The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 336 Hydraulic Drilling Rig Enters the Site, Hard-Controlled Cunning Russians

Starting from Daliushu Commune, Qian Jin traveled north, trying his best to collect statistics on the condition of farmland after the rain.

On July 15th, he had just arrived at Shigou Commune to prepare for his trip to the countryside when the commune leaders urgently approached him and said, "Commander Qian, the command headquarters has sent an urgent telegram requesting that you return to the city immediately!"

Qian Jin asked instinctively, "What is it?"

The commune leader shook his head: "The command center didn't go into details, they just told me to urgently notify you to return."

Qian went in and called back. The communications officer on the other end of the line said excitedly:

"Deputy Commander Qian? Please return as soon as possible. We just received information from customs this morning that the Luke impact drilling rigs imported from the Soviet Union have begun clearing customs. If everything goes smoothly, we should receive the first batch of two sets of equipment today..."

"Yes, it comes equipped with generator sets and transformers..."

"Yes, President Han has decided to send a set of equipment to Anguo County for assembly and use..."

Blessings are unparalleled, and misfortunes do not come singly.

Now Qian Jin is experiencing the first half of that statement, which is wonderful.

He asked excitedly, "Are you sure it's Luke's Impact device?"

This Soviet Russian company later faded into obscurity, but today it is an undisputed force in geological exploration, mineral extraction, and infrastructure engineering.

Speaking of its current masterpiece, many people interested in Earth geology should know that it is the Kola Superdeep Borehole.

The creation of this ultra-deep well is quite baffling. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and the United States were vying for supremacy in every aspect, from space travel to drilling into the Earth's crust.

In 1970, the Soviet Union conducted a scientific drilling project in the Kola Peninsula near the Norwegian border, drilling continuously into the ground. It has already drilled several thousand meters deep. According to Qian Jin, later, until the Soviet Union's collective efforts, the Kola Superdeep Borehole seems to have been drilled to a depth of over ten thousand meters...

In theory, drilling ultra-deep holes is a very simple process; it simply involves installing a rotary drilling rig at the bottom of a drill rod.

When it reaches the bottom of this hole, the powerful engine will break through the bottom, thus deepening the hole.

Liquid continuously swirls in and out of this hole to cool the drill bit and maintain the stability of the hole.

When the drill bit wears out, the worker will replace it with another one.

That's absolutely right, that's the principle behind well drilling, so the US and the USSR are now competing to see who can drill the deepest well.

Of course, this job sounds simple, but it's actually not simple. Drilling a well that's a hundred meters deep is already difficult, let alone drilling a super deep hole that's more than ten kilometers deep.

Soviet Russia currently has extensive experience in well drilling, and its heavy industry is highly developed, producing excellent drilling rigs.

These two pieces of equipment were not imported by Qian Jin, but he knew how powerful they were. So when he learned that they had entered customs, he excitedly rushed back to the city to prepare to bring the machinery and the technicians sent by the manufacturer to start drilling work.

As long as a deep well is drilled.

It will simply be a matter of getting a high-powered water pump, and domestic production capacity will not be a problem in that regard.

He returned to command post and received more information about the two pieces of equipment.

These were imported from Soviet Russia through a joint effort between the Light Industry Bureau and the Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative. The national foreign trade authorities were very open-minded in this matter and gave them the green light. This was the fastest progress made in the application process for importing deep well drilling rigs among all cities in China.

Upon learning this, Qian Jin said in surprise, "Our coastal city has done a good job in drought relief. Logically speaking, shouldn't this kind of machine be sent to the more inland areas further north?"

Based on his expectations and the information he had gathered, the country preferred to produce its own hydraulic drilling rigs and then send them to rural areas across the country to carry out drought relief work.

In fact, the domestically produced hydraulic drilling machine has already been successfully manufactured. However, because the disaster situation in Haibin City was relatively mild and the country's capacity to produce hydraulic drilling machines was limited, it was not sent to Haibin City, but instead to the severely affected areas that needed water more.

Faced with his doubts, Han Zhaoxin smiled and explained, "That makes sense, but the country will never forget those who have made contributions. These two machines are something you earned for our Haibin City."

Qian Jin said, "I applied to import not Soviet Russian machinery, but Atlas Copco and Ingersoll Rand machinery."

It is estimated that the hydraulic drilling machine he applied to purchase was sent to other places after customs clearance.

