The train driver in the courtyard

Night falls.

The scattered lights came on, dispelling some of the darkness.

While helping Li Aiguo sew his flight suit, Chen Xueru asked, "Brother Aiguo, what did you talk about with your older brother? He seemed quite happy."

Flight helmets have already begun mass production, and the manufacturing of flight suits should also be put on the agenda. The technology for these is simpler than that for helmets, so we'll leave it to Ms. Chen for now.

As Li Aiguo had the three children take turns riding the horse, he said with a smile, "It's nothing, just some technical stuff."

Chen Xueru turned to look at Li Aiguo.

She always felt something was off about this, but she didn't think much of it. This rough man had never given her any trouble when it came to doing things.

Under the same night sky, the elder sister-in-law's doubts were much deeper than Chen Xueru's.

In bed, she saw Chen Xingjia tossing and turning like a pancake, unable to sleep, and couldn't help but push him: "Xingjia, what did you and Aiguo talk about? You've been so absent-minded since you came back."

"It's nothing, go to sleep." Chen Xingjia quickly shut his mouth, refusing to say anything more.

In fact, he didn't fully understand the technical terms Li Aiguo used, but he felt that every sentence made sense.

If this method really works, then he will have done a great service for the factory! The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, and the less he could sleep.

His sister-in-law nudged him with her elbow again, her tone slightly teasing: "I heard from Xue Ru that the young couple is planning to have another child. Look, they already have three, and we only have one. How about... we try our luck too?"

Chen Xingjia: "zzZZZ"

The older sister-in-law rolled her eyes and angrily turned over.

Xue Ru told me that the couple was fighting, and they fought for more than an hour.

Good heavens, how did Li Aiguo have so much strength? Xue Ru was absolutely ecstatic.

The eldest sister-in-law was jealous.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Chen Xingjia, without waiting for his sister-in-law to get up, grabbed a cold steamed bun, hopped on his bicycle, and hurried to the lumberyard, knocking directly on the door of Engineer Liu's office.

Liu, looking exhausted from not having slept all night, greeted Chen Xingjia listlessly as he entered.

"Xingjia, why are you here so early today? Don't worry, although the project failed, your skills have surpassed those of ordinary workers. I'm going to submit an application to the factory to let you stay in the lab."

Hearing this, Chen Xingjia was somewhat moved and stepped forward, saying, "Teacher, have you heard of the dry continuous production method?"

Upon hearing this, Engineer Liu's expression changed slightly: "Xingjia, where did you hear this term? Did you secretly browse through the foreign journals in the lab? Didn't I tell you that browsing those journals requires approval? If the security department finds out, you'll be in trouble!"

"I'd like to translate, but I don't understand English, teacher," Chen Xingjia said with a wry smile, shaking his head.

"That's true. So where did you hear that from?"

He said that the wet veneer gluing and hot-pressing dehydration process we are currently using cannot guarantee the yield rate at all, and the plywood produced is not strong enough. Therefore, he suggested that the veneer and fiber be dehydrated first, so as to avoid the evaporation of moisture during hot pressing, which would cause the board to bubble and delaminate.

"Sigh, our foreign counterparts also think this method is good, but no one dares to do it because they can't control the moisture content. If it's too high, it's like it hasn't been dehydrated at all, and if it's too low, it's too much. The resulting plywood will be very weak."

"Xingjia, advanced technology doesn't necessarily mean good technology. The most crucial thing is whether it can be implemented, understand?"

Engineer Liu picked up his enamel mug and took a sip of hot water.

He sighed inwardly, thinking that although the student came from a working-class background, he was diligent and energetic, a promising talent, but his ideas were a bit too idealistic.

"Understood." Chen Xingjia nodded and said, "My brother-in-law said that we can use an industrial control computer to control the temperature. As long as a moisture content sensor is installed for real-time feedback, the hot air temperature and conveying speed can be automatically adjusted to achieve segmented drying and waste heat recovery, ultimately ensuring the moisture content."

"Cough cough cough—" Engineer Liu choked on the water he had just drunk and coughed violently.

He didn't care about anything else and quickly asked, "Industrial control computer? Who's your brother-in-law?"

"Li Aiguo, the Li Aiguo from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot workshop."

"It's him! No wonder! The industrial control computers that all the factories are promoting now, aren't they his creations? If we have industrial control computers to back this up... this might actually work! Xingjia, contact your brother-in-law right away, we have to keep this project at our lumber mill!"

