The news that the factory had received an export order spread like wildfire within half a day—they were to manufacture spindle sleeves for foreign companies, with the inner hole precision required to be within 0.005 millimeters and to be ground to a mirror finish. This level of precision was unprecedented in the factory.

"This is our factory's chance to break into the international market!" the factory director said, slamming his fist on the table at the mobilization meeting. "But if we mess this up, not only will we lose a lot of money, but we'll also lose all face!"

The tasks piled up, and the most crucial part—the precision machining of the inner holes—fell to the workshop's best grinding machines. But after testing twenty parts, not a single one passed.

"It's mainly caused by thermal deformation." At the technical analysis meeting, Fu Jingchen pointed to the test report, "When the temperature is high during grinding, the parts expand, and when they cool down, the dimensions are exceeded."

The experienced craftsmen took turns trying different methods: adjusting the rotation speed, changing the grinding wheel, modifying the clamp, but nothing worked. That 0.005-millimeter tolerance was like an insurmountable obstacle that no one could overcome.

The atmosphere in the workshop grew increasingly stifling. Director Zhao had a string of blisters on the corner of his mouth and spent his days pacing back and forth in the grinding area with his hands behind his back; the workers spoke in hushed tones, afraid of saying anything that might anger the director.

Only Liu Li seemed unhurried. Every day after finishing her work, she would squat in front of the newly repaired M131w grinder, checking the oil temperature and pressure gauge. Fu Jingchen borrowed her thermometer, which showed that after two hours of operation, the hydraulic oil temperature could rise by 15 degrees Celsius, causing the guide rails to deform—even a few micrometers of deformation was enough to cause parts to exceed tolerances.

"If only we could keep the oil temperature stable..." Liu Li sketched in her notebook, and an idea slowly became clear.

Before she could think it through, gossip started spreading in the workshop.

"I heard Liu Li wants to modify the grinding machine?"

"Isn't she a bit too much of a troublemaker? She even dares to tamper with the factory equipment?"

"What if she messes it up and delays the order? Can she afford to compensate for it?"

It was obvious who was spreading the rumors. Sun Peng had been frequenting the grinding machine area lately, and whenever he saw Liu Li drawing, he would give her a sarcastic smile. One afternoon during lunch break, he deliberately spoke loudly in the break room: "Some people, once they gain a little fame, they get cocky. Do they really think they're technicians? Modifying equipment is their job?"

Liu Li was about to speak, clutching her water glass, when Master Wang suddenly walked over.

“Speak your mind to my face. What kind of skill is it to gossip behind someone’s back?” Master Wang glanced at Sun Peng, his tone cold.

Sun Peng's face turned pale, and he muttered, "I was just saying," before quickly slipping away.

“Master, I…” Liu Li wanted to explain her thoughts.

Master Wang waved his hand: "If you want to do it, then do it, and don't care what others say. But if you want to move the equipment, you have to figure out the plan first, and you can't just mess around with it."

Liu Li immediately understood. She worked through the night to organize her ideas into a sketch—add a small radiator to the hydraulic circuit to cool the hot oil before circulating it back, thus stabilizing the oil temperature.

The next day, as soon as she got to work, she took the sketch to Fu Jingchen.

"This idea is reliable!" Fu Jingchen's eyes lit up as he looked at the diagram. "However, we need to carefully calculate the size of the heatsink and where to install it."

The two immediately got to work. Fu Jingchen researched data and calculated parameters, while Liu Li lay beside the grinder measuring dimensions and figuring out how to install the radiator without obstructing her work. Sometimes, they would argue until dark over the routing of a single oil pipe.

"If we add a temperature sensor, the cooling system can automatically activate when the oil temperature gets too high," Fu Jingchen said, pointing to the blueprints.

“But there’s nowhere to install the sensor,” Liu Li gestured to the side of the grinder, “unless we move this oil pipe.”

Just as the plan was starting to take shape, an unexpected incident occurred. That morning, Liu Li opened her toolbox, only to find that the blueprints were missing—she had clearly locked it yesterday, and the key had never left her side.

"How could this happen?" Fu Jingchen rushed over, his face pale.

Liu Li took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down: "Without evidence, going to the director won't help." She picked up a pencil. "I have most of it in my head. Let's redraw it."

Seeing her determined look, Fu Jingchen also calmed down: "Okay, let's draw together!"

Unbeknownst to them, in the corner of the workshop's restroom, Sun Peng was sneering as he held the stolen blueprints. He folded the blueprints small and stuffed them into his inner pocket: "Liu Li, let's see how you handle this!"

But Sun Peng didn't know that he had only stolen the initial sketch. In the past few days, Liu Li and Fu Jingchen had revised it several times. By discarding the old sketch, they had actually filled in all the details they hadn't considered before.

Three days later, a clearly written "Improvement Plan for the Hydraulic System of the M131W Grinding Machine" was delivered to the technical department. Meanwhile, the delivery date for the export order was drawing ever closer.

Everyone in the workshop was watching—whether this young female worker could overcome this hurdle. If she succeeded, she would be a hero to the factory; if she failed, not only would the order be canceled, but her previous reputation would also be ruined.