Chapter 167: National Movement for Steelmaking
Chapter 167: National Movement for Steelmaking
After work, the transport team members hurried home, picked up the bags, and rushed to Zhang Jinwu's yard.
Zhang Jinwu prepared several pounds of pork in advance and distributed it to other residents in the yard.
Afterwards, with the help of his fellow apprentices and his wife Han Xiaohui, all the pork was divided up.
Zhang Jinwu also successfully got some tasks from the masters.
All in all, it was just a loss of about a hundred or eighty yuan, which was not much for Li Kailang.
As it gradually darkened, Zhang Jinwu and others finally finished cooking the pork.
Zhang Jinwu also gave away half of the pork that originally belonged to them.
Seventy or eighty kilograms of pork cannot be eaten up in one go if divided among three families, so it is better to share it in half.
Zhang Jinwu wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "Okay, it's all done. You two can take ten kilograms of pork back with you."
Lu Wenjiang and Li Kailang nodded, both of them were sweating profusely.
In theory, the best way to distribute the meat is to do it at a steel mill, but there are too many people and too many eyes in the steel mill.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, it is best to divide it outside.
"By the way, Xiao Li, you will have several more tasks next month. It will be very tiring, so you must be prepared."
Li Kailang was overjoyed: "Thank you, Master!"
Zhang Jinwu waved his hands repeatedly: "I didn't do anything, this is all your own doing!"
After chatting for a while, Lu Wenjiang and Li Kailang took 10 kilograms of pork and headed home.
After returning home, Li Kailang had an idea.
Looking at the lush and flourishing crops in front of him, Li Kailang hadn't signed in for a while.
"System, sign in!"
[Ding! The host has signed in for 40 days cumulatively, and the sign-in is successful! Obtain the following items! ]
【Upgrade card fragment*2! 】
"Hmm?" Li Kailang frowned slightly, "Is that all?"
"Forget it, just a little bit is enough!"
Li Kailang shifted his gaze to the planting warehouse.
Since the planting space was upgraded to level 4, we have harvested several times and a lot of crops have accumulated in the warehouse.
The harvest can be as much as ten thousand kilograms at a time.
Grains, fruits and vegetables are all planted on half an acre of land.
The harvest of cabbage, radish, eggplant, cucumber and tomato can weigh more than 3 kilograms or even 4 kilograms each.
1 kilograms of potatoes and 2 kilograms of sweet potatoes.
The total amount of rice, wheat and other grains was 1500 kilograms.
It is calculated that the harvest is 1 kilograms each time, which means 6 kilograms per month.
Adding other miscellaneous harvests, the total harvest is 5 kilograms in a month.
There are so many that Li Kailang can’t even count them now. If he upgrades to another level, it will reach 16 acres of land.
That month, at least 10 kilograms were produced.
"I have three upgrade card fragments now. After two or three months, I can upgrade again."
"What are we going to do with a monthly harvest of 10 kilograms?"
Li Kailang is now having a headache harvesting these crops. It is really a happy trouble!
Li Kailang covered his head and said in pain: "I can't take it back, I can't take it back!"
"By the way, system, when can we automatically harvest the crops?"
【Ding--】
[At the next level, automatic harvesting will be enabled for the host. ]
Hearing this, Li Kailang felt relieved.
Walking to the corner where livestock are raised, there is a prosperous scene.
A total of about 200 livestock are raised there, of which chickens are the largest in number, nearly 100, and there are also many other livestock.
"After so long, I've finally grown up. I don't have to worry about having meat to eat anymore!"
Li Kailang looked around the planting space. This space was basically self-sufficient, which was exactly what Li Kailang had thought at the beginning.
"Now we just have to wait two months. Once the space is upgraded, we won't have to worry about it anymore."
As soon as the thought came to his mind, Li Kailang appeared outside.
Time flies, and half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.
In the blink of an eye, it was already February.
At an important enlarged meeting, the leadership decided to double steel production in 1958 compared with 1957, reaching 1070 million tons.
As a result, a nationwide movement to produce steel and iron was launched.
Siheyuan.
The people from the subdistrict office came to the courtyard and said, "Dear residents, this is a critical moment for the country's development and we need your support."
“If anyone has extra, unused spatulas and other metals, please donate them and contribute to the country’s development.”
Steel rolling mill.
"Comrade workers, now is the time for the people to test us."
"National construction cannot be separated from the efforts of every one of us workers. We must contribute our own strength to the prosperity of the country."
"We need to devote ourselves to national construction with greater enthusiasm and a more down-to-earth work style."
"We must use our own hands to contribute to the development of the country"
Director Lu’s words inspired the workers. They understood that as part of national construction, they shouldered important responsibilities.
