Shocking! My Rugged Husband is the Hidden Tycoon in the 70s Novel-Chapter 300: The Contest Between Humans and Machines
The cornsheller is extremely smooth to use, very convenient, and its speed is incredible. In just under half an hour, it shelled more than ten crates of corn. If done by hand, of course, after getting skilled, the speed can also be quick, but it definitely can’t beat the machine.
In later years, there was an agricultural channel program that specifically reported on ordinary people’s inventions and creations. Every time an invention was made, they would have a competition between man and machine.
Xu Qinghuan also proposed selecting the twenty fastest women in the team for shelling corn to compete against the machine. If they could beat the machine, each would get half a pound of corn.
She just suggested this to Jiang Baohua.
"This is a great idea. The corn for the reward will come from our team." Jiang Baohua asked Tang Quantong, "Deputy Director Tang, do you think this is feasible?"
Primarily asking if, should the machine lose, the ten pounds of corn could be accounted for from the team funds.
Tang Quantong was also curious to see how capable this machine really was, and it was a very meaningful collective activity, so he nodded, "Sure, if humans win, let’s say each person gets a pound of corn instead of half. Half a pound is a bit stingy."
Instantly, there was a surge in registrations. In total, they gathered twenty incredibly skilled women who regularly earned full work points, with Zhou Guizhi being among them.
The twenty women were eager and ready, making active preparations. The spectators also occasionally offered help. When all the corn crates had been carried down and placed around them, with tools and containers ready along with everyone, a few young men carried dozens of corn crates to the side, awaiting the start.
Xu Qinghuan said, "Let’s clarify the rules: first, we’ll count the number of crates. If they’re equal, we’ll count the number of corn cobs. Is that okay?"
"No problem!" the twenty women answered in unison.
Xu Qinghuan stopped speaking, and Jiang Baohua said, "Deputy Director Tang, could you announce the start?"
This gives a bit of face.
Tang Quantong stepped forward a few paces, cleared his throat, "Ready... go!"
As soon as he said "ready," the women grabbed corn in one hand and a shoehorn in the other. Meanwhile, the young men had already started the machine, two of them lifting a basket. When he shouted "go," corn was poured into the machine, while the women’s hands moved rapidly, shelling corn like raindrops.
The competition lasted for half an hour.
In fact, it didn’t need half an hour; less than a quarter of an hour passed before the winner was clear. By the time the young members started pouring in the twentieth crate of corn cobs, the machine’s speed was already leading.
As time went on, the gap continued to widen.
When the half-hour ended, the machine had shelled more than twice the amount of manual labor, even under the circumstances of constant hurrying.
After half an hour nonstop, even these highly experienced skilled workers found it hard to bear, with sore wrists, numb fingers, and sweat-drenched heads.
With Jiang Baohua calling "time’s up," they finally stopped.
Xie Zaohua let out an "Ouch," saying, "Rushing like this is too exhausting, much more tiring than usual work."
"Aren’t we racing against time? Although we rush in normal work, it’s never like today, non-stop without a breather." Dong Sufen said with a laugh.
She is the only daughter of Dong Gensheng who drives a bullock cart. Her parents are in poor health, so normally she works like a man, earning full work points.
At twenty-two, she still hasn’t married.
In later years, one would be graduating from university at twenty-two, but at this time, at twenty-two, not being married with children yet meant one was an old maid.
Her father wanted to find her a live-in son-in-law, carefully considering his talents and character, but things kept getting delayed.
The ones her family could accept wouldn’t possibly become live-in sons-in-law, and those willing to be live-in sons-in-law were either lazy loafers or aimless street wanderers.
Her parents didn’t want to wrong their daughter, so they naturally refused.
Zhou Guizhi responded, "That’s right. Oh, why hasn’t the competition result been announced yet?"
"Let’s go and see!"
The twenty women stood up to go over, but before they could move, the onlookers laughed, "What’s there to see? You all lost miserably, what’s worth seeing?"
Dong Sufen exclaimed "Ah," saying, "We lost?"
Her sun-darkened and slightly sallow face broke into an embarrassed smile, rarely showing the lively expression fitting for her age.
Her mother, Li Fengying, felt a pang of sadness and amusement, "Yeah, you lost. That machine was more than twice as fast as you all."
Someone joked, "Right, you all refuse a pound of grain already in hand; are your bellies feeling too full?"
Zhou Guizhi laughed with annoyance, picking up a bare corn cob and throwing it at that person, "It’s easy to criticize when you’re not doing it yourself. If you’re so skilled, why didn’t you join in?"
Everyone laughed heartily.
Tang Quantong announced the competition results; naturally, the machine won.
The commune staff didn’t look too pleased; with Shangjiang Team having two cornshellers as their secret weapons, in this rainy disaster, they won’t likely face the same hardship as everyone else. When that time comes, what will members of other teams think?
Why can Shangjiang Team escape disaster? How come Shangjiang Team can live so well? Why...
A lot of "whys" are waiting for them.
And the county will question them, too. The commune has Shangjiang Team as such a positive example, why aren’t they making good use, learning well, and, it’s like Shangjiang Team handed them the war god’s tool, yet they lost the battle.
Even dragging down the whole county.
After all, if the commune could efficiently produce harvesters, and other communes bought them, this year’s poor harvest wouldn’t have happened.
You can’t buy foresight with money; no one knew there would be such a heavy rain this year. Jiang Chengxu and Xu Qinghuan knew, but they weren’t fools; they’re certainly not the Dragon King himself. How did they know there’d be continuous torrential rain this year?
The county’s meteorological bureau didn’t have this skill.
After several days of good weather, when the paddies and wheat fields finally dried enough to be harvested again, the grain had already sprouted in the fields.
At that time, fierce winds blew, scattering much of the grain to the ground, and now the fields were full of sprouts—this was all food, and the members nearly went crazy.
What happened in other communes is unknown, but Red Flag Commune was full of cries, especially after hearing Shangjiang Team wasn’t affected at all. Members often became backseat drivers, cursing those officials.
"We’re just ordinary people, without much insight—what are they supposed to be doing?"
"Oh, yes, we were against it initially, but no one told us the year would be bad. You’re a team leader, lacking ability—is it that you can’t even follow others’ example? How did Shangjiang Team use machines for rapid harvesting?"
Liu Qingsong and Wei Qimin came to talk to Jiang Baohua again, but the team leader was busy, listening with the accountant to Jiang Xingye, Xu Qinghuan, Qiao Xinyu and Dai Yifeng’s report on starting a factory.
"Of course, I support it, and fully support it, but starting such a large operation isn’t a matter of just money," Jiang Baohua asked the accountant, "How much do we have in the team account? Can we access it?"
