Chapter 8

"Old man, I need to use your room and those things for a few days." Guo Tailai completely ignored the expressions of the people in the room and said to Old Liu, "Also, you promised to teach me your best skills, don't back out!"

Guo Tailai threw down his things and left. After three and a half hours of non-stop work, he was already starving. Basically, saying these words was the limit of the fat man's patience. Without waiting for a response from the others, Guo Tailai ran off, afraid that the cafeteria would be out of food if he didn't hurry.

The factory manager Li and the manager Wan, who were waiting anxiously in the office, were completely speechless. Was it done?

Factory Manager Li wasn't just an office worker; he had a skilled hand. Otherwise, how could he determine how long a fitter's manual grinding would take? Manager Wan, without a doubt, was in charge of front-line production and had already communicated with the factory's senior fitters. His time estimation wouldn't be far off.

Faced with the fact that the fat man had completed in three and a half hours what they estimated would take a sixth-level fitter a month, their first reaction was disbelief!

However, the work was supervised by Old Liu, a retired ninth-level fitter, and they couldn't voice any doubts. They could only shout in their hearts, "How is this possible?"

"Measure it!" Old Liu pointed to the box on the table and sat down on a chair nearby.

Not just Factory Manager Li and Manager Wan, even Old Liu himself was still in shock.

Guo Tailai, that fat man, worked too quickly and didn't follow the usual precision processing methods. His fundamentals were solid, but his boldness in action made Old Liu break out in a cold sweat.

There was only a 1-micron processing allowance. When Old Liu arrived, he thought the fat man was still carefully measuring the dimensions and comparing them with the drawings. But when he entered, he found that the fat man had already clamped the half-finished crankshaft and was holding the finest diamond file, filing the outer surface of the small end of the connecting rod.

Old Liu almost screamed. He finally understood that the most feared thing during manual grinding was external distractions. He held back until the fat man finished the filing, then spoke.

"What are you doing?" Old Liu closed the door of the small room and angrily asked Guo Tailai.

"Processing the crankshaft!" Guo Tailai looked at the furious Old Liu innocently, "Isn't this the job you asked me to do? I must say, your tools are amazing, much more precise than those outside."

"Is that how you do it?" Old Liu was furious and scolded Guo Tailai, "Do you know how much processing allowance there is? You're using a file, and this small allowance is only enough for fine grinding! I was blind yesterday!"

"Please!" The fat man didn't tolerate Old Liu's habit of relying on his seniority: "It's just a 1-micron processing allowance, what's the big deal? Do you care if I file it or grind it? Come, measure it!"

As he spoke, the fat man took a micrometer from the tool box and threw it to Old Liu. Really, making me work while nagging, what's wrong with you? If it weren't for the respect everyone in the fitter workshop showed Old Liu, Guo Tailai wouldn't have put up with this.

Old Liu had to measure. If the fat man didn't know the limits, the diamond file wouldn't care about hardness, and one stroke would remove at least 3 microns, ruining the crankshaft.

However, Old Liu measured several times, checking the positions of the filed areas. The micrometer readings were exactly the same, all 30.010 millimeters, without the slightest deviation. If another 1 micron was filed off, it would be exactly the 30 millimeters specified in the drawing.

In other words, the fat man's one stroke removed exactly 1 micron, no more, no less. This sense of touch and control was simply divine!

Even at his peak, Old Liu himself wouldn't dare to file exactly 1 micron in one stroke. He would have to be extremely careful, filing a little at a time, measuring several times after each stroke to take an average before continuing. How could he compare to the fat man's effortless precision?

When the fat man filed another position and Old Liu measured it again, confirming that the fat man's hands were incredibly steady and precise, Old Liu was certain he had found a gem.

After three times, Old Liu no longer measured each time. He watched the fat man, who, in order, filed the crankshaft, which originally required high-precision CNC machines to complete the final precision processing, to the correct size.

The fat man had a clear sense of the work, and he knew exactly what to do. Planar surfaces were easy, just file them precisely. But the large and small holes in the connecting rod, with their inner and outer diameters, were very difficult to process. Yet, the fat man followed the curved surfaces, filing them in one stroke.

This was not just the pinnacle of skill but a level of craftsmanship that was almost divine. Old Liu didn't know how to describe the fat man's skills. Even though he was a ninth-level fitter, he didn't dare to compare himself to the fat man in this area.

The only thing that could surpass the fat man was the decades of rich experience. Since the fat man had such divine skills, Old Liu wanted to impart all his knowledge to him immediately.

So, while the fat man worked, Old Liu gave him advance warnings, explained techniques, and taught him various methods for processing corners and curved surfaces, as if pouring knowledge into the fat man's brain.

Guo Tailai's fundamentals were very solid, and the two of them worked very easily, not at all as cautiously as people outside imagined. They chatted while Guo Tailai worked, learning and working at the same time, in a relaxed and pleasant manner.

In the conversation, Old Liu learned Guo Tailai's name and the purpose of his visit to the fitter workshop.

Guo Tailai also learned that Old Liu was definitely an expert. The things he learned from his father had more refined, stable, and creative methods and techniques from Old Liu, a treasure trove of knowledge. Even if Guo Tailai was unlikely to work in front-line manufacturing in the future, these valuable experiences were exactly what he had been dreaming of.

The two of them chatted relaxedly, and before they knew it, the filing and subsequent manual fine grinding were completed. The fat man quickly polished it, and the two didn't waste any more time, taking the items back to the office.

Only then did Old Liu realize that the finished products had not been measured by him.

What shocked Old Liu even more was that from start to finish, he never saw the fat man use the micrometer, just working without measuring once.

"Qualified... Qualified... Qualified... Qualified..." Manager Wan and Factory Manager Li each held a crankshaft and a micrometer, comparing them with the drawings and continuously measuring, saying "qualified."

In the end, all the dimensions were qualified, and both the inner and outer diameters were perfectly standard. They estimated that one crankshaft would take a sixth-level fitter a month to fine grind, but the fat man completed two in three and a half hours. How was this possible?

"How did he do it?" Factory Manager Li was almost driven mad. Was this even human?