The Fitter Master in the Courtyard: Surrounded by Dead Men

Yang Ping smiled and replied, "Sister, don't worry, I'll push it inside right away."

He didn't chat with Ma Xiaoling for long, then pushed his bicycle back into the house.

After closing the door and quickly washing up, he focused on cultivating his innate internal energy to nourish his body, thinking to himself that he should live to be nine hundred and ninety-nine years old.

……

The next day, Yang Ping was busy working at the machine tool.

Lu Shuitian hurried over and saw that he was polishing a strange part, so he waited silently to the side.

He knew the value of the unfamiliar parts and was willing to wait a little longer rather than let the material suffer any mishap.

After a while, Yang Ping finally finished what she was doing.

"Director Lü, is there something you need?"

He turned around and asked.

I had actually noticed that Lü Shuitian had arrived, but it was a crucial moment, and I couldn't stop what I was doing.

"Master Yang, I heard you're being transferred to the R&D department?"

Lu Shuitian hurriedly asked.

Yang Ping is now his precious darling. If he were really transferred away, who would be left to polish this unusual part? He refused to let him go no matter what.

"Yes, I'm preparing to take the engineer exam."

Yang Ping nodded.

"this……"

Lu Shuitian had prepared a lot of conditions and even thought of special treatment, but when he heard that Yang Ping wanted to take the engineer exam, his words caught in his throat.

No matter how many benefits he offers, nothing compares to being an engineer. The salary alone is almost equal to his own.

"Master Yang, I'd like to discuss something with you."

He finally spoke up, "Could you stay in the workshop a little longer? I'll make a special exception for your benefits; nobody else gets that."

"Director Lü,"

Yang replied calmly, "I can train one or two level-eight fitters for you."

Lü Shuitian had treated him well during this time, and Yang Ping couldn't just walk away and turn to the R&D department—that would be too heartless.

Moreover, training an eighth-level fitter was a piece of cake for him; it was practically no challenge at all.

Simply by sharing his memories of being an eighth-grade fitter with his two loyal assistants, Lin Dahai and Zhao Qiancheng, he could immediately master all the skills.

"Thank you so much, Master Yang!"

Lu Shuitian said with heartfelt gratitude, "If you ever need anything in the future, I, Lu Shuitian, will do my utmost, even if it means going through fire and water."

"Director Lü, you flatter me."

Yang Ping simply smiled faintly.

"We'll go and explain this to Director Yang right away."

Lü Shuitian immediately made the suggestion.

There's no time to lose; if we wait until the transfer order is officially issued, it will be too late to salvage the situation.

"it is good."

Yang Ping agreed.

For him, staying another week or two would be nothing more than a matter of time.

The two then set off for the factory manager's office.

Lu Shuitian informed Director Yang of the agreed-upon decision.

"Yang Ping, have you really thought this through?"

Factory Director Yang inquired earnestly.

"Yes."

Yang Ping nodded in confirmation.

"Training an eighth-level fitter is by no means easy; you might end up spending the next few years working in the workshop."

Factory Director Yang reminded him in a serious tone.

Upon hearing this, Lü Shuitian's expression turned slightly serious.

He naturally understood the difficulties involved; otherwise, Workshop One wouldn't have produced only one eighth-level fitter, Yi Zhonghai, over the years.

It wasn't until Yang Ping appeared that this silence was finally broken.

"I've made up my mind."

Yang Ping answered without the slightest hesitation.

Yang Ping possesses a peculiar ability—he can absorb skills that ordinary people need years of arduous practice to master simply through a brief connection of consciousness.

Becoming an eighth-level fitter might mean more than a decade of hard work for others, but for him it was just a matter of a few minutes of thought.

"Alright then."

Factory Director Yang gently placed the document in his hand on the corner of the table. "Let's leave this transfer order here for now."

He didn't try to persuade him any further.

Since Yang Ping has made his own decision, it is not appropriate for others to force him to.

