Chapter 70

Lu Siyuan went to Secretary Zheng’s house to pick up the keys.

Secretary Zheng’s expression was a bit unnatural. He hesitated before asking, “Siyuan, has Director Lu found an expert to fix the machines?”

Lu Siyuan shook his head. “No, I’m taking my teacher to have a look.”

Secretary Zheng seemed a bit disappointed, but since Director Lu had called ahead to tell him to hand over the keys to Lu Siyuan, he handed them over to the young man in front of him.

Su Ye took the keys and walked towards the Changyou Oil Factory, clearly not intending to invite the expert to inspect the machines.

Lu Siyuan, puzzled, asked, “Teacher Su, aren’t you going to ask Professor Zhou to come?”

Su Ye casually replied, “She’s elderly and it’s inconvenient for her to travel, so I’ll take a look at the situation first.”

Su Ye entered the Changyou Oil Factory. The factory was huge, a large building constructed with blue bricks, its whitewashed walls adorned with large red letters saying, “Hard work and thrift to build the nation.” Inside, there was a playground for workers to enjoy, where they could play basketball and table tennis.

It was the grandest building in the area, once thriving, but now gradually falling into disrepair.

Su Ye used the keys to open the warehouse of the oil factory, where ten large spiral oil presses were stored. She carefully inspected each machine’s exterior, taking out paper and a pen from her bag to record some data.

She tapped on the steel panel of one of the presses, muttering, “I’ll have to take it apart to know what’s inside.”

Lu Siyuan widened his eyes, silently watching Su Ye, but didn’t speak. He left the warehouse and quickly brought a box of tools—wrenches, screwdrivers, chain hoists, crowbars… and even a drill.

Su Ye gave him a thumbs up. She realized that, in some ways, Lu Siyuan was quite brave. If it had been anyone else, they would have certainly tried to stop her.

She looked at the oil press’s nameplate and the English instructions, blowing out a breath. “Your dad has quite an eye for this! These are Anderson machines.”

The Anderson oil presses were the most common type of spiral oil press Su Ye had seen in later years. With low production efficiency, they were used in small family workshops for oil extraction. By the 20th century, they had become compact enough for one person to operate, but in the 1960s, they were still large machines.

Su Ye spent three hours disassembling each removable part of the machine—frame, spiral screw shaft, feed barrel, feed shaft… She discovered some problems with the oil press’s pressing strips and pressing rings.

She took out her paper and pen and sketched the structure of the oil press.

Su Ye took off her gloves and went to wash her hands. “Lu Siyuan, don’t worry. Remember to come to class tomorrow.”

Lu Siyuan’s eyes never left her as she disassembled the entire machine. Even though it was just a pile of cold, lifeless machinery, his blood seemed to boil with excitement. If he worked hard to study and understand the principles of the oil press, would there be a day when he could calmly handle these machines?

By the time Su Ye walked out of the factory, it was already dark, and the stars were twinkling in the sky.

The next day, Su Ye went to the library and borrowed all the books related to oil extraction. China had not been established for long, and not only was its technology lagging behind, but it was also under an international blockade, so there weren’t many books on this topic.

Su Ye eagerly organized the useful information, filling several large sheets of paper with notes.

She put down the books and pens, went outside for a walk, and brought two plump chickens to Grandma Zhou’s house.

Zhou Honghan was very happy to see Su Ye, and when she saw the two chickens in her hands, her face flushed as she asked, “What’s this, did you find these chickens again?”

Su Ye nodded. “Yes, I was thinking of asking you a few things, some pretty tricky questions. Let’s have a meal of chicken first to recharge.”

Zhou Honghan smiled and said, “Don’t be so polite, if you have any questions, just come to me. I’ve already agreed to help you.”

Zhou Honghan thought that Su Ye had come for exam-related questions since the graduation exams were approaching, and many students tended to cram at the last minute. However, she didn’t expect Su Ye to go so far as to bring chickens and cook a meal just for asking about these small matters.

