard for a young man, and he can still respect his leadership despite having skills in his hands.

  It's hard to come by. On the phone, Zhou Maocai really did praise Liang Sanping a few sentences. Then he said some official words and didn't say much else. Since they had never met in person, there wasn't much to talk about between them.

  "San Ping, hurry up and pack. We'll be going to Qiongzhoukou with Old Liu soon." These past few days have been spent following Old Liu and the others around, but none of them are old scholars.

  They would rather go down to the rubber forest for on-the-spot investigation. Among these old men, there are soil experts, tropical crop disease experts and tropical crop breeding experts.

  A group of old men strolled through the rubber forest, chatting and laughing as they talked about their respective research situations. And following these old men, Liang Sanping understood that they had taken a liking to him and wanted to cultivate him well!

  That's why he was brought along. What he said in the past few days really catered to these old men's tastes. These old men were scholars who had given up high-paying jobs abroad and returned home to fight for their country.

  Hard struggle, hard work. These words are more deeply felt by them than anyone else. The whole of Hainan Island and even the entire country's hot spring cultivation areas were almost all built up by these old men with their fists and feet.

  "Xiao Liang is a good kid! He's not very old, but he's steady in his work. And he doesn't lack the vigor of young people!" Huang Lao said with a smile as he watched Tan and several elderly men laughing and chatting while carrying water bottles on their backs, and he smiled at Liu Lao.

  "This young man is really good!" However, Wang Lao smiled and said: "Young and motivated, doing things steadily. It's just that his cultural level is a bit low, otherwise I would have wanted to transfer him to the hospital for a job..."

  The rest of the elderly nodded, and indeed Liang Sanping's cultural level was not enough for high school. To know that the more technical to the high-end field, the higher the requirements for professional knowledge.

  "The young man is still young, and being young means having endless possibilities." Old Liu smiled and concluded: "We old guys will eventually have to step down."

  "Young people willing to do something for the country, what reason do we old guys have not to support?! As long as he's the right material, why can't us old guys give him a hand?!"

  Several elderly people heard the words, all smiled and nodded. After strolling for several days in the rubber forest, under the rubber tree, they discussed several feasible plans and finally waited for Director Gou's news.

  The Ministry of Agriculture took the lead, and after some persuasion, a farm machinery merchant who came to inspect agreed to come to Hainan Island. Director Guo brought people as foreign guests, and after considering for half a day, the hospital finally gritted its teeth and took out money from the budget to buy several plane tickets to fly directly to Hainan Island.

  At that time, the road leading to Qiongzhou Port was still very bumpy, and the only national defense highway on the entire island of Hainan was the later Central Line Highway.

  In later generations, the island of Qing has already had western and eastern ring-island highways. It even took the lead in establishing a mechanism to remove highway toll stations nationwide. At the same time, the original maintenance costs of the highway were all included in the oil price.

  Of course, this approach has its pros and cons. The benefits are that it greatly reduces the congestion that may occur in the circulation links, while also significantly reducing the expenditure on toll station personnel and maintenance.

  But not all cars need to go on the highway, and those that don't often go on the highway still have to bear the maintenance costs of the highway. In this regard, it's a bit unreasonable.

  Of course, from a macro perspective, these two special highways have had a huge impact on promoting the island's economy.

  Used to the smooth highways of later generations, he suddenly jumped onto the bumpy dirt road now. The huge bumps made Liang Sanping sway left and right in distress.

  It's easy to go from simple to luxurious, but it's hard to go from luxurious to simple! After getting used to good road conditions, anyone would feel a bit dizzy suddenly jumping back onto the dirt road.

  Fortunately, this body had long been adapted to the sandy roads of this era, and even if it was bumpy again, Liang Sanping didn't feel uncomfortable.

  All the old men on the way were closing their eyes to rest, and the bumpy sandy road made it easy for people to get out of breath when speaking. At this time, closing one's eyes to rest was the best choice.

  The car drove from morning till afternoon, taking a full ten hours before slowly entering Qiongzhou Port.

  Qiongzhoukou is the shortest distance connecting Qiong Island and the mainland. It is only 18 nautical miles from Leizhou in northern Guangdong. The city originated in the Han Dynasty and prospered in the Song Dynasty.

  Later in the Republic of China period, Tongza City was established. Even now that Tongza City has become the capital of Qiong Island Autonomous Prefecture, Qiongzhou Port still plays a huge role.

  Liu Lao and other old experts arrived at Qiongzhou Port, and naturally there were special people to receive them. These old experts are all treasures among treasures! No one dares to neglect them for a moment.

  "Haha...Liu Lao, Wang Lao...you've all worked hard on your journey! Welcome, welcome! Haha..." The one who came to greet Liu and the others was Wei Tongji, the director of the South China General Bureau's office in Qiongzhou.

  Wei Tongji smiled and walked forward, tightly grasping the hands of Liu Lao and others one by one, greeting them before turning to Liu Lao and saying: "Liu Lao, everyone must be hungry, right? Why don't we solve the problem of eating first?"

  Liu Lao waved his hand wearily and said, "Forget it! When will Director Gou and the others arrive?!"

  Mr. Liu's words were just out, and Director Wei didn't refute them. He respectfully said to Mr. Liu: "Considering the time difference between you and everyone who came over, I bought their plane tickets to arrive at 7 o'clock in the evening..."

  Liu nodded, it's only six o'clock now. He still had time to rest and tidy up, then have dinner with this American guest. Then they would discuss again how to deal with the purchase of this heat fog machine.

