Major Heavy Industry: Starting with a Fake Marriage

"Is this the airplane landing gear?" Sun Deming squatted down, reached out and touched it. "It's so smooth."

"Don't touch it like that." Huang Deqing slapped his hand away. "This stuff is expensive. One piece costs tens of thousands."

Jiang Cheng crouched down and carefully inspected the worn areas of the three support pillars. The wear on each pillar was in roughly the same location—a shallow scratch in the middle of the chrome plating, which could be felt by hand. This was caused by friction between the landing gear and the guide sleeve during retraction and extension. Although it did not affect the strength, it would damage the chrome plating over time, leading to corrosion.

"It's not a big problem." He stood up. "Just use a plating technique to repair the worn parts, grind them smooth, and then re-chrome plate them. After the repair, the strength should be the same as new."

Old Zhao asked from the side, "Master Jiang, how well does the new plating adhere to the original chrome plating?"

"This is a crucial issue," Jiang Cheng said. "The coating is nickel-based, which is different from chromium. Whether the two metals will peel off when combined needs to be verified through experiments."

He turned to Sun Deming and said, "Deming, go buy a can of red lead powder and find a steel plate to plate with chromium. Let's do the experiment on the steel plate first."

Sun Deming nodded and ran out.

The experiment lasted a full week. Jiang Cheng, along with Sun Deming and Lao Zhao, repeatedly tested the adhesion strength of the coating in the lab. The first time, the coating peeled off. The second time, bubbles appeared in the coating. The third time, the coating thickness was uneven. With each failure, Jiang Cheng analyzed the cause, adjusted the parameters, and tried again.

Huang Deqing stood by and watched, occasionally offering a suggestion or nodding. He didn't urge or rush him; he simply waited.

On the fifth experiment, the coating was finally perfect. Jiang Cheng examined the specimen under a microscope; the coating was tightly bonded to the substrate, without cracks or bubbles. He then conducted a bending experiment, bending the specimen at a 90-degree angle, and the coating remained intact.

"It's done!" Sun Deming shouted.

Jiang Cheng shook his head: "It's still early. This is just an experiment on a steel plate. To do it on a real pillar, we still need to do fatigue tests."

The actual pillar experiment lasted another week. Jiang Cheng personally operated the plating equipment, repairing the worn parts of the three pillars one by one, then grinding them smooth and re-plating them with chrome. After the repairs were completed, the three pillars looked exactly like new, with no trace of repair visible.

Next came the fatigue test. This was the most crucial step. Jiang Cheng sent the repaired support to the Shenyang Aero Engine Research Institute for testing using their fatigue testing machine. The test required 100,000 cycles without any cracks appearing.

On the day of the test, Jiang Cheng and Huang Deqing both went. The testing machine hummed, and the huge load pressed down on the support pillars again and again, each time shaking the ground. Jiang Cheng stood beside it, staring at the numbers on the instrument panel, his palms sweating profusely.

10,000 times, no problem. 20,000 times, no problem. 50,000 times, no problem. 80,000 times, no problem.

One hundred thousand times. The testing machine stopped.

The operator came out holding a report: "100,000 cycles, no cracks, no deformation. Pass."

Sun Deming was the first to jump up: "It's done! It's done!"

Old Zhao laughed and patted Jiang Cheng on the shoulder, saying, "Master Jiang, you really are something." He then gave him a thumbs up.

Jiang Cheng didn't laugh. He took the report, read it carefully, and then handed it to Huang Deqing: "Master, please take a look."

After reading it, Huang Deqing nodded: "Okay. You can hand it in now."

Jiang Cheng then smiled. His smile was very soft, the corners of his mouth curving slightly, but there was a light in his eyes that shone like a lamp.

That evening, he called Chief Engineer Zhao. There was a long silence on the other end of the line, then Chief Engineer Zhao's voice came through, somewhat hoarse: "Comrade Jiang Cheng, thank you. I've submitted this project. If it's approved, the landing gear repairs can be officially put into service."

Jiang Cheng said, "Chief Engineer Zhao, this isn't just my achievement. It's a collective effort."

Chief Engineer Zhao smiled: "I know. But you're the one who took the lead and shouldered the burden."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Cheng stood by the window, gazing at the night sky. There were stars in the sky, not many, but very bright, like nails hammered into the heavens. In the distance, machines were still humming in the factory area, a rumbling sound like the heartbeat of the nation.

He touched the key in his pocket; it was brass and warm.

The news of the successful landing gear repair was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, with ripples spreading outwards in concentric circles.

First came the commendation order from the Ministry of Aviation Industry. A bright red document, stamped with the ministry's official seal, praising the Promotion Center for "achieving breakthrough progress in the field of aircraft component repair and contributing to national defense construction." When the document arrived at the center, Sun Deming read it aloud, his voice changing when he read the words "national defense construction."

"Brother Jiang, is this considered a contribution to national defense?"

"Yes," Jiang Cheng said, "but don't get carried away. This is just the beginning."

Then came the responses from various factories. Director Zhao from Shenyang Heavy Machinery Factory was the first to call: "Master Jiang, could you train a group of people for your coating technology? Our factory has more than a dozen large shafts that need repairing, and they are all imported; buying new ones is too expensive."

"Yes. Send someone over, and I'll teach them."

Director Sun from Shenyang Mining Machinery Factory also called: "Master Jiang, the main shaft of the ball mill is worn. Can it be repaired using coating technology?"

"Yes. Send the shaft over, let me take a look."

Ansteel, Benxi Steel, Fushun Mining Bureau... the phone kept ringing. Jiang Cheng's notebook was filled with the needs of each factory, densely packed like ants crawling around.

"Chengzi, we're too busy," Huang Deqing said.

"We have to keep busy even if we're overwhelmed." Jiang Cheng didn't even look up, continuing to write the proposal. "This is a good thing. People coming to us means our technology is useful."

"Well, you need people too," Huang Deqing said, pointing to the few people in the office. "Just these few people, running around to three factories a day, their legs are about to break."

Jiang Cheng put down his pen and thought for a moment: "Master, you're right. We don't have enough people; we need to hire more."

"Who should we hire?"

Jiang Cheng stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the few poplar trees in the yard. The leaves were greener, and when the wind blew, they rustled like applause.

"We'll borrow another batch from various factories. This time, we won't borrow technical experts, but young workers. As long as they have some basic skills, we can train them ourselves."

Huang Deqing looked at him and suddenly laughed: "You little rascal, you're thinking of starting a training program?"

"Yes." Jiang Cheng turned around. "A training course. Twenty people per session, three months of training, combining theory and practice. After they finish, they'll be the seeds of success."

"That's a good idea," Huang Deqing nodded. "Who will teach us?"

"You teach the practical skills, I'll teach the theory."

"Me?" Huang Deqing was taken aback for a moment. "Okay, let's give it a try."