Chapter 174 The Power of the Modern Electric Drill
Nowadays, during festivals, there is famine everywhere in the city. Ordinary families are lucky to have enough to eat. Even if they hire workers to build houses, they don't need to be given such good white flour buns.
The ten pounds of meat she ate on the first day of work a couple of days ago were such a waste!
Jiang Ling smiled and said, "No need to be polite. Everyone works hard, so we need something hot to keep our energy up."
Seeing that she seemed completely unfazed, Aunt Zhao didn't say anything more. She held up the steamed buns and called out to the workers,
"Everyone, watch closely! Miss Jiang is treating everyone to white steamed buns! Let's all work harder and not let Miss Jiang down!"
The workers cheered and became even more motivated.
Aunt Zhao quickly put the buns into the steamer and placed it next to the stove. Soon, white steam carrying the aroma of the buns wafted out.
Just then, a commotion arose from the workers who were digging the foundation.
"Uncle Zhao! Come quick! We've dug up a big rock!"
It turned out that when they dug to a depth of nearly two meters, they encountered an unusually large rock, a full meter wide, which was buried very deep.
If we don't get it out, we can't continue building the foundation.
The craftsman in charge of digging the foundation frowned, tapped the stone with his shovel, and heard a hard "bang, bang" sound. "Much harder than ordinary stone!"
Grandpa Zhao squatted down and took a look, his brows furrowing: "Stop what you're doing and let's all clear the stones out together!"
The workers immediately got to work, using shovels and hoes to clear the soil around the stones.
Xiao Ran also ran over to help, carrying away the soil that had been brought up from the pit.
After working for half an hour, the soil around the stone was finally cleared away. However, the stone was large and heavy, and a dozen craftsmen tried to lift it, but the stone did not budge.
"How about... we smash it and move it?"
"Get out of the way, let me do it!"
The village's strongest craftsman came over with a large iron hammer and smashed it several times with all his might.
"Thump—!"
"Thump—!"
Sparks flew as the hammer struck the stone, but the stone didn't even crack; instead, the craftsman's hand went numb from the impact.
"This stone is too hard!" The craftsman gasped for breath, shaking his head in frustration.
"I've been breaking rocks for so many years, and I've never seen anything this hard!"
The situation reached a stalemate.
"What should we do? We can't let a stone delay the construction of the house, can we?"
Jiang Ling went over upon hearing the sound. "Uncle Zhao, what's wrong?"
Grandpa Zhao pointed to the rock in the pit, "Sigh, we've run into a tough nut to crack. We can't break it or move it. We're really worried about it."
Jiang Ling peered inside and saw that the pit was almost two meters deep, and the large rock was a meter wide and quite thick.
In this era, without the help of machinery, relying solely on human labor is indeed not an easy task.
Jiang Ling wondered if there was anything usable in the shop, and remembered that there seemed to be a used impact drill in the corner of the warehouse.
I wonder how powerful it is? Will it even be of any use?
She turned to Xiaoran and said, "Xiaoran, come with me, we're going to get something."
The two searched the warehouse for a while and found the industrial-grade impact drill in a corner of a renovation tool area.
The dark fuselage, with a long drill bit attached, was extremely heavy.
Xiao Ran had some effort to move it out.
The workers all gathered around, looking curiously at the strange-looking thing.
"Miss Jiang, what is this?" Grandpa Zhao asked in confusion.
Grandpa Zhao reached out and touched the body of the electric drill; it was icy cold and had a metallic sheen.
"This is a very powerful tool, specifically designed for hard objects. See if you can break this rock."
Jiang Ling plugged in the power cord. It was her first time using it, and it took her a while to find the switch.
The instant the switch is pressed,
"Buzz—"
A loud roar suddenly rang out, catching the craftsman holding the electric drill off guard, almost causing him to drop it, which drew gasps from the crowd.
Jiang Ling taught him how to hold the drill firmly and how to aim it: "Aim the drill bit at the stone, push it in hard, and slowly drill in. Once you have a gap, it will be easier to chisel."
The craftsman was skeptical. How could this strangely shaped thing have such great power when even a large iron hammer couldn't break it?
He did as instructed and pressed the spinning drill bit against the stone surface. Instantly, the drill bit rubbed violently against the stone, sparks flew everywhere, and a piercing sound was heard.
He was startled, but before he could react, the drill bit had already penetrated the rock as easily as cutting tofu.
"They really got inside!"
Everyone gasped in surprise, and even the craftsman's eyes widened.
The craftsman seemed to have found the trick. He pressed hard against the stone, enduring the recoil from the electric shock, and actually managed to drill the iron pillar into the stone!
Before long, several small holes appeared on the surface of the stone, and fine cracks gradually appeared around the holes.
"This thing is amazing!" The craftsman stopped his machine, looked at the stone, and his face was full of disbelief.
The stone that used to hurt my hand from hitting it didn't react at all, but now I can drill through it so easily with this amazing tool.
Jiang Ling looked at the rock; it was indeed too big. However, the electric drill would still be useful. She could only break the rock into pieces little by little before moving it out. It was better than painstakingly smashing it with a hammer.
Other craftsmen, unable to contain their curiosity, also wanted to try out the power of this strange object.
Jiang Ling knew she couldn't stop their curiosity, so she cautioned, "This thing vibrates a lot, so hold it firmly and be careful not to touch it."
The craftsmen took it seriously and took turns trying it out, and they were all amazed.
Before long, the surface of the stone was covered with drill holes, and the cracks grew larger and larger.
As Grandpa Zhao watched the stones at the bottom of the pit gradually being riddled with holes, he couldn't help but sigh:
"Miss Jiang's shop has so many treasures! If it weren't for this electric drill, we don't know how long we would have been stuck here!"
"I'm glad I can help, after all, this is for building my own house." Jiang Ling didn't dare to be careless and watched the whole process from the side.
Before long, the large rock was riddled with holes, like a honeycomb, and it crumbled with a gentle tap.
Jiang Ling was worried that the electric drill might hurt someone, so she asked Xiao Ran to put it away after she finished using it.
As the sun rose higher, the mist dissipated, and the steamed buns in the steamer were cooked.
Aunt Zhao came over carrying steaming hot buns:
"Everyone, take a break, have some steamed buns and porridge! We'll get back to work after we've eaten our fill!"
Jiang Ling had Xiao Ran and Xiao Yi move the tables and chairs out in advance.
The workers put down their tools and gathered around.
The worker held a steaming, plump white bun in his hand and took a big bite before even sitting down.
One bite and it's all broth!
Wow! This is a giant meat bun!
"Mine is a sweet meat bun! It's so delicious!"
"Millet porridge, steamed buns with meat filling! The treatment is too good to work for Miss Jiang!"
Xiao Yi came over and said, "Sister, I also worked hard today. I helped start the fire."
Jiang Ling smiled and patted his head: "Okay, Xiao Yi, you've worked hard. Here's an extra two meat buns for you today."
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