The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 193 My Wife Came to the Machine Tool Factory

"I'll make time to go next week. Actually, you all underestimate my health. Unless it's some kind of serious illness, it's very difficult for me to get into trouble."

Zhou Zhiqiang smiled and said to Zhao Chenghui that he could lift Chen Weiguo up with one hand, but he no longer acts as a hero casually.

If his adrenaline surges and he doesn't control his strength, he could probably easily kill several people.

Chen Weiguo had already warned him that although killing criminals was not illegal, it wouldn't look good if word got out that he was always killing criminals.

However, others didn't believe it, and Zhou Zhiqiang wouldn't casually tell others about his improved physical fitness.

Zhao Chenghui said with a smile, "We are researchers, and we have to be logical in what we say. What you just said was completely illogical."

How do you know if you haven't checked it yet? We absolutely have to check it this week. Anyway, the silicon wafers are already made, so it's okay to relax for a couple of days.

"And if you don't rest, no one else dares to rest either. Remember Wang Kenian from the technical department? He's getting married and wanted to take a day off to get his marriage certificate and have dinner, but since you don't rest, he doesn't dare to take a day off either."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiqiang exclaimed in surprise, "Is that so? Does that mean I really need to rest for a couple of days?"

Zhao Chenghui nodded and said, "I need to rest for two days."

Their progress was very encouraging; the calculations, derivations, and experimental tests were all going very smoothly, as if they were destined to develop and manufacture the silicon transistor.

In just over five months, less than half a year, they produced a batch of silicon wafers, and even passed the tests.

Based on this calculation, in another six months, they might even be able to manufacture integrated circuits.

Zhao Chenghui sometimes wondered if this was the thrill of research and development. He felt that things had never gone so smoothly before. Why did they encounter so many difficulties when they were researching germanium single crystals?

"Alright then, after the meeting tomorrow, I'll check on the progress of each group and then go to the hospital."

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Tell the team members tomorrow that they should rest when they need to, because there is a semiconductor processing technology test after noon tomorrow."

Zhao Chenghui interrupted, saying, "I'll handle this; you don't need to worry about it."

"Okay, then I'll trouble you with that too."

After hearing Zhao Chenghui take over, Zhou Zhiqiang said without worry, "It's getting late, go back and rest early, you have a meeting tomorrow."

"it is good."

After saying that, Zhao Chenghui and Zhou Zhiqiang walked towards the dormitory together.

Both of them lived in the factory's dormitory, and most of the people in the CNC machine tool project team, even those who were married, applied to live in the dormitory.

Time is already limited, and wasting tens of minutes on the way to and from get off work every day would be a huge waste of time.

After returning to his dormitory, Zhou Zhiqiang poured a basin of water, rinsed himself off briefly, took off his clothes, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep.

The next morning, after having breakfast in the canteen, Zhou Zhiqiang and Zhao Chenghui returned to the Second Machine Tool Factory for a meeting.

Although Zhou Zhiqiang was busy in the CNC group at Factory 190, he was also very familiar with the progress of other groups and was not lagging behind at all.

It was precisely because their research and development was progressing rapidly that Zhou Zhiqiang was able to confidently train the technical production personnel of semiconductor devices at Factory 190.

Otherwise, he would have gone to another group to solve the problem long ago.

The technical presentation this Monday went smoothly, and now almost six months have passed, with the machine bed already in production.

The next stage is for each team to assemble the finished products that have passed the experimental tests. However, the CNC team will definitely be the last one, as they still have a lot of work to do.

After the meeting, Zhou Zhiqiang didn't delay. He urged each group to continue their efforts and then disbanded the weekly coordination meeting of the CNC machine tool engineering project team.

After the meeting, Zhao Chenghui greeted Zhou Zhiqiang and said, "Zhiqiang, I'll head back now."

"Okay, I won't go back."

Zhou Zhiqiang planned to take care of things at the factory for a while, and then go to the hospital for a physical examination after he finished dealing with the matters at the Second Machine Tool Plant.

