Chapter 29: All set, just waiting for the east wind

Look far ahead.

Li Jiaci frowned and said, "Signing a contract with him, offering the temptation of a price increase, is just to put him at ease and make us more stable."

Otherwise, if he one day gets a whim and rents the house to someone else, we'll regret it with nowhere to cry.

Besides, what did I tell you before?

Our main goal is to get those wood-processing machines for free, understand? Those things can save us tens of thousands in expenses; even leasing them for ten more years would be enough!

Li Jiaci's plan is aimed at long-term development.

As for Li Yihu, on this matter he truly has short-sighted vision.

Li Yihu scratched his head embarrassedly and didn't dare to continue speaking.

It wasn't long.

The old man then came back with a little girl.

The little girl looked about ten or so, likely the old man's granddaughter or something like that.

And indeed, that's exactly the case.

This shows the old man has strong anti-fraud awareness, far stronger than those later-era oldsters who follow trends to get free eggs and end up buying a bunch of useless health supplements.

The little girl read the contract aloud to the old man, word for word from beginning to end.

When the little girl read that the machines would be given to him, Li Jiaci instinctively glanced at the old man.

The old man, however, showed no reaction; instead he nodded and said, "You kid, you're indeed straightforward—I've signed this contract. From now on, this workshop is yours to contract; anyone else who comes, I won't acknowledge!"

All right!

Li Jiaci smiled.

But there was a hint of cunning in his eyes.

After the contract was signed.

Li Jiaci and the others then returned to the workshop.

Several people eagerly went to the wood-processing machines in the workshop.

"Wood Saw Machine, Wood Planer Machine, Wood Splitting Machine."

Li Jiaci gently touched their exteriors, his tone sombre: "With these three machines, we can produce and ship lumber ourselves here; our company can thus be considered officially started."

Upon hearing this,

The rest of the group's eyes lit up.

After the incident at the lumber mill, they all witnessed the huge profits in timber.

"Now, as long as we secure the supply, we'll be able to sell lumber continuously from now on."

Li Yihu hurried to the machines, eyes shining, and said, "Honestly, when I came in I saw these gadgets and thought they were nobody's junk, but now I see they're all rare treasures."

But at this moment.

Liu Jiang suddenly frowned and said, "However, the machines are in this state of disrepair; can they still be used?"

Everyone present stared at each other, taken aback.

Exactly.

These machines are this worn out; can they still be used?

Li Jiaci turned his gaze to the only person who understood mechanics among them, Zhang Chuqiang.

"Chu Qiang!"

"Come over and take a look."

"Can these things be fixed?"

He, at this moment, also felt uncertain.

Originally, he had indeed come for these machines.

After all, a set of these machines costs tens of thousands nowadays; if he spent all his money on them, he'd have none left for anything else.

But he overlooked the most crucial point.

Whether this equipment from over a decade ago can still be used.

If it cannot be used.

Then coming here to rent the workshop would be like taking off one's pants to fart.

Zhang Chuqiang stared, then stepped forward and carefully inspected the machines' control panels inside and out.

Immediately, he nodded firmly and said, "They can be repaired."

"Are you sure?"

Liu Jiang said, "Can this contraption, broken as it is, still be fixed?"

Zhang Chuqiang waved his hand.

"It's just that the outward appearance looks a bit off."

"Once I finish derusting, it will be no different from new."

"Moreover, I checked earlier; the internal components are basically fine."

"Just replace the connecting belt and fix up the tracks, and it'll work."

Zhang Chuqiang said, "I can handle the belt and derusting, but the tracks might require hiring a professional and spending some money."

"No problem."

Li Jiaci nodded and said, "As long as the machines can be fixed, spending a little money is no issue; I'll leave this to you to handle."

"Good!"

Zhang Chuqiang nodded.

"The others."

Li Jiaci again said to the others: "Go find brooms and dustpans, start a big cleanup!"

……

It was nearly afternoon.

Zhang Chuqiang then bought back the things needed to repair the wood-processing machine.

At the same time, he also brought along a specialist mechanic for large machinery.

While the others were tidying the workshop, Zhang Chuqiang and the repair mechanic went around those few machines.

As dusk approached, a mechanical roar unique to machinery finally sounded inside the workshop.

Upon hearing this sound.

The people scattered around gathered around the machine.

Watching the machinery that had begun to run on its own.

Li Jiaci said: "Yihu, bring over the logs we hauled back this afternoon and give them a try."

"First cut them to two meters long with the wood saw machine."

"Then place them on the wood splitter to cut the logs into strips five point five centimeters thick and ten point five centimeters wide."

"Finally put them on the wood planer to shave off zero point two five centimeters of skin!"

"Good!"

Li Yihu responded with an affirmative.

Then he called a few others to bring over the logs collected from the village today, placing them on the wood saw machine as Li Jiaci required.

Watching the wood saw machine start turning on its own, Li Jiaci also felt a faint tension arise in his heart.

He pressed the button.

The wood saw machine then began to run on its own.

After a few ups and downs of the saw blade, the logs were cut into regular two-meter lengths.

Next, they placed the sawn logs on the wood splitter, and shortly afterward turned the originally oval logs into rectangular strips.

The final step.

Was to place these wooden blocks on the wood planer.

In just a moment, the originally uneven, rough surface of the timber became smooth, forming standard strips five centimeters thick and ten centimeters wide.

When the last strip also fell to the ground.

Everyone on site couldn't help but jump and cheer.

Even Li Jiaci's eyes showed an excitement that could not be concealed.

Although he said nothing, he had actually been worried all along that these machines might not be usable.

Moreover, they didn't have much capital to begin with; if they invested more in the processing machines, it would surely affect his subsequent operations.

Now, seeing that these machines have been repaired,

After Li Jiaci's excitement, he also let out a long sigh of relief.

Now truly everything is ready, only lacking the east wind.