Chapter 2170

That night, Zhou Andong slept very soundly. The new room, new bed, and new quilt—especially the quilt—were very soft, and it felt quite comfortable to hold in his arms. Moreover, the quilt had clearly been washed, and it still retained a very pleasant, faint scent of laundry detergent.

Sunlight drilled into the room through the gaps in the curtains. Zhou Andong stretched comfortably, and a crisp cracking sound came from his joints. Afterward, he slowly opened his eyes.

At this moment, his brain was still somewhat sluggish. Seeing the unfamiliar environment, he didn't react for a moment. Staring with wide, bewildered eyes, his gaze fixed straight at the ceiling, and his whole person fell into a dazed state.

After a while, when his brain was working normally again, he realized that this was his new home.

Zhou Andong turned over and sat up from the bed, rubbing his cheeks vigorously with both hands, while muttering incessantly, "Damn it, I'm only twenty-seven years old; why does it feel like my brain isn't working so well? Could it be that I'm going to develop Alzheimer's at such a young age?"

"Should I record the people and things around me, especially my wife and children? In case I accidentally forget them one day, I could look them up and maybe recall them."

This guy acted as if he had mental problems. He muttered to himself as he got off the bed, then came to the window, stretched out both hands, grabbed the heavy curtains tightly, and pulled them hard to both sides.

With a "whoosh," the curtains, like a tamed beast, slid rapidly to the sides. In an instant, the bright and dazzling sunlight from outside the window poured in, illuminating the entire room.

The intense light fell on Zhou Andong's face, stimulating him to squint his eyes involuntarily, leaving only a vast expanse of white light before him.

After gradually adapting to the sudden strong light, he slowly opened his eyes, bit by bit. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, he gazed into the distance.

In the distance, the rolling Nanshan Mountains resembled a winding, coiling dragon, spanning between heaven and earth. Especially after being washed by several days of heavy rain, the lush green trees on the mountain looked even more fresh and dripping with moisture.

Zhou Andong reached out and opened the window. The sound of cicadas immediately rushed into his eardrums. At the same time, a heatwave mixed with the scent of green grass rushed toward his face. This scent seemed to have a magical power, making Zhou Andong's mood particularly refreshed.

Zhou Andong looked at his watch; it was only past ten, and the temperature outside was already this high. It seems that after the rainy days, the sun is going to show its power.

He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window for a while, then returned to the bedside and sat down, picked up a cigarette and lit one, then grabbed the phone on the nightstand and dialed Zhang Chaoming's office.

"Chaoming, this is Zhou Andong. Prepare yourself; tonight, Deputy Secretary Cheng from the Provincial Party Committee is coming to the farm for dinner."

Zhang Chaoming hurriedly asked, "How many people, and what are we eating?"

"I'm not sure how many people. People from the province and the city, I reckon there will be at least twenty or so." Zhou Andong leaned against the headboard and took a puff of his cigarette: "Roast two sheep, slaughter a few geese, and stew some beef or something. You figure it out."

Zhang Chaoming asked, "What time will they arrive tonight?"

"That's hard to say." Zhou Andong pondered for a moment: "Secretary Cheng has to go to the disaster area to offer condolences first, and also preside over the post-disaster reconstruction meeting. I reckon it won't be early; it'll be seven or eight o'clock by the time they get to Tanghezi."

"Alright, I understand." Zhang Chaoming said: "I'll make the arrangements here, and we'll serve dinner as soon as Secretary Cheng arrives."

"Can do!"

Zhou Andong hung up the phone and then went to the bathroom, where all the toiletries were available. He could imagine that the person who could arrange things so meticulously must be Cao Yi.

After washing up, Zhou Andong went out the door, then came to the door of the old man's house upstairs, and raised his hand to knock on the door.

"Coming!"

The old lady's voice came from inside. Soon, the door opened. Seeing Zhou Andong, the old lady said happily.

"My eldest grandson is here, come in quickly."

Zhou Andong entered the room. The TV was on, but the old man was not there: "Where is my grandfather?"

