Chapter 29: Everyone's Tall Tales Have Come True

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Everyone standing there was a brother, uncle, or fellow villager. Who would want to compete with his own people?

But there was no helping it. A job opportunity was simply too precious.

Otherwise, how could those educated youths have gone so mad trying to return to the cities?

But things were different now. The vision Qin Jun had painted was simply too tempting, too grand, leaving every one of them stirred with excitement and filled with hope.

“All right. My eldest cousin is here too. We’ll take names now. We’ll start with the oldest and go down the list. We need ten men.”

“Don’t be shy. You’re already twenty-four or twenty-five and still don’t have a wife. That’s what’s truly embarrassing!”

“Haha, I’m only saying that to spare your feelings. There are even men of twenty-seven or twenty-eight who still haven’t found wives—that’s even more shameful. Come on over. What are you so embarrassed about?”

Surrounded by a crowd of men, young and old, even these lifelong bachelors felt a little awkward.

They had been bachelors all along, but at least no one had paid much attention to them before.

Now, however, every unmarried man had gathered in one place, with everyone staring at them. Feeling embarrassed was only natural.

“What are you shuffling around for? You’re not young maidens! Hurry up. Don’t waste time.”

With no other choice, Qin Jun had to go down himself and clear a path.

Once a passage opened, one man finally steeled himself, clenched his teeth, and stepped forward.

The first to come out was one of the village uncles. He was already in his thirties and still had not managed to find a wife.

In truth, the reason these bachelors had failed to marry was the same in every case: they were poor.

After all, none of them was missing an arm or a leg, and none was stupid.

They worked hard in the fields every day with their heads bowed. If men like that still could not find wives, there was only one reason—poverty.

Usually, either there were too many brothers and sisters in the family, or one of the elders was seriously ill. In any case, everything came down to the word “poor.”

Now that there was a chance to earn money, how could they possibly let it slip away?

Before long, the ten men had been chosen. The youngest among them was already twenty-five.

Qin Jun was somewhat astonished. It seemed that there were truly quite a few difficult cases in this village.

“By the way, I haven’t mentioned your wages yet. The ten of you will be paid one yuan a day. If you work a full month, that comes to thirty yuan.”

A great uproar broke out.

Though everyone had known they would be working for wages, no one had expected the pay to be so high.

“Don’t get too excited, and don’t be so short-sighted.”

“I already said that there will be plenty of work opportunities. We just have to take things step by step. Otherwise, what if the commune refuses?”

“All right. Whether this kiln can operate depends on Captain Qin Zheng’s ability, so Qin Zheng will be the head of the lime kiln.”

“From now on, he’ll handle all negotiations with the authorities, including securing coal allocations and the like.”

“In other words, whether our kiln can keep operating will depend on the captain’s ability. Without coal, how are we supposed to fire anything?”

“Do you understand now? The factory manager’s position isn’t something just anyone can handle!”

“Since he’s doing the work, he must be paid. The manager’s wage certainly can’t be low. He’ll receive two yuan a day, or sixty yuan a month!”

“Don’t rush. There’s also the accountant. My eldest cousin will be the kiln’s accountant, and he’ll receive the same wage—two yuan a day, sixty yuan a month.”

“Yes, you guessed correctly. As the technician, I don’t even have to do the manual labor, yet I’ll also receive two yuan a day, for a monthly wage of sixty yuan.”

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“Envious? Good. Then study hard.”

“Everyone can watch how I fire the kiln every day and learn from me.”

“Whoever masters it can become a technician and earn sixty yuan a month.”

“These are my own words. According to the rules of the Qin family, if I fail to keep my promise, lock me in the dark room for three days.”

With that, Qin Jun immediately led the ten workers away.

The moment he left, the onlookers erupted into chaos.

“Qin Han! Qin Han! You’ve been following Little Jun for so long. You must have learned it by now, haven’t you?”

Qin Han had not qualified for this recruitment drive, and neither had his older brother Qin Xia, since both of them already had jobs.

But after Qin Jun had described that enticing future, everyone turned their eyes toward Qin Han.

Though every gaze was fixed on him, Qin Han remained extraordinarily calm, treating them all as if they were invisible.

Lost in his own thoughts, Qin Han pondered for a long while before saying, “I only learned the rough appearance of it. I don’t know whether I can really do it.”

“If you can arrange things the way Little Jun does, that’s already a skill! What if you actually succeed?” Qin Zhijiu said excitedly.

