Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 254 Ceramics
Linzi is a traditional industrial city in Shandong Province. In 1955, it became the third prefecture-level city after Quancheng and Qingniao, and later obtained the license plate number Lu C.

Linzi is a famous ceramics and chemical production base. After following Zhou Ping, the car passed more and more factories along the way, and the air smelled strongly of coal and sulfur.

"We've arrived. I'll go find my uncle in a bit. You guys sit down for a while and wait for me... You guys can wander around." Zhou Ping is one of the accountants at his uncle's company. He usually stays in Quancheng and always has a pile of accounts to check when he comes back. He left early and handed Yan Hui and the other person over to a security guard.

As soon as Zhou Ping left, Yan Hui and Wang Zongbo, led by the security guard, began to tour the factory.

The factory area here is very large. As far as the eye can see, there are rows and rows of low factory buildings, covering at least several acres of land. Raw materials are placed in the open between the factory buildings. The roads are not paved and are somewhat muddy. The smell in the air is complicated, a mixture of mud, dust, and coal ash, giving the entire factory area a hazy, murky feel.

Workers shovel clay into the mixer or move shaped clay blanks to designated areas to dry. Inside the workshop, there are at least twenty or thirty workers, some throwing clay, some carrying loads, and others operating simple machinery.

Further inside are the kiln firing area and the area where finished products are displayed.

After the two strolled around for a while, Zhou Ping ran over and asked, "Why are you still here? What's so interesting about this place?"

"Huh? What's the difference?" Yan Hui asked, puzzled.

"This area is all ceramics, mostly handmade. Let me show you the tile factory, it's at the very back," Zhou Ping said, gesturing for them to walk inside.

As you walk deeper into the factory, the biggest change is that the road surface has been paved with cement. Further in, you'll see a lot of modern machinery.

"This is a ball mill. It can grind soil and small stones into slurry. Then, impurities are sieved out here, and then this equipment is used to dry and dehydrate it. This is a brick press. After it's finished, it's sent to this drying kiln," Zhou Ping explained as he walked.

"Can this be burned?" Yan Hui was very interested in the equipment.

Yan Hui found the pottery making process troublesome; it required so many workers, and the numerous bottles and jars produced seemed difficult to sell.

The production of tiles here is different; it's industrialized, and they look pleasing to the eye!
"We still need to glaze it, and after that we can fire it. Finally, we just need to polish and cut it. But our brick press here is quite advanced. The later cutting is mainly for trimming the edges." Zhou Ping led the two of them inside. At the very back was the exit of the factory, where workers were loading tiles onto trucks.

"This thing looks pretty good. How much would it cost to invest in a factory like this?" Yan Hui examined the factory carefully.

"How would I know that? I'd estimate it's over a million," Zhou Ping roughly estimated.

“Yes, I see that four or five pieces of equipment are imported, and these are quite expensive.” Yan Hui nodded.

As the saying goes, "every profession has its own secrets," and although Yan Hui had read many books on woodworking machinery, he had no concept of these massive machines in front of him.

"Indeed, I heard that this CNC machine, the one for pressing bricks, costs more than 20 yuan!" Zhou Ping didn't really know much about it.

"That's not expensive." Yan Hui nodded.

"This isn't expensive? You could buy two cars with this money!" Zhou Ping exclaimed. "When will I ever have my own car?"

“The price of motorcycles will definitely go down in the future, so there’s no rush, right?” Wang Zongbo didn’t care. He had been running the market for so many years, and it had always been motorcycles.

"It's tough. We don't even have a decent engine in China. We have to buy everything from Japan. And it's already cheap now," Zhou Ping sighed.

"Our biggest dream in the aluminum industry is to supply aluminum to car factories, not to make aluminum alloy doors and windows. Sigh... I look forward to that day," Wang Zongbo remarked. Everyone had their own thoughts, and the tour was now complete.

“Let’s go, my uncle said we should have lunch together,” Zhou Ping said.

The factory has a canteen and a private kitchen. The three of them went to the second floor of the canteen together. As soon as they entered, there were already four or five dishes on the menu.

“My uncle has something to do outside, so he told us to eat first and not wait for him. I estimate I’ll be busy until four o’clock this afternoon, and then we’ll head back to Quancheng. You can take a walk around the neighborhood after you finish eating,” Zhou Ping said, inviting the two of them to eat.

With no elders present, the three of them naturally didn't stand on ceremony. The chef here was a local, and the dishes he cooked were all Boshan cuisine, which Yan Hui had never eaten before. After trying a few dishes, he thought they were really delicious.

“You guys enjoyed it, I’ll bring you some more when we get back. The crispy stew here is very famous!” Zhou Ping said.

"You came empty-handed, and now you're expecting food and gifts?" Yan Hui laughed. "How could I possibly accept that?"

"Don't mention it, the cafeteria has everything, it's homemade, not something I bought," Zhou Ping said politely.

In the six months or so since Yan Hui came to Shandong Province, he has noticed something interesting. People from Shandong like to emphasize that when they give gifts, they "didn't buy them with money," and they like to emphasize that they are locally produced and not worth much, so that the recipient is more likely to accept them.

"Sure, I'll bring some back for my brother-in-law later." Yan Hui thought for a moment and accepted it. Anyway, his brother-in-law and President Zhou had a good relationship, so this little bit of stuff was nothing.

The three of them were almost full when President Zhou finally had time to come over. As soon as he entered, he asked, "How was the meal? If you don't have anything else to do, don't rush back tonight. I'll make some more arrangements for you."

"Mr. Zhou, I have to go back tonight. My brother-in-law has something to do," Yan Hui said, standing up.

"Please sit down," Mr. Zhou said, finding a chair to sit in. "I've been so busy today, I just finished and haven't even had lunch yet. Zhou Ping, could you go and get me a bowl of noodles?"

"Okay." Zhou Ping immediately went out the door.

As soon as Zhou Ping stepped out, President Zhou said to Yan Hui, "Yan Hui, I recently talked to your brother-in-law about you. I heard that you're working directly for President Han, and I also heard that the quality of your boards is quite good. You're really something!"

"Mr. Zhou, you're too kind. I just spend a little more time working with timber," Yan Hui said.

“That’s different. I’ve known President Han for three or four years, and I’ve rarely seen him value a junior like this. How old are you? Indeed, heroes emerge from among the young!” President Zhou exclaimed sincerely.

When we last met, Yan Hui volunteered to do cleaning work next to President Han. President Zhou was one of the few people who knew about this.

At the time, he only thought Yan Hui was still a bit young and impulsive, and didn't think much of it. Who knew that in just over two months, he would have become like this.

"Mr. Zhou, I'm just starting out, so please take care of me if I need anything." Yan Hui said politely. "My brother-in-law told me that you are a very good elder and that I should consult you if I need anything."

"Oh, oh, you're too kind, you're too kind."

(End of this chapter)