After dinner, Zhou Jiao carried Ping'an on her back, held a loudspeaker and a call, and followed Aunt Wang and the others.
Aunt Wang is a good person!
Before dinner, Aunt Wang looked at Zhou Jiao's thin body with disdain, especially in comparison with the chubby Ping An. She frowned tightly and gave Zhou Jiao a fat position.
Writing slogans, shouting slogans, blowing horns, seemingly without rest for twenty hours, but Zhou Jiao knew that this was because people were taking care of her.
In order to prevent Aunt Wang from having any reason to criticize her, Zhou Jiao took the initiative to take over and take care of several babies, so that the adults could focus on creating miracles.
Men began to break up the limestone that had been pushed back from the mountain during the day.
The foundation of an earthen blast furnace requires limestone. To build a nine-meter-high blast furnace, the foundation requires a layer of limestone. It is very strong and stable.
The two piles of iron ore and coke next to it are raw materials for ironmaking, and they also need to be crushed.
The fatigue of the work could not dampen the people's enthusiasm. Everywhere there were loud conversations, the sound of hammers banging, and the blaring of the county radio, the work was in full swing.
Zhou Jiao looked up at the sky. It had been rainless this autumn, and it hadn't rained at all. She looked at the sleepless child in her arms, who stared around with open eyes, and wished it would rain.
At this moment, she still didn't realize that her idea was naive. Even in winter, when it rained only twice, people were still busy working in the rain, not taking a holiday.
In the distance, Mr. and Mrs. Zhang were hammering limestone, paying attention to their wife's hands from time to time.
"Dad, did you meet any villagers when you went up the mountain this afternoon? I heard they're building a blast furnace in the village, but I don't know where. Sigh... my heart is in turmoil."
Father Zhang said with a smile, "We met Lao Wu and the others. We don't have anyone capable enough to help us with the stove, so we added a few more. I heard they built it on the wasteland at the foot of the mountain. Our yard is fine, so if you're worried, go back tomorrow and take a look."
Mother Zhang kept her hands busy and shook her head. "Forget it, let's not go back. It's useless to look. I don't know what happened to our three sons."
So he's still worried about his sons? Father Zhang isn't worried about his younger two sons at all, but he's worried about his eldest. The second son is clever, and the fifth is no fool, and he's quite strong. His eldest son isn't like that; he's too honest and easily taken advantage of. But he can't tell his wife about this, or she'll get sick with worry.
He laughed and said, "They've done things that are even more tiring than this. Why are you still worried?"
"Xiaowu and Laoer didn't come back for dinner. I wonder if they're hungry?"
"Xiaowu just met me and told me that the three brothers are eating at the company. Don't worry. They are fine. You worry about them, but they also miss you."
Zhang's mother felt much better after hearing her husband's words of comfort. Seeing her daughter-in-law shouting into the loudspeaker, she felt even more energized.
The three sons that Zhang's mother was worried about were now just as Zhang's father had expected.
Zhang Guofu worked tirelessly to break the stone. The sweat on his back and forehead showed his dedication. As he worked, he considered Zhang Guoqing's words. After a moment's deliberation, he decided to follow his brother's instructions. Since climbing the blast furnace was dangerous, he decided to give up.
The second-in-command, Zhang Guoqiang, carried stones to his colleagues who were sitting on the ground. He would sit down and knock on the stones from time to time, pass cigarettes to his colleagues, and joke with everyone.
It was clear he was thriving. He'd also thought about his brother's instructions; he knew what he was doing without Xiaowu telling him. There were plenty of experts in the bureau, all actively working, so why would he be needed?
As for Zhang Guoqing, he had a large pile of crushed limestone in front of him, which was twice as much as others, causing Zhao Dashan to keep looking at him.
He gave Zhao Dashan a helpless smile. He had no other choice. He was already famous for his strength, so why would he hide it at this moment? Furthermore, hearing Zhou Jiao's voice over the nearby speaker made him excited and made a mistake.
Let's do it! Every effort has its ups and downs. At least next, besides pushing the rocks back up the mountain, he'll also be hammering them. This is really an easy job for him.
Thinking of this, Zhang Guoqing began to wonder if he was the only one taking care of his son at night. The honking of the horn would surely keep his family awake. He wondered if his wife would be transferred to work as a stone breaker without his son by her side.
Ten busy days passed quickly as Zhang Guoqing fretted over the outcome and hesitated. Earthen blast furnaces of varying heights and sizes were erected one after another on many vacant lots in the county.
After ten days of hammering, small hills of iron ore, coke and limestone had piled up not far from the blast furnace.
Now everything is ready, only the east wind is missing.
The completion of the earthen blast furnace gave people hope, and everyone was full of passion and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the iron-making industry.
Whether it was for celebration or just for fun, on this day, every place in the county where there was an earthen blast furnace held a furnace opening and lighting ceremony.
As the music on the radio stopped, the person in charge of each department announced the start.
The person who lit the furnace filled the hearth with ignition wood and poured coke into the hearth from the top. The person below ignited the wood with oil and cut it with fire bricks, leaving a round hole for the molten iron to be discharged.
At this time, use a blower to blow air - in an instant, thick smoke rushes up from the top of the furnace.
Witnessing this moment, there were bursts of warm applause and cheers at the scene, and some people were so excited that they shouted and chanted slogans.
The successful ignition indicated that the target was not far away, which made everyone very happy.
Four or five furnace workers were not afraid of the scorching heat. Some of them were holding fire pokers in their hands, tending the blast furnace, laughing happily and shouting to the loaders to cheer them on.
The loaders confidently climbed up the ladders to the blast furnaces, carrying baskets of iron ore, coke, and limestone, and poured the materials in from the top. They were not afraid at all, and even after descending the ladders, they persevered.
The stonemasons sitting on the ground below didn't even have time to talk. They increased the speed and strength of their hands, fearing that they would not be able to keep up with the burning blast furnace.
Everyone's face was filled with happy smiles - the hope of producing steel made people excited and proud. At this moment, people wanted to stay by the blast furnace day and night without leaving.
There was still a hint of brightness in the sky. Looking up, one could see thick smoke rising from all directions. Gradually, the sky above the county town became covered in gray.
The sky gradually darkened. I don’t know if it was because it was approaching night or because the smoke covered the sky.
Night fell, and the bonfires lit everywhere illuminated the entire county in red.
Working in the dark, without any protection.
全程上料工們背着重物，爬上那九米的高度，這種危險性讓周嬌不忍直視。每次她的視線都不敢接觸上方，心驚肉跳的期待着天亮。
就這樣，一直不停火的開爐煉鐵，除了強勞力工種日夜換班，其餘人人深夜入睡，淩晨五點上工。
彼此談論的話題離不開鐵，報道上更是離不開鐵，一下子生活仿佛進入了鋼鐵世界。
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