The old lady said with a smile: "A while ago, an old man gave your grandfather a pair of parrots, and then your grandfather bought a birdcage. Every morning, he goes out to walk the birds with a group of old men."

As she spoke, the old lady looked up at the quartz clock on the wall: "He comes back around nine o'clock every day. Who knows why he hasn't come back yet today."

As soon as the old lady's voice fell, the sound of a key opening the door rang out from outside. Immediately after, the old man walked in carrying a birdcage. Seeing Zhou Andong, he smiled.

"My eldest grandson is here. Have you eaten?"

Zhou Andong had arrived, and the old man was also very happy. He hung the birdcage on the clothes drying rack on the balcony.

"I just got up, haven't eaten yet." Zhou Andong sat on the sofa and picked up the remote control, boredly changing channels.

"Old woman!" The old man said: "Hurry up and cook. I want to have a good drink with my eldest grandson."

"Don't bother!" Zhou Andong waved his hand: "I have a lot of things to do today, I'll be leaving in a while."

The old lady said with dissatisfaction: "No matter how busy you are, you still have to eat."

"I'll go out and find a place to have a simple bite."

Zhou Andong didn't find a good program, so he threw the remote control onto the coffee table.

"Tonight, I'm inviting provincial leaders to the farm for dinner. You two should come back with me to take a look."

The old man and the old lady were stunned. Although that broken home in Tanghezi had nothing left, they had lived there for most of their lives; how could they not miss it?

A few times, the old couple thought about going back to take a look, but they were afraid that after going back, their eldest son and eldest daughter-in-law would make trouble and bring trouble to their eldest grandson, so they dismissed the idea of going back.

The old lady opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped by the old man: "Forget it, the land has been handed over to the farm, what's there to see in the few broken houses left? Besides, you are inviting big leaders from the province to dinner, your grandmother and I won't add to the chaos."

How could Zhou Andong not know what the old man was thinking: "If you want to go back, just go back. Don't worry about my uncle and aunt. They can't even handle their second son; what trouble can they bring me?"

The old man shook his head: "Everyone living here is your employee. If your uncle and aunt find out that your grandmother and I live here, and they come over, they will definitely cry and howl and make a scene, making people laugh at us."

"It's fine!" Zhou Andong said with a smile: "They can't get into the residential area. If you are worried, I'll give their photos to the property management and keep a strict watch on them."

The old man also smiled: "If they can't get into the residential area, isn't it the same if they make a scene at the main gate?"

"Simple!" Zhou Andong said: "We'll learn from Zhou Erlei. If they dare to make a scene, we'll call the police and let them eat steamed buns in the detention center for a few days. They'll be well-behaved after coming twice."

The old man looked at his eldest grandson and then at the expectant look in his old companion's eyes, and finally nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, your grandmother and I really do miss home. Since you've said so, let's go back and take a look."

"I'll have someone pick you up tonight."

Zhou Andong stood up and walked out. The old lady sent her eldest grandson to the door, not forgetting to urge him.

"Don't forget to eat."

"I know!" Zhou Andong waved his hand and entered the elevator.

Wang Wentian and the others arrived at seven in the morning. At this time, they were smoking and chatting with two security guards at the main gate. Seeing Zhou Andong come out, they all threw their cigarettes on the ground and stepped on them.

Zhou Andong looked up at the sky garden. Through the glass windows, he could see the vegetation that had already been planted inside, and many people coming and going to work.

Zhou Andong walked toward the five-star hotel in Building 2. It was a true five-star hotel; both the hardware and software were renovated according to five-star standards.

Wang Wentian and the others hurriedly followed. Zhou Andong entered Building 2. At this time, the entire hotel was undergoing intensive renovation, and it would be put into use when he got married.

The hard renovation of the first-floor lobby had been completed. Gorgeous chandeliers hung from the high ceiling, and under the brilliant lights, the entire lobby looked exceptionally gorgeous.

The floor was paved with marble, smooth and bright, as if it were a mirror. There was also a flower bed in the center of the lobby, which looked unique.

Next to the flower bed, there was a large cardboard box, protected by a wooden frame on the outside. Zhou Andong walked over and was about to reach out to see what it was when he heard a loud shout from not far away.

