After several days of busy work, the first batch of charcoal was finally ready.
Many villagers went to watch the opening of the cellar. Lu Qiqi was told by Li Dalang yesterday that the cellar would be opened today, and that she should go and check whether it met the standards she wanted.
Lu Qiqi stood at the front, watching Zhang Weiguo lead the veterans to open the cellar.
Despite being missing limbs, these veterans are incredibly efficient at their work. Those with good legs are responsible for transporting soil, while those with mobility issues are responsible for loading it. They work together seamlessly.
Even the villagers watching from the sidelines dared not underestimate these veterans who had risked their lives on the battlefield and returned to their hometown to farm.
The temperature inside the cellar had already cooled down, so Li Dalang went down and brought back a basket of charcoal.
"Miss Lu, come and take a look!" Li Dalang handed the charcoal to Lu Qiqi.
The charcoal in the basket was all eighty centimeters long. Lu Qiqi reached out, picked up a piece of charcoal, and checked its quality.
The charcoal sticks were shiny black, with only a few cracks on the body, indicating that the carbonization process was quite successful.
Lu Qiqi picked up another charcoal stick, and when the two collided, a crisp sound could be heard.
Lu Qiqi was very satisfied with the firing of the charcoal. The next step was to burn the charcoal and check the amount of smoke.
Lu Qiqi said, "Bring a charcoal brazier and burn this charcoal."
Li Dalang had already prepared the charcoal brazier and was just waiting for Lu Qiqi to speak. After a short while, Li Dalang lit the charcoal.
After the dry branches and leaves that ignited the charcoal burned out, the charcoal itself was tinged with a reddish glow.
The scarlet charcoal burned brightly, with almost no smoke visible in the air. Lu Qiqi leaned closer to smell it, but couldn't detect any smoke.
Looking up again, Lu Qiqi saw Li Dalang and Zhang Weiguo, grinning as if they were waiting for her verdict.
Lu Qiqi laughed, "Our batch of charcoal is of excellent quality, we definitely won't have to worry about selling it!"
As soon as Lu Qiqi spoke, the villagers were no longer calm. Their previous tense expressions changed, and smiles appeared on their faces.
"Great! Now we'll have money to get through the winter if we sell the charcoal."
"Yes, that way we won't have to worry about going hungry!"
"At least all that effort over the past few days wasn't for nothing!"
"Miss Lu, we owe you so much! If it weren't for you, we'd still be worrying about how to get through this winter!"
"That's right, the Lu family girl is beautiful, kind-hearted, and smart!"
The villagers used every good word they could think of to praise Lu Qiqi, even complimenting her hair.
Seeing that the situation was getting increasingly bizarre, Lu Qiqi quickly stopped the villagers from showering her with compliments.
Lu Qiqi laughed and said, "Since we can burn such good charcoal, we'll take it out and sell it when it gets even colder."
"But we need to burn more now, because we'll need charcoal for the winter too!"
The villagers thought Lu Qiqi's words made sense, so they carried bamboo baskets on their backs, picked up their machetes, and went up the mountain to cut firewood.
Everyone hopes to burn more charcoal to sell, and maybe even have some left over after this winter.
This way, in the spring of the following year, they will have money to buy seeds and plant crops.
With the good news that the first batch of charcoal had been successfully produced, the villagers' enthusiasm increased significantly, and the amount of firewood they cut from the mountain was also much greater than in the previous days.
The charcoal that has been burned cannot be kept in the earthen cellar indefinitely; it must be recycled. Otherwise, digging earthen cellars would be too laborious and time-consuming, and there wouldn't be enough space to dig them.
So Lu Qiqi put forward her idea, saying, "Village chief, a few days ago I bought all the leftover timber from the villagers' house construction."
“If you trust me, use this timber to build a large factory next to my house.”
"It's specifically for storing charcoal, so we can continue to make charcoal using the earthen kiln."
The village chief considered Lu Qiqi's suggestion for a moment and reminded her, "Aren't you going to use this timber to build houses? If you use it to build a large factory, it won't be easy to change it later."
“That’s not a problem. If you want to move in in the future, I can ask my uncle to partition the room with wood. That way it won’t be too much of a problem,” Lu Qiqi said.
"Thank you so much, Seventh Girl," Li Shoucai said with a smile, helping the village chief up.
The problem was solved, and the village chief smiled. Since Lu Qiqi came to Lijia Village, she has solved many difficult problems for the village.
The village chief saw all of this and kept it in mind. He was a perceptive man and knew that Lu Qiqi was wholeheartedly trying to help the villagers overcome their difficulties.
The village chief said, "I'll have Shoucai take some people to build the factory later."
When Zhang Weiguo heard that Lu Qiqi wanted to build a factory, he thought that a roof would definitely be necessary.
Lu Qiqi has helped them, these veterans, so he wanted to do his part in building Lu Qiqi's factory.
So Zhang Weiguo said, "We brothers have a lot of rice stalks left over from the rice we've planted these past few years. If we need them, we can call someone to haul them away."
Lu Qiqi originally planned to use corn stalks from her space to make a roof, but corn stalks were ultimately not as waterproof as rice straw.
Since someone offered her a pillow when she wanted to doze off, she decided to accept it without hesitation.
Lu Qiqi smiled, revealing a row of pearly white teeth, and said, "Then thank you very much, Uncle Zhang."
"You're welcome," Zhang Weiguo waved his hand and said, "If anyone should thank you, it's you who was willing to lead us brothers to burn charcoal."
Lu Qiqi didn't say anything more, but smiled and accepted it gladly, otherwise the two of them would keep thanking each other for ages.
The village chief had just instructed Li Shoucai to have people build a house that morning, and by the afternoon he had already led people to lay the foundation.
Looking at the villagers Lu Qiqi had found building houses not far away, Madam Lu stopped Lu Qiqi, who was about to go and supervise the construction, and asked, "Qiqi, how much silver will it cost to have the villagers help us build houses?"
Lu Qiqi didn't expect that the mysterious way Madam Lu had pulled her aside was to ask this question.
Lu Qiqi explained with a smile, "It doesn't cost any money. The villagers helped us build the factory, and once it's built, we can use it to store the burnt charcoal."
"This is called a mutually beneficial, win-win approach."
When Madam Lu heard that it would be free and that someone would help build the house, she thought it was wonderful. Otherwise, she didn't know how long it would take for her son Qingshan and the Zhou brothers to finish building the house.
Madam Lu gave Lu Qiqi a thumbs up and said, "You're so resourceful!"
Lu Qiqi smiled faintly, then carried a bucket of water to deliver it to the villagers who were building houses.
This water is no ordinary water. Lu Qiqi added spiritual spring water to it, which can enhance the villagers' physical strength and make their work easier.
The villagers took the water that Lu Qiqi brought and drank it all in one gulp. It was like a long-awaited rain after a drought, and they instantly regained their strength.
The villagers, having put down their gourd ladles, tightened the ropes around their waists and continued working at height.
Lu Qiqi suggested tying him up with ropes. It was a bit of a hassle, but seeing that Li Qingshan was limping, she obediently tied him up.
After tying it up, the villagers found that it didn't get in the way when they were doing their work, and over time they stopped finding it troublesome.
Instead, I felt a sense of protection and was no longer timid and afraid to move.
It's important to understand that being unable to move forward or retreat is the easiest way to fall from a great height.
Thinking of this, the villagers all silently thanked Lu Qiqi for her good idea.
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