Liu's gaze towards Chen Xingjia immediately became fervent.

"But what about the factory manager?" Chen Xingjia was still a little worried. The factory had already wasted a lot of materials when the project failed last time.

"Let's go see the factory manager together." Engineer Liu led Chen Xingjia to knock on the door of the factory manager's office.

When the factory director heard that there was an opportunity to cooperate with the Qianmen Locomotive Depot workshop, he immediately nodded and said, "This is a good opportunity. I heard that the steel rolling mill has received many projects and orders in recent years, and the workers can receive bonuses every month. So, Liu and Chen Xingjia, you two will represent our timber factory to negotiate the cooperation. If you succeed, I will recommend you for commendation!"

The factory manager immediately approved the activity funds and even specially assigned a jeep for the two of them to use.

The factory manager's enthusiasm made Chen Xingjia both excited and flustered.

After leaving the office, I couldn't help but mutter to Engineer Liu, "Teacher, isn't the factory manager a little too excited?"

"You still don't understand your brother-in-law," Engineer Liu said, glancing at Chen Xingjia without adding anything further.

The two arrived at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot workshop, where Li Aiguo was designing a double-decker bus chassis with a wild car expert.

"Hello, Mr. Liu."

"Comrade Patriot, I'm so glad to finally meet you."

Engineer Liu was clearly prepared, as he handed over a document directly.

"I heard from Xingjia that you are interested in plywood. Our timber mill may not be the largest in the country, but our equipment and technology are top-notch. We hope to cooperate with you to develop a dry continuous production method."

After looking at the materials, Li Aiguo was also somewhat surprised.

I never imagined that the lumber mill could accumulate so much capital in this era.

In particular, the timber mill laboratory even made its own double-roller metering glue applicator. This thing applies glue synchronously to the upper and lower rollers, and the amount of glue is controlled by adjusting the gap between the rollers. Even in later years, it is not considered outdated.

Li Aiguo had too many projects on his hands and didn't have enough manpower to handle plywood, so handing it over to the timber factory was just right.

"Engineer Liu, it's a pleasure to do business with you!" Li Aiguo stood up and extended his hand.

Liu was surprised that Li Aiguo would agree so readily. After a moment of surprise, he quickly stood up and firmly grasped Li Aiguo's hand.

Back at the lumber mill, the two immediately reported the results of their negotiations to the factory manager.

After listening, the factory director immediately made a decision: "Full cooperation! The laboratory will be led by Engineer Liu, with Comrade Chen Xingjia as his deputy. All the equipment will be inspected and repaired. The most skilled technicians will be selected to provide support for Comrade Li Aiguo's team."

Engineer Liu is the most skilled engineer in the timber factory, so he is the most suitable person to take the lead.

Chen Xingjia was just a senior worker, so why should he be the deputy? Some factory leaders and workers had objections.

However, after they understood the ins and outs of the project, they were speechless.

After the meeting, the factory director called Chen Xingjia into his office.

"Comrade Xingjia, you've done a great job for our factory this time. You've always wanted to study at night school, and luckily, our factory got a spot, so we're giving it to you."

Upon hearing that he could attend night school, Chen Xingjia became instantly excited.

On the way home, I specially bought some Daoxiangcun pastries and took my sister-in-law to visit Li Aiguo's home.

"Xingjia, we're all family here, why bring such an expensive gift?" It wasn't that the sister-in-law was reluctant to spend the money, but she felt that the pastries from Daoxiangcun weren't as good as those from the supply and marketing cooperative, which cost several yuan for only two or three packs.

"We were able to reach this cooperation agreement and secure a spot at the night school thanks to my brother-in-law," Chen Xingjia said, pushing his bicycle out.

"Is night school really that good?"

“You don’t understand this. If you graduate from night school and get a proper diploma, you’ll be just like a college student. I’ve always wanted to be an engineer, but my education level is too low. Now the opportunity has come.”

Hearing this, the sister-in-law became happy.

Three days later, Li Aiguo, along with several researchers from the Red Star Computer Research Institute, and carrying industrial control equipment and sensors, arrived at the timber factory on time.

In the laboratory, old and new equipment were placed side by side, and technicians gathered around, their eyes full of curiosity and anticipation.

Without wasting words, Li Aiguo took out the blueprints and laid them on the workbench: "Let's first determine the sensor installation positions. Install one sensor each at the front third and back third of the single-board drying channel, and the fiber drying chamber should be installed in the middle..."

(End of this chapter)