I became the Counterpart of the Winner in a Period Novel-Chapter 139 - 136: Big Brother Becomes a Role Model

Chapter 139: Chapter 136: Big Brother Becomes a Role Model

The old house quieted down temporarily because of Jiang Beiyang’s matter.

Meanwhile, things were bustling over at the third house.

The blueprints modified by Yan Jinzhi were indeed more refined, making the actual construction much simpler and more efficient.

On the first day of work, Aunt Jiao tied a red ribbon around the handle of a shovel and asked Jiao Can to buy a string of firecrackers to set off.

Symbolically, Jiang Jian Country drove the shovel into the ground to officially break ground.

Yan Jinzhi brought in bulldozers and rollers, and within half a day, the site was leveled. The bricks needed for construction were still arranged by Yan Jinzhi, with large trucks hauling ten loads.

Jiang Jian Country also enlisted the help of the previous mason master through his granduncle, Xing Zong and his son Xing Jiyuan.

Twenty-four doors, resembling a circular kiln but not quite. Master Xing Zong had spent most of his life in this work and had previously helped construct ancient porcelain kilns. Based on his experience, some places were slightly adjusted and improved further.

However, they encountered significant issues while laying the roasting road. Jiang Mingyue, the father and son duo, and several young villagers repeatedly tried to correct it but couldn’t get it right until Yan Jinzhi came down from Wuyun Mountain and identified their problem. This Engineer Yan deftly picked up the tools with his fair hands and completed the task in ten minutes, which had stumped them for three days.

Sometimes you have to admit, some people are just extraordinarily gifted. Others can’t learn, no matter how hard they try.

Next was the kiln doors, which took the most time and effort. By the time all twenty-four kiln doors were finished, it had rained several times, and every time it rained, it was sheer chaos at their construction site.

During the first rain, they hadn’t prepared any covering plastic, so all the prepared lime was washed away and ruined. With experience, Aunt Jiao borrowed plastic sheets accumulated by many families in the village and covered the materials that couldn’t get wet whenever it looked like rain.

Once the coal input holes, main flue, smoke damper, and fan were all completed, they spent another three days making repairs before the brick factory was officially built.

During this time, Jiang Jian Country also organized a group of strong laborers to dig channels, making future water usage for the brick factory much more convenient. As for the coal dust needed for the kilns, it was acquired through the granduncle’s connections and pre-ordered, to be delivered on time, costing twenty yuan per ton.

Then came the hiring process, initially planning to recruit twenty workers.

Prioritizing young and strong workers, with a limit of one per household.

Jiang Mingyue referred to the wage data of other brick factories provided by Yan Jinzhi and initially set the average wage at fifteen yuan per month. At this wage, some families even fought over who should go from their household, which she hadn’t anticipated.

Even the third sister secretly asked her if she could also sign up.

Of course, she could. They didn’t limit by gender, though it would be tough for women, and Jiang Mingyue couldn’t bear for her to endure hardship.

Fifteen yuan? One jar of her fruit wine sold for fifty yuan!

During the drying period, the eldest brother had already finalized the selection of workers with the leadership team.

In addition to these twenty people, they also needed to include skilled workers, such as the masons Xing Zong and his son. The pair would stay at the brick factory, responsible for temperature control, including coal feeding, preheating, and cooling, of course, they would train Jiao Longhe to take over in case the father and son duo decided to quit, not that they hoped for that to happen.

Then there were two people responsible for security at the brick factory. Additionally, Master Wu and his son-in-law were invited to make enough brick molds—essentially molds for shaping unfired bricks—and a quantity of steel wire bows. Yan Jinzhi helped procure a batch of labor protection gloves and ordered a batch of brick-moving tongs from the steel plant, which could pick up five bricks at once; these were all necessary expenses.

Including the accountant and cashier, the brick factory’s staff was now twenty-seven people. Additionally, there was the granduncle as the factory manager and Jiang Jianjun as the blessing director, making a total of twenty-nine people.