It's every six months, and according to the regulations, he should have gone. He should have gone much earlier, but he was just too busy and forgot.

Back in his office, Zhou Zhiqiang looked around before turning to Zhang Yaoguo and saying, "Well done. You've worked hard these past few days, Yaoguo."

When he was at Factory 190, he would also take time to handle factory affairs. If there was an emergency, he would usually make a phone call or ask Zhang Yaoguo to make a trip to notify Zhou Zhiqiang.

Over this period of time, Zhang Yaoguo's bicycle was almost worn out. For a while, there were documents from the Second Machine Tool Factory that required Zhou Zhiqiang's approval.

Then the task of delivering documents was handed over to Zhang Yaoguo, who rode for hundreds of miles each way, covering a distance of thirty or forty miles each way.

"Factory manager, it's nothing. You all work so hard for the factory's development. I'm just running errands; how can I compare to you?"

Zhang Yaoguo shook his head and said that these were his sincere words, without any hint of flattery.

Although he always addressed him as "leader," Zhou Zhiqiang was about the same age as him, but his contributions far surpassed those of ten of him.

He could only help with some things, especially since Zhang Yaoguo had also heard that Zhou Zhiqiang at Factory 190 rarely rested and was busy until two or three in the morning every day.

In comparison, Zhang Yaoguo felt that he had made too little contribution. Although he was about the same age as Zhou Zhiqiang, he couldn't even come close to him.

"Everyone has a different role. If I didn't have you, the office might be a complete mess."

After Zhou Zhiqiang finished speaking, he smiled and continued, "Alright, enough of this small talk. Go and call Deputy Factory Director Liu and Deputy Factory Director Sun over. I have something to discuss with them."

"Okay, leader. I'll go right away."

After Zhang Yaoguo finished speaking, he went to inform Deputy Factory Director Liu Wenzhou.

A moment later, Liu Wenzhou and Sun Yifei knocked on the door and came in, asking, "Factory Manager, you wanted to see us?"

"Yes, how's production at the factory lately?" Zhou Zhiqiang had just brewed two cups of tea. After handing the tea to Liu Wenzhou and Sun Yifei, he said, "I'm often away from the factory. Thank you for your hard work. Didn't Mao Xiong add a batch of universal grinding machines?"

How's the production setup going at our factory? Have the new workers gotten used to the processes? Is the logistics support adequate?

"Fortunately, the Russians didn't ask for too many. To be honest, I'm not sure if their request for 1,500 units is a good thing or a bad thing."

After taking the teacup and setting it aside, Deputy Factory Director Liu continued, "The support from the ministry has been substantial, and the production procedures you arranged, Factory Director, are also very reasonable, playing a crucial role in the technical training of the branch factory."

After listening for a while, Zhou Zhiqiang chuckled and said, "Deputy Factory Director Liu, why are you starting to flatter me?"

"No, this is not flattery, it's just the truth."

Deputy Factory Director Liu paused for a moment, then continued, "Without these arrangements, the factory wouldn't have been able to quickly get into production. Currently, we're producing 351 machine tools per month."

We have 290 coordinate boring machines and 61 universal grinding machines. The exact number is uncertain, as our target was 330; any extras were rushed out.

Zhou Zhiqiang asked, "Has it been tested? Don't rush to produce substandard machine tools."

Deputy Factory Director Liu immediately said, "Don't worry, Factory Director. This is for export and supply to foreign countries, and other ministries also need it. I wouldn't dare to joke about this."

"That's good, as long as the goal is achieved."

Zhou Zhiqiang breathed a sigh of relief, then said with a smile, "I guaranteed to the leaders of the department that the monthly output would be 330 units by the end of next year, but we achieved that before the Chinese New Year even started this year."

"Thanks to you all, Deputy Factory Director Liu."

"It's because the factory workers are working hard, factory manager."

Deputy Factory Director Liu also remarked with emotion: "To be honest, the workers at the Shanghai Machine Tool Factory also have a certain drive; they can accept all kinds of overtime work."

