I couldn't take it anymore; when I went home for Chinese New Year, the family genealogy book ha

"Cao Dachui reporting for duty! All six hundred men are here. I'll smash whichever one Brother Chen tells me to smash!"

The starting point of the abandoned railway line is in a desolate mountainous area near the eastern suburbs of the provincial capital.

Cao Dachui was shirtless, with six hundred brothers standing behind him.

They were all his old partners who had worked with him on earthmoving projects. When they heard that Jiang Chen was going to build a railway, they all came over with just one phone call, without even asking about their wages.

"Stop talking nonsense and get your helmets!" Wang Dagou shouted at the top of his lungs, standing on a modified command vehicle.

The recruitment notice was issued only three days ago.

The first wave of people who flocked from the surrounding villages numbered over 20,000.

Some rode motorcycles, some drove tricycles, some drove donkey carts, and many more came from dozens of kilometers away on farm tractors. Some even walked all night along mountain roads.

Attorney Zhou was also busy during these three days.

He led his legal team into the asset disposal center of the provincial railway bureau.

The abandoned railway line had been sitting on a tangled mess for thirty years, a complete liability – not only did it not generate any revenue, but it also required annual maintenance payments. The railway bureau was eager for someone to take it over.

Attorney Zhou immediately offered a price ten times higher than the asking price.

When the other party's director saw the string of numbers, he thought he had misread it because of his presbyopia. He rubbed the numbers three times before confirming that there were no extra zeros.

The formalities were completed on the same day.

The contract was signed and the official seal was affixed. The rights to use, modify, and operate the property belong entirely to the Jiang Group.

Legal and compliant, flawless.

While the Chu family's representative in the county town was still presenting the implementation report on the weight limiter to claim credit and rewards, Jiang Chen's main force had already marched into the deep mountains in a grand procession.

Seventh day.

The construction site of the abandoned railway line can only be described in four words:

Covering the mountains and plains.

Looking down from above, the railway embankment, which had been overgrown with weeds and shrubs for thirty years, was densely packed with figures wearing safety helmets of various colors. Red, yellow, and blue, like colorful grains of rice scattered in a valley.

The number of people has exceeded 80,000.

And it's still increasing.

A daily wage of 3,000 yuan, paid in cash daily, plus three meals of meat and rice provided—this news precisely struck at the heart of every manual laborer within a 200-kilometer radius.

No qualifications required. No educational background required. As long as you have physical strength, you're paid.

Nobody is slacking off.

It wasn't because there was a supervisor.

It's because every evening, dozens of tin boxes are neatly arranged on the makeshift long table at the village entrance, filled with brand-new red banknotes that have been sealed.

People who have worked all day line up, walk over, report their employee number, sign, and receive their pay.

Three thousand yuan.

Brand new.

I'll count them out for you one by one.

The real feeling of having money in your own hands is more effective than any mobilization order.

"Hey-ho! Hey-ho!"

The shouts echoed through the valley.

On the roadbed, hundreds of people lined up, carrying thick wooden poles on their shoulders, with a twelve-meter-long steel rail weighing more than a ton hanging below the poles.

There are no high-precision, large-scale track-laying machines.

Jiang Chen used the most primitive human wave tactic.

One hundred people carry one. Align it in place, put it down, close it, and secure it.

For the first time ever, Ding Xiu didn't bring his stainless steel thermos today.

He picked up a 200-pound old sleeper with one hand and threw it like a matchstick onto the pile of scrap next to the roadbed.

"Bang!"

The workers nearby were dumbfounded.

"Is this...is this guy a human or a machine?" a young man asked the person next to him, swallowing hard.

Ding Xiu patted the dust off his hands expressionlessly, then bent down and picked up another one.

On the other end.

Peng Dali's location is the easiest to find—just follow the sound.

"when!"

"when!"

"when!"

The thirty-pound hammer was like a toy in his hands. With each strike, the thick railway spikes sank half an inch into the sleepers. Sparks flew and iron filings flew everywhere.

One hour.

Three hundred railway spikes.

One is straight, one is not crooked.

Peng Dali was covered in sweat, with half a steamed bun in his mouth. He would chew twice, then smash it with a hammer, chew twice more, and smash it with a hammer.

His master used to say that he was stupid and all he knew how to do was smash things.

Now that's great, they've achieved the highest efficiency in the entire event.

The logistical support was also handled meticulously.

Hu Lahua and Fang Cui led several hundred women to set up over a hundred large pots in a temporary camp two kilometers behind the construction site.

Braised pork belly, stewed beef brisket, rice cooked in a large pot, and hundreds of kilograms of steamed buns piled higher than a person.

After the workers finished their shifts, they would first drink a large bowl of chilled mung bean soup, and then eat rice from a bowl bigger than their face.

After eating their fill, they wiped their mouths, changed shifts, and continued working.

The entire construction site operates 24 hours a day.

They rely on the sun during the day and searchlights at night.

When the hundreds of searchlights were turned on, the entire valley was as bright as day. From the sky, it looked like a giant, glowing python winding through the mountains.

An industrial miracle created entirely by peasants is taking place.

Thirty years of neglect were quickly cleared of weeds and shrubs. Rotten old sleepers were uprooted and discarded, replaced with brand-new hardwood. Rusty old rails were cut and dismantled, and new rails, gleaming with a cold metallic luster, were precisely laid in their place.

A giant steel dragon is advancing rapidly from the provincial capital toward Jiangjia Village at a speed of tens of kilometers per day.

The twelfth day.

The railway has been laid to a point less than ten kilometers from Jiangjia Village.

The news finally reached the Chu family's ears.

The office in the county town with the sign "Chu Family Benefits the People" hanging on it.

The agent, Sun Jian—the one who had been kicked out of the supermarket before—was sitting with his legs crossed, sipping tea. The weight limiter issue had been handled brilliantly; Young Master Chu had personally called to praise him, and he felt he had finally saved face this time.

One of his men tumbled and crawled in.

"Manager! Something's happened!"

"Jiang Chen didn't get into trucks; he recruited tens of thousands of people in the mountains to build railways! The tracks are almost all the way to their village entrance!"

"puff--!"

Sun Jian spat out the tea in his mouth, spraying it all over the face of the underling opposite him.

"What the hell did you say?"

"Build a railway?"

Which railway?

The younger brother tremblingly handed over the video he had filmed.

On the phone screen, a dense crowd filled the entire valley. Shouts, hammering, and the roar of machinery blended together.

Sun Jian's expression changed little by little.

He slammed his hand on the table.

"Bullshit! Railway construction doesn't happen that fast. They don't have large track-laying machines or professional planning. How could they lay dozens of kilometers of track in two weeks? Nonsense!"

He tossed the phone back to his younger brother.

"Even if he manages to pave it, it'll be a shoddy project! A train will derail on the very first bend!"

"I'll go to the bridge tomorrow and see for myself. I want to see what tricks Jiang Chen can pull!"

Sun Jian picked up his teacup again and took a sip, trying to appear calm.

But the fingers holding the cup were already trembling slightly.