Cangmang Asks the Way 1: Guardian of the Lamp

January 18, 1995. In the training hall of Jixian Sports School, Cang Tianci was practicing Zhan Zhuang (standing meditation). Thousands of miles away in Nancheng, his elder brother Cang Lifeng's first project was also due for completion and acceptance.

The morning mist hadn't yet dissipated, but the construction site was already packed with people. The workers from Zhongzhi Construction had changed into clean clothes.

Behind them lies a ruin that, just three months ago, was a wasteland of exposed steel bars and scattered concrete fragments. Now, the four-story main building is complete, its exterior freshly painted, the light gray walls gleaming warmly in the morning light. The ground floor stall area is smooth and clean, with water and electricity lines laid, ready for merchants to move in.

Cang Lifeng stood at the front, wearing a dark gray jacket over the light blue shirt Lin Wei had bought for him. He didn't speak, but just stared at the building for a long time.

Wang Lide walked up to him and whispered, "Lifeng, the inspection team is almost here."

Cang Lifeng nodded. He turned around and looked at the group of brothers who had fought alongside him for three months. Old Li, Big Zhou, Old Zhang, Little Zhang, Yuan Tiesheng… faces etched with the marks of time, hands roughened by hardship. He wanted to say something, but after thinking for a long time, he finally managed to utter only two words: “Thank you!”

The voice wasn't loud, but everyone heard it.

At nine o'clock in the morning, the inspection team's car stopped at the construction site entrance. The developer's boss, surnamed Chen, was a stout man in his fifties, wearing a dark brown leather jacket. As he got out of the car, he first looked at the exterior wall of the building, then at the people standing at the entrance. His gaze lingered on Cang Lifeng's face for a moment, then he extended his hand, a smile spreading across his face: "Mr. Cang, thank you for your hard work."

Cang Lifeng grasped his hand, neither humble nor arrogant: "President Chen, it's my pleasure."

The inspection team consisted of seven people: a representative from the developer's engineering department, a technician from the quality inspection station, and a structural expert invited from the city. They were divided into three groups: one group reviewed documents, one group measured the actual structures, and one group verified the concealed works.

Cang Lifeng accompanied General Manager Chen on a tour of the construction site. When they reached the second floor, General Manager Chen suddenly stopped, pointed to a tiny crack in the concrete surface in the corner, and frowned: "General Manager Cang, what happened here?"

Old Li, following behind, felt a chill. He knew the crack very well—it wasn't a structural problem, but a surface shrinkage crack caused by temperature differences during concrete setting, perfectly within the permissible range. But General Manager Chen's tone was clearly nitpicking.

Cang Lifeng glanced at the crack and calmly said, "Mr. Chen, this is a thermal shrinkage crack, no more than two millimeters deep, and it does not affect structural safety. You can have an expert inspect it on-site."

Mr. Chen didn't speak. He glanced at Cang Lifeng, then at the crack, turned around, and continued walking forward.

Mr. Chen walked ahead, secretly nodding in approval. He had seen too many foremen who either rushed to defend themselves when questioned or bowed and scraped for leniency. Someone like Cang Lifeng, who was neither humble nor arrogant and spoke with facts, was rare.

Upon reaching the top floor, the quality inspection station technician took out a rebound hammer and began testing the concrete strength. The instrument tapped the wall a dozen times, displaying the readings. The technician glanced at it, then looked at it again, before handing the data to the structural expert. The expert took the data, flipped through a couple of pages, and frowned slightly.

He looked up at Cang Lifeng: "President Cang, the strength at several points is two megapascals lower than the design specification."

Old Li's expression changed slightly. He knew it was the unfinished part left by Jinzhou; the inspection when he took over showed several places with insufficient strength, which Cang Lifeng had already reinforced. But when the inspection team brought it up in person, his heart still tightened.

Cang Lifeng remained calm. He walked up to the expert, took a folder from Wang Lide, opened it, flipped to a certain page, and handed it over: "These are the design drawings and construction records for the reinforcement plan, as well as the third-party testing report after the reinforcement. The original concrete did indeed have insufficient strength, but after we took over, we carried out comprehensive reinforcement according to national standards. The testing data after the reinforcement is here. All the indicators meet the design requirements."

The expert took the document and flipped through it page by page. When he reached the page with the test report, his finger paused for a moment, then he nodded and handed the document back to Cang Lifeng.

"The reinforcement plan is fine, the construction records are complete, and the test data meet the standards." The expert turned to General Manager Chen, "General Manager Chen, the structural safety of this project is not a problem."

