Major Heavy Industry: Starting with a Fake Marriage

Chapter 138 Balance

He wrote down all three sets of data in his notebook, compared them repeatedly, and found the balance point.

He recounted how he tried each blade one by one, how he failed time and time again. The first blade failed, the second blade failed, and the third blade also failed. After each failure, he went back to review the data, find the cause, and adjust the parameters. He lost count of how many times he failed. He only knew that with more failures, success was not far away.

When he mentioned that Chief Engineer Chen said, "I don't think your proposal is good," someone in the audience glanced at Chief Engineer Chen. Chief Engineer Chen was sitting in the first row, her face expressionless, but the corner of her mouth twitched slightly, as if she were smiling, or perhaps pursing her lips.

When he mentioned that Xiao Ma had been staying up all night debugging programs and had dark circles under his eyes, someone in the audience laughed. The laughter wasn't loud, but it was heartwarming.

When he mentioned Huang Deqing saying, "It's not that you're incapable, it's that you haven't demolished enough," no one in the audience laughed. Everyone fell silent; even the sound of turning pages disappeared.

He spoke for twenty-eight minutes out of forty. After he finished, there was a two-second silence in the audience. Those two seconds felt incredibly long, like two years. Then applause erupted. Not the polite kind, but the kind of applause that sent shivers down your spine, a heartfelt surge of emotion. Some clapped, some nodded, and some jotted down notes.

Old Zhou sat in the first row, not clapping, but his eyes shone. That light wasn't a reflection of the lamplight; it shone from within.

The Q&A session began. The first to stand up was Director Li, the one in military uniform, who spoke very directly. "Comrade Jiang Cheng, can your technology be used in existing engines?"

"able."

"How long does it take to disassemble an existing engine, coat it with a new coating, and then reassemble it?"

"Disassembly, spraying, and assembly—if one person is skilled, they can complete one machine in a week. If we do mass production and establish a production line, we can spray five to eight pieces a day. Disassembly and assembly take longer than spraying, while the spraying itself only takes twenty minutes."

Director Li scribbled a few notes in his notebook, writing quickly with the pen tip making a swishing sound as it scratched across the paper.

The second person to stand up was Deputy Director Sun, who was wearing a Zhongshan suit and spoke slowly and deliberately. "Comrade Jiang Cheng, if this technology is to be promoted to other models, will it need to be re-verified?"

"Yes, it is necessary. Different types of blades have different shapes, different distributions of film cooling pores, and different wall thicknesses. The process parameters need to be optimized again, and the verification tests need to be redone. But the basic technology is the same, and the cycle will be shorter than this time. This time it took three months, next time it will only take one month."

Deputy Director Sun nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

One question after another came from the crowd. Some asked about costs, some about lifespan, and some about quality control. Jiang Cheng answered them all calmly and patiently. His voice wasn't loud, but it was steady.

When he said "I don't know," no one in the audience laughed. Because after saying "I don't know," he immediately said, "But I know how to find the answer." He had put these two words together many times, but every time he said it, you could feel that the people in the audience believed him.

As the meeting adjourned, several people came over to shake hands with Jiang Cheng. Some said "Congratulations," some said "It wasn't easy," and some said "Come visit us sometime." Jiang Cheng responded to each of them with a smile, but these were not what he was thinking.

He was thinking of Huang Deqing. His master wasn't there; he stood alone on the platform, without a scraper in his hand or an oilstone beside him.

Old Zhou walked over and stood in front of him. The old man's face was a little red, perhaps from happiness, or perhaps from the heat of the heating. "Xiao Jiang, Director Li would like to invite you to dinner. Six o'clock tonight, Quanjude."

Jiang Cheng was taken aback. "Dinner?"

"It's not about dinner. It's about business." Old Zhou lowered his voice and leaned closer. "They want you to give lectures at the military base, to teach coating technology to the military repair shops. This is a big deal, you have to go. It's not about teaching you the technology, it's about teaching you how to mentor apprentices. And those apprentices will then mentor their own apprentices."

Jiang Cheng looked at Old Zhou and nodded.

At 6 p.m. sharp, Jiang Cheng arrived at Quanjude.

Quanjude was located at Qianmen, with a large red duck sign hanging at the entrance. The duck's white eyes gleamed under the lights. The storefront was antique-style, with wooden doors and windows carved with flowers. Director Li was already in a private room, next to a man in his forties, wearing a military uniform without epaulets, his collar buttoned up tightly. Director Li introduced him as Meng, the chief engineer of a repair shop. Chief Engineer Meng stood up and shook hands with Jiang Cheng. His hands were rough, his palms calloused, just like the people in the workshop.

"Comrade Jiang Cheng, let's get straight to the point." Director Li poured a cup of tea and pushed it in front of him. The tea was Biluochun, the green tea leaves unfurling in the cup like tiny flowers. "The army has over three hundred engines waiting to use your technology. Over three hundred, not three. Each one needs a coating, and each one needs testing. We can't do it ourselves; we need you to teach us."

Jiang Cheng picked up his teacup and took a sip. The tea was jasmine tea, very fragrant, but a little astringent. He put down the cup and thought for a moment.

"Director Li, teaching is no problem, but it takes time. The coating process parameters can't be memorized and used immediately; you have to practice. A master teaches an apprentice for at least a month, and sometimes three months. If you just listen to me talk but don't practice, you still won't be able to do it when you go back. The parameters are adjusted by hand, not just spoken."

"Then we'll teach for three months. You decide on the course, and I'll arrange the people. The first batch of twenty people will be drawn from various repair shops, all of whom will have basic fitter skills." Director Li took out a piece of paper from his bag, on which was written the names of the various repair shops and the number of people.

Jiang Cheng glanced at the paper and pushed it back. "Twenty people, I can't teach them all by myself. I can't handle it. If one person teaches twenty, after a month, none of them will have mastered the skills. Divide them into groups of five, with one mentor per group."

"How many people do you bring? We'll cover the expenses. If you don't have enough drivers, do you have anyone else at your center?"

Jiang Cheng thought for a moment. "Yes. Sun Deming is fine. He studied in Beijing for three months and can recite all the process parameters. And there's Lao Zhao, he's very experienced. Three people should be enough."

Director Li wrote down the name in his notebook.

When he came out of Quanjude, it was already completely dark. The lights on Chang'an Avenue were on, strung together like beads. He stood at the entrance, watching the cars come and go, their headlights streaking across the darkness. He suddenly remembered something—he had forgotten to ask Zheng Yanxi what changes Jiang Yuan had undergone today.

Children grow rapidly during their first developmental period, bringing surprises every week. It's just a pity that I can't be there to accompany Jiang Yuan as he grows up.

He walked to the bus stop and waited for the bus. On the platform was an old man carrying a roast duck. Duck oil was seeping from the paper bag, glistening under the streetlights, dripping onto the ground one drop at a time.

The bus arrived. He boarded and sat in the last row, leaning against the window. The night view outside the window flashed by frame by frame, the reflections of the lights dancing and flickering in his eyes.