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

As night deepened, the hustle and bustle of the steel rolling mill finally subsided.

As the celebrating crowds dispersed, the workers returned home in twos and threes, leaving only a few key workshops with their lights on. The roar of the machines echoed through the empty factory area, sounding particularly monotonous and heavy.

Su Zheng did not return to the courtyard house immediately.

That extremely faint "click" sound was like a thorn piercing his professional instincts.

As an engineer with top-notch technology and systems, he cannot tolerate a precision device operating under his nose with hidden dangers.

He stubbed out his cigarette and turned to walk towards the third workshop.

The third workshop is the factory's "secret workshop," and there are special sentries at the entrance.

However, Su Zheng is now a rising star in the factory and has just obtained the title of technical consultant. When the security officer saw him, he not only did not stop him, but also gave him a polite salute.

"Engineer Su, why aren't you home yet, so late?"

"I heard some noise, let's go in and see," Su Zheng replied casually, and stepped inside.

The workshop was brightly lit.

The huge East German-made M1320 high-precision cylindrical grinding machine was running at full speed.

Coolant splashed everywhere, and the air pressure generated by the high-speed rotation of the grinding wheel stung my cheeks.

The person on duty was a young level-two worker named Xiao Wu.

He was staring at the control panel, his brow furrowed, looking somewhat uneasy.

"Master Su?"

Seeing Su Zheng enter, Xiao Wu looked at him like he'd been saved. "What brings you here?"

"Is something wrong with the machine?"

Without wasting any words, Su Zheng walked directly to the side and rear of the machine tool—that was where the spindle box was located.

"You noticed it too?"

Xiao Wu lowered his voice, his face full of distress, "I also feel that the sound is a bit off, a little noisier than usual, and when I touch the box, it feels a bit numb. But I checked the oil pressure gauge and temperature gauge, and they are both within the normal range."

Su Zheng did not answer, but instead stretched out a slender hand and gently placed it on the thick cast iron shell of the spindle box.

[The Eye of Truth, Microscopic Scanning Activated.]

In an instant, the enormous steel behemoth before him became transparent.

Countless gears, bearings, and oil lines are transformed into lines and data streams.

Su Zheng's gaze instantly locked onto the hydrostatic bearing at the rear end of the spindle.

Between the high-speed rotating shaft and the bearing, there should be a uniform and stable oil film.

But at this moment, this oil film is undergoing extremely minor disturbances.

A metal particle, almost invisible to the naked eye, is jumping wildly in the bearing gap along with the oil flow. Each impact leaves a micron-sized scratch on the Babbitt alloy layer of the bearing bush.

"Click...sizzle..."

That voice appeared again.

Although barely perceptible amidst the deafening roar, Su Zheng clearly felt that heart-stopping tremor in his hand through bone conduction.

"The machine must be shut down immediately."

Su Zheng withdrew his hand, his face grim. "A foreign object has entered the rear bearing of the main spindle, and the oil film has been broken. If we continue to turn it, the bearing shell will be damaged, and the main spindle will be scrapped."

"ah?!"

Xiao Wu turned pale with fright. "Scrap...scrap? Master Su, don't scare me! This is hundreds of thousands of yuan worth of foreign equipment!"

"I never scare people." Su Zheng looked at the control panel. "Pull the switch."

"this……"

Xiao Wu reached for the power switch but hesitated. "Master Su, these parts are urgent military orders and need to be delivered first thing tomorrow morning. If we stop the machine now, it will take at least half a day to disassemble and inspect them, and we definitely won't be able to finish the task. The workshop foreman will definitely yell at me to death..."

"Is protecting the mission more important, or protecting the equipment?" Su Zheng's voice rose a few decibels.

"What's going on? What's all the noise about?"

Just then, the door to the workshop office opened.

Workshop foreman Lao Zhang came out wearing a coat and carrying a thermos.

Behind him was Yi Zhonghai.

Although Yi Zhonghai lost the competition, he was still an eighth-level fitter in the factory and the "original technical supervisor" of this grinding machine.

After the competition, he was too ashamed to go back to the courtyard and face the stares of his neighbors, so he hid in the workshop under the pretext of "caring about production".

Upon seeing Su Zheng, Yi Zhonghai's face twitched, and a hint of resentment flashed in his eyes, but he quickly concealed it, replacing it with a cold, businesslike expression.

"Su Zheng? Why aren't you home celebrating your 'top three' late at night? What are you doing here in our workshop? This is a classified unit, not a place for you to show off," Yi Zhonghai said sarcastically.

Su Zheng didn't even glance at him, and said directly to Director Zhang, "Director Zhang, this grinding machine spindle is making an abnormal noise, and there's a foreign object inside. I suggest we stop the machine immediately for inspection, otherwise the consequences could be disastrous."

"Strange noise?"

Director Zhang paused for a moment, then listened intently for a while. "No? It's spinning quite enthusiastically, isn't it? Old Yi, listen to it?"

