The midsummer of the grasslands was truly a time when vegetation flourished abundantly and clouds stretched for thousands of miles.
But at the same time, there were swarms of mosquitoes like clouds—truly enough to bite someone to death—along with ultraviolet rays that would make your head dizzy under the scorching sun.
Workers began to suffer from heatstroke one after another, and the construction schedule started dragging on again. Zhao Yu was so anxious he got inflamed, developing large blisters all over his mouth.
I personally went to supervise the canteen, having them make the food more appetizing. They were making sour rice porridge, stewed sauerkraut, and plain mutton strips, and I had them add cold jelly noodles, sesame paste cold noodles, and spicy cabbage as well.
Watermelons and popsicles were sent to the construction site by the truckload.
Whatever stimulated appetite, we ate it; whatever cooled you down, we ate it. I was terrified the workers wouldn’t eat well, get dizzy-headed, and fall from the scaffolding. If there was a safety accident, we’d have to shut down.
But the construction schedule was still delayed.
The outsourced construction teams were mediocre to begin with, and on top of that, they constantly had the mindset of cutting corners. The things they produced failed inspection several times. Over time, the client’s supervisor’s face became as long as a donkey’s.
The schedule kept getting pushed back again and again.
Zhao Yu, who was already inflamed, became even more irritable. He took a megaphone and circled the construction site cursing people, directly saying, “If any bastard slacks off on me again, get the hell out!”
The atmosphere at the construction site fell into a tense焦灼 state for a while, with everyone running even when going to the bathroom.
I was no exception. Zhao Yu and I held several meetings, and in the end could only use the previous method—a zoned responsibility system. We selected a person in charge for each area, with someone specifically responsible for tallying how much work each person did daily, reporting layer by layer.
This eliminated slacking and laziness, but it also doubled our workload.
I was so busy my eyes went dark.
The only one at ease on the entire construction site was Ha Rina.
She and Qinglong had changed their dating location to our construction site. After Qinglong came to unload goods, she would come over, and the two kids would dangle their feet eating free watermelon.
In the midst of my busyness, I still had to throw a ball of paper at Qinglong’s head when he slipped his hand into Ha Rina’s clothes.
“I’m telling you! Before Ha Rina comes of age, if you dare mess around, I’ll castrate you!”
“Sis—”
Qinglong cried injustice, while Ha Rina laughed beside him.
Whenever this happened, my heart would miss Cheng Xia a little.
His treatment was going smoothly. The psychologist said he was very willing to open himself up, and his somatization symptoms were gradually decreasing.
Correspondingly, our contact also decreased.
During dinner yesterday, I called him and said, “The construction site is too busy this month, I probably can’t come back.”
“It’s fine, I’ll go check on Grandma for you.”
I was startled and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Playing basketball!” His voice was somewhat breathless, and someone nearby was calling his name. He said, “Coming!”
Then he said to me, “I’ll call you when I get home!”
Looking out from the canteen window, there was an endless grassland, above it layers of golden clouds rendered in gradations.
I gazed for a long time, swallowing down a moment of panic along with the lamb dumplings.
——
That night, I didn’t answer Cheng Xia’s call.
Because we had started working through the night.
Workers worked twelve-hour shifts, and supervisors rotated twenty-four hours. This wasn’t actually uncommon at construction sites, but we didn’t have enough workers, and with this kind of weather, I actually didn’t quite agree.
But Zhao Yu was very insistent: “The weather here is changeable, there’s going to be a heavy rainstorm in a couple days. If we don’t take advantage of the night to push more progress, what’s the point of this project! It’s like catching an egg in a door crack—totally screwed.”
I still wanted to say that the strings at a construction site couldn’t be pulled too tight; if too tight, everything would collapse at the slightest thing.
But then I thought again—how many projects had Zhao Yu done, and how many had I done? What qualifications did I have to direct him?
So I didn’t say anything more.
After high-intensity supervision and working through the night, the project progress visibly caught up.
Zhao Yu followed along the entire time, able to endure more than anyone, his two eyes like two bright gleaming red lanterns.
I couldn’t endure like he could. I always remembered what Cheng Xia told me—the more anxious and impatient you are, the more you need to live well.
Every day I found time to sleep five or six hours to keep my mind clear.
That night, I also slept amidst the noise of construction.
Perhaps because I was too tired, when I woke up, I discovered over ten missed calls on my phone.
My heart sank heavily.
Just then, the phone rang again. It was Bao Long.
“What happened?” I asked while getting dressed.
“Boss.” The background was noisy, but his voice was strangely calm: “If… I’m gone, please help take care of my daughter.”
——
At 4:50 in the morning, I arrived at the accident scene.