I painted an aircraft carrier on the courtyard house for Dongda University.

Yang Weimin's series of inexplicable accusations angered Chief Engineer Song, but for the sake of the factory's overall situation, he suppressed his anger and said, "Director Yang, Comrade Weiguo is highly skilled and fully capable of operating all the machine tools in the factory. I'll let him..."

"No matter how good his skills are, he's not one of our factory's employees! How can you disregard the factory's production tasks and give materials and machine tools to outsiders first? Forget it, Chief Engineer Song, I'm just talking to you privately this time, I won't mention it in the meeting. You can handle the rest yourself." Yang Weimin interrupted Chief Engineer Song, and then got up and left angrily.

This inexplicable accusation left Chief Engineer Song extremely frustrated. He had originally intended to discuss the consulting matter with Yang Weimin, but he hadn't expected the other party to erupt in such a rage upon arrival. "This kind of scumbag can be the factory manager? This factory is probably..." Thinking this, Chief Engineer Song couldn't help but begin to doubt whether coming to the steel rolling mill was a mistake.

Meanwhile, Zhou Weiguo was completely unaware that Yi Zhonghai had already reported him to Yang Weimin, let alone that Yang Weimin had argued with Chief Engineer Song over him. However, even if he did know, he probably wouldn't care.

At that moment, Zhou Weiguo was immersed in his research on system rewards.

Ten minutes ago—

"Ding! Detected that the host has made a grand vow: to recruit a thousand apprentices for the rise of China. This vow is in perfect alignment with the principles of the Positive Energy System, triggering a super critical hit reward:"

Preaching and teaching:

Preaching: A passive skill for the group. When someone recognized by the host accepts their knowledge, they automatically gain a tenfold learning boost (this effect is ineffective against those who harbor hostility or ill intentions towards the host).

Imparting Knowledge: A single-target active skill. Consumes energy points to impart the host's knowledge and experience to another person in the form of empowerment. (Options can be made to use energy points to modify the recipient's perception, making them believe everything is normal.)

..............................

"Holy crap? Dude, what do you mean by 'making a grand vow'? Does it mean I have to take on a thousand disciples?"

"Host, no, no..."

"Fly my ass! Speak properly."

"Good host, this is not a mandatory task. This system has no mandatory tasks; everything is based on benefit. If you take on a thousand disciples, there will be a significant reward; if you teach outstanding students who benefit the country and its people, there will be ongoing rewards. Whether to proceed is entirely up to you."

These words made Zhou Weiguo's heart itch with desire. What was the difference between this and coercion? Oh well, he had nothing else to do anyway, so he might as well treat it as teaching his apprentice for fun.

He looked at Dashan and Erniu, and said with a smile, "You two don't need to worry. I've already spoken with Engineer Song and your workshop foreman. From now on, you two are assigned to me. Remember, learning a skill requires focus and concentration, understand?"

Dashan and Erniu bowed respectfully in agreement.

Zhou Weiguo soon ran into a problem; he didn't know how to teach his apprentices. After thinking for a long time, he decided that he should first teach them to recognize blueprints.

So, every day during the hottest two or three hours at noon, he would take two people to the technical department to draw blueprints. Uncle Song knew he was going to draw blueprints for the August 1st Bridge, so he not only arranged a separate drawing room for him, but also locked it.

The rest of the time, he would take the two back to the workshop to teach them how to operate the machine tools, as well as techniques like filing, cutting, sawing, and drilling. If he really didn't know what to make, he would simply make parts based on the SVD in his spatial dimension. Whether it was because of his skills or not, the two of them always seemed to understand everything he said. Zhou Weiguo couldn't tell if his two apprentices really understood or were just pretending, but whatever he said, they just listened and never asked any questions.

Later, Zhou Weiguo, exasperated, made the two men operate the machine themselves. To his surprise, although they initially ruined several parts, under his hands-on guidance, they actually managed to create a few decent SVD parts. Although the level of detail was far from satisfactory, Zhou Weiguo was generally quite satisfied.

People from the next workshop would occasionally come over to watch, probably trying to learn the ropes, but Zhou Weiguo ignored them. Only the person who testified for Erniu last time received some attention from Zhou Weiguo, who would occasionally offer him a few pointers.

And just like that, more than half a month passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was mid-August.

During this period, he would take Zhuzi out of the courtyard at 7 a.m. every morning, and Zhuzi would collect rainwater to the factory in the evening. The three of them would return to the courtyard together at 9 p.m., just in time for Yan Fugui to close the door at 9:30 p.m.

Perhaps due to the passage of time, the beasts had been remarkably well-behaved for the past two weeks, which greatly surprised him.

That morning, Zhou Weiguo brought Shazhu to the factory as usual, but sensed something was off. He habitually sat down in a chair and picked up a glass of tea Erniu had brewed. "Hey, where's Erniu? The tea's ready, but where is he? Dashan should have bought lunch by now, right?"

Just then, Dashan and Erniu walked into the workshop, their faces beaming with excitement. Erniu exclaimed excitedly, "Master! Master! People from the department are here today to assign skill levels to the workers!"

Da Shan patted Er Niu on the head: "What does their job grade assignment have to do with us? Are you stupid? Master already said to keep a low profile, why are you shouting!"

Upon hearing about the assignment of worker ranks, Zhou Weiguo was taken aback. But then, remembering that the steel rolling mill had only recently become a joint public-private enterprise, he understood.

Unfortunately, he had hoped to ask Uncle Song for help in turning his two apprentices into full-fledged fitters.

After all, my connection with them is limited, and I still have to go to school. Once I've sorted out the Bayi Gang, I'll probably have to go register for school.

Since I missed it this time, I can only say that we weren't meant to be.

He shook his head and said with a smile, "That's right, what does their job grade have to do with you two? The most important thing for you two right now is to hone your skills. Forget about all that other stuff, just get to work." After saying that, he continued to lead the two of them in practicing their skills.

Just as the three were getting into their practice, Jia Dongxu staggered over, a smug look on his face: "Zhou Weiguo, what's the point of teaching them like this! They're just temporary workers. It's understandable that they're helping you out here. But once you go to school, they'll have to go back to sweeping the streets. What's the point?"

Zhou Weiguo didn't want to pay attention to it. He wondered why Jia Dongxu hadn't come here for the past two weeks. Could it be that the issue of assigning job grades had upset him?

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai walked over from the next workshop, looking displeased, and said to Jia Dongxu, "Dongxu, how could you do that? That's wrong of you. We're all good comrades in the factory. Even if he's a temporary worker, you can't laugh at him. So what if he can't be graded? Maybe his skills are better than yours. Remember, don't do that next time, understand?"

Jia Dongxu quickly replied, "Yes, Master, I understand! I will never look down on Li Erniu and Li Dashan, those two temporary workers who can't be graded!"