Although Songjiang City is located in the Yangtze River Delta, winter is far less cold than in northern areas, but the wind is still biting at night.
When Sun Xu walked out of the office building and headed to the horse shop, he couldn't help but tighten his coat.
Even though he wore a lot of clothes, including gloves and a hat, he still couldn't withstand the biting night wind.
Under the dim light of the kerosene street lamp, Sun Xu quickly arrived at the stable of Anhua Textile Company.
As a large-scale factory with more than 2,000 employees, Anhua Textile Company has also established a large-scale parking lot to mainly meet the parking needs of the company's top management and technical backbones as well as external partners.
This is mainly because it is too troublesome to park a carriage in Songjiang City. There are few public stables outside where carriages can park for a long time. As for temporary parking on the roadside, it is possible, but long-term parking is very inconvenient and requires someone to do it. Care and management.
Because a carriage is not just a carriage, but also horses that pull it.
Even if the horses pulling the carts are professionally trained and docile, they are animals after all and will still go crazy when frightened. Therefore, the local traffic regulations in Songjiang City stipulate that horses must be supervised in public places. Do not abandon the draft horse and leave.
At the same time, horses are not something that can be run by just charging or adding gas. They also need to eat and drink, and they also excrete. If no one takes care of them, problems can easily occur.
This series of restrictions has also made it very difficult to park a carriage for a long time in the city these days. This is also the case in Songjiang City. There are many people with a salary of hundreds of years a year, but the middle-to-high-income group can really own their own private carriage. very few.
Not to mention whether you can afford a private carriage, you can't even solve the problem just by parking it.
Generally, only high-income or above groups who live in single-family houses in the suburbs and own private stables can own a private carriage... This standard basically applies to people like Sun Xu.
If Sun Xu lived in the city, even if he wanted to own a private carriage with a thousand-year salary, it would be very troublesome, because there are very few properties with private stables in the city, and most of the residences in the city are of three or four floors. upstairs apartment.
It’s not that there are no properties with stables, there are still some, or they are shabby houses in old urban areas. Many old buildings in such places have yards, but the environment is really unsightly... and some environments Well, a single-family villa in a high-end community with a good location is very expensive, but Sun Xu can't afford it.
In fact, people who can afford it will not always live in these single-family villas in the so-called core areas of the city.
There is a phenomenon in Songjiang City, that is, few rich people live in urban areas... High-end single-family villas in such urban areas are very expensive, so generally only the truly wealthy can afford them, but they will not These expensive single-family villas in the city are used as permanent residences, and families will not be accommodated here. They are generally used as temporary places to stay when going to the city to do business and socialize.
As for the reason, even outsiders know that the air quality in Songjiang City... is really hard to describe.
Even in some of the so-called high-end communities in the city, which seem to have a good environment and are located in the core area, you can't stop the smell of coal and horse urine that permeates the entire city... and there are some places where there is no wind. During the monsoon, it is easy for fog to form in urban areas... This kind of fog is not the pleasant Jiangnan water vapor in places with beautiful mountains and clear waters... but coal smoke!
Take a breath, it's the most mellow smell of coal!
Otherwise, those wealthy people would not have fled the city and moved to the suburbs.
Not to mention the really rich people, even high-income people like Sun Xu who work part-time move out of the city as soon as they make money.
At the same time, there are more people with an annual salary of two to three hundred yuan, that is, various middle and low-level managers and technical backbones. After they get married, they often buy real estate or rent houses in the suburbs.
High-end single-family villas are unaffordable, and large townhouses are unaffordable, but ordinary apartments are still affordable to buy or rent.
After all, in the suburbs, the most common communities are ordinary apartments with four floors, multiple households on each floor, and two or three rooms per household. The people living here are generally ordinary middle-class people.
They belong to a middle-income group that is more deficient than those above and more than those below.
If Sun Xu didn't have the opportunities he had in the first two years and was just an ordinary mechanic, working step by step, becoming a senior mechanic after working for a few years, and earning a monthly salary of about 20 yuan, then there is a high probability that he would choose this kind of job in the future. Purchase a property and settle down in an ordinary suburban apartment community.
This is the common choice of many middle and low-level managers, grassroots technical backbones, low-level officials, and small bosses.
And these people also formed the Dachu Empire, or a relatively unique group of middle-income groups in Songjiang City.
