Chen Hao put his pen on the table. He had just finished drawing the outline of the foldable handle on the blueprint. He stared at it for two seconds, then suddenly grinned and said, "If this thing can spin, I'll call it 'Effortless No. 1' from now on."
Nana didn't reply. The terminal screen was still lit, and the title of the next lesson appeared on the screen: "Specific Calculation Methods for Torque Matching." She simply tapped it, and the interface switched to the structural modeling module, where she began inputting parameters.
"Don't pretend you didn't hear me." Chen Hao poked at the blueprint. "You just nodded and said the structure was reasonable."
“A reasonable structure does not guarantee that it will work,” she said. “Blueprints represent an ideal state, but reality always deviates from it.”
"Ugh, here comes another blow." He scratched his head, grabbing a pile of printed transmission analysis diagrams from the corner of the table. "So, shouldn't we get started now? What can you possibly understand just by looking at a screen?"
“We can begin assembly.” She pulled up the materials list. “The fine-tuning lever from the old printer, the old bearing, and the remnants of the metal bracket are all registered in the inventory and are usable.”
“Then let’s not wait any longer.” He slammed his hand on the table and stood up, the chair leg scraping against the floor with a short, sharp sound. “If we drag this out any longer, I’m afraid I’ll forget all the words I just learned.”
The workshop lights suddenly blazed on, their cold white light casting a matte metallic sheen on all the parts. Chen Hao put on gloves, pulled open the bottom box of the tool cabinet, and dumped out a pile of miscellaneous iron parts with a clatter. He squatted down and rummaged through them, muttering, "Small wheels, big wheels, tensioning wheels... This doesn't look like we're making spinning wheels, it looks like we're building Lego."
"The difference is that you can't disassemble it if you put it in the wrong place." Nana stood by the workbench, having already projected the key components above the operating area, with blue light outlining each connection point.
"Got it. It has to be formed in one go; failure means scrap." He picked up a shaft and compared it. "How about this one? It looks a bit bent."
"An error of 0.3 millimeters is within the acceptable range."
"Then it's lucky." He inserted the shaft into the clamp, tightened the fixing screws, and picked up a small toothed wheel from the side. "Is this the first-stage output wheel?"
"correct."
"Alright." He picked up the wrench. "Let's get started!"
For the next few hours, the only sounds in the workshop were the clanging of metal, the clicking of screwdrivers, and occasionally Chen Hao's muttering: "Why is the thread stuck again... Hey, can you give me a hint? I feel like this belt is twisted up like a pretzel."
Nana walked over, her optical lens flickering slightly as she glanced at the transmission path: "The second-stage wrap angle is insufficient. It is recommended to lower the position of the auxiliary wheel by 1.5 centimeters."
"Lower it?" He measured it with a ruler, loosened the bracket screws, and moved it little by little. "Like this?"
"Close. Then deviate 0.2 degrees to the left."
"You really think you're a protractor?" He finished adjusting and tightened the belt again. "Alright, try again?"
He cranked the handle.
On the first rotation, the spindle shaft vibrated slightly, and the belt made a soft squeak.
The second rotation was smoother, but the edge of the second-stage belt noticeably bounced outwards.
"It's slipping again." He stopped, frowning. "Didn't we adjust it?"
“The shaft system is not completely coplanar.” Nana activated the scanning mode, and the beam swept across the four wheel centers. “The right support frame is 0.4 millimeters lower.”
"I was wondering why this stand always felt unstable." He took out a shim and stuffed it into the gap in the base. "Want to try again?"
The third startup.
As the handle turns, power is transmitted via the first-stage belt to the large pulley, and then through the second stage to drive the spindle shaft. This time, the belt engages smoothly without any jerking or unusual noise. The spindle spins faster and faster, emitting a deep, even hum.
Chen Hao froze for a few seconds, then abruptly released the handle: "It turned! It really turned!"
Nana glanced at the tachometer: "The current transmission ratio is measured at 9.8:1, which is basically consistent with the design value."
"Nine point eight?" He widened his eyes. "So if I don't spin once, it will spin ten times faster?"
"yes."
"Then wouldn't I become a human generator?" He rubbed his arms. "Make a note of it for me later—today's electricity contribution is about 0.0003 kilowatt-hours."
"The system does not currently have energy metering functionality."
“It’ll have to be added sooner or later.” He grinned, put his hand back on the handle, and slowly turned it a few times, his eyes fixed on the spinning spindle. “Look how happily it’s spinning, as if it knows it has succeeded.”
"It doesn't know, but it follows the rules."
“A consistent pattern is the best compliment.” He released his grip, wiped the sweat from his brow, and said, “Okay, test it ten times, thirty seconds each time, and record the data.”
For the next half hour, he repeatedly started, timed, observed, and recorded. By the end of the tenth iteration, the handle temperature had risen slightly, the bearings had not overheated, the belt had not shifted, and the entire system was operating stably.
He opened his notebook and wrote the last line: "The actual transmission ratio is approximately 9.8:1, which meets the labor-saving standard. The model is a success."
