After lunch, Shen Hua was about to leave. Sun Ya Lin didn't want to spend the first day of the new year alone in the hotel, so she shamelessly got into his car: "I think we had such a great conversation yesterday, you wouldn't be heartless and leave me stranded here, would you?"

  "Aren't you afraid this is a stolen car?" Shen Huan asked.

  "I'm with you, who knows who'll get robbed?" Sun Ya Lin said disdainfully, throwing out a Taekwondo pose.

  Shen Huai smiled wryly and said, "Alright, look at you so pitiful, I'll reluctantly take you in. But my car is too broken, drive yours instead. A small 2 million yuan car, I've also had a hand in it...". He got into Sun Yalin's three-wheeled vehicle and headed straight to Hegtang Town.

  Mei Creek is beside the river, and He Pond is beside the Yangtze River.

  Crossing the Meixi Bridge, take a gravel road west of Meixi Steel Plant to the south, and it's less than two kilometers to the bank of the Zhejiang River. Drive on the river embankment highway, with tall white poplar trees planted for twenty or thirty years on both sides. At this time, the ground is frozen, and the water of the Zhejiang River is also cold and white.

  "Mei Creek Town is so close to the riverbank?" Sun Yalin had no concept of Donghua's geography, and after arriving in Donghua, she only walked between the city district and Mei Creek Town. It was her first time seeing the Mei Creek section of the Zujiang River dike, and she didn't think Mei Creek Town was so close to the riverbank. "Then why didn't Mei Creek Steel Factory build by the river?"

  Shen Hua smiled and said, "In the 60s and 70s, every village and commune was smelting iron and steel, and there was no concept of industrial layout at all. The steel mill in Meixi Town barely survived, and when it expanded production in the late 1980s, local protectionism re-emerged. Meixi Town naturally didn't want to share its own meat with others, nor did it have the courage to restart the furnace, so it relied on expanding new factory areas based on old factories, resulting in today's awkward situation of 'neither relying on the river nor the sea'. Whether it's raw materials entering the factory or steel products leaving the factory, they can only rely on highway transportation. Unfortunately, Meixi Town doesn't even have a decent highway..."

  "In the long run, it's more suitable to build a steel plant by the river," said Sun Yalin, who has been engaged in industrial finance for four years and has a deeper understanding of industrial layout. "How about you? You didn't have anything to do today, so you took me to the riverbank, and at lunchtime, you mentioned the dock again. Are you thinking of building a new plant in Hetao Town when expanding production?"

  "Is it because you're shameless and followed me here?" Shen Huai smiled, turned around to look north, and could clearly see the iron-making blast furnace of Meixi Steel Plant's production department. He said, "Why can't the factory area of Meixi Steel Plant expand all the way to this side of the riverbank?"

  "Go ahead and daydream," Sun Ya-lin said disdainfully. "This land may look close, but if the factory area really expands all the way here, it will need at least 5,000 to 6,000 mu of land. I've been to several of the best steel companies in China, and a factory area of 5,000 to 6,000 mu can accommodate a steel production capacity of at least 60 million to 80 million tons. What was the total domestic steel output last year? Has it ever exceeded 70 million tons? Are you hoping that Meixi Steel will become the number one steel company in China?"

  "Maybe I'm too optimistic, but you're also underestimating the potential of domestic development," Shen Hua said with a smile, dismissing Sun Ya Lin's scorn.

  "In Europe and other countries, when they completed industrialization, the per capita annual steel consumption was about 0.7 to 1 ton. Based on this calculation, when China achieves industrialization, the peak of annual steel consumption should be around 850 million to 1.2 billion tons. In European and other countries, when they completed industrialization, the per capita accumulated steel consumption was 20 tons. Based on this calculation, for China to achieve industrialization, the total domestic steel consumption needs to reach 24 billion tons. Currently, the annual domestic steel consumption is only around 80 million tons, and the cumulative consumption is only around 10 billion tons. Tell me, when China steadfastly advances towards industrialization and modernization, becoming a first-rate strong country and major power, how vast will the development space for the steel industry be?"

