Chapter 42: The Huge Water Pipe

  Yan Jufan was shocked, this little girl is not simple at all. From such a small thing, she can determine that the sentry is incompetent. He hastily asked: "How did you know? Guess?" Hearing Yan Jufan's puzzled tone, Qin Siqiao pouted and hummed: "Hmph, what's guessing? Do I need to guess something so obvious? Of course, it was my own idea."

  The bad boy looked up and down at this proud little girl, couldn't see it, this little girl still had such intuition, he quickly changed his tone to praise her, and made up his mind, next time he must find an opportunity to see the true ability of this spoiled girl, maybe she was a personal talent, people from big families were indeed brainy.

  Yu Nong couldn't help but look at this little girl who always quarreled with Jiu Fan Gege, she refused to call herself sister, haha, it turned out that she understood a lot too.

  Qin Si was proudly puffed out her chest, she didn't mind being looked at by these two people, you can look over here, and then look back. Seeing the little girl's sulky appearance, Yan Jufan smiled happily. In fact, this place is heavily guarded, and the ones that came out earlier were just the vanguard of the mouse team, with many hidden sentries lurking in even more inconspicuous places. Moreover, it's not just the mouse team guarding here, two battalions of the Anti-Japanese Righteous and Brave Army are stationed here, with a platoon on outer patrol, and many other mobile sentries. This is indeed a key location in Lishi Village, and except for those who work inside, others have been prohibited from approaching. These are all thanks to Yan Jufan's efforts, under his strong suggestion, this place has become an important base. Even among the workers themselves, there are people from the Alliance watching their movements closely, carefully identifying whether any spies have infiltrated from other places.

  Of course, these are things that cannot be said to young girls, lest they unintentionally let it slip out.

  In front of the valley, the huge blast furnace was spewing out sparks of molten iron, and the scorching heat could be felt from afar. The workers were busy, operating various equipment in an orderly manner. The original ore had gradually shrunk, while on one side, various iron ingots, cast shells for landmines and hand grenades had piled up like a small mountain. Yan Jufan turned his head to glance at the two women, and all three of them wore happy smiles on their faces. It was really great, with so much iron available, many things could be made now. Yu Nong was especially delighted, looking at the improved landmine and hand grenade parts that had been modified according to her suggestions, these were truly a source of pride.

  Not far away, another huge furnace is being constructed in a tense manner. From time to time, workers pushing small carts come to deliver goods, and there are many things on the cart, including lime sand, refractory bricks, tempered mud soil, and large cast iron furnace bodies. The most eye-catching thing is that a very high chimney is being built, and a steam engine is waiting to be assembled beside it.

  The temperature for smelting iron is a bit lower, so the water-powered fan invented by Yan Jifu can still be used, but it's not enough to smelt steel. Fortunately, two steam engines were finally transported back from Beidu after going through countless hardships, which immediately solved the problem of wind energy, and thus the steel furnace was able to be built.

  Lin Yeshui is now the foreman of the ironworks, directing several workers who are busy at work. Yan Jufan and he exchanged greetings. Lin Yeshui hurried over, knowing that these few young masters were the sons of the head of the Alliance and the niece of Minister Qin, people he couldn't afford to offend. This was his experience living in the big city. Although these few didn't seem as spoiled as the rich kids from the city, he still didn't want to risk his own livelihood, after all, life here was easy and fulfilling, a rare haven in a country torn apart by war.

  Yan Jufan was not used to the respectful attitude of the general manager in front of him. The few people he had met in his previous life who were of similar status all had a humble and polite demeanor, and being able to talk to him at all was considered friendly. At that time, he was still indignant. He couldn't help but wonder if scholars in this era were really so modest and cautious? Without realizing it was because of his father's identity.

  However, it's more beneficial to have a general manager like this. It takes some effort for a child like me to persuade adults, but it seems that the person in front of me doesn't need much effort. Qin Si Jiao wasn't surprised at all by Lin Ye Shui's attitude as the so-called general manager. In the Qin family, who didn't speak to her like this? Even when she was being unreasonable, they would still obediently comply. Having seen it many times, she naturally knew their thoughts. At this moment, seeing the bad boy's astonished eyes, she couldn't help but feel proud in her heart. Humph, if he wasn't looking at you as the son of the Tongmenghui leader, how would he bother with you? It's still the little miss who has seen and experienced a lot.

  Yan Jufan didn't know that Qin Siqiao was secretly criticizing him here, he was explaining the problem of the chimney to Lin Yeshui, this worry made the general manager who only knew how to work shocked. Only then did he remember that there were still outsiders in this world, but he still shook his head, without a chimney, even gods couldn't refine steel. This problem wasn't so easy to solve.

  Yan Jufan, who had long been prepared, naturally knew that there was no problem with iron smelting without a chimney. However, he had an idea and brought the two young ladies along. Yan Jufan beckoned Lin Yeshui to follow him, and several people followed the bad boy in confusion, turning left and right until they arrived at the creek. They didn't know why this guy brought them here, and they looked at each other, waiting for Yan Jufan to reveal the mystery.

  At this time, the creek water was no longer as clear as it used to be. So many people living here had polluted the small stream, but fortunately, it wasn't too severe yet. The upper reaches of the creek were prohibited from human entry as a source of drinking water, which preserved the creek. However, Yan Jufan also felt helpless about this, after all, everyone here needed to live, and not touching a drop of water was impossible. Being able to control it at this level was already a miracle.

  The little rascal pointed at the water in the river and then at the distant chimney, turned his head to ask the crowd: "Have you guessed? What will I do?" The others looked at each other, not understanding what the creek water and the chimney had to do with each other. Only Yu Nong was deep in thought, looking at the little boy. Yan Jufan was indeed pleased with this clever little girl, it's really a case of "hearing the sound of the string knowing the elegant meaning". He nodded at Yu Nong, indicating that she should speak.

  Yu Hong's heart was filled with joy when she saw that Jufan Ge had noticed her, which made her feel sweeter than eating honey. This attention was the greatest reward for her. She mustered up her courage and said boldly: "Jufan Ge seems to be saying that we should use water to isolate the smoke in the chimney, letting the smoke pass through the water." As she spoke, she turned her head to look at Yan Jufan.