Seeing that Zhou Honghan agreed so readily, Su Ye didn’t bring up anything else and smiled gently. “Let’s not waste time. Let’s eat first and then get to work.”

She swiftly killed one of the chickens, and Zhou Honghan watched in amazement.

This wild chicken was surprisingly plump, and after it was gutted, Su Ye found a large chunk of golden chicken fat, with even the intestines being fat and oily.

It was nothing like the chickens that Zhou Honghan raised herself, which were so skinny that they probably wouldn’t have any fat at all if slaughtered.

Su Ye split the chicken in half, placing one half in a clay pot with goji berries, red dates, yam, and bamboo shoots to make a nourishing chicken soup. The other half was peeled and stir-fried with chestnuts to make a chestnut chicken dish.

Zhou Honghan went to the vegetable garden, picked several rows of pea shoots, and also picked two tomatoes to stir-fry as side dishes.

The wild chicken Su Ye brought was tender and fragrant, with a springy texture and an incredibly fresh taste. The meat was so tender that the small bones were easily cracked, and the flavor reached all the way to the bone.

Zhou Honghan had eaten all kinds of delicious food before, but she had never tasted such fresh chicken. It was so fresh it reached the bones. If she weren’t an elderly person, she might have even tried gnawing on the bones to savor the taste inside.

However, she didn’t dwell on why the chicken was so fresh. She simply attributed it to not having had good food in a long time, so her body was craving fat, and everything tasted good. The chestnut stir-fried chicken left her with grease dripping from her mouth, and after taking a sip of the hot chicken soup, the sweet, savory flavor lingered, delicious and satisfying.

Zhou Honghan felt so happy that she could easily agree to any request. At this moment, she’d likely fulfill ten requests from Su Ye without hesitation.

After eating and drinking her fill, Su Ye wiped her mouth and busily washed the dishes.

She pulled out a stack of drawings and several large sheets of material from her bag and handed them to Zhou Honghan. “I have a student named Lu. His father is the director of Changyou Oil Factory.”

Although Su Ye had worked with machinery, her expertise was more in software design. As the saying goes, every profession has its specialty. If foreign technology was so easy to break through, they wouldn’t be selling their machines to Hua country so freely.

Zhou Honghan picked up the drawings Su Ye handed her, somewhat confused. But when she looked at them, her expression immediately changed.

“Did you draw these? An oil press?”

Su Ye nodded. “Yes, it’s a screw oil press called the Anderson Oil Press. When Director Lu bought it, it was already badly damaged, and it cost 180,000 RMB. It can’t be returned, so now we can only try to repair it.”

Su Ye’s words made Zhou Honghan fall into deep thought as she examined the drawings.

“These oil presses cost 180,000, bought from foreigners, right? How long would it take for the country and the people to earn back that 180,000 in foreign exchange?” Zhou Honghan said with concern.

Su Ye didn’t expect her to think about it from another angle. It seemed people these days were truly patriotic, always thinking about the country.

It seemed there was no need to continue the conversation. Su Ye nodded. “Yes, not only is it a waste of money, but if these machines aren’t repaired, many workers at Changyou Oil Factory will lose their jobs.”

Zhou Honghan stood up, took out her glasses from the cabinet, put them on, and carefully studied the results of Su Ye’s disassembly from the previous day.

“Your drawings are very good. I can see there’s an issue, though. But my old arms and legs have been idle for many years. I can’t stay idle. Take me to see those machines tomorrow.”

Su Ye paused before speaking. “Grandma Zhou, you must study them carefully. I heard from Director Lu that these oil presses have an oil yield 3-5% higher than the ones we use domestically. If we manage to understand them and start producing on our own, we can save a lot of oil seeds every year.”

Although these machines were outdated, discarded by foreign countries, they were still 20 to 30 years ahead of the traditional domestic methods of oil extraction, such as manual or water pressure pressing. Su Ye couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed as she spoke.

Zhou Honghan was not surprised by Su Ye’s words. After a long pause, she couldn’t help but laugh, “You’re right. If the machine tool factory can produce these oil presses.”

