Chapter 41: Repairing the Machine Tool at the Textile Factory

Liao Yu’an turned his head expressionlessly, “So what are you trying to say?”

Lin Qianqian curled her lips, “It’s better to take a chance and go to the city than to live a hopeless life of poverty in the countryside forever, don’t you think?”

She finished speaking, smiled meaningfully, and walked away with her hands behind her back.

Leaving Liao Yu’an with a gloomy expression.

He stood there for a dozen seconds before slowly following her.

But they didn’t realize that someone else was not far away, staring intently at their departing backs.

Zhao Xiaohui’s hands clenched tightly, her handkerchief crumpled in her palm, along with a warm steamed bun.

She hadn’t seen Bai Ruojiao. When she arrived, she happened to see Lin Qianqian laughing and talking to Liao Yu’an.

“Lin Qianqian… you lied to me!”

Bai Ruojiao didn’t know about the turbulent undercurrents behind her.

After picking up An’an and returning home, the family, as always, had a harmonious dinner and went to bed.

But in the middle of the night, after both mother and son were asleep, Zhao Sihai took a book and an oil lamp to the kitchen and hid there.

The next morning, when Bai Ruojiao woke up, Zhao Sihai had already gone to work.

Zhao Sihai went to the committee early in the morning to inquire about the day’s schedule.

After confirming that there were no scheduled uses for the car, he took the morning off and went to the textile factory.

Zhao Sihai had repaired a machine there before, and Xu, the gatekeeper at the textile factory, recognized him.

Vice Director Cai had also greeted him when he started work in the morning, so Xu registered him and called someone to help take him to find Vice Director Cai.

Vice Director Cai didn’t expect him to come in the morning. She was both surprised and delighted.

“Zhao Comrade, didn’t you say you’d come at noon?”

Zhao Sihai smiled, “I don’t have any schedule in the commune this morning. I thought I’d take care of this matter first, so I took the day off.”

“Oh, thank you so much. Don’t worry, I’ll tell your leader later that it’s a temporary assignment, not a leave of absence. Come on, you’re just in time. The factory director is on fire right now. I’ll take you to see Vice Director Zhang.”

Zhao Sihai nodded and followed, without asking any further questions.

But Vice Director Cai couldn’t keep it to herself. She spilled the beans.

The experts came again yesterday afternoon. They finally said that it might be a problem with the brake and clutch contact, but they need to dismantle it to repair it.

The problem is that it’s a vinylon production device, and the technology for the machine hasn’t been fully mastered yet.

If they dismantle it, they can’t guarantee 100% that it will be fine after reassembly. It might even be impossible to reassemble it.

The factory director naturally didn’t want to take such a risk, but the experts said they couldn’t repair it without dismantling it.

So, they’ve been arguing about it until now.

Zhao Sihai frowned after hearing this.

The diagram of the R-style vinylon production device immediately popped into his mind.

If it’s just the brake and clutch contact problem that the experts mentioned, it should be fine. They shouldn’t need to dismantle it to repair it.

As they were talking, they had already reached Vice Director Zhang’s office. Before they knocked, they saw him walking towards them with a black face.

“Vice Director Zhang, Zhao Sihai Comrade is here.”

Vice Director Zhang looked up and saw the two of them. His eyes immediately fell on Zhao Sihai, and they lit up.

“Hey, Sihai Comrade, you’re just in time. Come on, let’s go to the workshop now.”

Vice Director Zhang was a friend of Lao Liu, the agricultural instructor in the commune. Last time, he was the one who took them to the workshop.

With the example of repairing the carding machine, Vice Director Zhang felt that Zhao Sihai might be able to repair other machines as well.

After all, they were in a desperate situation.

“Vice Director Zhang, what happened to you just now? Did something happen?” Vice Director Cai had a good relationship with him, so she casually asked.

Mentioning the troublesome matter, Vice Director Zhang’s face darkened again. “Don’t even mention it. The factory director called Director Cai again. He contacted the R-side. This time, the conditions they proposed are even more excessive. They not only want repair fees, but also ten times the cost of downtime. They also want the best accommodation and say they want to bring a group of students over. If there are any parts that need to be replaced, it will be charged separately.”

Vice Director Cai was also furious when she heard this.

The two of them continued to “condemn” the R-side all the way to the vinylon production workshop.

This is a combined machine for producing natural and chemical fibers. This technology is currently only available through imports from abroad, so it’s naturally a weakness that they’re holding onto.

The workshop was empty at the moment. The two of them quickly brought Zhao Sihai in.

After all, Zhao Sihai wasn’t a professional technician. The lathe issue was quite serious, so they couldn’t let anyone see him and cause any gossip.

Zhao Sihai walked around the machine and immediately pulled out a diagram of a machine that was the same as this one from the book.

The testing instruments brought by the experts were all here.

He operated it for a while, looked at the data displayed, and frowned.

Then, he took out a flashlight, took off his jacket, and bent down to crawl under the machine.

Vice Director Zhang and Vice Director Cai also squatted down to look.

Although they couldn’t see anything.

At this time, the door suddenly opened, followed by a familiar question.

“What are you doing here?”

Vice Director Zhang and Vice Director Cai were both startled.

Seeing that it was the factory director, accompanied by several experts, they were so scared that they were speechless.

At this time, they heard a clang of metal, followed by someone emerging from under the lathe.

Everyone realized that there was a third person there.

One of the experts saw Zhao Sihai, who had gotten up, covered in oil, holding a flashlight in one hand and pliers in the other. His face changed.

“Who are you? Who allowed you to touch this machine? Who will be responsible if something goes wrong?”

Hearing the expert’s angry shout, the factory director’s face also darkened. He looked at Zhao Sihai.

Vice Director Zhang’s face also froze. He was about to explain.

But Zhao Sihai spoke before him, “I know what the problem is. We don’t need to dismantle it. It can be repaired.”

—

Bai Ruojiao cut the cotton thread, shook the finished pants, then turned them over and called to An’an.

“An’an, come try on the pants.”

“Wow, Mom, the pants are done?” An’an was reading under Tongtong’s supervision. When he heard this, he immediately jumped off the chair and ran over, “da da da.”

Then, he saw the small pants spread out and his eyes lit up.

“The new pants look so good. Tongtong is right. Mom is amazing!”

Bai Ruojiao accepted his praise with a clear conscience. She reached out and scooped up the little guy, starting to change his pants.

Bai Ruojiao made him a pair of sweatpants with cuffed ankles, using Dacron fabric.

She used nylon rope for the waistband, and there were strings to tie it, so it wouldn’t easily fall off.

The little guy put them on and jumped to the ground, happily spinning in circles, “Mom, the pants look good. An’an likes them.”

Bai Ruojiao smiled and squatted down, pulling at the pants in various places, “Do you feel like it’s too loose or too tight anywhere?”

“No, no.” An’an immediately shook his head, then hugged her neck and rubbed his face against hers, “Mom is the best. Thank you, Mom.”

Seeing that he genuinely liked the pants, Bai Ruojiao felt relieved.

Then, she made him a long-sleeved sweatshirt.

It was already September, and the temperature was getting colder every day. He needed to change into autumn clothes.

After finishing, she embroidered a cartoon pig head on both the pants and the shirt, because An’an was born in the year of the pig.