Chapter 69

Changyou Oil Factory is an established factory in City C, solving the cooking oil needs for an entire province.

In the past, the local people could rely on pork to extract oil for their daily meals, and the pressure on Changyou Oil Factory was not significant.

However, as the number of pigs has steadily decreased, the public can no longer rely on pork to obtain oil and must depend on the supply from the oil factory. The pressure on the oil factory has suddenly increased.

This year’s drought has caused a significant reduction in the yield of oil crops, and the oil factory is constantly failing to meet its production targets.

Factory Director Lu saw a news article in the newspaper about foreign oil press machines with a higher oil yield. He visited several oil factories abroad and decided to purchase foreign oil presses. Changyou Oil Factory mainly uses peanuts for oil extraction. The machines currently in use are old water pressure oil presses from the Republic of China era, which have very low efficiency, with a peanut oil yield of only 30-35%.

Foreign Anderson oil presses can achieve a peanut oil yield of 33-38%, meaning that for every ton of peanuts, an additional 60 pounds of oil can be extracted. The factory extracts 30 tons of peanut oil daily, so with the new machines, they could extract an additional 1,800 pounds of oil each month, totaling 108 tons more oil in a year.

This is truly exciting!

Large stainless steel oil presses roared to life in the factory as workers fed processed peanuts into the production line. However, amidst the cheer, the massive oil press suddenly started emitting black smoke.

“Ah, what’s going on?”

“Why isn’t it working?”

Such an expensive machine, and it stopped working so quickly? The workers were stunned into silence, and soon, voices of doubt filled the factory. A few engineers and technicians were sweating as they tried to find the malfunction.

—

No. 1 High School.

Su Ye was in her office grading assignments when He Meimei cheerfully handed Su Ye several students’ work to look at.

Without even looking at it, Su Ye asked with a smile, “What’s this?”

He Meimei said, “Their assignments! They actually did the work properly, and I have to say, I’m impressed. You must have a way with them. I’ve never seen them sit still to do their work for so many years!”

Su Ye smiled but remained silent. She opened the backend and checked—over the past few days, the supply of flour had accumulated to 100 kilograms, and there was an additional 30 kilograms of pork. She wasn’t sure how much of this was thanks to He Meimei.

Her gaze toward He Meimei became even more friendly.

Su Ye personally made a cup of tea for He Meimei, handing it to her with both hands and smiling, “You’ve worked hard, Teacher He. After the graduation exams, bring your husband along and come to my house for a meal!”

He Meimei happily agreed, “Sure, that sounds great! I won’t be polite, who in the compound doesn’t envy the delicious food at Teacher Su’s place?”

The last time Su Ye moved into her new house, she made a meal for them. He Meimei still couldn’t forget the fragrant braised pork and the tender, slow-cooked pig’s trotters. She even took some leftovers home to her family, and none of them could stop thinking about Su Ye’s braised pork.

Lu Siyuan’s grades in the science subjects were excellent, so he didn’t need extra tutoring. Su Ye felt reassured and handed him over to He Meimei.

On Monday, after finishing her tasks, Su Ye went on her usual rounds to monitor classes at the high school section.

She quickly scanned the room and noticed that Lu Siyuan’s seat was empty. The smile on her face immediately vanished.

How could he skip class at such a critical time? Su Ye felt like finding him and giving him a piece of her mind.

She couldn’t help but think that Lu Siyuan must have been sent by fate to teach her patience.

She approached Yang Chenxing to ask about the situation. “Where is Lu Siyuan? Is he skipping class again?”

Yang Chenxing helplessly replied, “No, Su Teacher, Brother Lu has really improved, but recently something big happened at his home. He asked for two days off from the class teacher…”

Su Ye was surprised, but she also noticed that Yang Chenxing’s mood seemed off. The usually cheerful person had lost his smile and appeared strangely downcast.

She said to Yang Chenxing, “Alright, I understand.”

After school, Su Ye went to the Lu family’s house.

Before she even reached Lu Siyuan’s home, she saw several workers blocking the alley, angrily banging on the door.

“Factory Director Lu! What are we supposed to do? Come out and give us an explanation!”

“Stop knocking, he doesn’t care about our lives or deaths. The factory is going to shut down…”

An older worker tried to persuade them, “Everyone disperse. Factory Director Lu isn’t even in the city right now. Don’t make things difficult for his wife and children. Are you still human?”

Su Ye was shocked by the scene and immediately turned around to head to Yang Xue’s house, hoping to get more information from Mother Yang.

When Mother Yang saw Su Ye visiting, she inquired about the situation at Lu Siyuan’s home.