In fact, with Yang Ping's superb fitter skills, staying on the production line would have allowed him to better utilize his talents.

If it weren't for the fact that the higher-ups valued this young man so much, Director Yang himself wouldn't have been willing to transfer him away from the workshop and stuff him into that almost nominal technology research and development department—which had achieved nothing for many years. If it weren't for the system requiring every factory to set up such an innovation-promoting department, he would have wanted to abolish it long ago.

"Factory manager, let's head back to the workshop now."

The two said goodbye and left.

Workshop director Lü Shuitian remained silent the entire way until he was almost at the workshop entrance, at which point he stopped, his face filled with unease and guilt.

"Yang Ping, I was so focused on keeping you here that I didn't think carefully about how difficult it is to become an eighth-level fitter... I was wrong, I'm sorry."

He rubbed his hands together, his tone sincere, "Okay, once this batch of special-specification parts is all finished, I will personally go to the factory manager and ask him to let you go to the R&D department."

Despite his deep reluctance, he understood that he couldn't keep this rare talent stuck in the workshop indefinitely.

Yang Ping deserves a wider world; he should pursue a career as an engineer and achieve greater success.

"Director Lü, it's really alright."

Yang Ping smiled.

He almost blurted out: What's so difficult about training an eighth-grade fitter? I can "copy" one for you anytime you need.

Come out a few.

But he swallowed those words back—if he said them, he'd probably be considered crazy.

Seeing that he didn't mind, Lü Shuitian felt even more guilty and made up his mind: "It's settled then! As soon as this batch of work is finished, I'll talk to the factory manager."

"Oh well."

Seeing his insistence, Yang Ping had no choice but to nod in agreement.

Inside the office, Director Yang gazed out the window, his fingertips unconsciously tapping the shelved transfer order.

Yang Yongwei watched the two figures disappear outside the door, then immediately turned around and grabbed the phone on the table.

After a few busy tones, the call was quickly connected.

"Is that the old commander?"

He lowered his voice, his tone revealing caution.

A steady voice responded from the other end of the phone.

Without further hesitation, Yang Yongwei reported in detail the reasons why Yang An insisted on training an eighth-level fitter before transferring him to the technical research and development department.

He specifically emphasized how indispensable Yang An was to the front-line workshop right now, and added a few words about how hardworking and technically skilled the young man was.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, followed by a clear instruction: "I will coordinate and resolve the staffing issue; a deputy director position can be specially approved."

He was instructed to dedicate two hours each day to mentoring his apprentices, and the rest of his time must be spent in the research and development department learning.

These words were spoken with absolute certainty and left no room for doubt.

Clearly, the higher-ups have made up their minds and are determined not to bury this promising talent.

"Yes, sir! We will carry out your orders without hesitation!"

Yang Yongwei immediately stated that he would not say anything more.

He put down the microphone and let out a soft sigh of relief.

……

The noise from the factory, along with the smell of machine oil and metal, hit you in the face.

Yang An walked past the neatly arranged lathes and headed straight for his familiar workstation.

Lin Dahai was bent over the control panel, concentrating intently on polishing a part with a precision of level seven.

The grinding wheel rubbed against the metal, producing a uniform hissing sound, and tiny sparks danced between his fingers.

Yang An did not disturb him, but stood quietly behind him and observed.

After thinking it over all the way, he had a plan in mind—the most urgent task was to fully impart all the skills and experience required for an eighth-level fitter to Lin Dahai.

Noticing someone behind him, Lin Dahai paused slightly, instinctively about to stop what he was doing and turn around.

"You go about your business, don't worry about me."

Yang An immediately spoke up, his voice calm.

Lin Dahai nodded and refocused his attention on the parts in front of him.

Several coworkers glanced over, saw it was Yang An, and then went back to their work.

Yang An focused his mind and calmed his spirit. The vast amount of memories and muscle perception deep in his consciousness about material properties, force control, and micron-level refinement began to be meticulously peeled away and copied by an invisible force, gradually converging into a dazzling stream of light.

