Major Heavy Industry: Starting with a Fake Marriage

Chapter 15 The Old Planer

At this moment, Jiang Cheng felt like a million alpacas were galloping through his mind. With that old, outdated planer in the factory, talking about technology was an insult to the word. They were just sticking to their little plot of land, not seeking innovation, only concerned with internal strife. Sun Jianguo, you just wait and see!

He took a deep breath, truly experiencing the feeling of "if you want to find fault, you can always find a reason," and there was no escaping it. He forced himself to say, "Factory manager, yes, it is. But it's not something from the factory's technology; it's something I figured out myself. We all know the problem with that old planer—it's inefficient and inaccurate. I just wanted to see if I could improve it."

Old Meng sneered from the side: "You, a level four fitter, want to improve a planer? You think you're an engineer?"

Jiang Cheng looked at him: "Section Chief Meng, didn't your technical department also fail to discover any problems with the rolling mill?"

Old Meng's face turned bright red after Jiang Cheng's barrage of criticism, and he was too angry to speak. Factory Director Zhou tapped the table: "Alright, stop arguing."

He looked at Jiang Cheng with a complicated expression. He knew about the rolling mill incident, but he also knew that Sun Jianguo had powerful backers whom he couldn't afford to offend.

"Jiang Cheng, let's put this aside for now," Factory Director Zhou said, trying to smooth things over. "Go back to work."

Jiang Cheng nodded, turned around and left.

As Jiang Cheng left the factory director's office, Sun Jianguo followed him out. He walked up to Jiang Cheng and said in a low voice, "Jiang Cheng, let me give you a piece of advice: stop making trouble. No matter how much you try, you won't be able to turn things upside down."

Jiang Cheng looked at him and suddenly laughed: "Sun Jianguo, do you know why I went to the foundry workshop?"

Sun Jianguo was taken aback.

"Because I've figured something out," Jiang Cheng said. "Some jobs have to be done. Some tasks have to be performed. If you don't do them, and I don't do them, this factory is finished. You can step on me, I'm not afraid. You can mess with me, I'm not afraid either. Because I know that what I do ultimately benefits this factory and these workers. And you? What you do ultimately benefits only yourself. Your actions are all for your own benefit—a thoroughly despicable, shameless, selfish…scoundrel!"

Sun Jianguo's face turned ashen: "You—"

Jiang Cheng interrupted him: "Sun Jianguo, we'll see."

After saying that, he turned and left.

That night, Jiang Cheng stayed in the lab until very late. Looking at the nearly completed model, his resolve grew even stronger.

No matter how many difficulties lie ahead, he will not only walk this path, but he will walk it beautifully and steadily!

It was already dark when Jiang Cheng came out of the factory director's office.

He didn't go back to the dormitory, but walked straight out of the factory. The night wind was cold, and it felt like knives on his face, but he didn't notice. The scene from earlier kept replaying in his mind—Sun Jianguo's sneer, Lao Meng's mockery, and Director Zhou's evasive eyes.

This path was more difficult than he had imagined.

As he approached the entrance of the Industrial College, the gatekeeper, Old Zhang, recognized him and greeted him, "Little Jiang, you're here? Professor Zheng hasn't left yet; he's in the lab."

Jiang Cheng nodded and walked inside. The laboratory was on the third floor, and the windows were still lit. He went upstairs, pushed open the door, and saw Zheng Huaiyuan and Professor Qian there.

"You're here?" Zheng Huaiyuan looked up at him. "You look so pale, something happened?"

Jiang Cheng recounted what had happened that afternoon. Professor Qian, upon hearing it, slammed his fist on the table in anger: "This is outrageous! Who is that Sun Jianguo? How dare he bully people like this?"

Zheng Huaiyuan remained calm, looking at Jiang Cheng: "What are you thinking?"

Jiang Cheng was silent for a moment, then said, "Uncle Zheng, I want to speed things up. I want to finish the planer design as soon as possible."

Zheng Huaiyuan nodded: "It should have been done a long time ago. How's the progress?"

Jiang Cheng walked to the workbench and pointed to the completed drawings and model: "The theoretical verification is almost complete. Next, we need to do physical testing. But there are some parts that we don't have here, so we'll have to find a place to manufacture them."

"What do you need?" Professor Qian leaned closer.

Jiang Cheng pointed to several key parts on the blueprint: "These parts require high precision and cannot be machined by ordinary machine tools. Ideally, they should be machined using electrical discharge machining, but our college does not have such equipment."

Professor Qian frowned and thought for a moment: "Electrical discharge machining... the Provincial Mechanical Research Institute seems to have one, but it's an imported device and is generally not made available to the public."

Zheng Huaiyuan pondered for a moment: "I'll think of a way. Do you remember Director Wang from the Machinery Department?"

Jiang Cheng nodded.

"I have some connections with him, so I'll go see him," Zheng Huaiyuan said. "But it will take time. You should take care of the other preparations in the next few days."

Jiang Cheng felt reassured: "Okay."

Over the next few days, Jiang Cheng worked in the foundry during the day and spent his evenings in the laboratory. Director Ma knew he was busy and took care of him intentionally or unintentionally, sometimes letting him leave early and sometimes giving him easier tasks. The workers in the foundry also covered for him, and the people Sun Jianguo sent to keep an eye on him failed to catch him doing anything wrong several times.

But Sun Jianguo wasn't idle either.

One afternoon, Jiang Cheng was carrying a ladle of molten iron in the foundry when he suddenly heard someone shout, "Jiang Cheng, someone's looking for you!"

He looked up and froze.

The visitor was Li Jianguo, the friend from Ansteel whom he had met at the training course.

"Jianguo? What brings you here?" Jiang Cheng put down the molten iron ladle and went to greet him.

Li Jianguo, looking travel-worn and carrying a large bag, grinned and said, "Just passing by on a business trip, thought I'd drop by. What are you doing... carrying molten iron ladles?"

Jiang Cheng smiled wryly: "It's a long story. Wait a minute, I'll ask the director for leave."

Director Ma readily approved the leave. Jiang Cheng took Li Jianguo back to the dormitory. Zheng Yanxi was also at home. Seeing the guests arrive, she quickly went to pour water.

Li Jianguo looked around the room and clicked his tongue twice: "Not bad, Jiang Cheng, you're living a good life. Your wife is quite pretty."

Zheng Yanxi blushed, poured some water, and hid in the kitchen. Jiang Cheng asked, "Why did you suddenly come to Shencheng?"

Li Jianguo lowered his voice: "I'm not here on a business trip, I came specifically to see you."

Jiang Cheng was taken aback: "Looking for me? What's up?"

Li Jianguo took a notebook out of his bag and handed it to him: "Take a look at this."

Jiang Cheng took it and opened it; it was a technical document, handwritten, with somewhat messy handwriting. After reading a few pages, his expression changed.

This is an analysis report on a rolling mill malfunction, signed by two experts from the Provincial Machinery Research Institute—the same two who visited the factory last time. The report states that the malfunction was caused by improper operation, leading to bearing seat displacement, completely contradicting Jiang Cheng's conclusion. The report concludes by recommending that those responsible be dealt with.

"Where did this come from?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"A guy in our factory, whose relative works at the Machinery Research Institute, secretly copied it," Li Jianguo said. "I heard the report has already been submitted to the Machinery Bureau, and they're going to investigate. Jiang Cheng, is this related to you?"