Chapter 446 - 11: Commencement of Construction
The ugly daughter-in-law must finally meet the in-laws.
After conducting dozens of experiments and summarizing nearly a hundred important points, they trained the indigenous people for two and a half months.
Chen Zhou felt it was time to start regardless of anything.
"A rough beginning is the best beginning.
Don't wait for perfection to start, because perfect preparation is never achievable."
He braced himself for many unforeseen problems after construction commenced and prepared to overcome these difficulties.
After all, a factory is a major project, unlike small structures like reservoirs and toilets. During construction, a variety of complex issues are sure to arise.
In light of this, he could only move forward step by step at a slow pace, trying to achieve as much perfection in each aspect as possible.
...
On January 11, 1663, two days remained until the arrival of the eightieth mysterious reward.
This day marked the 1998th day since the challenge started and the day construction commenced on the island's first factory, entirely built with 21st-century materials.
On the morning of the groundbreaking day, Chen Zhou held a simple ribbon-cutting ceremony with the indigenous people.
Coincidentally, the indigenous people who went fishing the night before caught a fish over 70 centimeters long. Chen Zhou specially stored it in the fridge until this day to make a dish of roasted whole fish.
Of course, for a big day like the start of construction, nine people, including the indigenous people herding on the other side of the mountain, could not just eat this one fish.
The feast also featured two whole roasted sheep and several "beggar's prawns."
The "beggar's prawns" is a new dish Chen Zhou devised based on the beggar's chicken, with a similar preparation process.
The fresh lobsters are wrapped with minced garlic, chili, onion leaves, and a bit of rum in broad leaves, then coated outside with a layer of white clay, and directly roasted in a bonfire.
When the clay dries and the prawns are cooked, the clay is peeled off, and the shell is opened with a knife to enjoy the tender white shrimp meat, which is exceptionally delicious.
Initially, the indigenous people couldn't accept such an intimidating-looking food, but after trying it a few times with Chen Zhou, they joined the group enjoying seafood.
However, due to differences in status, the caught prawns were first picked by Chen Zhou, and only the leftovers belonged to them.
If Chen Zhou happened to crave prawns, no matter how many lobsters were caught, there were none left for the indigenous people.
Of course, the indigenous people responsible for catching them didn't mind such minor matters.
In their previous tribal life, the caught fresh fish never belonged to them, and not even trusted aides like zebras could have it. Everything had to be offered to the exalted Leader and Priest.
But on this island, even though they might not always get prawns, the fish always belongs to those who catch it, and during banquets, everyone gets a share. The Leader has never monopolized the food.
This alone is enough to make all the indigenous people admire Chen Zhou. If they were the Leader, they'd never share the food so generously—they were too scared of starvation.
...
After filling their stomachs and replenishing their strength, it was only 11 o'clock.
The sun was blazing, yet Chen Zhou did not announce a break. He led the sunburned indigenous people directly into the rain shelter.
First, he showed them the entire model of the factory—
In fact, the indigenous people had seen this model no less than a hundred times by now.
The model was made of two types of materials: wood and poured concrete.
The wooden model could be dismantled to help the indigenous people understand the internal structure of the factory, including the divisions between various workshops and the locations of the workrooms and rest areas.
The concrete model was divided into several parts, with independent models for initial earth excavation, rebar tying, to semi-finished and finished products.
These models, broken down into several steps, showed Chen Zhou's meticulous efforts.
Ultimately, facing this group of 17th-century indigenous people, he still had some doubts about whether they could do the job properly.
At times, Chen Zhou wished he could directly instill the knowledge in his head into the indigenous people to help them better understand his intentions.
...
This distrust was not baseless, nor was it a prejudice Chen Zhou held against the indigenous people; it was based on prior experiences.
When he taught woodworking classes, involving sawing and planing wood, demonstrated personally and explained to the indigenous people, a few of them acted as if they understood.
When given "homework" to saw wood themselves, they were dumbfounded, turning in work that was crooked and uneven, as if chewed on by a dog.
Educating the indigenous people made Chen Zhou empathize with the feeling of a homeroom teacher facing students who pretend to understand.
Thus, when the factory construction started, remembering a few indigenous people who had caused him trouble, he still felt a little uneasy.
...
Yet again, for probably the countless time, Chen Zhou explained the detailed steps of constructing the plant from start to finish, and then rolled out a giant drawing board.
The board was over two meters long and nearly 1.6 meters high, pieced together from dozens of A4 sheets to form a massive design blueprint.
Chen Zhou detailed various specifics of the factory, including length, width, height, perspective relations, etc., in this design drawing.
Apart from the complex three-dimensional design drawing, Chen Zhou also created a flat design drawing, showing architectural details like axis grids, wall columns, doors, windows, and stairs.
One could say that whatever preparatory work could be done, details explained, and techniques taught, Chen Zhou had painstakingly explained to the indigenous people countless times.
He even had them memorize safety precautions during construction.