However, the production process is a bit less sophisticated, and many of the parts in our factory are interchangeable, so the production efficiency is faster.”

Zhou Zhiqiang smiled upon hearing this. This was a problem he had already considered. If he hadn't thought about production efficiency and subsequent maintenance issues, he wouldn't have put in so much effort during the research and development process.

"The logistics are not bad, but Deputy Factory Director Sun is in charge of this aspect."

After saying this, Liu Wenzhou picked up his teacup to enjoy the tea, leaving the rest of the time to Sun Yifei.

Deputy Factory Director Sun then said, "Factory Director, the ministry has provided a lot of support, enough to ensure that the workers can eat meat once a week, but not much, less than an ounce per person."

However, our factory's logistics department provides extra meals for the workers. Two batches of rabbits have already been harvested, and we had a rabbit feast in March and May.

Only half of a rabbit yields meat, so the logistics department provided nearly six hundred rabbits on these two occasions so that the workers could have a good meal.

They also had the rabbit's fur, which they took to the textile factory, asking them to make scarves and gloves for the workers as a year-end bonus.

However, after being eaten twice in the first half of the year, their factory's rabbits have been almost depleted, and it will take at least three months for the remaining rabbits to be produced back to normal levels.

The factory's logistics department has been trying its best to find a solution, but even the most skilled cook can't cook without rice. That's just how things are in China, and the ministry is doing its best to supply them.

Actually, compared to other factories, the workers at the Second Machine Tool Plant were already treated very well.

This is why the Second Machine Tool Plant made consecutive contributions, allowing Russian technical experts to visit the plant and prompting them to decide to purchase 1,500 universal grinding machines.

Zhou Zhiqiang was shocked when he heard the news. They had no intention of selling at all, and hadn't even given it a second thought.

I just wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible so they wouldn't disturb his progress in developing CNC machine tools.

As a result, after the Russian delegation left, the ministry suddenly sent a notification to increase the order.

It's a bit baffling; I don't know what the people on the Russian side are thinking.

But even if it can be used to pay off debts, 1,500 units can offset more than 40 million in foreign debt.

In total, the output value created by the Second Machine Tool Plant was close to 100 million yuan. If the machine tools supplied to the Second Ministry of Machine Building are included, the output value created by the Second Machine Tool Plant would definitely exceed 100 million yuan.

Two years, over 100 million!
This result is acceptable. Zhou Zhiqiang thought to himself that this result is worthy of the ministry's cultivation and investment.

However, compared to the whole of Asia, it doesn't even rank in the top five. At this time, the top five machine tool manufacturers in China probably have an annual output value of over 80 million RMB.

Once the CNC machine tools are developed and manufactured, that will be the time for their second machine tool factory to rise to prominence.

"Deputy Factory Director Sun, we can increase the bonuses for the workers at the end of this year. You can start preparing now."

"Our factory has achieved very good results this year, I think."

Before Zhou Zhiqiang could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Then Zhang Yaoguo pushed open the door and poked his head in, saying to Zhou Zhiqiang, "Sorry to bother you, boss. The security guards at the factory gate informed me that your wife has arrived."

"What? My wife?"

Zhou Zhiqiang was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then subconsciously turned his head to look at Liu Wenzhou and Sun Yifei.

Liu Wenzhou, with his keen eye, patted Sun Yifei on the shoulder and said, "Deputy Factory Director Sun, I have something to discuss with you. Shall we go to your office?"

"Okay."

Deputy Factory Director Sun, quick-witted as ever, readily agreed, then stood up and said to Zhou Zhiqiang, "Factory Director, how about we talk about it this afternoon? Or tomorrow?"

"I'm really sorry, Deputy Factory Director Sun, Deputy Factory Director Liu."

Zhou Zhiqiang figured that what he was about to say wasn't particularly important, so he readily agreed and then went downstairs to pick up his wife.

(End of this chapter)