In the 90s, you could acquire max-level skills every 14 days.

Chapter 109: You'll know if it's a scam once you try it.

Zhang Yong ignored him.

Wei Shuyun was quite blunt. "You must be Section Chief Liu?"

"I'm Wei Shuyun from Wei Family Winery. My dad mentioned you; he said you're in charge of transportation here?"

"These two comrades were introduced by my father. They're here to do boiler technical diagnostics; it's official business. Why are you, someone in charge of transportation, asking about boilers?"

Just as Section Chief Liu put the cigarette in his mouth, his lips trembled when he heard the words "Wei Family Winery".

Who in Tongxian doesn't know Wei Dabiao of Wei Family Winery? He's the kind of person who can summon the director of the Transportation Bureau with just one phone call.

Sun Lei also stepped forward half a step, puffed out his chest, put his hands behind his back, and raised his chin slightly.

"Section Chief Liu, we're here to help you resolve safety hazards, not to listen to gossip. If an accident occurs, the people from the Safety Supervision Bureau won't listen to you."

He always spoke with a tone that sounded like he was scolding a child, which successfully made Section Chief Liu's face darken, and he was so angry that he didn't say a word.

Meng Qingshan quickly tried to smooth things over. "Alright, alright, Section Chief Liu, you go about your business. I'll take them to the boiler room."

He held Zhang Yong's arm with one hand and led the three people deeper into the factory area.

Section Chief Liu stood there, staring at the backs of the group, and spat his cigarette butt hard onto the ground.

The boiler workshop is located at the very back of the factory area.

As soon as you push open that rusty iron door, a wave of heat mixed with the smell of coal ash hits you.

Wei Shuyun subconsciously covered her face with her hand.

The workshop was dimly lit, and the few incandescent light bulbs overhead were covered with coal ash, leaving only a dim yellow blob.

The ground was black; I don't know if it was its original color or accumulated coal ash over the past thirty years.

Two old-fashioned water-tube boilers, built with Soviet assistance, sit in the very center of the workshop.

Each unit is nearly four meters high and six meters wide, made entirely of cast iron, with a thick layer of insulation and asbestos cloth covering the surface. Some of the insulation has peeled off, revealing the rusted metal underneath.

The fire in the furnace was smoldering, emitting a dull "humming" sound, like a giant beast lurking in the darkness.

Pipes radiated out from the top of the boiler, some wrapped in asbestos, others exposed, with brownish-yellow water stains seeping from the joints.

Zhang Yong stood at the door, his gaze sweeping across the entire workshop.

-

Meng Qingshan nervously rubbed his hands together beside him.

"The No. 1 boiler is the one on the left. It started making strange noises last winter. When it was inspected this summer, I had someone measure the thickness of the tube wall, and it was almost half as thin as the design shown on the original drawings."

Zhang Yong nodded and walked towards Furnace No. 1.

With every step he took, the bruises on his body seemed to protest.

Seeing that he looked unwell, Sun Lei quickly came up and supported his arm. "Slow down, don't push yourself. I'll be your crutch today, so you can walk with peace of mind."

Zhang Yong nodded, and the two walked to the observation hole of Furnace No. 1. Zhang Yong stretched out his right hand, spread his five fingers, and tested the temperature of the furnace wall.

[Automotive Repair Lv.5: Mechanical Sensing - Start-up]

The world is quiet.

It wasn't truly quiet. His perception had switched channels.

The vibration frequency inside the metal unfolds in my mind like a waveform diagram.

He could hear the distribution of forces between the cast iron pipes and feel the heat-blocking effect of the scale layer on the inner side of the pipe wall.

It felt like he was placing his hand on the cylinder block of an engine and being able to sense the working status of each cylinder.

However, this engine was a hundred times larger than any he had ever touched before.

Zhang Yong closed his eyes and slowly moved his fingers a dozen centimeters along the furnace wall.

Then he sniffed.

There was a faint sweet smell in the air, somewhat similar to the smell of Old Zhao's motorcycle exhaust back then.

Incomplete combustion.

