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

Jiang Fan didn't linger on the second floor and rushed straight down the stairs to the factory compound.

Once he got into the yard, he realized that he had no idea where the machining workshop was.

After grabbing several passing workers and asking for directions, Jiang Fan finally found the place after many twists and turns.

As soon as you step into the second workshop, a wave of heat hits you.

A dozen tungsten filament lamps illuminated the workshop brightly on the steel frame at the top.

Amidst the rumbling noise, Zhou Chunsheng's voice stood out remarkably clearly.

He was surrounded by a group of team leaders, waving his arms and shouting instructions:

"Old Zhang! Where's Old Zhang? Hurry up and get that old Soviet heavy press warmed up."

"Yes, it's the major overhaul unit we just refurbished at the end of last year!"

"Old Wang, take a few men to warehouse number one and get me that batch of high-quality carbon steel plates. Also, Xiao Liu, quickly clean the heat treatment furnace and raise the temperature; we need it immediately!"

Although the workers were completely bewildered and had no idea what was wrong with this engineer Zhou, who had returned from studying abroad, no one dared to ask any more questions given his anxious appearance.

Several team leaders received their tasks and immediately shouted as they dispersed.

The workshop, which was undergoing equipment maintenance, suddenly started turning on.

Zhou Chunsheng turned his head and caught sight of Jiang Fan, then immediately strode forward to greet him:

"Engineer Jiang, I've arranged the personnel, and the materials will be delivered soon. Should we start by cutting the materials, or go check the equipment first?"

Jiang Fan quickly glanced at the layout of the workshop, his gaze locking onto the nearest heavy-duty shearing machine, and decisively said:

"No need to look at the equipment, just feed the material first. While the press is still preheating, cut out the round blank."

"Make it clear to the shearing master not to cut too quickly. Better to be slow and make mistakes. The dimensional tolerances must be strictly controlled, and the roundness must be guaranteed. Otherwise, the uneven stress on the edges during stretching will definitely cause it to explode!"

The workshop was so noisy that Jiang Fan was shouting with all his might, his forehead veins bulging.

Zhou Chunsheng was quick-witted. In this situation, he didn't need to reply verbally. He simply nodded, turned around, and ran towards the shearing machine to relay the instructions.

Jiang Fan stood still, his gaze following the busy figures of the workers.

Seeing this scene before him, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

The pace of industry in that era was frustratingly slow compared to the highly integrated, fully automated CNC production lines of later generations.

But it also has an unparalleled advantage: every process is completed under human supervision, and the feeling of direct interaction between humans and steel is something that no machine can replace.

Before long, accompanied by the sound of a shearing machine, the first batch of round blanks was cut out.

Zhou Chunsheng, wearing canvas gloves and carrying a steel plate, walked up to Jiang Fan and asked loudly:

"Engineer Jiang, what do you think of the roundness? Is it acceptable?!"

Jiang Fan took the blank and carefully ran his thumb along the edge.

Although the cut has a primitive and rugged feel, it is very clean and there are no obvious burrs or curled edges.

In an era when even vernier calipers are rare, it is quite remarkable that an old worker could cut such precision entirely with his eyesight and touch.

He nodded in satisfaction: "Okay, let's use the press!"

With Jiang Fan's confirmation, Zhou Chunsheng carried the materials straight to the heating furnace.

Jiang Fan followed closely behind. Stamping and stretching is the part of this craft that is most prone to producing defective products, so he had to keep a close eye on it.

Zhou Chunsheng was, after all, a genuine high-achieving student who had studied abroad, with extremely solid theoretical knowledge. With Jiang Fan's guidance, his operation was incredibly smooth.

The furnace door was pulled open, and billowing heat surged out.

Wearing heavy asbestos gloves, Zhou Chunsheng used long-handled iron tongs to pick up the blank and shoved it deep into the heating furnace.

About ten minutes later, the steel plate turned bright red.

"Out of the oven!"

Zhou Chunsheng used his arms to clamp the red-hot steel plate out and rushed to the press machine's worktable to align it with the groove of the lower die.

Jiang Fan stared at the position, and seeing that the center point perfectly aligned, he immediately shouted:

"Press!!!"

"Boom!!"

The die on the old-fashioned heavy press slowly sank with tremendous force, forcibly pressing the red-hot steel plate into the groove of the lower die!

Sparks flew and white smoke rose.

A moment later, the upper mold rose.

A bowl-shaped, hemispherical steel object appeared prominently on the worktable.

Jiang Fan didn't bother with formalities at all. He snatched the pliers from Zhou Chunsheng's hand, picked out the half-finished product, and placed it on the ground to examine it carefully.

The curved surface is uniform and smooth, and the stretch marks on the edges are perfect. There are no tiny cracks or local thinning that cause the most troublesome problems.

Jiang Fan breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, and nodded to Zhou Chunsheng, who was frantically wiping sweat from his brow with his sleeve.

Become!

Zhou Chunsheng was standing by the stove, his body soaked from the heat. When he saw Jiang Fan's affirmative look, he finally couldn't help but grin foolishly.

But his smile didn't last two seconds before Jiang Fan poured cold water on it.

"However, this is just a rough draft; the dimensions aren't quite right yet."

"This thing needs to be annealed again to relieve stress, and then fine-stretched to adjust the dimensions. Mr. Zhou, could you please arrange for the remaining three pieces as well?"

Zhou Chunsheng: "..."

Looking at the furnace spewing flames, Zhou Chunsheng sighed with despair.

But his body was completely honest; he silently took the blank from Jiang Fan's hand and put it back into the furnace.

During the downtime while waiting for the heat treatment to complete, Jiang Fan leaned against an iron pillar, watching the busy figures in the workshop, and couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions.

Industrial workers of this era may not have a high level of education, be illiterate, or be able to understand complex foreign blueprints.

But their understanding of machinery and their intuition about metal materials are muscle memory honed through day after day of real combat!

In an era without computer-aided design (CAD), finite element analysis, or CNC machine tools, all they had were their hands and their eyes.

Yet it was this group of people who painstakingly forged countless parts that supported the backbone of the entire republic's industry.

This is the country's most precious asset.

If the advanced knowledge I brought with me was the spark of revolution, then these simple and great workers before me are the kindling that can ignite that fire throughout the country.

Zhou Chunsheng, a technical cadre who returned from studying in Japan, possesses both the meticulousness of a professionally trained individual and the pragmatism of a frontline worker, making him a perfect partner.