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

Time flies when you're focused and busy.

Having learned from the first experience, the pace quickened considerably in the following sessions.

Annealing, fine drawing, trimming, lathe machining of bottle neck threads...

The various processes worked closely together. Although there were occasional minor hiccups along the way, the overall success rate of the first two and a half cans far exceeded Jiang Fan's expectations.

When Zhou Chunsheng used pliers to remove the last piece of the finely drawn and completely cooled lower half of the can from the workbench, it was already completely dark outside.

But Zhou Chunsheng was clearly in a state of extreme excitement. He carried two half-canisters of cold steel in his left and right arms as he approached Jiang Fan.

"Engineer Jiang, is this what it looks like?!"

Jiang Fan's eyes lit up, and he immediately took it.

The top of the upper half of the can has been precisely threaded with valves, and the bottom edge of the lower half of the can has been neatly trimmed.

Because it wasn't painted, the surface still has that bluish-black oxidized color from heat treatment.

However, that short, stout silhouette... was exactly the same as the gas cylinder he had seen countless times in his grandmother's kitchen!

"Yes, yes, yes, that's it!"

Jiang Fan couldn't help but nod repeatedly, and immediately put the two halves of the can together:

"The shape is perfect, now all that's left is the final welding step."

"We need to find the most skilled craftsman to weld the top and bottom halves together seamlessly along the central waistline, then weld the handle and base on. That'll do it!"

Jiang Fan raised his head and scanned the workshop with his eyes:

"Mr. Zhou, where's our factory's best welder? Is he off work yet?"

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this question, Zhou Chunsheng suddenly stopped wiping his sweat.

He looked at Jiang Fan, a smug expression vividly appearing on his face that said, "You finally got to the point."

Zhou Chunsheng slightly raised his chin, put his hands behind his back, slowly pulled his head back, tilted his head slightly, revealing an indescribable pride.

Looking at his peacock-like display, Jiang Fan felt a sense of déjà vu about his irritating expression and couldn't help but tentatively ask:

"Engineer Zhou... could it be that you... want to say... you..."

Zhou Chunsheng nodded with great satisfaction, and said slowly and deliberately, drawing out his words:

"Oh, Engineer Jiang, I told you back in the Little White Building that if all else fails, I'll do it myself."

"My welding skills are the result of formal, professional training!"

"Back when I was studying at Tokyo Imperial University in Japan, I took the highest-level course, 'Welding Technology,' which was offered across departments! I've tried everything from shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) to gas shielded welding (GSAW) and submerged arc welding (SAW). I've worked with every kind of welding technology in the world!"

"To be frank, in a company as large as Ansteel, I might not be the best at drawing, but when it comes to the skill of holding a welding torch..."

Zhou Chunsheng stretched out one hand, spreading his five fingers: "Even if I, Zhou Chunsheng, don't rank in the top three, I definitely won't fall out of the top five!"

Without waiting for Jiang Fan's reply, he snatched the two half-cans from Jiang Fan's hand, turned around, and strode towards the welding station deep in the workshop.

Only his powerful greeting remained in the air:

"Let's go, Engineer Jiang, let's see how I welded these two sons together!"

Jiang Fan quickly followed, and the two walked through the noisy workshop to a welding machine in the west corner.

This welding machine is a typical old-fashioned DC arc welding machine, with its metal casing covered in repair and hammer marks.

However, judging from the condition of the terminals and knobs, they have clearly been treated like treasures by the workers.

On a small cart next to the welding machine, several bundles of welding rods of different specifications were neatly stacked.

The outside was completely wrapped tightly with thick oil paper to prevent moisture and rust.

It is evident that in this era of extreme scarcity, the workers cherished these industrial consumables to an extreme degree.

Zhou Chunsheng placed the two halves of the can on the clamp, and then selected a suitable pack of welding rods from the trolley.

As he tore open the oil paper packaging, he instructed without turning his head:

"Engineer Jiang, step back a little. Don't be fooled by the arc light. There's a lot of spatter when we're doing circumferential welding on this thick plate. Don't let it blow your face."