“Dad, are you thinking of having me steal Little Jun’s livelihood?” Qin Han asked, staring wide-eyed at his father.

Qin Zhijiu was momentarily speechless.

Qin Han paid no attention to what he might be thinking. “I don’t want to fire lime. I want to follow Little Jun and cast iron pots!”

“Good lad! No wonder Qin Jun chose you to work alongside him. So you’re one of those truly wise men who appear foolish!”

There were still perceptive people in the village, especially among the elders.

“None of us wants to take Little Jun’s livelihood from him. He should know that we wouldn’t do such a thing. But what exactly did he mean by that just now?”

At some point, Qin Zhiqi had stepped out of the crowd.

Turning to face everyone, he explained, “What does he mean? He means that he doesn’t care about the technician’s position at the lime kiln.”

“So whoever among you has the ability can compete for it. There’s no need to feel embarrassed.”

“Besides, even if you don’t get this technical position, there are other technical jobs. For example, firing bricks and tiles—or casting iron pots.”

Everyone fell silent. They all understood now that Qin Jun truly had no intention of clinging to a single technician’s position.

Qin Zhijiu’s eyes immediately began to shine.

“Dad, I don’t want to be the lime kiln’s technician. I want to learn how to cast iron pots. One pot earns eight yuan!”

The moment Qin Han said this, everyone fell silent once again.

Since when had money become so easy to earn?

Thinking of Qin Jun’s words, they simply could not make sense of it.

Fire lime—watching him a few times was enough to learn.

Fire bricks and tiles—watching him a few times was enough to learn.

But casting iron pots—could that really be learned just by watching?

Who among them had never seen iron pots being cast? They had watched it plenty of times, but all they had ever seen was the spectacle. Who could truly learn the craft just by watching?

One might accuse Qin Jun of bragging, but everything he had bragged about had come true.

“Qin Han, what are you doing? Come over and get to work.”

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“Hurry up! Stop dawdling. Even if you aren’t a kiln worker, you still can’t be lazy. Take them along and get to work.”

Qin Jun showed Qin Han no special consideration, and Qin Han was perfectly happy with that.

“Coming!” Qin Han shoved his father aside and trotted cheerfully over to Qin Jun.

“Little Jun, what do you want me to do?”

Qin Jun was genuinely satisfied with Qin Han’s attitude.

“Since the village is short of limestone, and some households lack coal, we’ll help Team Eleven fire their lime today.”

They came to a pile of limestone. Every stone had already been broken apart.

Each piece was no larger than an adult’s fist, which made it easiest to fire them thoroughly once they were placed in the kiln.

“I’ll supervise. You lead the others.”

The twelve of them would be firing five tons of lime. Even allowing for the greater weight of limestone, each person would only have to move five or six hundred kilograms on average.

For farmhands accustomed to hard labor, that was truly nothing.

The coal dust had long since been mixed with water and molded into briquettes.

Since it was winter, the briquettes were relatively firm, so loading and arranging them in the kiln went very quickly.

A layer of coal followed by a layer of limestone—if it were arranged that simply, anyone could do it.

But Qin Jun’s method was highly systematic. He wanted to make the most efficient use of the coal, allowing each firing to save one hundred kilograms.

Now that he was helping other people fire their kilns, they supplied the limestone and coal themselves.

The agreed price was twelve yuan per ton of lime. After deducting the cost of those materials, the remaining amount would be paid to the kiln.

Thus, the coal they saved became part of their profit.

One firing produced five tons of lime and required six hundred kilograms of coal, along with more than five tons of limestone.

At twelve yuan per ton, five tons of lime were worth sixty yuan.

Limestone cost three yuan per ton, making five tons worth fifteen yuan.

Coal cost twenty-five yuan per ton, so six hundred kilograms also cost fifteen yuan.

The customer supplied thirty yuan in materials and still had to pay the kiln another thirty yuan in the end.

In other words, excluding labor costs, one firing earned them thirty yuan, plus one hundred kilograms of coal.

As he watched the others work, Qin Jun also explained the calculations to them.

Once they saw how much money they could earn, they worked with even greater enthusiasm.

There was nothing more to say after that. Once they had worked for a few days and become familiar with the kiln, everything they did later would follow established procedures. They would simply need to work according to the rules.

The preparations for this firing had already been completed, so the kiln was loaded quickly. Next came sealing the top and lighting the fire.

They had become extremely practiced at this over the past few days, making failure virtually impossible.

The only problem was that lighting the fire consumed rather a lot of firewood. The team would have to find a way to deal with that.