Chapter 241: The Shipyard

The next morning, Bai Guoshi slept far too late. He learned from the guard on duty at the residential group gate that a young woman had come looking for him, but since he hadn't risen yet, she was turned away. Bai Guoshi was certain it must have been Zhao Xue—visiting so early suggested she likely wanted to go to the canteen for breakfast together. This was a golden opportunity to strengthen their relationship, and he had utterly squandered it. He knocked his own head in frustration.

Another depressing matter: after leaving the committee meeting the previous night, his head had been spinning from the prolonged debate. As a result, when Wei Aiwen asked him for a cigarette, he muddily handed over the entire pack—the very pack from which he'd smoked only one cigarette the day before. Painful. That was a pack of Hard Chunghwa—the market price for Hard Chunghwa had become absurd. Fortunately, he had brought an entire carton.

"Truly unlucky." The more Bai Guoshi dwelt on it, the more dispirited he felt. He couldn't even muster the motivation to visit the canteen for breakfast. Instead, he fished out a piece of the incredibly unpalatable "Grassland No. 5" rice cake from his pocket. This was the standard field ration, but because everyone detested eating it, substantial quantities accumulated.

Chewing the rice cake that seemed impossible to swallow, Bai Guoshi arrived at the Exploration Team office. He had just sat down and poured a cup of water, preparing to wash down the rice cake, when Liu Zheng walked in. Seeing him, Liu Zheng chuckled several times, leaving Bai Guoshi thoroughly baffled.

"Little Bai, Zhao Xue has been officially transferred to our department starting today."

"Really?!" Bai Guoshi leaped up in excitement, nearly choking on the rice cake.

"Don't get so excited—of course it's true." Liu Zheng smiled reassuringly. "Men and women working together makes the work less tiring. Little Bai, you must seize this opportunity—"

Just as Bai Guoshi was about to respond, Zhao Xue burst in and said bluntly, "I heard I'm being assigned to base duty and not allowed on field missions!"

"Well, hehe, yes," Liu Zheng nodded. "Your leg isn't fully healed—it's not suitable for extended field activities. As our exploration team scales up, we need someone manning the office. We can't leave headquarters empty. This also leverages your IT expertise for intelligence analysis and organization. Your work is critically important: mission briefings before departures, intelligence reports after returns. There's also administrative work. The burden is heavy, but we'll all help however we can."

Zhao Xue said thoughtfully, "That important..."

Seeing she was convinced, Liu Zheng said, "I have other matters—leaving first." Thus creating an opportunity for Bai Guoshi.

Bai Guoshi suddenly felt incredibly fortunate. Could this be karmic reward for giving away cigarettes?

Just as he pondered how to initiate conversation, Zhao Xue spoke: "I came to find you this morning. Why were you still asleep?"

"I was exhausted yesterday. You have no idea how late that Executive Committee meeting ran." Bai Guoshi couldn't resist boasting about his distinguished bearing during the report, embellishing how the committee had praised the exploration team's talent. By the end, even the large-scale expedition had become his proposal.

While spinning this yarn, he felt guilty, but seeing her radiant smile and admiring eyes, he continued embellishing.

"What did you need me for this morning?"

"I received my transfer order and wanted help moving my equipment from IT."

"Of course—I'll go right now." Bai Guoshi eagerly volunteered.

The following day, everyone was reorganized into balanced groups. Training proceeded using a veteran-leading-novice model. Liu Zheng's curriculum included: field survival training, individual tactical fundamentals, squad coordination, professional knowledge of flora, fauna, minerals and meteorology, and nautical adaptation training at Bopu.

After several days, everyone's abilities improved markedly. Liu Zheng also led field exercises at Gaoshan Ridge and Lingao Cape, even organizing confrontation battles between teams.

Wen Desi visited the shipyard daily to supervise construction of their first two-masted schooner. The vessel's blueprint was based on the famous America: 170-ton displacement, 30 meters length, 7 meters beam, 3 meters draft, requiring only nine crew including captain.

Since this was the Transmigration Group's first large self-built vessel, it was designated "Ship Zero"—signifying emergence from nothing.

The Baitu boatwrights formed the construction backbone. Building a large Western-style vessel was unprecedented for them, and for Wen Desi as well—also testing the transmigrators' industrial capacity.

The shipbuilders adopted dry dock construction. The dock was semi-open—half excavated on beach, the remainder enclosed in the sea using wooden pilings and masonry, reinforced with bamboo-reinforced concrete.

The lock gate consumed substantial timber. To power the winch and pump, the machinery department manufactured a 50-horsepower horizontal steam engine that could also drive a sawmill during the day.

Ship Zero required large-scale resource gathering. The Wenlan River shouldered immense transportation burdens: bulk materials floated downstream on rafts, lighter goods transported by carts, manpower, or horses.

Shipbuilding timber had been seized from Baitu Village, dried for years, mostly from Fujian. Since Ship Zero was a prototype, cheap Chinese fir was used extensively, with key components like masts from ironwood. Baitu also provided tung oil, hemp fibers, oyster shell ash, ropes, and iron fittings including grapnel anchors.

The labor force was abundant, drawn from forcibly relocated Baitu villagers. Wen Desi focused on cultivating artisans led by shipwright Zhang Jiqi, who now held the title of Master Shipwright.

In contrast, the Lin and Lu clan scions were apprehensive. These powerful clans had controlled Baitu's administration for generations. The Executive Committee was wary of clan influence and had Wu De begin dismantling the families.

Lin Gonglao stood at the Quarantine Camp office entrance, his young face twisted with indignation. Surrounding clan youths wore equally sullen expressions—they had just received assessment results.

All male Baitu immigrants aged sixteen and above had undergone skills assessments covering shipbuilding craftsmanship. Zhang Jiqi had determined scoring—and he harbored considerable resentment toward the Lin family's historical appropriation of shipbuilding profits.

(End of Chapter)