Arriving as Scheduled

50 million tons of liquefied gas—what kind of concept is that?

In 2008, the urban gas supply in Huaguo consisted of 36.804 billion cubic meters of natural gas, 35.583 billion cubic meters of coal gas, and 13.2911 million tons of liquefied petroleum gas.

Based on actual calorific value conversion, 36.804 billion cubic meters of natural gas is equivalent to 27.23 million tons of liquefied gas, while 35.583 billion cubic meters of coal gas is equivalent to 26.33 million tons of liquefied gas.

Calculating it this way, the total gas consumed nationwide this year is equivalent to 66.85 million tons of liquefied gas, with an annual per capita consumption of 47.75 kilograms.

This is a profitable business.

Taking the urban area of Shanmei as an example, with a total population of around 800,000, it requires 38,200 tons of liquefied gas per year. For wholesale liquefied gas, the profit per ton is between 1,000 and 2,000 yuan.

As for gas produced from waste, the cost expenditures mainly lie in labor, plus intellectual property patent fees, site rental, and equipment depreciation.

Additionally, there is another huge advantage: transportation distance. Traditional gas suppliers need to transport liquefied gas from other regions, which incurs significant logistics costs.

Furthermore, traditional gas suppliers face another problem: they are often not the gas producers themselves, but rather middlemen, making their prices and profits highly susceptible to fluctuations in the energy market.

Recently, Lin Baijie, who manages the company, and Bao Sikang, the general manager of Hailu Gas Company, conducted a survey of the urban gas market.

They are currently laying out gas sales points, preparing to begin promotions for canned liquefied gas across various towns and streets in the urban area.

Time passed by without anyone noticing, and the day finally arrived.

It was around 11:30 AM.

In a certain county in the northwest of Shu Province, the streets and alleys were bustling with activity as people were getting off work and school.

A grocery store owner who was organizing his shelves suddenly felt his phone vibrate continuously. He hurriedly flipped it open to find three consecutive text messages.

"Warning? From 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM today, the area..." After reading the messages, the grocery store owner felt at a loss, not knowing what to do.

However, the signature at the end of the messages deepened his trust.

At this very moment, many residents on the streets who owned mobile phones saw those warning messages. If only one or two people had received them, it wouldn't have been enough to trigger panic, but since almost everyone received the warning, the herd mentality of the people was instantly amplified.

About ten minutes later, a second wave of notification messages flooded all mobile phone users again.

Meanwhile, inside the branches of the three major telecommunications operators in Shu Province, the scene was one of utter chaos, with the managers in charge looking pale and ashen.

They knew perfectly well that this massive scapegoat was almost certainly going to be pinned on them.

Time ticked away, second by second.

Far away in Shanmei, Huang Xiuyuan was processing a problem in the software laboratory when he suddenly felt a distinct, slight tremor.

He lifted his watch; the time was frozen at 14:28. In a mineral water bottle nearby, the water was rippling. This vibration lasted for about two minutes before it stopped.

This proved that the event had arrived as scheduled. At the same time, he felt a complex mix of emotions; while filled with grief, he also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He ran out of the laboratory with a dozen or so programmers, and others also rushed out from their offices and laboratories.

"Baijie, organize the employees and pay attention to safety."

Lin Baijie nodded, everyone looking shaken and unsettled.

Soon, news arrived. The administrator in charge of the official website ran over, panting: "General Manager Huang! General Manager Lin! Something major has happened in the northwest of Shu Province; it's spreading like wildfire online."

Huang Xiuyuan pretended to be extremely nervous and took out his phone, dialing a number in a flustered manner.

"Beep, beep..."

"Hello, A-Yuan, something big has happened. It seems like something happened over in Maoxian..."

Huang Xiuyuan hurriedly asked: "What about Mom and Grandma?"

"I just called; they are fine over there."

"That's good. Did anyone get hurt at the branch office?"