She set aside her work, frowning as she slapped her thigh and said, “Teacher Su, it’s not just the Lu family, our oil factory is in big trouble too! My husband, Old Yang, said that Factory Director Lu used the factory’s assets as collateral with the government and borrowed 180,000 yuan to buy the oil press machines. But who knew—who knew that as soon as those machines landed, they broke down!”

Mother Yang described how these foreign machines had been praised by Factory Director Lu for their high oil extraction rate, the ability to save on raw materials, and how they could increase the oil output every month, which would improve the factory’s efficiency.

Previously laid-off workers, due to poor factory performance, had returned to work at the oil factory. But no sooner had the machines started up, they began to emit smoke with loud clanking sounds.

“This isn’t Factory Director Lu’s fault. He had good intentions, he wanted to improve the factory’s efficiency and rehired those laid-off workers. Who would have known that he ended up buying a batch of defective machines? Factory Director promised he wouldn’t use the factory’s assets to repay the government. He’s been selling his house in Beijing to raise the money.”

Su Ye thought about it for a moment. Although she didn’t know much about the oil industry, she knew that a 40-50% oil yield from peanuts was entirely feasible.

Factory Director Lu’s idea wasn’t wrong, the oil factory was still using outdated methods and machines that were handed down from the Republic era. In this era of famine, the country had strongly advocated for food conservation. Replacing the old machines with better ones would conserve raw materials and improve machine efficiency, which would lead to higher oil extraction.

His trip to foreign factories to investigate was also a proactive move. Such foresight and capability made him a leader in the industry. The problem was… how did he end up buying machines that couldn’t even work?

Su Ye thought about the years of industrial lag in China. For a long time, domestic factories had been using machinery that had been discarded in Europe and the U.S. The machines that were still in good condition could last another ten years. But selling broken machines to developing countries—now that was infuriating.

As Mother Yang spoke, her face grew pale with fear. “Will our oil factory close because of this? So many factories are closing now…”

After hearing Mother Yang’s complaints, Su Ye finally felt a bit more at ease.

She shook her head and confidently said to Mother Yang, “Don’t worry, Changyou Oil Factory will never close, it’s an outstanding company.”

From what Su Ye knew, Changyou Oil Factory was an established and prestigious factory in the city. Before the famine, its workers all had houses to live in, meat to eat at every meal, and generous holiday bonuses that made workers in other factories envious.

Young women in C City were eager to marry the factory’s young men.

Other factories closed because of poor economic performance, constantly in debt to banks, and the accumulated debts eventually became a bad investment, forcing them to shut down. Changyou Oil Factory made hundreds of thousands in profit every year, and a few hundred thousand yuan worth of machinery was nothing more than a speck of dust to them.

Even for the sake of the economy, the leaders of C City would do everything they could to keep it afloat.

Changyou Oil Factory might be fine, but Factory Director Lu’s predicament was real, and Su Ye couldn’t help but wonder how Lu Siyuan was getting by these days…

After Su Ye gathered information from Mother Yang, she went to the Lu family home. She knocked on the door for a while, and soon Mother Lu appeared with red eyes and opened the door.

At this moment, Lu Siyuan was sitting by the window, staring vacantly at a certain spot. It was where the workers had caused a ruckus earlier, and though the area was now deserted, he continued to stare at it.

When Lu Siyuan saw Su Ye, his eyes finally regained some focus. “Sorry, Teacher Su. You must have seen those workers just now.”

He poured Su Ye a cup of tea and bitterly smiled, saying, “Don’t worry, my dad is fine for now.”

Su Ye noticed that in just a few days, the rebellious, proud student who used to be like a cactus with thorns had become dull, dejected, and worn out, lacking his usual energy.

However, Su Ye noticed something surprising: he actually poured her tea and even apologized. He wasn’t acting like before, looking down on others and disrespecting their hard work.

Lu Siyuan told Su Ye, “Teacher Su, everything’s fine. I’ll be back at school in a few days. I’ll see you out.”

When he saw Su Ye at the door, they had barely stepped outside when a pile of rotten vegetable leaves was thrown on them. The foul smell of decaying leaves filled the air.

The workers who had left earlier had returned, furious. They shouted, “Where is Factory Director Lu? Is the factory closing down?”

“We need to ask him if we’ll still have food to eat!”

Mother Lu stormed out and angrily shouted at the workers, “What’s this nonsense? What does the factory’s issue have to do with Lu Siyuan? He’s just a kid!”

She quickly removed the vegetable leaves from her son.

After Lu Siyuan cleaned the leaves off his clothes, he said to his mother, “It’s not their fault.”

The Lu family’s home was the same as the oil factory workers’ dormitory, and it was easy to see their living conditions. In the past, when everyone had jobs, they wore happy smiles. But in recent days, they have been leaving early and returning late every day.

