Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 178 The Great Sage Wu Qiang Balances the Accounts
It was already evening inside the "Industrial Innovation Center".

After military training ended, Zhai Da immediately changed his routine, still swiping his employee badge and coming here to tinker with his little props.

Compared to ten days ago, there are more people in the Industrial Innovation Center. On the second and third floors, you can often see laboratory members using the equipment, walking with a brisk pace in their white coats.

The mainstream of scientific research in China follows the "1+X" approach, which means that the state takes the lead and multiple departments, universities and localities work together to tackle key problems. Harbin Institute of Technology, as a first-tier university, has countless high-precision laboratories.

Especially in engineering projects, most of the needs cannot be met by purchasing finished products, so "self-preparation" is a common practice.

Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) not only serves its own laboratories, but also undertakes some "sub-projects" in many large national projects, which is why the Industrial Innovation Center has such complete and high-end equipment.

Yesterday, he encountered a group of people with an impressive presence, led by someone who was clearly a big shot. At the time, Zhai Da was using a vacuum heat treatment furnace to eliminate metal gaps in his small toy. There were too many people, so he remembered Wu Qiang's instructions and gave up his spot.

Then he stepped back behind the crowd and blended into the group of visitors.

Since they were already inside the school, no one paid any attention to them at first. After listening for a while, they learned that this group of people were from the Guizhou FAST project and had come to Harbin Institute of Technology to seek a solution for a "reflector support control structure". The person who came forward from Harbin Institute of Technology was "Academician Shen".

At that moment, Zhai Da thought to himself, "Holy crap, that sounds so high-tech! Is it that thing from those short videos in my past life, the world's largest FAST telescope?"
Later, as he listened, Zhai Da felt several people staring at him, and finally someone asked:
"Who are you, classmate?"

Then he was asked to leave.

Fortunately, this is a basic science project and does not involve classified information; otherwise, I might have had to write a self-criticism.

These are proper visits, complete with introductions. In fact, Zhai Da thinks that those all sorts of experimental personnel who come every day are probably participants in all sorts of amazing projects.

For most freshmen, they have no access to these things during their undergraduate studies. Even if they study for four years, they may not have the opportunity to come to the third floor of the Industrial Innovation Center. At most, they can make a hammer on the first floor to play with. But for Zhai Da, it is an occasional opportunity to broaden his horizons.

With fewer people around today, Zhai Da finally completed the fourth version of the metal 3D printing. After verifying it with various devices, he went downstairs to polish it by hand.

He'd finally entered a familiar territory; modeling and printing were just too much trouble.
Wu Qiang happened to be passing by and saw Zhai Da doing crafts on the first floor. Curious, he came over and asked, "Are you done with your toys?"

Zhai Da did not correct the term "toy": "The most difficult part is over, and the rest can be done entirely by hand."

Actually, the previous steps could have been done by hand; he was just pushing himself too hard.

Wu Qiang stroked his rounded chin: "That's pretty good. Being able to independently 3D print qualified structural workpieces using metal is something even senior students might not be able to do. I don't even understand how to operate that machine."

"It's a new field. Maybe the operation and design will be simpler in the future."

Wu Qiang, who was originally planning to go out for dinner, decided to stay and watch the project since it was almost finished. Zhai Da had only been working on it for about ten days.

He is now very close to Zhai Da. When they occasionally get together for a meal, Zhai Da always pays. In return, the materials Zhai Da uses are never calculated but are included in the total losses of the Industrial Innovation Center.

He can be called the Great Sage of Balancing Accounts.

For example, this "wrist card dealer" in front of us uses titanium alloy in a very luxurious way.

It's completely unnecessary. It's not a high-strength workpiece; its only advantage is that it's much lighter.

But then again, who wouldn't want to play something for free?
Wu Qiang sat in front of Zhai Da, crossed his legs, and watched Zhai Da smoothly assemble and adjust the parts, quickly installing the pre-prepared parts onto the main body.

He recently discovered that this top scholar was truly skilled; setting aside the "miscellaneous" skills he had accumulated over many years of work, Zhai Da's craftsmanship was even better than his own, that of an old technician.

To be precise, it's much stronger.

Wu Qiang chatted casually: "You like tinkering with these things, so why did you choose Materials Forming and Engineering Control as your major?"

Zhai Da kept working with his hands while replying, "My major is just a formality; I chose all my courses myself."

Speaking of this, he felt a bit of pressure and chose to shorten the time for basic courses, so this semester will definitely be very busy.

