God-Tier Get Rich System – CH82

Chapter 82: Machine Blueprints

Salt—Xu Huazhang added it bit by bit. It was a bit troublesome, but this way he could ensure the noodles wouldn’t end up too salty.

One shouldn’t discourage a man’s enthusiasm. Mu Lantu forced a tolerant smile.

“I trust you. I’ll go wash up first.”

After freshening up, he came to the dining hall, where there was a bowl of noodles and a bowl of boiled eggs placed on the kang table.

Xu Huazhang’s seasoning was on point—the noodles had the right amount of salt—but they were cooked for too long and had turned mushy. They broke apart the moment he tried to pick them up with chopsticks.

“Tastes good. You’re going to be our future kitchen lead! Keep it up, I believe in you!” Mu Lantu gave him a thumbs-up in praise and started shoveling the noodles into his mouth.

Xu Huazhang looked proud as he picked up an egg, peeled it, and handed it over.

“As long as you like it. The eggs are a little dry, eat slowly so you don’t choke.”

Mu Lantu took a big bite—

And got splattered in the face with runny, undercooked yolk.

Mu Lantu: “……”

Xu Huazhang: “……”

Mu Lantu could no longer force a smile. He tossed a packet of tissues at him.

Xu Huazhang: He didn’t do it on purpose.

He held back his laughter and wiped the young man’s face clean with tissues, then brought over a wet towel to rewash his face.

Mu Lantu’s handsome face returned to its fair and neat look. He knocked on the table with authority. “Take notes, quick—how to boil eggs: after washing them clean, put them in cold water, then bring it to a boil. Once boiling, cook for ten minutes.”

Xu Huazhang mimed holding a pen and wrote on the table.

With such a sincere attitude, Mu Lantu naturally chose to forgive him.

Xu Huazhang went back to the kitchen and reboiled the eggs.

The properly boiled eggs passed the test—Mu Lantu ate two, rinsed his mouth, and went back to his room to sleep.

Xu Huazhang cleaned the kitchen and left the house.

The front gate was locked.

He didn’t take Wangcai with him. The village wasn’t 100% safe. Wangcai stayed home to watch over Mu Lantu.

“Brother Xu, how come it’s just you today?”

Miao Jiaze was walking toward Xu Huazhang with a half-eaten corn bun in hand, swaying as he went.

“Lantu has a slight fever. I told him to rest at home.”

“Is he okay? If it’s serious, he should go to the clinic.”

“It’s nothing, just a low fever. What about you? Why aren’t you with the others?”

Miao Jiaze shrugged. “We’re not kids, no need to walk around in groups every day.”

The reason the educated youths stuck together at first was because they were new to the village and unfamiliar with the environment—people instinctively banded together for safety.

Now that they’d adjusted to country life, some of them didn’t get along so well and had gradually formed small cliques.

Miao Jiaze sometimes hung out with others, sometimes walked alone.

Realizing he had been neglecting his childhood friend lately, Xu Huazhang said, “If you’re free tonight, come to my place for dinner.”

Miao Jiaze brightened immediately and replied loudly, “Sure!”

He knew it—his childhood buddy hadn’t forgotten him!

“You can try my cooking too.” Xu Huazhang felt he had some talent in that area. As for the eggs this morning—that was just an accident.

Miao Jiaze shrank his neck. “Your cooking? You—the scholar—can cook?” He almost said “young master” but caught himself in time.

Xu Huazhang calmly replied, “I’ve been learning for a whole day.”

Miao Jiaze wanted to ask if it was too late to back out now.

The second bell rang.

The two picked up their pace.

Zhang Jianxin stood on the field ridge with his hands behind his back, talking to the scorekeeper.

“Captain, I’m asking for a day off for Comrade Mu. He has a slight fever.”

Zhang Jianxin didn’t look too pleased.

Comrade Mu was clearly strong, yet he didn’t work properly. His favorable impression of him had recently declined again.

That Comrade Mu really was something—his favorability score with Zhang Jianxin went up and down like a rollercoaster.

Xu Huazhang didn’t mind and took out a blueprint from his pocket.

“Captain, take a look.”

“What’s this?” Zhang Jianxin accepted it casually, but as he opened it, his eyes narrowed. He brought the paper closer and his expression changed. “This is… some kind of harvester?”

Xu Huazhang’s drawing was clear and vivid—it was easy to understand at a glance.

“Manual harvester,” Xu explained. “I can also make a diesel-powered version.”

The scorekeeper leaned in to look as well.

“Hiss—Captain, this is something else! If this thing actually works, think how much labor it’ll save during the double harvest!”

What do farmers fear most?

Bad weather.

Especially when harvesting rice and wheat—if it rains, a year’s hard work could be washed away.

Having a harvester would greatly increase harvest efficiency and reduce loss risk.

Zhang Jianxin’s demeanor grew serious. “You can really make a manual harvester?”

He’d heard that some wealthier communes in the south had combine harvesters, but there was no way they’d get one here.

Even their brigade’s only tractor had been hard-won—he’d begged and pleaded with the commune secretary and accountant just to get a purchasing quota.

He didn’t dare believe Xu Huazhang could actually make a diesel harvester. But even a manual one would be amazing.

So he focused on that.

