Courtyard House: A Major Power's Heavy Industry, Hand-Crafted Nuclear Fusion

Although workshop foreman Lao Zhang was provoked by Yi Zhonghai, when he went over to take a look, he found that Su Zheng's tools were indeed easy to use, and the workers were genuinely discussing technology, not just "chatting."

Moreover, Su Zheng's words, "improve production efficiency," raised the bar significantly, leaving Lao Zhang with no room for argument. He could only offer a perfunctory remark, "Be careful not to disrupt normal production," before walking away with his hands behind his back.

This made Yi Zhonghai even more frustrated.

If one plan fails, another will be devised.

Since Su Zheng is unyielding to both soft and hard tactics, let's target the people around him.

Make an example of him to warn others, and see who dares to get close to Su Zheng again.

After lunch.

The production line began to get busy.

"Zhao Ming! Come here!"

Yi Zhonghai's eldest apprentice, Ma Hua, held a blueprint and a basket of unfinished bricks in his hand and shouted with an unfriendly expression.

Zhao Ming's heart tightened, and he quickly ran over: "Senior Brother Ma, what's wrong?"

Ma Hua shoved the blueprints into Zhao Ming's arms: "This batch of bearing sleeves must be finished before the end of the day. Fifty in total. If you don't finish them or the scrap rate exceeds 5%, your bonus for this month will be deducted!"

Zhao Ming's face turned pale when he saw the blueprints.

"Senior, this...this is precision machining! The tolerance requirement is 0.02 millimeters! I...I'm only a level one worker; this kind of work is usually done by the level three workers in our group..."

This is clearly an attempt to make things difficult.

Asking a first-level worker to do the work of a third-level worker, while maintaining both quantity and quality, is simply an impossible task.

"Enough with the nonsense!"

Ma Hua glared at him. "Master said young people need more practice! Besides, weren't you having a great time learning from Su Zheng? Isn't he a genius? With such good tools, how can you not do this little job? If you can't do it, then admit that Su Zheng's teaching is all show and no substance! Admit that you're useless!"

The surrounding workers could all see that this was aimed at Zhao Ming and also a slap in the face to Su Zheng.

But because of Yi Zhonghai's power, no one dared to speak up for Zhao Ming.

Zhao Ming gritted his teeth, his eyes red-rimmed.

He knew that if he didn't accept the assignment, it would be considered "disobedience" and he would be punished; if he accepted it and didn't do it well, it would be considered "insufficient skills" and he would have his pay docked.

Either way, it's all the same – death.

"I...I'll do it!"

Zhao Ming carried the heavy basket of unfinished blanks back to his workstation.

One afternoon.

Zhao Ming was like a spinning top, constantly busy.

Sweat soaked through his work clothes, and blisters formed on his palms, but he still dared not stop.

However, the reality is cruel.

The more anxious you are, the more likely you are to make mistakes. The more you try to do something well, the less your hands will obey you.

Clang!

Another piece of waste was thrown into the bin.

Zhao Ming looked at the mountain of scrap, then checked the time; there was only half an hour left before he had to leave work.

Less than half of the products were up to standard.

Despair overwhelmed him like a tidal wave.

"Oh, you're not finished yet?"

Ma Hua strolled over, looked at the basket of scrap, and sneered sarcastically, "Tsk tsk tsk, is this what you learned from Su Zheng? Wasting so much material in one afternoon? Zhao Ming, you've really made our workshop proud! I bet you can forget about your salary this month, you'll even have to pay for the materials!"

"I……"

Zhao Ming's eyes were brimming with tears, and his hands were shaking so badly he could barely hold the calipers.

"A piece of trash is a piece of trash, it doesn't matter who they learn from."

Ma Hua raised his voice, deliberately making sure the whole workshop could hear, "From now on, anyone who dares to associate with those shady characters will face the consequences!"

"A shady character?"

A calm voice suddenly rang out behind MCA.

Ma Hua was startled and turned around to see Su Zheng standing behind him.

Su Zheng held the file he had modified in his hand, his eyes as cold as ice.

"MCA, were you talking about me just now?"

"I...I didn't name names!"

Although MCA is stubborn, it still instinctively feels a little guilty in the face of Su Zheng's aura of being an eighth-grade worker.

"It's best if no names are mentioned."

Su Zheng ignored him and turned to look at Zhao Ming.

Looking at this young man whose hands were covered in blood and whose face was filled with despair.

The eye of truth swept across.

[Zhao Ming: Extremely fatigued, mentally broken. Current machining difficulty: A 3-degree deviation in the tool feed angle has resulted in excessive surface roughness.]

Su Zheng sighed.

He knew it was aimed at him.

If he doesn't make a move, Zhao Ming will be crippled today.

Not only will you have your pay docked, but your self-confidence will also be completely destroyed.

From now on, who would dare to approach Su Zheng in the workshop?

"Stop the knife."

Su Zheng walked to Zhao Ming's side and said softly.

Zhao Ming looked up and saw Su Zheng. He finally couldn't hold back his tears: "Master Su... I... I'm so stupid... I've let you down..."

"It's not that you're stupid, it's that someone has malicious intentions."

Su Zheng patted Zhao Ming on the shoulder and then took the car knife from his hand.

"Watch."

Su Zheng didn't waste any words, only two words.

He adjusted the angle of the knife holder, just a minor adjustment.

Then, start the lathe.

Nourishes—

The tool tip contacts the workpiece.

There was no harsh friction sound, but rather a light and smooth cutting sound.

The iron filings flew out continuously like a silver ribbon, drawing a beautiful arc in the air.

A few seconds later.

Retract the knife and stop the vehicle.

A shiny, mirror-like bearing sleeve appeared before everyone.

Su Zheng picked up the calipers, measured it, and casually tossed it to Ma Hua.

"Measure it."

Unconvinced, MCA took out calipers and measured it.

Tolerance 0.00...

Zero error?!

Ma Hua's hand trembled, and the calipers almost fell to the ground.

"This...how is this possible?"

How could such a broken lathe and such an ordinary cutting tool possibly produce parts with this level of precision?

"Did you see it clearly?"

Su Zheng turned to look at Zhao Ming, "It's not that your technique is bad, it's that your cutting tool angle is wrong. In the future, when you encounter this kind of deep hole machining, the cutting tool tip should be slightly higher than the center line by 0.5 mm, the feed rate should be slow, and the depth of cut should be stable."

"I...I've got it!"

Zhao Ming nodded frantically, a glimmer of hope rekindling in his eyes.

"besides."

Su Zheng looked at Ma Hua and Yi Zhonghai not far away, raising his voice slightly:

"Zhao Ming is my... friend. If anyone tries to make things difficult for him again, they're going against me, Su Zheng."

"Don't blame me for being ruthless then."

"Furthermore, MCA, who were you calling 'useless' just now? I don't think you can even do a basic job properly, so who's the real 'useless'?"

Ma Hua's face turned a deep shade of liver, but he couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.

In the face of absolute technological superiority, any words are pale in comparison.

Looking at the tall figure blocking his way, Zhao Ming felt a surge of warmth he had never felt before.

Right at this moment.

He made a decision.

"Master Su!"

Zhao Ming suddenly shouted loudly, and then bowed deeply in front of everyone in the workshop.

"I want to become your disciple! Please accept me!"