Chapter 4: The New Technology Tree

Seeing the Party Secretary urge him, Tang Wen thought for a moment, shook his head, and feigned helplessness as he said:

"I haven't touched this tractor much; I can't think of a solution right away."

Chen Yonggui snorted twice, offering no mockery, for the Tang family boy was always like this; he merely spoke with frustration at his lack of progress:

"If you want to learn your father's craft, calm your mind and study hard; don't be as restless as before.

Enough, go find your classmate; I must return."

The tractor chugged away again. Tang Wen watched the strange vehicle disappear into the darkness, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

The shipyard couldn't repair tractors, but he could sell them.

However, few people can afford a tractor now; there will surely be little business in the village. To sell, he must go to the town or the city.

Moreover, a 10-horsepower diesel engine seemed a bit small; Tang Wen, who had traveled through twenty-plus years, felt it was too shabby, so he adjusted the data in the shipyard from 10 horsepower straight up to 25 horsepower.

This research interface differed from before, displaying a technology tree based on replicating a 10-horsepower diesel engine, which branched into a 25-horsepower diesel engine.

【Engine Development (Upgrade):

Low-speed single-cylinder four-stroke diesel engine

Fuel supply method: Swirl nozzle

Starting method: Hand crank

Speed: 2200 rpm

Power: 18KW (25 horsepower)

Main materials: Steel, aluminum

Weight: 78kg】

【Can consume 50 experience/100 silver coins to develop. Develop? 】

With the foundation of the 10-horsepower engine, the development cost for the 25-horsepower version was still only 100 silver coins. Tang Wen hesitated not and recharged another 100 silver coins; the ten thousand yuan deposit he had collected was now down to just over a thousand.

【Development complete, silver coins -100】

【Required for manufacturing:

1. Direct manufacturing: 8 silver coins/unit (6 hours)

2. Processing with supplied materials: Steel 62kg, aluminum 25kg, petroleum 0.5kg, 5 silver coins/unit (3 hours)】

A 25-horsepower diesel engine for 8 silver coins; 8 silver coins is merely 370 yuan. Compared to the 10-horsepower diesel engine, the cost-performance ratio is far superior.

Tractors at this level qualify as large tractors. Due to the inherent torque advantage of diesel engines, they are essentially the ceiling for family users.

If used on small fishing boats, they also make excellent power; generally, 15 horsepower is sufficient.

A 25-horsepower diesel engine is absolutely premium goods on the market. If a 10-horsepower tractor can be bought for three or four thousand yuan, a 25-horsepower one will more than double that price; a new tractor costs over ten thousand yuan.

Even as a standalone engine, it must sell for at least seven or eight thousand yuan.

However, going higher is difficult. There are many metrics for measuring engines; horsepower is only one.

Single-cylinder diesel engines have limits regarding silence, fuel consumption, and vibration. Exceeding these limits means the original structure can no longer be used. Ordinary single-cylinder diesel engines max out at thirty or forty horsepower; anything higher requires two, four, or six cylinders, with technical difficulty rising exponentially.

Tang Wen tested a 100-horsepower diesel engine; the development silver coins surged instantly to 800, barely lower than a 250-horsepower gasoline engine.

However, the 25-horsepower diesel engine must be produced. While thinking about how to sell it, Tang Wen walked toward the tea house in town.

In remote areas, commercial scale is small, and formalities are few. Called a tea house, it actually doubles as a general store, a postal collection point, and a restaurant.

The shop is not large and has always been run by a family of three.

At this hour, there was not a soul. Tang Wen walked in and sat down. The boss, who had been leaning on the counter, finally yawned and looked up. Seeing who it was, he asked:

"Tang boy, buying something or eating something?"

"A bowl of pork-slaughter noodles, with two fried eggs."

The boss nodded, then shouted loudly toward the kitchen:

"Panpan, Panpan!"

A few seconds later, a little girl with her hair tied up and an apron tied across her chest appeared at the door, revealing a face mostly hidden by bangs.

"Pork-slaughter noodles, two fried eggs!"

The boss repeated the order. The little girl flicked her head, exposing one eye to glance at Tang Wen on the chair, and said expressionlessly:

"No pork-slaughter noodles, and no fried eggs."

"Hey, child, isn't the kitchen stocked with ingredients?"

The boss immediately panicked, but "Panpan" shut him down with a single sentence:

"Then you come clean the kitchen."

"..."

Tang Wen then remembered this was just a town restaurant; making a meal late at night with cold pots and cold stoves was laborious, unlike the restaurants in Shencheng that never closed.

Realizing this, he was about to stand up, but seeing his action, the boss hurriedly signaled his daughter with his eyes:

"Then go brew some instant noodles and put two braised eggs in."

Panpan rolled her eyes, reluctantly grabbed a bag of instant noodles from the shelf, and ducked back into the kitchen to boil water.

Watching his daughter's figure disappear, the boss finally sighed in relief, smiled at Tang Wen, and made gestures with his fingers while winking and grimacing:

"No one is here now; later, play a couple of rounds with Uncle?"

Along with his gesture, a flood of memories rushed into his mind, and Tang Wen remembered that the original owner was quite familiar with the boss.