"No, the area around the factory is flat land, and the housing consists of container units."

Huang Xiuyuan thought for a moment and said: "Dad, I plan to pause the construction of the Rongcheng branch and form an engineering support team to contribute what little we can."

"Good, son, we are duty-bound to help in a situation like this." His father did not hesitate for a second either.

Ande Town.

Inside the Suiren branch factory.

Huang Fuqiang hung up the phone and quickly summoned the branch manager Li Feiyang, along with three construction foremen and many of the construction workers.

"Everyone knows what has happened in the northwest. We cannot sit idly by. It is on a voluntary basis, and those willing to go will receive triple wages."

Li Feiyang, who was standing nearby, took the opportunity to add: "If anyone unfortunately loses their life, Suiren Company will provide a compensation of one million per person."

"General Manager Huang, Manager Li, say no more. Even without the money, I'm going," one of the foremen replied, his eyes red.

"I'm in, count me as the first to sign up."

"Add me to the list."

Many of the people present were from the northwest of Sichuan; that place was their home, so how could they remain indifferent?

Huang Fuqiang shouted loudly: "Everyone, grab your tools and vehicles and start preparing to depart!"

Considering that all communications were currently cut off, Huang Fuqiang instructed Li Feiyang to go into town to purchase a batch of walkie-talkies and as much instant noodles, canned goods, and ham sausages as possible.

Several construction foremen also went to the gas station to purchase a large quantity of diesel and gasoline.

Less than an hour and a half later.

A team of over two hundred people gathered on the side of the road in Ande Town heading toward Dujiangyan, the engineering fleet equipped with bulldozers, excavators, dump trucks, diesel generators, and a large supply of food and daily necessities.

Guided by several workers familiar with the road conditions, they headed toward Dujiangyan, the closest town to Ande Town.

They were among the fastest-reacting teams, and among their ranks were six doctors brought along from Ande Town.

At this point, only two hours had passed.

The weather was sweltering, and the path ahead was a scene of devastation, with many vehicles on the road seemingly heading in the same northwest direction.

The setting sun on the horizon made the mood of everyone in the convoy feel incredibly heavy.

On G317 National Highway, the convoy arrived at Chongyi Town in Dujiangyan, the nearest point.

Li Feile, panting for breath, jogged over: "General Manager Huang, I spoke with some of the locals; the situation here in Chongyi Town is alright, and they can handle it themselves."

"Good, move to the next town immediately," Huang Fuqiang shouted into his walkie-talkie.

The convoy continued to push northwest, and as the sun set, they finally entered the urban area of Dujiangyan before nightfall.

Looking around, there were nothing but ruined walls and broken pillars.

Buildings leaned at precarious angles, the ground was covered in cracks of all sizes, and self-rescue teams formed by locals were searching the ruins for potential survivors.

Li Feiyang stepped up again to communicate with the locals, and after learning that they had been on alert beforehand, the area had not fallen into total paralysis.

Considering that Dujiangyan was not completely paralyzed and was close to Rongcheng, it was estimated that the first wave of official relief teams would arrive soon.

The Suiren Company convoy quickly cleared debris from the main road and filled in some of the massive fissures before continuing along G317 National Highway, pushing deeper into the northwest of the province.

After leaving the urban area of Dujiangyan, they entered a mountainous region and began to encounter major trouble; the road had been cut in half by a landslide.

By now, night had fallen, and the surroundings were pitch black.

The diesel generators roared to life, and under the glare of floodlights, excavators and bulldozers took turns working to carve out a path bit by bit.

Just as they successfully repaired over a dozen kilometers of road and entered Xuankou Town, they reached a major bend in the Min River.

At that moment, another convoy appeared behind them, consisting of vehicles covered in camouflage canvas; once the two sides met, they quickly explained their situations to each other.

Racing against time, support forces from other regions arrived one after another, and with the assistance of the surviving locals, the recovery work began to unfold in an orderly manner.