Back to the 80s Machinery Factory

Chapter 420 Can this room be used for work?

“Even the model we’re using is a standard part cross-sectional diagram that we copied from the Ordnance Research Institute last time. Those are completely new part structures, and they have nothing to do with the ‘post-service damage analysis’ we’re doing now.”

"...Didn't you say the factory could provide a batch of samples?"

"The factory's review process is too strict. The technical department is holding back approval, saying that it has to go through the formal procedures."

"Without physical samples for comparison, we can't draw cross-sectional diagrams, and our 'fatigue crack model verification of connectors' simply can't proceed."

……

Chen Luyang's ears immediately perked up.

They want spark plug samples?
At my repair shop, the number of old spark plugs I remove every day could fill a basin.

He has tons of things like blasted holes, broken electrodes, and burnt-out surfaces!
He wanted to hear more specific details.

Unfortunately, the people in office 212 were speaking in increasingly lower voices, so Chen Luyang couldn't very well peek through the crack in the door to eavesdrop.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Luyang turned around and ran towards the fourth floor.

In the past few days, he has thoroughly explored all the classrooms, offices, and specialized classrooms in the Department of Mechanics.

Running up to the fourth floor of the Mechanics Department's classrooms, Chen Luyang crept furtively to the door of each classroom, peering inside.

Looking left and right, afraid of disturbing the class, yet also afraid of missing someone.

He looked around three classrooms but still couldn't find his senior.

Frowning, Chen Luyang wandered around the laboratory building again, but still didn't run into anyone.

"Could it be that the classes have been rescheduled...?"

Chen Luyang scratched his head and muttered something under his breath.

Although the school's curriculum is generally stable,
However, in addition to their regular teaching duties, school teachers often have to take on off-campus tasks.

For example, Xiao Hui from the Department of Philosophy is often called away to give lectures or participate in research projects at the last minute, which forces him to adjust his class schedule.

hesitated for a moment,
Chen Luyang turned around and went downstairs, deciding to try her luck at the student affairs building.

The Student Affairs Building is where the Youth League branches, student unions, and other departments of each department work together.

The Arts and Literature Department, External Relations Department, Publicity Department, and Academic Department are all included. Perhaps the senior student will be on duty in the department.

As soon as Chen Luyang arrived at the entrance, he saw a large crowd gathered in front of the office building.

A group of students were gathered in front of the building, whispering and discussing something.

"Wow!! I saw your name, you've been chosen."

"Let me see... It's true! You were chosen too."

"Saturday at nine o'clock... Bring your student ID and gather in the conference room on the second floor of the Student Affairs Building for the meeting."

"...Let's come together then (*v)"

"Uh-huh!"

……

Chen Luyang curiously squeezed into the crowd.

A white sheet of paper was posted in front of the administration building. It read: "List of New Recruits for Each Department of the Student Union."

He scanned down the densely packed small print.

"External Relations Department... Chen Luyang!"

Upon seeing her name, Chen Luyang modestly raised her eyebrows, turned around, and walked into the teaching building.

Just as I entered, a boy carrying a notebook walked right towards me.
Chen Luyang immediately reached out to stop him.

"Excuse me, could you tell me which floor the Arts and Literature Department is on?"

"It's on the fourth floor. There's a sticker on the door; you'll see it when you go up."

After thanking him, Chen Luyang rushed up to the second floor.

As soon as I went up the stairs, a mixture of smells of ink, paste, dried paper scraps and old documents hit me.

The fourth floor is the central office area for all departments of the student union. Each department has its own office, with a handwritten sign in white on a red background posted on the door.
Chen Luyang searched along the corridor, room by room.
Upon seeing the office of the "Literature and Art Department," he gently knocked on the door.

"Please come in!"

Chen Luyang pushed open the door and went inside.

The literature and art department's room was very cramped.

Three old tables, pieced together, were placed in the middle, piled high with pencil cases, stickers, and colored paper.

A small tape recorder sits on the windowsill, playing a piece of folk music at a low volume.

Three students are drawing a picture book around a table.

Seeing Chen Luyang come in,
One of the boys asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Chen Luyang asked politely, "Hello, classmate. I'd like to ask if the senior student in charge of the welcome party rehearsals is here?"

"You're in charge of the welcome party...you're looking for Yu Xia?"

Chen Luyang was taken aback.

He really didn't know what the senior's name was.

“She’s in the mechanics department,” Chen Luyang replied.

"That's Yu Xia," a girl said.

"She didn't come today. Go to her dorm and look for her. She lives in Wenbei Building."

"Okay, thank you, senior."

Seeing that he had missed his target again, Chen Luyang was about to go to the girls' dormitory to look for someone when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Hey, isn't this Chen Luyang?"

