I started with a ship full of max-level veterans, and I'm just a complete noob.

The next morning, in Workshop No. 1, cold wind blew in through the cracks in the door, but the area around the fitter's bench was as hot as a steamer.

Da Liu quickly ran to the pool, scrubbed his hands three times with soap, and then jogged over to hand him a clean cotton cloth.

Old Sun closed his eyes and took two deep breaths of the smell of machine oil in the workshop.

That was his peace of mind after working as a fitter for thirty years.

He opened his eyes and picked up the first official fluororubber seal that had just been vulcanized the night before with his rough, large hands.

The entire workshop only has four chances left.

And this is the first time.

No one around dared to make a sound.

Wu Hanzhang stood three steps away, his hands gripping the hem of his clothes tightly.

Jiang Ming stood opposite the grinding table, his eyes fixed on Lao Sun's wrist.

Shake, shake, shake.

Old Sun's hand moved.

The upper arm leads the forearm, and the wrist follows the curvature to draw a smooth arc.

The muscle memory I gained from grinding through twenty-three pieces of material yesterday has finally erupted at this moment.

The feed rate is controlled within a very small range.

Every curve is frighteningly precise, almost as if it were machine-carved.

Ten minutes have passed.

Twenty minutes have passed.

Beads of sweat the size of soybeans appeared on Old Sun's forehead, rolling down his cheeks and slapping onto the iron tabletop.

No one dared to wipe his sweat.

Thirty-five minutes.

Forty minutes.

Old Sun's hand suddenly stopped.

He slowly straightened up and exhaled a long breath.

"Da Liu, calipers."

Old Sun didn't even have the strength to turn his head.

Da Liu's hands trembled like a leaf as he carefully handed over the micrometer.

Old Sun took a micrometer and placed it on the freshly cleaned seal.

The air in the entire workshop instantly froze.

Everyone held their breath, staring intently at the small dial.

Old Sun's eye twitched suddenly.

0.09 micrometers.

Although Lao Sun's voice was very soft, it exploded like a thunderclap in the workshop.

You passed!

The seam sealing is up to standard! (✧◡✧)

"It's done!"

Da Liu let out a loud shout.

Several young technicians excitedly hugged each other.

Wu Hanzhang's eyes were bloodshot as he slapped his thigh hard.

"Heaven won't let a blind sparrow starve! Well done, Old Sun!"

Old Sun's face was flushed, and his lips were trembling.

He had never done such delicate work in his life.

That's enough for him to brag about until his grave!

Jiang Ming, however, did not smile.

He took the seal and walked directly to the testing table.

"Go to the test bench, pressurize to 0.5 atmospheres, and hold the pressure for 10 minutes."

The cheers abruptly stopped.

As everyone knows, meeting the size requirements is only the first step.

The real skill is ensuring that the device doesn't leak air after installation.

The seals were tightly fitted into the test bench.

Da Liu cranked the handle vigorously.

Pressurization begins.

At 0.5 atmospheres, it came to a steady stop.

"Start the timer."

Jiang Ming stared intently at the stopwatch.

The workshop fell silent once again.

At that moment, you could hear a pin drop.

Old Sun stared intently at the barometer needle, not daring to blink.

One minute.

three minutes.

five minutes.

The pointer remained motionless, as if it were welded to the scale.

Old Sun finally grinned.

Da Liu and Xiao Zhao also stood by, grinning foolishly. (￣▽￣)

In the seventh minute, the pointer remained as steady as ever.

Wu Hanzhang breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling as if the weight that had been pressing on his heart for three months was finally about to be lifted.

Eighth minute.

The barometer needle deflected slightly and slowly to the left by less than a millimeter.

It's leaking air.

The smile on Old Sun's face froze instantly.

His eyes bulged out, staring intently at the watch face as if he'd seen a ghost. (°Д°)

Wu Hanzhang's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

He took half a step back and slumped down onto the wooden chair.

Nine minutes.

ten minutes.

The pointer is still slowly descending.

Although it is only a tiny leak, for the high vacuum requirement of 10 to the power of negative 5 Pascals, such a tiny leak is enough to completely destroy the entire anti-interference military vacuum tube project.

"Grass!"

Old Sun let out a fierce roar. (╬◣д◢)

He grabbed the hammer on the table, his eyes red and almost bleeding.

"My hands are practically worn out! The size is exactly right! Why is it leaking?! Why?!"

Old Sun raised his hammer, ready to smash it down on the testing platform.

He completely lost his composure.

"lay down!"

Although Jiang Ming's voice was not loud, it had a penetrating quality.

Old Sun's hand froze in mid-air.

He was panting heavily, staring intently at Jiang Ming.

Jiang Ming calmly walked over, snatched the hammer from Old Sun's hand, and threw it aside.

Then, he picked up a wrench, deftly disassembled the test bench, and removed the seal.