Yi Zhonghai walked over with his hands behind his back, pretended to walk around the machine, and then put his ear to the casing to listen.

Actually, he couldn't make heads or tails of it either.

The German machine was very well controlled in terms of noise. Apart from the normal wind noise and cutting sounds, his already somewhat deteriorated hearing could not detect the microsecond-level noise at all.

However, this did not prevent him from refuting Su Zheng.

He must oppose anything that Su Zheng supports.

If Su Zheng said there was a problem, he had to say there was no problem.

This is not just a matter of face, but also a matter of the right to speak.

"Hmph, young people just can't keep their composure."

Yi Zhonghai straightened up and shook his head dismissively. "This is called 'break-in noise.' It's cold, and the lubricating oil is more viscous, so it's normal to make some noise when you first turn it on. It'll be fine once it warms up."

After saying that, he looked at Director Zhang and said firmly, "Old Zhang, I watched this machine being assembled. Based on my experience, I can guarantee this is within the normal wear and tear range. If it stops now, how will our factory meet its production targets? Who will take responsibility for delaying military production tasks because of some young upstart's 'illusion'?"

Director Zhang was already feeling sorry for those urgent documents, but when he heard that even Yi Zhonghai, this "level eight craftsman," had given his guarantee, his heart immediately turned in his favor.

"Engineer Su..."

Director Zhang rubbed his hands together, his face apologetic. "Look, Lao Yi is a veteran, very experienced. This batch of parts is really too urgent. If we stop the machine now, I really won't be able to explain it to my superiors tomorrow. How about... we keep it running for now? We can do the maintenance tomorrow during the day after this batch of work is finished?"

Su Zheng looked at Director Zhang's "playing peacemaker" attitude, then glanced at Yi Zhonghai's smug face, and sneered inwardly.

Good advice is useless when it comes to a damned devil.

He has fulfilled his obligation to inform.

Since someone insists on walking into the line of fire, he doesn't mind giving them a ride.

"Director Zhang, you're the workshop manager, you're in charge."

Su Zheng walked calmly to the duty desk and picked up the thick duty logbook.

"However, as the factory's technical consultant, I have the right to write down my judgment in the records."

He pulled out his pen and wrote a line in a flourish in the remarks column of the duty log:

"Abnormal micro-vibration detected in the spindle, determined to be due to the intrusion of a hard foreign object. Immediate shutdown recommended. Technical Consultant Su Zheng, [Date], 22:15."

After finishing writing, he snapped the pen cap back on with a crisp "snap".

"I've signed the document. From this moment forward, any problems with this machine are no longer my responsibility. Whoever insists on keeping it running will be held accountable."

After saying that, Su Zheng threw the notebook on the table and turned to leave.

Looking at Su Zheng's "hands-off" attitude, Yi Zhonghai felt a sudden unease.

But then he thought to himself, "I've been a fitter for thirty years, surely I can tell the difference between a good and a bad machine?"

This kid is definitely just making a show of intimidation to intimidate people and show off his authority!

"Stop pretending to be all high and mighty!"

Yi Zhonghai spat at Su Zheng's retreating figure, "Who are you trying to scare? 'Bear the consequences yourself'? I, Yi Zhonghai, have worked in factories my whole life, I've seen it all! If this machine breaks down, I'll change my name!"

Director Zhang felt a little uneasy looking at the words, but then he saw the machines that were shipping smoothly and thought that Su Zheng might be overreacting.

"Alright, alright, get back to work. Xiao Wu, keep a close eye on things, call me if anything happens."

Director Zhang waved his hand, turned around, and went back to his office to catch up on his sleep.

Yi Zhonghai snorted coldly, found a chair, sat down, picked up his teacup, and prepared to "hold the fort" there until dawn, so that Su Zheng would see what it meant to be "old ginger is spicier" tomorrow.

Su Zheng walked out of the workshop.

A cold wind blew in, taking away the stuffy heat from the workshop.

He didn't turn around and walked all the way to the factory gate.

I estimated the time, and then silently counted down in my mind:

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

Just as the count reached 1—

"Sizzle—!!!"

A piercingly sharp metallic shriek, like the mournful cry of a dying beast, instantly tore through the night sky!

Then came a muffled "boom," which made the ground beneath their feet tremble violently.

The previously steady roar of the machine came to an abrupt halt.

Instead, there was a deathly silence in the distant workshop, followed by terrified screams that erupted a few seconds later.

"Oh no...oh no! The spindle is jammed!"

"It's smoking! Turn off the power! Turn off the power!"

"It's over! It's all over!"

......

Su Zheng stopped in his tracks, a cold smile curving his lips.

He didn't turn back to save the day.

Now is not the time.

Let the bullets fly a little longer.

Let Yi Zhonghai's "confidence" suffer in despair for a while longer.

He tugged at his collar, strode out the door, and walked into the vast darkness of the night.

Tomorrow will be a good show.