Looking back, Shen Fei seemed to be a butterfly seeing a flower bud, fluttering its wings as it came to greet him.
Look at them! How enthusiastic they are!

"The list was just posted, and these people volunteered to come and get to work,"

Shen Fei grabbed Chen Luyang's shoulder and shoved him into the External Relations Department's office in a flurry of activity.

...No, what's going on?
Chen Luyang was caught off guard and was pushed and shoved into the External Relations Department office by Shen Fei.

next moment,
Chen Luyang's eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of the room!

If the literature and art department's room is cramped...

The office of the External Relations Department was practically a pigsty.

Company directories, invitations, meeting agendas, and a half-read phone book were piled haphazardly on the table.

The table and cabinets are covered in dust, and no one has bothered to wipe them clean.

In the only small, relatively clean spot, a male student wearing dark glasses sat, head down, writing something on a piece of paper.

Seeing Shen Fei come in,

The male student immediately stood up nervously, somewhat awkwardly saying:

"Minister, I wrote this liaison letter... will they be able to come?"

As Shen Fei entered the room, he said, "They definitely can't come if you just write it yourself. But if you stamp it with the school's seal, they can come!"

Male student:…

In a cramped situation,
Chen Luyang and the male student exchanged a glance.

The next second, both of them wore complex expressions.

This male student is none other than...

It was on the day of the student council recruitment that the literature major was persuaded to join by Shen Fei's two sentences.

It's obvious that this boy was also dragged into this job without really knowing what was going on.

"Sit down, sit anywhere."

Shenfei was as hospitable as if he were welcoming a distant relative: "Sit wherever you like, don't be shy."

Chen Luyang was scratching his head in frustration. He was a bit of a germaphobe, and just standing there made him uncomfortable, let alone sitting.

Just as Chen Luyang was preparing to give himself a clean spot,
A faint, rhythmic creaking sound came from inside the house.

What's that noise?

Chen Luyang's eyelids twitched.

This house may be dirty and messy, but it can't be infested with mice, can it?
Just as he was pondering this, he heard Shen Fei ask the corner of the wall:
"Tie Li, have you printed out that event notice yet?"

"immediately."

Listening to the sounds coming from behind the large cabinet,

Chen Luyang looked on in shock and stood on tiptoe to peek inside!
Ma Tieli was seen squatting expressionlessly next to an old mimeograph machine, turning the handle with her left hand and pressing the paper with her right, watching a new sheet of paper, still smelling of ink, slowly emerge.

"Since you two are here, I'll give you a brief overview of the work our External Relations Department will be doing next."

Shen Fei took a notebook out of his bag, opened it to a page, and said:
"From now until the end of this semester, the External Relations Department will have four tasks to complete."

"The first thing is the 'Spring of Science' series of academic lectures in November. We need to invite experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences to give lectures at the university to boost the research atmosphere."

"The second thing is the 'December 9th' commemoration activities in December. I would like to invite a student ensemble from the Central Philharmonic Orchestra to perform a chorus with some recitation, and it would be best if they could also do a violin solo."

"The third thing is to procure supplies for the New Year's Eve party. We need to borrow sound equipment from the cultural center, arrange power supply and props in advance, and coordinate everything."

"The fourth thing is the student union's year-end summary and social gathering."

"There are quite a few tasks... but don't worry, we'll take it one step at a time, and we'll definitely be able to understand them all!"

Shen Fei looked up at Chen Luyang with a nonchalant air and said, "Little Chen, come with me to the Chinese Academy of Sciences this Saturday. Let's visit Professor Zhang Chongyi and see if we can invite him to give us a lecture."

Chen Luyang was preoccupied with the spark plug issue and had no interest in going with Shen Fei to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, so he immediately made up an excuse to refuse:

"But... the student council requires us freshmen to attend a meeting on the fourth floor on Saturday morning."

Shen Fei snorted coldly: "Listen to them talking about the ozone layer!"

"That welcome party, to put it simply, was just to introduce you to the student union, show you who the heads of each department are, and let you get to know the people."

"Then have people from each department take you away."

"I don't mean anything!"

"Don't believe me? Ask Tie Li!"

"do not ask me."

Ma Tieli didn't even look up: "Last year, I also missed a meeting because you dragged me to a store to beg for help."

"When I came back at night, the cafeteria was closed, so I ended up buying you a jianbing guozi (Chinese crepe)."

Chen Luyang's lips twitched, and she exchanged a glance with the artsy boy. The two of them looked at Shen Fei with suspicion.

Completely oblivious to the gazes of the two men, Shen Fei shamelessly began assigning tasks:
"In short, you're now part of the External Relations Department. You don't have to go to any meetings; this room is your home!"