After the military training, he will have two days off. He still needs to prepare himself and write more of "The Time-Traveling Cohabitation Manual". Wu Yue will also be arriving soon, and he needs to help him settle in.

This kid had a blast on the way, starting from a scattered province and passing through Shandong, Hebei, Tianjin, and Beijing. He's currently having barbecue in Jilin and is expected to arrive tomorrow.

He had already confided in Zhai Da and planned to see if he could stay in Harbin to make a living. He would naturally not refuse his good brother's offer to come and stay with Zhai Da, since the guy could do well anywhere. The two of them could also start some entrepreneurial projects together.

Making money is just as fast as writing a book.

Wu Qiang suddenly asked, "I remember you said before that your family has a tradition of machining, but it's a manual craft. How much precision can you achieve?"

Zhai Da recalled Xu Xuejun's previous assessment. That unlucky old man never gave him a reply in the end, mainly because Xu Xuejun was out of sorts in the last few days, immersed in his own emotions.
“The components are different, so it’s hard to say that the precision is uniform. It’s not like decades ago now. But give me some time to figure it out, and the general shape of the standard parts should be about five micrometers.”

Wu Qiang thought to himself, "Holy crap, isn't this a humanoid machine tool?"

Although he hasn't reached the level of current professional precision machining equipment, this kid is a top scorer in the college entrance examination. How can he balance his studies and still have such strong talent? This level has already surpassed most of the technicians in the Industrial Innovation Center.

He had some discernment, and looking at Zhai Da's hands, he said, "With your talent, you'd be a good candidate to be a surgeon. My nephew is studying medicine, and his hands are exceptionally steady."

Zhai Da laughed and said, "Studying medicine is too long, and the career path is locked in. I still prefer to tinker with my own things."

As the saying goes, persuading someone to study medicine will bring you divine retribution; persuading someone to study law will bring you a thousand cuts; persuading someone to reform will bring ruin to your family and death.

Don't do anything immoral.

In the course of their casual conversation, the "wrist card dealer" was completed in less than twenty minutes.

Considering the "silky smoothness" inside the sleeve, Zhai Da changed the design from a "square box" to a "curved box". After the lid is closed to cover the gear mechanism, it looks like a flattened bar of soap, which fits his wrist perfectly.

The polished titanium alloy has a silvery sheen and a very high-tech feel.

Zhai Da waited for a while, but unfortunately he did not hear a system notification saying that his painstakingly crafted item had become [equipment] because of the "Establish Heart" effect.

Wu Qiang stroked his chin, finding it quite amusing.

"But what's the use of that?"

Zhai Da chuckled, "I've been waiting for you to ask!"
Pull the ring at the back, then lift your wrist.

With a "click," a test metal sheet flew out.

However, it seemed to have a problem with its center of gravity, flying somewhat unsteadily, and finally hitting the light bulb on the roof.

"boom!"

Wu Qiang clapped his hands and said, "Not bad, very impressive. 150, I can't help you balance this."

"What kind of light bulb costs 150? Does it have a gold rim?"

"Can a light bulb float up by itself? Repairing it doesn't count as labor, does it? Besides, this is a fine, not compensation, and the school has clearly stated the price."

Then Wu Qiang left. In his eyes, this thing was indeed just a "toy".

Zhai Da picked up the metal piece with a wry smile.

As he spoke, he looked up at the light bulb above. It was broken and swaying slightly, making him feel that it was quite dangerous to hang it there.

But I'm too lazy to move the ladder.

Zhai Da took out an authentic "Joker Poker" card and inserted it into the wristband card dealer.

After aiming for a moment, he pulled the ring.

With a "click," the playing cards produced by the system had a perfect center of gravity and quality distribution, far superior to the previous broken cards.

More importantly, Zhai Da's "magic props" never fail and always achieve their intended goals.

As long as he defines his actions as "magic".

The playing cards precisely cut the wires on the light bulb.

The shattered light bulb fell vertically and was caught by an incredibly precise hand, without scratching even the slightest bit of its surface.

Lightweight yet bold.

As the playing cards drifted down like leaves, they were gracefully caught between two fingers of the right hand, the whole process elegant and smooth.

Zhai Da bowed to the non-existent audience as if responding to non-existent applause.

Cards are being released; the initial signs are emerging!
The next moment, all the lights in the room went out.

Wu Qiang, who hadn't gone far, took a step back and peeked out to look at Zhai Da, who was still bowing in the darkness.

"Short circuit? .250."

Zhai Da:
"If I fix it myself, can I save on labor costs?"

Money doesn't matter, the main thing is that the number is unlucky.
　We'll try to resume updates as soon as possible.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)