Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 114 Learning and Finding Business Opportunities

After finishing their noodles, the two returned to the library.

Yan Hui has many books he wants to read.

Inside the Xinhua Bookstore, besides the books on the shelves, there were also books on the floor, stacked at varying heights.

People who come here to buy or read books are generally quite disciplined: if you touch one of the stacks, you must put it back in its original position.

Some books are stacked high enough to be used as a table, but not as a chair. If you sit on them, the bookstore staff will definitely come and shoo you away.

Yan Hui held the "Wood Processing Technology Handbook" and took notes as he read it.

He doesn't plan to buy the book; he intends to write down the parts he needs to reinforce his memory.

In 1996, the Ministry of Construction issued the "Occupational Technical Standards," which revised the requirements for carpentry skills and further subdivided the requirements for primary, intermediate, and advanced carpenters.

The main things to learn in carpentry include basic knowledge (reading blueprints, building construction, simple calculations, drawing and drafting, structural mechanics, setting out, etc.), commonly used materials, tools, machinery, structures, wooden components, etc., as well as understanding woodworking machinery, gluing, and other related topics.

Yan Hui was destined not to become a carpenter, not even a junior carpenter, but he wanted to understand these things, to understand that even an advanced carpenter couldn't fool him.

Su Jin was reading a leisurely book when she saw Yan Hui meticulously taking notes in the reference book. Suddenly, she felt a little guilty. After thinking for a moment, she found a math tutoring book that she hated the most and forced herself to read it.

After watching for a few minutes, Su Jin would glance at Yan Hui, and each time she would find that Yan Hui was very focused.

Su Jin felt somewhat frustrated that a high school student like herself wasn't as studious as a middle school student, but she also began to sincerely admire Yan Hui.

Su Jin comes from a well-off family, so she has not only met many successful people, but also many outstanding young people. These successful people have one thing in common: they are always serious when it's time to be serious.

During lunch, Su Jin learned that Yan Hui was in the timber business. Yan Hui had a pager at such a young age, so he must have his own business. It was really impressive that someone like him could study so diligently.

Before he knew it, Yan Hui had written nearly a dozen pages of notes, and an afternoon had passed just like that.

He eventually bought two books, and only then did he realize that Su Jin had actually been there all along.

The bookstore was nearly empty by this time. Yan Hui looked at Su Jin and whispered, "You look like a very good student. Did you spend the whole afternoon studying math?"

"Huh?" Su Jin didn't know what to say, so she could only say somewhat embarrassedly, "It's alright."

“Perfect timing, I have a question for you,” Yan Hui said, taking out a woodworking book and whispering, “Is there a good way to calculate the volume of a column with different diameters at the top and bottom?”

All logs are always tapered at the top and thicker at the bottom. By convention, buyers calculate the volume of timber based on the narrowest diameter. However, this does not mean that the thickest diameter has no value.

The extra part in the rough diameter may need to be cut off during the initial processing stage. The cut-off part can still be processed and has many uses, and this part may be the profit.

"A truncated cone? Do you mean the truncated sections are parallel or not?" Su Jin asked in a low voice.

"You can calculate non-parallel lines too?" Yan Hui was surprised. Is your math really that good?
"I won't do it if it's not parallel."

"What about parallel ones?"

“That’s easy,” Su Jin said, pointing to Yan Hui’s notebook. “Give me the notebook.”

"Mmm." Yan Hui quickly handed it over.

Su Jin first looked around to make sure that her words wouldn't disturb others, and then began to draw quickly.

“The larger base radius is R, the smaller base radius is lowercase r, h represents the height, and the volume is 1/3πh(larger R squared + Rr + smaller r squared),” Su Jin explained.

"That's so simple?" Yan Hui flipped through the woodworking book. "It's not even written in there."

"I guess you'd need to look at a specialized carpentry calculation book, but you're pretty smart, you understood the formula at a glance," Su Jin laughed. "Huh? Are you mocking me?" Yan Hui pointed to the formula, "Even elementary school students should be able to do this formula."

"No, no, it's just that many people find it hard to understand," Su Jin waved her hands repeatedly.

“That doesn’t exist. I don’t need to understand the reason. I will definitely believe what you wrote.” Yan Hui nodded.

"You can understand it this way: suppose the larger R and the smaller r are the same, then this is a cylinder. In this formula, the value inside the parentheses becomes 3 times R squared, which cancels out the 1/3 in front, so it becomes the cylinder formula. If the smaller r is 0, then Rr and the smaller r squared are both 0, and this formula becomes the cone volume formula," Su Jin explained again.

"I understand." Yan Hui's understanding deepened immediately.

The volume calculated using this formula, minus the volume of the cylinder with a radius of r, gives the volume of the scrap material.

simple!
Bookstores are not places for chatting. Yan Hui paid for the books, said goodbye to Su Jin, and made an appointment to come back tomorrow at noon.

Besides returning Yan Hui's book tomorrow at noon, Su Jin will also lend Yan Hui a few copies of her "Story Club" magazine. Yan Hui, in turn, has promised to treat Su Jin to lunch tomorrow at noon.

On the way back, Yan Hui still thought the weather was nice! The evening glow was like a crimson ribbon, which was somewhat mesmerizing.

Since Yan Hui had to pass by the timber market on his way back to his residence, and he didn't have anything else to do, he went to the market for a stroll.

My cousin wasn't there, and his house was closed. The market was still noisy, with people coming and going.

Yan Hui wandered around for half an hour but didn't see anything new or any business opportunities.

As they walked, the roar of machinery rang out, and Yan Hui spotted the familiar Steyr truck at a glance.

This car is incredibly eye-catching, and it appears quite frequently, which speaks volumes about its capabilities. Yan Hui believes this person is the most powerful in the entire market.

Before it got dark, Yan Hui followed the truck, wanting to see what kind of cargo it was carrying.

Although the car was large, it drove very slowly in the market, even slower than walking, and Yan Hui easily caught up with it.

No one in the market was as free as Yan Hui, so Yan Hui realized that only he cared about this, like a young man with a youthful spirit.

The truck was parked near a pile of wood, and soon a crane came over, with four or five workers helping to load the truck.

In the crowd, Yan Hui spotted Brother Lü, the foreman of the porters.

"Hello, Brother Lü," Yan Hui took out a cigarette from his bag, offered one to Brother Lü, and then lit it for him with a match.

"Xiao Yan? Where's your brother?" Brother Lü asked. "We went to help your brother transport wood this morning, and we didn't see you."

“I don’t know where he went either,” Yan Hui said, not wanting to talk about his cousin. He pointed to the Steyr truck and asked, “Brother Lü, does this truck belong to that Boss Teng?”

"Yes, you know that too?" Brother Lü asked, somewhat surprised.

"Do you know how to contact this Mr. Teng?" Yan Hui asked, somewhat surprised.

"I don't know, we usually deal with the driver. I met Mr. Teng once, he's a very decent person, but this driver..." Brother Lü glanced at the car and snorted.

"Is this driver difficult to deal with?" Yan Hui asked curiously.

"Yeah, being able to drive this car is quite impressive. If you need to see President Teng, don't count on him. Consider this my advice." Brother Lü seemed a bit angry, but he didn't want to offend the driver.

"I understand, thank you, Brother Lü. You've met President Teng once, so President Teng comes here occasionally?" Yan Hui was still somewhat unwilling to give up.

"I only met you once by chance. If you're thinking of waiting here, you probably won't get anywhere." After saying that, Brother Lü finished his cigarette and went to tell people to get to work.

(End of this chapter)