Siheyuan: Craftsmen of a Great Country

Jiang Chen came closer and first dispersed a round of smoke.

Those we knew and those we didn’t know were all dispersed.

Many people are known to him, but he does not know others.

Zhang Huajun pointed to a person and introduced him to Jiang Chen: "Old Biao, this is our team leader, Brother Zhang. You should know him."

Jiang Chen smiled and said: "I know you, of course I know you. Hello, Team Leader Zhang."

Brother Zhang San, whose real name is Zhang Cheng, is somewhat related to Zhang Cui.

Zhang Cheng said with a smile: "Oh no, I can't be called the team leader! We are relatives, so why don't we call him Third Brother!"

Jiang Chen put out a cigarette and said, "Let me see how you make steel. Is it okay?"

Zhang Chengdao: "Look, just look around. If you need to know anything, feel free to ask me."

Thanks to Director Xie's publicity campaign, Jiang Chen's deeds are well known in his hometown.

Zhang Cheng also discovered that when Jiang Chen watched them making steel, it was definitely not as simple as watching the fun, so naturally he strongly supported it.

If something is developed in the future and he can be mentioned, it will be a great honor.

Zhang Cheng looked at the two girls behind Jiang Chen and said, "Wait a moment."

After a while, he pulled out three straw hats from nowhere: "The weather is nice today, but the sun is too hot. Bring these with you, don't get sunburned."

"I just couldn't find a new one for a while. It smells a bit sweaty. I don't know if you guys dislike it or not."

Jiang Chen smiled and reached out to take it: "Why would you dislike it? Thank you, third brother."

Jiang Chen gave the two straw hats that looked better to Liu Yue and Luo Xue: "Take them with you."

The two women reached out and took it, carrying it over their heads.

Zhang Cheng turned around and went about his business. Before leaving, he said, "Two sisters, please try not to get too close. The dust is a bit heavy."

Jiang Chen stood beside the blast furnace and watched everyone operate.

As the charge is added and the temperature rises, a certain amount of molten steel has appeared at the bottom of the furnace.

When the molten steel accumulates to a certain amount, someone will open the taphole and release the molten steel.

Because there will be smelting tomorrow, the molten steel released has not been finalized. It is just spread into thin slices. After initial solidification, it is placed in water to cool.

After cooling, it is placed on the other side and mixed with other auxiliary materials to become the charge for tomorrow's second steelmaking.

Jiang Chen stood by the stove from noon until dinner time.

The two women watched him not far behind him, from noon to dinner time.

During this period, the daughters-in-law of many families brought lunch to their men.

In rural areas, we have two meals a day, so we eat at three or four in the afternoon.

But everyone knows that Jiang Chen and the others eat three meals a day in Sijiu City, so these uncles have also followed the plan of three meals a day in the past few days.

Jiang Chen watched it for half the afternoon and found that there was nothing special about the entire steelmaking process.

Then, eliminate the same places, and what remains is the problem.

Through communication with Zhang Cheng, Jiang Chen roughly discovered the problem.

The auxiliary materials, whether for the first time or the second time, are the same proportion of charcoal and quicklime.

The firing method has always been the same as the previous local steelmaking method.

But the only difference between now and before is that in order to quickly turn the first steel produced into furnace charge, water cooling is used.

All else being equal, water is the only thing that has not been used in the intermediate steel-making process before.

Using the variable method, Jiang Chen roughly guessed that the problem lay in the water.

He walked to Zhang Cheng and asked, "Where did you get this water?"

Zhang Chengdao: "The ditch over there seems to be flowing down from the mountain."

Jiang Chen nodded: "Okay, it's almost done, let's go first."

Zhang Cheng asked with concern: "Have you gained anything?"

Jiang Chen nodded: "There are some gains, but whether my guess is correct or not needs to be verified by professional testing."

Zhang Chengdao: "As long as you gain something, that's good."

Jiang Chen said: "Okay, let's go first."

He found Zhang Huajun again and asked him to get off work early and go pick pine nuts on the Black Mountain before it was dark.

Then he turned to the two girls and said, "Let's go back!"

Liu Yue probed: "Do you think there is something wrong with the water?"

They are not stupid. After Jiang Chen heard about the quality of the steel, he observed the steel making, so he could probably guess his intention.

Jiang Chen nodded: "It's most likely like this. Of course, the specifics will have to be tested by professional institutions."

"Remind me tomorrow to find a few bottles and come to the ditch to fetch water."

Liu Yue nodded.

Luo Xue said: "Are we leaving the day after tomorrow?"

Jiang Chen said: "Yes, we will set off from home at noon the day after tomorrow, and then go to Rongcheng to spend the night. We will return to Sijiu City by car early the day after tomorrow."

"Why, are you a little reluctant to give up?"

Luo Xue nodded: "Actually, I think it's quite nice here. It has a lively atmosphere, and the uncles and aunts are also polite."

Jiang Chen smiled and said, "That's because we only have a short stay. You can try to stay for a month or two."

It's not that the uncles are reluctant to part with you, but they all have things to do, and they still come to serve you. As time goes by, no one will have an opinion.

Liu Yue said: "Here, there is no chance for you to be upright with him."

Luo Xue slapped her thigh: "Go back, I can't wait to go back now."

After dinner, the three of them headed to the back mountain with Zhang Huajun.

After walking for twenty minutes, we arrived at the pine forest.

The wind whistled through the pine trees.

Zhang Huajun said: "In the past, when the pine trees were not cut down here, you didn't have to go that far to find pine nuts."

Jiang Chen raised his head and said, "Look, this kind of pine tree with relatively green leaves only has pine nuts in the pine cone."

"Pine trees with yellowing needles don't have pine nuts growing in their pine cones."

Zhang Huajun watched on the ground for a while: "There are two big pine towers on this tree. I will go up and pick them out."

After saying that, he hugged the pine tree and climbed up, as agile as a monkey.

Looking at Zhang Huajun who climbed to a high place and swayed from side to side as the pine trees swayed, Liu Yue said worriedly: "Well, be careful."

Jiang Chen smiled and said, "It's okay. The two people who are best at climbing trees in this village are me and him."

"This kind of pine tree has many branches, so there is no difficulty at all."

Luo Xue didn't believe it: "You can also climb trees?"

Jiang Chen nodded: "That's necessary. We had nothing to do when we were young. Pine Forest is our home."

"It wasn't until I was ten years old that I accidentally found a book, which opened the door to a new world. From then on, I often stayed at home and read books, and occasionally went out to play when I met someone I was close to."

Luo Xue snorted: "We have a good relationship, is it Zhao Qi?"

Jiang Chen: "."

Liu Yue said: "Auntie spilled the beans and we heard it."

Jiang Chen said: "She is one year younger than me, and she used to follow me around a lot when I was a child. Later, I became addicted to reading, and we had less contact with her."

"Later, until I started working, she often found various reasons to get close to me. If I hadn't been addicted to the ocean of knowledge and machines at that time, you two would only be the second and third child."

Jiang Chen didn't intend to lie either.

If the original body had one percent of his flexibility, Zhao Qi would have been the Jiang family's wife long ago.

It's a pity that the guy is really homely and dull.