At this moment, they felt full of strength and devoted themselves to production, contributing their own efforts to the construction of the country.
Transport team.
Zhang Jinwu directed everyone: "Everyone, put aside your task for today and go to the countryside to transport back all the iron materials collected by the farmers."
"After transporting them back, transport them to the smelting workshop. Don't stop after unloading the iron materials, and continue transporting them."
"Do you have any questions? If you don't have any, go out to the countryside now!"
With Zhang Jinwu's order, the entire transport team seemed to be injected with vitality.
The drivers started their engines one after another, and the roar of the vehicles starting up formed an inspiring symphony.
The truck drove out of the bustling city, and what appeared before the eyes was a huge scene of carriages and horses, and they were moving towards the direction of Sijiu City in a mighty manner.
Each cart was filled with all kinds of iron materials, from iron pots and shovels to axes and nails.
All of this shows the villagers’ attention and commitment to this mission.
The wheels rolled, raising dust along the way.
Everyone was walking non-stop, with joy on their faces, as if they were happy to be able to contribute to the country.
Li Kailang was the first to arrive at Qinjia Village. He saw that the open space in the center of the village was filled with various iron materials, forming a small hill.
Village Chief Qin came up to us warmly, pointed at the iron materials and said, "Master Li, these are the iron materials from our village. Please help transport them away."
Li Kailang nodded and said gratefully: "Thank you for troubling Village Chief Qin to contribute so much iron to our steel mill."
Village Chief Qin waved his hand and said modestly: "What's the trouble? We are responding to the country's call and contributing our insignificant efforts."
The villagers nearby echoed: "Yes! Master Li, how can you say that it is troublesome to contribute to the country? You need to improve your thinking."
"Yes, we farmers usually just plant crops and can't make any contribution. It's a rare opportunity like this, so how can we not do it!"
"I think so too." Everyone was talking about it, with joy on their faces, as if it was an extremely glorious thing to be able to contribute to the country.
Village Chief Qin interrupted, "Okay, stop talking. Let's move the iron materials onto the truck first. There are also iron materials in the village behind us. We can't delay them."
After Village Chief Qin gave the order, the villagers began to busily move the iron materials onto the truck. They all started moving the iron materials, and soon a small truck was filled with iron materials.
After Li Kailang drove away, Village Chief Qin said to the villagers, "Okay, go to the mountain and chop some firewood."
As soon as he finished speaking, the villagers responded one after another, holding machetes and axes, and followed the footsteps of Village Chief Qin up the mountain.
On the way to the next village, Li Kailang's eyes were attracted by a scene in the distance.
He saw small blast furnaces and coke ovens rising from the ground, with thick black smoke billowing up.
Despite the black smoke, the villagers did not show any disgust. On the contrary, their faces were filled with smiles of pride and satisfaction.
Next to the blast furnace, the villagers were busy putting iron into the furnace for calcining.
The blazing flames illuminated their faces and their "future".
In the sky farther away, thick smoke was floating.
We went to four or five villages in succession and saw similar scenes happening over and over again.
Every village is full of vitality and hope, and the villagers are contributing to national construction in their own way.
Only when the carriage was filled with various iron materials did Li Kailang drive back to the steel rolling mill.
Some of these iron materials are rusty, while others are brand new and appear to be of high quality.
The steel rolling mill is also a busy scene.
The gate was open and trucks were coming in and out.
Not far away, thick smoke was floating above the smelting workshop.
Li Kailang drove the car to the vicinity of the smelting workshop, and the loaders and unloaders quickly got on the car and busily unloaded the iron materials.
At this moment, Li Kailang finally had a moment to catch his breath and rest for a while.
"Xiao Li, how are you? Are you tired?" Lu Wen walked over and asked.
Li Kailang said calmly: "Not bad! This is just a little bit of work, it's a lot easier than before!"
The work of transporting iron is not hard, but there is almost no time to breathe.
Whether in the factory or outside, the scene is "prosperous" and it is impossible to be lazy.
This is just the beginning and it will last until the end of the year.
Lu Wenjiang reminded: "It's OK if you can bear it. If you can't bear it, take a break. Don't be stubborn. I don't think this matter will end so soon."
As he spoke, Lu Wenjiang handed Li Kailang a cigarette.
The two of them took a break from their busy schedules, smoking and chatting.
Lu Wenjiang witnessed the Great Steelmaking Campaign in the countryside, and was deeply moved by the unity of the people.
He also had a sense of shared honor and wished he could produce more iron to contribute to the country.
