The application to the factory was submitted, but waiting for experts wouldn't be quick. The grinding machine was still stuck in the corner of the workshop, like a big rock blocking everyone's way. Unfinished military workpieces were piled up on the table. Days passed, and the delivery date was getting closer and closer. Nobody had any confidence.
On the surface, Liu Li went about her business as usual—she didn't neglect her work on the lathe, held the QC team meetings as scheduled, and didn't lose focus while adjusting the milling machine with Master Wang. But she kept thinking about that grinding machine. She felt that she couldn't just wait around like this; maybe there was something she could figure out.
During her spare time, she would take a few extra glances around the grinding machine, not daring to touch it, but scanning it with her eyes—whether the machine bed was flat, whether there was any oil seeping out of the gaps in the transmission box, and even squatting down to take a look at the anchor bolts, afraid that they might be loose.
During lunch break, the workers either went to the canteen or found a place to nap, leaving the workshop quiet. Liu Li, holding her lunchbox, squatted on a toolbox not far from the grinding machine, munching on a steamed bun mixed with cornmeal and some pickled vegetables, her eyes never leaving the grinding machine's transmission box. Suddenly, she noticed an oil stain on the bottom of the box, a darker color than the surrounding lubricating oil. She reached out and rubbed it; the oil wasn't completely dry, as if it had just seeped out and been wiped clean—could the pressure inside be wrong?
After get off work, she didn't rush to leave. She waited until most of her coworkers had left before approaching Master Wang and saying, "Master, can I listen to the grinding machine again? Just let it idle for a bit?"
Master Wang looked up at her and saw that her eyes were bright and she didn't seem to be just making a fuss. He nodded, walked over and turned off the power, and gestured to Master Dong with his chin: "Just turn it on occasionally, don't leave it on for too long."
The grinder hummed, and that high-pitched buzzing sound came out again. Liu Li leaned forward, her ear closer to the transmission housing (not daring to get too close for fear of danger), and could feel the vibration transmitted through the metal housing. The frequency was very fast, unlike the slow and heavy vibration of the main spindle—it sounded more like some small gear was turning too fast and not meshing properly.
"Master, this sound doesn't seem to be from the main shaft, it sounds more like a small transmission component," Liu Li whispered.
Master Wang didn't say anything, but simply turned off the machine and patted her on the shoulder: "Don't overthink it. We can't just guess what's going on with this foreign stuff."
But Liu Li didn't stop. Back in her dorm that night, under the dim light of her desk lamp, she flipped through the thick "Mechanical Design Handbook," focusing specifically on the chapter on gear transmissions. As she read, a thought suddenly popped into her head—could it be that the parts weren't broken, but rather that prolonged operation and thermal expansion and contraction had altered the gear clearances? Or perhaps one of the smaller gears had a slight, invisible deformation that caused it to vibrate when rotating fast, eventually reducing its precision?
The moment this idea popped into her head, she was so excited she couldn't sleep—this explained why the experienced craftsmen couldn't find the problem even after removing the cover; the parts weren't broken, they were just "off track"!
Over the next two days, her notebook was filled with crookedly drawn gears, labeled "gear sets that may have backlash" and "high-speed drive shafts," and she also noted the time she listened for the sounds and the location of the oil stains. She wanted to go to the technical department to find the blueprints, but she had no reason to—as a first-class technician, how could she be qualified to look at the blueprints of imported equipment?
That noon, she waited for Fu Jingchen in the cafeteria. Seeing him approach with his lunchbox, she quickly waved, "Engineer Fu, there's a seat here!"
Fu Jingchen sat down and was about to pick up some food when Liu Li lowered her voice and said, "Engineer Fu, I have an idea about that grinding machine. Could you take a look and see if it's feasible?"
She poured out everything she had seen—the oil stains, the sounds she had heard, and her hypothesis that "the gear clearance had changed or was slightly deformed." Afraid that Fu Jingchen wouldn't understand, she even drew two gears biting together on the table with her chopsticks: "It's right here, just a little bit off. If it turns too fast, it vibrates, and vibration marks appear during processing."
Fu Jingchen stopped picking up food with his chopsticks, his brows slowly relaxed, and his eyes brightened: "You mean, it's not that the parts are broken, but that they've 'misaligned'? A micron-level deviation is magnified at high speed?"
"Yes!" Liu Li nodded quickly. "If that's the case, we don't need to replace any parts, just adjust the gap!"
Fu Jingchen tapped his fingers on the table, then frowned: "The idea makes sense, but without blueprints and measurement data, how can we know which gear it is? Besides, the precision required for adjustment is too high. If we make a mistake, the trouble will be even greater."
“I know it’s difficult,” Liu Li gripped her chopsticks tightly, “but it’s better than just waiting! If I had the blueprints for the transmission system, I could study it some more and maybe figure out which gear set it is!”
Fu Jingchen looked at her for a long time, seeing the seriousness in her eyes, and finally nodded: "Okay, I'll give it a try. The technical department has a copy of the German drawings. I'll try to find some connections to see if I can borrow it for you to take a look at. But Liu Li, this is risky. Think it over. If you tell anyone, some people might think you're messing around."
"I've made up my mind!" Liu Li said firmly. "As long as it solves the problem, I don't care what others say."
Fu Jingchen laughed: "You little rascal, you really are fearless like a newborn calf."
Looking at Fu Jingchen, Liu Li felt much more at ease—with the blueprints, her idea could become more realistic. She knew it sounded far-fetched, but it was better than watching the grinding machine stand still and the military project delayed. Clutching her notebook, her fingertips turning slightly white, she was already planning which part of the blueprints she should look at first.
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