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

The indicator light on the annealing furnace was lit in a dim corner. Old Sun stood guard by the rheostat, his wrist taut, staring intently at the pointer of the temperature control gauge on the furnace wall.

The first stage of stepped sintering starts from room temperature and proceeds upwards, with one step every twenty minutes. When the temperature reaches 300 degrees Celsius, it is held at that temperature for half an hour to allow the residual organic solvents in the nitrocellulose to slowly evaporate.

Don't rush it, or it will bubble and ruin the product.

Jiang Ming stood to the side of the stove, his elbow resting on the iron door of the work cabinet, the gauze on the back of his right hand rubbing against the cabinet door through his sleeve.

He didn't consciously try to feel the temperature; he simply focused his attention on the thermometer, waiting for the second stage of temperature increase.

"For the 600-degree range, the rheostat needs to be set two more notches; otherwise, oxalate residue will remain in the coating."

Old Sun didn't look up.

"I remember."

"Just remember that."

The wind and snow outside the workshop had not stopped. Occasionally, a wisp of cold air would seep in through the cracks in the window, blowing across the temperature record sheet on the control panel and lifting the corner of the paper.

Xiao Zhao pressed down on it, turned the pen around, and jotted down a time in the upper right corner.

Da Liu went to the cafeteria and brought back two bowls of corn porridge. He placed one bowl next to Jiang Ming and handed the other to Lao Sun.

He didn't play the game himself; instead, he stood in the corner and continued to finish the operation records he hadn't completed that morning.

Jiang Ming picked up the bowl and took a sip.

The corn porridge was warm, with a slightly bitter taste. It was made from cornmeal from the supply and marketing cooperative, which wasn't ground very finely, but it warmed the stomach.

After he finished drinking, he continued to stare at the stove without saying a word.

……

The morning shift at the East Suburb Chemical Plant had just finished their shift change. The receptionist, wearing blue cotton overalls, was squatting in the sun at the entrance of the dormitory building, holding an enamel mug.

A young man in a gray collared cotton overcoat came to the door, holding a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes in his hand, and casually offered the cigarettes.

The receptionist glanced up but didn't take it.

"A couple of days ago, a colleague from the Third Electronics Factory came here to collect some waste. Did you receive him?"

The receptionist placed the enamel mug on the steps and glanced to the side.

"There are many people who collect waste; which one are you referring to?"

The young man in the overcoat stubbed out the whole pack of cigarettes on the receptionist's lap, lowering his voice.

"Did anything unexpected happen that day? Did the test tube break, or did someone get burned? Think carefully."

The receptionist picked up the pack of cigarettes, squeezed it, and stared at the side of the cigarette box for a while.

A test tube did break that day, and acid splashed out, getting some on the face of the young man wearing glasses.

The tall guy helped him make a soda drink, and it seemed like his right hand was also rubbed, so he wrapped it in a handkerchief and left.

He asked if he needed to go to the clinic, but they said no.

"The acid splashed out, breaking a test tube. The young man got some on his face, and the tall man's hand seemed to have been burned as well."

The receptionist lowered her voice and didn't look the young man in the eye.

Thank you.

The young man in the overcoat stood up, his cigarette already in his pocket.

After walking a few steps, he turned back and asked again.

"How badly is the tall guy injured?"

The receptionist thought for a moment.

"He seems to have become a little famous, but he doesn't seem to care much about it."

……

After listening to the report, Xu Chongwen pulled the pen out of the pen holder.

The assistant stood in front of the desk, waiting for his instructions.

The pen nib moved quickly across the report paper, and the handwriting was a vertical regular script he had practiced while studying in the United States.

When writing the words "hazardous chemical injury accident", the strokes were slightly heavier than the surrounding characters.

After he finished writing, he read it through from beginning to end and added a small line of text under the title.

A formal complaint filed by name regarding a safety incident caused by the improper operation of technicians at the Third Electronics Factory.

"Send it to the safety supervision department of the ministry; it must be there this afternoon."

He pushed the envelope across the table.

……

At 3 p.m., investigators from the Ministry's Safety Production Supervision Department arrived at the Third Electronics Factory.

The two men rode a Jiefang brand motorcycle, with briefcases on the back seats. They entered the room, showed their work IDs, and explained their purpose.

The security officer with the crew cut caught the two men without showing any panic. He took a thick ledger from the cabinet and placed it on the table.

"Please take a look first, and I'll add anything that's unclear."

The investigator opened the ledger, and the first page read: Safety Emergency Drill and Operation Record for Pilot Operation of Acid-resistant Cylinder.