Xu Huazhang replied as easily as if he were drinking water, “I can make it. Some parts can even be found at the scrap yard.”

Zhang Jianxin took a deep breath.

“You’re bringing this up now because…?”

Why now, of all times—just when asking for Comrade Mu’s leave? He didn’t believe Xu Huazhang didn’t have a motive.

Xu Huazhang said calmly, “I do have a small request.”

“Let’s hear it.” Zhang Jianxin didn’t hide his admiration for Xu Huazhang. From the first time they met, he had liked him.

Xu said, “Once I finish the diesel harvester, I’d like Mu Lantu to be the driver. He’s strong, but his health is poor—he grew up with a stepmother.”

Thinking of how skinny Comrade Mu was when he first arrived, Zhang Jianxin no longer minded the sick leave.

“Done! If you really can build it, Comrade Mu can be the driver. He’ll get even better treatment than our tractor driver—no daily labor, eight work points per day, and during the double harvest, fourteen!”

The top-tier laborer only got ten points a day—Zhang Jianxin was being generous.

Xu Huazhang was satisfied. “It’s a deal.”

As if sensing something, Mu Lantu woke up, glanced at the alarm clock—it was almost ten.

He dressed, went to the toilet, washed up, and ate two large meat buns. Nothing left to do.

Xu Huazhang had already washed both their dirty clothes from the day before and hung them in the front yard to dry. The clean clothes swayed gently in the warm sunlight.

“Woof woof.”

Wangcai ran out from the little hut and rubbed against Mu Lantu’s leg.

“Wangcai, how about we go to the back mountain to collect firewood?”

Wangcai nodded his head. Coincidence or not, it looked like he was answering.

“Woof!”

Xu Huazhang might’ve run out of water, so Mu Lantu filled his own water bottle, took out two hard-boiled eggs from his storage space, and packed them into a small cloth bag.

Wangcai ducked his head under the basket handle and carried the small basket around his neck.

Today, Miao Jiaze and Xu Huazhang were assigned to the same work group.

Miao Jiaze kept yelling about being hungry not long after they started working.

Xu ignored him, so he just kept whining.

“Didn’t eat enough this morning?” Xu asked, annoyed.

“I didn’t,” Miao Jiaze looked like he wanted to cry. “I ate too much earlier, got scared I’d run out before the three months were up. So now I don’t dare eat too much at meals.”

Miao Jiaze’s family wasn’t poor—his parents were both in the military, his older brother too, and his two older sisters had jobs and married well. He was the youngest and spoiled.

But used to a life of comfort, rural food didn’t sit well with him. Lately, he hadn’t had time to go into town, so he’d overeaten and caused this mess.

“Serves you right.”

Miao Jiaze spotted Mu Lantu.

“Comrade Mu’s here! Do you think he brought you something to eat? I might get to mooch a little too!”

Xu Huazhang’s cold eyes softened as he watched Mu Lantu approach.

“Why’d you come?”

Mu Lantu handed over a full water bottle and two eggs. Noticing Miao Jiaze too, he hesitated, then pulled a sesame biscuit from his pocket—about 1 cm thick, the size of a can lid—and gave it to him.

It was hot these days, and he wore fewer clothes, so he couldn’t carry much in his pocket. This was all he could bring.

“You saved my life, Brother Mu!”

Miao Jiaze took a bite and chewed with pig-like satisfaction.

Mu Lantu didn’t look at him—afraid he’d burst out laughing.

“I’m heading back. Going to gather some firewood.”

Xu Huazhang poured the water into his own water bottle and returned it to Mu Lantu.

“Just collect around the base of the mountain. Don’t go deep. Fill up your water again before you go.”

Mu Lantu touched the straw hat on his head and looked up at the sky and around. He hadn’t been into the mountain yet and wanted to.

With his skills, he didn’t believe anything in the mountains could harm him.

Xu Huazhang locked eyes with him and repeated, “Lantu, stay near the base. Don’t go into the mountain.”

If Mu didn’t listen, Xu looked ready to take the day off and follow him.

Mu Lantu didn’t dare argue. He smiled gently. “Got it. I’m off.”

The back mountain was about a mile from the village—covered in lush greenery and disappearing into a haze of distant clouds.

The farther Mu Lantu walked, the more people he saw—mostly children, some as young as three or four, others around ten or twelve. Some dug wild vegetables, others gathered pigweed or firewood… and some just played around at the foot of the mountain.

Some were old enough for school but probably couldn’t afford tuition.

There were also a few elderly folks in the distance, over seventy, unable to do heavy labor but still helping out however they could to ease their families’ burdens.

“Comrade Mu!”

Two chubby boys came running toward him.

It was Gou Dan and Tie Dan—they had helped him gather firewood before.

Tie Dan was ten, dark as coal, with clean but heavily patched clothes.

“Comrade Mu, what are you doing here? We can help!”

Gou Dan looked up at him with bright eyes, smiling shyly. He was messier than Tie Dan—nose smudged, covered in dirt and grass bits, with sleeves so grimy their original color was unrecognizable.

Mu Lantu couldn’t bear to look again.

He didn’t dislike Gou Dan himself—really, the kid had a good heart. Every time, he brought firewood that burned well.

“Thanks, I’m just strolling around.” Mu Lantu pulled two bird eggs from his pocket and handed them over. “Go play.”