Then he closed the notebook, looked up at Nana, and said, "We can go big now."
Nana nodded, and the terminal interface automatically switched to the new project module, with the title appearing: **Preliminary Research on Large Spinning Wheel Structure**.
“The material requirements have been generated,” she said. “The main support needs to be extended to 1.8 meters in length, and the number of spindles is planned to be six sets. The synchronous transmission scheme will adopt a parallel belt array.”
"Sixth group?" he whistled. "You expect me to do the work of an entire workshop by myself?"
"It can be gradually expanded according to the actual load."
“That makes sense.” He flexed his wrists. “Let’s make three ingots first to test the waters. If problems arise again, we won’t collapse completely.”
"That is the suggestion."
"What about the materials?" He walked to the terminal and ran his finger across the list. "We have enough old metal frames, and four sets of bearings as spares... Wait, this spindle needs alloy steel? Do we have any in stock?"
“There are currently no standard alloy shaft materials.” She pulled up the warehouse database, “but we can disassemble discarded motor rotors as replacements. They have similar diameters and the strength is sufficient for low-speed loads.”
"The motor rotor?" He stroked his chin. "Isn't that thing magnetic? Won't it affect its rotation?"
"Demagnetization will suffice."
"Who's backing out? I'll take a hammer and smash them?"
"Demagnetization can be achieved using alternating magnetic field equipment; the base has simple devices available."
“Oh right, we also have an electromagnetic laboratory.” He chuckled. “I almost forgot that although this place is dilapidated, we’re not exactly poor.”
"The current resource utilization rate is 67.3%, which still has room for improvement."
"Couldn't you just say 'we're pretty good'? You have to give a percentage."
"The data is more accurate."
“But I don’t want to hear accurate answers, I want to hear praise.” He leaned against the table. “After all, this is the first time I’ve turned what I’ve learned into something that can actually be put into practice.”
Nana glanced at him, and the optical lens slightly reduced its focus.
"You operated continuously for 47 minutes without interruption, during which you independently corrected assembly errors twice, demonstrating your understanding and application of the principles of corner wrapping and coplanarity," she said. "Your performance is superior to similar projects in the past."
"Oh my, wouldn't you call this a disguised compliment?"
"It is an objective record."
"Alright, I'll take that as a compliment." He stretched, his bones cracking. "So, next, shouldn't we make a purchase list? No, wait, we don't have anyone to deliver here... I'll have to unpack it myself."
"The list of equipment to be dismantled has been marked."
“Okay.” He picked up his pen and wrote down the first item in his notebook: “Target: One scrapped motor, preferably with the complete rotor.”
After he finished writing, he looked up and asked, "Do you think the ancients were this tired when they invented the first spinning wheel?"
"Unverifiable."
“I guessed so.” He smiled. “But they didn’t have a choice. At least we can look up information and revise the design, while they probably just try again and again until their hands are sore.”
"The progress of civilization is often based on repeated attempts."
So, am I also trying things out now?
"You are verifying."
“That sounds much more sophisticated.” He put the pen back in his pocket, his gaze falling on the model that was still spinning quietly, and said softly, “Shall we continue?”
Nana nodded, the terminal interface refreshed, and a new subdirectory popped up: **Material Pretreatment Process**.
Chen Hao leaned closer to look, and the first item read: "The motor must be powered off and the residual magnetic field released before disassembly."
After he finished reading, he turned and walked towards the tool cabinet: "Come on, let's drag that old motor out first. Anyway, it can't generate electricity just by lying there, so I might as well use it as raw material."
He opened the cabinet door, took out insulated gloves and a disassembly wrench, and said with his back to Nana, "Tell me... wouldn't this be considered a form of murder? A perfectly good motor, and you had to take it apart to make a spinning wheel."
"It's about resource reuse."
“But it used to be so glorious, it powered fans, and maybe even turned conveyor belts.” He put on gloves and twisted his wrist. “Now it’s going to be reduced to a shaft, and it won’t even have a name anymore.”
"It will become the 'main drive shaft'."
"Yes." He nodded. "At least you'll have a proper status after death."
He took two steps, then suddenly stopped and looked back at the simple spinning wheel model that still stood quietly in the center of the workshop.
The spindle was still slowly turning, as if it was reluctant to stop.
He didn't say anything, just smiled slightly, and then turned and walked towards the warehouse.
Nana stood still, her calm face reflected on the terminal screen.
She raised her hand and gently pressed the side neck interface, and the data stream uploaded silently.
Log update:
[Project Name] Simple Spinning Wheel Prototype Experiment
[Status] Completed
[Conclusion] The multi-stage belt drive scheme is feasible.
[Next Step] Initiate the design and material preparation for a large spinning wheel.
She closed the terminal, turned around, and followed him.
Chen Hao's figure had already turned the corner of the corridor, leaving only a series of footsteps echoing in the empty passage.
The metal head of the wrench wiggled gently in his right hand, tapping against the outside of his thigh.
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