Simple English was insufficient to communicate about machine design issues, so Shen Qing had no choice but to leave the sketches with Mr. Schmidt and wait for Cheng Zhiwen, who was fluent in German, to arrive so they could discuss them together with Mr. Schmidt.
Cheng Zhiwen arrived in the afternoon, bringing her the expected bad news.
“I used the carriage this morning, and when I got off, the velvet bags were already oozing fluff. The fabric spun last night is no good.”
Shen Qing had expected this, so he wasn't too disappointed.
She invited Cheng Zhiwen to sit on the sofa and mentioned her idea of combining wire drawing and spinning into a machine to him.
“Mr. Schmidt said we could give it a try, and I think that’s a very good sign.”
Cheng Zhiwen nodded thoughtfully: "What else did he say?"
Shen Qing then recalled the last few words Mr. Schmidt spoke in German.
She couldn't understand it at the time, but she did secretly write it down and then stumbled over it in German to Cheng Zhiwen.
Cheng Zhiwen burst into laughter after hearing this.
Shen Qing found his reaction a bit strange and pressed him for an explanation: "Mr. Schmidt wouldn't be joking with me, would he? What did he say? Translate it for me!"
"No need to thank me. Human productivity is what it is because of people like you who get angry. I'm glad that young people like you are so unwilling to learn and keep going."
Shen Qing looked completely bewildered.
Looking at Cheng Zhiwen suspiciously, she asked, "Mr. Schmidt spoke to me with such certainty, how come it's become an insult about me not liking to study?"
Even a child could not have imagined it.
Given the context and Mr. Schmidt's expression, he must have given an affirmative statement. How could he possibly be mocking her for not liking to study?
Can someone who doesn't love studying immerse themselves in the world of machines and chemistry?
Shen Qing felt increasingly uneasy and wanted to drag him to confront Mr. Schmidt.
Reaching out, she realized that her hands were still wrapped in gauze, making it difficult to reach out and pull him. Instead, she used her arms to hold his arms.
Suddenly, Cheng Zhiwen felt a very elastic bump on her shoulder. She turned her head and saw that her entire upper arm was buried in Shen Qing's arms.
The sensation on her shoulder was that of her chest.
A tightness gripped my lower abdomen, and my blood felt hot and rushed to a certain spot.
He swallowed hard, restrained himself, and pulled his arm away, moving to the side.
Shen Qing, however, did not notice his unusual behavior and went to pull him away.
Fearing things might go awry, he quickly raised his hand to stop her, saying, "I was just joking."
She then sat back down and said, "I knew you were playing a trick on me! Tell me Mr. Schmidt's true intentions!"
"He probably meant to say that human production has progressed because of people like you who are driving it. I am glad that a young person like you has such a strong thirst for knowledge and is so diligent in your research."
Shen Qing said proudly, "I knew Mr. Schmidt would never criticize me for not liking to study! He praised me for my strong thirst for knowledge and my tireless pursuit of learning!"
Cheng Zhiwen laughed: "Who told you to relay it so haltingly and to omit so many words? German is just like English; often, missing a single word can completely change the meaning."
Shen Qing laughed, "Because it's their first time speaking German! Being able to translate it almost perfectly is already pretty impressive, isn't it?"
"Are you absolutely right? I think you've tried to draw a tiger but ended up with a dog instead."
Shen Qing turned her face away, feigning anger: "Hmph, I admit I can't argue with you!"
Cheng Zhiwen burst into laughter.
Su Lan and Chun Ju came out of the room when they heard the laughter.
"Master's wife, you've arrived," Su Lan called out timidly.
Upon hearing the sound, Cheng Zhiwen stood up and picked up Su Lan: "Little one, are you feeling better?"
Su Lan rested her head on his shoulder: "My fever has gone down, but I'm still a little weak."
He speaks like a little adult, which is inexplicably cute and also inexplicably heartbreaking.
Cheng Zhiwen touched her forehead with his and said, "I heard from your master that you want to study abroad in the future?"
Su Lan glanced at Shen Qing and saw her smiling with her eyes crinkled. She knew that Shen Qing had allowed her to talk to Cheng Zhiwen about this, so she nodded shyly and said, "Yes."
"Study hard now, and in four or five years, when you turn thirteen, your master and I will send you abroad!"
"Yes, thank you, Master's wife."
"Does Su-lan want to go to America or Europe?"
"I want to learn how to do business so I can help my master in the future. Where would be a good place to go?"
Cheng Zhiwen thought for a moment and said, "You need to consider which direction you want to help your master, whether it's in terms of technology or in terms of business management."
Seeing Su Lan's bewildered expression, Shen Qing promptly interrupted the topic.
"Alright, alright, she wouldn't understand any of this now. We'll ask her when we're ready to go out."
After saying that, he asked Chunju to come over and take Sulan away.
Cheng Zhiwen put Su Lan down and winked at her.
Shen Qing smiled and urged, "Let's go to Mr. Schmidt's place first! Because you weren't there, I couldn't communicate with him because of the language barrier."
"good."
The two of them went to Mr. Schmidt's room together, knocked on the door and went in.
Upon meeting Cheng Zhiwen, Mr. Schmidt excitedly spoke to him at length.
Shen Qing felt that his reaction was like something a machine could produce.
But Cheng Zhiwen kept her brows furrowed. She remained silent at first, but then suddenly said a few harsh words, and Mr. Schmidt's expression changed drastically.
Shen Qing watched with bated breath, but dared not interrupt, and could only patiently wait for them to finish talking.
Unexpectedly, Cheng Zhiwen suddenly snatched the manuscript from Mr. Schmidt's hand, then pulled Shen Qing to her feet: "Let's go back first!"
Shen Qing had no idea what was going on, so she could only keep bowing to Mr. Schmidt and say in English, "Then I'll go up first, thank you!"
Mr. Schmidt smiled and waved to her.
Back in the room, as soon as the door closed, Shen Qing immediately asked, "What happened just now? Why did you suddenly run away?"
As she spoke, she pointed to the booklet in Cheng Zhiwen's hand: "And what are you doing bringing this back? It's meant for him to study."
Cheng Zhiwen frowned as she looked at her, remaining silent for a moment.
His reaction made Shen Qing even more panicked: "Tell me quickly, what's wrong? Is the machine unable to do it?"
If high-density spinning machines can't produce it, then the down jacket business is even more in jeopardy!
Cheng Zhiwen put her hands in her pockets, walked to the window, opened it, leaned against it, and looked into the distance.
This was his habit when he was thinking, and Shen Qing did not disturb him, but sat quietly to the side and waited.
After a moment, he looked over and said, "Schmidt thinks your idea for this machine is brilliant. Once it's made, it will revolutionize the entire European textile industry."
Shen Qing didn't initially think there was anything wrong with what he said.
Cheng Zhiwen reminded him, "Pay attention, it's about disrupting the textile industry in 'Europe,' not the textile industry in 'China'!"
Shen Qing then realized what he meant and stood up excitedly: "What does he mean? He wants to take the idea for this machine to Europe?"
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