"What do you know! I heard that the new Political Commissar Zhou thinks Team Leader Su and her team aren't good enough and wants the experts to take over the project! Team Leader Su isn't happy about it, that's why she's going to compete! This is to prove us all right!"
"Hey! I knew it! Who is Team Leader Su? He's a genius who can make our room as warm as spring! I think this is hard to say! Are the experts in Beijing necessarily better than our Team Leader Su? I don't believe it! I'm on Team Leader Su's side!"
Public opinion quickly escalated, with almost everyone siding with Su Tang.
People simply believed that Su Tang was someone who had done practical things for the military region, that he was one of their own, and that he was a good comrade who could keep his wife and children from getting cold. They couldn't let outside bureaucrats and experts bully him.
The intense public pressure quickly reached Zhou Huai'an's ears.
He sat in his office, listening to his secretary's report, and for the first time, the smile on his face faltered.
He cursed under his breath in frustration.
He never expected that a young woman in her early twenties would have such methods, pushing him to the opposite side of the masses with just a few words, forcing him into a predicament where he couldn't back down.
Refusing to compete? As Geng Xiangdong said, that's because he's guilty, he lacks confidence in the experts sent by his superiors, and he'd be slapping headquarters in the face. He can't afford to wear that label.
Agree to the competition? He always felt there was a trap involved, but Su Tang's proposal was perfectly legitimate, based on the reason of "selecting the best furnace to serve the people," and he couldn't find any excuse to refute it.
Ultimately, on the advice of Director Qian Xuedong and several members of the military region's standing committee, [the decision was made].
Zhou Huai'an had no choice but to reluctantly approve the "open technical exchange competition," and he also had to "follow public opinion" and personally serve as the "chief referee" of the competition.
Three days later, a team of five experts from Beijing arrived in Sun City by military aircraft.
The team leader was a fifty-something engineer named Gao Dongliang. His hair was neatly combed, and he was wearing a brand-new Zhongshan suit. He exuded a serious and unsmiling demeanor and an arrogant air of self-importance.
In a conference room specially set up by the research institute, Zhou Huai'an and Qian Xuedong personally received them.
After some pleasantries, Su Tang, as the project leader, handed over a set of drawings.
"Senior Engineer, this is the basic design drawing of the thermal circulation furnace that our project team has developed so far. Please provide your guidance and feedback, along with other experts."
Gao Dongliang adjusted his glasses and took the blueprints.
Several young experts behind him also leaned over, their faces scrutinizing him.
Gao Dongliang glanced at it, only scanning it briefly before setting the drawing aside. He curled his lip and let out a barely audible sneer.
"Hmm, the design concept is interesting." He said in a tone of an elder instructing a younger person, "However, the structure is still too simple, and many details are not well considered. It seems like the clever tricks of someone who hasn't received systematic training, and it's not up to standard. Young comrade, scientific research is a very serious matter. You have to be down-to-earth and take it one step at a time. You can't always think about taking shortcuts, understand?"
A young expert behind him chimed in, "Yes, the senior engineer is right. With this design, a thermal efficiency of over 40% would be the best we can achieve. Compared to our current mature technology, there's still a significant gap."
Su Tang simply listened with a smile, offering no explanation; this was exactly the effect she wanted.
This drawing, which she deliberately omitted—the optimal dimensions of the secondary combustion chamber, the crucial parameters of the flue swirl angle, and the precise proportions of several trace elements in the refractory clay—is, in the eyes of a true expert, riddled with flaws and utterly nonsensical.
But it was precisely these loopholes that were the biggest trap she had prepared for these arrogant experts. A slight smile played on her lips. Let's see who's the real deal and who's the real expert...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
