Even though the sky was dimly lit and the sun had not fully risen, the Cyan Flower Kiln and the Inch Gold Kiln were already bustling for a while.
Whether it's firing porcelain or bricks, once the formed pieces are loaded into the kiln and the kiln door is sealed, the process cannot be interrupted.
Night and day supervision is needed, constantly adding wood to the fire, as any slight negligence might spoil the entire batch.
"Brother Bai, you might think that 'porcelain' is more valuable than 'bricks,' but our losses are so heavy that it's akin to the saying 'the success of one general results in the sacrifice of thousands'; the actual net profit might not be as high as Old Chao, who deals with officials year-round.
He only fires up his kiln twice a year, enough for his whole family's sustenance, while here we work tirelessly throughout all four seasons, utterly exhausting."
