Major Heavy Industry: Starting with a Fake Marriage

Chapter 139 It's Me

Back at the guesthouse, he called Zheng Yanxi. The phone rang for a long time before she answered; her voice was a little hoarse, she must have just returned from the library.

"Yanxi, it's me."

"Is the meeting over?"

"It's over. I think it went pretty well; the audience's response was good. Director Li from the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense invited me to dinner and asked me to give a lecture to the troops. I'll teach the coating technology to the repair shops."

"Alright, my Master Jiang, from now on your apprentices will be found in all walks of life. There's a saying, 'Disciples and old friends, students all over the world.'"

Hearing Zheng Yanxi joking, which was uncommon for her, Jiang Cheng held the microphone and asked softly, "Yanxi, how are you doing over there? Are you keeping up with your studies?"

"I've caught up a bit. I got 85 on the anatomy test last time, and 90 this time. I'm sixth in the class. The teacher said I'm the student who has improved the most. He asked me what I used to do, and I said I was a nurse. He said no wonder, that my touch is better than other students'."

"See, didn't I tell you that if you want to accomplish something, you definitely can?"

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Cheng sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the moon outside the window. The moon in Beijing was different from the one in Shenyang—the moon in Shenyang was bright, clear and bright; the moon in Beijing was hazy, hazy and indistinct. He couldn't tell which moon was more real.

Perhaps they are all equally true, only the people seeing them are different.

He lay down and closed his eyes. His mind raced through the day's meeting—the stage lights, the crowd below, the applause, the questions, the roast duck, and Director Li's mention of "more than three hundred engines," as well as Sun Deming, Huang Deqing… It all flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern. This was one of the few good habits he had cultivated—the habit of reviewing and reflecting on what he had done, a key to rapid progress.

He remembered his master's words—"You are cultivating the future." Others don't know what the future is like, but he does, and he knows it very clearly. He is getting closer to it little by little. Each step is small, but each step is a step forward.

Perhaps, with each step taken, a giant leap will be made. Perhaps, this is the purpose of God's rebirth?

Jiang Cheng lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. The heating in the guesthouse was too hot; the blankets wouldn't stay on, so he pulled them to one side, then felt cold and pulled them back. He repeated this several times. He sat up, turned on the desk lamp, and took his notebook out of his bag. There were no meetings tomorrow, but he wanted to write something.

He turned to a new page, wrote "Coating Technology Training Program" at the top, and then wrote the teaching objectives: to enable trainees to master the basic principles and operating skills of turbine blade thermal barrier coatings, and to be able to independently complete the parameter setting and quality inspection of the spraying process.

He wrote very slowly, carefully considering each point before putting pen to paper.

The trainees' backgrounds varied greatly; some were former fitters, while others had never even touched a spray gun before.

How should we teach? Where should we begin?

He recalled how Huang Deqing taught him—not starting with theory, but with tools. First, learn to recognize a wrench, then tighten screws, then disassemble a machine. Step by step, without skipping.

He drew a table in his notebook.

Week 1: Equipment familiarization and safe operation.

Week 2: Spraying parameter adjustment.

Week 3: Simulated part painting practice.

Week 4: Spraying and testing of real blades.

Four weeks, a month. Twenty people, divided into four groups, each group assigned a mentor. He put himself in the first group, Sun Deming in the second, Lao Zhao in the third, the fourth... the mentor for the fourth group hadn't been decided yet. He checked the time; it was past one in the morning. He closed his laptop and turned off the desk lamp.

The next morning, Jiang Cheng went to the Materials Research Institute to say goodbye to Chief Engineer Chen. Chief Engineer Chen was in the laboratory, holding a sample up to the light. She was wearing a white lab coat, her hair tucked into her cap, and her face was expressionless.

"Chief Engineer Chen, I'm heading back to Shenyang this afternoon."

Chief Engineer Chen put down the test film, turned around, and looked at him. "Has the training plan been written?"

"I wrote it. I wrote it last night, the first draft."

"Let me see it."

Jiang Cheng took out his notebook from his bag, turned to that page, and handed it to her. Chief Engineer Chen took it and read it very slowly.

She habitually furrowed her brows when she looked at things, making it seem like she was nitpicking.

"The safety instructions for the first week were too brief. When igniting the spray gun, the operator must wear a protective mask. This shouldn't just be written on one line; it should be a separate section." She pointed to that line with her finger. "Also, during the spraying process, the spray gun nozzle must not be pointed at people. This should be written into the operating procedures and posted next to the equipment."

Jiang Cheng nodded and carefully memorized it.

Chief Engineer Chen returned the notebook to him, and Jiang Cheng quickly noted the revisions in the corresponding places, the pen tip rubbing against the paper with a scratching sound.

"After you return to Shenyang, finish writing the teaching materials as soon as possible. Send them to me when you're done, and I'll take a look."

"it is good."

Chief Engineer Chen glanced at him, then hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but didn't.

She turned and walked back to the worktable, picked up the test piece, and continued the examination.

Jiang Cheng stood there for a few seconds, and seeing that Chief Engineer Chen did not say anything more, he turned and left.

As he walked out of the lab, he glanced back. Chief Engineer Chen was still standing at the workbench, the hem of his white lab coat swaying slightly at his knees.

At 2 p.m., Jiang Cheng boarded the train back to Shenyang.

The notebook lay open on the small table.

The train lurched, the pen tip made a mark on the paper, which he erased and rewrote. The carriage was quiet, with few people and only the sound of wheels rolling over the rails.

He wrote three pages, then stopped, his hand aching, and rubbed his wrist. An old man sat opposite him, clutching a cloth bundle, his eyes closed; it was unclear whether he was asleep or not.

It was already dark when the train arrived in Shenyang. Jiang Cheng walked out of the station and immediately saw Zheng Yanxi standing at the exit.

She was wearing a gray coat and a red scarf, and she wasn't carrying anything in her hands.

She had cut her hair short to ear length, and her ears were red from the cold.

Jiang Cheng knew that Zheng Yanxi wanted to save time washing and drying her hair.

"Have you been waiting long?" Jiang Cheng walked over, took the scarf off his neck, and wrapped it around her head, making sure she was completely covered.

Feeling Jiang Cheng's body temperature, she reached out her hand, and Jiang Cheng naturally took it.

"I just arrived a little while ago," she said.

Jiang Cheng knew she was lying, but he didn't call her out on it. He took her hand and walked out of the station together.

It seems like every time I've returned to Shenyang, the weather has been sunny.

The snow had stopped, but the wind was still blowing. A cold wind rushed into his collar, and he hunched his neck.

Zheng Yanxi took a scarf out of her bag and handed it to him. The scarf was gray, made of wool, and the stitches were much more even than her red scarf.

"You have a scarf but you don't think to wear it. What if you get frostbite?" Jiang Cheng scolded playfully.

"I forgot." Zheng Yanxi stuck out her tongue.

Jiang Cheng took it and wrapped it around his neck. The scarf was warm and smelled of laundry detergent.

"Did you knit it yourself?" he asked.

"I don't have time to knit a scarf, so I just bought one."

"oh."

"Yanxi, what were your test scores?"

"What?"

"What score did you get on that anatomy test you mentioned last time?"

"You mean this? Why don't you guess?" She blinked her big eyes, revealing a hint of pride.

"Ninety-four?"

"Ninety-two." She paused. "Third in the class."

"That's progress! Congratulations!"

"It's not over yet." She looked at him. "Next time, I want to get first place."

Jiang Cheng didn't reply, but squeezed her hand tightly.

Two people walked on the snow, their footprints one after the other, stretching into the distance.