The date on the document was yesterday, almost a day earlier than the letter of complaint.

The record specifies the job name, operators, list of protective equipment, and installation and commissioning record of the ventilation system.

A separate item is attached after the section on protective equipment.

The title is: Test tube destructive splash test.

Objective: To verify the ultimate properties of acid-resistant rubber.

Test conclusion: The rupture was caused by internal pressure, resulting in a small amount of acid splashing. The operator was wearing goggles and a rubber apron, and the acid was rinsed with baking soda water in time. No medical treatment was required.

An investigator flipped to this column, paused, glanced at his colleague, and said nothing.

Footsteps could be heard coming from the corridor outside.

Jiang Ming pushed the door open and came in; the gauze on the back of his right hand had already been removed.

He raised the back of his hand towards the two investigators so they could see it clearly.

There are three scabs the size of mung beans, and the edges have begun to peel and heal. They don't even qualify as skin injuries.

"This is the chemical injury incident mentioned in the whistleblower letter."

His voice was flat, and after putting his hand down, he put it back into his pocket.

"During the acid resistance test, the rubber gaps opened up under the high temperature of the strong acid, and the spray came out faster than expected. I didn't have time to cover the back of my hand, that's all."

The two investigators exchanged a glance.

One continued to look down at the ledger, while the other looked at the three scabs, pulled out a notebook, and wrote a few words.

"The registration time in the ledger was earlier than the time of the report, the records are complete, and the protective measures are in place."

He closed his notebook and stood up.

"The allegations in this report are inconsistent with the facts. We will inform the reporting party, and this investigation is now concluded."

The flat-haired clerk put away the visit record book, escorted the two to the front door, and remained calm throughout, as if no one had ever been there.

……

In the aerodynamics center office, Xu Chongwen listened to the briefing, then placed his hands on the table, remaining motionless.

The enamel teacup was to his right; it was half full of hot water but he hadn't drunk any of it, and steam was condensing on the inside of the cup.

The investigator placed the notification on the table and added a final sentence.

"It is recommended that you verify the information yourself before making a report next time, so as not to waste administrative resources."

No sooner had they stepped out than Xu Chongwen pushed the teacup toward the table with his right hand.

The teacup slid off the table, hit the floor, and broke in two.

Hot water splashed out, wetting a section of the floor under the table leg.

The assistant stood at the door, looking down at the wet patch, without saying a word.

Xu Chongwen picked up the notification and placed it face down on the table.

He pressed it down very flat and firmly, as if he were pressing down on something.

Unbeknownst to him, the former director of the Safety Supervision Department had received a phone call before the investigators set off that afternoon.

The conversation on the phone was brief, implying that someone was using oversight channels to cause trouble for key classified projects.

The old director wrote three words in his notebook and then circled them.

From then on, an annotation appeared next to Xu Chongwen's name.

They neglect their duties and are keen on internal strife.

……

In Workshop No. 1, the annealing furnace completed the last stage of the low-temperature holding phase. Old Sun turned off the power switch, and the furnace entered natural cooling.

Jiang Ming finished filling in the last time point in the sintering record book, put down his pencil, and stretched his wrists.

A slight cracking sound came from the wrist bone.

The snow outside the window had stopped sometime ago, and a thin layer of white had accumulated on the factory roads, which were now bumpy and uneven from the wind.

"Wait until the furnace has cooled completely before using the microscope. First, write down the assembly plan for tomorrow's discussion."

Jiang Ming closed the notebook and stuffed it into the innermost compartment of the metal cabinet.

Xiao Zhao recalculated several data points on the back of the record sheet. Just as he looked up, the security guard came in from outside with a telegram draft.

His hat brim still had freshly melted snow water clinging to it.

"Engineer Jiang, an urgent telegram from the Northwest. Director Wang wants it delivered directly to Workshop No. 1."

Jiang Ming took it, unfolded it, and scanned a line.

His hand stopped.

He paused for so long that Xiao Zhao turned his head to the side before he finally gathered up the telegram and put it in his pocket.

The measured data from the front line of tube A01 has just been updated.

After running continuously for sixty hours, the transmission current dropped below the lower limit of the warning line and continued to decline.

The telegram contained only one sentence.

Please speed up the process.

The furnace hasn't cooled down yet, the sintering data isn't available, and only half of the materials for the five improved tubes have been prepared.

Sixty hours is still a long, seemingly endless gap from the five hundred hours equipment requirement.

The wind outside the window pushed the accumulated snow off the eaves.

The sound of the impact echoed through the silent workshop; no one spoke.