Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

The workshop's production line is currently progressing just right for the trial assembly work: all the parts of the first rice transplanter have been processed and are only missing the final fine polishing process. This will not affect the outer packaging and debugging, making it perfect for use as a prototype for trial assembly.

Upon receiving the materials, everyone stopped their carpentry work. The eldest brother and his son, Liu the carpenter, divided the tasks and first used a clean cloth to wipe the sawdust off the surfaces of all the parts. They then temporarily assembled the scattered parts into a complete prototype and checked the overall dimensions of the machine. Afterward, they disassembled it into four major modules and arranged them neatly and compactly according to the machine's shape.

Everyone gathered around the prototype, comparing it repeatedly to finalize the dimensions and height of the wooden crates, which would facilitate the subsequent mass production of outer packaging crates. When it came to wrapping the crates with cloth, Xingbao had already discussed it privately with his father and arranged to wrap the machine with layers of coarse cloth. The edges and precision moving parts were specially thickened, with an extra layer of cloth wrapped around them, exceeding the normal protection standard.

Both father and son had the same ulterior motive: last time they were dealing with official business, they were subtly tricked by Township Head Gan and forced to take on this high-risk and potentially disastrous task; since they were applying for materials through official channels, they should use more of the public funds to reclaim the benefits they were entitled to, so that they could feel at peace.

Taking advantage of the village head's presence and good mood while he was supervising the work, Xingbao quietly nudged his father's arm. His father understood and took the opportunity to make a new request to the village head: these rice transplanters were bulky and difficult to transport by wheelbarrow, with the risk of tipping over. The workshop wanted to build a matching transport cart, preferably a more stable four-wheeled cart, to facilitate the bulk transport of the equipment to the township for handover.

Throughout the entire process, the village head stood with his arms crossed on the side of the workshop, watching everyone busy at work. Seeing the Song family's standardized procedures and meticulous workmanship, he couldn't help but praise them in public: "Dawei, you are steady and reliable in your work, and you handle things with the right sense of proportion. Township Chief Gan is indeed an accurate judge of people. Only by entrusting this batch of important items to you can the higher-ups be completely at ease."

After the praise, the village head did not shirk his responsibility. Based on the amount of coarse cloth and boards consumed by this prototype machine, the group officially finalized the application standards for the complete set of packaging materials for ten rice transplanters, registered them, and reported them to the township.

The only request was for the four-wheeled cart. The village head neither agreed to allocate public funds for timber nor rejected it. He simply said, "Just proceed with the normal construction of the cart." After saying that, he excused himself by saying that he was busy with official business and hurriedly led his men away from the Song family workshop.

Father and Xingbao exchanged a glance, instantly understanding the unspoken meaning. The village head had tacitly approved: the Song family could use this batch of official business as a pretext to have public funds used to build four-wheeled transport carts, which would be classified as official equipment and exempt from all taxes. Not explicitly approving and disbursing the materials was to give him ample room to maneuver, and it was also a hidden benefit given to the Song family for undertaking such a high-risk task.

With this tacit approval, the matter was considered settled. Once the workshop's assembly line was running smoothly, production efficiency increased exponentially. As all the parts for the first prototype were completed, the parts for the subsequent nine rice transplanters were continuously processed and formed. Semi-finished products circulated orderly at the workstations, and the carpentry process in the workshop progressed steadily and methodically.

Taking advantage of the lull in everyone's work on the rice transplanter, Dad specially asked someone to purchase several pieces of high-quality hardwood with straight grain and excellent load-bearing capacity from Uncle Youcai's house. Following the simple mechanical drawings drawn by Xingbao, he set about building a custom-made four-wheeled transport cart.

Xingbao simplified all unnecessary structures, resulting in a minimalist cart design: only a load-bearing frame, four wooden wheels, and a controllable braking system are retained, streamlined to the point of being functional, without any unnecessary or fancy designs. Their youngest child is too small to pull heavy loads, so the cart's load capacity is just right for stacking and storing ten rice transplanters.

The road from Songjiahuopu to the township office is mostly downhill. This four-wheeled cart is stable due to its weight and controllable brakes. Once on the road, only two or three people are needed to accompany and steer it safely to transport all the machinery. Fewer escorts and fewer outsiders involved effectively prevent Li Buyun and his gang of idle individuals from interfering with the machinery, minimizing the possibility of unauthorized sabotage and ensuring the safety of the machinery throughout the entire transport process.

After the machine frame and parts blanks were all machined and formed, the most time-consuming and patience-testing part of the entire process officially began: polishing. All edges, corners, interlocking joints, and moving parts of the machine had to be repeatedly and meticulously polished until they felt smooth and rounded to the touch, without the slightest burr, perfectly meeting the stringent standards of the person to be presented to. No carelessness was allowed. The previously appointed inspection team was fully mobilized, with the youngest member, Gui Xiang, also taking on the role of a little inspector, carefully examining the polishing details and verifying the condition of each machine piece.

Hidden within the wood grain were countless tiny, hard splinters, small and inconspicuous, making them particularly abrasive and painful to the hands. Gui Xiang, being the youngest, had delicate skin on her fingertips that couldn't withstand such repeated rubbing and polishing. Before she'd even finished half a day of work, her fingers had already been pricked by splinters twice. Fortunately, she reacted quickly, immediately withdrawing her fingers each time she felt the pain, carefully removing the tiny splinters and leaving no wood chips in her skin.

The first time she was pricked, a sharp pain shot through her, and Gui Xiang instinctively let out a soft cry. Her eyes instantly reddened and filled with tears. The child was in great pain; her nose tingled, her little mouth was tightly pursed, and she stubbornly held back her sobs, her face filled with deep grievance. Seeing this, everyone around her immediately stopped what they were doing and gently comforted and coaxed her. Once the sharp pain subsided, she casually rubbed her fingertips and obediently lowered her head to continue her work.

Having experienced it once before, Gui Xiang was much calmer after being pricked by a splinter a second time. She merely frowned slightly, glanced down at her reddened fingertip, pinched it casually, and quietly took a breath of cool air, without uttering a sound of complaint. In an instant, she focused on smoothing the machine parts, carefully checking the flatness of the polishing, working diligently without slacking off. With these two experiences, Gui Xiang was no longer as impatient as before, and her speed slowed down, so even if she was pricked again, it wouldn't easily break her skin. Xing Bao, of course, was also not immune to being pricked. If he wasn't pricked, it was either because the splinter had been polished to the point of being gone, or because his rough skin made it impossible to feel the splinter. However, he had an excellent sense of touch and quick reflexes, so he naturally wouldn't get hurt.

The father, engrossed in sanding the wood, witnessed his daughter's repeated injuries and the pain she endured while working. His heart ached with a mixture of heartache and pity, and his lips twitched slightly. Seeing his child's delicate little hands repeatedly bruised, he felt a pang of tenderness. But seeing Guixiang's quiet, persistent work, her unassuming and sensible nature, he suppressed his heartache and focused even more intently on sanding every edge, striving to make it smooth and free of splinters, so as to minimize the suffering for his children.