Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1248 Approaching the Spring Festival (4k words, 5k words remaining)

"Chief Engineer Gao, what can I say..." I almost burst into tears. I've never seen such strong support from anyone other than Chief Engineer Gao.

It's not that other comrades are unwilling, it's mainly that they can't, there's no other way.

When helping others, there's usually a distinction between providing timely help and adding to someone's success. But at Chief Engineer Ren Gao's place, there's no such distinction; he provides both help and extra benefits.

"Anyway, this stuff is already out, so why shouldn't you use it? Don't worry, although its current use is somewhat special, steel is the main component! There absolutely won't be any problems. I'll handle this; you just need to wait and use it." Gao Zhendong shook his head, reassuring Factory Director Fan.

After saying that, Gao Zhendong looked at his watch: "I have to say, time really flies. Another afternoon has passed just like that."

The main focus was on maintenance, which took a lot of time. Whether it was brick firing or spraying, it involved a complete set of techniques, and the kind that could be used immediately. Explaining all of these things clearly took quite a bit of time.

However, for the improvement of the converter, this day was incredibly cheap, especially for the comrades at Jinggang Steel Plant, who felt that they had gained so much in this day, solving so many problems.

Moreover, these problems are not specifically aimed at the defects of their current furnace. To be precise, this set of methods is effective for all converters, and the refractory bricks can even be used in other furnaces.

However, the colleagues at Jinggang Steel Plant were somewhat embarrassed when they talked about this.

"Chief Engineer Gao, look at the mess we've made. We came here to support your converter's negative energy steelmaking, but you didn't mention your business at all. Instead, it's our furnace improvement that has caused you so much trouble, delaying our important business." Director Fan was quite remorseful.

Gao Zhendong shook his head: "You can't say that. No matter which direction you take, it's all about improving the converter. It's all necessary work. It doesn't matter which one comes a day earlier or later. So, since the New Year is coming soon, let's put the negative energy steelmaking project after the New Year. I guess you guys will be itching to get the furnace life improvement plan. Why don't you use the little time left before the New Year to have some fun with it?"

Compared to negative energy steelmaking, increasing furnace life is also very important and deserves to be prioritized to get them back on the right track.

Gao Zhendong's words truly resonated with the comrades at the Beijing steel plant.

Chief Engineer Gao is such a wonderful person; he is so understanding.

The comrades at Jinggang Steel Plant actually wanted to do this, but they were too embarrassed to say it. What, are you trying to kick them while they're down?

Besides, we can't say this out loud. What if Chief Engineer Gao has high requirements for the schedule and can't wait, so we switch to another factory? And judging from what the ministry says, it's not just about negative energy steelmaking.

The converter system is a great honor for Beijing Steel Plant, and they definitely want to have control over it from start to finish. Now that they have such advanced technology right in front of them, they are unwilling to let anything go wrong.

They knew perfectly well that Chief Engineer Gao's first choice was Beijing Steel Plant for three reasons: familiarity, convenience, and the availability of converters. As for reasons like the Ministry's intentions, which might be valid for others, they were utterly useless to Chief Engineer Gao. The Ministry had only one point: "Look at what Comrade Gao Zhendong means!"
However, none of these three reasons are very reliable, especially when facing Gao Zhendong.

Therefore, the comrades at Jinggang Steel Plant barely managed to suppress their impulses and temporarily put aside the knowledge they had gained that day.

But now that Gao Zhendong has spoken up, everything is fine. Chief Engineer Gao is indeed a tech expert; he understands what his fellow tech comrades are thinking all too well.

"This..." Although he was happy, he still had to go through the motions of declining the offer three times.

Gao Zhendong waved his hand: "No need to say anything more, it's settled then! Let's go to the cafeteria for a meal."

Zheng Liangshu also extended the same invitation.

Factory Director Fan waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no! You've already spent a lot of money on lunch, so we won't eat! Besides, Chief Engineer Gao, you should know that we don't have the time to eat right now, look at our comrades..."

Gao Zhendong turned to look at his colleagues from Beijing Steel Plant and chuckled to himself.