Their lives are much better than those of low-income groups represented by ordinary workers, clerks, and farmers, but they still need to plan their lives carefully...so that they can barely maintain a certain level of decency.
But fortunately, Sun Xu stood at the forefront of the times, and he flew up when the wind blew him gently, directly surpassing the middle class group and becoming a member of the high-income group.
So on this bitterly cold night, Sun Xu didn't have to brave the cold wind and walk for more than ten minutes to the main road outside to wait for the long-awaited night bus. Instead, he could go directly to the large horse stable inside the company.
After arriving at the horse shop, I found that all the private carriages of other company executives or technical backbones parked in the horse shop had left, leaving only my own car alone.
In the coachman's lounge nearby, Uncle Li saw Sun Xu's figure and directly put on his thick coat and went out to pick up Sun Xu.
Sun Xu said while getting on the carriage: "Uncle Li, it's late now, go back as soon as possible!"
He spent too much time working overtime to deal with the fault of the production line, and it was already past ten o'clock when the problem was solved. Although there are no carriages on the road at night, and there is no traffic jam in the morning and evening when getting off work, it still takes a long time to go all the way back. Some time, it will probably be past 11 o'clock when I get back.
And his wife, Sun Mengshi, is a person who likes to wait for him to come back. Sometimes when he comes back from work overtime, although Sun Mengshi is lying down, she still waits for him to come home.
Now that his wife is pregnant, he is worried that she will wait too long as usual and going to bed too late will be bad for her health.
Uncle Li responded immediately, then closed the carriage door and got into the front driver's seat of the carriage.
Wearing a thick cotton-padded jacket, a large waterproof cloak, gloves, a hat, and a scarf, Uncle Li braved the biting night wind and raised his riding crop.
Two Fengzhou draft horses stepped lightly on the concrete floor, pulling the carriage slowly and slowly started to move forward, then gradually accelerated into the night. The kerosene lamp hanging on the carriage illuminated the carriage with a thin light. As well as the road near the front, the carriage will not be completely plunged into black.
The carriage first drove onto the cement road in the industrial area. This section of the road was wide and flat, and there were many gas street lights.
Although it was already night, many places in the industrial area were still brightly lit, and there were still many carriages pulling goods on the road.
Although limited by lighting conditions, many factories do not have night shifts. Even if they work overtime to produce, they usually start work when it gets dark and stop when it gets dark.
For example, there is no night shift in Anhua Textile Company. After all, textile factories are actually potentially flammable and explosive places. If ventilation measures are not good in the workshop, a large amount of cotton wadding will float in the air. When the density reaches a certain level, If it encounters an open flame, it will explode... and then with a bang, the entire factory will be reduced to nothing.
In the early years, several textile companies in the Dachu Empire encountered similar deflagration accidents, causing huge economic losses and casualties. After experiencing painful lessons, they dug into the reasons and made corresponding improvements. Finally, they required all textile companies to Mandatory implementation by enterprises.
The most important point is that textile factories, especially spinning workshops, must maintain ventilation to avoid accumulation of large amounts of lint in the air.
For the sake of safety, Anhua Textile Company's production workshop has huge fans driven by steam engines during production to maintain air circulation in the workshop and prevent the lint content in the air from being too high.
In addition, open flames are prohibited during production in the workshop... let alone working the night shift with dangerous things like kerosene lamps or gas lamps.
However, not every industry is the same as the textile industry. Some industries do not have any risk of open flames. If there are many orders and they are really busy, they will use gas lamps as lighting for night shift production.
There are also some factories that transport goods or conduct production line maintenance at night. Anhua Textile Company often conducts production line maintenance at night. This is why Sun Xu often works overtime at night...
Therefore, although it is already past ten o'clock in the evening, there are still many vehicles running on the road in the industrial area, and a few factories are still brightly lit.
Coupled with the large number of gas street lamps that are still bright, this gives the Songjiang Beicheng Industrial Zone the feeling of a city that never sleeps.
If it had been any other place, it would have been completely dark, and even the bustling commercial center in Songjiang City would have been closed early.
But in the Beicheng Industrial Zone, the lights are still bright.
This is the power of industry!
Sun Xu has long been accustomed to all these scenes. After all, he is no longer the young man with black eyes who just came to Songjiang.
He has been living in Songjiang City for two years and has long been accustomed to the city's many special circumstances.
