Chapter 327 Reservoir Completed

After the power lines were installed, the villagers of Zhoujiazhuang were thrilled and full of anticipation. If electricity could finally reach their village, the surrounding villages would definitely be green with envy.

After all, most rural areas still didn’t have electricity. If any village managed to get it, it was absolutely something to brag about.

Thanks to the full-throttle efforts of the Zhoujiazhuang villagers, the reservoir that was originally estimated to take another week to wrap up was completed two days ahead of schedule.

Now, because of the underground river, the reservoir had already stored quite a bit of water. The broad water surface looked rather majestic, especially for such a small village like Zhoujiazhuang.

Surprisingly, the water from the underground river was slightly warm.

It seemed that even if the temperature dropped below zero, the river wouldn’t freeze. Instead, it would continue to pour out water endlessly.

Of course, where there’s joy, there’s also disappointment.

The villagers of Shuangtian Village felt rather disheartened when they saw the reservoir completed. It meant they were now “unemployed.” They’d have to go back to farming in their own village, and whether their grain reserves would last until the next harvest was already a concern.

Xu Xiangbei came over today as well. Now that the reservoir was completed, the next step was to install the generator and use the flowing water to power it, thus generating a continuous supply of electricity.

Luckily, there were professionals on-site, so the difficulty wasn’t too high.

You needed a sufficient water source to install a generator—the flow rate and vertical drop were key factors affecting its output.

Generally, the water flow had to be above 0.1 cubic meters per second, and the drop needed to exceed 2 meters to ensure normal operation.

So the reservoir was built quite large. First, the turbine was installed, then aligned based on its main shaft’s center, elevation, and horizontal orientation.

Next, Xu Xiangbei measured the air gap between the rotor and the stator, adjusting the stator to align with the rotor, ensuring even spacing all around.

After these steps were completed, the generator was connected to the turbine’s main shaft, and the shaft’s runout was measured and adjusted.

Finally, the thrust bearing was adjusted, and based on the turbine’s sealing ring gap, the alignment and verticality of the shaft were calibrated. Guided bearings that had already been scraped to fit were installed, along with the air cooler, oil-gas-water pipelines, and other components.

Under Xu Xiangbei’s orderly supervision, the generator was successfully installed within five hours. The flowing water turned the turbine, and electricity began to be generated.

“Engineer Xu, does this mean it’s all done?” the old village secretary asked.

Xu Xiangbei replied, “That’s right, Secretary. The reservoir construction is now fully completed, and power generation has begun.”

The villagers of Zhoujiazhuang cheered when they heard his words. After all this time and effort, the reservoir was finally finished—and their village would now have electricity.

Seeing this scene, Xu Xiangbei couldn’t help but smile too. Their hard work had paid off.

Liang Liu sighed with envy, “When will our village get electricity too? I wonder if I’ll even live to see that day.”

“Yeah. First we have to solve the problem of having enough to eat. Only then can we hope to hold out until that day comes,” Liang Zan said optimistically.

After all these days of storing water, the reservoir was already half full. It was more than enough to irrigate the fields in Zhoujiazhuang, and the underground river was still steadily flowing.

As long as the river didn’t dry up, Zhoujiazhuang would never run short of water.

Also, if you observed carefully, you’d notice occasional ripples on the water’s surface—seems like there were fish in the underground river, and they had started swimming out.

Zhou Yimin noticed this and thought maybe he could come fishing when he had some free time.

Enjoying retirement life in advance—now that was an appealing idea.

The old village secretary had already arranged for 50 bags of grain to be prepared, each weighing 10 jin (approx. 5 kg), to give to the Shuangtian Village workers as thanks for their help during the construction.

No one could say if they might need outside help again in the future, so it was good to maintain a positive relationship. And 500 jin of grain was something Zhoujiazhuang could afford.

Though some villagers disagreed, thinking it was a waste of food—500 jin could feed the village for quite some time—the old secretary held a vote. In the end, the majority supported his decision. Those who opposed had no choice but to accept it since it represented the collective will.

The old secretary then said, “Comrades from Shuangtian Village, thank you for your hard work these past weeks. Our village has prepared a small gift for you—each of you will receive 10 jin of grain.”

“We hope you won’t find it too humble!”

The villagers from Shuangtian Village were instantly overjoyed. They hadn’t expected such a twist.

Ten jin of grain was enough to feed their households for a while, especially if they rationed it.

Soon, the Shuangtian villagers received their grain. Though they were reluctant to leave—they knew the difference between a single full meal and having enough to eat every day—they understood Zhoujiazhuang no longer needed extra labor. There was nothing to be done.

If given the choice, they would’ve gladly given up that 10 jin of grain if it meant the reservoir project could go on indefinitely. Ideally, it would continue for a hundred years, with future generations taking over, just like stable jobs in the city.

But of course, that was just wishful thinking.

With heavy hearts, the villagers from Shuangtian Village left Zhoujiazhuang. They didn’t know when they’d return—if ever.

After they left, the old village secretary told the canteen to make extra dishes for the evening meal and even prepare a special table to host Zhou Yimin and Xu Xiangbei.

Without the two of them, the reservoir project wouldn’t have succeeded. Their contributions were the greatest, and no one in the village would object to giving them special treatment.

“Everyone, I’ve already asked the canteen to add more dishes for tonight,” the old secretary announced.

Upon hearing this, the villagers were overjoyed. There had been extra dishes several days in a row, and they were eating better than they did during the New Year.

After all, only the New Year’s Eve dinner was truly luxurious. The rest of the holiday meals were just a little better than usual. With supplies being scarce, there wasn’t much that could be done—people simply had to accept reality.

Zhou Yimin and Xu Xiangbei originally wanted to decline the old secretary’s invitation, saying there was no need for special treatment, and that eating the same as everyone else was fine. But with the old secretary and the team leader both pushing, the two had no choice but to agree.

They could only smile wryly at each other.

Since there was still some time before dinner, Zhou Yimin invited Xu Xiangbei over to his house to sit for a bit.

Xu Xiangbei didn’t refuse. By now, every household in the village had installed light bulbs, and the wiring had been completed.

(End of Chapter)