Back to the 80s Machinery Factory

Chapter 450 Turning around brought another pang of heartache!
As the taxis continued to drive towards Fengnan...
At this moment on the Peking University campus,

Du Huaiyuan from the Research Office is reviewing project application reports transferred from the Academic Affairs Office.

"Jinba Car Maintenance and Repair Center?"

Isn't this the off-campus experimental site we collaborated on with the Department of Mechanics a couple of days ago?
Du Huaiyuan stared at the name on the report, his brows furrowing slightly.

Two days ago, Zhang Diancai from the Department of Mechanics came to the school to negotiate the construction of an off-campus experimental site at the repair shop.

He was very impressed by this incident.

The research project of the prestigious Department of Mechanics at Peking University was surprisingly not undertaken by the Institute of Weaponry or affiliated with an industrial research institute.

Instead, they found a small car repair shop and applied to become a joint testing site!
As a result, in less than a week...
The economics department applied for a project at the same repair shop!

Du Huaiyuan continued to flip through the application materials.

Upon seeing this, his gaze gradually changed.

The research report was over thirty pages long.

The first part is a survey list of common car parts for several common car models, including a summary of spark plug, nozzle pipe, and rubber gasket models, failure rate statistics, and comparative analysis of interchangeable structures.

The following pages of drawings are structural diagrams of universal spark plugs and improved sketches of nozzle assembly interfaces.

The standard cross-sectional views of the three rubber gaskets are fully labeled, and the material specifications and processing tolerances are clearly written.

In particular, in the lower right corner of the spark plug diagram, there is a name written:
Illustration by Zhang Diancai

hiss……

This repair shop is pretty savvy!
Zhang Diancai, a mechanics professor who rarely takes action, was able to draw diagrams by hand.

This repair shop is something else!

Du Huaiyuan had an idea.

Currently, the Ministry of Education is promoting a "pilot program for cooperation between higher education institutions and local industries," encouraging university students to step out of the classroom, go deep into grassroots communities, and conduct practical research projects that are truly "down-to-earth."

The Municipal Education Commission and the Municipal Science and Technology Commission are also preparing for the selection of "University Students' Engineering Practice Bases", requiring universities to submit projects and recommend bases.

Peking University's natural science department was not to be outdone and organized its various departments to prepare application materials well in advance.

However, these submitted projects either overemphasize literature review and interviews, lack practical application scenarios, or have no clear industry-connection pathways.

Otherwise, it requires the cooperation of local authorities, which involves a lot of resources and makes progress slow.

No project is as grounded in reality as Chen Luyang's, with physical samples as the outcome and external partners as the support.

Everyone else is making every effort and trying every possible way to achieve the desired result.

But Chen Luyang came with his research findings to apply for project approval.

It would be unreasonable not to approve it.

Immediately,

Du Huaiyuan picked up his pen and wrote in the approval opinion column:
"The project possesses three key elements: policy response, pilot project results, and external collaboration. It is recommended that it be submitted directly to the department head's office meeting and included in the 'Results Promotion' reserve list."

……

With the approval opinion issued by the deputy director of the Science and Technology Department, Chen Luyang's project application was successfully submitted to the director's office meeting and entered the formal procedure for university-level scientific research project approval.

A few days later, a "Project Approval Form" stamped with an official red seal was delivered to the Economics Department office.

When Chen Luyang received the news and rushed to the Economics Department office, Lian Yinghua was chatting happily with several teachers.

Upon seeing Chen Luyang, Lian Yinghua's two thick, black eyebrows, resembling large brooms, suddenly spread out.

"Hey, Little Chen's here!"

Lian Yinghua greeted him with a smile, "Your project has been approved by the research department."

"Really?! Teacher, you really approved it?!"

Chen Luyang's voice was filled with disbelief.

This was the first time he had submitted a project application to the school.

"Approved!"

Lian Yinghua spoke boldly, took a red-headed document from the table, and handed it to Chen Luyang.

"Not only was it approved."

"The Research Office also listed your project as a 'school-level youth science and technology project' and recommended it for inclusion in the 'achievement promotion category' reserve list, saying that they plan to use it as a model project for the school at the end of the year and submit it to the Municipal Education Commission."

Holy crap.

Chen Luyang's mouth was agape, and after a few seconds of stunned silence, she managed to stammer out:
"I...I've become a prime example?"

"If you insist on calling it typical, it's not entirely wrong," Lian Yinghua joked with a smile.

"Anyway, this is the first student-led pilot project for the integration of industry, academia, and research in our school."

"This is the funding the school has approved for you, a total of 300 yuan. Please check it."

three hundred???

