Major Heavy Industry: Starting with a Fake Marriage

He would stop in front of each machine, pointing at it as if it were a disobedient child: "This one has been broken for half a year." The next one: "This one, it's been repaired and then broken again, repaired and then broken again, like it has an incurable disease." The next one: "This one, it's usable, but the precision is poor, the things it produces look like they were chewed by a dog." His voice was loud, but Jiang Cheng could hear the exhaustion beneath it, the exhaustion of someone who had been holding on for a long time and was about to give up.

When they reached the last piece of equipment, Factory Director Meng stopped. It was a large crankshaft grinding machine, its frame as tall as two people, and its grinding wheels as thick as a person could hug. Its surface was covered in dust, and a thin layer of rust had grown on the guide rails, like a layer of brown moss. The buttons on the control panel were so covered in grease that the words on them were illegible.

"This one is the biggest headache. It's a crankshaft grinding machine, made in Germany, imported in 1963. It's been used for almost twenty years, and its precision is long gone. We don't have enough foreign exchange to buy a new one. We can't fix it ourselves. We've called in three experts, and they all said it's beyond repair and should be scrapped."

He turned to look at Jiang Cheng. "Master Jiang, I'm telling you the truth. This factory is about to collapse. If it's like this for another six months, or another six months, it will have to close down. There are over three hundred people waiting to be fed. I'm not trying to scare you, I'm serious. Do you see those workers at the gate? They're not slacking off, they're just out of work. No work means no bonuses. No bonuses mean they can't support their families."

Jiang Cheng stared at the grinding machine. Sunlight streamed in through the broken window, illuminating the machine and highlighting the rust spots, each one resembling a scar. He walked over, squatted down, and first ran his hand over the guide rail. Rust, but not very deep; he could rub it off with his hand.

He then examined the grinding wheel spindle, shaking it by hand. There was a slight gap, not large, but not small either. Next, he checked the hydraulic system. The oil pipes were old and leaking badly. There was a dried, blackened oil stain on the ground, covered in dust.

He stood up and dusted off his hands.

"Director Meng, from today onwards, we'll stay here. We'll leave whenever the renovations are finished."

Factory Director Meng paused for a moment, then nodded vigorously. His eyes were a little red, but he didn't let the tears fall. He turned around and shouted to the workers in the workshop, "Don't just squat down! Come and help!"

In the days that followed, Jiang Cheng and his team worked on each piece of equipment one by one. They entered the workshop at seven in the morning and didn't leave until ten at night. They didn't take a lunch break; they ate in the workshop, squatting on the ground to eat the steamed buns and vegetables delivered from the canteen, and then continued working. The steamed buns and vegetables were cold, but no one complained.

The first machine was a lathe. The spindle clearance was too large, and the guide rails were severely worn. The spindle was disassembled, the bearings replaced, and the guide rails scraped. Three days passed. While disassembling the spindle, Sun Deming encountered a rusted bolt that wouldn't loosen. He soaked it in kerosene overnight, but it still wouldn't budge the next day. He then used a blowtorch to heat it until it was red-hot, and then tried to tighten it with a wrench. "Snap!" The bolt broke. Sun Deming's face turned pale. Jiang Cheng walked over, examined the break, and said, "It's alright, drill a hole, tap it, and replace it with a new bolt." Sun Deming squatted there, holding the broken bolt, his hands trembling. Jiang Cheng squatted down and patted him on the shoulder. "What are you afraid of? Machine repair is always prone to accidents. If an accident can be fixed, it's not an accident."

The second machine was a milling machine. The worktable wasn't moving smoothly, and the lead screw had excessive backlash. The worktable was disassembled, the lead screw replaced, and the backlash adjusted. Two days passed. When Old Zhao was disassembling the worktable, he discovered a locating pin was missing. He turned his toolbox upside down, but still couldn't find it. He was sweating profusely with anxiety. Jiang Cheng came over, looked at it, picked up a round steel bar from the scrap heap, and machined one on the lathe. "If you don't have one ready-made, make it yourself. A fitter who can't even make a locating pin?"

The third machine was a planer. The hydraulic system was leaking oil, and the cylinder seals were worn out. The cylinders were disassembled, the seals replaced, and the hydraulic valves cleaned. A day and a half passed. When Li Zhiqiang was disassembling the hydraulic valve, the valve core got stuck. He tried to pull it out with pliers, but couldn't. He tried to pry it out with a screwdriver, but still couldn't. He tried to knock it out with a hammer, but still couldn't. Jiang Cheng came over, took a copper rod, and gently tapped the valve core twice. The valve core came out. "You can't pry it out forcefully. Prying it out forcefully will damage the valve body. Use a copper rod; it's soft and won't damage the parts."

When disassembling each piece of equipment, Jiang Chengdu would call over the factory workers to watch. Not to have them help, but to teach them. He would explain as he disassembled the machine, what each part was called, what it did, why it broke, how to determine if it was broken, and how to fix it. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried far in the quiet workshop.

"This is the spindle bearing, a ball bearing with angular contact. You can see that the ball bearing surface has pits, which means it's fatigued. Replace it with a new one. If you can't find the same model, use a domestic one as a substitute, as long as the size is the same. Although the durability is a bit worse, it's cheaper."

"This is the plastic coating on the guide rail, a wear-resistant material. You can scrape it off until the new plastic coating is exposed. When scraping, make sure it's level, not off-center. How do you judge if it's level? Use a straightedge and a feeler gauge. If the feeler gauge can't be inserted, it's level."

"This is a hydraulic valve, and the valve core inside is stuck. Disassemble it and clean it, soak it in kerosene, and brush it with a soft brush. Before reassembling it, apply a layer of clean hydraulic oil. Do not dry-assemble it, as this will damage the valve body."

The workers gathered around, some taking notes, some drawing on the ground with chalk, and some simply watching. But their eyes were changing. From curiosity on the first day, to seriousness on the third, to trust on the seventh, to admiration on the fourteenth. The change was slow, like ice melting little by little in spring, but Jiang Cheng could feel it. Every morning when he entered the workshop, he knew it. The way they looked at him was different.

What made him happiest was not that the machine was fixed, but that the workers started asking questions.

"Master Jiang, how do I adjust the clearance of this bearing?"

The person who asked the question was an elderly worker in his forties named Wang, who had worked at the factory for twenty years and had never asked anyone a question before. His question silenced everyone.

"How much scraping is considered acceptable on the guide rail?" The person who asked this question was a young worker in his early twenties who had only been working at the factory for two years. He was usually very quiet and would just listen to other people chatting without interrupting.

"How do I choose the viscosity of hydraulic oil? Is it different in winter and summer?" The person who asked this question was a female worker who wore thick glasses and spoke in a very soft voice, but her question was very professional.

Jiang Chengdu answered each question carefully. After answering, he would ask, "Do you understand?" If yes, move on to the next question. If not, explain it again. Sometimes he would explain a question three or four times, until the person asking the question nodded. After explaining, he would say, "Come up and try it." He would let the person ask the question demonstrate it themselves while he watched. If they did it correctly, he would say, "Okay, you got it." If they did it wrong, he would say, "Try it again."