This boss's name is Guo Chenliang. In his youth, he was also a ruffian who had ventured out into the world.

He had done business, fought, and gambled. When he had nowhere else to go, he returned home, used his parents' savings to marry a wife, and started a business.

But Guo Chenliang was flamboyant in character; the tea house could only operate because his wife managed everything inside and out. Later, his daughter Guo Panpan grew up and helped with chores, reducing the pressure on her mother.

As for Guo Chenliang himself, he spent his days idle, playing cards and drinking without fail, often disappearing for an entire day.

If you ever see Guo Chenliang watching the shop, it is one hundred percent certain that the fellow intends to sneak some pocket money from the counter.

But since he had been out in the world, Guo Chenliang could talk a good game, boasting with ease; he had several lackeys like Tang Wen, all idle young men who had dropped out of school.

This guy always tried to coax Tang Wen into smoking and playing cards, but before, Tang Wu had been strict, so the original body had only tried it a few times in secret.

Now that Tang Wu was dead, Guo Chenliang heard Tang Wen had sold off family assets recently and figured he must have plenty of spare cash; even when eating noodles he added two eggs, so his mind began to wander with schemes.

Tang Wen saw right through his little tricks; full of disgust for such a lazy bum, he replied coolly:

"No thanks, I have to go back soon."

"Why walk back so late? I'll teach you cow fighting, do you know it? Sleep here at uncle's tonight, have a bowl of porridge in the morning before you leave."

Seeing the fake smile on Guo Chenliang's face, Tang Wen regretted it; he should have just bought some snacks and gone back. This old rascal was quite troublesome.

Just as he was getting impatient, Guo Panpan finally finished preparing the instant noodles, bringing them out and carefully placing them on the table in front of Tang Wen.

It wasn't that she was in a good mood because business came late at night; rather, now a bag of instant noodles cost more than pig-slaughtering noodles. Pig-slaughtering noodles were only four cents, but instant noodles cost five cents, and the sealed braised egg was much more expensive than a fried egg.

She even felt a bit sorry for Tang Wen; her father was clearly trying to rip him off more, yet the former just silently accepted it. How expensive instant noodles were!

In fact, Tang Wen's thoughts were much the same; if he hadn't wanted something hot to eat at night, who in their right mind would agree to eat instant noodles?

The black technology in today's instant noodles was nowhere near what it would be twenty years later; the seasoning was nothing special, looking obviously bad...

Tang Wen sniffed, unexpectedly discovering it was very different from the instant noodles he had grown tired of eating before.

In fact, instant noodles twenty years later were all non-fried instant noodles; although they claimed to be healthy, the flavor was actually not as good as the "unhealthy" fried instant noodles.

Moreover, Guo Panpan had added some simple seasonings and lard to the noodles in front of him; combined, they were actually quite good.

Tang Wen, who had been eating plain water noodles for several days, buried his head and slurped the instant noodles hungrily, making Guo Chenliang too embarrassed to persuade him further; at the same time, the aroma of the noodles stirred his own appetite, so he turned to look at his daughter.

Who knew Guo Panpan already knew what kind of person her father was; she untied her apron in a few moves, circled back behind the counter to read, and completely ignored his gaze.

Guo Chenliang wasn't too disappointed; he took a bag of instant noodles from the shelf himself, walked into the back kitchen, and planned to treat his stomach.

By then, Tang Wen had already finished the instant noodles, sweating profusely; in fact, he was only half full, but with Guo Chenliang gone, he planned to leave.

He stood up and caught a glimpse of the cover of the book in Guo Panpan's hand; was it The Deer and the Cauldron?

Guo Panpan also noticed his gaze, looked up, and said coolly:

"Six cents, the hot water is free."

Tang Wen handed over a ten-yuan note and pointed behind her:

"Keep the change; use the rest to buy me instant noodles and snacks."

"Aren't you going to live your life?"

The girl didn't take the money immediately; instead, she stared at Tang Wen in surprise.

In her heart, her scoundrel father was an old lecher, and Tang Wen was a future little hooligan, but seeing him spend so lavishly, she couldn't help but say something.

"I can't cook, so I can only eat this."

Hearing Tang Wen's reason, she almost fainted from anger; Uncle Tang Wu was also a thrifty person, how could he have such a son.

How could she know Tang Wen's mind was full of business deals worth tens of thousands; how would he care about such a trifling amount of money.

It was clearly a "big order," yet Guo Panpan was somewhat reluctant; she took the money hesitantly, grabbed a bag to pack the snacks, and thoughtfully avoided the types she considered "not worth it."

Tang Wen took the two overflowing bags, said thank you, and hurriedly vanished into the darkness before Guo Chenliang could come out and bother him.

By the time Guo Chenliang came out, he could no longer see Tang Wen's figure; only then did he regretfully smack his lips and say to his daughter:

"That kid has a lot of money; why didn't you keep him here a while longer?

If I win his money, your mother's burden of supporting your studies will be much lighter."

Guo Panpan snapped the book shut with a "clap," turned, and walked toward her room without looking back.

"Close the shop yourself!"