When Chen Hao opened the door, the metal door creaked. He looked down and saw a small, unsealed box on the ground containing several shiny metal pieces, with a note underneath. He picked it up, glanced at it, and turned to go inside.
“Another one has arrived,” he said, placing the box next to the display stand.
Susan glanced up, then continued drawing her diagrams. "Just leave it there."
Carl was squatting by the wall inspecting a newly arrived bundle of vines. He reached out and tugged at a fiber, then nodded. "This batch is usable."
Nana stood in front of the information screen, and the optical module flashed twice. "Three new registrations have been added today. Two people from Zone B have confirmed their arrival time, and the representative from Zone C will arrive at 10:00 AM."
Chen Hao flipped the whiteboard over, picked up a pen, and began to write: "There's a lot to do today. Let's divide the tasks first."
He paused, then looked at the three people in the room. "We're not just doing this for fun now; there are real people coming to work. We need to give them tools and a place to stand so they don't burn their hands or cut their fingers right away."
Carl straightened up. "The machine can't last long; one carding machine isn't enough."
“Then let’s modify another one,” Chen Hao said. “There are some old motors in the warehouse, I’ll borrow them. You’re in charge of assembling it, and add a fan to cool it down, so it doesn’t have to be stopped after a while.”
“Okay,” Carl replied, turning to rummage through the parts box.
"Susan, the teaching needs to be simplified." Chen Hao pointed to the projection on the wall. "The current process still has four steps, which newcomers can't understand. Can we cut it into three steps?"
She paused her writing and thought for a moment. "Cutting, weaving, and shaping. The softening step can be done in advance, so we only provide semi-finished products on-site."
"Yes, that's what we'll do." Chen Hao crossed out a line on the whiteboard. "Make a diagram and stick it on the wall. Anyone can understand it."
“Safety guidelines also need to be issued,” Nana interjected. “Six people have already registered to participate, including two minors, so we need to clarify the operational restrictions.”
"Make a list, print it out, and stick it on the door," Chen Hao nodded. "Also, make a sign-in sheet, record whoever comes, so we know who it is if something happens."
"Document generated, printing in progress." After Nana finished speaking, the robotic arm gently lifted and pulled out a stack of papers from the terminal.
Chen Hao grabbed his coat. "I'll go to the warehouse to get goggles and gloves, and on the way I'll ask the maintenance team to lend me a cutting table. You guys get started."
When he left, the sunlight had just begun to illuminate the corner of the corridor. When he returned, he carried two boxes of protective equipment and a small cutting machine on his shoulder.
“Got it.” He put the package on the table. “They asked if we were going to open a factory, and I said soon.”
Susan glanced at him. "Stop bragging. Clear out the space first."
They moved the shelf against the wall to a different location, clearing space for the new equipment. Carl worked for three hours with his tools, and finally, the second carding machine was powered on and running. The fan whirred, and the machine was significantly cooler than the first one.
“We can use them in rotation.” He wiped his sweat. “We change them every hour, which cuts the cooling time in half.”
"That's good." Chen Hao patted the machine's casing. "Tomorrow, we'll try to make it run by itself so no one has to watch over it."
At 9:50 a.m., the two people from Block B appeared at the door on time. One was carrying a tool bag, and the other was holding a box.
"I heard you collect scrap metal?" The tall man opened the box and poured out a pile of oddly shaped metal scraps. "These are the leftovers from our processing. They're irregularly shaped and can't be recycled."
Chen Hao squatted down and examined them for a while. "Can these be polished into shape?"
"It depends on what you're going to do with it," the other person replied. "It's hard enough, but brittle; it might crack if you drop it."
“A bracelet won’t do, but a pendant will do.” Susan walked over and picked up a piece. “The edges are too sharp; I’ll have to sharpen them first.”
Nana then brought up the database page. "It is recommended to use a low-temperature resin encapsulation process to avoid structural cracking caused by high temperatures. Existing materials can support localized reinforcement."
"That sounds plausible." Chen Hao looked at the people in Sector B. "What kind of reward do you want?"
"Let's customize a batch of team logos," the other party said. "For example, make them look like our district emblem."
“No problem.” Chen Hao smiled. “You provide the materials, we’ll make the finished products, ten for each of us, and we’ll deliver them on the spot.”
On the other side, the representative from Zone C pushed open the door at 10:00 AM, carrying several scrapped circuit boards.
“I’d like to incorporate these into your bracelets,” he said, “as a keepsake.”
Susan took the board and looked at it. "The circuitry is too brittle; pressing it in directly will cause it to break."
Nana immediately responded: "A transparent resin can be used to first encapsulate the fiber substrate to form a protective layer before bonding it to the fiber substrate. This method has been proven effective in microelectronic packaging cases."
“Let’s do it this way.” Susan picked up a pen and drew a new design on the drawing. “The lines will follow the direction of an electrical circuit; how about calling it ‘electrical trace’?”
“Okay,” Chen Hao replied. “From now on, we’ll categorize and number the items. Number one will be rattan weaving, and this will be number two—the electric trace series.”
The people in section C smiled and said, "That sounds pretty formal."
“This is a serious matter.” Chen Hao pointed to the sign-in sheet on the wall. “You are also among the first batch of external partners, so your names need to be written down.”
Before noon, all processes were run through again. New material testing was completed, new design drafts were finalized, and the equipment duty roster was posted on the wall.
At 1 p.m., the first batch of applicants entered the room. There were five of them, all ordinary members of the base, and none of them were wearing uniforms.
“I came to see how it’s done,” a young man said. “I’ve never done this kind of work before.”
Nana started a time-lapse video and projected it onto the wall. The three-minute short film started with picking the rattan and played all the way to the finished product being placed in the cabinet.
"Watch this before you start." Susan handed out the tool kits. "The first step is choosing the materials. Don't pick the wrong ones."
Someone accidentally touched the heating plate and quickly pulled their hand away. Carl immediately went over, turned off the power, and replaced the heat-insulating pad.
“From now on, each group will have a person in charge,” he said. “Whoever operates the equipment will sign off on it.”
At six o'clock in the evening, the last group of participants left. The room became quiet, but no one left.
Chen Hao sat at his workbench in the corner, using a thick pen to revise next week's course schedule on the whiteboard. He wrote and erased, revising it several times.
“The first section must be simple,” he said. “Finish one thing within thirty minutes, or everyone will run away.”
“It’s already designed.” Susan handed over a new template. “A three-step minimalist method, with wall sticker illustrations.”
Nana is backing up all the documents for today. The information screen displays process records, attendance lists, and material consumption data.
“Archive everything,” she said. “It can serve as a basis for subsequent training.”
Carl tightened the last screw and patted the modified combing machine. "It can run for a full eight hours tomorrow."
Susan walked into the display area and took out a newly made "electro-marking bracelet". She gently wiped away the fingerprints on the surface with a cloth and placed it in the display case.
The label reads: "Circuit board from Zone C, provided by member surnamed Li, for co-creation experiment."
Chen Hao looked up at the display stand. The lights illuminated the items; some were rough, some were exquisite, but they were all placed in their proper places.
He continued writing the timetable with his head down, filling in the "Wednesday afternoon" column with: "Open collaboration period, accepting external material submissions."
He paused for a moment, then added, "Stories are welcome."
Footsteps came from outside the door, followed by knocking.
Chen Hao didn't look up, only saying, "The door isn't locked."
The door was pushed open a crack, and a hand reached in, placing a small cloth bag inside. The bag was open, revealing a pile of stained glass shards.
The note read: "An old toy that my child took apart. The colors are quite bright. I don't know if it's usable."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com