Otherwise, judging by the timeline, it should have been delivered long ago; it should have been cleared through customs several days ago!
Han Zhaoxin said, "I understand, but the country's foreign exchange reserves are limited, and not all applications to import drilling rigs can be approved."

"These two pieces of equipment were included in the import plan a long time ago, and now they have finally arrived. The country gave them to our Haibin City because you performed very well in the previous work to combat the insect plague and saved the country foreign exchange."

"Later, in the large-scale cooperation with ICI, you once again made a contribution, saving the country a lot of foreign exchange."

"Considering this, the nation considers you a meritorious official, and you are also the deputy commander of our Haibin City Drought Relief Headquarters..."

"I understand." Qian Jin quickly clapped his hands. "The country took into consideration that I am the deputy commander on our side, and that you, General Manager Han, are the commander-in-chief. They gave us these two sets of equipment out of respect for you."

Han Zhaoxin was in a great mood, so he laughed along with Qian Jin's joke, giving him face.

Changing the subject, he patted Qian Jin's arm and said, "Although Anguo County has had a rain shower, it's still the focus of drought relief efforts. Have you finished setting the drilling parameters for your water wells?"

"The water output and water quality analysis results are not yet available, but the locations of the deep wells have been preliminarily determined, and they are basically all in places that meet the engineering requirements," Qian Jin said.

Han Zhaoxin nodded and said, "That's good."

"Let's go. The Soviet Union has sent two technical support teams to jointly oversee the installation, commissioning, and operation training of the equipment. Let's go meet them."

When dealing with Soviet Russian technicians, translators would definitely be needed.

Fortunately, in order to ensure that his country could benefit from the collapse of the Soviet Union, Qian Jin focused on cultivating talent in Soviet Russian language while working at the Foreign Business Office.

Now that an internship opportunity has come up, he has brought several people over at once to form a translation team.

Equipment clearance.

Han Zhaoxin temporarily formed a deep well drilling command team, with Qian Jin as the captain.

Then he selected a group of skilled technical personnel from the Municipal Machinery Research Institute, the Water Conservancy Bureau Engineering Team, and the Armed Forces Engineering Company to move into the temporarily requisitioned warehouse of the Municipal Machinery Factory and begin an intense "unpacking and inspection" and "crash course" training.

They worked from afternoon until night, and the warehouse was brightly lit.

The massive hydraulic drilling rig, the thick drill rods, the complex hydraulic control system, the roaring air compressor…

These "steel behemoths" brimming with industrial power opened the eyes of technicians accustomed to old-fashioned equipment, yet left them feeling at a loss as to where to begin.

Eleven Soviet engineers chatted and laughed as they carried out the installation and debugging, while the translators, led by Yao Shoucheng, looked at each other in bewilderment.

Qian Jin said, "Don't you understand?"

Yao Shoucheng shook his head helplessly: "No, they didn't use much technical jargon. They just chatted, talking about Chinese girls, food on the road, and what they could bring back from China on their business trip."

Another young man named Yang Kaixuan said weakly, "Their work attitude is not right. They kept saying that our country is much poorer than theirs, and that they probably won't make any money on this business trip..."

Upon hearing this, a group of young talents from the mechanical research institute who had been sent to learn how to operate drilling machines glared angrily.

Qian Jin waved his hand: "Never mind what others say, let's get familiar with the machine first."

"We prepared trucks overnight, disassembled the equipment, and sent it to Qiaomi County and Anguo County for hands-on practice."

"Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open. Ask questions if you don't understand. You must master these two iron machines within a week. We're going to get them running and pumping water ourselves!"

Qian Jin also studied it himself. Since he had already had installation experience, he disassembled it again that night and they understood the basic structure of the machine.

So he had the young workers work overtime, organizing them to review, draw diagrams, discuss, and predict future operations.

He astutely observed that the core advantage of this drilling rig lies in its efficient rotary cutting and rock-breaking capabilities and its precise hydraulic control system, and that China also has relevant technological reserves.

After discussing with several senior engineers from the Municipal Machinery Research Institute, he identified the key areas for his studies:
"Seize the opportunity, conduct in-depth research, and focus on thoroughly understanding its hydraulic drive principle, drill bit design, and core tube structure! Strive to achieve the mapping, imitation, and technology assimilation of key components in the shortest possible time!"

"The parts of these two machines will definitely wear out. The Russians make very rough parts. We can't just rely on importing parts. We have to be able to produce the parts ourselves!"

