Chapter Fourteen: Self-Control Shower

  Su Cheng wanted a toilet, or more accurately, shower facilities. Apart from personal habits, he hoped to improve the lives of the oil workers.

  The work of oil extraction is tiring and dirty. Not to mention the work of crude oil leakage and downhole maintenance, even normal outdoor operations will leave you covered in dust from head to toe after a day's work.

  But the oil team's well station only had a faucet, and for years, workers had been washing up with a basin of water poured over their heads. It was okay in the summer, but when it got cold, the cold shower was unbearable.

  Apart from this, it's very difficult to wash off the oil stains with cold water. If you don't want to run tens of miles to the factory area to take a bath, then you can only sleep with the stench.

  Oil workers are doing the most basic and important work, but their conditions are the worst. Many people have not retired yet, they are already suffering from various diseases, but still have to insist on going to work.

  Su Cheng thought to herself, I may not be able to change everyone's life, but perhaps I can change some people.

  Dong Wanshan also hoped to have hot water every day, but could only shake his head and say: "Our well team's people, who doesn't want to come back and take a hot bath. But the boiler is too expensive, the team simply has no money."

  Old Wu beside him was scratching his toes and said with a smile, "Su is from the city and isn't used to it. However, we should have installed showers and boilers long ago."

  Dong Wanshan thought for a moment and said, "We passed the halfway point last month. I'll go cry to the factory director for two days, maybe we can get a shower back, but definitely no boiler, still have to use cold water."

  "Lao Shi is a Qilin, can he provide you with a shower?" Lao Wu shook his head and said: "Our oil extraction factory has more than 20 oil extraction teams. If we give you one set of showers, what about the other teams? The total cost of all the equipment would be over a million."

  Su Cheng listened more and more, and said: "We have our own pipe factory, producing a few steel pipes is nothing, a set of sprinkler system can cost some money? Moreover, if you want to take a hot shower, do you necessarily need a boiler?"

  "What's wrong with the boiler?"

  "Get an iron bucket, put it in a high place, boil the hot water, pour it into the iron bucket, add cold water to yourself, and connect a pipe below, can't you use it as a shower?" Su Cheng said, actually he had used it before in the oil extraction team's small bathhouse.

  Later generations of oil workers implemented grassroots "five smalls", which were mobile libraries, first-aid kits, sports fields, toilets and bathhouses. In areas with better conditions, the toilets were equipped with septic tanks, and the bathhouses had boilers, but in areas with poorer conditions, they could only make do with what was available.

  Dong Wanshan thought for a moment, but sighed: "Even so, the iron skin still needs money. Our team has dozens of people, at least we need to make three iron buckets, plus pipes and other things, at least 400-500 yuan, three sets are 1,500 yuan, and there are also things for boiling water, which need to be replaced with large items. It's impossible, it's impossible..."

  Su Cheng's eyes rolled around and he said: "Didn't you say that everyone wants to take a hot bath? Let's take out some of the prize money that exceeds 50%..."

  "What nonsense are you talking about!" Captain Duan was startled, and lowered his voice to say: "If you dare to move everyone's bonus, as long as one person reports it, you won't be able to get away with it. Bathing is everyone's business, bonuses are personal business, how can they be mixed together."

  Su Cheng stared at him silently for a while before saying: "Each person pays 10 yuan, and you can take a hot shower all the time. Isn't that great?"

  "This isn't about the money, it's a matter of principle. If we do things your way, should the team also pay for water and coal expenses? Should everyone just pay for themselves?" Du Wanshan said with a serious tone: "Xiao Su, you're still young, you need to think carefully before acting. Sometimes small things can be grasped by others and ruin your whole life."

  In his opinion, a good university student wouldn't end up drifting to an oil extraction station unless they had committed some fundamental mistake.

  Hearing the captain's serious tone, Su Cheng didn't want to argue anymore and changed his tone: "Then let's go find the factory people, let them deal with the showerhead issue, and then we'll think of a way to modify it... try not to spend any money."

  The next sentence was added under the captain's stern gaze.

  Dong Wanshan was a man of great momentum, and improving the shower facilities was indeed a good thing. He took advantage of the empty shift to take a bus back to the oil extraction plant.

  Su Cheng didn't think much of his trip this time, but it was a necessary process.

  At night, he spread out the table and painted a picture by himself.

  Xiao Hei and he in a room, seeing the good drawing paper being contaminated by black pencil lead, painfully said: "This paper is precious, can't you draw on draft paper?"

  "How can I draw a picture with rough paper?"

  "I know mechanical drawings, the old workers in the factory, they all draw on rough paper first, only when it's really being used do they draw on white paper." Little Hei said with a serious tone.

  Su Cheng listened with a dazed expression, but her pen didn't stop moving.

  Working in an oil extraction team has one advantage, eating, drinking and accommodation are all at the well station, which is very cost-effective, and there's nowhere to spend money even if you want to. From beginning to end of the year, your salary remains largely unchanged, quite like a leader's style.

  Su Cheng is not interested in saving money, usually the leftover money is used to buy books, newspapers and pens, and drawings are also among them.

  Xiao Hei regretfully stroked the white paper for a while, seeing Su City gradually become busy, and quietly started reading his book. After graduating from junior high school, he entered the oil field. At that time, it was said that being a worker was better than taking the university entrance exam, because seniority in the big pot of rice was more important than education, and several years of income were also more important. But when Xiao Hei worked until his peers graduated from university, the national policy began to favor education, and without culture, he could only be a grassroots worker for life, so he had to pick up his books again.

  Su Cheng painted for two days, and Dou Wanshan finally returned, panting, took off his clothes, and swung his arms, saying: "Old Shi Tie Gong Ji, dragging on and on, I've been waiting till my hair turned white."

  "What did he say?"

  "Want to attend meetings, want to observe, want to study, in short, just don't give money."

  "This was an expected outcome. Su Cheng turned around and said, 'Then what I said earlier, if we make the showerhead ourselves, will they pay for the running costs?'"

  "Coal and water? This is the answer."

  Su Cheng picked up the blueprint and said, "Alright then, I'll take a rest tomorrow and go out to beg for alms."

  ……