Rebirth: Fan Debiao rises from the Liaobei land

Three days later, all the materials were ready.

The street office certificate was stamped with a bright red seal, and fifteen households had signed and left their fingerprints. The environmental protection bureau's test report was a thick stack. Fan Debiao put these materials into a newly bought folder and flicked the cover with his fingers: "Now it's all complete, more complete than a bride being prepared for her wedding."

Awei handed over a cup of hot tea: "Brother Biao, Team Leader Zheng called and said the inspection is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. the day after tomorrow."

"The day after tomorrow?" Fan Debiao glanced at the calendar. "That's a tight schedule. How's the equipment setup going?"

"Mr. Li from Motorola led the team and stayed up all night again last night," Awei said. "Liu Tiezhu and his team worked together to check each feeder connector one by one. Mr. Wang finished cleaning up the site; the ground was so clean that even flies would slip on it."

Fan Debiao nodded. He recalled arranging for Engineer Li and his team to stay at Victoria a few days ago, treating them to good food and drinks, and even sending them cigarettes every few days—the money was well spent. Engineers are honest people; if you treat them well, they'll really work hard for you.

The phone rang.

It was Director Zhao, his voice low: "Boss Fan, how are the preparations going?"

"Everything is settled."

"That's good." Director Zhao paused for a moment, "There's one more thing—the inspection is the day after tomorrow, and General Manager Wang from the provincial company might be coming."

Fan Debiao knew perfectly well: "Wang... was he invited by Zhang?"

"That's why I said you understand," Director Zhao laughed. "The scene is definitely set up perfectly, and we're fully prepared for any technical questions. General Manager Wang is an expert; he doesn't tolerate any nonsense. If you get stumped by his questions, you'll be in deep trouble."

Just as I hung up the phone, Team Leader Zheng sent another text message: "Boss Fan, key points for the acceptance test: 1. Actual call quality test; 2. Handover success rate; 3. Coverage map. Also, pay close attention to the following locations: shady areas of buildings, underground parking garage entrance, and the third floor of the southeast corner residential building, as these are prone to deductions."

Fan Debiao forwarded the text message to Li, the engineer from Motorola, and Zhang, the engineer from Ericsson, adding: "Brothers, check these points again carefully. I'll arrange a bath and massage after the inspection is over."

Half an hour later, Engineer Li called back: "Boss Fan, the signal is indeed weak on the third floor of the residential building in the southeast corner. The buildings are too close together, causing signal obstruction."

"Can it be adjusted?"

"Yes, we can adjust the antenna tilt," said Engineer Li. "But we have to do it at night, otherwise it will affect existing users during the day."

"Let's do it tonight," Fan Debiao said. "What do you need?"

"An aerial work platform, and two more people to assist." Engineer Li paused, "In this freezing weather..."

"Two hundred yuan per person for the night shift, and a full Victoria's Bath service afterwards." Fan Debiao interrupted him, "We can't let the brothers freeze for nothing."

At 10 p.m., the temperature was -12 degrees Celsius, and the north wind was howling like knives.

The aerial work platform's arms creaked as they rose. Li, wrapped in two military overcoats, stood in the basket, his hands purple with cold, still adjusting the instruments. Liu Tiezhu, on the ground, gripped the safety rope and shouted into the walkie-talkie, "Li, turn the angle half a turn to the left!"

"receive!"

When Fan Debiao arrived at the scene in the middle of the night, Engineer Li had just come down from the suspended basket. His eyebrows and eyelashes were all white, making him look like Santa Claus.

"How is it?"

"All set." Engineer Li exhaled white breath, "The signal strength at the southeast corner, third floor, is now -85dBm, which meets the standard. This job was absolutely freezing!"

Fan Debiao patted him on the shoulder: "Thank you for your hard work, Engineer Li. Come on, I've arranged everything for Victoria, a bath and a meal all in one go."

The night before the inspection, Fan Debiao went to Victoria.

Wu Derong was checking the accounts in his office when he saw Fan Debiao come in. He laughed and said, "Biaozi, you're preparing for the inspection like a new bride meeting her in-laws. Are you nervous?"

"What's there to be nervous about?" Fan Debiao sat down. "It's just that I'm not entirely confident. Mr. Wu, can I borrow some people from you?"

"Borrow someone?"

"Borrow a security guard," Fan Debiao said. "We need someone to keep an eye on the construction site tonight. I reckon there will be people causing trouble again after the feeder line was cut."

Without a word, Wu Derong picked up the phone: "Gangzi, bring our entire security team to the construction site. Three shifts, focusing on the feeder lines and distribution boxes. If you see anyone suspicious, pin them down first—I'll take responsibility if anything happens."

"Alright!" Gangzi responded loudly from the other end.

Late at night at the construction site, eight security guards, dressed in military overcoats, squatted in the shadows, stamping their feet to keep warm. Gangzi, carrying a rubber baton, paced around under the base station pole, his eyes wide like copper bells.

At three o'clock in the morning, a dark shadow flickered at the base of the eastern wall.

Gangzi waved his hand, and three security guards surrounded the figure. Seeing that things were not going well, the dark figure jumped over the wall and ran away faster than a rabbit.

"Chase!" Gangzi was the first to jump over the wall.

After chasing him for two blocks, the dark figure disappeared into an alley. Gangzi returned, panting heavily, cursing, "Damn it, he's like an eel—he slipped away so fast."

Fan Debiao rushed to the construction site after receiving a call: "Have you caught him yet?"