Mr. Chen's expression softened somewhat, but he still didn't back down: "President Cang, this project was originally a mess for Jinzhou, and I appreciate your taking it over. But the quality of the project is the bottom line, and there's no room for carelessness. I will seriously consider the inspection team's opinions today."

Cang Lifeng didn't reply. He just stood there, looking at President Chen. His gaze was calm, like a mirror, reflecting all of President Chen's thoughts.

The inspection lasted for more than two hours. The documentation team reviewed all the construction logs, material certificates, and concealed works acceptance records; the physical inspection team measured the verticality of the walls, the flatness of the ground, and the dimensions of the door and window openings; and the verification team compared the documentation of the reinforced areas with the actual site conditions. Finally, the seven people gathered together and exchanged a few words in hushed tones.

The structural expert representative of the acceptance team announced the results: "After testing, the construction quality of the Nancheng Chengnan Agricultural Wholesale Market project is qualified and the structure is safe. We agree to pass the completion acceptance."

Old Li's eyes reddened. He wasn't crying for himself—he was crying for Cang Lifeng. For the past three months, he had worked himself to the bone, not for the wages, but because he wanted to atone for his sins. He wanted to use his own hands to rebuild what he had destroyed, bit by bit. Now the building was up and had passed inspection, and half the weight on his heart had finally been lifted. He turned his face away and wiped his eyes hard with his sleeve. Da Zhou's lips trembled, but he gritted his teeth to keep the tears from falling.

Cang Lifeng stood there, silent. His fingers twitched slightly, then relaxed.

Mr. Chen's smile finally became more genuine. He walked up to Cang Lifeng, extended his hand, and said, "Mr. Cang, you've done a great job. I'd like to invite you to dinner. Would you do me the honor?"

Cang Lifeng grasped his hand: "Mr. Chen, you're too kind. I should be the one treating you."

Mr. Chen laughed heartily and patted Cang Lifeng on the shoulder: "Young man, don't be arrogant or impatient, you have a bright future. By the way," he changed the subject, "there's another project in the east of the city, are you interested?"

Cang Lifeng paused for a moment, then glanced at Lu Wenyuan beside him. Lu Wenyuan nodded.

"I'm interested," Cang Lifeng said.

"Okay, I'll have my assistant contact you another day." After saying that, Mr. Chen turned and got into his car.

The inspection team's car drove away. A moment of silence fell over the construction site, then Da Zhou was the first to shout, "Passed! Passed!" Old Zhang jumped up and grabbed Xiao Zhang next to him, almost knocking over his cane. Old Li squatted in the corner, burying his head in his knees.

Cang Lifeng walked over, squatted down, and put his hand on Lao Li's shoulder.

"Uncle Li," he called out.

Old Li looked up, his face streaked with tears. He stared at Cang Lifeng, his lips trembling for a long time before he finally managed to squeeze out, "Boss... I... we did it!"

"You're crying now that it's done? And you're so old." Cang Lifeng laughed and scolded.

Wang Lide walked over and offered him a cigarette. He waved his hand and said, "Brother Wang, I've decided to quit smoking. You can smoke it yourself."

Wang Lide didn't insist. He took out a lighter, lit the cigarette in his hand, and took a satisfying drag.

Lu Wenyuan also came over and stood to the side.

Wang Lide exhaled a puff of smoke and asked, "Lifeng, why did President Chen suddenly give us a new project? Is it because we did a good job?"

Cang Lifeng didn't answer immediately, but looked at Lu Wenyuan: "Wenyuan, what do you think?"

Lu Wenyuan thought for a moment and said, "Not entirely. Doing a good job is fundamental, but President Chen doesn't lack construction teams that can do a good job. What he lacks are reliable partners. Today, we didn't panic when we were being given a hard time, we presented evidence when we were questioned, and we didn't turn hostile when we were nitpicked. These are more important than that building."

Cang Lifeng nodded and continued, "Wen Yuan is right. He's not inspecting the building; he's inspecting me as a person."

Wang Lide nodded thoughtfully and took another drag of his cigarette.

In the evening, Cang Lifeng set up two tables at a restaurant near the construction site. Da Zhou ordered the dishes, and Lao Zhang bought the wine. Lao Li sat next to Cang Lifeng, holding a wine glass, his hand still trembling slightly.

"Boss," he stood up, his voice hoarse, "this drink is for you. Don't stop me."

Cang Lifeng didn't stop him. Old Li downed the wine in his glass in one gulp, coughing a few times as he choked, but his eyes were still red.

