Chapter 50

The factory originally had agricultural machinery testing workers, but they couldn’t detect issues while driving the machines like Wu Xiaoxiao could. She could pinpoint problems on the go, step down, and discuss them with Professor Lu, explaining everything clearly in just a few words.

Given more training time, they might improve, but wasn’t time already tight, and tasks already heavy?

—-

In the end, Wu Xiaoxiao, who had been transferred in, took on the lead role. Naturally, some people were displeased, but they were quickly shut down by the drafting room’s technicians. In the technical field, seniority didn’t matter.

Under normal circumstances, discussing experience and years of service was fine. But in times like these, when everyone was under immense pressure to get these two agricultural machines off the production line as soon as possible, making snide remarks about Wu Xiaoxiao stealing credit was either foolish or malicious—sabotaging internal unity and the collective work effort.

Technicians might not be the most eloquent people in daily conversations, but when it came to protecting their own, their combativeness was unmatched. They had been in the factory for a long time, and they swiftly silenced any dissenting voices.

Wu Xiaoxiao hadn’t even realized it yet, but she was already being protected by everyone.

Of course, she reciprocated this protection with her actual capabilities. The agricultural machinery was now in its final debugging stage, with only a few tasks remaining. Most of their energy was now focused on compiling detailed instruction manuals.

The two new models had high assembly precision requirements, which meant higher demands on the workers’ operations. Furthermore, since most parts were fully imported, a minor operational mistake could result in costly damage that wasn’t easy to compensate for.

Therefore, the manual needed to be extremely clear—not just understandable to the technicians. Most assembly line workers could only recognize a limited number of characters, and their work relied more on years of hands-on experience than on reading instructions.

While compiling the manuals, Wu Xiaoxiao and the team also started training the workers on the assembly process.

At this point, Wu Xiaoxiao realized that the earlier promise—that outstanding performers could be recruited into the factory—was just empty talk. If that were truly the case, then among the transferred workers, who generally had higher education levels and absorbed new knowledge faster, at least a few should have been selected for training.

However, all the trainees here were long-time factory workers.

Of course, they still taught with dedication, but Wu Xiaoxiao couldn’t help feeling a sense of disappointment.

For most people, moving from the countryside to the city was like crossing an unbridgeable chasm. That was why, no matter how many concerns Wu Xiaoxiao raised, Wang Qifang couldn’t let go of her hopes and kept seeking out that family.

Just those two words—staying in the city—were powerful enough.

But no matter how reluctant everyone felt, their departure date was approaching.

After staying in the city for a full two months, by the end of July, their return date was finally confirmed.

When the news came, some were happy, while others were reluctant.

“These two months have been so comfortable… Ah, when will we really get to return to the city?” Tian Zhuang muttered dispiritedly in the dormitory.

The notice had been issued the day before, giving everyone one last day to pack up, shop in town, and prepare for departure the next day.

For the rural workers, their time at the factory had opened the door to a whole new world. They had experienced firsthand the differences of city life, especially the special status of factory workers.

For educated youths like Tian Zhuang, however, these two months had been a nostalgic taste of their past lives. Back when they lived like this every day, they hadn’t thought much of it. But after spending years in the countryside, returning now felt entirely different.

Even Tian Zhuang, who had previously thought those who schemed to return to the city—by any means, even feigning serious illness—were crazy, now understood them a little better. If he weren’t still so young, he might also be looking for a way to stay.

“If only we could stay a few more days,” he muttered to himself.

As if in response to his thoughts, heavy rain began to pour that afternoon.

Summer rain was nothing unusual. But since it was so heavy, the factory decided to delay their departure by a day, fearing that the rural dirt roads would become too muddy and impassable.

Unexpectedly, the rain continued throughout the night—not only failing to subside but intensifying.

It was as if the sky was making up for all the rain it hadn’t poured in the past month, dumping it down in torrents.

—-

After two consecutive days of rain, the situation remained unchanged. Anyone who stepped outside, even in a raincoat, would be drenched halfway through.

By the third day, the initial excitement of staying in the city longer had faded.

“This rain… I wonder what’s happening to the fields back home,” someone murmured as they watched the downpour.

“This is supposed to be double cropping season—harvesting early rice and planting late rice. With this rain, the early rice might not have been fully harvested yet.”

“Sigh, I hope the village managed to gather the early rice in time. Late rice can still be planted a few days late without too much impact.”

“But if this keeps up, the past few months of hard work might be for nothing.”

Everyone understood the importance of agricultural timing. Normally, they would be busy in the fields right now, had they not been assigned to this emergency factory task. The factory had planned for their return around this period precisely because of the upcoming farm work.

But with the rain falling non-stop, all they could do was worry. They had no way of rushing back to help.

What they hadn’t realized yet was that an even bigger crisis was looming.

After two days of continuous rainfall, much of the factory’s grounds were already flooded.

Beishan County was a crucial transportation hub connecting the north and south, not only by road but also by water, as it sat beside the Grand Canal. This made it a key waterway junction.

But it also meant that Beixian County was right next to the Grand Canal. And now, after two days of relentless rain, the canal’s water level had risen to a dangerously high point.

The flooding inside the factory indicated that urban drainage systems were already failing. The water level in the Grand Canal was now on par with the streets inside the county, making it impossible to drain any more water into the river.

More critically, if the upstream areas were also experiencing continuous heavy rainfall, the accumulating rainwater would soon form a flood peak, putting even more pressure on the Grand Canal’s embankments.

Could the Grand Canal hold?

Could Beixian County withstand the flood?