Chapter 6

No matter what, Guo Tailai felt that he hadn't done anything wrong. After all, he had re-scraped the ways, bringing the old lathe back to life. How could that be considered a mistake?

It was more important to continue with his own plans. He needed to hurry and make the prototype, then apply for a patent, write a paper, and in a month at most, his graduation project would be completed. The remaining time could be used to think of ways to make money and find titanium powder.

Although Liu Lao interrupted him, it didn't affect Guo Tailai's progress. Since he already had a plan, he spent half the afternoon easily machining four sets of hydraulic pistons and cylinders.

Of course, this was just rough machining. To truly complete them, they still needed to be hand-polished in the fitter's workshop. There was no way the 1933 Rhein lathe could meet Guo Tailai's precision requirements.

Guo Tailai himself didn't realize that since he had the ability to machine with 5-micron precision, his precision requirements for anything he made had been raised to this level. Ordinary lathes were no longer good enough for him.

Liu Lao never mentioned his name from the beginning, and Guo Tailai didn't know who he was. Additionally, Liu Lao seemed to have never asked for Guo Tailai's name. Despite all the talking, the two were still strangers who didn't know each other's names.

What was Liu Lao going to do tomorrow? Guo Tailai didn't know. But since he had to go to the fitter's workshop to make other parts anyway, he might as well show respect and listen to the elder.

While Guo Tailai was thinking about Liu Lao, Liu Lao was also thinking about Guo Tailai.

What kind of monster was this fat guy? Did he start learning skills from the womb? How could he have such exquisite skills?

Liu Lao had seen many talented people in his life, but this was the first time he had seen a young fitter of such a large build.

Others would produce uniformly patterned ways, which looked very beautiful, but Liu Lao, as an expert, could feel a slight unevenness when he touched them. After all, it was impossible to completely flatten a surface by scraping alone.

But what the fat guy produced was clearly a mirror-like surface, with no undulations. More impressively, he used the most worn part of the old ways as a reference to re-scrape. In other words, he almost scraped off an entire layer of the ways.

Under the fat guy's technique, not only did he produce a mirror-like surface, but he did it so efficiently, which was simply unbelievable. Liu Lao himself was an expert, but even at his peak, he couldn't match this speed.

Creating a mirror-like surface wasn't impossible, but it would take at least a few months. Moreover, the current Liu Lao was no longer at his peak. He had the experience, but not the supreme manual skills anymore.

The only regret was that he didn't see the fat guy in action. Liu Lao had been retired for many years, but this was the first time he was moved. Such a good seed, if not properly cultivated, would be a real waste.

The next morning, after having breakfast, Guo Tailai took the drawings and headed to the school's fitter's workshop.

In the factory manager's office, four people were talking. On the desk were a set of drawings and two rectangular boxes.

"Manager Li, please help!" A middle-aged man in a suit bowed and handed a Zhonghua cigarette to the middle-aged man in a work uniform, pleading, "We really need your help!"

"It's not that we don't want to help, Manager Wan." Manager Li took the cigarette, lit it with the lighter the man offered, and exhaled a smoke ring before raising his head with a bitter smile, "We really can't do this job!"

"Look at this drawing, it requires a maximum precision of 0.5 microns." Manager Li pointed to the two long boxes, "You've already done the rough machining. The rest is just fine grinding. We don't have such precise equipment! Why don't you try the aerospace industry? They definitely have the capability."

"It's because we don't have those connections!" Manager Wan's face was full of bitterness, "There are only two semi-finished pieces, and we just need one qualified piece. Even if we had the connections, they might not be willing to do it for just one piece! It was only because my son told me that you often do small batches of precision parts that I came here."

"We do precision parts, but we don't have the equipment, so we can only do it manually!" Manager Li took a puff of the cigarette and replied, "We have a few fitters of the fifth and sixth levels. With enough time, they can hand-grind it. But you need it done quickly, and the precision requirement for the crankshaft is too high. It's not necessary!"

"It's not that I need it done quickly, or that our precision requirements are high, it's that the Japanese are being too arrogant!" Manager Wan was getting agitated, and he let out a curse, "We're a small private enterprise, not saying we're the best, but we have a dozen fitters of the fifth and sixth levels. If we had enough time, we could hand-grind it. But those bastards are bullying us, giving us such a short time. They look down on us and are deliberately making things difficult!"

Manager Wan was the factory manager of Wanxin Motorcycle Factory, a private enterprise that had introduced the production technology for a small-displacement motorcycle. The motorcycles sold well, and the business was thriving.

Recently, Wanxin Motorcycle wanted to launch a new product, planning to produce a large-displacement motorcycle designed in-house. However, they lacked the engine design and production technology. So, Manager Wan personally went to Japan to try to introduce a four-cylinder 400cc motorcycle engine, but he encountered difficulties.

"Did the Japanese say something nasty?" Manager Li asked.

"They didn't say anything too nasty," Manager Wan said with a bitter smile, "The leader directly handed me two crankshafts and a drawing, saying that this was their rough machining product. If I could fine-grind it to a precision of 0.5 microns within four days, they would transfer the production technology of that engine to me at a high price."

"High price?" The old man Liu, who had been sitting and playing with fitness balls, interjected.

"Old Liu, you didn't see that guy's arrogant attitude," Manager Wan's eyes turned red, "In their reception area, every Japanese person seemed polite, but the disdain in their eyes was palpable, even when they bowed to you."

Although the others in the office hadn't experienced it, they could see from the red eyes of the rather ordinary-named Manager Wan that the contempt and humiliation he felt were deeply etched in his memory.

"I'm not thinking about whether the introduction will succeed; I just want to save face," Manager Wan said indignantly to Old Liu, "I want the Japanese to know not to underestimate us Chinese!"