Chapter 38

That afternoon, when the lesson began, Zhao Xiaoyan felt as if Wu Xiaoxiao was glowing.

Standing in front of so many unfamiliar people and speaking to them—just the thought of it made Zhao Xiaoyan nervous. Wang Qifang was even more anxious, struggling to remain composed just being in the crowd. Meanwhile, Wu Xiaoxiao stood confidently at the center, holding a piece of chalk in her hand, sketching on the large blackboard at the front of the factory. Her voice was clear and bright, her expression lively and animated.

The blackboard was originally intended for writing production schedules, but it turned out to be perfect for teaching.

Clerk Li had brought over a large box of chalk, along with scissors, glue, and a stack of white paper, per Wu Xiaoxiao’s request.

The first thing Wu Xiaoxiao did was collect the blueprints that had been distributed in the morning. To everyone’s shock, she began cutting them into pieces.

“What’s wrong with the blueprints? Why are you cutting them up?” someone asked in surprise.

Wu Xiaoxiao smiled. “The blueprints are fine, but the layout isn’t very logical. I’m reorganizing them.”

As she spoke, she took a sheet of white paper and began gluing the cut pieces onto it in a new order.

After finishing one set, she called Wang Qifang over. “Qifang, can you help glue the other sets just like this?”

Seeing that she needed assistance, a few others stepped forward to help with the task.

While they worked, Wu Xiaoxiao began drawing a tree diagram on the blackboard, adding labels as she explained:

“There are 42 different types of parts here, which can be broadly categorized into six groups: nuts, washers, screws, connecting rods, reinforcing metal plates, and transmission gears.”

“You’re probably familiar with nuts, washers, and screws. They generally look like this. However, distinguishing between different types of nuts and screws just by holding them can be difficult. That’s why we need to refer to the blueprints. Ideally, we’d also have a set of standard samples for reference.”

She then opened a nearby box, pulled out about ten screws from the bottom layer, and arranged them neatly in a row, adjusting their order a few times.

“Now, take a look at these screws. Their differences lie in three aspects: the shape of the head, the length of the thread, and the size of the head. Let’s organize them systematically. I’ll label them as Screw 1 through Screw 7. That way, when you pick up a screw, you can compare it to these samples and categorize it accordingly.”

After sorting the screws, she moved on to the nuts:

“Nuts are categorized in a similar way. We’ll label them Nut 1 through Nut 5. Washers might look similar at first glance, but if you examine them closely and compare them to the blueprints, you’ll see they fall into three types. This one has a textured surface to prevent loosening, this one is slightly elastic to keep the nut tight, and this one is just a standard washer. We’ll classify them as Washer 1 through Washer 3.”

She pulled out additional diagrams.

“Connecting rods are more complex. These five types can be divided into two major groups. The finer distinctions are marked on the blueprints—I’ve circled them for reference. First, sort them into major categories, then refine the classification later.”

“The reinforcing metal plates follow the same principle. They can be divided into two broad categories and then into smaller groups. Pay special attention to these two—they are mirror images of each other and can be easily mistaken. It’s best to first classify them together and then separate them later.”

Wu Xiaoxiao’s explanation made everything clear. The blueprints, which had seemed overwhelming in the morning, suddenly became much easier to understand after being reorganized. No wonder she had managed to sort everything so quickly earlier—her logical approach made all the difference. With this classification system, it was much easier to identify and sort each component.

Even if they couldn’t immediately distinguish between minor differences, they could follow Wu Xiaoxiao’s advice: first, sort into broad categories, and then refine the classification later. This was far better than aimlessly searching through dozens of blueprint pages for a match.

The sorting process became significantly more efficient. Even when workers couldn’t immediately categorize a part, they could set it aside in a designated area and return to it later, avoiding bottlenecks and confusion.

Some workers even found parts that didn’t fit into any of the existing categories. Following Wu Xiaoxiao’s lead, they set them aside for further evaluation.

Wu Xiaoxiao walked around, answering questions before squatting by a pile of miscellaneous parts and beginning to analyze them.

“Xiaoxiao, have you figured anything out?” A warm voice spoke above her.

Looking up, Wu Xiaoxiao saw Grandpa Lu standing there, watching her with interest.

She quickly stood up. “Grandpa Lu, how’s your health?”

Lu Zhengzhong chuckled. “I’m perfectly fine. How about you all? How was your first night here? Did you sleep well? How’s the food?”

Wu Xiaoxiao responded, “Everything’s great! The factory has taken excellent care of us. The food is good, and the dormitories are comfortable.”

Lu Zhengzhong nodded. He had been occupied with technical discussions from early morning until late at night. He wouldn’t have come here today if Clerk Li hadn’t informed him that some parts didn’t match the provided blueprints.

Upon arriving, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the team had efficiently organized the workspace.

He had reviewed the randomly assigned blueprints earlier—they were detailed but somewhat disorganized. Yet these young people had managed to devise their own classification system and restructured the blueprints accordingly. The only minor issue was that the names they assigned to the parts weren’t entirely accurate, but everything else was impressively well-organized.

—-

On the way over, Clerk Li had already briefed him: this entire system was Wu Xiaoxiao’s idea.

Lu Zhengzhong was amazed. Reclassifying and organizing so quickly required extensive experience. As far as he knew, Wu Xiaoxiao was just a simple village girl from Wu Family Village. Did she have a natural talent for understanding mechanical structures?

“This classification method of yours is excellent. We hadn’t thought of it before,” Lu Zhengzhong admitted. “Without a mechanical background, it’s quite difficult to categorize these parts just by looking at blueprints.”

Wu Xiaoxiao smiled. “The blueprint markings aren’t very clear, and the information is cluttered. As outsiders, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.”

“You’re no outsider now! Your classification method is more efficient than what our regular technicians use.” Lu Zhengzhong nodded approvingly. “Come with me to the drafting room. Bring those special parts with you.”

Since Wu Xiaoxiao had already taught the team how to classify the parts, her sharp mind was needed elsewhere.

Clerk Li, who had been instructed to follow Professor Lu’s lead, quickly assigned two strong young men to pack up the special parts and carry them to the drafting room with Wu Xiaoxiao.