Chapter 80: Chapter Seventy-Nine: Gantry Crane

During the break.

Dong Junwei briefly told Chen Mu about the matter of organizing the shelves.

Chen Mu wiped his sweat while thanking He Ying for the water cup she handed over, then looked up at the towering shelves.

"In other words, we need to clear the floor; we're currently missing a pathway to get onto the shelves."

"Yes, and the pathway needs to be wider and sturdier to facilitate moving those large utensils."

"That's not a problem, but if we also want it in the style of a staircase, it might take some time."

"Of course, sealing the door gaps is still the priority, and we can start by dismantling the cardboard boxes; these will also take a long time to finish."

In fact.

Everyone hopes to have something to do each day, at least not just Chen Mu working while others stand by shouting '666'.

Although everyone is supposed to have their own duties, in reality many people don't have much to do; even Du Jia Jia is only responsible for three meals a day, leaving the rest of her time idle.

And after Dong Junwei expends most of her mental energy each day, she also falls into a state of having nothing to do,

As the leader, this is obviously not a good thing.

That's why she cares so much about this work.

Organizing the room.

Although it seems unnecessary now, it is a task beneficial in the long run; if the Qiming Organization still wants to develop and grow, it will eventually have to be done.

Chen Mu suddenly had a flash of inspiration and asked, "Have you guys ever thought about building a crane?"

"Huh?" Dong Junwei blinked: "On the shelves?"

"Yes, it would definitely be impossible if it were too high, but if it's just the first level, using some pulley sets we might be able to make a simple lifting facility; that should save a lot of labor, rather than relying purely on manual handling—when would that be?"

Dong Junwei's original idea was the same as what Tang Jing said: using the determination of ants moving house, to gradually move things onto the shelves bit by bit.

Aside from Wei Dalei, the others may lack strength individually, but together as a group they also have considerable energy.

After testing.

Two people can lift a plastic chopstick without much effort.

Stainless steel utensils are heavier, but two people pushing and pulling them from front to back on the ground can barely manage it.

Anyway, we have plenty of time; we'll do what we can.

But after Chen Mu's reminder, we suddenly realized this problem.

Everyone instinctively looked toward Tang Jing.

Tang Jing asked, "Is the pulley difficult for you?"

"There will definitely be some difficulty, but after finishing the threads last time, I feel I can slowly start trying these things that require a certain precision."

"If that's the case, it's worth considering; let me think and make a plan first."

"I'm actually worried about the rope," Chen Mu asked.

"We can pull cotton threads from towels and twist them into thicker rope; since it's just for small utensils, it shouldn't be a big problem."

"We need to consider the load-bearing points."

"Hmm, we can use the shelf's own structure to make a gantry crane." Tang Jing nodded.

"I can try to make a track and see if we can create a trolley."

"That would be a bit difficult; making a directional wheel is hard."

"We can give it a try, but I'm worried about the load-bearing issue."

"Actually, the load-bearing is not the problem..."

"For specific operation, we can refer to the container terminal of Shangshi Ocean Island Deep Water Port."

"..."

Because of his experience, Chen Mu still knows a bit about engineering matters; those lifting devices, he definitely couldn't operate them, but he understands the general principle, and with Tang Jing, who knows almost everything, he thought they could give it a try.

The two chatted about various details as if no one else was there, while the people nearby felt embarrassed—neither wanting to leave nor able to understand much.

Finally, after Chen Mu's explanation, everyone somewhat understood.

It's basically just making a hoist.

However, this crane, despite being simplified over and over, still has many problems to solve, such as installing the pulleys, and how to operate it after it's built…

Of course.

These aren't urgent; they still have many things to do in the future, so they need to take it step by step.

After the break.

Chen Mu once again rushed back to the entrance nonstop, continuing his staircase construction.

The fresh air after the rain blew in through the door crack, inhaled into the nose, as if cleansing the lungs.

"Meow..."

"Click-click-click..."

That little kitten came again.

However, Chen Mu couldn't even be bothered to lift his eyelids at this moment.

The rest of the people were also busy with their own affairs, no longer as tense as at the beginning.

After a long time, everyone also grew accustomed to the kitten coming over each day to play for a while; if a day passed without hearing any movement, they'd actually start to miss it.

After all, the cat can't get in.

Besides, what bad intentions could a little kitten have? It just wants to play with you, or maybe accidentally eat you.

"..."

The lookout tower's progress went smoothly, but it took two days longer than originally planned; of course, the overall project completion rate is still high.

The staircase isn't particularly innovative; Chen Mu simply built a row of railings to prevent falls, after all, everyone will use this staircase later, and not everyone has Chen Mu's or He Ying's abilities.

But aside from the stairs, the room in the lookout tower did take some of his thought.

First, the transparent plastic window used to look outdoors was a problem.

The plastic used for disposable utensils is mostly polyethylene, and after processing, adding pigment reduces its transparency.

Chen Mu could only change shape, couldn't affect object density at all, and was powerless on the chemical level.

At first, he could only find plastics with relatively little pigment and high transparency, then roll them very thin.

But if too thin, they break easily; after several failures, Chen Mu finally gave up.

There was really nothing he could do.

He turned his gaze to the glass window.

If he could get a small piece of glass, it should solve all the problems.

He thought of it and did it.

But the windowsill was 1.2 meters above the ground, and the wall had only a simple coat of paint, making it nowhere near as easy to modify as wood or metal; after a few casual attempts, Chen Mu ended up covered in white dust that puffed down, leaving him dirty and grimy.

This plan also had to be temporarily shelved.

But after two bouts of bad luck, fortune finally smiled on him once.

Dong Junwei and the others, while sorting cardboard boxes, discovered a stack of glass cups.

This was undoubtedly a timely help.

Once the material problem was solved, the rest was simple.

Chen Mu eventually made a 1-centimeter-square, 2-millimeter-thick glass pane and embedded it in the outer wall of the lookout tower.

This allowed him to take in the view outside the door at a glance.

The storage room is located in the northern part of the campus; its door opens onto a concrete path, with grass on either side, and the farthest point of the view is the teaching building.

From this position, one can see the teaching building as it is now, exuding a lifeless, gloomy air; in just over a month, it has become so desolate it could serve as a horror movie set.