"If you do a good job, I'll decide and reimburse each of you for a bottle of fountain pen ink!"

After typing a stack of notices, Ma Tieli replied expressionlessly, "You said you'd buy me canned food if I did a good job, but you still haven't."

Shen Fei, shameless as ever, said, "How could I forget! The cooperative ran out of canned goods, and all they had left were yellow peaches, but you wanted hawthorn!"

Ma Tieli rolled her eyes.

Shen Fei, shameless as ever, pretended not to see anything: "I'll assign the tasks below:"

“Ma Tieli, you continue to draft the notices. Huang Fugui, you continue to be in charge of drafting the external liaison letters for the lectures. Chen Luyang, you write the invitations.”

Chen Luyang looked at the messy table, the dusty cabinet, the chair piled with phone books... his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.

Apart from the small corner where Ma Tieli and Huang Fugui were sitting, which was barely big enough to put his feet down, the rest of the place was so messy that it gave him a headache.

"...Minister, is it possible to work in this room?"

Shen Fei was looking for a stool to sit on: "It'll have to do. This is the condition of our External Liaison Department. Everyone has been doing it this way."

Chen Luyang's face was almost scrunched up.

He glanced around and saw oily fingerprints, a folder with the glue undone, and a cracked thermos bottle lying in the corner... This wasn't an office; it was a pigsty!
He sighed, picked up the lattice and mop beside him, rolled up his sleeves, and said:

"It's not that I'm picky about the place, but I can't do anything in this room unless I tidy it up first."

Ma Tieli glanced at him, a rare hint of sympathy in her eyes: "Don't waste your time. No matter how clean you make it, Shen Fei will ruin it in a couple of days."

Chen Luyang bent down and swept the crumpled paper from the ground into the house, speaking slowly and deliberately:

"If he dares to cause trouble, I'll break his legs."

Shen Fei, who was looking through a phone number list, shuddered.

However... he didn't dare to say a word.

Who wouldn't be happy if someone was willing to tidy up the house?

Seeing Chen Luyang mopping and sweeping, the newcomer Huang Fugui also put down his pen and joined in tidying up.

Shen Fei was still a little reluctant, feeling that time was limited.

Instead of wasting time tidying up the house, it's better to write out invitations and outreach letters.

Gradually, he sorted out the scattered papers one by one and organized them by subject, finally revealing the original wood grain of the desktop, and even the windowsill was wiped so clean that it reflected a person's image.

By evening, the room finally looked like a place where one could work.

Shen Fei wasn't very happy: "After you finished cleaning, I can't find any of my things."

Ma Tieli retorted, "If you can't find it, then don't look for it. Your room is full of junk, and I've been here for a year without you ever turning it over once."

finished,

Looking around the room, Ma Tieli's eyes softened slightly: "This room finally looks like a human dwelling."

Shen Fei said with a reluctant expression, "I still miss its old look... that's what style is all about."

Chen Luyang looked at Shen Fei speechlessly.

That's fucking bizarre.

Shen Fei looks like a clean and capable young man, how could he have made such a mess of the house!

"Minister, I have something to do tonight, so I won't stay here."

Chen Luyang draped the washed rag over the stool, said goodbye, and was about to leave.

Shen Fei was still a little reluctant to leave: "Aren't you going to finish writing the external liaison letter before you go?"

Screw you!

Chen Luyang almost cursed out loud.

He did nothing all afternoon, not even write any manuscripts, he just did a lot of cleaning.

"I'll go back and write a draft, and bring it to you first thing tomorrow morning."

After saying that, Chen Luyang pushed open the door and darted out in a flash.

Before the door was even closed, they heard Shen Fei shouting desperately from behind:
"Come early tomorrow!!"

……

夜晚
Chen Luyang arrived at Wenbei Building.
From afar, he saw the dormitory auntie sitting at the door, knitting a sweater with yarn in her hand.

"Good evening, Auntie."

Chen Luyang walked forward with a smile, his tone as warm as a neighbor's young man visiting.
"Your sweater is knitted so neatly, evenly than the sweaters sold in state-run stores."

The woman looked up: "What do you need?"

Chen Luyang smiled even more sincerely: "Auntie, could you please help me find someone? Her name is Yu Xia, and she is a third-year student in the Department of Mechanics."

The middle-aged woman looked at him like he was a spy: "Do you need to see her?"

"It's important. There's a project in the department, and my professor asked me to contact her. It's quite urgent," Chen Luyang lied, her eyes wide.

Although the older woman's expression clearly showed disbelief.
"In all my years, this is the first time I've ever been able to schedule a project meeting and find people in the evening."

(End of this chapter)