Live Stream 1980: Netizens Teach Me How to Make a Rocket by Hand

Lin Xi walked to a pile of silver-white metal plates, squatted down, and flicked them with her fingernail.

"bite--"

The sound was crisp and pleasant.

"Found it." Lin Xi's lips curled into a smile.

"LY12 aviation aluminum alloy skin scrap".

"Although it's leftover scrap material, it's a luxury-level material for making the reflector of the 'Little Sun'."

Then, he rummaged through a rusty iron bucket next to him and found a large handful of shiny bearings.

"Harbin Bearings' 205 and 206."

"Although it's a defective product and a bit sticky, we don't make electric heaters spin, so as long as the base and support are sturdy and heavy enough, it'll be fine!"

"Lin...Brother Lin! Look...look at this!"

In the corner, Wang Yu suddenly stammered, holding up a bundle of metal wire with a dark red sheen.

"This...this isn't...is it that...?"

Lin Xi took a look, chuckled, and couldn't help but pat Wang Yu's thin shoulder: "Good lad, you have a sharp eye! This is nickel-chromium alloy wire!"

"It's probably waste material left over from making heat treatment furnaces in the past."

"This stuff is heat-resistant and oxidation-resistant; we have enough to wind thousands of heating elements!"

Finally, among a pile of broken porcelain shards, Lin Xi dug out a box of intact industrial insulating ceramic pipes.

Aviation aluminum is used for the reflector, nickel-chromium wire for the heat source, ceramic tube for insulation support, and scrap bearings for the base counterweight.

Everything's ready!

Viewers in the live stream also started creating some fun.

[Wow! This isn't an abandoned workshop, it's clearly a "newbie max-level gift pack" from Old Qian!]

[Little Sun Material Collection Mission... Completed with one click!]

We're still missing a few parts, but finding Officer Zhao in the supplies department shouldn't be difficult at all!

Lin Xi stood up, looked at the "treasure" on the ground, and waved his hand with great pride.

"Brothers, grab your weapons!"

"Get all of these things organized!"

"Starting tomorrow, our Red Star Labor Service Center will officially open for business!"

......

The next morning, in Workshop 5.

Cold, a cold that seeps into your bones.

"Bang!"

A sharp, metallic clang shattered the lively atmosphere.

Wang Dapao was clutching a chipped, broken lathe tool in his hand, with a twisted, deformed aluminum plate lying at his feet.

This is the third one already.

"Manager Lin..."

Wang Dapao was covered in sweat, and his usually expressionless face was now filled with embarrassment.

"This thing... is too hard, I can't use my strength."

"When the cutting tool is pressed down, it bounces. If you use too much force, it breaks; if you use too little force, it doesn't cut the meat at all."

Lin Xi stood to the side, a drawing in her hand filled with parabolic equations and force analyses, her brows slightly furrowed.

LY12 aerospace aluminum, commonly known as "hard aluminum".

High strength and high resilience.

That's a great material for making aircraft skins; it's quite difficult to spin-form it using a regular lathe.

"Um..." Sun Erga shrank back in the doorway, his hands tucked into his sleeves, his eyes darting around.

"Brother Lin, the drawings are truly beautiful, they really show your skill. But..."

He paused, lowering his voice slightly.

"I'm worried that it will be too difficult to bring something drawn on paper to fruition."

"After all, we're a repair and maintenance service shop."

"Taking too big a step can easily lead to trouble."

In the corner, Wang Yu had just finished tidying up a bundle of nickel-chromium wire.

Upon hearing this, he paused for a moment with the pliers in his hand, pushed up his glasses, and looked at Lin Xi with concern.

The atmosphere was a bit tense.

The trust that was built up yesterday with money and empty promises is as fragile as paper in the face of these few scrap aluminum sheets.

In this era, people value craftsmanship, tangible skills.

No matter how strong Lin Xi's theory is, it's just a cloud floating in the sky.

If you land and get a dent, that's a joke.

