"I was shocked. How could this happen?" Zhang Yanling said with a smile.
Xu Youtang wiped the sweat from his face and breathed out: "I was also shocked. Daddy's notes didn't say there would be an explosion. Could it be that I made a mistake? Mr. Hou, I feel more and more worried."
It’s over. I’m afraid this furnace of iron will be turned into scrap iron.”
Zhang Yanling saw that Xu Youtang's face was flushed with heat and her bun was soaked. She knew that she was under tremendous pressure, and felt both love and admiration in her heart. For a seventeen-year-old girl to shoulder such a heavy responsibility, one can imagine the pressure in her heart.
.
"Don't worry, I think it's nothing. Isn't it that the furnace has returned to calm? It should be nothing serious. Besides, so what if you lose the practice? It's just a waste of pig iron and charcoal. If you fail, try again.
Yes." Zhang Yanling comforted.
Xu Youtang smiled gratefully at Zhang Yanling and thought: He just makes me feel at ease. He doesn't want to fail, and he can't let him down.
Within one stick of incense, white clay was sprayed and poured three times. This is also the key point of the smelting process of fine steel. After each spraying of white clay, the molten steel needs to be stirred and fused. The molten steel below is stirred up before adding it. After three times, it is ready.
Make the addition of molten steel and clay more uniform throughout the furnace.
Although I have Xu Gao's notes and have studied them carefully for a long time, the actual operation, in terms of the control of the heat and the timing of adding clay, is by no means fixed. Everything needs to be based on the shape of the boiler water.
Judgment, temperature judgment. This is really a challenge for Xu Youtang. In fact, even she herself did not have the confidence to guarantee success.
Finally, after three hours, it was time to tap out the molten steel. Everyone gathered together again, all wanting to know what could be smelted in this complex furnace after a series of complex smelting processes guided by a little girl.
What is the result?
The iron chain rattled and the iron wheel slid on the thick crossbar, moving the huge cast iron crucible to the entrance of the furnace sink. Several strong men used iron hooks to hook into the iron ring embedded in the circular furnace door.
Seven or eight men worked hard together, and the circular furnace door was pulled open. Sun Wanhou personally went into battle, holding a long and heavy iron drill and punched the thin dark red inner wall of the furnace door several times, and the door was opened.
Passage inside and outside the furnace.
For a moment, white light was dazzling, crackling sparks flew everywhere, and a white flaming molten steel tilted out from the slot. The surrounding area was suddenly hot, and the hot molten steel was burning in the air, burning with flames and shining with dazzling light.
The choking blue smoke quickly filled the air.
Sun Wanhou roared loudly and stabbed the iron drill in his hand into the furnace to speed up the flow of molten steel.
Several furnace workers nearby also followed suit with iron drills in their hands. The molten steel rushed out quickly and poured into the crucible. Soon, half of the molten steel was poured into the huge bowl-shaped crucible. Soon, no more molten steel flowed out of the smelting furnace.
The rest are some black and red semi-solid things.
The iron chain rattled, and the flaming crucible swayed in the air and moved to the end of the crossbar, and then hung above the iron ingot mold on the earthen platform.
Zhang Yanling ignored the burning of the molten steel and walked closer to take a look. The molten steel in the crucible was quickly becoming dim. Li Dagen shouted loudly, and several furnace workers acted quickly, tilting the crucible and pouring the molten steel into the iron ingot mold below.
中.After five molds were filled, the crucible was empty.
"Five hundred kilograms of green iron. The molten steel coming out of here is at most two hundred kilograms. What's going on? Is it useless?" Li Dagen frowned at the side.
Xu Youtang looked very excited, stared at Tie Shui and said: "It seems to be done."
Zhang Yanling couldn't see the clues and asked hurriedly: "Is it done?"
Xu Youtang said: "Dad's notes say that after smelting, only half of the steel is fine and half is slag. Isn't this correct? Also, the condensed fine steel has a blue color. Brother, look, the molten steel is cooled
Is there a faint blue color on the surface?"
Zhang Yanling squinted his eyes and looked carefully, and he saw that the dark condensed surface seemed to have a faint blue tone. It did look a little different.
"So... was it successful?" Zhang Yanling was ecstatic.
Xu Youtang said: "We'll have to wait until everything cools down before we see. I'm not sure yet."
Seeing that her face was covered in sweat and flushed with heat, Zhang Yanling hurriedly said: "Ignore it for now, let's go and cool down quickly. We will have heat stroke in a while."
Everyone finished work and had a rest. Today, the kitchen added food and vegetables, and the aroma was fragrant. The furnace workers successfully started the furnace today. Although the heat was unbearable, they were also happy. They sat happily in the shade of the shanty and drank tea and chatted in the house.
Zhang Yanling sat with Xu Youtang in the room for a while, feeling that Xu Youtang was a little restless, thinking that she was still worried about the results of the smelting, so he comforted her.
"Don't be too mentally burdened. If you succeed, you will succeed. If you fail, try again. Failure is the mother of success. Failure is the only way to learn from experience. Besides, it does not necessarily mean failure."
Xu Youtang whispered: "No, I feel uncomfortable. The clothes inside me are soaked through. I don't have anywhere to change and wash myself. It's really uncomfortable. I really want to take a bath and change into some clothes."
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "I see, isn't that easy? Just go and take a bath in the reservoir below."
Xu Youtang blushed and said: "It's broad daylight, how can it be like this? It would be embarrassing to be seen by others."
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "It's invisible. The lotus leaves are thick. Who can see it when bathing among the lotus leaves? I'll give you a lookout. Who dares to come close?"
Although Xu Youtang thought it made sense, he was a little shy and hesitant after all. Zhang Yanling stood up and came: "Let's go, there is nothing to hesitate about. Take a clean bath and feel comfortable all over. Change into clean clothes, that will be so comfortable. Didn't we bring them?"
Do you want some snacks and dry food? After we have packed up, we will eat something under the shade of the willows and enjoy the breeze. It will be so comfortable."
Xu Youtang's girlish nature could not withstand this kind of temptation. Of course she would not refuse to have a picnic with Ai Lang on the embankment and be alone together. So she hurriedly got up and packed a big package and carried it in her hand.
Zhang Yanling went out to greet everyone and said that she and Miss Xu wanted to go for a walk down the mountain and there was no need to send anyone to follow. Chen Shiyi and Zhang Yin knew full well that the relationship between them was extraordinary, so they both nodded in agreement.
Zhang Yanling and Xu Youtang came down from the mountain slope and soon arrived at the reservoir dam. After more than a month, the scene of the last confession and kiss here was still vivid in his mind. The scenery was still the same and the people were still the same. Zhang Yanling unknowingly hugged Xu Youtang's hand.
Xu Youtang also hugged Zhang Yanling's arm tightly, and the two were tired of being together again.