The carriage drove all the way out along the cement road in the industrial zone, and then entered the main road in Beicheng District. This main road in Beicheng District is a very wide cement road.
It's just that the road is wider, but there are more cars...
During the day, there are countless carriages driving along it, including public carriages, private carriages, and freight carriages. All kinds of carriages are crowded on this main road, making this main road the widest but also the most congested in the North City. of the road.
When commuting to get off work on weekdays, in order to avoid the morning and evening rush hours, Uncle Li usually does not drive on this main road. Instead, he chooses to take detours and take a few roads with less traffic. Although a detour is necessary, it is not necessary during the morning and evening rush hours. Even less time.
During the morning and evening rush hours, there are already many cars on the main road in Beicheng, and the traffic speed is slow. If there is any traffic accident, it will be even more traffic jam.
But today at around ten o'clock late at night, the main road in Beicheng was no longer as crowded as it was during the day. Although there were still a lot of vehicles, it was not too crowded compared to the wide road, and it could even be considered very smooth.
Uncle Li drove the carriage at a relatively fast speed all the way north along the main road in Beicheng, all the way to the suburbs and then turned onto a smaller cement road.
At this time, there were no gas street lamps arranged by the government on the road. Although there were lights from many buildings on both sides of the road, it still seemed a bit dim.
After walking along this section of road for about two-quarters of an hour, the carriage entered an asphalt road that, although not spacious, was in better condition.
There is also a sign at the intersection of the road: Dongqin Community.
This is actually an internal road belonging to Dongqin Community. There are gas street lights on both sides of the road. After walking about two to three hundred meters, the carriage entered the intersection gate of Dongqin Community.
After arriving here, the street lights are more densely packed, and coupled with the light emitted from the houses on both sides of the road in the community, it is basically possible to walk on the road without lighting tools.
Soon, the carriage drove into Building No. 172 of Dongqin Community, which is Sun Xu's home.
"Thank you for your hard work, Uncle Li. It's very late too. Go get some rest early!"
When Sun Xu got out of the car, he gave Uncle Li instructions, then opened the door and entered the living room of the main building.
Multiple candles were lit in the living room on the first floor, and the fireplace was burning.
The space is brightly lit and warm as spring, keeping out the darkness and cold outside.
After taking off his coat, hat and gloves, Sun Xu asked the maid Liu Ma. When he learned that his wife was already lying down in the room, he breathed a sigh of relief, and then walked lightly upstairs.
After arriving at the master bedroom on the second floor, I gently opened the door. In the room, the candle lamp next to the bedside was still glowing. My wife was already asleep, and there was an open book on the bedside.
Slowing down, he stepped on the carpet and walked over. He leaned over to pick up the book on the quilt and put it on the bedside. Although his movements were gentle, he still woke up Sun Mengshi, who saw her half-open in a daze. Eyes: "Are you back? Have you had dinner? I asked Mother Liu to make you a midnight snack."
Sun Xu bent over and sat on the bedside, reaching out and stroking her hair: "Well, I'm back. The production line broke down and I worked overtime today. You can continue to sleep and don't have to worry about me."
Following his gentle caress, Sun Mengshi hummed in confusion and fell back to sleep.
Sun Xu caressed her gently for a while, then got up and went to take a hot bath and change clothes. When she got to the first floor, Liu's mother had already prepared a midnight snack in advance.
Sun Xu has the habit of eating late-night snacks when he comes back late from working overtime.
After asking Ma Liu to leave him alone and rest, he sat at the dining table and ate briefly, then sat down on the sofa in front of the fireplace in the living room.
Looking at the charcoal fire in the fireplace, Sun Xu relaxed and slumped on the sofa... The surroundings were quiet, the lights were dim, and everything seemed peaceful.
Sometimes when he comes back very late and his wife is already asleep, he likes to sit alone on the sofa in front of the fireplace, thinking about nothing, doing nothing... just shrinking into the sofa.
About two-quarters of an hour later, he extinguished the fireplace downstairs, got up, went upstairs to the room, lay down next to his sleeping wife, and blew out the candles.
Although his body was tired, his mind was very clear. He opened his eyes in the darkness and looked at the dark ceiling...
After a long time, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
As his breathing gradually calmed down... As usual, Sun Xu's peaceful and busy day passed.
But when he went to work the next day, Sun Xu received a piece of news that he didn't know whether it was good or bad!
