Back to the 80s Machinery Factory

Chapter 435 Fox Spirits Belong to All Humanity!!!
On the other side,
Zhang Guoqiang held his lunchbox, his kind eyes sweeping over the students who were eating with their heads down.

"Eat meat!! Stop picking at the vegetables all the time."

"Eating vegetables isn't satisfying. Eat more meat."

"..."

Zhang Guoqiang picked up a piece of pork rib with his chopsticks and threw it directly into the bowl of a shy girl.

"Thank you, Master Zhang~" the girl said timidly, holding the bowl.

Zhang Guoqiang suddenly seemed lost in thought.

Upon seeing these children, Zhang Guoqiang was reminded of his son, Zhang Panpan.

Panpan has his wife to take care of him at home; someone cooks for him at mealtimes and heats him up when he gets cold.

But these children, thousands of miles from home, are so focused on their work that they forget to eat.

Upon seeing them, his heart overflowed with love and tenderness.

I always wanted them to eat a few more bites.

The meal was served piping hot.

After everyone put down their chopsticks, Zhang Guoqiang and Zuo Zhuo set up the "transfer table" according to the method they had just discussed, and helped to secure the dial indicator.

Sure enough, this time the watch was firmly attached to the stand, and the values ​​were clearly visible.

"Ah—that's right." Lin Qiming clapped his hands in satisfaction.

But just as the dial indicator finished processing, the fracture surface tracing set malfunctioned again.

Two girls, one holding a measuring tape and the other holding tracing paper, tried to fix the broken part and trace the crack extension line according to the method in the textbook.

As a result, the paper became slippery as soon as it was applied, the oil stains clumped together, and when the tracing pen pressed on, the texture was completely blurred, making it almost impossible to distinguish where the tear was.

"What are we going to do?!"

The two girls were pacing anxiously, sweat beading on their foreheads.

Just as they were trying to come up with a solution, Zuo Zhuo walked over, glanced at the scene, and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"This isn't a problem with the paper; it's because you didn't absorb all the oil."

"Huh?" The two girls were taken aback.

Zuo Zhuo didn't explain further and simply took out a small medicine bottle from his pocket.

I unscrewed the cap and sprinkled some powder into the crack.

"This powder is called 'penetrating red,' an old method used to check for cracks. First, you sprinkle the powder, then blow it dry, and the crack will appear on its own."

As Zuo Zhuo spoke, his hands moved with unwavering precision, evenly sprinkling rouge onto the crack.

With a gentle blow, the powder seeped into the tiny gaps, revealing the texture as clearly as a sketch.

"Wow……!"

The two girls were stunned and couldn't help but exclaim "Wow!"
"...This is incredible!"

Zuo Zhuo blushed slightly at the praise: "There's nothing magical about it. You just do it all the time. These days, once you've been doing it for a while, you'll naturally figure out the solutions."

The two girls looked at him with sparkling eyes.

"Master Zuo, if we encounter anything we don't understand, can we ask you for help?"

Zuo Zhuo didn't hesitate for a second.

"Sure, of course, you're welcome anytime!"

……

All beginnings are hard.

A group of lab students, suddenly arriving at the workshop for the first time to conduct data surveys, experienced all sorts of culture shock and found themselves unable to adapt to anything.

But, but, but!!!

The mechanics at the repair shop are really, really nice people.

They know everything, yet they tell them everything!

Especially Director Lu, who boiled water for them and gave them melon seeds and peanuts to eat.

They all felt embarrassed by what they did.

night.

Lin Qiming and the others felt embarrassed to let the repair shop spend money, and seeing that Sun Hongjun was about to start making dinner, they quickly packed their schoolbags.

After much persuasion, he finally waved goodbye to everyone, promising to come back the next day.

Sun Hongjun warmly saw the students off, but he was not giving up:

"Director Lu, I don't think they'll be able to leave anytime soon."

"It's not good for them to keep eating like this. Why don't we ask them for some money for their food?"

Director Lu glanced helplessly at Sun Hongjun.

"What's the rush! Play the long game and catch the big fish."

"With the director here, we won't suffer any losses."

As he spoke, Director Lu offered words of comfort:
"I'll go grocery shopping with you tomorrow morning, and we'll buy a lot of meat. We'll take advantage of their generosity and improve our meals for a while!"

……

As the mechanics students happily boarded the bus back to school,
Zhang Diancai, however, walked alone through the campus with a gloomy expression.

Early this morning, he took a stack of reports and supplementary materials to the research institute for "one last communication".

Unfortunately, this trip was in vain.

The research institute didn't explicitly push it either.