Each of them had an eager look in their eyes, and they all clutched their notebooks tightly, as if they were their lifeblood.

"Alright, then I won't keep it. Otherwise, if I keep it any longer, we might become enemies, hahaha." Now that food and other necessities have started to improve, whether or not we eat a meal isn't really a big deal.

Factory Director Fan laughed and said, "Chief Engineer Gao, you don't know this, but our second converter is being built. Everyone is eager to put what they learned today into practice. I think they all have the same idea: to put everything they can into practice. They're in a great hurry."

Even with a furnace life of 200 heats, it would be enough for Beijing Steel Plant to start building a second one. And the progress of this second one is obviously faster than the first one, since it is a replication, not a new research and development.

While some technologies, such as automatic control, will take some time to implement on this second machine, others cannot be delayed—such as furnace linings; implementing them using the old methods would cause problems.

After saying that, the comrades from Jinggang Steel Plant thanked Gao Zhendong and Zheng Liangshu again, and then ran away as fast as their pants were on fire.

Back at the Beijing Steel Plant, these comrades rushed to their offices and called upon their subordinates.

"Notify the installation team at boiler 64-2 to suspend installation! Await our further instructions."

"Quickly, quickly, notify the refractory materials factory to produce enough for me immediately according to this process!"

"Clean up and tidy up the place where the comrades from the Third Rolling Mill stayed when they came to help last time! Replace anything that's missing right away!"

"Who's in charge of the gases? Come on, I need enough nitrogen this time!"

"..."

The units related to the converter at Beijing Steel Plant were bustling with activity. While these comrades might have seemed ordinary to Gao Zhendong, back at Beijing Steel Plant, weren't they all key personnel?
A refractory materials plant under the 17th Ministry of Machinery Industry was stunned as it held a set of process requirements sent over by Beijing Steel Plant.

"Where did they get such a set of material ratios and production processes?" It's no wonder this comrade was stunned; the main reason was that this thing came too suddenly, and its estimated performance seemed to be much better than what they were using now.

“Where else could it be? Look here and you’ll see.” Another comrade pointed to a name on the materials they had received. The first comrade suddenly realized, “Ah, here it is, no wonder…” Within the system, everyone of any rank knew this name. Although he hadn’t been seen much at award ceremonies in recent years, his reputation was undeniable.

At this point, his expression suddenly became excited.

"If that's the case, then the feasibility of this system is very high! Let me see... Hahaha, it's not just Jinggang Steel Plant, there are quite a few comrades who need this system! Let's work overtime and quickly get this system out and test it! As long as it can basically meet the requirements, that will be good news for many comrades!"

To his delight, apart from the requirements for the selection of raw materials, this process was not particularly special. For them, it was entirely feasible to test-fire a batch as quickly as possible without any difficulty.

The colleagues around him responded enthusiastically; new technologies are always exciting.
-
Approaching the Spring Festival, in Qianyang City, Guizhou Province.

Although everyone knows that Guizhou is very poor, this does not prevent the people from enjoying the arrival of the New Year.

The market was bustling with people. Although the goods were not plentiful, people still had to buy New Year's goods.

Moreover, it is precisely because resources are scarce that the people are so interested in going to the market to buy things.

—You can buy novelties that you don't usually see at the market, and there are many different ways to trade.

Young women and wives, old men and young men, men and women of all ages, came and went in a market, looking for things that interested them.

"Daddy! I want to eat chopped potatoes!" A little girl pointed to a stall not far away, her mouth practically watering.

"What's so delicious about chopped potatoes? Come on, let Daddy buy you potato cakes. Potato cakes are golden brown on both sides, and they have a hard crust on the outside, which is really tasty." Adults have their own opinions; frying potato cakes uses more oil, so it's more economical.

"No, I want to eat chopped potatoes!" The child clearly has his own choice when it comes to whether something tastes good or not.

The chopped potatoes are made with a variety of ingredients, including braising liquid, pickled radish, pickled houttuynia cordata, chopped green onions, chili oil, etc. The potatoes are chopped finely but not mushy, and have a great texture, which is obviously more attractive to children who crave flavor.

