Returning to 1949, I decided to hand it over to the state.

By mid-morning, this industrial machine at Ansteel was already running.

To be precise, it never really stopped.

Steel mills are not workshops where people can simply close up and sleep when they're tired.

Especially for blast furnaces, once they are started, they must maintain a sufficiently high temperature and a stable chemical reaction environment for a long time.

If the furnace is stopped abruptly midway, the furnace charge inside is very likely to solidify, collapse, or even harden. This will not only completely destroy the furnace condition, but also subject the furnace body to enormous thermal stress during sudden temperature changes. At best, it will damage the equipment; at worst, all previous efforts will be wasted.

Therefore, since the furnace was restarted, Ansteel has resumed its typical heavy industrial pace.

Three shifts.

People can take turns resting, but the stove cannot be shut down.

Especially in those years, the whole country was short of steel, iron, tools, and equipment. The front lines needed steel, the rear areas needed steel, railway bridges needed steel, and even ordinary people needed steel to make a pot or a hoe.

In this situation, Ansteel is more like an industrial heart that has just started beating again.

Once this heart starts beating again, no one dares to stop it easily.

Jiang Fan was also woken up early in the morning by Meng Tai.

He had thought he was in a different place and in a different era, and after thinking about so many random things last night, he was probably going to have insomnia until midnight. But to his surprise, he slept incredibly soundly.

I must say, those buckwheat hull pillows and the kang (heated brick bed) were actually quite comfortable to sleep on.

Since he started working in social media, his daily routine has become completely chaotic.

I spend all day monitoring the backend data, checking viewership in the morning, watching the finished broadcasts in the afternoon, and checking follower growth in the evening. I'm constantly in a state that seems free but is actually mentally tense.

Going to bed at three or four in the morning is considered finishing work early for him. Sometimes he gets so anxious that he even dreams that one of his videos goes viral overnight. The first thing he does when he wakes up is to reach for his phone to see if another video has gone viral.

He couldn't even remember the last time he had such a deep sleep like last night.

So when Meng Tai woke him up in the morning, although he was still a little groggy, his overall energy was actually much better than usual.

After a quick wash and some simple snacks, the two went out together.

The air in Anshan was still a bit chilly in the early morning, but it was indeed very fresh.

There were already quite a few workers on the road.

Some people carried tools, some carried lunch boxes, some straightened their clothes as they walked, and most simply hurried on their way in silence.

Upon reaching the factory gate, the two had to part ways.

Meng Tai is going to the No. 2 blast furnace again today.

He is the leader of the blast furnace group, with a lot of work to do and a lot of tasks waiting for him. He can never have a moment of leisure once he enters the factory.

As for Jiang Fan, there was no clear job assignment.

Yesterday, the leader just casually mentioned that he should follow that bespectacled engineer Zhou for now. The specific arrangements, where he would be assigned, and what he would do afterward have not yet been finalized.

So when they arrived at the factory gate, Jiang Fan spoke first.

"Uncle Meng, I'll go find Engineer Zhou now. After all, I haven't been assigned any specific tasks for today. You can go ahead and do your work."

Meng Tai stopped and looked back at him.

"Okay. Do you still recognize the way?"

"I recognize it; I went there yesterday."

Meng Tai nodded, but then, as if still somewhat uneasy, added another instruction.

"We'll eat lunch at the cafeteria, don't go there again, there's no one home."

Jiang Fan felt a warmth in his heart and replied with a smile:

"Okay, I understand."

Meng Tai grunted in agreement and gestured with his chin in another direction.

"I'll be going now. If you have any questions, ask Engineer Zhou first. If that doesn't work, we can talk about it when we get back tonight."

"it is good."

The two then parted ways and went in different directions.

Jiang Fan stood there watching Meng Tai's back disappear into a group of workers rushing towards the blast furnace, quickly becoming inconspicuous.

He then looked away and turned to walk towards the workshop from yesterday.

He walked and looked around as he went.

He already had a sense of the sheer size of Ansteel yesterday.

Today he realized more clearly just how big this place really is.

Ore comes in, coke comes in, iron is smelted in furnaces, steel is smelted in open-hearth furnaces, and then there is rolling, forming, processing, and finished products. Various auxiliary plants and transportation lines connect the entire industrial city.

Even though many facilities have not been fully restored, it still allows people to see at a glance the scale of that heavy industrial empire it once was.

This is already close to the framework of a complete industrial system.

However, the flesh and blood on this skeleton have not fully grown back yet.

Not long after, he arrived at the workshop from yesterday.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that it was a machine repair and parts preparation workshop under Ansteel.

As soon as Jiang Fan walked in, he saw that the machine tool he had repaired yesterday was now running again.

A worker was standing nearby operating the equipment; although his movements were cautious, he was clearly much more adept at it.

Jiang Fan stood there for a few seconds, a small sense of smug satisfaction rising within him.

very nice.

All that effort I put in yesterday wasn't for nothing.

This sense of accomplishment is even more direct than when he makes a video that gets a million views.

Just then, a voice came from not far away.

"Engineer Jiang, you're here?"

Jiang Fan looked up and saw that it was Zhou Chunsheng.

He was dressed the same as always, squatting on the ground doing the final adjustments and checks on the machine tool.

But that one call of "Engineer Jiang" made Jiang Fan's heart clench.

He was genuinely hesitant to accept.

In this day and age, having the character "工" (gong) after a name is not something to be taken lightly.

Engineers, technicians, veteran technical backbones, and even some truly skilled masters who can command respect are the ones who deserve this title.

On a grander scale, he might actually become a key technical figure in the factory, or even the prototype of a "master craftsman" in future history books.

And Jiang Fan's display of skill yesterday truly shocked people.

But he was actually a little embarrassed to accept the title "Engineer Jiang" without batting an eye.

So he could only nod and take over the conversation.

"Mr. Zhou, is there anything I can help you with?"

Zhou Chunsheng waved his hand, his tone relaxed.

"No need, it's almost done, it's already usable, I'm just checking it again to confirm."

As he spoke, he looked up at Jiang Fan again.

"We're going to another place for maintenance later, why don't you come with me? It'll be a good opportunity to take a look around."

Jiang Fan felt a mix of amusement and exasperation.

It seems that my move yesterday has solidified my first impression as a "mechanic talent".

But this is for the best.

Following Zhou Chunsheng around to check out the equipment and workshops actually made it easier for him to understand the factory's actual manufacturing capabilities.

"Okay, then I'll go with you."

"Okay, let me finish up here."