Chapter 13

With their green faces and fangs, Niu Yi and Niu Er were even stronger than the great white shark Shaquille O'Neal, and their work efficiency was faster than that of an XCMG bulldozer. Before a cigarette was even finished, the two muscular men had thoroughly cleaned the workshop.

After cleaning, Ye Qing directed them to start flame cutting, slicing some steel plates on the ground, and then using an automatic wire-feeding TIG welder to weld these steel plates into four large water tanks.

Flame cutting stone produces a lot of stone dust, which must be controlled with water to prevent dust. The water also carries away the heat from the high-speed rotating cutting blade to prevent damage to the blade and the stone.

Before he started working with stone, Ye Qing used to mock the bosses for being stingy, recycling the wastewater mixed with stone dust.

Now, he himself was working with stone and was more enthusiastic than anyone else. He planned to weld two large wastewater recycling tanks, each as big as a tractor trailer.

Niu Yi and Niu Er were incredibly strong. For ordinary people, welding without a face shield was a death wish. When they welded, their eyes were as wide as bulls', and they could weld a two-meter-long seam in one continuous line without stopping.

The welds they produced were as if carefully refined, with the weld marks forming perfect wavy patterns, more neat and beautiful than those from an automatic welding machine.

Even a skilled welder would struggle to match their level after ten years of hard practice.

Twenty minutes later, the four large water tanks were completed.

Niu Yi and Niu Er then found some strip steel to weld as supports for the water tanks. This way, after drilling holes and installing wheels, the water tanks could be moved around when filled with water.

The support columns needed to be trimmed with a high-power steel cutter. However, when Niu Yi connected the cutter to the power, it wouldn't work.

"It's probably broken." Ye Qing fiddled with it for a while. The cutter had been faulty before, shaking uncontrollably during operation, and it was long overdue for replacement.

Ye Qing remembered that the Monster Factory's prop store sold cutters. He had 200 gold coins left, so he decided to buy one directly.

After all, once the stone arrived, he could have Niu Yi and Niu Er continuously carve and sell it, earning gold coins easily.

At this stage, he could only buy ordinary-quality processing tools, and the variety was limited. He needed to upgrade the factory level to purchase more advanced tools.

There were two types of cutters: handheld cutters for 10 gold coins each and benchtop cutters for 30 gold coins.

Of course, consumables like cutting wheels for metal and sintered diamond wheels for jade could also be bought for 2 gold coins each.

Stainless steel alloy cutting wheels were more expensive, costing 10 gold coins.

Stainless steel is one of the hardest metals to cut and drill. For example, drilling a hole with an electric drill would produce smoke but wouldn't penetrate it.

The benchtop cutter had high power and precision, and an ordinary-quality one was enough for Ye Qing.

As for the cutting wheels, he didn't need to buy them; the factory warehouse was full of them.

Attributes of the benchtop cutter (ordinary quality): Cutting ability increased by 20%, cutting precision +2%.

Even an ordinary-quality cutter, once purchased and summoned by Ye Qing, immediately showed its uniqueness.

It was heavy and beautifully designed, with a shiny red coating that looked like the mirror finish on a sports car. Even a layman could tell this cutter was extraordinary.

After connecting the power, Ye Qing eagerly tested it with some steel.

The old cutter in the factory required the worker to press down hard on the cutting arm to cut steel. Cutting a standard H-shaped steel piece took at least a minute.

Now, even Ye Qing, operating this skill-enhanced cutter, could do it in 20 seconds. Niu Yi and Niu Er, with their immense strength and additional efficiency boost, could do it in just 12 seconds.

If they used the cutting wheels bought from the store, it would be even faster.

That night, whether it was the anticipation of a new beginning in his life or the prospect of using the Monster Factory to earn a large sum of money the next day, Ye Qing tossed and turned in the rest room next to the office until midnight before finally falling asleep.

When the first lazy rays of sunlight appeared on the horizon, Ye Qing was woken by a phone call.

It was an ordinary out-of-town number. The caller, without preamble, asked for Ye Qing's address, saying they were delivering the stone.

"Such high efficiency," Ye Qing said, giving his address and quickly getting up to wash and dress.

The sooner he started working, the sooner he would earn money. Ye Qing's wallet was already thirsting for it.

Niu Yi and Niu Er had been summoned back to rest, leaving Ye Qing alone in the large workshop.

About half an hour later, the sound of a truck's horn came from the factory gate.

Ye Qing ran up and gave the two drivers a cigarette. "Drive right in; there's a crane inside to unload the cargo."

The curbstones in the truck's cargo area were wrapped in thick cardboard and placed on forklift pallets, secured with iron sheets. Ye Qing used two lifting straps to thread through the wood and operated the crane to unload them.

A thousand curbstones were unloaded in just over ten minutes.

After signing the delivery slip, the drivers declined Ye Qing's offer of breakfast and drove away.

Ye Qing had no time for breakfast. As soon as the truck left, he locked the factory gate and summoned Niu Yi and Niu Er.

"GOGOGO!" Ye Qing grabbed an engineering pliers, more eager than a soldier cutting barbed wire.

But when he removed the packaging boards and saw the curbstones inside, he was stunned.

The neatly stacked, genuine sesame gray marble was correct.

But Ye Qing had ordered 80 cm long pre-cut curbstones. Why were there 2.4-meter-long stone strips on the forklift pallets?

Ye Qing, furious, measured with a ruler. The width and height of the marble strips were correct, but they were three pieces combined.

These were uncut stone strips. Xia Muqing had no reason to deliberately send such items and damage her reputation. It must have been a mistake by her employees.

He couldn't believe that a large company like Tian Sheng Mining Group could make such a blunder.

Ye Qing was very angry and immediately called Xia Muqing.

"Respected customer, it is now rest time. Our staff will call you back during working hours. If you have any inquiries, please call our 24-hour customer service number."

He tried again a few minutes later, but heard the same message.

He found the truck driver's number and called back. The driver said they were only responsible for delivery and guaranteed that the mistake wasn't on their end.

The driver told Ye Qing to wait until working hours to contact the responsible person.

Around seven o'clock, Xia Muqing's call finally came.

She sounded just awake, her voice lazy, and he could hear her yawn.

"Get on QQ, I'll send you photos," Ye Qing's cold, harsh voice startled Xia Muqing.

"Mr. Ye, what happened to make you so angry?" Xia Muqing's voice was hesitant. "I'm sorry, Mr. Ye, I can only log in to QQ on the office computer..."

"Or... add me on WeChat," Xia Muqing hesitated for a long time, as if parting with a precious treasure. "Is there a problem with this batch of products?"