"Headmaster, someone is looking for you." Someone shouted in the distance.
Huang Huai glanced outside, then looked back and said, "You guys keep an eye on the furnace. The next furnace of molten iron is about to come out. There must be no problems."
After saying that, he stepped back from the stove, picked up a coat nearby and put it on before walking out.
"Head of the furnace." A miner came forward with a flattering face.
"Are you looking for me?" Huang Huai glanced at the miner and spoke lightly.
He knew this person, Han San, a miner in the iron yard, usually worked in secret and cheating, and also liked to gamble. He often felt that the gambling games in the iron yard were not big and too restrictive, so he would go down the mountain to gamble whenever he had time.
However, Han San was respectful to him and would flatter him no matter what happened. This greatly satisfied his vanity after he became the deputy manager of the iron yard. Otherwise, Han San would have been expelled from the iron yard long ago.
Han San hunched his neck and bowed his waist slightly, and said with a flattering smile: "Master Stove, I would like to treat you to a meal, and please appreciate it."
"Eating?" Huang Huai looked Han San up and down and said, "You're a gambler and you still have money to treat me to dinner?"
Disbelief was written all over his face.
Han Sanpai smiled and said: "Of course I don't have money to treat others, but I must have money to treat the cook to a meal. I also ask the cook to give me some face."
The food at the iron farm is good, but eating so many kinds every day will make you tired after eating for a long time.
Huang Huai looked hesitant.
Compared with other miners, he has never left the iron yard since he arrived. If he wants to leave the iron yard, no one will stop him. He only needs to talk to the manager Chen Hongtao.
Recently, many people have been eyeing the improved iron-making technology in the iron yard. He was worried that Han San was acting as a broker for others.
After a moment's hesitation, Huang Huai said, "Tell me, what do you want from me? I won't go until you make it clear."
Hearing this, Han San looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to them, so he whispered: "The proprietors of the Xu family, the Yang family, and the Li family, the three major ironworks in Dongshan, please have dinner with the stove master. I’m sending a message, and please don’t refuse, the stove master.”
Huang Huai was stunned.
He thought that Han San came to find him on behalf of someone else, and he also thought that it would be a certain iron yard owner, but he did not expect that he would be invited by three of the four major iron yard owners in Dongshan.
Among the four major ironworks owners in Dongshan, the Xu family is the strongest and has the most iron furnaces. The other three companies alone are not as good as the Xu family, but the three together have more furnaces and more miners than the Xu family.
Except for these four, the other ironworks owners in Dongshan are all small ironworks with one or two furnaces.
Seeing Huang Huai's hesitation, Han San persuaded him from the side: "Master, why don't you just have a meal? If you were younger, you would have gone already."
Huang Huai said nothing.
He knew that these three proprietors only wanted one thing from him, and that was improved iron-making technology.
As a miner who has been in Dongshan for decades, I know the strength of the four major iron yards in Dongshan very well. Any iron yard that wants to gain a foothold in Dongshan will not dare to offend these four iron yards.
It is said that Dongshan does not allow outsiders to build vertical iron furnaces for iron yards, but all the old miners in Dongshan know that in fact, only the four major iron yard owners do not allow outsiders to build vertical iron furnaces. The other iron yard owners have no choice but to follow. The four iron yards were waving flags and shouting.
If Huang Huai really wants to meet these big ironworks owners, he doesn't know if he has the courage to refuse their requests.
Seeing that Huang Huai was still hesitating, Han San said in a low voice: "Zhang Lu, our boss Liu in the iron farm is almost dead, so we should make plans early and find a way for ourselves to survive."
Huang Huai was startled, looked at Han San, and asked hurriedly: "Did you hear something?"
The owner behind the iron farm is a bandit from Hutou Village, which has always been a thorn in his side.
