78: Bringing his wife and children to Harbin Institute of Technology

Zheng Shuyun read through the manuscript once, then looked at Liu Xiaojun and said:

"It's written alright, but it still needs some revisions."

"You wrote that I am an ordinary worker, but remember that you are not an ordinary worker, you are a skilled worker."

"You wrote that I went to the scrap yard and found an old motor, which can be kept, but then you wrote that the boss said it was free, and I said no, so I gave him twenty yuan. Delete this sentence."

"After all, this is an academic conference; people aren't here to listen to your stories."

"The impact strength data should be placed first."

Then Zheng Shuyun looked at Liu Xiaojun and added.

"And your handwriting is no good, it's too ugly and crooked. If you took it on stage and read it aloud, could you even recognize what you wrote?"

"Be nicer. Go home tonight and copy it three times carefully. Give it to me tomorrow."

After agreeing, Liu Xiaojun turned and left.

After Liu Xiaojun left, Chen An whispered to Zheng Shuyun.

"Sister-in-law, you're being too strict."

"It's not strict at all. Think about it yourself. Next month you're going to Beijing. The audience will be full of experts and professors. If he messes up, they won't say he's incompetent. They'll say that Hongqi Machinery Factory is incompetent and unprofessional."

Zheng Shuyun turned her head to look at Ye Bingwen.

"You too, when you're giving a presentation you're sitting in the audience, if an expert asks you a question, you can't just say that question. You have to ask Xiaojun. You're the factory director, you have to cover for him. You're the soul and anchor of the factory."

Ye Bingwen nodded.

The next morning, Liu Xiaojun arrived with the copied manuscript.

The characters are indeed much neater now; you can tell that a lot of effort was put into writing them.

Zheng Shuyun took it and looked at it.

"Okay, read it once now."

Liu Xiaojun stood in the middle of the office and cleared his throat.

"Hello teachers, my name is Liu Xiaojun..."

Zheng Shuyun interrupted.

"Stop, hello everyone, not hello everyone...teachers...hello, I spoke too slowly, people are getting impatient, let me try again."

"Hello teachers, my name is Liu Xiaojun..."

"Stop. My name is Liu Xiaojun. But 'I'm' sounds too strong. Just say 'I am' or 'you are' Liu Xiaojun."

Liu Xiaojun took a deep breath.

"Hello, teachers, I am Liu Xiaojun."

"From Hongqi Machinery Factory..."

"Stop. Remove the word 'from.' I am Liu Xiaojun from Hongqi Machinery Factory. Clean and efficient."

Liu Xiaojun starts anew.

"Hello everyone, I am Liu Xiaojun from Hongqi Machinery Factory. Today I will be sharing our factory's experience in modifying mixers..."

"Stop, remove the word 'experience,' and just say it's about modifying the mixer. Use more colloquial language, don't make it sound like you're writing a thesis."

Liu Xiaojun swallowed.

"Hello everyone, I am Liu Xiaojun from Hongqi Machinery Factory. Today I would like to report to you on the modification of our factory's mixer."

Zheng Shuyun nodded.

"Okay. That sentence is acceptable. Next sentence."

Liu Xiaojun glanced down at the manuscript and drew a circle on it.

Under Zheng Shuyun's guidance, Liu Xiaojun's manuscript became more and more perfect, and his tone and pace became more and more relaxed.

..........................

That's enough for today, we'll continue training tomorrow.

Liu Xiaojun left with the manuscript in his hand.

Chen An couldn't help but say something from the side.

"Sister-in-law, were you a teacher before?"

"No, I work as a proofreader at a publishing house, scrutinizing every single word. It's much harder than what you do here."

.........................

The next day, Zheng Shuyun brought the tape recorder she had brought before.

Liu Xiaojun stood in the middle of the office and read the manuscript aloud again.

After reading it aloud, Zheng Shuyun pressed the play button.

Liu Xiaojun's voice came through the tape recorder, intermittent and indistinct.

"Hello everyone... Mixer..."

On the third day, Liu Xiaojun's pronunciation became much clearer, but new problems arose.

"When you're reading from the script, don't look down. Look up and ahead. Put the script on the table and glance at it occasionally. You need to communicate with others. Also, don't clench your hands together; let them hang naturally."

Liu Xiaojun tried to look up, but after reading two sentences, he stopped, and his hands unconsciously clenched together again.

"Don't be nervous, it's okay if you mispronounce it, just try again."

On the fourth day, Liu Xiaojun's physical condition improved considerably, and he was able to write the manuscript smoothly.

Zheng Shuyun put the tape recorder away.

"Alright, starting tomorrow, practice Mandarin."

She took out a piece of paper with a few lines written on it.

"These are the words in your manuscript that are easy to mispronounce. You say 'rotational speed' instead of 'rotational speed', 'dismantle' instead of 'dismantle', and 'test' instead of 'test fine'. Correct them one by one."

On the sixth day, Zheng Shuyun also called Ye Bingwen and Chen An over to simulate the scene together.

"Hello everyone, I am Liu Xiaojun from Hongqi Machinery Factory..."

Zheng Shuyun suddenly raised her hand.

"I have a question for you. How long have you been using that blender?"

"Uh... I've been using it for... almost a month now."

"One month? You say long-term stability is guaranteed? What's your basis for that?"

Liu Xiaojun opened his mouth, but couldn't answer.

Zheng Shuyun looked at him.

"Think this through when you get back. Next time someone asks you, you can't say you've been using it for almost a month. They'll think you're joking."

Zheng Shuyun then looked at Chen An below the stage.

"Chen An, I'm asking you, besides Professor Cai's lab, has any other institution verified your test data?"

Chen An was startled and quickly stood up.

"Not at the moment, but Professor Cai's lab is..."

"I know it's from Harbin Military Engineering Institute. The expert asked you this question not because he wanted to know who Professor Cai is, but because he wanted to know if your data is based on the opinions of only one person. Go back and think about how to answer."

Zheng Shuyun then looked at Ye Bingwen.

"I'm asking you, your equipment has a high rate of self-modification, and experts don't trust it. How do you plan to solve this?"

"We are preparing for continuous production to accumulate data..."

"Simply accumulating data isn't enough; you need to demonstrate that you're moving towards standardization. Have you applied for patents? Have you drafted standards?"

"Preparing."

"Saying 'it's being prepared' won't work. You need to say it's already started and when it's expected to be completed, giving people a clear timeframe."

Zheng Shuyun stood up and looked at the three people.

"That's all for today. Remember, experts aren't here to find fault, they're here to point out flaws. If you correct those flaws, people will trust you."

All three nodded.

On the seventh day, Liu Xiaojun disassembled and reassembled the mixer again.

He tightened every screw, checked the circuitry again, and disassembled the motor to clean out the dust.

He squatted on the ground and stared at the mixer for a long time.

That night, Liu Xiaojun tossed and turned in bed in his dormitory, unable to fall asleep.

He placed the manuscript beside his pillow and read it silently with his eyes closed.

I drifted off to sleep on the third recitation.

In my dream, he was standing on a stage, surrounded by a crowd of people.

He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

I woke up suddenly, covered in sweat.

I checked my watch; it was 3 a.m.

He turned on the light and read the manuscript aloud again.