Chapter 74

Oil Factory Staff Dormitory

Factory Director Lu’s furrowed brow, which had been tense for days, finally relaxed when Su Ye personally came to discuss the oil press improvement with him. Upon receiving the news, he was so delighted that the worry on his face disappeared.

Early in the morning, Factory Director Lu was busy arranging for the machines to be moved to C City’s first machine tool factory.

The oil press was to be jointly improved by the steel plant and the machine tool factory. The steel plant was responsible for producing materials, while the technical backbone of the machine tool factory was in charge of making the parts and modifying the machine structure.

Without hesitation, Factory Director Lu brought a box of heavy small yellow fish from home and exchanged it for 500 yuan at the bank to fund the repairs. By this point, he had already invested nearly 50,000 yuan in these oil presses, which meant that he had paid for half of them.

If the repairs were successful, he could use the machines currently in operation as collateral at the bank and retrieve the money he had invested. If the repairs failed, he would be unable to repay his debts and would have to face bankruptcy and prison.

Factory Director Lu was so grateful that he nearly kneeled down to thank Professor Zhou. He repeatedly expressed his gratitude, saying, “Professor Zhou saved my life!”

Professor Zhou humbly replied, “Factory Director Lu, you’re too kind. Speaking of thanks, you really should thank Su Ye this time. It was her idea to improve your factory’s oil press. Without her, I wouldn’t have been able to make the parts or repair the machines.”

“Of course, Teacher Su is also a great benefactor to our family!” Factory Director Lu nodded repeatedly.

He thought back to the days of rushing around, selling houses and assets, and hurriedly gathering money, and then looked at the scene in the workshop, where technical workers were unloading the oil presses. Finally, he felt grounded, with both feet firmly planted on the ground.

A few key workers at the oil factory couldn’t help but shed a tear of relief. “Factory Director Lu has finally made it through the hard times!”

Some old employees wiped away tears, deeply moved, while others couldn’t hold back and went outside to have a good cry. Yang Xue’s father was one of them.

Together, they stood side by side, watching as the technical workers at the machine tool factory busily and methodically modified the oil presses according to the design.

Factory Director Liu from the machine tool factory spoke to Factory Director Lu, “Old Lu, let me ask you something. Is the oil yield of this batch really 33%?”

Factory Director Lu was taken aback, then, after a moment of careful thought, he said, “When we inspected it initially, it was indeed that much. If the machines are successfully modified according to Professor Zhou’s design, it will be much more than that. Professor Zhou said it could reach this number…”

This number, what number was it?

Factory Director Lu made a gesture with his hands, indicating two numbers: 35.

Factory Director Liu blinked in disbelief and gasped, “So much?”

This number was remarkable! Although their machine tool factory didn’t produce oil presses, Factory Director Liu knew well that this batch of machines had far surpassed the domestic level in efficiency. Compared to international leading technologies, it was probably not far behind either.

Factory Director Liu quickly changed his expression, looking at Professor Zhou with a warm and eager gaze, as if his eyes could spark flames. “Professor Zhou, could you give us the design for this oil press? Of course, our factory would compensate you for it.”

Professor Zhou glanced at Factory Director Lu and smiled broadly.

“This is a great machine, energy-efficient. After nationwide promotion, it could save the country a lot of grain every year. If you want to produce it, I’m happy to see it. However, this batch of oil presses was funded by Factory Director Lu, and I made the improvements based on his machines. Factory Director Liu, besides me, you’ll have to ask him whether you can promote it.”

There are only a few oil factories in the country, and only Factory Director Lu invested a huge amount to introduce new production lines. These are the country’s first batch of spiral oil presses. They had nearly gone bankrupt, selling everything and taking on huge debts, just to buy the machines. Professor Zhou couldn’t just take all the credit.

Factory Director Liu warmly embraced Factory Director Lu. “Definitely! With Factory Director Lu’s machines, the compensation will definitely be fair.”

He turned to Factory Director Lu and said, “Come, come, Old Lu, let’s have a drink in my office. We need to have a good talk about the compensation.”

Factory Director Lu couldn’t help but chuckle. He hadn’t expected such a twist, with this outcome in the end.

The oil presses, which had nearly left him bankrupt, had now turned into the country’s top oil presses, and even the machine tool factory was eager to produce them.

