klisemfg Chapter 312 Era: XCMG's Simple-minded Wife 16
Chapter 312 Era: XCMG's Simple-minded Wife 16
Numbers burst from his mouth like bullets.
The technicians hurriedly followed up with the calculations, and someone suddenly exclaimed, "It really doesn't match! It's off by at least 15%!"
"more than."
Xu Weidong sneered, "Look at their ratio of thermal expansion coefficient to electrical conductivity; this completely violates the fundamental laws of materials science!"
He turned to face the crowd, slamming his fist on the data sheet. "They're bluffing!"
The meeting room erupted in chaos.
Old Li was sweating profusely with anxiety: "But what if they really have new technology..."
"Then surpass them!"
Xu Weidong's voice drowned out all the arguments, "Starting tomorrow, we'll split into three groups: one to verify the authenticity of the data, the second to test the new alloy formula, and the third to modify the rolling mill—we'll use the old 550 rolling mill in the factory!"
"Are you crazy?" the equipment section chief jumped up. "That old machine has been in service for twenty years!"
Xu Weidong's eyes were sharp as knives: "When the Soviet experts withdrew more than ten years ago, they said the same thing about that blast furnace." He looked around the room, "Now, those who are willing to stay can stay, and the rest will not be forced."
There was a long silence.
The first to stand up was Mr. Zhang, whose face was full of wrinkles: "Although I don't know anything about this old man, I know that the backbone of the Chinese people has always been the strongest!"
Next was the young technician, Xiao Wang, followed by the female workers in the quality inspection team…
In the end, even Old Li quietly sat back down in his seat.
The old factory manager wiped his face: "Good! The factory will fully support you, providing manpower and materials as needed!"
It was late at night when the meeting ended.
Xu Weidong was the last to leave, and unexpectedly saw Ji Xiaosong at the factory gate.
She was wrapped in a cotton-padded coat and squatted under the streetlight, holding a thermos in her arms.
"Why did you take so long to come out?" She jogged over, her nose red from the cold. "I made ginger soup, drink it while it's hot."
Xu Weidong took the thermos, and the scalding ginger soup warmed his stomach down his esophagus.
He suddenly asked, "What would you do if you were in my shoes?"
"what?"
“When the gap is this big.” Xu Weidong looked at the towering chimney.
Ji Xiaosong breathed out white puffs of air and thought for a moment: "My dad said, if you can't catch up, just take a detour."
She gestured, "It's like my family's pickled cabbage. It takes half a year to pickle a whole head, but only three days to shred it. Why not just change the method?"
Xu Weidong suddenly stopped, almost dropping the thermos.
He stared at his wife for a long time, then suddenly turned and ran back, shouting, "You go home first!"
The technical department was brightly lit.
When Xu Weidong rushed in, several technicians who were working overtime were startled.
He grabbed a piece of chalk and drew an outrageous diagram on the blackboard: "If we don't pursue single-element steel, but instead layer it like a mille-feuille... no, like shredded pickled vegetables..."
"XCMG, speak slowly!"
"look here!"
Xu Weidong tapped white dots on the blackboard with his chalk. "We use a 550 rolling mill to press thin sheets of different alloys in layers, with carbon fiber sandwiched in between, just like plywood, but more precise!"
Old Li's eyes widened: "This...this line of thinking..."
"It can bypass patent barriers!"
Xiao Wang slapped his thigh suddenly, "And we can modify our existing equipment!"
At three o'clock in the morning, long-absent cheers rang out in the workshop.
When the first composite steel sample came out of the furnace, the bright red steel ingot illuminated every sweaty face.
Xu Weidong squatted at the front, his military uniform back soaked with sweat, and his hands covered in scalded blisters.
"Measure the data!" he shouted in a hoarse voice.
The instrument needles swung violently, finally stopping at a breathtaking number. Although it was still far from the data claimed by Country M, it was already three times that of the traditional process!
"It's done!" Old Li's hands trembled as he held the notebook. "Although it's still not stable, the direction is right!"
When the morning light streamed into the workshop through the skylight, Xu Weidong remembered to go home.
Pushing open the door, I saw Ji Xiaosong asleep at the dining table, with cold food and... laid out beside her.
A stack of materials science books borrowed from the library.
Xu Weidong gently pulled out the notebook that was under her arm. It was filled with crookedly written definitions and many pinyin annotations.
The last page reads: "Ask Technician Zhang: What is 'anisotropy'? Remember to make mung bean soup for Xu Weidong to cool him down."
He gazed at his wife's sleeping face, then suddenly bent down and kissed her forehead.
This movement startled Ji Xiaosong awake. She asked groggily, "What's wrong?"
"We've found the direction." Xu Weidong rarely smiled. "Thank you... for the ginger soup."
Ji Xiaosong rubbed her eyes and laughed: "What does this have to do with me? It's all because you're amazing."
She suddenly sniffed, "What happened to your hand?"
Before Xu Weidong could dodge, she had already grabbed his battered hand, rummaged through the first-aid kit, and carefully applied ointment.
When the cotton swab touched the burn, Xu Weidong's muscles tensed.
"Does it hurt?" Ji Xiaosong gently blew on the wound. "I'll blow on it and it won't hurt anymore..."
Xu Weidong suddenly grabbed her wrist: "Let's do it together."
"What?"
"Starting tomorrow, you'll be my technical assistant."
Xu Weidong said earnestly, "My responsibility is to...make suggestions."
Ji Xiaosong's eyes widened: "Me? A sales clerk?"
“You are more perceptive than them.” Xu Weidong paused. “And… I want to see you every day.”
This straightforward declaration of love made them both blush.
Ji Xiaosong bent down to bandage him, muttering softly, "Then you have to get me a name tag, the kind with a red string to hang on it..."
A week later, while Western media were reporting extensively that China "would never be able to produce special steel," Xu Weidong was leading his team in overcoming the final hurdle of the composite lamination process in the steel plant's laboratory.
Wearing ill-fitting work clothes, Ji Xiaosong was busy distributing her specially made "anti-scald ointment" to the workers. In fact, it was a magical medicine she had secretly mixed according to the recipe in her space.
"XCMG!" Xiao Wang rushed in, holding up a freshly baked sample. "Look!"
Sunlight streamed through the window onto the silver-gray steel plate, refracting a rainbow-like sheen.
Xu Weidong took the sample and slowly smiled amidst the expectant gazes of the crowd: "Send a telegram to the ministry: 'Great Wall No. 1' special steel has been successfully trial-produced."
The cheers startled the sparrows in the trees in the factory area.
Ji Xiaosong stood on the outskirts of the crowd, watching her husband being tossed into the air, her heart filled with sweetness.
She quietly touched the employee badge in her pocket. Xu Weidong had specially made it double-sided, with "Technical Consultant" written on one side and "Xu Weidong's Family Member" on the other.
That evening, after the celebration banquet, Xu Weidong, drunk, put his arm around his wife's shoulder and staggered along the factory's main road.
As he passed the bulletin board, he suddenly pointed to the advertisement for Western special steel and said, "One day..."
"One day our steel will be number one in the world!"
Ji Xiaosong chimed in, "Then I'll go to the US and sell pickled vegetables, just to piss them off!"
Xu Weidong burst into laughter, startling a passing stray cat.
This man, who was usually serious and rarely smiled, was now laughing like a young boy.
Under the moonlight, the two shadows clung tightly together, pointing towards the brightly lit laboratory, where the experimentation of the second-generation special steel had quietly begun.