The north wind is blowing, and now, it is the coldest season of the year, and at this time, the traffic on the whole grassland is quite inconvenient, and the herders generally lock up their sheep and spend the whole winter on the prepared pasture.

In the urban area, many people are also accustomed to shrinking at home, at this time, collective heating is still rare, most of the family, can only rely on burning firewood, grass or wood for heating, if in the summer, pick up a lot of cow dung, naturally can also burn cow dung for the winter. However, there are also a few families who can already buy some coal to burn.

The weather is cold and freezing, not suitable for human activities, but in an old factory such as a machine factory, the work is still going on normally, in the workshop, the cylindrical shape of the heat sink emits the heat of heating, so that the whole workshop is warm.

As for the foundry, it should be considered the warmest, they need to melt the steel ingots that are transported and then cast them into the desired shape, so the foundry can be quite warm even if there is no heating.

Of course, this premise is that under the normal start of construction, as for now, there are very few orders in a branch factory, so it is almost a month to open the furnace.

Of course, there is still other work to be done before the start of construction, such as the sand mold for casting, which needs to be manufactured continuously.

The molten iron melts, flows into the sand mold, and after cooling, it becomes the desired shape, if it is cast an iron pot or something, this sand mold can be used repeatedly, anyway, it is two inside and outside, just open it.

However, the cylinder block of the engine is of a special shape, and the inside and outside are very complex, and this kind of sand mold can only be taken out after the completion of casting, only by breaking the sand mold, the cylinder block can be taken out, so the sand mold is scrapped after one use, and the same number of sand molds are needed to continuously cast the cylinder block.

Therefore, in half of the open space of the foundry, sand molds are made.

At this time, the workshop was empty, and there were only a dozen people.

"Hey, did you hear that? This morning, the military representative came to us and said that the engines we manufactured were not up to standard, and threatened us, saying that the first branch factory would be closed down in the future. If this is closed, we will be in big trouble. A young man with a sharp beak said that he had only been in the factory for three or five years, which was relatively young.

"Sun Yingjie, don't worry about it." Kong Laoer, a slightly older master on the side, said: "If the factory is closed, we don't always have to go to the hospital to get a certificate, and we won't use it in the future, so it's good to take the money for nothing!" ”

Kong Lao Er is his real name, there are no literate people in the family, so the name is simpler, the eldest son Kong Laoer, the second son Kong Lao Er, simple and clear.

"Master Kong, it is said that he will send us to the border, maybe he will go to the battlefield." Sun Yingjie said.

"Hmph, it's all scary, besides, even if you really want us to go over, it's a big deal to open a medical record, if you're sick, who will let us go up?" Kong Lao Er said very easily: "Over the years, I have seen it through, the big pot of rice, I have to eat like this, anyway, no one else works, and they get the same salary, hum." ”

There is a problem with the engine, who is not clear in your mind? Needless to say, now behind them, more than a dozen sand molds have been made, but they are all shoddy, no one cares, in the end, there are even people who expect that no one wants an engine in a branch factory, so they don't have to do anything.

After speaking, Kong Lao Er glanced at the workshop, today is Friday, which is the day with the most leave, and there are only a few people left in the workshop, but when he looked around, he still found that there were still people working on the side of Shamo.

Sand molds are made like pottery, that is, sand is mixed with water and some other raw materials, and after being stirred, it becomes a mud-like thing, and then processed into specific shapes, and when processing these shapes, there are special molds, so it is not difficult to make.

However, now the master here did not use the mold of the finished product at all, but was fiddling with his own hands, his hands were covered with sand, and he looked very interested.

"Master Wu, what are you doing?" Sun Yingjie and the others gathered around the side of the old master Wu Ruihua, looking at him fiddling, and what he made in his hand seemed to be a cylindrical shape, thick at the bottom, thin at the top, and half a meter high, which looked very strange.

"This, it looks like a stove?" Kong Lao Er asked Wu Ruihua.

"Yes, it's just a stove, you can burn wood, you can also burn coal, and it's just right to use it for heating in winter." Wu Ruihua was very focused: "Every time we finish casting, there is always a surplus of molten steel, and the molten steel is wasted. ”

Kong Laoer's eyes rolled: "Yes, why didn't we think of it, Master Wu, your idea is so wonderful, hey, Xiao Sun, and a few of you, come, everyone come together, according to Master Wu's process, let's do some too." ”

Yes?

The others were stunned, we came to the workshop, and we were also planning to grind foreign workers, only those leaders were allowed to spend a day with a cup of tea and a newspaper? Our workshop workers can also sit down and play cards for a day, now, why do you suddenly do this?

What does Kong Lao Er mean by this?

Wu Ruihua could only shake his head helplessly, he did this, but he felt that since he came to work, he had to do something, he couldn't be idle, this stove was made to use the excess molten steel, but he didn't think about selling it for money.

"Next time we open the furnace, let's melt one more steel ingot, so that we can cast more furnaces." Kong Lao Er said: "It looks like the New Year is coming, we have to find a way to get something for the New Year." ”

Hearing this, Sun Yingjie immediately understood.

Now, there are not many people who can burn coal to keep warm, if you are in the countryside, burn firewood to heat the kang, and guard the hot kang head in winter, but in the city, there are not many kangs, and the people in the city eat more public grain, and their lives are slightly better, and there are some places where there is no heating, they will burn coal by themselves.

Coal stove is very useful, not only heating, cooking in winter, you can use it, a coal stove, can not be used for a lifetime, there are always some coal stoves, burning and burning will be broken, especially now, the year is approaching, there will still be this demand.

The coal stove in the supply and marketing cooperatives is expensive, so they cast a batch by themselves and sell it, which can be half cheaper, and they just want to get a New Year's money to spend.

"But, is that okay? We can't take out the things in the factory, can we? Even if you take it out, where can you sell it? Sun Yingjie was still a little worried.

Besides, this is speculation, aren't you afraid?

"What are you afraid of? It's cold, the gate doesn't come out, it's dark and early, hang it on the bicycle, and go out properly. You haven't been to the black market? Eggs or something, what is not sold on the black market? Kong Lao Er said: "If it has nothing to do, go aside, and if you want to do it, come together." ”

Just when a few people were talking, the door of the workshop was quietly pushed open, and two young men, wearing the same work clothes of the first machine factory, walked in.

"Brother Zhenhua, their workshop is really deserted." Wang Erzhu whispered.

"It's all said, don't call me Brother Zhenhua, let's find out in advance, we can't let them know our true identity, what you just said, why did you forget it?"