The next day, the two convoys set off in a grand procession.

The location for deep well drilling has been determined.

It was the result of repeated calculations on the drawings by the geological engineers of the Water Resources Bureau based on the "General Map of the Distribution of Groundwater Veins in Haibin City" and the latest hydrogeological survey data, so there should be no problem.

The first batch of severely affected areas urgently needing well drilling and the optimal well location coordinates were determined with Qian Jin's participation. These areas were all places with severe drought, difficulty in providing drinking water for people and livestock, and geological conditions suitable for well drilling.

Considering that the location of each well has been technically verified, Qian Jin is quite confident about whether water can be produced.

The first well in Qiaomi County was selected in Gangouzi Production Brigade of Hongshiya Commune, which was the most severely affected by drought.

The mountains here are high and the slopes are steep. Surface water has long since disappeared. The villagers have to go more than ten miles away to fetch water, and a round trip takes most of the day.

Then the first well in Anguo County was selected at Xiamapo, where Qian Jinbao's team went to the countryside!
Early in the morning, the trucks stopped at the site of the deep well, and then the shouts of men, along with the loud and muffled sounds of metal clashing and rubbing, began to echo throughout the area.

The commune members were startled by the unusually loud commotion and rushed over to watch.

Cadres such as Ma Congli and Ma Congfeng arrived first.

They crossed the undulating slopes and the uneven crops, and saw a huge steel structure standing on the once empty and flat yellow land next to a fork in the road.

The object had an extremely distinct outline, and in the scorching morning sunlight, it shimmered with a dazzling silver-gray metallic light.

The most eye-catching feature is a huge triangular pyramid-shaped tower built on a steel frame suspended in mid-air.

Its base is wide and sturdy, like the iron claws of three giant beasts deeply embedded in the ground.

Its tower body is then firmly riveted and supported by steel pillars as thick as a bowl, contracting at a dizzying height to form a towering spire reaching towards the sky.

Next to the steel tower is a strangely shaped square machine box, which is being operated by a worker wearing a red plastic hat.

In the hands of the workers, these steel behemoth-like chassis soon emitted a deep, powerful roar.

Occasionally, when workers took off their red plastic hats, Ma Congli and the others were surprised to find that these people's hair was not black!

foreign devil!
They rushed over with a start, but quickly relaxed: Qian Jin was waving at them.

Qian Jin explained the machine's capabilities and today's work to the cadres, who immediately erupted in excitement:
"This place is as dry as lime, how can you actually drill for water? How can you actually build a well here?"

"How deep is the well? Didn't they drill over thirty meters before but no water came out?"

"Huh? One hundred meters, one hundred and twenty meters? Goodness, this machine can shoot down more than a hundred meters?"

They were shocked.

But the huge, exposed flywheel, the complex and intertwined connecting rods, the robust hydraulic cylinders, and the exposed oil pipelines were right in front of them.

These raw, untamed forces, emanating from pure industrial civilization, quickly won people's hearts, making them believe in their formidable capabilities.

Six Caucasian white men, dressed in brand-new overalls and wearing work gloves covered in grease and mud, were busy working around the machinery.

Some were pulling on the thick black rubber tubes and silver metal tubes.

Some were wielding large wrenches covered in yellow mud, forcefully pounding on the flange joints of a certain connection.

There was another person standing on a pile of raised sleepers, craning his neck, and forcefully turning the crank of a huge yellow hydraulic winch above.

Ma Congli and the villagers of Xiamapo were so curious that they all crowded around to see this strange sight.

This is a different scene from when drilling teams used to come and drill wells.

The Soviet technicians were all strong men, each nearly two meters tall, with backs as broad as a tabletop.

Despite the hot weather, they took off their clothes and went shirtless, regardless of the impact.

It has well-developed muscles and also has a lot of chest hair.

An elderly person who saw it was shocked: "Is this a person or a bear?"

"It's a bear that has become a spirit!" a boy said confidently.

Ma Congfeng quickly winked at him: "Don't talk nonsense, these are Russians—now you understand why they're called Russians, right?"

The tallest and most muscular of the six technicians was responsible for operating the winch.

As he strained his arm muscles, the winch slowly turned, emitting a teeth-grinding "creaking" sound.

The metal rubs together, the chain tightens, and then a heavy, shiny drill rod is carefully lifted vertically and aligned.