  Sun Ya Lin lowered her voice. Although they had already reached a tacit understanding of cooperation last night, she found that she still knew too little about Shen Hua's dreams at this moment.

  If it weren't for the miraculous rise of Meixi Steel Factory under Shen Hua's hands, she would have thought he was crazy when he said this. At this moment, seeing Shen Hua standing there, not being affected by Tan Qiping's estrangement at all, but still pointing to the mountains and rivers with a heroic spirit, her heart surged with too many strange and new feelings.

  She finally figured out that the Shen Hui she was familiar with and disliked no longer existed. Although she didn't know what had happened to Shen Hui in the three years since he returned to China, she knew that the man in front of her had too many surprising and intriguing aspects...

  Xiong Wenbin was in charge of the municipal steel plant in the mid-1980s and had planned to increase its annual output to 2 million tons. Unfortunately, when the plant's capacity reached 400,000 tons, Xiong Wenbin was transferred away from the plant. Nearly six or seven years have passed, and the annual output of the municipal steel has only increased by less than 30%, said Shen Hua. "Xiong Wenbin had such ambition in the mid-1980s, and soon we will be entering the 21st century. I think I should not be worse than him."

  "Is that so, Xiong Wenbin is really that capable in economics?" Sun Yalin didn't know much about Donghua's past, and the Industrial Bank had no business dealings with the Municipal Steel Factory, so she wasn't familiar with Xiong Wenbin's early days as head of the factory. She said, "However, when we acquired the Tianheng Building, Xiong Wenbin was one of the negotiation team members, indeed he is a bit more capable than Liang Xiaolin and Gu Tong..."

  Shen Huai smiled faintly: Tan Qiping underestimated him, after all, there was still Xiong Wenbin to use.

  In Tan Qiping's heart, he also believed that Xiong Wenbin was more capable of handling economic affairs than him. Moreover, Xiong Wenbin's level was higher, and even after Tan Qiping took control of Donghua, Xiong Wenbin could directly become the vice mayor in charge of industrial development in the city, without being restricted by age and experience like him, he was simply too young.

  "The road is still to be walked step by step," Shen Hua said. "The steel plant needs to expand its power generation station this year and increase its own power supply. On this side, a cargo terminal and storage yard need to be built in order to reach the annual output of 200,000 tons. By then, the steel materials will need to be transported to more distant regional markets. The transportation cost of both steel materials and raw materials will require even more attention..."

  Don't bother with Shen Hua's unattainable dreams, but seeing Shen Hua has plans to build a dock and warehouse by the Hejiang River this year, I also know his ambition is not small. Currently, Donghua only has one freight railway connecting to other cities, but the terminal is in the north of the city, next to the municipal steel factory, still over 20 kilometers away from Meixi Steel Factory.

  Rail transport is half cheaper than road transport, and the cost of water transportation on the Zhejiang River is only one-third that of rail. Although building a dock in Hetao Town and then building a convenient road to Meixi Steel Plant would be expensive, it would undoubtedly give Meixi Steel Plant more cost advantages in the future.

  Shen Hua didn't say, but Sun Ya Lin believed that his first goal should be to suppress the municipal steel factory, making Tan Qiping unable to ignore his existence. Perhaps by then, the Suns and Songs would have to re-examine this unfilial son.

  Just this year, Shen Hua is going to start building docks and warehouses, where will the funds in the tens of millions come from? Sun Ya Lin suddenly had a feeling of being on a pirate ship, would this kid dare to treat Yixin Bank as his ATM?

  ***************

  He Village was changed from a township to a town just two years ago, and its scale is much smaller than that of Mei Xi Town. There is only one street in the town, with the town government, primary school, junior high school, machinery factory, silk factory, supply and marketing cooperative, credit union, agricultural market, and scattered shops along this street.

  In the Spring Festival of 1993, the festive atmosphere was still strong. The streets were narrow, but there were firecracker residues everywhere on both sides of the road. Many children were running around with firecrackers in their hands, wearing brand new clothes. Although the supply and marketing cooperatives in the town center and surrounding shops were still operating normally, the flow of people was slightly more than usual.