Factory Director Lu wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled wryly, “This isn’t even a done deal yet. Let’s wait until the machines are repaired before talking about it…”

All day long, the technicians at the machine tool factory worked together to modify an oil press. By evening, the machine was completely reassembled. Factory Director Lu personally connected the power supply and poured the oil material into the barrel. The machine hummed to life, and after repeated pressing, golden oil began to flow steadily from the oil filter.

The rich fragrance of peanut oil filled the air. It was free of impurities and sediment, the new production line process was simpler and used less electricity. After weighing the peanut oil, the oil yield was 36%.

Everyone was overjoyed, their smiles so wide they seemed about to reach their ears. The oil factory’s workers deeply bowed to the employees of the other two factories.

Unable to contain their excitement, they rushed back to the oil factory dormitory, eager to spread the good news!

Yang Xue’s father, strong and young, ran the fastest. He was out of breath as he reached the bottom of the dormitory building and shouted loudly, “Comrades, the oil press is fixed!”

“Don’t worry—the factory director said—work will resume—so we can all have enough to eat…”

“Enough to eat, no more stoppages—”

In the freshly painted whitewashed dormitory building, some people were washing their hair with soap beans, some were boiling water and cooking, others were listening to the radio, each busy with their own tasks…

But at this moment, the sounds of the bustling street, the angry parents scolding their children, the quarrels of couples, and the noise of children playing with bouncing balls suddenly vanished.

The person washing their hair looked up, the one boiling water stood up, the radio listeners turned off their radios, the people upstairs looked down, and those downstairs gathered together and surrounded Yang Xue’s father and the others.

“What did you say?”

“What did you just shout?”

“Huh? I didn’t hear wrong, did I?”

Yang Xue’s father downstairs used all his strength and shouted loudly, “I said—Changyou Oil Factory, comrades—we’ve fixed the oil press! It’s done!”

“Really—it’s fixed!”

The long, narrow dormitory building fell silent for a few seconds, then erupted into even more excitement and noise. Everyone upstairs and downstairs couldn’t help but shout in unison, “Really?”

“Is it fixed?”

Qin Lan, who was doing homework at home, heard the commotion outside and peeked out the window. She saw a group of workers excitedly lifting Yang Xue’s father up high, throwing him into the air.

Inside, Qin Lan’s father asked, “What’s going on? Why is it so lively outside?”

Qin Lan’s mother, overjoyed, said, “He’s back! The oil press at our factory is fixed! Your dad can go back to work at the factory now, this is great, really great! I never expected this—I never expected it!”

She wiped away the tears quietly falling from the corners of her eyes. “It’s good, it’s fixed, really good!”

Qin Lan leaned on the railing of the dormitory corridor, her mouth curved into a smile as she watched the excitement below.

Across the street, in the Lu family’s home.

Lu Siyuan was holding a book, struggling to memorize The Difficult Road. Halfway through, he heard the loud noise and commotion from the street next door. He opened the window to take a look. The oil factory workers were gathered together, and the dry summer breeze carried a faint voice.

“It’s fixed—it’s fixed!”

“Factory Director Lu fixed the machine!”

“Ah—this is great—work resumes tomorrow!”

Lu Siyuan felt a surge of energy and, in high spirits, quickly finished memorizing The Difficult Road. Afterward, his gaze lingered on the last two lines—“The long wind will break the waves at times, and the sail will be raised to cross the vast sea.”

—

At the No. 1 Middle School.

Factory Director Lu, with a beaming smile, personally brought five kilograms of pure white sugar, ten kilograms of premium flour, and two boxes of snacks to school as a gift for Su Ye.

Su Ye was startled and said, “This is too much!”

Factory Director Lu grinned and said, “It’s nothing. Thanks to Teacher Su, not only did you save me, but you also saved the oil factory!”

He turned around and instructed his son, “Siyuan, after school, take these things back to Teacher Su.”

For the first time, Lu Siyuan enthusiastically stuffed the items into Su Ye’s cabinet. Yang Chenxing happily said, “Teacher Su, don’t be polite, take these grains and oils back to eat!”

When the students at school heard that Factory Director Lu had brought a lot of fine grains to thank Teacher Su, they curiously gathered in the office. Standing by the window, they looked at the stack of fine grains with envious eyes.

The group of students who had grown up in the grain and oil factory all recognized Uncle Lu. When they heard that Uncle Lu said Teacher Su had helped fix the machines at the oil factory, they looked at Teacher Su with a newfound respect.