Jiang Fan did as instructed, taking two steps back and turning his head to the side.

After all, it's hard to find even a decent pair of protective sunglasses these days. If you were to look directly at an electric arc, your eyes would be swollen like peaches by tomorrow morning.

Zhou Chunsheng, on the other hand, is a completely different person once he gets into work mode.

He first picked up a wire brush and coarse sandpaper and carefully polished and cleaned the bevels at the joint surfaces of the two halves of the tank.

They didn't stop until the oxide scale and oil stains were completely wiped away, revealing the original silvery-white luster of the metal in the crevices.

Then, he raised a handheld black steel paper mask in one hand to shield his face, and with the other hand he held the welding rod, skillfully tapping it on the scrap iron to ignite the electric arc.

"Sizzle—smack!"

A sudden crackling sound of electricity tearing rang out, and a dazzling arc of blue-white light illuminated the corner of the workshop.

Even through the dark protective glass, the intense light still made Zhou Chunsheng squint slightly.

But his hands were very steady.

The welding rod moves at a constant speed along the joint of the tank, and the high-temperature molten pool spreads evenly under his extremely precise control.

Jiang Fan, with the light behind him, secretly glanced at Zhou Chunsheng's focused profile out of the corner of his eye, and his respect for this technical cadre deepened even more.

The intellectuals of this era mostly experienced war and displacement, and witnessed the prosperity of foreign countries.

Those who were able to resolutely return to China at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and were willing to take off their suits and plunge into the front-line workshops to work hard, were extremely rare.

Zhou Chunsheng not only returned, but his skills are more solid than anyone else's.

"Sizzle sizzle..."

When the first welding rod burned out, Zhou Chunsheng removed his mask and exhaled a long breath of stale air.

He turned his head and glanced at Jiang Fan, his eyes revealing a hint of pride.

"Mr. Jiang, come and take a look. Is this section I just welded okay?"

Although he asked modestly, "It's alright," the way he raised his chin clearly showed that he was extremely satisfied with his masterpiece.

Not wanting to spoil the fun, Jiang Fan immediately stepped forward to examine it carefully.

Upon seeing this, he secretly thought to himself, "Great!"

Even if we consider this craftsmanship in 1949, or even in later generations, it would definitely be considered master craftsmanship.

The fish-scale pattern on the weld was arranged extremely closely and neatly, with a uniform width, and the edges were completely free of undercut and lack of fusion.

Jiang Fan gave a thumbs-up without hesitation and exclaimed in praise:

"Beautiful, absolutely beautiful, Engineer Zhou! Your craftsmanship is superb! Keep welding at this standard!"

After all, praise is free. A few kind words can make a senior engineer willingly become your welder. It's a great deal.

Zhou Chunsheng was overjoyed by the praise, smiled with satisfaction, immediately changed to a new welding rod, put the mask back on, and continued to "sizzle".

About twenty minutes later, the entire circular main weld, plus the top handle guard ring and the bottom anti-roll base, was finally completed.

"Clatter".

Zhou Chunsheng placed the welding clamps on the iron table.

His forehead was already covered with beads of sweat, which he wiped with the back of his hand before reaching out and lifting the now completely assembled jar.

On the silver-gray surface of the tank, a perfect circumferential weld runs from beginning to end.

The shape of this thing is exactly the same as the pattern that Jiang Fan drew on the ground earlier.

Jiang Fan couldn't help but step forward, squat down, and look directly at the newly made "gas cylinder".

He reached out, his fingertips sliding from the threaded neck at the top of the bottle down the metal can to the bottom.

It feels warm, hard, and incredibly realistic.

Just a few hours ago, it was just a few lines and some text on a blackboard.

Now, it has bridged the gap between blueprints and theory, standing before us as a tangible heavy industrial product.

Jiang Fan felt the lingering warmth from his fingertips, and his heart began to race.

What does this mean?

This means that in 1949, a year in which everything was in ruins and needed to be rebuilt, he created the first "special industrial product" of great strategic significance for the new China.

He joined history, changed history, and is even becoming history itself.

Gas cylinders were invented ahead of schedule because of his arrival!