  In Donghua, the Spring Festival is almost the only time of the year when gambling is legal. From the beginning to the end of the year, people who are busy and rarely relax, three or five people or more lock themselves in a room to play cards for fun.

  Chen Dan was worried about Shen Huan's poor complexion when they parted ways the day before yesterday, and in the afternoon, she pulled Xiao Li and Chen Tong to the town to make a phone call to Shen Huan.

  Chen Dan went to the entrance of a store to make a public phone call. On the side of the road, someone spread out a piece of cloth selling celebrity photos. Xiao Li squatted down to look at the photos of popular stars like Mao Ning and Yang Yinyin. Chen Tong sat on his sister's newly bought motorcycle smoking.

  "Isn't this Chen Tong?" A young man with a scar on his face walked over, looking like he was in his early twenties. Seeing Chen Tong sitting on the motorcycle smoking, he had a surprised look as if they had just met, and walked over to pat him on the shoulder, also touching the shiny motorcycle handlebars, saying "This motorcycle is really beautiful, it must have cost a lot of money? I heard your sister in Meixi Town found another wild man, and you're getting rich too."

  Chen Tong couldn't bear others speaking ill of his sister, his face turned red with rage, and he suddenly pushed the young man away: "What do you mean? Are you looking for a fight?"

  "Chen Tong!" Chen Dan saw that Chen Tong was about to fight with someone else, and she didn't even have time to make a phone call. She quickly walked over and grabbed hold of Chen Tong. The young man she also knew, the one who had broken Chen Tong's bones back in school. There was resentment between them, and her whole family had already suffered enough because of this matter. She didn't want Chen Tong to act impulsively and get into a fight again.

  And this person has three accomplices on the side of the road looking over here, obviously coming to provoke...

  Before he could pick up, the phone number Chen Dan called yesterday flashed on his mobile phone for two seconds before hanging up. Shen Huan thought something had happened. Driving over, Shen Huan saw Chen Tong facing off against four young men with a fierce stare, while Chen Dan held him back from taking action.

  "Your sister is messing around with some random guy and he's supporting you too, what kind of nonsense is your mom spouting?!"

  The young man with scars on his face still remembered the grudge of being beaten by Chen Tong a few years ago. After that, Chen Tong joined the army and he couldn't find an opportunity to take revenge. This time in town, he met again and relied on having accomplices to gang up, naturally extremely insulting, wanting to provoke Chen Tong to make the first move...

  "Bang! Bang!"

  A pockmarked youth stood on the curb, unaware of a small car quietly approaching from behind. Suddenly, it honked its horn twice right next to his ear, and in a split second, he thought a car was crashing into him from behind. Frightened, he lost his balance and fell directly onto the hood of the car.

  Before the scar-faced young man came to find fault, Shen Hua suddenly pushed open the car door and grabbed the scar-faced young man's collar with a fierce momentum. "Slap slap" Two loud slaps were slapped over: "You don't have eyes, do you know how much this car costs? Do you know that if this car loses paint, your mother will sell for several years to make up for it?"

  The scar-faced young man gave Shen Hua two slaps, leaving him dazed. He thought the two slaps were unjustified, but his accomplices saw that Shen Hua had a strong presence and an impressive demeanor, and this car was clearly more luxurious than Coward Million's Crown in town. They knew they couldn't mess with someone like that, so they retreated...

  The scar-faced youth touched his swollen face and stared at Shen Huai with a bewildered expression, not even daring to utter a harsh word.

  "Consider yourself lucky this time, if I see you again without your eyes cast down, I'll beat you to death..."

  Sun Ya Lin got off the car and, with great interest, leaned against the car door to watch Shen Hua scolding the young hooligans, laughing and saying: "How do you know how to bully these little hooligans? You're really shameless."

  Shen Huai ignored the meeting with Chen Ya Lin, and said to Chen Tong: "Are you going to work overtime at the factory today? Why are you so useless and fighting with this little rascal..." He then waved his hand for Chen Dan and Xiao Li to get into his car.

  Those four little rascals only then realized that the man and woman who drove up were acquainted with Chen Tong's siblings, but they still didn't dare to rush up and take action, so they could only watch dejectedly as Shen Hua and the others left in their car with an air of superiority.