Chapter 22

In a laboratory of the electrical measurement major at Harbin Institute of Technology, four or five young people, led by a man in his thirties, were carefully soldering and assembling electronic components on the table.

The middle-aged man, holding a soldering iron carefully, said, "This is the 4004 chip that the school has managed to get. Be extremely careful when soldering the electronic components!"

The young people around him looked at each other, and one of them said jealously, "An Yong, only you are allowed by the teacher to do the actual operation. If you need to be careful, it's you who needs to be careful, not us!"

Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.

An Yong almost burned himself with the soldering iron. He carefully lifted the iron and turned back to say, "Zhang Qi, you almost got me! If this chip gets damaged, I'm done for, and I might even end up in jail!"

Zhang Qi, the young man, laughed and said, "Oh! Sorry, sorry, you didn't burn it, did you?!"

An Yong shook his head and picked up the soldering iron again, preparing to solder the next pin of the chip.

"Bang!" The wooden door of the laboratory was pushed open forcefully from the outside.

An Yong was startled again. He turned back angrily to look at the door, but his expression quickly changed, and a smile twisted onto his face.

"Teacher... Teacher Li..."

The other students turned back and saw that the person who had forcefully pushed the door open was their main teacher for the electrical measurement major, Professor Li Guoxian.

"Students, I have some good news for you! The car manufacturing plant in our city wants to collaborate with us on a robotics project!" Li Guoxian excitedly waved his hand and announced the news that had just been conveyed from the Industrial Bureau.

"Which car manufacturing plant?" a student asked in confusion.

"The new car plant in our city," Li Guoxian replied.

"It's on the riverbank. I heard it used to be a car repair shop, but because they made a car body, it's now a car manufacturing plant!" a student who was somewhat informed said.

"What kind of capability do they have to collaborate with us? Do they have people in electrical measurement?"

Li Guoxian watched the students discuss with a smile, but as the conversation veered off topic, his expression gradually turned serious. He said, "The comrades from the Industrial Bureau have instructed us to work with their factory on robotic equipment. It's better if they have the capability, but even if they don't, it's a good opportunity for all of us to gain practical experience, with support from the provincial government. This is a great opportunity. In the past, we couldn't find any manufacturers willing to collaborate on industrial robots. You must seize this opportunity!" Li Guoxian didn't want to say anything harsh, as the students were still somewhat difficult to manage. He just gave them a gentle reminder.

Li Guoxian walked over to An Yong and asked, "An Yong, have you finished soldering the chip components?"

An Yong nodded and said to the teacher, "Almost done, just about to finish."

Li Guoxian smiled and nodded, saying, "Good. Prepare for tomorrow morning. You will all go to the factory to visit and understand their ideas."

An Yong nodded, and Li Guoxian left with a smile.

The next day, the teachers and students from Harbin Institute of Technology arrived, with over 20 students and three teachers leading the group.

The group rode bicycles, like a school trip, with both boys and girls chatting and laughing as they arrived at the Jiang'an Car Factory.

"Welcome, welcome! Welcome to the comrades from Harbin Institute of Technology!" Chang Yuanting greeted them with a smile at the entrance.

Zheng Yongmin also came out, met the leading teachers, and exchanged a few words.

The students laughed and noisily parked their bicycles at the factory entrance.

"Chen Bing, go tell the students to park their bikes neatly inside!" Lin Qiangsheng said from behind the window to Chen Bing, who was making a mold.

"Okay!" Chen Bing stood up, looked at the dozens of noisy people outside, and quickly ran out.

Zou Xue and a few other girls also stood up, walked to the window, and listened to the students' chatter. Zou Xue said enviously, "That's so great!"

The girls' eyes sparkled with admiration for the students' identities and their youthful energy.

Lin Qiangsheng shook his head and said, "There's nothing to envy. Although they are students, their living standards over the next ten years won't catch up to yours."

Zou Xue thought for a moment and asked Lin Qiangsheng curiously, "What about after ten years?"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and shook his head, saying, "That's hard to say!"

The girls nodded, still puzzled.

Chen Bing ran outside and loudly said to the noisy crowd, "Please park your bicycles neatly, right in front of that bungalow." He pointed to an open area in front of the factory office that wouldn't block the entrance or exit.

"Ah!... Oh!... We rode so far, just park them here." The students immediately started chattering. Some of them glanced at Chen Bing disdainfully and ignored him.

Chen Bing called out a few more times, but no one paid attention.

Chang Yuanting quickly said to the leading teachers, "Comrades, please have your students follow our factory rules. We can't have obstacles at the entrance; trucks often come and go!"

The teachers, including Li Guoxian, quickly nodded and said, "Sure, sure! We'll take care of it!"

The three teachers immediately called out to the students and even helped push their bikes.

Only then did the students start to move, parking their bikes in front of the factory office.

Chen Bing returned with an angry face, clearly upset by something someone had said to him.

Zou Xue asked, "Chen Bing, what's wrong?"

Chen Bing glanced at Lin Qiangsheng, who was still looking out the window.

Chen Bing said angrily, "What kind of people are these? They think they're better than us just because they're college students!"

Lin Qiangsheng turned back and said with a smile, "Calm down, Brother Chen, I'm sorry! I didn't know they would upset you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have sent you out!"

Chen Bing grunted and let out a heavy breath.

Chen Bing asked Lin Qiangsheng, "Are these the people you want?"

Lin Qiangsheng shook his head and said, "I don't know their level. These are students from the worker-peasant-soldier program, and many of them have poor foundations and got in through connections. We might not need so many. We'll keep the useful ones and let the others go!"

Chen Bing sneered, shook his head, and squatted down to continue working on the sand mold.

The students outside were noisy for a while, but when they got tired, they gradually quieted down. The teachers, however, were very enthusiastic and chatted warmly with the factory manager and director.

After a while, Chang Yuanting led the three teachers into the mold workshop.

"Qiangsheng, this is Teacher Li from Harbin Institute of Technology. You talk to them about the robots; we don't understand this stuff!" Chang Yuanting said to Lin Qiangsheng.

"Teacher Li, hello! Hello, teachers. My name is Lin Qiangsheng," Lin Qiangsheng said to the three teachers.

Li Guoxian and the other two teachers looked at the young man in front of them in surprise. Li Guoxian asked, "You're the one who suggested to the Industrial Bureau to use robotic manufacturing technology?"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and said, "Yes, it was me. I heard that this year, a robotics conference was held in Jiaxing, Zhejiang. Have the teachers in the industry made any achievements that can be applied to our car production?"

Li Guoxian looked at the other two teachers and said, "We do have some achievements, but does your factory have the experimental conditions?"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and said, "If we say we have it, then we must have it! Manager, don't you agree?"

Chang Yuanting thought about the 2,000 people the provincial government was going to assign to them and the leadership that Qin Qidong was going to insert into the factory. Feeling a surge of frustration, he loudly said to Li Guoxian and the others, "Of course! You can rest assured. Whatever you need, I and the director will personally go to the Industrial Bureau and the provincial government to get it for you!"

"Uh..." Li Guoxian and the others were startled by Chang Yuanting's outburst, not understanding why this young man had so much influence with their factory manager.