Chapter 142 Mr. Charlie, Please Respect
"Is your factory short-staffed? Sending a woman to fill in? What a joke."
His flirtatious gaze swept over Xu Zhili, then turned to Director Zhou, his tone becoming lewd.
"Director Zhou, it seems you really have no other choice. How about this: I can forgo those four conditions in exchange for her spending the night with me. How about that? Isn't that a good deal?"
These words were like cold water dropped into a pot of boiling oil, instantly causing an explosion.
Factory Director Zhou's face turned ashen, veins bulging on his forehead. He shouted sternly, "Mr. Charlie! Please show some respect. This is a factory in China, not a place where you can run wild. Our employees are not commodities!"
"Yes! Get out!"
The surrounding workers were instantly enraged, their roars blending together, and several young apprentices even rolled up their sleeves, ready to step forward.
A flash of anger crossed Xu Zhili's eyes, but she quickly straightened her back and stared coldly at Charlie: "Your arrogance and rudeness only prove your shallowness. Technology may have national boundaries, but dignity does not."
Charlie hadn't expected such a strong reaction. Overwhelmed by the workers' anger, he shrugged and said insincerely, "It was just a joke, why take it so seriously..."
"This is no joke."
Factory Director Zhou interrupted him decisively, waving his hand, "Security Department! Please ask this Mr. Charlie to leave immediately. Our machinery factory does not welcome 'experts' like him."
Amid the angry stares and shouts of the workers, Charlie was shoved out in a sorry state, muttering threatening words under his breath.
The workshop was temporarily quiet, but the heavy pressure had not disappeared.
Looking at the group of expectant yet anxious workers in front of him, Director Zhou said in a deep voice, "Comrades, the difficulties are temporary. We must be tough and find our own solutions."
At this moment, Xu Zhili stepped forward again, her tone calm yet authoritative: "Director Zhou, can I try now?"
Looking into her calm and determined eyes, Director Zhou recalled the amazing ingenuity and hands-on skills she had shown when assembling fans and repairing precision instruments, and then thought about how they were now at their wits' end.
He took a deep breath, as if he had made a huge decision, and nodded heavily: "Okay! Comrade Xu, just go ahead and do it. The factory will fully cooperate with whatever is needed."
Director Zhang also encouraged him, saying, "Yes, Comrade Xu, don't feel pressured. We all believe in you."
Xu Zhili nodded and quickly walked to her younger brother's side.
Zhi'an was being led by a kind older woman, while the old master sat obediently on a small stool to the side.
Xu Zhili squatted down and said softly, "An'an, I'm going to go see that big iron lump. You sit here and wait for me, okay? Listen to this auntie."
Little Zhi'an nodded vigorously and said in her childish voice, "Sister is going to fix the big machine, An'an is good."
After settling her younger brother in, Xu Zhili deftly found her toolbox, put on thick gloves, and walked to the massive machine tool.
Instead of starting immediately, she slowly walked around the machine, her eyes sharp as she carefully examined every pipe, interface, and nameplate. Sometimes she listened intently to the lingering mechanical echoes, and sometimes she gently ran her fingers over key components to feel their temperature and vibrations.
Suddenly, she stopped in front of a complex gearbox, crouched down, and shone her flashlight into a tiny gap.
Immediately afterwards, she decisively picked up her tools and began to carefully disassemble the outer protective panel.
Everyone around held their breath, watching the young woman's skillful operation with bated breath.
Soon, a set of severely worn transmission gears, some even showing fine cracks, was exposed to everyone's eyes.
"Director Zhou, look here."
Xu Zhili pointed to the damage, "The problem is most likely with this set of gears. Long-term uneven stress has led to excessive wear, which may have triggered a chain of failures. We need to replace the spare parts immediately and recalibrate the entire transmission system."
Factory Director Zhou took a closer look and gasped – the crack was indeed very well hidden. He immediately turned around and shouted, “Old Liu! Quick! Find the spare gear set and let Comrade Xu take charge.”
The workshop instantly sprang into action, and the flame of hope was rekindled in everyone's eyes.
Xu Zhili wiped the fine sweat from her forehead, her eyes focused, completely immersed in the world of repair...
The lathe was started, and the operator proceeded as usual. The previously stationary fixtures were now released, and the operator loaded the workpiece blank into the lathe.
Director Zhang's eyes widened, and Factory Director Zhou also found it unbelievable, but you could tell from his wide eyes that he was also shocked.
The lathe whirred and spun out the required parts. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and cast admiring glances at Xu Zhili. This woman is no ordinary woman!
Just as Factory Director Zhou was about to come over to thank Xu Zhili, she walked over and said to the operator, "Get down, the lathe still needs adjustment."
The operator stood there, stunned, looking on in disbelief.
The people around, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, tensed up again and looked at each other in bewilderment.
Everyone thought the lathe was already running normally and the part was finished, which meant the machine was repaired, so why did it still need adjustment?
Factory Director Zhou stopped in his tracks, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes, but he still chose to trust Xu Zhili. He waved to signal the operators to come down.
Although the operator had doubts, he obediently got off the operating table.
Xu Zhili stepped forward and carefully observed the lathe's operation. She keenly noticed that there were some abnormal vibrations in the lathe when it was running at high speed.
While this may not affect the parts in the short term, prolonged operation could not only affect the product's precision but also potentially cause another malfunction.
Xu Zhili bent down and carefully examined the transmission components of the lathe. With her solid mechanical knowledge and keen observation skills, she discovered that the meshing of a transmission gear was not precise enough.
She asked a worker nearby for special tools and began carefully adjusting the position of the gears.
People gathered around, watching Xu Zhili operate the machine silently, not daring to utter a sound.
At this moment, the only sounds in the workshop were the running of lathes and Xu Zhili's soft tool-operating sounds.
After some careful adjustments, Xu Zhili started the lathe again.
This time, the lathe ran much more smoothly, and the slight, barely perceptible vibration from before disappeared without a trace.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and gave Xu Zhili a thumbs up.
Factory Director Zhou walked over with a look of satisfaction, grasped Xu Zhili's hand tightly, and said excitedly, "Comrade Xu, you are truly a great hero of our factory. If it weren't for you, I don't know how we would have gotten through this difficult time today."
Xu Zhili smiled somewhat embarrassedly, "Director Zhou, this is the result of everyone's joint efforts. I only did what I could. The future of our factory still depends on everyone's hard work."
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