The factory’s poor performance had led to many workers being laid off. The men went everywhere looking for hard labor, while the women and elderly stayed home washing clothes. They earned a meager amount of money, which was then spent on spoiled sweet potato chips. The family in the dormitory constantly argued morning and night.

If the issue with the new machines wasn’t resolved, there would be even more layoffs. In a way, it was true that Factory Director Lu had indirectly caused this situation. What was truly terrifying wasn’t eating rough grain every day, but not being able to find a job, and not even having rough grain to eat.

Jobs in the city were already scarce, and with underdeveloped industries, the factory positions were limited. If the factory closed, it would be a serious issue for the workers, as there were few other options. Over the past few years, the government had started encouraging educated youth to go to the countryside, likely because of the shortage of urban jobs.

Su Ye couldn’t help but sigh. A grain of sand from the times, when it falls on each person, becomes a heavy mountain.

Lu Siyuan remained silent for a long time, then suddenly asked Su Ye, “Teacher Su, what is the ‘most meaningful thing’ you talked about?”

Su Ye sensed that at this moment, Lu Siyuan’s inner world was likely on the brink of collapse, about to fall apart.

For someone like him, a seedling with great potential, it could actually be a good thing to go through some storms. Enduring the harsh winds and rain would make him more mature and resilient, and one day, he would grow into a towering tree.

But when he was on the verge of breaking down, she needed to feed him some motivational words.

Su Ye couldn’t see the barrage of comments in the live chat, but that didn’t stop it from exploding into snowflakes: “It’s here, it’s here, it’s double the trouble. The pretentiousness, though late, has finally arrived.”

This familiar taste of motivational speech…

“I love watching Teacher Su act all pretentious.”

Su Ye cleared her throat, her eyes shining as she spoke seriously, “The most meaningful thing… is something that, after you’ve done it, when you grow old, you won’t feel ashamed of your mediocrity, and you won’t regret the time you wasted. You need to find it yourself, understand?”

It sounded so beautiful, and the speaker’s eyes were filled with light because of those words.

Lu Siyuan, caught off guard, turned his head quickly and wiped his eyes.

In just a few days, Lu Siyuan’s life had undergone tremendous changes. He had been through a lot. What he most wanted to do now was to help his father fix those machines, but when the disaster came, he felt so powerless and weak. He could only watch his father work tirelessly for the factory’s sake, unable to offer any help.

Su Ye patted Lu Siyuan on the shoulder, smiling as she said, “There’s an old saying in China: ‘Heaven will not close off all roads for a person.’ Take me to see your factory’s machines. Maybe I can help.”

“Don’t worry. ^[1]“Sometimes, the wind and waves will subside, and we’ll sail the sea with the clouds” is a metaphor for overcoming difficult times and finding hope or relief after hardship. It … Continue readingSometimes, the wind and waves will subside, and we’ll sail the sea with the clouds.”

Lu Siyuan’s mood was still relatively stable, but Mother Lu had tears streaming down her face. He awkwardly turned his head and coughed.

“Teacher Su, you just said you’re going to see the machines?” A gleam of light appeared in Lu Siyuan’s eyes.

Su Ye nodded. “Yes, although I may not be able to help much, I know some very skilled mechanical experts. It might be useful. Let’s go. Take me to see them.”

One must admit, Su Ye’s words were like a spark, the only bright spot in these gray days. They gave Lu Siyuan a glimmer of hope.

He grasped onto it like a lifeline, willing to try any possible turn of events, hoping for a breakthrough.

“Alright, the machines are currently stored in the warehouse. I’ll tell my dad, and then take Teacher Su to see them.”

Lu Siyuan called his father, but Director Lu disagreed on the phone.

Director Lu was grateful to Su Ye. He and his wife had invited her to dinner before, as she had managed to teach their son well. However, that didn’t mean she could solve these mechanical problems. For the past few days, Director Lu had been busy searching for mechanical experts, running around without rest, and was exhausted.

On the phone, Director Lu said tiredly, “Teacher Su, it’s not necessary. I’ve already asked a friend to help me find connections and contact experts in this field. Thank you for your kind offer.”

Su Ye cleared her throat and took the phone, speaking calmly, “Director Lu, I know an expert in mechanical engineering. Her name is Zhou Honghan. She used to teach mechanical dynamics at B University. The precision machinery used in the steel plant was developed with her involvement. What do you think?”

There was suddenly silence on the other end of the phone. After a moment, Director Lu’s excited voice came through, “Thank you, Teacher Su! I’m so grateful to you! I’ll go back soon, and I’ll call Engineer Zheng to give the keys to Siyuan. Please ask Professor Zhou to go to the warehouse and take a look at those oil presses.”

The speed at which a father’s attitude changed was comparable to flipping a book. Even Lu Siyuan couldn’t help but glance back at Teacher Su’s expression.

She had a calm expression, with no noticeable change.