Soon, a steel cable was stretched taut like an iron string.

Behind them, a heavy-duty flatbed trailer, converted from a CA10 Jiefang truck chassis, lay quietly.

The trailer was haphazardly piled with even more astonishingly thick drill rods, wrenches of various sizes, huge triangular iron clamps, and piles of machine parts wrapped in straw.

The most eye-catching feature is a cylindrical component that resembles a train wheel hub.

Ma Congli and the others whispered among themselves, trying to guess what it was. Qian Jin said, "That's a mud pump."

Then Ma Congli and the others whispered among themselves, guessing what a mud pump was...

After the machine was loaded, a truck with the words "Hydrology Team" painted on it drove up and parked next to it.

Several hydrological team workers dressed in blue overalls began unloading planks, thick hemp ropes, and bundles of new straw covered in yellow mud.

This is packaging filler used for shock absorption.

The village cadres and villagers couldn't understand what it was, so they timidly asked Qian Jin what it was.

Qian Jin said, "Its specific name is CBM-150 diamond drilling rig, a machine specifically designed for drilling deep water wells."

He pointed to the sturdy drill rod being hoisted, his eyes filled with admiration: "Our Anguo County's first deep well will be drilled right here today!"

The crowd grew larger and larger.

The commune leaders also came, as did people from nearby brigades, eventually forming a huge, dark mass.

Everyone craned their necks, awestruck by the cold, towering steel structure.

Qian Jin called over several strong laborers to dig a pit at the selected wellhead location.

It rained for no more than three days.

The ground is hard again.

It took the strong laborers wielding pickaxes and hoes to dig a pit that was waist-deep.

Soon, a sharp, short whistle came from the direction of the driver's cab.

There sat a Soviet technician wearing a yellow hard hat, holding a small red flag, which he waved solemnly.

Below, strong workers manipulating the yellow winch and adjusting the drill rod exerted their strength.

Bang!

The enormous collision sound was deafening!
The thick drill rod, with its massive iron drill bit at the bottom, was precisely aimed at the large hole that the strong laborers had just carefully dug.

The machine delivered a heavy blow, so powerful that the ground beneath everyone's feet seemed to shake.

However, the drill pipe stood there motionless, like a huge, unparalleled question mark piercing the earth.

The technician in the driver's cab was named Ivan. He had a full beard, a Moss cigar butt dangling from his mouth, legs crossed, and a smirk on his face. It was unclear whether he was dissatisfied with his work or with the onlookers.

He shouted a few words in Russian to the translator next to him, and pounded on the metal control panel in front of him, making a dull thud.

Yao Shoucheng's smile froze for a moment, then he smiled helplessly at Qian Jin: "Comrade Ivan told everyone to step back. He said that drilling deep wells is no joke, and someone might die in the process."

Qian Jin whispered two sentences to Ma Congli.

Ma Congli also took out a whistle and put it in his mouth.

Soon, a sharp whistle rang out, and he led the militiamen to maintain order, causing the crowd to retreat several meters.

Ivan's icy blue eyes swept over the group of Chinese farmers huddled together, chattering like chickens and ducks, then glanced at the young workers huddled together beside him, staring intently at them operating the equipment, and he let out a barely audible snort.

His thick fingers casually tossed a few knobs on the control panel covered with Russian markings, his movements carrying a nonchalant and perfunctory air.

A young worker eagerly approached him and offered him water: "Master, you've worked hard, have some water..." Ivan took the military water bottle, smelled it, and disgustedly shoved it back.

The young worker said sullenly, "What's wrong? Do you think my kettle smells bad?"

He sniffed it. "It doesn't smell bad at all, there's no smell at all..."

Then he tried to get closer to learn the operating techniques, but Ivan's movements were sometimes fast and sometimes slow, making it difficult for him to grasp the trick.

As he pushed the hydraulic valve stem.

The huge flywheel began to turn slowly, driving the drive shaft to emit a dull "whoosh" sound.

The thick drill rod began to rotate extremely slowly under the push of the hydraulic platform, emitting a rough "creak, creak" sound, as if rusty gears were forcibly meshing.

The drill bit tentatively gnawed at the ground surface, and as water was continuously poured in, mud was constantly squeezed out of the borehole, making it extremely murky.

Qian Jin stood at the front of the crowd, his brows furrowed.

The way these Soviet Russians are working is outrageous.

That laziness and perfunctory attitude that emanated from his very bones was simply undisguised!

