Building houses in the ice and snow is as difficult as one can imagine. From clearing the snow to digging foundations, to mixing and laying cement walls, no step is easy. Even the workers' midday meal is a struggle—the freshly baked bread turns cold in an instant when blown by the Northwest wind. Even if one eats next to the pot, they can only manage a lukewarm bite.
But they have no choice. Time waits for no one, and this is the only and necessary opportunity they must seize.
Fortunately, it's the slack season in farming, so the strong labor force from the commune's production teams joined the construction crew, ensuring there was no shortage of hands for the work. Wong Xiao, to encourage labor, decided to award ten points per day to villagers who participated in the factory construction, and also, by pulling on Factory Director Ji's coattails, made him hand out 50 cents a day in subsidies to each person.
