With trembling hands, Xiao Liu picked up the gleaming micrometer on the workbench next to him. It was Wang Dachui's treasure, and anyone who touched it would get scolded.
Xiao Liu had seen Wang Dachui use a micrometer to measure dimensions countless times before, but this was the first time he had ever picked it up himself!
He took a deep breath, held it, and very carefully and slowly placed the measuring facet of the micrometer onto the most critical tip of the leaf.
The measuring surface is in contact with the cold metal surface.
Xiao Liu's fingers were extremely steady as he slowly rotated the micrometer's graduated cylinder. His eyes were wide open, staring intently at the hair-thin graduation line.
The differential cylinder rotates, causing the sleeve, which is engraved with precise lines, to move slowly.
One square... two squares...
Everyone's heart was in their throat.
When that tiny vernier line finally, steadily, and perfectly locked onto the "0.1" micrometer mark.
"hiss……"
Xiao Liu gasped sharply, his hand holding the micrometer trembling violently, almost dropping it!
He suddenly raised his head, his face drained of color, his lips trembling, looking at his master, then at the factory director, and then at Mingzhao, his eyes filled with indescribable, earth-shattering shock and awe!
"It's...it's done! Master! Factory Manager! It's done!!"
Xiao Liu's voice, choked with sobs, like a shattered suona horn, suddenly exploded in the deathly silent workshop, "0.1 micrometers! It really is 0.1 micrometers! Perfectly sealed! Perfectly sealed!!"
"What?!"
Zhang Mingyuan was the first to react. He sprang up like a spring and lunged at the workbench, snatching the micrometer from Xiao Liu's hand.
He trembled as he repeatedly measured and compared the key positions on the blade.
When the cold, precise graduation line landed on the same spot time and time again, a huge, burning joy instantly overwhelmed all his composure and the dean's airs!
He stared intently at Mingzhao, his eyes wide as if he had discovered a great treasure!
That's incredible! That's amazing!!!
Wang Dachui tried countless times but couldn't find the correct parameters, while Mingzhao found them with just one glance!
And she successfully achieved the required precision!
This is more than just genius!!! This is downright miracle!!!
Zhang Mingyuan was filled with endless questions: How did she do that? Is it really possible for a human to do something like that? Is she even human?
Regardless, it is absolutely a blessing for the country to have a genius like Mingzhao!
"Oh my god! It's true! It's really true!!"
Zhang Mingyuan turned around abruptly, his face flushed with excitement. He grabbed Liu Zhenshan's arm, who was equally dumbfounded, and shook him violently, his voice cracking with extreme excitement.
The voices echoed throughout the enormous workshop: "Director Liu! Did you see that?! It's done! The precision is up to standard! Comrade Mingzhao! Our Comrade Mingzhao! She did it! She's a genius! A scientific research genius that our country has only seen once in a century!!"
"Genius!!" one of the workers couldn't help but shout.
"Amazing! Absolutely amazing!" Another experienced worker slapped his thigh excitedly, his eyes welling up with tears.
"Comrade Mingzhao! Amazing!!"
The cheers erupted like a long-suppressed volcano!
The workers excitedly gathered around, their eyes filled with unprecedented fervent worship and excitement as they looked at Mingzhao!
The suffocating pressure of being suffocated by the mountain of technological blockade and precision processing for so long was transformed into deafening cheers and applause at this moment!
Wang Dachui's facial muscles twitched violently.
He walked slowly, step by step, to the workbench, each step feeling as heavy as if he were dragging a thousand-pound burden.
He stretched out his large, trembling hands, calloused and with black grime under his fingernails, and with utmost care and reverence, gently stroked the cold, smooth turbine blade, which was as precise as a mythical 0.1 micrometers.
The icy touch from his fingertips and the flawless contours struck him like an electric current.
He suddenly raised his head and looked at Mingzhao, who was surrounded by the crowd in the center, yet still remained calm.
In his cloudy old eyes, the rage, the resentment, the humiliation, vanished without a trace, like dust scattered by a raging wind.
Instead, there was a shock that left people almost stunned and whose understanding was completely overturned!
For the first time, there was no anger in the depths of those eyes, only the most instinctive bewilderment and... awe in the face of an incomprehensible miracle.
Liu Zhenshan was equally excited, his face beaming. He patted Zhang Mingyuan's shoulder forcefully, his voice booming.
"Old Zhang! You've really brought a national treasure to our Red Star Factory this time! Comrade Mingzhao! Great! Excellent! With this technical hurdle overcome, our factory... no! Our entire aviation industry will reach a new level!"
Amidst the boiling cheers, filled with the ecstasy of surviving a catastrophe and heartfelt admiration, Mingzhao's gaze calmly swept over the leaf that everyone was watching.
Then, her gaze fell on the old gantry milling machine next to her, which had just performed a great service but was now emitting a slight burnt smell and making an abnormal friction sound from the spindle bearing.
Her calm voice rang out again, and everyone fell silent the moment she opened her mouth, their faces filled with joy as they awaited what Mingzhao would say!
Mingzhao calmly and clearly stated a conclusion: "The micro-wear rate of the cutting edge exceeds the expected 17.3%..."
Everyone stared at her in astonishment: What?!
Mingzhao's words instantly dissected the cold reality beneath the surface of victory, and her finger pointed precisely at the lathe spindle box.
"Currently, the basic precision limit of the equipment is too low, the spindle bearing clearance exceeds the standard, and the thermal deformation compensation mechanism is lacking, which seriously restricts the processing efficiency and the yield of finished products."
Her gaze shifted to Liu Zhenshan, whose face was flushed with excitement, and Zhang Mingyuan, who was still immersed in immense joy. Her tone was as calm as if stating an obvious fact:
"This solution causes too much wear and tear on the equipment and is unsustainable."
Mingzhao's statement, "unsustainable," was like an icicle piercing into boiling cheers.
The noise in the workshop came to an abrupt halt.
The excitement on the workers' faces faded like a receding tide, replaced by confusion and a heavy sense of helplessness.
Someone subconsciously touched the old lathe next to them, its paint peeling and nameplate blurred. Rough fingers ran across the cold cast iron casing, touching the grease and burrs accumulated over the years.
"The equipment..." Xiao Liu's voice trembled with tears, "Factory Manager, Dean Zhang, we..."
Wang Dachui held back his reddened eyes, touched the gantry milling machine next to him, and sighed heavily!
That's why he didn't want to operate according to Mingzhao's parameters!
The damage to the machine is too great!!!
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