He took out a simple high-powered magnifying glass from his pocket, brought it close to the contact surface of the seal, and carefully observed it inch by inch along the position where it had just been assembled.

The workshop was eerily quiet.

All that remained was Jiang Ming's heavy breathing.

After staring at it for a full three minutes, Jiang Ming finally put down the magnifying glass and straightened up.

"Master Sun, you did the job right."

Jiang Ming said in a calm tone.

"Your grinding precision is perfect; the problem isn't with you."

Old Sun was completely stunned.

Wu Hanzhang also suddenly stood up.

"So where exactly does the problem lie?"

Wu Hanzhang was so anxious he was jumping up and down.

"Due to thermal expansion."

Jiang Ming frowned and tapped his head in frustration.

He turned to look at the small blackboard beside him and picked up the chalk.

"When the test bench is pressurized, it simulates the working conditions inside a rotary vane pump. Airflow friction and mechanical operation generate a lot of heat. The seals are made of fluororubber, while the outer casing is made of old Soviet steel."

Jiang Ming drew two contact surfaces on the blackboard.

"The coefficients of thermal expansion of rubber and metal are not even in the same order of magnitude! When the temperature rises, steel expands slowly, while rubber expands quickly. However, in a tightly compressed, enclosed space, rubber has no room to release its thermal expansion, which will cause microscopic elastic deformation and shrinkage."

"When cooling or heat conduction is uneven, gaps of several micrometers will appear on the contact surface."

Jiang Ming slammed the chalk down on the table.

"The dimensional tolerances are indeed correct. It was because I stayed up all night calculating the drawings that I overlooked the physical principle of thermal expansion allowance!"

The entire audience gasped. (°ー°〃)

Even if the surface is polished to look like a mirror, the physical properties are different. With thermal expansion and contraction, it will eventually leak air.

Wu Hanzhang's face turned ugly.

The old man gripped his gray hair tightly and asked urgently, "Young Jiang, does this mean the tolerances on the blueprints need to be revised again?"

"right."

Jiang Ming nodded decisively.

"The initial dimensions of the seal must be made slightly larger than the design value. We need to utilize the elastic compression of the rubber itself to compensate for the micro-gaps caused by thermal expansion during operation. Only in this way can we maintain a tight fit during alternating hot and cold periods."

"Then let's calculate it quickly!"

Old Sun's hope was rekindled.

As long as it's not a problem with his skills, he'll still have the motivation to keep going.

"Big Liu, clean up the worktable and make room for Engineer Jiang!"

Xiao Zhao quickly took out the Soviet dictionary that Chen Zhiyuan had handwritten, as well as a bunch of internal documents.

He scribbled rapidly on the paper, preparing to work with Jiang Ming on the calculations.

However, after flipping through the pages for ten minutes, cold sweat began to appear on Xiao Zhao's forehead.

"Jiang Gong."

Xiao Zhao's voice sounded somewhat bitter.

"The coefficient of thermal expansion of second-grade industrial fluororubber cannot be found in the Soviet dictionaries or other materials. They didn't even include the most basic parameters."

Without the parameters, it is impossible to calculate the reserve amount.

Without a reserve, the remaining three material opportunities will also be wasted.

The atmosphere plummeted to freezing point once again. (；′⌒`)

Jiang Ming glanced at the thick dictionary.

He knew that this was not Xiao Zhao's problem, but rather a limitation of the times.

These days, fluororubber is definitely a niche, high-end product in the country.

"Don't panic."

Jiang Ming rolled up the blueprints and stuffed them into his pocket, then turned to look at the rising sun outside the window.

"I'll go back and figure something out."

Jiang Ming's tone was resolute.

"I'll handle everything regarding the coefficient of thermal expansion and the direction of the metal pump body's fit tolerances. Master Sun, you and your apprentice take a day off to rest and get back into form. Let's try to pass it on our first try tomorrow."

After saying that, Jiang Ming walked away from Workshop No. 1.

Walking back to his dormitory, the cold wind blew against Jiang Ming's face.

He pushed open the door to the single dormitory and plugged in the rusty iron bolt.

As the blue curtains were drawn tightly shut, the room instantly darkened.

Jiang Ming took off his shoes, sat cross-legged on the single bed, took a deep breath, and slowly closed his eyes.

He hasn't used any of his three opportunities to communicate with spirits today.

In the precious next forty-five minutes, he had to extract from different deceased pioneers the thermal expansion properties of fluororubber and the tolerance direction for its fit with the heavy Soviet metal pump body.

This time, we must be absolutely certain!

His consciousness began to sink rapidly.

The ancient book, "The Record of Human Connections," suddenly unfolded in the depths of his mind.

Qian Lao's golden name card shimmered with a warm light, and the veins on it quickly extended outwards.

Jiang Ming stared at the shimmering nodes in the void, greedily locking onto a new target.

Come on, let's kill this damn thermal expansion assassin! (✧◡✧)