Especially Ivan, the leader, whose mind was not on operating the machine at all. His eyes were wandering and he was yawning constantly. He only became more energetic when he was joking with the technician next to him.

Whenever young workers went up to ask him for advice, he would either pretend not to understand the translator and refuse to cooperate, or he would mutter a few words impatiently, often with a mocking look on his face.

Yao Shoucheng and others tried their best to translate in a more elegant style, as this is the mission of translation.

Effective communication, not creating conflict.

If they translated according to the original meaning of these Soviet technicians, a fight would probably break out on the spot.

The young workers were confused, but Qian Jin understood perfectly.

The attitudes of the other technicians were just as bad.

The two Soviet workers responsible for calibrating the drill pipe and observing the mud were slow and rough, often slamming the machine with a large wrench, which distressed the other workers.

They knew that the machine was bought by the country with its precious foreign exchange reserves!
However, they did not know the purpose of these Soviet technicians smashing the machines. They asked the translator to inquire, but the translator could not get any answers either.

"Is this how you work?" a worker from the hydrological team couldn't help but mutter under his breath.

An old worker from the mechanical research institute shook his head and said, "I once heard my old squad leader say that he fought the Japanese devils with the Soviet Red Army. Those guys were tough men; they roared in battle."

"But discipline? Awareness? Heh heh."

Laugh without saying a word.

The reason the old worker mentioned the Soviet Red Army was because, according to the previous introduction, these technicians were all retired Red Army soldiers.

Qian Jin remained silent.

From small things, one can see the big picture; from a single spot, one can understand the whole leopard.

Looking at the state of these skilled workers, he could sense the work attitude of Soviet workers today.

The vast red empire has entered its final stage of life.

He put the group leaders among the young workers in charge of the overall situation, and also asked Yao Shoucheng to handle communication.
"Wait here for a bit, I'm going to the county town to get some things, I'll be back in an hour at most."

He drove the jeep himself.

Xiao Sun instinctively said, "Commander Qian, shall I drive?"

Qian Jin shook his head: "You wait here. The driver might need to do something else later, and you can help him out then."

He drove his jeep on the road, and when he got to the wilderness, he took the small roads between the groves.

He took out the No. 3 gold box from the car and began his shopping spree.

Vodka.

700ml of genuine Russian vodka, absolutely pure liquid, absolutely crisp taste, absolutely strong spirit.

A pack of Russian sausages, a large jar of pickled cucumbers, Russian pickled mushrooms, and Russian luncheon meat.

Six generic European watches.

He scraped off the production date with a knife; he didn't care about keeping the other information.

He packed all the items into a canvas bag, filling it to the brim, then drove around for a while. When he figured it was about time, he drove back.

At the drilling site, the drilling rig was still slowly running with a "creaking" sound, and the drilling speed was so slow that it was agonizing.

Ivan seemed completely unconcerned about the progress, lit another "Old Mo" cigarette, leaned back in the driver's seat, and squinted as he puffed out smoke.

The technicians responsible for the mud circulation below leisurely shovel bentonite powder into the mixing tank, their movements equally languid.

The workers in the coastal city were filled with anger, and some of the young workers had their fists clenched tightly. Qian Jin guessed that if he hadn't returned in time, a fight might have broken out.

However, the responsibility lies with Russia.

Not to mention the proud and arrogant workers, even the farmers were dissatisfied.

As soon as Qian Jin returned, Ma Congli grabbed him and asked, "Commander Qian, what do these Russians mean? Are they here to work or for a vacation? I think this well hasn't even gone down a few meters yet. They want to drill a hundred meters. How long will that take?"

“That’s right,” others chimed in, “If they don’t want to work, fine, but teach our own people, we’ll do it…”

Qian Jin reassured him, "Leave this to me, I'll handle it!"

He took a deep breath, forced a calm smile, parted the crowd, and walked straight toward the driver's cab.

When Yao Shoucheng saw Qian Jin approaching, he quickly stepped forward and said, "Director Qian, what do you think of this..."

Qian Jin waved his hand, signaling him to calm down: "Come and translate for me."

He walked down to the foot of the driver's cab, looked up at Ivan who was puffing out a cloud of smoke, and said, "Comrade Ivan, you've worked hard. It's really not easy for you and your comrades to come from afar to support our drought relief efforts!"

Yao Shoucheng quickly translated it.