The next day, Zhou Honghan and Su Ye went to the Changyou Oil Factory.

Director Lu had flown back from another city overnight. When he saw Su Ye with an elderly woman by her side, he greeted them warmly.

“Hello, Professor Zhou, hello, Teacher Su. Let me take you to see the machines. Thank you both. If it weren’t for you, I honestly wouldn’t know what to do with this factory.”

He looked at Su Ye with gratitude.

Zhou Honghan went to examine the oil press that Su Ye hadn’t fully disassembled the day before. She personally dismantled the entire power system of the oil press. She then asked Director Lu to connect another machine so that she could see how the machine worked. Director Lu opened the oil press and demonstrated it for her, but the machine neither took in oil seeds nor produced oil.

Zhou Honghan found the cause of the malfunction and said, “The pressing bars and pressing rings are both faulty. Little Su, you’re really impressive.”

This result was exactly what Su Ye had guessed earlier, and Zhou Honghan couldn’t help but glance at her.

Little Su is impressive? Director Lu was confused. What did this have to do with Teacher Su?

Zhou Honghan paused, then spoke in a measured tone. “The parts used abroad are not available in our factories, and we don’t have the same models, so we can’t repair them directly. I’ll draw up a design and send it to the machine tool factory to have them produce the parts. It will take some time. Director Lu, can you wait? If not, there’s another solution—contact the factory that sold the oil presses and have them send the parts directly.”

Director Lu was overjoyed when he heard this—it was the best news he’d heard in days.

As long as it can be repaired, he didn’t have many other demands.

RMB must be exchanged into foreign currency for international payments, and there’s a limited amount of foreign currency available each year. Director Lu had already spent all his foreign currency buying the oil presses, and most of this year’s quota for C city had been spent on these machines. So even if he couldn’t wait, he had no choice but to.

With gratitude, Director Lu said, “I can hold on for a while longer. I’ve already sold my house in the capital, and the bank loan doesn’t need to be repaid immediately.”

“It’s just that it’ll trouble Professor Zhou. These parts need to be made as quickly as possible. Every day the machines are down, the factory loses a day of work, and that’s all money and food being wasted.”

Zhou Honghan reassured him, “Director Lu, don’t worry. I know how important this is.”

After seeing them off, Director Lu was drenched in sweat. He felt a surge of hope, like the saying “when you reach the end of the road, you might find a way out”—his legs were so weak that he could hardly walk anymore.

After Director Lu had just sent Professor Zhou out of the Changyou Oil Factory, and the group had walked out of the factory, Su Ye asked Director Lu about her doubts. “Didn’t you inspect and test these oil presses before purchasing them? Can they actually extract oil when oil seeds are put in?”

Director Lu replied, “With such a large amount of foreign currency, how could I not inspect and test them? I personally went to the foreign factory for an investigation, saw peanuts being put into the machine, and watched golden oil being extracted. I even weighed the oil myself.”

After sending them off, Director Lu returned to the office and ran into Yu Fuda.

Yu Fuda smiled and said, “Director Lu, you’ve worked so hard these past few days. Were you able to gather enough money to redeem the factory? I told you, with all this debt, how can I repay it?”

“When the orders come through this year, I’ll be the new factory director of Changyou Oil Factory. Don’t worry, Old Lu. Having worked with you for two years, I’ll take good care of your son and sister-in-law.”

Director Lu was about to promise the workers that the oil presses could be repaired and the factory would be up and running again this year. But as soon as he remembered Su Ye’s question, the words caught in his throat.

After the incident, he kept wondering to himself: How could the machine be faulty when I personally inspected the factory?

Coldly, Director Lu said, “Don’t bother worrying about it. I haven’t received the transfer order yet.”

The factory’s management went silent upon hearing this, and the workers’ attitudes shifted, swaying from one side to the other.

The workers discussed privately: “Yu Fuda wants to be the factory director?”

“Although Director Lu isn’t thorough in his work, if this man becomes the director, the whole factory will change, and it might be worse than having Director Lu in charge!”