In the live stream chat, the comments section was also getting anxious.

[Is the streamer really at a loss for words? Should he just grab a hammer and smash it?]

[Oh no, I just became a manager and I'm already going to mess this up. My authority is going to be completely ruined.]

[Please be quiet, this is called spinning, it requires a lot of finesse and skill, most fitters can't do it.]

Lin Xi looked at the waste on the ground, neither arguing nor giving any unsolicited instructions.

He is very clear,

My mind is filled with cutting-edge technological processes from 2025.

But those hands, in 2025, only held a mouse and an electronic probe.

It's like a peerless swordsman who only has a sword manual but no sword in his hand.

"Cannon, stop firing." Lin Xi folded the blueprints and stuffed them into his pocket, his voice calm.

"Prepare the materials. Clean the remaining good aluminum plates and mount them on the chuck." Lin Xi glanced at his watch.

"Wait for me for half an hour."

After saying that, he took out the "Da Qianmen" cigarettes with filters that Erga had bought the night before from his pocket.

He touched the few coins in his pocket again, then turned and walked into the snowstorm.

Some mountains are too high for us to climb on our own, so we need to ask someone who can climb them to come and help.

……

Half an hour later, the workshop door was pushed open again.

"Bang!"

A strong smell of alcohol mixed with the cold wind howled in.

"Which spendthrift is wasting things?"

A loud, powerful shout shook the dust off the building.

Li Jianguo strolled in, hands behind his back.

The old man's face was flushed, clearly having been properly "moistened" by Lin Xi's fine wine.

Although he walked a little unsteadily, his eyes shone like searchlights.

Lin Xi followed obediently behind like a well-behaved little apprentice.

Upon seeing this enormous Buddha statue, Sun Erga nearly burned his mouth with the cigarette butt in his hand and quickly stood at attention.

"Master Li... Master Li! What brings you here?"

Li Jianguo ignored him, walked straight to the lathe, and kicked away the scrap aluminum plate on the ground.

"LY12?"

Li Jianguo picked up a piece of scrap material, ran his finger along the broken edge, and his brows instantly furrowed into a frown.

"What a terrible thing!"

"This is the good material left over from making the fairing, are you trying to smash it like a tin can?!"

He turned and glared at Wang Dapao: "You did this?"

Wang Dapao huddled up like a bear, barely daring to breathe:

"Master Li, I...I'm clumsy with my hands."

"It's not that I'm clumsy with my hands, it's that I'm stupid!"

Li Jianguo cursed, unbuttoned his greasy cotton-padded coat, and tossed it aside.

"Get out of the way! Stand to the side!"

The old man let out a burp and stood in front of the C620 lathe.

At that moment, the drunken, decadent feeling vanished instantly, replaced by a breathtaking focus.

That was the aura of a master honed through decades of working with steel.

"Cannon, hold the crank handle," Li Jianguo commanded.

Wang Dapao quickly gripped the knife-feeding handwheel.

Li Jianguo stretched out his large, calloused hand and placed it directly on the back of Wang Dapao's hand.

"Kid, you've got some strength, but don't just go around charging around like a bull." Li Jianguo exhaled a breath of alcohol, his voice low and deep.

"Aluminum has a temper, and it has texture. You have to go with it."

"Buzz—"

Spindle starts, 1200 RPM.

"Go for it!"

As Li Jianguo roared, Wang Dapao felt an immense force enveloping his hand, yet the moment it touched the workpiece, it became incredibly gentle.

It's not about confronting them head-on, but about using their strength against them.

"Sizzle—"

The blade slashed into the aluminum plate, producing a teeth-grinding shriek.

"Don't let your hands shake! Can you feel it?" Li Jianguo roared in his ear.

"The vibration transmitted back from the blade's tip is the aluminum plate crying out in pain!"

"If it cries out in pain, retreat half a step, then advance another fraction! That's called 'inch strike'!"

Wang Dapao's pupils suddenly contracted.

He sensed it!