Chapter 38: Kiln Firing

Chapter 38: Kiln Firing

After receiving the 20-yuan red envelope from the woman, Deng Shirong's wealth soared to more than 370 yuan. Now, with the man's thank-you gift—a 30-yuan red envelope plus the system's tenfold reward—he gained another 330 yuan. Adding this to the previous 370 yuan, he now had a substantial sum of over 700 yuan.

With such a large amount of money, Deng Shirong felt the time was ripe to build a house.

After all, building a house in this era was completely different from doing so in later generations. In later generations, labor costs accounted for nearly half of the total cost of building a house, and in some cases, labor costs even exceeded material costs. But in this era, labor costs for building a house were extremely low. You could call on relatives, friends, and villagers to help, and all you needed to provide was meals. No wages were required.

Therefore, Deng Shirong could invest the entire 700 yuan in purchasing building materials.

For most people, such a large investment could build many mud-brick houses. But for Deng Shirong, this amount of money was not enough to build the house he envisioned.

Of course, it's worth noting that while he didn't have enough money now, the house couldn't be built all at once. It would take at least several months. Moreover, he could buy building materials on credit, so there was room for flexibility.

With these few months of buffer time, he could continue helping with matchmaking. With the tenfold reward from the Matchmaker Reward System, he was sure to make a lot of money.

In addition, the first batch of goods from the tile factory was about to be loaded into the kiln. If everything went well, it wouldn't be long before the tile factory started generating income.

Confident in the situation, Deng Shirong revealed to his children the news that the family would build a new house this month.

In the countryside, no matter how successful you were in the outside world, if you didn't have a decent house in your hometown, the villagers would look down on you, even if they didn't say it outright.

Because no matter how well you did outside, no one could see it. But the whole village could see what your house looked like in your hometown.

Therefore, in later generations, those who made money outside or became officials would often spend a significant amount to build a beautiful house in their hometown, even if they only returned a few times a year. This way, the villagers would know that you were doing well outside, and it would be an honor to come back occasionally.

In his previous life, Deng Shirong's four sons had done relatively well. Even the second son, Deng Yunheng, who had fallen into gambling, had made a name for himself in that dubious way and lived a life envied by many.

The third son, Deng Yunsong, became an official. He had just retired the year Deng Shirong was reborn, enjoying the position of a deputy director. It was quite remarkable that he had reached this position without any family background.

The fourth son, Deng Yunhua, went into business, opening a fruit wholesale store in the county town and making a considerable profit.

The fifth son, Deng Yunheng, became a small contractor. He took on projects from larger contractors and could earn three to five hundred thousand yuan a year, making him a boss-level figure in the village.

The four brothers were doing well outside. Whether they returned to live in the village or not, the house in their rural hometown couldn't be worse than others. So, the four brothers pooled their money to build a fairly impressive house in their hometown.

The design of this house was created by the fifth son, Deng Yunheng, after consulting his father, Deng Shirong. Deng Shirong had been involved in the entire process. He had lived in the house for nearly 20 years after it was built and was very familiar with it.

Now, when Deng Shirong wanted to build a house, his first thought was to replicate the one from his previous life.

However, he could only think about it in his mind. Not only did he not have enough money to build such a house now, but he also had to consider the impact in this era. After all, it was still the early days of reform and opening up, and many things hadn't stabilized yet. There was no need for him to be the first to take such a bold step.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Deng Shirong decided to build his new house with blue bricks and large tiles. This would meet his living requirements without being too extravagant. Most importantly, the cost wouldn't be excessively high. When the time was right in a few years, he wouldn't feel bad about tearing it down and rebuilding it.

Three days later, the tile factory began loading the kiln.

Loading and firing the kiln were technical tasks, usually handled by the master craftsmen at the tile factory.

The status of this master craftsman in the tile factory was second only to the boss. This wasn't because the skills of loading and firing the kiln were more advanced than making large jars, but because if any step in the process went wrong, the entire kiln of goods would be ruined, causing a loss that would devastate the boss.

Therefore, the importance of loading and firing the kiln couldn't be overstated.

Some tile factories had specialized master craftsmen responsible for loading and firing the kilns, while others had their master craftsmen double as jar makers. At Deng Shirong's tile factory, the master craftsman was none other than Deng Yungui, one of the bosses.

Deng Yungui had originally been the master craftsman of the brigade's tile kiln, responsible for loading and firing the kiln. He was extremely experienced and had never made a mistake in all these years. With him in charge, Deng Shirong was completely at ease.

Of course, loading and firing the kiln wasn't something a master craftsman could do alone.

Loading the kiln wasn't a big deal—two people could do it slowly, though it was more tiring and time-consuming. But firing the kiln usually took several days and nights, and the fire had to be maintained in multiple places. If divided into two shifts, it would require at least seven or eight people.

When the kiln was being loaded, Deng Shirong didn't go to the tile factory.

He only arrived at the tile factory when the kiln was loaded and ready to be fired.

On the day the kiln was lit, the tile factory would offer sacrifices to Emperor Huaguang (it was said that Emperor Huaguang was a patron of businessmen, so all business-related activities worshipped him). Then, they would prepare two tables of food and wine, much like the opening ceremonies in later generations.

"Come, Yungui, I'll toast you. Thank you for your hard work over the next few days!" Deng Shirong said as he raised his wine glass.

Seeing that it was time to harvest, Deng Yungui was in high spirits and said with a smile, "Uncle Jiu, you're too kind. I'm only overseeing the firing of the kiln. It's Yuntai and the others who are actually tending the fire. It's not hard for me."

After they drank some wine, Deng Shirong asked, "Where are we planning to sell this first batch of goods? Yungui, have you decided?"

Deng Yungui set down his wine bowl and said, "In the past, the goods from our brigade's kiln were all transported to Hepu County for sale. This time, I don't plan to change that. What do you think, Uncle Jiu?"

Deng Shirong swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "We can hold onto the first batch of goods for now, but I suggest that when you transport them to Hepu to sell, don't rush back afterward. Take the opportunity to go to Beihai and investigate the market there. Inquire about the price of tiles there. If it's higher than in Hepu, we can transport the second batch of goods to Beihai to sell."

Deng Yungui nodded repeatedly and said, "Uncle Jiu, how about this? After the first batch of goods is fired, I'll go with you to Hepu to sell them, and then we can go to Beihai together to investigate the market. How does that sound?"

Deng Shirong waved his hand and smiled, "I won't go. Let my son Yuntai go with you. You've been in the tile business for so many years. Investigating the market won't be difficult for you."

Deng Yungui laughed and didn't press further. Investigating the market was indeed not a difficult task.

After eating and drinking, Deng Yungui lit the first fire in the kiln in front of everyone.

(End of this chapter)