Although he agreed happily in Hutou Village at that time, it was because he really had no way to survive. He would not be able to survive this winter without surrendering to the bandits. Unlike now, he has money and skills in his hands. He can go to any iron yard for at least one The identity of the stove master.
He is different from Chen Hongtao. Chen Hongtao has a wife and children at home, but he is alone. He has enough to eat and his whole family is not hungry.
Han San said in a low voice: "Youngster only heard a few words from others. What's going on? The boss will know everything when he meets several owners of the iron farm."
After hesitating for a moment, Huang Huai said: "Where to eat?"
Seeing his agreement, Han Sanyi was overjoyed and whispered: "Not far away, at the Xujia iron yard, the three proprietors have been waiting for a long time, waiting for you to come over."
"Okay, you go wait for me outside the iron yard for a while, and I'll go talk to Manager Chen." After making the decision to meet the proprietors, Huang Huai no longer hesitated.
He found Chen Hongtao and said he wanted to leave the iron yard for a trip. Chen Hongtao did not suspect anything and also told him not to be in a hurry to come back and just come back before dark.
The rules of the iron yard are strict. Miners must return to the iron yard before Xu hour, otherwise they have to wait until the next morning. After Xu hour, miners are not allowed to enter and leave the iron yard at will.
Han San was waiting at the gate of the iron yard.
Today is his day off and he is allowed to leave the iron field for a day.
They are allowed to leave the iron yard once every fifteen days. Not all miners leave the iron yard on one day, but they are divided into batches to arrange the miners' breaks while ensuring the normal operation of the iron yard.
Of course, rain and snow do not count.
A miner who was also resting today came back to the iron yard from outside. When he saw Han San in front of the iron yard, he joked: "Han San, why didn't you go down the mountain to play today?"
Han San said sarcastically: "I have something to do, I have something to do, I won't bet today."
"This is not like your temperament. Every time you take a break, you won't get it back until you lose all your wages. Today you have changed your gender." When the miner saw Han San, he was not in a hurry to go in.
Han San stayed at the gate of the iron yard, waiting for Huang Huai. Naturally, he didn't want his acquaintances to see him and Huang Huai walking together. But the miner refused to leave, so he couldn't help but urge: "If you don't go back, the iron yard will be in trouble soon." It’s time to eat, and you’re so late that you can’t even get a sip of fucking soup.”
Naturally, this cannot be taken seriously. If we go late, we may not have much meat left, but we still have enough food.
When the autumn grain comes, Hutou Village receives grain from several surrounding villages at high prices. Nowadays, the most indispensable thing is grain. Every once in a while, large trucks will transport grain from Hutou Village to the iron yard in Dongshan.
Although he knew what Han San said was a joke, the miner couldn't help but go back to the iron yard to wait for lunch.
Every meal in the iron yard comes with oil and water. For many miners who used to have no food to eat, the happiest thing is not only when they receive wages, but also when they put out meals every day.
The wages are only one day per month, and meals are provided every day. Being able to fill their stomachs every day makes the miners more satisfied than receiving wages.
Not long after the miner left, Huang Huai walked out of the iron yard.
Han San hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.
"Let's go." Huang Huai said.
Han Sanyi was happy, knowing that Huang Huai had already talked to Chen Hongtao and agreed to go to the Xujia iron yard with him.
"Huang Zhanglu, are you going out?"
A cold voice suddenly came out from behind, startling Huang Huai.
Huang Huai turned around and said with a smile: "So it's Chen Tou who's going out too? No, I'm going out."
The guilty conscience of being a thief is what Huang Huai is like now. When others call him, he first feels guilty, and his words are a little confused.
The Chen head mentioned by Huang Huai was not Chen Xunping, but Chen Daqing, Yang Yuan's deputy and deputy captain of the intelligence team.
While Yang Yuan often disappears, Chen Daqing often travels between Lingqiu County and the iron yard, so many people have seen him in the iron yard, but only a few know his identity, including Huang Huai, the deputy manager of the iron yard.