Chen Luyang's voice was a little cracked.

"Didn't you say it would be 100 yuan? Why did you give me 200 more??"

"You're not happy even though I'm giving you more money?"

"I'm so happy! I'm so happy!"

Chen Luyang opened the envelope and saw a thick wad of cash inside; her face lit up with joy.

Making money is still faster by doing projects!
A project here was just approved, and 300 yuan has already been deposited into my account.

Including Zhang Diancai's previous project, he now has 400 yuan in hand.

If the project gets bigger in the future, the funding will definitely be more!

Maybe it can even reach a few hundred or a thousand!
But before he could even feel happy, Lian Yinghua poured cold water on him.

“On-campus projects are usually funded with a one-time grant, which is considered seed funding. Once that’s used up, there’s no more funding.”

What the hell? ?
One-time use?!
Chen Luyang's smile froze for a moment.

He thought the grant was the same as Zhang Diancai's project, and that it would be given every month.

Who would have thought it would be a one-off deal!
"What if we don't have enough funding later on?" Chen Luyang asked anxiously.

"That depends on how well your interim results turn out," Lian Yinghua replied.

"Once you've finished running the samples and testing the parts, and have something decent to show for it, then you can write a report and go through the procedures, and then you can get additional funding from the school's special fund."

With results achieved, everything becomes easier.

After a pause,
Lian Yinghua said, "As an economics student, you have an advantage in being close to policies and practices, making it easier for you to excel in projects!"

"Your teachers will support you!"

I don't know if it's just Chen Luyang's imagination.

He felt that when Lian Yinghua said these words, her eyes were sparkling, as if she had seen a goose that could lay golden eggs.

...How could it not be lit!
How many projects can be approved for funding across the entire university?

How many of these can actually be pushed to the Municipal Science and Technology Commission?!

As a result, one of them suddenly appeared in their economics department.

While the science department is still drawing circuit diagrams, they've already sent the parts to the workshop for trial production.

Unsurprisingly, their economics department will definitely have a place in that stack of "outstanding project showcase cases" at the end of the year!

Awesome!
……

Yeah, that's awesome!
I'm so awesome!!!
Stepping out of the economics department office,
Chen Luyang took a deep breath and stood arrogantly in front of the window at the corner of the teaching building's staircase, overlooking the beautiful school campus.

Interim results... there are plenty of them!!

That car has dozens or even hundreds of parts.

If we manufacture a single component, we write a report and request funding.
The funding would come in like water flowing from a tap!
This is the best I've ever gotten before!
The money is still too little.

Chen Luyang frowned slightly.

Making parts from a factory isn't cheap.

Materials need to be purchased, labor costs need to be paid, and data needs to be measured after the samples are made.

The cost of each of the previously manufactured universal spark plugs, universal gaskets, and nozzles was 2 yuan, 8 mao, and 3 yuan respectively.

He was quite decisive at the time.

To facilitate subsequent standardized trial assembly and pairing tests, 50 of each item were made at once.

The total price is already 300 yuan.

The "ignition coil module", "brake push rod" and "coupling sleeve" that are now being developed in collaboration with Zhang Diancai and Zhang Nan are even more complex.

Especially for ignition coils, not only do you have to wind the coil, but you also have to assemble the entire assembly, including the housing, contacts, and electrodes. The cheapest one costs at least 10 yuan.

50 of them, that's 500 yuan!
"This isn't enough..."

Chen Luyang sighed, his head resting against the window frame, his entire demeanor shifting from "ambitious" to "financially distressed."

He had originally planned to use the funding from the school project to independently produce the parts and handle the entire process from "production to testing to feedback to summarization".

The results of it?
The project was approved, the funding came in, and a project number was given; he kept all the official documents in his pocket.

But there's still not enough money.

"Looks like I'll have to go back to the factory and mooch off their meals..."

Chen Luyang sighed in frustration.

"Let's get started!!"

Chen Luyang patted her cheeks and straightened her chest again.

“There are always more solutions than difficulties.”

Just do it!

Just as Chen Luyang was in high spirits and preparing to return to his dormitory, his homeroom teacher, Ms. Shang, glanced at him as she passed by in the corridor.

"Chen Luyang, there's a package for you in the department office. Come and pick it up."

"okay!!!"

After shouting, Chen Luyang ran towards the department office.

At this time, all packages will be sent to the school's main mailroom.

Then the mail is sent from the main mailroom to each department office, where the department office secretary posts it on the bulletin board to inform students to pick it up.

Sometimes, classmates and teachers would also tell me when they passed by.

"Why are there still two packages?"