Ivan, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, glanced down at Qian Jin, gave a slight twitch of his lips in response, but his eyes were cold and his face expressionless.

"That son of a bitch!" Ma Congli was furious. "What does he take Commander Qian for? Does he think Director Qian's words are just hot air?"

Ma Congfeng gave him a shove from behind: "What the hell are you spouting? Can't you talk?"

Ma Congli chuckled and continued indignantly, "Anyway, I think he looks down on Commander Qian, and I want to fucking beat him up!"

Qian Jin didn't care. He waved his hand and said, "Comrade Ivan, you and the others stop for a moment. We set off too early this morning. You just woke up and probably didn't have much of an appetite, so you probably didn't eat much, right?"

"Come on, let's go to my car first and grab something to eat together."

He zipped up the canvas travel bag with a "whoosh".

A strong and unique aroma instantly filled the air.

Naturally, it was the unique, domineering aroma of smoked red sausage, a blend of smoky flavor and rich meaty fat, making Yao Shoucheng unable to resist swallowing.

Immediately afterwards, Qian Jin pulled out a bottle of vodka and threw it at the other person.

Ivan, a former soldier, was quite skilled and quick-witted, catching the bottle in one go.

He glanced at the Russian letters on the bottle and smiled for the first time.

The rain stopped instantly!
The bottle label bore the emblem of a double-headed eagle and familiar letters. He shook it, and the clear liquor inside splashed with familiar bubbles.

He immediately unscrewed the bottle cap, ignoring the hundreds of people staring at him, and took a swig.

Then he gave Qian Jin a thumbs up and beckoned a young worker to come up and start talking to him.

Yao Shoucheng quickly translated: "Uh, he wants you to operate the machine. It's very simple now. You, uh, you just press this lever, pay attention to the feel. If it feels heavy, pull it back a little; if it feels loose, push it forward a little..."

Ivan casually offered his seat to the young worker, jumped down and shouted to those around him, and five other technicians rushed over.

They all handed over their work to the young workers and happily took turns drinking vodka as they walked into the shade of the trees.

Qian Jin shook his head.

The stereotype of Soviet Russian technicians is absolutely accurate. The combination of "veteran" and "technician" implies that the person after the sign is a drunkard!

He picked up his bag and went with the six men to the shade of the tree.

Some commune members wanted to come up and see, so Qian Jin quickly ordered Ma Congli to stop them.

The jeep was parked under the shade of a tree, and everyone used the hood as a dining table. Qian Jin took out bottles of liquor, one for each person, then spread out red sausages, opened bottles of pickled cucumbers and mushrooms, and finally opened a can of Russian meat.

The six burly men immediately began to wolf down their food.

One red sausage per person, gone in just a few bites.

Pickled cucumbers are eaten like bean sprouts, and canned meat is eaten by scooping it out with a knife.

They ate with absolutely no restraint.

Of course, taking a bite of food and a sip of wine is the standard practice.

Fearing they would get drunk, Qian Jin, after seeing that they were having a good time, took out several pairs of sunglasses wrapped in soft cloth.

Under the bright sunlight, the lenses reflected a deep brown light.

Yao Shoucheng, who came to translate, said admiringly, "Director Qian, you are amazing! It turns out you had prepared in advance. I need to learn from you in this respect—to plan ahead and do a good job of preparation."

Qian Jin secretly thought, "I'm not amazing at all; it's this time-traveling mall that's amazing."

These aviator sunglasses are now popular internationally, and the Soviet Union is no exception.

The six burly men, smelling of sunglasses, found the meat and alcohol less appealing and, reeking of alcohol, came up to look curiously.

Qian Jin was generous and gave everyone a pair of sunglasses: "The weather here is too hot and the sun is too intense, which can easily damage your eyes, so I prepared these Ray-Ban sunglasses for you all."

He showed the packaging bag to several people.

Leipeng's pinyin is very standard.

He didn't believe these brutes could understand English.

But the mechanics had heard of Ray-Ban's reputation!

In present-day Soviet Russia, American goods are highly sought after by the public, and many European and American brands enjoy a prominent reputation within the country.

After hearing Yao Shoucheng's translation, Ivan immediately perked up. He put on his sunglasses, shook his head, and gave Qian Jin a thumbs-up before rattling off a string of words.

Seeing this, the others also gave a thumbs up and started chattering away.

