In the workshop, Old Li, an experienced kiln worker, led the newly recruited women in making final preparations. Sixty-year-old Aunt Zhang clutched a rag, carefully wiping down every brick mold.
"This is the first time in my life I’ve earned cash," she said. "I have to do this job beautifully!"
The young bride beside her followed suit, her apron pocket bulging with the change she had set aside to buy sweets for her children. In the corner, several elders wearing reading glasses were binding the brick molds securely with hemp rope. Their wrinkled fingers moved with practiced agility as they muttered, "When my father worked the kiln, he was much more particular than this..."
Chapter 680