He was received by a deputy director.

They were very polite and expressed their willingness to continue cooperating on the project as a joint unit.

However, the final conclusion was that "the new engineering projects assigned by the higher authorities are quite demanding, and resource allocation should prioritize the 'main task,' so the sample portion may require more support from your school."

"It's not convenient to transfer parts in bulk recently, and we are indeed short-staffed."

Zhang Diancai didn't immediately lose his temper; he simply looked down and flipped through the so-called "sample transfer arrangement form."

The top section was completely blank, with only a few "suggested reference indicators" listed. The most crucial sections, "types of scrapped connectors" and "historical load records," were left blank.

Three months ago, he was still meeting with the research institute to discuss experimental parameters.

The research institute spoke with conviction.

"Full-process collaboration and key support".

Who knew that now that the person in charge has changed, things have changed so quickly, and they're even unwilling to include the words "military scrap parts" in the circulation documents.

When Zhang Diancai walked out of the research institute's office building, his fingers were so taut that they almost left marks on the strap of his bag.

Three months ago, in order to compete for this project, he traveled all the way from the school to the ministry, leading students to collect samples, draw models, and fill in data.

He presented the plan four times in a row in the institute's conference room, turning what was originally a marginal topic into a key joint project.

Who knew that things would turn out this way just because the person negotiating the cooperation changed!

He's not young anymore; he's not unaware of the intricacies involved.

"Resource allocation bias", "low priority", "staff shortage"... He has heard these phrases far too often over the years.

A single sentence can take up half a year of a person's time.

He originally wanted to fight again, but at this moment he suddenly didn't want to fight anymore.

What's the point of winning it back?

The materials are unavailable, the experiments cannot be adjusted, and the results still have to be attributed to the other party.

After months of hard work, all I got was a "joint nominee" position.

The technology is yours, the data is yours, but the achievements belong to others.

The report listed a row of institution names, with Peking University on the third line, without mentioning its contributions at all.

He took a deep breath, a hint of unyielding determination flashing in his eyes.

This project was something Zhang Diancai pushed through despite his own gritted teeth.

Since the other party is unwilling to cooperate, then from now on, Peking University will take the lead itself!

He paused on the steps. He had been negotiating this project from scratch for a year, running around with paperwork and exhausting all his efforts in persuading people.

The most crucial batch of samples turned out to be delivered to us by a student from a repair shop.

Thinking of Chen Luyang...

Zhang Diancai's gaze darkened, and he strode towards the laboratory.

At this moment, in the laboratory, Lin Qiming and several of his students were gathered around a table organizing the day's records and sample analysis data.

As soon as Zhang Diancai pushed open the door, everyone looked up at the same time.

"Teacher Zhang!"

Lin Qiming was the first to react and quickly stood up.

Zhang Diancai nodded, put his briefcase on the table, and sat down in his chair.

"How did your trip to the repair shop go today?"

"It went extremely smoothly!!!"

As soon as the repair shop was mentioned, the students couldn't help but chatter excitedly.

They also said that the sample types are complete, with many old items and all kinds of items.

They also said that the food there was really delicious, with lots of meat and pork ribs.

They also said that the master craftsmen were very kind and taught them everything. They even patiently helped adjust the data that was not accurate. They said that without the help of the masters, they would not have been able to do anything today.

As Zhang Diancai listened to the students' cheerful tone, his tense expression, which had lasted all day, gradually relaxed, and the gloom on his face seemed to fade a bit.

"They were quite enthusiastic."

"They're just a little too enthusiastic... If we don't leave soon, we might have to stay for dinner."

Several cheerful laughs erupted from inside the room.
But then, the atmosphere quietly quieted down.

Zhang Nan couldn't help but ask softly, "Professor Zhang... what about the research institute?"

From the very beginning, everyone noticed that Zhang Diancai's complexion was not good.

Zhang Diancai raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the people in the room, and said casually:
"No chance."

He spoke those three words very softly, yet they were like a stone thrown into water, creating ripples.

"The people have changed, the research has stopped, the samples won't be approved, and their words are impeccable."

He smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes:
"They certainly know how to use words."

Lin Qiming asked worriedly, "Teacher, should we still cooperate with them?"

Zhang Diancai glanced at him, but did not answer directly. Instead, he picked up a bolt crack analysis sketch from the table, looked at it for a few seconds, and then handed it to Zhang Nan.

“Starting today, we will shift our focus back to our work.”

He paused, his voice calm and clear, yet revealing an unyielding resolve.

"This project proposal was written by our research group, and the data and diagrams were drawn by you."