"Don't touch it! Can you afford to pay if you break it?"

Two security guards ran over quickly. Before they even got close, they suddenly saw Zhou Andong, who had turned around. The two of them immediately stopped in their tracks, and their faces slowly turned pale.

"Ch—Chairman!"

The two of them stood there very uneasily, like children who had done something wrong.

"Am I that scary?" Zhou Andong laughed: "Come here!"

The two of them walked over obediently. Zhou Andong kicked the wooden frame with his foot: "What's inside here?"

"It's a piano!" one security guard immediately replied: "It was just delivered this morning. There's another one in the banquet hall on the third floor."

Zhou Andong nodded and took another look at the lobby. Although the soft decoration had not yet been arranged and it looked empty, it still gave people a sense of golden and magnificent nobility.

"Alright, you two don't stand here. Go do what you need to do. I'm going to the third floor to take a look."

Zhou Andong walked toward the elevator, but it didn't come down. He turned and took the stairs up, arriving at the third-floor banquet hall, which was undergoing renovation.

Because he was holding a Chinese-style wedding, the renovation of the banquet hall was also mainly in a Chinese style. At this time, the renovation was more than half finished, and it looked very heavy and atmospheric.

"Big brother!" Cao Yi suddenly appeared from behind the stage: "When did you arrive?"

The renovation of the entire hotel was handed over to the 365 Furniture Renovation Company, and the design was also completed by the company's design team led by Cao Yi.

"I just arrived!" Zhou Andong looked at the banquet hall: "How is it? Can you finish the work by mid-September?"

"No problem!" Cao Yi had dust on his hands. He walked to a bucket, bent down to wash his hands: "There are people working on every floor, and it's 24 hours, working in two shifts. We can finish by the end of August."

Zhou Andong asked: "What is the area of the banquet hall, and how many tables can it hold?"

Cao Yi said without hesitation: "The banquet hall is 3,200 square meters. If it were an ordinary wedding banquet hall, it could accommodate about 640 tables, which is five square meters per table."

"But this is a five-star hotel. The tables cannot be placed so densely, and the customized ones are all large tables with a diameter of 2.4 meters, including the chairs, which are all solid wood, relatively wide and large. Plus the space for the aisles and the stage, it can hold about 280 tables."

Zhou Andong nodded. 280 tables were completely enough: "You go ahead and get busy. I'm going to the sky garden to take a look."

Zhou Andong still didn't take the elevator, but took the stairs to the sky garden on the sixth floor. As soon as he entered, he saw several old men with gray hair gathered together, looking at the drawings in their hands.

Zhou Andong stood beside them, stretching his head to look at the drawings. There were dense lines drawn on them, which he didn't understand.

At this time, an old man suddenly discovered that there was an extra person beside him. He thought it was a worker and didn't pay attention at first, but the person beside him didn't leave. He looked up and felt that he looked very familiar.

"You—Zhou Andong?"

Zhou Andong nodded happily. He had already guessed the identities of these old men; they should be the experts in the field of temperature control found by An Congwen.

"Oh my!" a thin old man said with a smile: "We have been working here for more than half a year, and you, the boss, haven't shown your face once. You are really calm. Aren't you afraid that we will mess up the work?"

"Not afraid!" Zhou Andong flattered: "The people Uncle An found must be the top experts and scholars in the industry. If you all mess up the work, then there is no one in this world who can do this work."

Zhou Andong's words were not wrong at all. These old men had bigger backgrounds than each other.

They came from the Beijing University of Science and Technology, the School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Automation, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Constant Temperature Technology Experimental Center, the Beijing New Power System Research Center, the National Key Laboratory of Sensors, the Shanghai Electronic Temperature Control Technology Research Institute, and so on.

They could not be compared with those "brick experts" who were famous in name only and criticized by people in later generations. They were absolutely genuine, top-notch experts and scholars in the industry. Every person's name represented the most cutting-edge technology in that field.

And the reason why they could stay in Jiangzhou for more than half a year in person, besides the fact that Zhou Andong gave enough money, the more critical factor was the sky garden project.