"No, they ran away," Gangzi said. "But I saw them clearly—they were wearing black cotton-padded jackets and dog-skin hats; they weren't from around here."

"It's good that nothing bad happened." Fan Debiao looked at the sky. "It's almost dawn, let's tell everyone to hang in there a little longer. When we're done, everyone will get three hundred yuan as a reward for their hard work, and I'll treat you to drinks."

On the morning of the inspection day, the construction site was neatly tidied up.

The equipment cabinets were polished to a shine, the feeder cables were bundled up as neatly as a young woman's braids, and the floor was so clean you couldn't find a single cigarette butt. Engineer Wang and the workers stood in a row, all dressed in their newly issued cotton work clothes. Liu Tiezhu checked the grounding wire one last time, while Awei stood behind Fan Debiao holding a folder.

At 8:50, the sound of cars could be heard at the intersection.

The convoy was led by two black Audis with provincial license plates. Three Santanas followed behind. As the convoy entered the construction site, it kicked up a cloud of snow.

The door of the first Audi opened, and a man in his fifties stepped out, wearing a black wool coat and with his hair neatly combed. General Manager Zhang followed closely behind, giving Fan Debiao a wink.

Director Zhao quickly introduced, "President Wang, this is Mr. Fan Debiao, the owner of Dexing Communications."

Fan Debiao smiled broadly and warmly stepped forward to shake hands: "Hello, General Manager Wang, welcome to your inspection and guidance."

Mr. Wang shook hands, his eyes already scanning the base station pole: "Boss Fan, you built this base station quite quickly. I heard it took less than a month from groundbreaking to acceptance?"

"Twenty-three days," Fan Debiao said. "It was mainly due to the support of the leadership and the hard work of the brothers."

Mr. Wang nodded and turned to Mr. Zhang: "Xiao Zhang, this location was well chosen. This area on Sima Road used to be a signal dead zone, and the residents complained a lot. You've solved a big problem this time."

Mr. Zhang smiled and agreed, "It's all thanks to Mr. Wang's excellent guidance."

Team Leader Zheng led the acceptance team to begin their work. Testers made calls from different locations using their mobile phones, while technicians recorded data by monitoring the instrument screens. Fan Debiao stood beside General Manager Wang, his face calm, though his palms were slightly sweaty.

Suddenly, Team Leader Zheng walked over: "General Manager Wang, General Manager Zhang, there's a problem. The signal strength at the entrance of the underground parking garage is -102dBm, which is slightly below the standard value."

General Manager Wang looked at Fan Debiao: "Boss Fan, have you tested this spot?"

"We've tested it." Fan Debiao steadied himself. "Mr. Wang, the signal is indeed weak at the underground parking garage entrance due to the building's structure. But we made contingency plans during the planning stage—"

He waved to those behind him: "Engineer Li from Motorola, Engineer Zhang from Ericsson, please have the two experts report to the leadership."

The two engineers were already prepared. Engineer Li took out the blueprints: "Mr. Wang, we adopted a signal enhancement solution for the underground parking garage entrance. Look here—we added an auxiliary antenna on the roof of the building opposite. By adjusting the transmission power and antenna tilt angle, the current measured value of -102dBm is slightly low, but the call quality and clarity tests meet the standards."

Mr. Zhang added, "Furthermore, we conducted handover tests. When vehicles enter or exit the garage, the signal handover success rate was 100%, with no dropped calls. This is actual test data."

Mr. Wang took the test report, looked at it carefully, and smiled: "Good, well thought out. Communication infrastructure construction can't just focus on single-point strength; we must pay attention to user experience. Clear calls and smooth handovers are the key."

General Manager Zhang breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at Fan Debiao, and looked at him with approval.

The subsequent tests went smoothly. Call quality was excellent, handover success rate was 100%, and coverage map was perfect. Team Leader Zheng, holding the data summary, raised his voice eight octaves: "General Manager Wang, all indicators meet the standards, and some indicators are more than 20% above the standard!"

General Manager Wang was very satisfied and praised it publicly: "This base station is the best quality one I have seen recently. The construction is up to standard, the technology is advanced, and in particular, it can provide innovative solutions to difficult problems. It is worth promoting."

He turned to General Manager Zhang: "Xiao Zhang, you made the right choice in selecting this partner."

Mr. Zhang's face beamed: "It's all thanks to Mr. Wang's excellent leadership."

The inspection team signed off on the spot. Team Leader Zheng stamped the inspection report with a large red seal and handed it to Fan Debiao with both hands: "Boss Fan, congratulations. It passed on the first try!"

Applause erupted. The workers grinned; this past month hadn't been easy.

After seeing off the leaders' motorcade, Fan Debiao stood under the base station and lit a cigarette.

Gangzi leaned over and said, "Brother Biao, it's all settled! The 300,000 yuan for the project will be in our account soon!"

Awei flipped through the ledger: "Brother Biao, according to the contract, payment should be made within seven working days after acceptance."

Fan Debiao exhaled a puff of smoke but didn't say anything.

Engineer Wang walked over: "Boss Fan, the guys are asking... are we adding any more dishes tonight?"

"Add more!" Fan Debiao tossed aside his cigarette. "Victoria, the largest private room! Everyone, eat and drink to your heart's content! You've all worked hard this past month, brothers!"

"Awooo!" the workers cheered, their voices so loud they could lift the roof off.

Fan Debiao's phone vibrated; it was a text message from General Manager Zhang: "Boss Fan, you did a great job today. Be early for the appreciation party next week; I'll introduce you to a few people."

Fan Debiao replied, "Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Zhang."