Chen Luyang looked at the two packages, one large and one small, in her hands. After signing the registration book, she carried the two packages back to her dormitory.

At this moment, in the dormitory, the middle-aged and young study group led by Tao Runze were lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) reading books.

When they saw that a package had arrived at Chen Luyang's house, none of them asked any further questions.

After all, it's normal for family to send something when you're away from home.

As a flash of bright red streaked across her vision, Pan Yu, who had the best view from the lower bunk, jumped in surprise and asked:

"Xiao Chen, why is your family still mailing you a red scarf?!"

As soon as he said that, the eyes of several of the older men turned toward him all at once.

as predicted,

A bright red scarf, slightly faded from washing, was held in Chen Luyang's hand.

Chen Luyang's face froze!
Immediately, he reacted quickly, wrapping the red scarf around his neck and tying it into a standard bow tie.

"My little nephew didn't have anything good on him, but when he saw that we were sending things, he sent me his most important red scarf."

"Oh oh oh."

When everyone heard this, they suddenly understood.

Kids only have so many things in their hands.

Missing your uncle but not knowing what to mail, sending him a red scarf is perfectly normal.

But Pan Yuke, who was standing next to her, didn't think so...

He was closest to Chen Luyang and saw things most clearly.

What are all those?!
Chen Luyang pulled out scraps of cloth from her bag, along with pieces of shoe insoles and a snagged old woolen neck warmer.

It even seemed like he pulled out a newspaper.

In short, there's nothing decent about it!
Anyone who didn't know better would think that he had mailed all the junk he had nowhere to throw away to his son.

The strangest thing was that Chen Luyang was holding a pair of underwear in his hand, and his face was beaming with joy.

Good guy...

Are you so happy to receive a pair of underwear?
Pan Yu's expression turned strange.

It seems that Xiao Chen's family is not well-off.

It can't be just any ordinary thing... it must be quite difficult.

Out of consideration for Chen Luyang's pride, the older brother silently turned away.

But turning around brought another wave of heartache.

Meanwhile, Chen Luyang, clutching the thick pair of underwear, felt an overwhelming longing for her mother.

It has to be her own mother, the famous detective Ms. Feng Jiuxiang!

Not only do they know what they need,

Moreover, they've learned to deceive others and carry out their plans covertly!

Beneath all this disguise, the only thing truly useful is this pair of happy underpants!

It has a thick, soft yet firm, supple and rich texture.

It should cost at least four or five hundred.

woo woo woo...

I love my mom.

Chen Luyang was furtively trying to hide his underwear.
As for the remaining junk, it should be collected properly.

In the future, if I want to mail anything important home, I can use these junk items as a cover, and they will definitely arrive home safely.

That's terrible...

Pan Yu couldn't stand it anymore.

Chen Luyang treated a pair of underwear like a treasure, which was one thing.

Even these tattered strips of cloth were carefully wrapped and stored away around the neck; it was truly heartbreaking to see!

At least there's a repair shop outside.

Why do you live such a miserable life?

On the other side, Chen Luyang had just finished packing the things that had been mailed from home and was about to open a small package next to her.

A boy knocked on the door and kindly came in to deliver a message:
"Chen Luyang, someone is looking for you in the meeting room downstairs."

"Okay, thank you, classmate."

Chen Luyang turned around and responded, then quickly rushed downstairs after putting away the small package.

It's called a reception room, but it's actually just a small room set aside on the first floor of the dormitory, used to receive visitors.

The facilities inside the house were also very basic.

There were only two long wooden benches and a low square table.

A man and a woman were sitting on a bench.

The girl was wearing a red armband, had short hair that reached her ears, and a tape recorder hanging around her neck.

The boy had a camera slung around his neck; he was someone I knew.

Little glasses?!

What do they want from me?
Chen Luyang was still wondering about this.
The girl with glasses and short hair also looked at him with surprise, their expressions even carrying a hint of strangeness.

Chen Luyang said warmly, "Senior brother, you were looking for me?"

The short-haired girl quickly composed herself, stood up nimbly, and said in a warm tone:
"Hello Chen Luyang! We're from the school radio station. We'd like to do an interview today. Could we take a few minutes of your time?"

"Interview me?" Chen Luyang was taken aback.

"I don't have anything to interview you about."

The short-haired girl laughed and said, "Chen Luyang, you're too modest."

"Your proposed project on the trial production of universal automotive parts is the first university-level youth science and technology project initiated and led by students and combining industry, academia and research."

"It would be a shame not to publicize this!"

Chen Luyang was stunned for a moment.

Is the school's radio station really that powerful?

(End of this chapter)