As for the proposal to make the granduncle the factory manager, it was suggested by Yan Jinzhi, and later events proved that a big shot’s vision is indeed unique. Such a mascot could be adored by anyone, and truly... was quite useful. It was basically a powerful tool for managing human relations. Even when certain arrogant units came to place orders, the granduncle could smoothly handle them. In short, he could sit in the office drinking tea and still ensure a steady stream of large orders rolling in for the factory.

The Xing master and his son each received thirty yuan per month and were quite satisfied, almost to the point of tears. They wouldn’t have to secretly take odd jobs anymore; they were officially workers now.

When it came time to fire the first kiln, the entire village was anxious. Many of the village’s elders even came just to watch for half a day.

To prevent cracking, it needed two days of preheating, or gentle heat for two days, three days to raise the temperature, then cooling for two days. A kiln of bricks took seven days to exit the kiln.

On the day of opening the kiln, when the red bricks were hauled out by cartload and loaded onto trucks, the entire village was jubilant, with some elderly moved to tears, hopeful for the future of their grandchildren.

The first order was secured by Yan Jinzhi, with an order for one hundred thousand bricks from one party, which was exactly the sum of their first kiln’s output.

Excluding the occasional fractured piece or over a thousand bricks with uneven color, the rest of the firing was very successful. Jiang Jian Country even conducted a test with a hammer in front of everyone, showing that the hardness was comparable to the bricks brought in by Yan Jinzhi for them.

The pricing was determined by Yan Jinzhi after comprehensive consideration, set at two cents per brick.

The one hundred thousand bricks were ordered by Cang County, with their county’s transport vehicles coming to pick them up, paying on the spot, totaling two thousand yuan.

The whole village was ecstatic.

After resting for a night, the second kiln began firing. During this period, Jiang Mingyue took Jiang Jian Country to Nanxi City to drum up orders.

Jiang Mingyue didn’t expect it was Xie Yunhai who helped a lot, facilitating an order from the neighboring county for one hundred and fifty thousand bricks, which greatly delighted everyone, fueling their determination further.

Jiang Mingyue didn’t expect that an even bigger surprise was waiting for them.

After Accountant Li was sent to the Western Farm, someone immediately replaced him, and that person turned out to be none other than her bargain cousin Xu Modun.

This cousin somehow persuaded Chairman Jing, who promptly issued documents to various teams within the jurisdiction, essentially helping with advertising.

Soon, villagers needing bricks for building houses came to place orders through the village collective. Although the initial order quantities were small, the base number was large; three days later, over one hundred thousand bricks had been pre-ordered. However, Jiang Mingyue reminded her elder brother not to take any orders exceeding two months’ time for the moment.

This kept people waiting, but the more it was like this, the more orders kept coming, initially from villagers, then turning into collectives, and later transforming into construction teams from Nanxi City...

Anyway, the customer source seemed pretty uncontrollable. In the end, they reached a compromise: they could place orders, but they had to wait their turn in line, with both parties signing an agreement to ensure no disputes arose later.

Of course, this was a very good sign. Families with someone working at the brick factory beamed with pride when out and about, already planning what to purchase for the household with the fifteen yuan wages come month’s end, like some new fabric since all the clothes were so worn, or some extra rice, flour, and oil, or maybe some treats from the department store for the family to enjoy... There were all sorts of beautiful wishes, waiting to be fulfilled like rainbows after the storm.

As for families without anyone in the brick factory, there was a touch of envy in their hearts, but realizing that they’d also get a share of the dividends at the end of the month, the households immediately felt better. The wiser heads of the families guided everyone: The good days were brought about by that boy Jian Country; you should look up to him. In short, the youngsters should aspire to grow up just like him.

As for Jiang Mingyue, she hadn’t gone to Pan Zhoucong to sell goods for nearly two months. Her storage had accumulated quite a bit, and similarly, she hadn’t had any income during these two months, only expenses.

Just as she planned to enter the city to grab some money, the hall elder brother came back.