  According to Liu Lao's idea, the current Sino-US relationship can be considered a honeymoon period. Although it is not known how long this honeymoon period will last, at least during this honeymoon period, buying some agricultural machinery products from the United States should still be okay.

  "Come on, let's go to the hostel and settle down first. Let's tidy up properly, we don't want to lose face in front of our foreign friends!" Liu Lao said with a wave of his hand, smiling.

  Wei Director hesitated and said, "Liu Lao, why don't we move to a hotel that caters to foreigners? All foreign guests stay at such hotels, it's more convenient for communication!"

  "What's the point of staying in a foreign-related hotel?!" Liu frowned and said, "Foreign-related hotels cost so much money! The General Administration and our two academies are not wealthy, it would be better to save this money for research! We can just stay in a guest house. If it weren't for being in Qiongzhoukou and having to contact foreign guests, I'd even be willing to stay in a farmhouse..."

  Liang Sanping sighed inwardly upon hearing this, this was the style of these older generation researchers. If they wanted to enjoy life, they wouldn't have given up their high salaries and benefits to return to China and eat coarse grains and swallow bitter pills back then.

  They would also not give up those research environments with unparalleled conditions and come back to squat on a desolate, uninhabited island to open up a rubber plantation with unparalleled hardship.

  They, who had been poor all the way, would never spare a single cent of national money to eat and drink. Even Liang Sanping had heard that some overseas inspection teams actually cancelled their originally booked rooms and squeezed several people into a small room.

  The money saved is used to buy research books and materials to bring back home. Some people are reluctant to spend a penny on furniture for themselves, but they never hesitate to spend money on buying materials for the country or cultivating students.

  They go abroad to eat cheaply, live cheaply, and even save money by squeezing several people into one room, putting aside all the living expenses provided by the host organization, just to buy more materials and better cultivate their own students.

  The kind of struggle, thrift and dedication that this generation had is hard to see in later generations.

  We have money now, but it seems we've lost something more important than money...

  At this time, the reception room looked quite good, but in Liang Sanping's eyes, it was extremely simple. A mosquito net hung on an iron frame wooden bed, a desk with drawers.

  A thermos and a few chairs. That's basically all the stuff in this small room that looks like it's no more than ten square meters. It's so simple that it's even a bit heartbreaking.

  But that's just the way it is nowadays. And these conditions, at this time, are already considered not bad. Liang Sanping still remembers when he and his wife first returned to their hometown after getting married.

  At that time, even the reception hall was too expensive to stay in, and it was cheaper to be more affordable. Nothing else, poor!

  Li Sanping couldn't help but think a lot, Liu Lao and others put down their luggage and washed their faces. Then they sat for a while before calling Li Sanping to go ahead and rush to the People's Restaurant in Qiongzhoukou.

  The belt is to be tightened, but in order to get this imported humidifier. The courtyard also gritted its teeth and bled a lot. It's all about solving this problem as soon as possible.

  The solution of this topic represents that the country will save at least hundreds of millions of foreign exchange every year, which makes these old researchers happier than giving them any awards.

  "Liu Lao, I have roughly organized some information about the hot fog machine before. Currently, the hot fog machines on the international market can be roughly divided into several countries: Germany, the United States, Japan, and South Korea."

  On his way to the restaurant, Xia Zhendong began his report: "The German-made humidifier has excellent performance and a low failure rate. However, the price is relatively high..."

  "Those from Japan and South Korea are all imitations of American fog machines. Although they are cheaper, the failure rate is relatively high. However, their usable temperature and spray height can meet our requirements..."

  "American-made humidifiers are relatively cheaper than German ones, and their performance is better than those from Japan and South Korea. The failure rate is also lower compared to Japanese and South Korean ones..."

  Xia Zhendong didn't even need to look at his notebook, and with just a few words, he pointed out the advantages of several hot fog machines.

  "But in terms of price, it's a huge problem. Whether it's American-made or German-made, their prices have already exceeded the budget approved by the General Administration."

  "Even at the prices offered by the US side, we can at most only afford to buy three or five trial machines. Even if the trials are successful, we have no way of promoting them throughout the entire agricultural reclamation system..."

  Liu Lao's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this. The country's foreign exchange reserves were already limited, but the places to spend money were as numerous as cow hairs, and it was simply a case of not being able to make ends meet.

  They had to argue for half a day with several big shots in the ministry, their faces red with anger, before they finally agreed to allocate funds to buy humidifiers for the two hospitals. If it's this difficult to get funding for the two hospitals, you can imagine how hard it is for the farms below them.

  Forget about getting this money back.

  "No matter what, we must first retrieve some of the heat fog machines. At least we can continue with the experiment. So far, all our arguments are based on calculations and data, but specific confirmation requires large-scale experimental results."

  Liu Lao said resolutely: "If we can't take down too many, at least taking down three to five of them is also good..."

  This was a big loss in Liu's eyes. But Liang Sanping smiled bitterly in his heart, and later he heard Xia Zhendong mention this matter.

  The American customer almost stormed off on the spot when he found out that they were only buying three to five units. At the time, a single humidifier cost more than $400.

  The total amount of funds allocated by the General Administration is only $1,200. This is already the largest amount that the Ministry can secure for both houses, considering other more important projects also require purchasing equipment and industrial products from outside sources.

  But $1,200 is a problem even if I buy three! This price does not include shipping costs. If you add the shipping cost, then this $1,200 is simply not enough...

  Li Sanping didn't know how to respond at this moment. But in his mind, he had already started thinking of a countermeasure...