Chapter Thirty-Five: Heading to the Black Market
Seeing her overly sarcastic expression, Director Zhang grabbed a cotton glove stained with machine oil and slammed it on the table, saying, "Aren't you afraid of biting off more than you can chew? You've only studied for a few years, and you've already forgotten your own limitations! This is an imported machine tool with thousands of parts inside. If you make a mistake, you'll break it. If I really hand it over to you to assemble, can you afford to pay for the damage?"
Hearing this, Lin Baozhu didn't refute it. Pointing to several gears on the ground, she said, "This is the second drive shaft inside the main shaft box of the three-stage helical gear set. It's made of carburized alloy steel... and this..."
She then pointed to the grooves in several machine frames and continued, "This is the overload protection hub. On ordinary machine tools, when the cutting force exceeds 800 N·m, the pre-designed weak keyway will break first. This feature better protects the spindle from damage..."
Lin Baozhu spoke with great conviction, eliciting astonishment from everyone present. The factory manager, who had previously been furious over the machine tool falling apart, looked particularly surprised and exclaimed, "Young Lin..."
"Zhi, how come you're so familiar with this machine tool?"
Lin Baozhu glanced at the factory director, whose face was somewhat pale, and her tone was not as harsh as before.
"Factory Director, I graduated with the highest score in our county. During my time at school, I participated in mechanical research and experiments many times. I also went to the city's machine factory as a translator and exchanged ideas with German technicians. Actually, machine tools like this are quite simple to assemble once you understand the principles."
Seeing that she was getting more and more out of control, Lin Erlang reached out to pull her back!
When did his sister ever work as a translator for the city? Such a big thing, how could his mother, with her big mouth, not spread it around so that everyone knows?
My little sister is making such a big boast, he'll be in trouble when the time comes!
"Xiao Lintong
"Zhi, I think you're getting more and more out of control. Just because you were a translator and visited a machine shop where they were assembling machines doesn't mean you can do it yourself... How many parts do you even recognize? Factory manager, the most important thing right now is to quickly go to the city and bring that expert over so we can get the machine tools installed as soon as possible. If this delays the shipyard's production, we can't afford the responsibility."
Upon hearing this, the factory manager's eyes suddenly dimmed. Xiao Zhang was right, Xiao Lin was right.
Zhi may know a lot about this machine tool, but it's still too difficult for her to assemble it exactly as it was. If she breaks it, not only will she not be able to afford to pay for it, but she, as the factory manager, will also have to step down!
"Xiao Zheng, go and call the city and do everything you can to bring the experts here."
Lin Baozhu shrugged. It was obvious that the factory manager did not believe she had the ability to assemble machine tools. If that was the case, why should she continue to stay here and be disliked?
"In that case, we'll be going now."
"Hurry up and leave, don't delay our work. We already have enough trouble with Lin Erlang causing trouble here, and now there's another one like you. What bad luck."
The last two words were spoken very softly, but Lin Baozhu still heard them clearly.
She gave Director Zhang a half-smile, picked up her basket, and turned to leave...
Okay, very good...
Hopefully, Director Zhang will still be as assertive then as he is now!
By removing the screw and then running the machine for such a long time, the precision parts inside were damaged. Even if the machine were reassembled exactly as it was before, its precision would be greatly diminished.
Currently, besides the equipment in her space being able to produce those precision parts, the other option is to import them from the original manufacturer...
Importing it? Not only is it time-consuming and laborious, but Germany might not be willing to supply it. How much profit do they make on a single part? They'd rather sell to Chinese machine tool manufacturers. So, whether this part can even be imported is uncertain. Therefore, currently, besides her, no one else can repair this machine tool!
As they exited the machine factory, Lin Sanlang leaned close to her and whispered, "Little sister, you really know how to assemble that big thing? And I've never heard of you working as a translator in the city."
"As I said today, I visited the city back in high school. I have a good memory and memorized the location of all the parts, so... assembling it shouldn't be difficult. As for being a translator, well, when you're traveling, you have to choose your own identity..."
Lin Sanlang's voice suddenly rose: "How dare you? With the momentum you had just displayed, I thought you built that machine. Turns out, all that bragging was just talk. Even your uncle would be ashamed of his own bragging skills."
Sigh, the original owner's uncle was notorious for his boasting; everyone in the village called him "Guo the Sprayer"!
Lin Sanlang patted his chest and whispered, "Luckily they didn't let you assemble it today. If it hadn't been assembled properly, not only would we have lost face, but if we had broken any parts, I couldn't afford to pay for it even if I sold myself. Let's hurry up and leave, lest they come looking for us again..."
Seeing his relieved expression, Lin Baozhu stood on tiptoe, patted his shoulder, and laughed, "If you don't leave now, the meat I brought for my second brother and sister-in-law will go bad."
Upon hearing this, Lin Sanlang hurriedly pedaled his bicycle twice, and only after they were far away from the machine factory did he sigh and say, "Ever since you learned to hunt, little sister, our family's life has visibly improved. Before, when we ate meat, we would just cut a few slices of fatty meat, chop it up, and stew it into a big pot of vegetables. You couldn't even taste the meat with a single bite. Now we have meat every day, and we can pick up several slices with a single bite. I would never have dared to dream of this before."
Lin Baozhu sat in the back seat, swinging her fair legs and laughing, "Once you become a full-time employee, our family's life will get better."
The way her third brother looked at the machine factory with such envy today made her feel uneasy, so she had to find him a job no matter what...
"Little sister, you're talking nonsense again. Jobs aren't that easy to find. Even when they're advertised, most of the positions are already filled internally. It's hard for ordinary people like us to make a living!"
Lin Baozhu didn't say anything after hearing this, but she already had a plan in mind!
The two arrived at Lin Erlang's house. After Lin Baozhu took everything out of her basket, she said to Lin Sanlang, "Third Brother, wait for me at Second Brother's house. I'm going to visit one of my female classmates."
"Aren't you going to the department store?"
"Yes, but I plan to go with my classmate!"
"Then be careful and come back early after you've finished shopping."
He happened to be looking for some old friends to find out who this Director Zhang from the machine factory really was. Even if he were completely clueless, he could see today that the director was clearly targeting his second brother.
If the other party is just a workshop foreman, he wouldn't mind putting a sack over his head and beating him up at night. If someone dares to bully the Lin family, he'll beat them so badly that their parents won't recognize them. Otherwise, he wouldn't be Lin Sanlang.
*
After leaving Lin Erlang's house, Lin Baozhu found a secluded spot and slipped into her spatial dimension. She changed into a set of patched clothes, smeared makeup on her face, and finally wrapped a dusty towel around her head. When she came out, she had transformed into a dark-skinned country bumpkin, so much so that even her mother wouldn't recognize her!
She wandered the streets for a while, carrying her basket on her back. When she saw a woman carrying a basket acting suspiciously, she followed her from a distance. The woman came to the entrance of a small alley, exchanged a few words with an old woman sewing shoe soles, and then quickly went into the alley...
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