The sky garden project in this era was unique in the world. It covered an area of more than 50,000 square meters, was 22 meters high, and planted more than 80 kinds of tropical and subtropical plants. It needed temperature control 24 hours a day, all year round.

Therefore, the fields they studied could just be applied here. It could be said that the sky garden had become their excellent experimental place.

"Chairman Zhou!" an old man said: "Come, take a look at the temperature control room!"

The temperature control room could be more than 500 square meters, with many machine cabinets of different sizes, and many thick and thin pipes.

An old man introduced to Zhou Andong: "This is a 100% domestic automatic temperature control system, which changes according to the four seasons and the morning, noon, and evening of the 24 hours a day."

"In the plant area, the average temperature is kept at 25°C. In winter, it is generally around 24°C during the day, and the temperature is always kept between 18-30°C, while it is kept around 21°C at night."

"In summer, the temperature is lower than the outdoor temperature, and the maximum temperature is controlled at around 30°C. In addition, a heating and cooling system is installed under the road."

"Heating in winter can ensure the air temperature quality near the road, reduce the non-uniformity of the temperature in the large space and the middle road, and make the plants nearby grow lushly."

"There is also an automatic humidity adjustment system, which is mainly completed through basic humidification, direct humidification, and landscape humidification. Basic humidification is humidified by the high-pressure spray humidification film installed in the air handling unit to humidify the hot air..."

It took a full half hour to finish the introduction. Zhou Andong listened very carefully and finally asked: "Can such a temperature control system be used in off-season vegetable greenhouses?"

The eyes of several old men lit up. A fat old man asked: "Do you want to engage in off-season vegetable greenhouses?"

Off-season vegetable greenhouses were also a key national project, but the investment was too high. Now only Shouguang was doing it, and the scale was not too large.

What they studied was very widely applied. Projects like the sky garden would probably not exist in the future, but off-season vegetable greenhouses could be widely applied.

"Our group has a farm. Last year, we built 500 acres of experimental greenhouses. Heating uses coal, and we have to keep an eye on it at any time."

"Because if the temperature is low, we have to add coal, and if the temperature is high, we have to open the doors on both sides to ventilate. Although coal is very cheap now, temperature control is also very troublesome."

"There is no problem with putting this automatic temperature control system in off-season vegetable greenhouses." An old man looked at Zhou Andong: "But you also know that this thing is very expensive to build, much more expensive than burning coal."

Zhou Andong smiled: "At the end of this year, the farm will complete the construction of 20,000 acres of off-season vegetable greenhouses, and complete 100,000 acres within three years."

Burning coal for temperature control had too many disadvantages and could not be compared with an automatic constant temperature system. For the same greenhouse, these two temperature control methods would definitely have a significant gap in vegetable growth and yield.

In addition, Zhou Andong knew very well that coal prices would rise in less than two years. Therefore, in the long run, adopting an automatic constant temperature system was definitely the best choice.

Moreover, no matter what kind of investment it was, as long as the scale came up, the price would naturally drop.

Several old men looked at each other. One old man said: "Where is the farm? Can you take us to see it?"

"Can do!" Zhou Andong nodded: "At six o'clock in the evening, I will have someone pick you up."

After chatting with several old men for a while, he learned their names.

By the time Zhou Andong returned to the group, it was already noon. People from the provincial TV station had already arrived, and the host was an acquaintance.

It turned out that the beautiful reporter from Jiangzhou TV station, Shang Hui, had later been transferred to the provincial station, and he had never seen her again.

"Chairman Zhou, long time no see."

Zhou Andong shook hands with Shang Hui and said with a smile: "You were promoted to the provincial station, and you left without giving me a chance to say congratulations."

Shang Hui just smiled and didn't speak. Zhou Andong continued: "You haven't eaten yet, right? Let's go, taste how the food in our canteen is."

After eating, Zhou Andong accepted a two-hour interview, and then Shang Hui took people to interview the members of the group's flood control and flood prevention leading group one by one.

