Twenty years of cold chain

On the way back, Zeng Zhaoda stared intently at the shadows of the trees outside the car window.

Meeting Hu Shutong deeply moved him, not because of technology, but because of the will of a cold chain worker. Those who specialize in this field know best how difficult it is to "go a step further" and how difficult it is to "go from paper to reality." Some people even take "overcoming difficulties is the only way to succeed" as their motto, but they unknowingly fall into the former trap and unknowingly lose the latter's edge.

He did not receive a definite answer from Hu Shutong, but it was not ambiguous either. Hu Shutong asked him for a week, and the result was not a reply, but a solution.

Before the car even returned to Qingda, Zeng Zhaoda had already made up his mind. Even under pressure from the Municipal Bureau, he was going to revise the plan. He had already assumed that Tongxing would be able to secure the national reserve meat, which would further solidify the legitimacy of the Qingyan City cold storage facility.

At the same time, the meat industry association reignited his passion. No matter the current situation, industry professionals must not lose faith, especially since there are many loyal industry insiders who are with him, even if they have never met.

As night fell, Hu Shutong wandered under the streetlights, the leaves rustling against the ground, carrying with them dandelions that had been reduced to mere stems. His expression wasn't one of gloom and despair, but rather one of bright, piercing eyes, as if he were planning something and waiting for something.

When Hu Shutong is thinking about something, he doesn't let any fleeting idea slip by, even if it's unrealistic or difficult. He keeps it somewhere because his thoughts are interconnected, and his goals are consistent. It is precisely these subtle connections that allowed him to find a potentially feasible path.

"Shutong, I've communicated with them, things seem promising, now it's up to you to take action!"

Hu Shutong quickly returned to his office and arranged Tongxing's work overnight. The next morning, he summoned the heads of various departments, as he would be leaving Tongxing for a week.

At the meeting, Hu Shutong mainly pointed out the things that needed attention. The heads of various departments, represented by Su Mu, were already very familiar with the process, and there was no need to worry about the overall daily operation.

Hu Shutong wasn't on a business trip to attend any large conference; his departure this time—

It's to go home.

Because only that place could allow him to completely calm down.

Returning to the familiar little house, gazing at the ornaments filled with memories, and returning to the place that once recorded the construction warehouse and assembly warehouse, one's entire state of mind is transported back to a few years ago, allowing one to briefly leave many things behind.

After returning to Mozi County, Hu Shutong first visited the Luan family with gifts. Luan's mother had recently undergone minor surgery and was recuperating.

When Hu Shutong returned this time, his parents looked at him in surprise. It was a rare opportunity for him to come home, but he barely said a few words at the dinner table before rushing into the house. All that could be heard afterward was the sound of pages turning.

Hu Shutong returned with a major mission, and he had to execute it flawlessly to solve the current problems. It was because of the enormous workload that he chose to return home and trade efficiency for time.

But at noon the next day, Hu Shutong, who was engrossed in his work, suddenly heard a clear and beautiful voice, and he could hardly believe his ears.

"Mr. Hu, do you need any help?"

But then, at the doorway, Luan Pingxin was standing there. Hu Shutong was overjoyed and quickly stepped forward to pull Luan Pingxin inside. "Pingxin! This is an emergency! I'll make the blueprints, and you can adapt them to the equipment specifications!"

Hearing this from the outer room, Mr. and Mrs. Hu, who had just been overjoyed, felt as if they had been doused with cold water. Some things had to be brought up by the Hu family; Old Luan had hinted at them many times, but ultimately, it was Hu Shu's involvement that mattered. Unexpectedly, on such a rare occasion, and after so long, the first thing he said was, "Blueprints? Equipment?"

Hu Shutong's parents understood his previous thoughts, but now that he was interested and had changed his mind, the huge factory area was one of the best in Qingyan. It was time for him to establish a career and start a family at the same time.

Unexpectedly, the young woman showed no resentment. On the contrary, once she started talking, she became excited and chattered away, in a way that the elderly couple couldn't understand.

"Good heavens! How many Tongxing buildings are you going to build?! What? There's a Big Tongxing? A Small Tongxing? Shutong, what are you trying to do?"

"This time it's different. It's not just a framework of drawings, but detailed drawings down to the location of every construction node. In addition to the main drawings, we also need to make detailed construction drawings."

"Is your answer the same one I asked?"

"It's not something I can explain in a short time. I need to make six sets of drawings, ranging from a minimum of 2,000 tons to a maximum of 20,000 tons. The difference in capacity means that the equipment not only changes in numbers and scale, but also involves the selection of the optimal model. No one can do it better than Miss Luan!"

Stop flattering me. You come to my house for drinks every time, and I come to your house for chores every time.

Hu Shutong laughed, but after a quick glance, Luan Pingxin was immediately drawn to the drawings in front of him. The sight impressed Luan Pingxin greatly; six sets of drawings—this person wasn't working on them one by one, but rather all six simultaneously, turning the room into a painter's paradise.

Putting everything else aside, the scale and intensity with which Hu Shutong was handling this matter indicated it was no small thing. And she had long understood that this workaholic hadn't sent her back to her hometown to recuperate.

As the project progressed, Luan Pingxin saw more and more. She had seen Tongxing's blueprints before; these six sets of blueprints could be considered various versions of Tongxing, large and small. Previously, she had only thought that they reflected some of Hu Shutong's ideas, but now, upon closer inspection, she realized that there was much more to it than met the eye. It was not just a simple matter of detailed construction; rather, the integration of the whole and the details was different from ordinary cold storage facilities from the very beginning.

Gradually, she began to understand why she felt that Tongxing's blueprints were unlike any other construction blueprints she had ever seen when she first saw them.

Because that's a more macro-level logic.

The essence of cold storage is storage. It seems that as long as the storage is set up and the refrigeration equipment is fully installed, the rest is just dividing and partitioning. Equipment rooms, pre-cooling rooms, and refrigeration rooms follow one after another. No matter the scale, they can't be separated from this model.

It is precisely these oversights in the early stages that have led to the fact that, with the same building area and investment in refrigeration and insulation facilities, the actual inventory of cold storage facilities in China is so much smaller, with the difference reaching as high as 30%!

But at this moment, those matters of beams, pillars, and threads don't seem particularly urgent or important.

Suddenly, I felt like I was back in the past, as if Tongxing had never existed, as if I saw the old lyric book on my desk.

Just like that year when the mountain flowers had not yet bloomed and the snow was light in front of the hall.

……

I've loved cold chain logistics for twenty years.