The two chatted for a while, and then a stevedore shouted:
"Whose cars are these? The iron materials have been unloaded. Drive away quickly so as not to delay the next one."
Upon hearing this, Lu Wenjiang immediately responded: "Hey, here it comes! Here it comes!"
He turned to look at Li Kailang and said, "Xiao Li, I'm leaving first. Drive safely!"
Li Kailang nodded and reminded Lu Wenjiang: "Be careful!"
Lu Wenjiang just nodded, returned to the truck, drove away, and started transporting without stopping.
Soon, it was Li Kailang's turn.
He would set out with an empty truck and return with a full load, and this continued until the end of his shift.
It was getting dark. In every nook and cranny of the roadside and hillside, blast furnaces were blazing with flames, emitting dazzling light.
On the way back to the courtyard, Li Kailang saw a lot of iron materials piled up outside the yard.
He looked closely and found that some of the pots were still new.
When transporting iron materials, Li Kailang picked up a few pots that looked relatively new.
He only has one pot at home, which is usually placed in the planting space. If he wants to cook at home, he has to take it out, which is very inconvenient.
There was a cart full of iron pots, and all the iron materials were destined to be lost, so Li Kailang took two.
As soon as Li Kailang stepped into the courtyard, he saw Yan Bugui sitting outside his house.
"Hey, Xiao Li, you're back? Why are you so late today?" Yan Bugui saw Li Kailang and greeted him enthusiastically.
Li Kailang smiled slightly: "Nothing, today's task is a bit heavy, so I came back late. What's the matter, Third Uncle?"
Yan Bugui nodded and said, "It's nothing serious. The people from the street office called on us to donate our extra shovels. Everyone in the yard donated, and you're the only one left."
When Li Kailang heard this, a look of embarrassment appeared on his face.
"Well, I only have one iron pot at home, and I don't have any extra ones. There's no need to donate it, or I won't be able to cook."
After hearing this, Yan Bugui frowned slightly. Li Kailang's family was well-off and the decoration of his house was very exquisite. How could he only have one iron pot?
"Is that so? Okay, I'll talk to the neighborhood office tomorrow."
When Li Kailang heard this, he knew that Yan Bugui obviously didn't believe him.
He said with a hint of meaning: "Why, Third Master, you don't believe me? Why don't you come to my house and see for yourself, so that I won't lie to you!"
Yan Bugui refused: "That's not necessary, they are all neighbors."
But Li Kailang insisted: "What's there to be embarrassed about, Third Uncle, you should still take a look."
"Okay!" Yan Bugui did not refuse.
Followed Li Kailang into the kitchen.
The kitchen was clean and tidy, with only a large pot standing alone on the stove.
"Uncle, this is the only pot in my house. Do you think the neighborhood office wants me to donate it? How will I eat in the future?"
"How about borrowing the pot from Uncle Three's house?"
Yan Bugui quickly explained: "No, how could that be possible? No matter how much the Street Office wants, they won't ask for food from others."
After leaving Li Kailang's house, Yan Bugui returned to his own home.
As soon as the third aunt saw him coming back, she couldn't wait to ask, "How was it? How many pots did the Li family boy donate?"
"How is it? How many pots did the Li family boy donate?"
Yan Bugui sighed, "He didn't donate!"
"Huh? How could you not donate?"
Yan Bugui said unhappily: "The Li family only has one pot. If we donate it, what will we use to cook? No matter how much we need, we can still have a person."
After hearing this, the third aunt couldn't help but sighed: "That's true, I thought the Li family kid had a lot of pots. His house is decorated so well, he should have a lot."
Yan Bugui shook his head: "How many can there be? Didn't we go to his house last time and see that one?"
"What a pity." The third aunt sighed, "I thought he had a lot of them at home. He usually cooks so deliciously, but he only has one pot."
"I've heard that the courtyard that donates the most will be rated as an excellent courtyard."
At this time, Yan Jiecheng suddenly interrupted and said, "Dad, it's not just Li Kailang who's doing well in our courtyard. That Sha Zhu is also doing well. How many did he donate?"
Yan Bugui frowned when he heard this: "Silly Zhu? How many more can he donate? Just one, he has at least two or three pots at home!"
"So many!" Auntie Three and Yan Jiecheng exclaimed.
Yan Bugui explained: "You still think that, don't look at Shazhu's careless appearance, he actually knows it in his heart."
"He is the canteen chef and cannot live without the pot. That is what he eats from. How can he donate all of it?"
After that, he warned again: "Okay, don't worry about Shazhu, we have to hide our house well and don't get discovered."
After hearing this, the third aunt nodded and assured: "Don't worry, I'm hiding it well, no one can find it."
(End of this chapter)