"We were always capable of pushing forward on our own!"

"Whether they cooperate or not is their attitude."

Whether we succeed or not is our own business.

"From now on, we'll focus on the samples from the repair shop and get the tasks at hand moving forward."

"in addition,"

Zhang Diancai raised his eyes and looked at Lin Qiming.

"Contact the materials lab and request some available equipment in the heat treatment section. I need to make a batch of metal fatigue control samples, start with small-batch modeling, and lock in the key parameters."

Lin Qiming nodded and was about to look up the lab's scheduling records when Zhang Diancai continued:

"Aren't you supposed to submit a preliminary experiment report before the project is completed? Use these control samples to run the data."

"If the data is clear, the model will be stable. Even without relying on them, we can still achieve results."

Lin Qiming asked, still uneasy, "Teacher, should we disclose everything to the research institute as well?"

“As long as the framework remains, the cooperation continues,” Zhang Diancai said thoughtfully.

"What we need is to advance the experiment and implement the results, not to issue instructions, report, or take photos and put our names on them."

"From today onwards, we will take back the initiative ourselves."

The students fell silent, but the atmosphere had clearly changed.

The fatigue of "cooperating with others" and the oppressive feeling of "being led by the nose" seemed to be broken all at once.

What arose instead was a subtle excitement and a steady tension.

Zhang Diancai looked at them, gently placed the pencil in his hand on the edge of the drawing, and softened his tone:
"As long as we make the things ourselves, run faster than them, draw more accurately than them, and have clearer data than them, when it comes to writing reports, they can only follow behind and put their names on the paper."

"Next, I will report to the department and set up the repair shop as an off-campus experimental site for our research group."

"We're still in contact with the weapons depot...

"But we will no longer wait for them to provide materials, nor will we ask them to produce drawings. The necessary cooperation procedures will continue."

"We'll handle the core tasks ourselves!"

He glanced at the clock on the wall and said softly:
"Let's get moving, we've already wasted too much time."

"No wait."

……

Zhang Diancai was very fast.

Early the next morning,

He took the specific application materials to the department, explained the situation of the research institute and the project, and proposed to designate the repair shop as an off-campus experimental site.

Although the department raised questions about the factory's effective operation and student safety.

However, Zhang Diancai had made thorough preparations before his arrival.

This not only demonstrates that the repair shop has a wide variety of samples, but also that they are highly consistent with the fatigue crack research topic.

They also presented external testing reports from the past two weeks, as well as photos taken by students at the site.

After much effort, the department finally approved Zhang Diancai's application.

Just as Zhang Diancai was signing and going through the procedures,
Chen Luyang was in her dormitory, listening with great interest to Cui Shaojie and the others talk about the weekend's lecture.

"That guy from the Chinese Academy of Sciences is amazing! He studies reactors!"

“Last year, he published a paper in Science & Technology Review about neutron leakage, in which he said that the reactor was like a ‘fat man sitting on a nail’.”

"You have to make sure it neither explodes nor leaks, otherwise it's all over!" he said, gesturing as he spoke.

"And this 'fat guy' might fart at any moment, and one fart could stink up the entire mountain!"

Chen Luyang burst out laughing: "Your analogy is so damaging to your image!"

"Really! I've read the abstract of that article, and it's incredibly vivid!" Cui Shaojie said confidently.

"Moreover, that teacher Zhang also said that he had conducted secret experiments in the mountainous areas of Southwest China, which made even the villagers think that there was a fox spirit living in the mountains and that it emitted blue light at night. But when they investigated, it turned out that the experimental equipment was leaking neutron light!"

"Do people in the southwestern mountainous areas still believe in fox spirits?"

While biting into an apple, Chen Luyang posed a profound question.

"Aren't fox spirits a local specialty?"

Zheng Zhe became serious: "Comrade Chen Luyang, how come you've become so rigid!"

"That fox spirit belongs not only to you, but also to us, and even more so to the southwestern mountainous region!"

Chen Luyang rolled her eyes helplessly: "Fine, fine, fox spirits belong to all of humanity."

"Besides the fox spirit, what else did he talk about?"

“That’s going too far!” Sun Legen couldn’t help but interject. “His lecture was titled ‘Order and Chaos on the Edge of Fission.’ He talked about how to determine the critical state of a reactor, and things like ‘if you pull a rod too fast, you can turn the control room into a hot pot’…”

"Yes, yes, yes, yes!!!" Du Qiming slapped his thigh.

"hot pot!!"

"I understood what hot pot was right away, and it made me really upset. I just wanted to find a place to eat hot pot."

(End of this chapter)