Chapter 4

When a person is in high spirits, their spirit is refreshed. Throughout the summer vacation, Guo Tailai immersed himself in the process of excitedly practicing his craft while also losing weight on the side.

There was no way Guo Tailai could go out to look for titanium powder at home. After all, he was still a student, and his parents were unlikely to let him run around alone.

As for his parents accompanying him, that was even less likely. Both were facing layoffs, and they had no mood to accompany their son in his "unproductive" activities.

In the empty workshop, Guo Tailai thoroughly relearned the basics of a fitter. Filing, drilling, planing, grinding, scraping, and sawing—all these skills he practiced.

The more than twenty days of summer vacation brought rapid growth to Guo Tailai, transforming him into an excellent fitter. Although he couldn't match the experience and seniority of those senior fitters, his techniques, especially in precision, were on par or even better.

With the powerful computational capabilities of the control system, Guo Tailai could manually file a perfect sphere, something an ordinary fitter could never achieve. Just the accurate calculation alone was impossible, and even with calculation tools, precise positioning and measurement would still be a problem.

Perhaps someone could do it, but their speed would never match Guo Tailai's. In fact, Guo Tailai really did file one and polished it to perfection. When he placed it in front of Guo Jianjun, Guo Jianjun thought Guo Tailai had taken a finished steel ball from the factory to show off.

His precise measurement and processing abilities made it no exaggeration to describe Guo Tailai as a human CNC machine. Fortunately, Guo Tailai was cautious and didn't let anyone else know about this.

As the start of the school year approached, Guo Jianjun and Ding Yumei took out their only savings of 3,000 yuan and gave it to Guo Tailai for living expenses. They were never stingy with their son's education.

Guo Tailai was a student at Tsinghua University. Yes, the highest institution of learning in China, with the stone carving "Qingfen Tingxiu, Huaxia Zenghui" (Clear and Elegant, Enhancing China) on campus, known as "Tsinghua" or "Qinghua." Guo Tailai was now a member of the 92nd class, Instrumentation 21, in the Department of Precision Instruments at Tsinghua University.

It was 1996, and Tsinghua University's annual tuition was only 300 yuan, with accommodation and miscellaneous fees totaling 50 yuan. The state also provided a monthly subsidy of 60 yuan, but it still wasn't enough for living expenses.

Guo Tailai was very frugal, and most of his expenses were on meals. Even so, he needed to spend over 300 yuan each month, and the 3,000 yuan was actually his living expenses for the entire fifth year.

"I need to earn money," Guo Tailai seriously pondered on the train. He was about to graduate and couldn't rely on his parents forever. Perhaps, using his fitter skills for part-time work was a good path.

"Hey, fatty, you've lost weight?" When he returned to school, his dorm mates were all surprised to see Guo Tailai.

Over the more than twenty days of the holiday, Guo Tailai sweated it out in the workshop every day. Although the nanobots didn't consume much fat, the physical activity did, and he lost over twenty pounds. Now, Guo Tailai was a successful weight loser, having lost over twenty pounds in a month.

The fifth year of university was about to start, with few classes, mainly just the graduation thesis and internship. Don't misunderstand; Tsinghua University was a five-year program, like its neighbor, Peking University.

During the summer, Guo Tailai had already planned to quickly determine his graduation thesis direction, join a group, and complete his thesis as soon as possible. This would leave him more time to work and earn money relatively freely.

Guo Tailai had already thought of his graduation thesis project during the summer. In that future dream, there was a product that wasn't very complex, which he could make himself and write a thesis on.

Most importantly, he could apply for a patent on that product, which might become a steady source of income in the future.

At his father's factory, Guo Tailai was only allowed to use some scrap parts, and he didn't think about modifying them. He focused on honing his skills. At school, he could start working on it.

While other students were still worrying about which group to join, Guo Tailai had already quickly chosen his topic the next day, reported it to his tutor, and received permission to complete his design at the school factory.

On the third day of the new term, after breakfast, Guo Tailai went straight to the school factory and explained his intentions to the person in charge.

"Do you want to use a lathe and the tools in the fitter's workshop to make your graduation project?" The workshop director, Mr. Wu, didn't find Guo Tailai's request strange. They helped with many projects during the graduation thesis period, which was normal.

"Can it be delayed a few days?" Mr. Wu was enthusiastic but had a difficult look on his face. "A batch of students just finished their metalworking internship, and these lathes are being maintained. Can it wait a week?"

The school factory's workshops were mainly for students' metalworking internships. After each internship, the machines had to be maintained and calibrated, which was a normal request from Mr. Wu.

"Can't even one be made available?" Guo Tailai didn't want to wait that long. "I just need to make four sets of hydraulic cylinders and pistons, which should take at most half a day."

"High precision required?" Hearing Guo Tailai's words, Mr. Wu thought it was indeed unreasonable to delay such a small task for a week. He asked, "Just straight filing will do?"

"Not high." Guo Tailai, sensing an opportunity, quickly responded, "Straight filing will do."

"Over there, there's an old lathe. It's been a long time, and its precision is a bit off," Mr. Wu pointed to a corner of the lathe workshop. "If your precision requirements are not high, it should work."

"Absolutely, no problem, thank you, Mr. Wu!" Guo Tailai immediately agreed. Low precision wasn't a big deal; he could always adjust it in the fitter's workshop if needed.

With the key, he applied for materials and eagerly went to the room to check the old lathe.

The small room had only two lathes, both very old, almost antique. This room seemed to be specifically for preserving these two old lathes, perhaps for some commemorative reason.

Mr. Wu had mentioned the one at the back. Guo Tailai went over and circled the lathe, inspecting its condition. It was clear that both machines were well-maintained, with no signs of rust.

The nameplate on the lathe, due to its age, had most of the text worn off, leaving only the first line, which was partially obscured by oil. Guo Tailai wiped it clean, and the text became clear.

"Rheinmetall 1933"

"Rheinmetall, 1933." Guo Tailai looked at the nameplate, his mouth agape. A German lathe from 1933, indeed, it was very old. He never expected the school factory to have such a rare antique.

"These guides, there's a problem!" Just a few glances, and Guo Tailai had already identified the issue.