There's also the smell of iron sulfide, a sour and astringent taste, mixed in with the coal ash, indicating uneven combustion temperature distribution and localized overheating.

Zhang Yong opened his eyes and removed his hand from the furnace wall.

He turned his head and looked at Meng Qingshan.

Meng Qingshan's expression was a mixture of tension and anticipation; his hands were clenched together, and he was restless.

"Deputy Factory Director Meng. The scale on the inner wall of the water pipes on the heating surface of Boiler No. 1 is three millimeters thick."

Meng Qingshan was speechless. "You found that out by touching it?!"

"Yes, I felt it. The high temperature of the outer wall of the furnace indicates increased internal thermal resistance. In a normally operating water-tube boiler, the outer wall temperature should not exceed 60 degrees Celsius, but I felt it was at least 85 degrees Celsius."

Zhang Yong pointed to an exposed pipe joint above the observation hole.

"The water seepage at that location is not due to the aging of the gasket, but rather stress deformation caused by the expansion of scale on the inside of the pipe wall. This was probably the same reason you repaired it last time."

He then pointed to the air inlet below the furnace. "The air ratio is wrong, the primary air volume is insufficient, and the coal is carried away before it's fully burned on the grate. You can smell it, there's carbon monoxide, oh yes, there's the smell of gas."

Meng Qingshan took two deep breaths. He stayed here every day, and sometimes he could hardly smell it anymore.

"By the way," Zhang Yong looked at him, "Do you have any other data? Water quality test reports, water temperature records, sewage discharge frequency—give me as much as you have. I'll take it back to Teacher Fang later."

Meng Qingshan nodded repeatedly, his gaze towards Zhang Yong had completely changed, and he turned and ran towards his office.

"I'll go get them! They're all locked in my office!"

Zhang Yong leaned against the furnace wall, his right hand supporting his knee, his ribs aching so much that his forehead was covered in sweat.

Wei Shuyun walked over, took a handkerchief out of her pocket, and handed it to him.

"Can it still hold on?"

"It's okay, I feel much better now."

When Meng Qingshan ran back carrying a stack of yellowed file folders, someone followed him back.

Meng Dehou.

The former director of Dongsheng Coal Mine was also Meng Qingshan's biological father.

The old man was already a bit hunched over. He held a copper tobacco pipe and stood slowly next to the No. 1 stove, squinting as he sized up Zhang Yong.

"So you're the one who wants to shut down my stove?"

Sweat poured down Meng Qingshan's face again.

"Dad, I just told you, this is Professor Fang's from Peking University—"

"I was asking him a question, why are you interrupting! This factory isn't your place to call the shots!" Meng Dehou pointed his pipe at Zhang Yong.

Zhang Yong looked up and met the old man's gaze.

"Director Meng, it's not that I want to shut down your furnace. It's just that the furnace is nearing the end of its service life."

Meng Dehou snorted.

"This stove was installed by Soviet experts in 1958. It's been burning every winter for 32 years without any problems."

He tapped the tobacco pipe twice in his palm, and the ashes fell to the ground.

"You're just a kid, your face isn't even fully healed yet, and you come to me saying the furnace needs to be shut down for maintenance?"

Section Chief Liu had somehow followed them in and stood behind Meng Dehou, arms crossed, a gloating smile on his face.

"What did I say again, Deputy Factory Director Meng?"

He lowered his voice, but deliberately made sure everyone could hear, "You're in trouble now. It's easy to invite a god in, but hard to send him away."

Meng Qingshan was so anxious that his face turned red, and he almost dropped the file folder in his hand.

"Dad! Listen to me! The wall of the No. 1 furnace tube is almost half thinner! Zhang Yong just touched it and—"

"Touch it with your hands?" Meng Dehou's eyebrows furrowed. "You think you can tell how thick the tube wall is just by touching it? Do you think your father is an idiot?"

"You conspired with outsiders to deceive your father?"

Zhang Yong straightened up.

"Director Meng." He knocked on the iron pillar. "Whether he's a fraud or not, we'll find out by trying. Give me a few minutes."