Courtyard House: Starting as a mediocre engineer

Before discussing its "practicality," let's first introduce the state of domestic industry at that time.

Just a few years ago, China couldn't even produce vacuum pumps.

You all probably know what a vacuum pump is, right? It's the pump head of a water pump, a very simple little device. Vacuum pumps are needed for everything from vacuum packaging to maintaining a low-temperature, low-humidity environment in grain depots.

So it's really life-threatening; you really can't do without this little gadget.

As for the question that some people might ask, why not import them?

That goes without saying. Countries around the world would rather export grain domestically than absolutely ban the export of vacuum pumps.

To be honest, that was a lesson learned the hard way! That's why we absolutely need the entire industry chain!

Fortunately, through years of effort, by the early 60s, China was able to produce vacuum pumps. However, the precision of machining was still insufficient, and the assembly still relied on manual adjustments by a group of highly skilled master craftsmen.

Now you understand how valuable master craftsmen were in this era, right? Especially those level eight workers? Their high status is due to the fact that we really can't do without them.

On a side note: This is because machining precision is insufficient, and the experience and skill of master craftsmen have to compensate. It doesn't mean that manual precision has surpassed that of machinery. How could it possibly be higher than mechanical precision? It's simply that industrial capabilities are too weak, so they're just making do.

Later, a myth emerged and spread widely—that the master craftsman was more skilled than a machine, had eyes more accurate than a ruler, and hands more precise than a machine tool.

I don't deny the master craftsman's skill, but this is a bit of an exaggeration.

However, relying entirely on manual assembly? Not to mention the manufacturing cost, the output is also shockingly low.

See that? Such a simple vacuum pump, a gadget that township enterprises could easily produce, is now something that domestic industry struggles to solve? It's just a matter of machining precision and sealing, right? But we just don't have the industrial capability for that!

Therefore, if a five-axis machine tool or a 3D printer were invented now, we would still be completely clueless and wouldn't understand it at all. At most, we would just think it's alien technology.

It has had almost no effect on improving the country's industrial strength. This is because of the heavy historical burdens; almost every sector is lagging behind.

Therefore, Zhuang Zhongchen's chosen goal was very clear—to be slightly more advanced than the current level, and with some effort, domestic technology could achieve that. Moreover, the wider the adaptability, the better, as this would improve overall industrial strength.

Given this, Zhuang Zhongchen's first choice was hydraulics.

The important role of hydraulics in the mechanical field should be well known.

Another important aspect is standard circuit board control. This also plays a crucial role in the electronics field.

To give a simple example: the standard circuit board for electronic timing. Even in the Internet age, the timers in electronic devices still follow the original design of this standard circuit board.

Zhuang Zhongchen spent the entire afternoon translating most of the paper on "hydraulics." Perhaps the content was relatively advanced for that era, but for a certain time-traveling genius, it was common knowledge. If it were to appear in a later university exam, it would be a free point.

So the translation was quite fast, requiring almost no thought.

After returning to his courtyard house from get off work, Zhuang Zhongchen prepared to finish translating all the remaining content in one go.

However, as soon as she sat down, Qin Huairu stormed in, fuming, "Hey, you've been ignoring me these past few days, haven't you? Humph."

Zhuang Zhongchen chuckled and pulled Qin Huairu onto his lap. While playing with the locust blossoms in the dining hall, he said with a smile, "There are eggs in the cupboard; take two home. Oh, and take three too; one can eat here. We can't let our baby go hungry."

"What a disgrace!" Qin Huairu rolled her eyes. "I'm asking you, what happened to Sha Zhu last time, were you doing it on purpose?"

"That's for sure. I can't lose a single one of my women."

"Pah! Shameless! You want three wives and four concubines? Even the richest landlords aren't like you. Anyway, I don't care, my baby and I are sticking with you for life. Humph."

"hehe."

Just then, Zhuang Zhongchen suddenly thought, "It seems that there's still no conclusion about Jia Dongxu's safety incident... right?"

"Huai Ru, I saw Dongxu's report at work. How did the steel rolling mill handle this matter?"

"Didn't I go to the steel rolling mill to replace Dongxu? I can get 15 yuan a month for living expenses now. After I have the baby, I can start working at the steel rolling mill. In a few days, I have to go to the neighborhood committee and the police station to transfer my household registration here. Even Banggeng and Xiaodang's household registration can be transferred to me, their mother. After the grain and oil supply is established, our whole family can eat the city's commodity grain! Hehe."

Zhuang Zhongchen was taken aback. What was there to be happy about? Had this seemingly innocent girl turned into a fool?

"That's exactly what I'm asking! What are the arrangements for you after you join the steel rolling mill?"

"Huh? Didn't the old man already make arrangements? I'll go to his workshop, so he can take care of me?"

Zhuang Zhongchen immediately understood. Yi Zhonghai, as an eighth-grade worker, certainly had a lot of influence. But when it came to truly important matters, his influence was limited.

Just like in the original story, they simply assigned Qin Huairu to their own workshop, a relatively easy position with no regular day shifts. But what if she wanted more? Yi Zhonghai's old face wouldn't be enough.

After thinking for a moment, Zhuang Zhongchen said, "Huai Ru, I'll go talk to her and see if it would be best to arrange for you to work in the office."

"An office? Are you sure you can handle that? Aren't you from the labor bureau?"

"Don't get involved in this, and don't go around talking about it. This is still very much in the works, and there's no guarantee it will succeed. But it's okay to ask a few questions; it can't be worse than it is now."

"Uh-huh."

"Don't worry. Even if it doesn't work out this time, there will be other opportunities. I can't bear to let you work in the factory. How can a beautiful girl suffer like that?"

Zhuang Zhongchen then discovered that the original owner of this body was indeed a naive and inexperienced newbie. She didn't even know how to use the power she held?

"Hmph. I hate you!" Qin Huairu pouted for a while. "By the way, Guangqi is getting married tomorrow. What gift are you planning to give him?"

"Just send the money. Too lazy to bother." Zhuang Zhongchen finally remembered that tomorrow was Liu Guangqi's wedding day. He had been busy all week and almost forgot about this important event. It seemed he also had an intelligence mission to complete.

"..."

The two lingered tenderly for a while longer before Qin Huairu reluctantly stood up. Given her current pregnant state, further action was out of the question.

"Chenzi, I'll only take two eggs. You're not allowed to touch mine. I'll come over to eat them when I have time. Oh, and take your dirty clothes with me, so my mother-in-law won't be suspicious."

"Hehe. I'll save the sugar for you too. And the soybeans, do you need some? You can sprout them when you get home."

"No, really, no need. I can't take too much. Otherwise, my mother-in-law will become even more suspicious."

"hehe."