It didn't end until five o'clock in the evening. Then they borrowed all the tapes of flood control and flood prevention filmed by the group's TV station, and were just about to go to the guesthouse to return to the province tomorrow when Zhou Andong found them.

"Comrade Shang Hui, you know that Secretary Cheng of the Provincial Party Committee is in Jiangzhou, right?"

"I know!" Shang Hui nodded: "I am responsible for interviewing you, and another group of colleagues is responsible for Secretary Cheng's side."

Zhou Andong said: "Tonight, I am inviting Secretary Cheng to the farm for dinner. You should go together too."

"Us?" Shang Hui said somewhat uncertainly: "Is it appropriate for us to go?"

"What's wrong with that." Zhou Andong laughed: "There won't be many people this time, and I will also invite your other group of colleagues."

Hearing Zhou Andong say this, Shang Hui naturally had no concerns and agreed readily.

"That's no problem."

Zhou Andong looked at the time: "You go to the guesthouse to settle down first. Around six o'clock, I will have someone pick you up."

"Okay!" Shang Hui left with her people.

Zhou Andong returned to the office, waiting for Cheng Zhanjun's call.

By five-thirty, the phone rang at last. He glanced at the caller ID; it was the city committee's number segment.

Zhou Andong picked up the phone: "Hello, this is Zhou Andong!"

Cheng Zhanjun's voice came from the receiver: "Is the food ready? I'm almost starving to death."

Zhou Andong's mouth curled into a smile: "You know the way to the city committee canteen better than anyone else. Why are you telling me you're hungry?"

"..."

Cheng Zhanjun gritted his teeth and said: "If you hadn't said you were inviting me to eat roast whole lamb and stewed beef, would I be this hungry now?"

Zhou Andong said cheekily: "That's because you're greedy. Is it my fault?"

"Is your skin itching, kid?" Cheng Zhanjun's voice suddenly rose: "I'm just asking you, is the roast whole lamb ready?"

"It's ready!" Zhou Andong wisely stopped provoking Cheng Zhanjun: "I'll go to the city committee to pick you up right now. Bring the people you brought down, including the reporters from the provincial station, and let's all go together. I won't be short of that bite of food for them."

"Hurry up and come over!" Cheng Zhanjun snorted and hung up the phone.

Zhou Andong chuckled, put down the phone, left the office, and knocked on the door of Wu Huilin's office.

"Come in!" Wu Huilin's voice came from inside.

Zhou Andong pushed the door and entered. Seeing Gu Bing lying lazily on the sofa, he said with great dissatisfaction.

"I say, Comrade Gu Bing, you don't go to work, you throw such a big brewery there, and you soak in Comrade Wu Huilin's office every day. Is that appropriate?"

Gu Bing turned over and sat up, staring at Zhou Andong and saying loudly: "Didn't you ask me to hand over the work to the deputy factory director as soon as possible and go to the Beijing woolen mill with you?"

"I have handed over all my work. There is nothing for me to do at the brewery. If I don't stay in my wife's office, where can I go?"

"Ah?" Zhou Andong said very surprisingly: "Have you finished handing over the work so quickly?"

Gu Bing rolled his eyes at Zhou Andong and ignored him.

Zhou Andong rubbed his nose and said to Wu Huilin: "Cheng Zhanjun is back. I'm inviting him to the farm to eat roast whole lamb. You should go too."

"Cheng the Bold is back?" Gu Bing said with great dissatisfaction: "You invited my wife to go, why didn't you invite me? Do you look down on me?"

Zhou Andong looked at Gu Bing: "Are you sure you want to go?"

Gu Bing's eyes twitched: "What do you mean?"

Zhou Andong blinked: "If you are not afraid of Cheng the Bold scolding you, then you can go."

Gu Bing felt his scalp go a little numb, but he still said stubbornly: "I didn't provoke him or offend him. Why would he scold me?"

"Then you just go." Zhou Andong grinned and smiled.

Seeing the smile on Zhou Andong's face, Gu Bing always felt that this bastard didn't have good intentions, but seeing his wife tidying up things, he had to follow no matter what.

"If I go, I go. Am I afraid of him?"