They were speaking too fast and their voices were too jumbled for Yao Shoucheng to translate. In the end, he could only laugh awkwardly and say, "They're thanking you, saying you're a good friend, a true buddy, and a real friend. Anyway, they say you're awesome!"

Qian Jin nodded with a smile and said, "These fools are easy to deal with as long as you know their temperament. Come on, continue translating for me—uh, you don't need to translate that last sentence."

"Comrade Ivan, experts, this well is crucial to the lifeline of tens of thousands of people in our county! I know this machine is not easy to operate and requires high technical skills. Thank you all for your hard work!"

Yao Shoucheng translated diligently, and it should be fine. Ivan and the others patted their chests, making loud thumping noises.

Qian Jin continued, "As long as this well produces water smoothly and in good quality, I, Qian Jin, will definitely treat you well when it is completed. There will be plenty of vodka and meat."

"In addition, on behalf of our Haibin City Drought Relief Headquarters, I would like to promise you that every well we drill in the future—of course, must produce water and be successfully drilled."

"In addition to the remuneration stipulated in the contract, we also give each comrade present two bottles of this vodka, a Swiss watch, and a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses!"

"You heard right, there's a reward like this for every well you dig!"

Yao Shoucheng was stunned: "Huh?"

Qian Jin calmly said, "Just translate it like that. Don't worry about the supplies. Compared to the deep well, this is nothing. I've already prepared everything."

"Just as you think, your director has already taken precautions."

Yao Shoucheng steadied himself and immediately began translating with great enthusiasm.

With the prize as a safety net, he became bolder and more confident, speaking louder and moving more freely.

He went up and patted each of the technicians on the chest—he wanted to pat their shoulders, but he couldn't reach them.

As he translated, the eyes of the six technicians widened in disbelief.

Vodka! Swiss watch! American sunglasses!
These are extremely rare items in their country; even with money, they are hard to buy. You need very powerful channels, namely the black market.

They looked at each other and became excited.

Several people followed Yao Shoucheng and asked him questions.

Having received Qian Jin's assurance, Yao Shoucheng puffed out his chest and said with a contemptuous expression, "Look at you guys! Do you think we Chinese men are just like those old Russians who think their words are nothing but farts? Humph, we are men of our word!"

"Alright, hurry up and translate. What's the point of speaking Chinese?" Qian Jin said speechlessly.

Ivan laughed and said, "It works, comrades, it works! We believe you, comrades, we believe you!"

Chinese!

Yao Shoucheng was completely stunned.

Qian Jin was also surprised: "You can speak Chinese too?"

Ivan wasn't embarrassed at all, and said with a smile, "I know a little, I know a little. I don't speak well before drinking, but I speak well after drinking."

"Comrade leader, please rest assured, we will work with the same spirit we had when fighting the Japanese devils. Don't worry, this well will definitely be completed today!"

Yao Shoucheng was quite embarrassed: "Director Qian, his Chinese is much better than my Russian."

Qian Jin glared at him: "This is a lesson you must remember. Never talk nonsense when you're doing translation work. Just treat yourself like a machine!"

If I hadn't managed to win over these Soviet Russians with material incentives, there would have been a diplomatic incident!
However, Ivan is also a hateful person.

It's obvious that the Soviet Union sent eleven technicians to China; how could none of them understand Chinese? How could they possibly rely on the Chinese side for translation work?
Qian Jin estimated that it wasn't just Ivan who could speak Chinese; some of the other five technicians in the other group also knew Chinese!

This is troublesome.

Those Soviet bastards are scoundrels; they won't act until they see something tangible, and they won't cooperate until they get something good.

Their people were so angry they started cursing, and I'm afraid the situation is similar in Qiaomi County.

Fearing trouble, he quickly found the commune leader and said, "Call the command post in Qiaomi County and tell them to contact the deep well drilling site immediately. There are some Soviet technicians there who understand Chinese, so don't say anything out of line!"

Then he thought for a moment and said to Ivan, "Find one of your colleagues whose job isn't so important and have him go with our comrades."

"When the time comes, have him call your colleagues at the other work location and tell them about our preferential terms—remember, don't tell anyone about this, it's a private deal between us!"

Ivan laughed: "I understand, bribery is definitely something that can't be done in the open."

As he spoke, he winked at Qian Jin.

Qian Jin secretly shook his head.

Stereotypes are indeed problematic.

He thought that the Soviet Russians were all idiots, but in fact they were very shrewd!

(End of this chapter)