Courtyard House: The Road to an Industrial Power

Two weeks of relentless, round-the-clock efforts.

As the last screw was firmly tightened by the fitter, it made a soft "click" sound.

The first improved fully automatic grain harvester has been officially assembled.

It stands quietly in the center of the workshop.

Old Wang from the technical department, gripping a wrench, slowly walked to the harvester, his expression focused.

He first bent down to check the chassis bolts, then raised his hand to gently tap the cutting table support, and then took a wrench to gently tap each of the key parts.

"Tap, tap, tap"

The crisp, metallic echo was even and powerful, without the slightest hint of weakness or abnormal noise.

Old Wang wiped the sweat from his brow, a relieved smile spreading across his face. He nodded emphatically to Lin Weidong: "Director Lin, it's all better!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire workshop erupted in cheers that had been suppressed for a long time!

The workers' eyes were filled with pride and excitement.

Lin Weidong smiled and nodded: "Add diesel, test drive!"

Two workers immediately brought over the diesel drums.

Black fuel slowly poured into the fuel tank, and a faint smell of diesel filled the air.

Lin Weidong personally pressed the start button, and "putt-putt-putt!"

A deep, steady engine roar suddenly erupted, causing the workshop floor to tremble slightly.

The harvester's drive wheels rotate smoothly, the header rises and falls slowly, and the threshing drum rotates at a constant speed; the entire system operates smoothly and effortlessly.

There was no hesitation or abnormal noise; the power output was strong and powerful, and the operation was perfect.

Su Wanqing stood in the crowd, watching the harvester running smoothly, her eyes slightly reddening.

Lin Weidong raised his hand to signal the machine to stop.

"The machine is finished, just one last step."

"Time to harvest! It's June, the crucial time for the wheat to ripen and be safely stored away."

"Let's take the machine to Hongxing Commune in Nanxing Farm and test its true capabilities in person!"

"good!"

The Jiefang truck slowly drove into the factory area, with a large four-wheeled pallet pulling behind it.

The operator carefully drove the harvester onto the four-wheeled tray that had been prepared in advance.

Lin Weidong, along with Su Wanqing, Chen Bin, and several core technicians, drove straight to Hongxing Commune in Nanxing Farm.

At this time, in the Red Star Commune, the golden wheat fields stretched as far as the eye could see, the ears of wheat full and drooping low.

When the wind blows, the wheat fields ripple like waves.

But Zhao Jianguo, the commune secretary, was squatting on the edge of the field, his brows furrowed and his face full of worry.

"Secretary Zhao, all 3,000 mu of wheat in our commune are ripe!"

"The weather changes so quickly! If it rains, the wheat will rot in the fields, and the whole year's harvest will be ruined!" The commune accountant stamped his feet anxiously, holding the ledger.

"We don't have enough manpower! The entire commune only has a little over 800 able-bodied men."

"We're harvesting day and night, but we can only harvest a maximum of 200 mu a day. It will take half a month to harvest 3,000 mu, which is far from meeting the deadline for delivering grain to the state!" A production team leader squatted to the side, took a deep drag on his pipe, and looked helpless.

"In previous years, we could ask neighboring communities for help, but this year all the surrounding communes have had bumper harvests, and everyone is short-handed. No one can help anyone else!"

The commune members gathered on the edge of the field, looking at the golden wheat covering the ground. They were both happy and anxious. The joy of the harvest was completely washed away by the anxiety of rushing to harvest.

Just as everyone was frowning in worry, the roar of cars came from afar, and several trucks slowly drove into the commune's territory and stopped at the edge of the wheat field.

Lin Weidong and his group jumped out of the vehicle and directed the brand-new harvester to slowly drive down and come to a steady stop at the edge of the wheat field.

The members of the Red Star Commune immediately surrounded it, forming layers upon layers, staring at the behemoth with faces full of curiosity.

"Secretary Zhao, what is this thing? It's a lump of iron with wheels, it looks kind of scary!"

"I've never seen this before. Is it used for harvesting wheat?"

"Don't be ridiculous! Harvesting wheat is all done by hand. How can this metal contraption be faster than a person? I don't believe it!"

Zhao Jianguo, also looking puzzled, quickly walked up to Lin Weidong, cupped his hands in greeting, and asked, "Comrades, who are you?"

Lin Weidong smiled and extended his hand: "Hello, Secretary Zhao, I am Lin Weidong, the factory director of Hongxing Machinery Factory. We have built a fully automatic grain harvester and came to the commune to help with the wheat harvest and to test the machine's performance in the field."

The technician explained from the side, "This behemoth can be worth at least two hundred people."

After hearing this, the commune members shook their heads, their faces full of disbelief.

"You're just bragging! I can harvest half an acre a day by myself. This iron lump is worth two hundred people?"

"Exactly! Our ancestors have always used sickles to harvest crops; there's no such convenient tool!"

"How about a contest! Let's see who can cut faster against this iron thing!"

Lin Weidong readily agreed: "Okay! Let's have a match then!"

At a command, dozens of strong and capable commune members, gripping sickles, rushed into the wheat field in unison.

Bending over and swinging the sickle, their movements were swift and precise, the wheat stalks falling to the ground with a resounding crash. The surrounding commune members shouted in unison, cheering them on.

Lin Weidong signaled to the operator to start the harvester, "putt-putt-putt!"

With the engine roaring, the harvester slowly drove into the wheat field, and the sharp cutting head instantly cut the wheat stalks off at the base.

The threshing drum spins at high speed, and golden wheat grains fall continuously into the hopper, while the straw is neatly discharged from the tail of the machine.

Wherever the machine went, the wheat was harvested cleanly and threshed thoroughly at an astonishing speed. In just ten minutes, the area harvested far exceeded the workload of ten commune members in one hour!

The shouts of the commune members gradually subsided, and everyone stared wide-eyed at the combine harvester in the wheat field, their faces filled with shock.

"My God! That's so fast!"

"No one really needs to harvest it! The wheat grains just come out naturally!"

"This isn't just a lump of iron, it's a treasure trove!"

In less than half an hour, the combine harvester's bucket was filled with golden wheat grains, and the operator drove the machine to the threshing ground.

With a "whoosh," a full bushel of wheat grains poured down, piling up into a golden little mountain.

Immediately afterwards, the machine drove into the wheat field again, repeating the cycle, piling up bucket after bucket of wheat grains on the threshing floor at a speed that left people speechless.

Zhao Jianguo gripped Lin Weidong's hand, trembling with excitement: "Director Lin! It's amazing! This machine is incredible! With it, our commune's wheat can be harvested in three days, and we won't have to worry about it rotting in the fields anymore!"

The news spread like wildfire, instantly reaching more than a dozen surrounding communes.

Village secretaries and commune members flocked to Hongxing Commune, gathered around the harvester to watch the spectacle, and eagerly asked Hongxing Machinery Factory for help with the harvest.

"Director Lin, please save our commune! The wheat will rot if it's not harvested soon!"

"Director Lin, we're willing to provide grain and labor, as long as you send us machines!"

Seeing the anxious crowd, Lin Weidong immediately arranged for operators and several workers to help with the harvest.

After making the arrangements, Lin Weidong took Su Wanqing back to the Hongxing Machinery Factory.

News of the combine harvesters' remarkable performance and contribution to the bumper harvest in Hongxing Commune quickly reached the Ministry of Agriculture in Beijing via telephone.

Upon learning of this, the leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture were both surprised and delighted, exclaiming, "This is a great thing that benefits the country and its people!"

I immediately decided to go to the machine factory to see this big guy.