He waited patiently until Lin Dahai completed the final measurement and straightened up.

The pale golden light, visible only to Yang An, flowed out quietly like water, tracing intricate and elegant paths in the air before slowly sinking into Lin Dahai's back.

Lin Dahai was completely unaware of this.

He picked up a micrometer and checked the dimensions of the parts again, his expression focused and as usual.

Only Yang Ping and Lin Dahai knew the truth of this scene.

To onlookers, it was just a scene of one person standing quietly to the side and the other fiddling with measuring tools in front of the machine. Such an ordinary workshop scene would not attract much attention.

In a short while, those experiences and intuitions that did not belong to him quietly settled deep in Lin Dahai's mind.

"Let me take a look."

Yang Ping's voice was neither too loud nor too soft.

Without hesitation, Lin Dahai handed over the metal part, which was still warm from his body heat.

Yang Ping took it in his hand, his fingertips slowly tracing the subtle bumps and dents, his gaze lingering on several key dimensions, before pointing out the areas that needed correction.

Lin Dahai nodded silently.

In fact, the moment those memories flooded in, every non-standard deviation on the parts, and the steps to adjust and refine them, were already clearly visible in his mind.

He already knew.

After Yang Ping finished explaining, he handed the parts back.

He turned and walked to the other machines, sometimes pausing for a moment to offer a few pointers, or simply glancing at them quietly before indicating that they should continue polishing in the existing way.

After going around in circles, he finally returned to his workstation.

"I've perfected a top-tier level of craftsmanship."

Lin Dahai held the parts in his hand, his voice trembling slightly.

"really?"

Xie Quancai was the first to jump up, almost snatching the micrometer from the side, bringing it close to the light, and holding his breath to begin the measurement.

The surrounding workers stopped what they were doing and gathered around, their eyes fixed on the gleaming metal piece.

Lin Dahai didn't say anything more, he just waited.

One's own opinion doesn't count; it has to be verified by others before it's valid.

With a slight movement of the ruler tip, the reading becomes minute.

Xie Quancai checked several times before finally raising his head, a smile spreading across his face, and patting Lin Dahai's shoulder forcefully.

"Congratulations, Master Lin! At this rate, you'll be just around the corner reaching the level of an eighth-grade fitter!"

Congratulations, Master Lin!

"Great! Our workshop is about to produce another level eight master craftsman."

"That's right! Master Lin, you'll have to give us a lot of guidance in the future!"

Congratulations echoed throughout the air, mingling with the smell of engine oil and metal shavings.

Everyone understands that maintaining a "top-tier" level of skill in a level seven fitter's work is a significant achievement.

What does this mean? — The veil leading to a higher realm of skill is now within reach.

Looking at Yang Ping, Xie Quancai and the others practically spit fire in their eyes.

"I already explained this before,"

Yang Ping saw through their eagerness and calmly replied, "As long as you practice according to my method, you can all reach the level of Lin Dahai—just one step away from becoming an eighth-grade fitter."

"OK!"

Zhao Qiancheng and the others responded loudly, and then each returned to their machine tools and began polishing the parts.

Only seven people remained.

The leader was Xie Quancai, with six senior fitters standing behind him.

Xie Quancai couldn't even find the right tone to cry at this moment.

The six senior workers under his command showed no sign of being promoted; on the other hand, the ones Yang Ping had instructed seemed to have suddenly figured it out, their worker ranks were rising all the way up, and it looked like some of them were about to touch the threshold of level eight.

The six people behind him also looked gloomy.

He thought following Xie Quancai was the right thing to do—after all, he was Yang Ping's master—but more than half a month has passed and he hasn't even made a ripple on the surface.

"You all go back to your workstations and get back to work."

Xie Quancai said in a hoarse voice, "I'll go ask Yang Ping for advice."

The six people nodded silently and slowly dispersed.