Teacher Su is truly amazing! Without her, would their parents have been forced to be laid off, their entire family struggling in hunger and cold, perhaps even starving on the streets?

Factory Director Lu scratched his head and carefully explained the situation with the oil factory’s recovery. “Now, the laid-off workers have all returned. If these machines run well, we might even be able to take in some more unemployed laborers in the future…”

“These things pale in comparison to Teacher Su’s help. Please accept them!” he said with a cheerful smile.

Just after hearing Factory Director Lu’s description, Su Ye had a strong premonition that she might receive a grain reward. She casually opened her backend to check the grain count.

The fine grains in the warehouse were increasing at an unbelievable rate—100 pounds, 200 pounds, 300 pounds… rising all the way to 600 pounds.

Pork belly also experienced a surge, with the numbers rapidly jumping, finally stopping at 500 pounds.

The smile on Su Ye’s lips instantly disappeared, and she looked at the soaring grains in the warehouse, as if she had been struck by a massive lottery prize.

Although she had thought she might receive a small reward, she never imagined that fixing an oil press would result in such a generous return!

She’s rich, she’s rich… This is what it feels like to become wealthy overnight. At this moment, Su Ye looked at the factory director in front of her, and her eyes were filled with deep gratitude!

Su Ye took a moment to stabilize her emotions and thought that she really needed to thank this diligent factory director properly!

She smiled and said, “Factory Director Lu, saying I saved the oil factory might be a bit too much. However, I have a small and insignificant suggestion for you. If you don’t mind, you could listen.”

Factory Director Lu chuckled and, for the first time, humbly lowered his head to listen to the young person’s advice.

“How could I mind?”

Su Ye lightly cleared her throat, her gaze steady and bright, as she looked up confidently at Factory Director Lu.

In the live stream, the comments started to flood the screen: What is Teacher Su going to do?

Oh my god—this familiar pose, this familiar feeling, it’s coming, it’s coming!

It looks like Teacher Su is about to show off. Time to grab some snacks and a soda to watch the show!

Su Ye smiled and said, “Then I will shamelessly express my humble opinion. If I say anything wrong, I hope the director will forgive me.”

“Changyou is a well-known large factory in the province, with nearly a thousand employees, and thousands of people rely on it for their livelihood. Although the oil factory has barely survived this crisis, upon reflection, many of the problems in the process could have been avoided in advance.

For example, with machine malfunctions and damage, wasn’t there a technician available to repair them? Why wasn’t there a factory to ensure the production of spare parts when they were damaged? Why do we have to buy machines every time there’s a technical upgrade from foreigners, when we can’t make them ourselves?

If Changyou wants to stand strong, it must have its own core technology. It can’t rely solely on the help of a few benefactors or depend on one or two experts and professors to solve problems. It must develop its own core technology and cultivate its own team of talent!”

Su Ye paused, then smiled, “We always have to spend a large amount of foreign exchange buying outdated machines that others have discarded. When we don’t understand the technology and have suffered because of it, we still have to swallow our grievances in silence. When will it be our turn to sell machines we’ve made ourselves?

Let’s not say that we can’t make good machines ourselves. Professor Zhou’s improved oil press is no worse than foreign machines, right?”

Factory Director Lu fell into deep thought for a long time, his eyes flashing with excitement, and he firmly held Su Ye’s hand. “I didn’t expect Teacher Su to say such things…”

The older students, after hearing this, had a spark of excitement in their eyes, unable to describe the shock they felt inside. They stared at Su Ye in stunned silence.

To have foreigners buy our own machines? Such a lofty goal… How dared Teacher Su think of this?

But they understood these words, and it felt as though something was slowly taking root in their hearts. The things they experienced personally always left the deepest impression. Would they always be in difficulty?

The younger children, hearing this for the first time from someone else’s mouth, also realized for the first time what “the power of science” that the teacher often spoke about truly meant. Science helped the oil factory repair the oil press, allowed workers to return to production, and helped everyone live a better life.

They seemed to understand why Teacher Su always told them to “build airplanes,” “make rockets,” and “build roads”… They may be able to repair watches and radios, but when faced with such disasters, they are helpless.

The children of the oil factory workers could not express the complexity of their feelings, but they deeply etched these words into their hearts.

Yang Xue thought, this is Teacher Su.

666, the King of Show-offs!

Good thing I’ve memorized my political textbooks so well, or else I’d have been easily fooled.