Major Heavy Industry: Starting with a Fake Marriage

"Twenty people," he finally spoke, "is that enough?"

That's enough.

"When will it start?"

"at any time."

Factory Director He turned around, looked at him, and suddenly smiled: "Alright, Director Jiang, then I'll leave everything to you."

The training program tripled in size. The first session only enrolled twenty people, while the second session enrolled sixty. There weren't enough classrooms, so Jiang Cheng converted a conference room into one. There wasn't enough equipment, so Huang Deqing, along with Sun Deming and others, worked through the night to produce a batch of teaching aids.

Jiang Cheng was in charge of teaching the theoretical courses. His teaching style was very unique—he didn't teach formulas or derivations, but only explained "what it is" and "how to do it." For example, when teaching about bearings, he didn't talk about the mechanical model of bearings, but only about why bearings fail, how to determine if they are broken, and how to replace them. When teaching about lubricating oil, he didn't talk about fluid mechanics formulas, but only about what kind of oil is used in what places, how often to change it, and how to check the effect after changing it.

"I can understand Master Jiang's lectures," said a worker from Ansteel. "Our factory invited experts to give lectures before, and they talked for three days, but I didn't understand a single word. Master Jiang only talked for half a day, and I understood everything."

Huang Deqing was in charge of teaching the practical classes. His classes were simpler—hands-on. He guided the students through disassembling, assembling, and adjusting the machines, teaching each step step by step. If a student made a mistake, he didn't scold them, but simply said, "Try it again." If a student did it correctly, he didn't praise them, but just nodded.

"Master Huang isn't a man of many words, but he's very perceptive," said a worker from Fushun. "He can tell whether you're doing the right thing or not just by looking at you."

After two months of training, all sixty students were able to work independently. They returned to their respective factories and became the backbone of equipment maintenance. Some became equipment operators, some became team leaders, and some were even sent by their factories to participate in provincial skills competitions.

Among the twenty people sent by Factory Director He, a young man named Wang Xiaojun stood out. He only had a junior high school education, but he was quick-witted and skillful. By the end of the training, he could independently complete coating operations and even debug simple equipment.

"Master Jiang, I want to learn more from you," Wang Xiaojun said.

Jiang Cheng looked at him: "What do you want to learn?"

"I want to learn everything. I want to be like you, an engineer who can fix machines."

Jiang Cheng smiled: "Okay. Then you stay and continue learning."

Wang Xiaojun stayed at the promotion center, becoming Jiang Cheng's second apprentice—the first being Sun Deming. When Huang Deqing found out, he didn't say anything, but simply patted Wang Xiaojun on the shoulder and said, "Do a good job."

At the end of August, Jiang Cheng received a letter from Beijing. It was written by Old Zhou and contained only a few lines: "Jiang, the National Equipment Upgrading Conference will be held in Beijing on September 15th. Please attend. Prepare a speech about your center's experience. You will have twenty minutes."

Jiang Cheng read the letter once, then read it again. The National Equipment Upgrading Conference—that was the highest-level conference.

Even after living two lives, he couldn't suppress his excitement; this was the hall of fame that so many mechanical engineers dreamed of.

For the next two weeks, he wrote his speech every night. He wrote and revised, revised and wrote, going through more than a dozen drafts, but he was still not satisfied. Zheng Yanxi frowned with heartache seeing him stay up all night, but she didn't say anything. She just made him a strong cup of tea every night and placed it on the table.

"Yanxi, what do you think I should say?" One night, he couldn't write anymore, so he threw down his pen and leaned back in his chair.

Zheng Yanxi was feeding Jiang Yuan rice cereal without looking up: "Just say what you usually tell us."

"Did I tell you?"

"Yes. You're most natural when you talk to the workers. Just talk like that."

Jiang Cheng paused for a moment, then smiled. She was right. He didn't need to preach any lofty principles; he only needed to explain what he had done, how he had done it, and what the results were. The workers would understand, and so would the leaders.

He picked up his pen again and wrote his speech in one go. This time, he only wrote three pages. The first page talked about the work of the promotion center, the second page talked about the experience of the training course, and the third page talked about the importance of the equipment maintenance system.

After writing the last word, he put the pen on the table and let out a long sigh.

Outside the window, it was already daylight.

Jiang Yuan rolled over in his small bed, mumbled something, and then fell into a deep sleep again. Zheng Yanxi leaned back in her chair and also fell asleep, still clutching the book "Internal Medicine" in her hand.

Jiang Cheng stood up and gently draped a coat over her shoulders. She stirred slightly but didn't wake up. He stood by the window, gazing at the morning light outside. A touch of red appeared on the horizon, like fiery clouds, or as if someone had drawn a stroke in the sky.

September 15th, Beijing.

The National Equipment Upgrading Conference was held in the auditorium of the Ministry of Machinery Industry. More than 300 delegates from all over the country filled the auditorium to capacity. On the stage sat leaders from the Ministry of Machinery Industry, officials from the State Economic Commission, and several faces that Jiang Cheng did not recognize.

Jiang Cheng sat in the tenth row, a seat on the side. He was wearing a newly bought Dacron shirt, which Zheng Yanxi had specially picked out for him in the city; it was light blue and the collar was a little tight. In his pocket was the three-page speech draft, which was already a little soggy from the sweat on his hands.

The previous speakers were all quite long, some talking for an hour, others forty minutes. Their content was all macro-level and strategic—things like "the importance of equipment upgrades," "the guiding principles of technological transformation," and "introduction, digestion, absorption, and reinnovation"... As Jiang Cheng listened, his mind began to wander. He thought of the old equipment in the factory, Huang Deqing's back as he squatted in front of the machines, and the eyes of the young workers in the training class.

"Next, please welcome Comrade Jiang Cheng from the Shenyang Promotion Center to speak." The host announced his name.

Jiang Cheng stood up and walked onto the stage. The audience was packed, hundreds of eyes fixed on him. He stood behind the podium, his hands trembling slightly. He took a deep breath, placed his speech on the table, and didn't look at it.

"Distinguished leaders and comrades," he said, "my name is Jiang Cheng, and I am a fitter from the Shenyang Promotion Center."

Some people in the audience laughed. It was indeed rare to see a fitter speaking at a national conference.

Jiang Cheng didn't laugh. He continued, "Our center has been established for less than a year and hasn't accomplished anything significant. We've just repaired a few machines and trained a few dozen workers. Today, I'll talk about these small things."

He began to speak. He talked about the ball mill in the mine, the hydraulic press in the heavy machinery plant, and the equipment records in the diesel engine plant. He spoke slowly and meticulously, remembering every single number clearly. When he got to the topic of worker training, he told a story.