"I've followed Jinzhou for eight years, eight years! What did he treat me like? He treated me like a dog! But the boss is different! I made such a big mistake, and he didn't push me out, he even took the blame for me..."

He couldn't continue. Da Zhou stood up, pressed Lao Li back into his seat, and raised his glass: "Boss, I'm not good with words. Just one sentence—working for you is reassuring."

Cang Lifeng stood up, holding his wine glass. His gaze swept over every face: Lu Wenyuan, Wang Lide, Lao Li, Da Zhou, Lao Zhang, Xiao Zhang, Yuan Tiesheng, Ma Xiaolei, Fang Houshan… each one was etched into his heart.

"Zhongzhi is our family, and our family is Zhongzhi," he said. "This isn't just something I said; it's something we all did together. Without you all, I, Cang Lifeng, couldn't have built this project by myself. The road ahead is long, and we'll encounter even more difficult things, but I'm not afraid. Because I'm not alone."

He raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp.

After a few rounds of drinks, the door was pushed open. Lin Wei stood in the doorway, wearing a beige down jacket, her cheeks flushed red from the cold wind. She carried a camera in her hand and had a bag slung over her shoulder.

Cang Lifeng was stunned for a moment: "You... what brings you here?"

"Didn't you ask someone to bring me this message?" Lin Wei walked in, smiling matter-of-factly. "The completion of the Chengnan Farmers' Market is such big news, how could our newspaper not come? But..." She glanced at the table full of dishes, "Am I too late?"

"It's not too late!" Da Zhou quickly brought over a chair. "Reporter Lin, please sit down."

Lin Wei sat down next to Cang Lifeng. She placed her camera on the table, glanced at him, and asked in a low voice, "Did it go smoothly?"

"Successfully," Cang Lifeng said.

"That's good." She didn't ask any more questions, picked up her teacup, and gently touched the rim of his cup. "Congratulations."

Cang Lifeng looked at her, his gaze holding something like a winter fire—not fierce, but warm. He opened his mouth, only managing to utter two words: "Thank you."

After dinner, Cang Lifeng walked Lin Wei to the roadside. A night breeze blew by, carrying the chill of winter. Lin Wei zipped up her down jacket and looked at the silent building in the distance. The streetlights shone from the side, casting long, overlapping shadows of the two of them.

"Lifeng," she suddenly said.

"Um?"

"You just said, 'Unity is our home, and our home is in unity.' Are you serious about that?"

Cang Lifeng looked at her. The light from the streetlamp fell on her face, and her eyes were bright.

"Seriously," he said.

Lin Wei smiled. The smile was gentle, like the moonlight on a winter night—cold, yet pure.

"That's good. I'll include that in the report, and you can't back out now."

Cang Lifeng paused for a moment, then smiled: "No regrets."

A taxi pulled up, and Lin Wei waved it down. Before getting in, she turned back and glanced at him. He couldn't understand what was in that look, but he remembered it.

The taxi disappeared around the street corner. Cang Lifeng stood by the roadside, watching the taillights grow farther and farther away, until they became a red dot and melted into the night.

He recalled his own words—"Unity is our home." But what is home? It's brothers together, it's a building built together. And what about her? She wrote "Unity is our home" in her report; does she consider herself a member of this home? He had no answer, but the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved into a smile.

He turned around and walked back to the hotel.

The workers were still playing drinking games. Da Zhou and Lao Zhang were arm wrestling, with Xiao Zhang egging them on. Lao Li leaned back in his chair, his face flushed, a smile playing on his lips. It was the first time Cang Lifeng had ever seen him smile so freely since he had known him.

He didn't go in; he just stood at the doorway, watching them. His heart overflowed with an unprecedented happiness.

Da Zhou opened another bottle of wine. Seeing Cang Lifeng standing at the door, he shouted, "Boss, what are you doing standing at the door? Come in! We haven't finished toasting yet!"

Cang Lifeng walked in and picked up his wine glass.

"Respect the will of the people," he said.

"To the unity of all!" Everyone raised their glasses.

The glasses clinked together, making a crisp sound that lingered in the winter night air for a long time.

After the celebration banquet ended, Cang Lifeng returned to his office, took out a piece of stationery from his drawer, and wrote a letter to Tianci. He wrote slowly: "Tianci, the Chengnan Agricultural Trade Project passed inspection today. I kept my word, and the team's resolve was upheld..."

At the end, he added a word of advice: "Practice hard and study hard over there. I'll wait for you to come to Nancheng during the summer vacation and show you the buildings we built."

He folded the letter, put it in an envelope, and affixed a stamp. The envelope contained the address of the Jixian Sports School.