Actually, oil is used when chopping potatoes, but it doesn't look like there's as much oil used in potato cakes.

"Sweetie, otherwise I'll just buy you roasted potatoes!" Roasted potatoes are simply grilled over charcoal without any seasoning. They taste delicious on their own. I don't know what kind of potatoes these vendors use, but they have a very strong aroma. However, they're not the first choice for a child—they're a bit monotonous.

The father, who dotes on his child, can only use the threat of a monotonous diet as his trump card to "threaten" his daughter, but he still can't bear to say he won't buy it.

—It's the Lunar New Year.

The little girl didn't speak, but stared at her father with wide eyes. He was walking towards the potato cake stall, but his head kept looking towards the potato chopping stall.

She knew that her father couldn't withstand this move.

Sure enough, "Okay, okay~~~~~~ Chop potatoes, chop potatoes, make it spicy, I really don't know how you can eat this," the father decisively surrendered.

I don't know why, but this year the supply of potatoes has become more abundant, and there are different varieties. The taste, texture, and size are all much better than before. The government has even published a lot of recipes for eating potatoes, which is simply outrageous.

Thinking of this, the father couldn't help but recall the potato soup his wife made with potatoes and rice, with a little oil and salt—it tasted absolutely amazing! So delicious!

Not only is it delicious, but more importantly, it allows you to get the effect of two pounds of rice from just one pound of rice. It's delicious and plentiful, truly a great way to cook rice.

The government actually cares about these small things. What a good government!
A crowd had gathered around the snack stalls. These days, there aren't many snacks available for purchase without a second thought, and these potato snacks were an exception. And surprisingly, they all tasted pretty good, with people choosing all sorts of things. Some even carried half a bag of fried potato chips, crunching away happily. The chili peppers on the chips made their faces and mouths look bright red.

At the edge of the market, a young man said to the person next to him, "Sir, we've looked at the market now, let's go back."

The leader nodded with a smile, and as he turned to walk to the car next to him, he said, "Hmm, I've looked at many places. It seems that the supply of goods for this year's Spring Festival is quite good."

It's not exactly abundant, but at least it's not as scarce as in previous years, and the comrades can't afford it.

This situation isn't limited to markets; supply and marketing cooperatives and food stations are also showing a similar trend, with the overall situation improving, which is quite good.

"Boss, you know what, although potatoes can't be widely promoted this year, they can at least alleviate some of the urgent needs and supplement some of the shortage of staple food and non-staple food." This comrade is not from Qianshan, so he doesn't say "potatoes." Potatoes have the characteristic that they can be used as both a vegetable and a staple food.

The leader laughed: "Hmm, your observation is very keen, keep it up. You're right, the situation this year is much better, at least the shortage of food has been alleviated a lot." This stuff has a large yield, and although it doesn't store very well, if stored properly, it can last for quite a while. Moreover, traditional methods like making it into vermicelli further extend its shelf life. With a large quantity and good storage, it can play a significant role.

At this point, he exclaimed with emotion, "We have to thank Committee Member Gao Zhendong! Now other provinces with similar conditions are coming to learn from us and introduce this crop. It's a great thing, a great thing indeed! Stop! Stop! Stop! That's a mountain product, isn't it? Go down and buy it, and give it to the canteen staff to process."

I was just about to thank them when a thank-you gift arrived. It seems I need to visit the market often; I can get good stuff without losing touch with the people.
-
In the north, in the capital of Russia, in an ordinary family.

Although we are celebrating the Lunar New Year here, it has nothing to do with the Russians. We'll just continue doing what we always do.

Although they were described as an ordinary family, they were not really that ordinary. At least the male head of the household was a minor official in the Russian government, involved in trade and economic affairs.

"Do you really have to go on a business trip to such a far place in this cold season?" The woman asked with some concern as she packed her husband's luggage. The main concern was that the destination was quite far away, and she'd heard it was rather underdeveloped.

"Yes, darling, I must go."

"Isn't there anyone else in your department who can go? Why do you have to go? You already work much harder than them!" the woman said indignantly.

(End of this chapter)