A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

A full stomach means a good night's sleep!

The only downside is that we'll be late!

Before she could even savor the beauty of the sunrise, Jiang Xia, with a steamed bun in her mouth, rushed to the bus stop. She'd been pulled to the chemical plant halfway through her shift yesterday; her mentor's wife's bicycle was still parked at the factory, and she hadn't had a chance to ride it.

Before long, a red and white bus, carrying a large black bag on its back, chugged into the station.

This must be China's earliest "new energy source," right?

Due to fuel shortages, a large number of buses use natural gas as fuel, which is stored in rubber bladders on the roof, commonly known as "gas bladders".

Of course, people from Sichuan province have a more vivid description of him, calling him "a man with a bump on his head".

Lacking gas compression technology and equipment, the gas could only be stored in a large air bag on the roof of the vehicle under normal pressure.

The large gas chamber was bulging, much like a hot air balloon about to take off.

As the gas was used up, the large gas bag deflated and swayed on the roof of the vehicle, like a large jellyfish bobbing in the sea.

When the air level drops to a certain point, the car breaks down. So it's common for a group of passengers to get off and help push the car.

Actually, this is considered good. In earlier times, buses carried boilers on their backs, commonly known as "gas generators".

It's also the "pot-shaped machine" that previous readers commented on.

Before starting work, drivers have three things to do: collect coal, start a fire, and tow the vehicle. The vehicle needs to be towed two or three times before it can be started.

In more distant places, such as the Northeast, there are still machines that burn firewood directly.

The bus was packed to the brim; there's no longer any system of getting off at the front and getting on at the back. Just squeezing onto the bus was a victory.

It was only thanks to the petite size of the ticket seller that she was able to squeeze from the front door to the back door to collect the tickets.

"Where?"

Outside Dongzhimen

"Five points!"

The ticket seller's tone wasn't very pleasant, but Jiang Xia understood. This working environment was even more frustrating than hauling steel next to a rolling mill; anyone would be angry in that situation.

Seeing Jiang Xia hand over three yuan, the girl grumbled a few words of dissatisfaction. Then, she pushed aside the people around her, assumed a horse stance, and took out a stack of small bills from her small bag, laboriously giving Jiang Xia change.

Finally, he pulled out a five-cent ticket from the stack of tickets he had on his hand and handed it over.

"Showing off your money, huh! Use small change next time, or I won't let you on the bus. It's such a hassle!"

"Hehe~" Jiang Xia gave a forced smile.

Perhaps it was her bright smile that cheered the little girl up a lot.

"Hold your money tight, or your pants will get slashed and you won't even have time to cry!" After saying that, the little girl rolled her eyes and turned around, struggling to crawl towards the front of the car.

"Those ahead of you have already bought their tickets! Get your money ready, I don't have time to waste with you!"

Two stops later, Jiang Xia was squeezed so tightly against the train door that even her head was turned to the side.

Looking at the people riding bicycles next to the car, I realized for the first time that having a car to ride is a wonderful thing.

It took nearly twenty minutes of swaying and bumping to reach the station near the steel rolling mill.

Well, I'm definitely going to be late.

I just don't know if they'll deduct money for being late, since Jiangxia has never been late before.

With a mix of trepidation and excitement, I found Ma Weihong and signed in.

After her explanation, Ma Weihong burst into laughter.

"Silly boy, you've already been transferred to the R&D department. Why do you still need to come and sign in with me?"

"Besides, you're an engineer now, you can just make up any excuse, right? Who's going to take this seriously!"

Jiang Xia then remembered the change in his position. He was now the only one in the R&D department, so he was basically managing himself.

Even if he went to sleep in his master's office now, I doubt anyone would bother him.

But Jiang Xia decided that he should be worthy of his salary and try his best not to steal it.

I wandered around the eighth workshop and saw that the master craftsmen were all following their routines.

The teams are working together more and more smoothly, and now it's no problem to get five or six engines running normally every day.

In the final assembly workshop, seven or eight tractors that had been assembled were already parked. Unlike the prototypes, these tractors were all painted bright red.

Each tractor has a nameplate about the size of two palms under its engine. A bunch of names are engraved on it.

For example, the engine manufacturer is: so-and-so; the final assembler is: so-and-so.

This was originally intended for Jiangxia to use for tracing the source of problems, initially to facilitate tracing the responsible parties in case of malfunctions. It was thought that the mechanics would be somewhat resistant to this.

Unexpectedly, the craftsmen were exceptionally enthusiastic about having their names on nameplates. This has led to Yi Zhonghai, who is skilled in engraving, becoming the busiest person in the workshop these past two days.

However, according to Jiang Xia's observation, Lao Yi's posture has become much straighter these past two days.

He would greet Jiangxia with a cheerful smile when he saw him.

Furthermore, thanks to the lighting factory that had once been forked away, this batch of tractors was fitted with a headlight from the Jiefang truck, becoming a special custom-made model for the Ministry of Petroleum.

Everything was in good order, quiet and peaceful.

Of course, this is without seeing Yang Youning and Li Huaide's expressions.

At that moment, the director and deputy director of the steel rolling mill were squatting in the final assembly workshop, with strange expressions on their faces.

If I had to describe it, it would be a mixture of pride and bitterness.

"Director Liu, as you can see, all the production capacity has been focused on making tractors lately, and we simply can't spare any manpower to make steel pipes!" Yang Youning scratched his head, feigning distress.

“Yes, Director Liu, we are really short-handed. The Ministry of Petroleum and the Ministry of Agriculture have jointly placed an order and are keeping an eye on this batch of tractors. It’s probably not appropriate for you to order 20 tractors right away!” Li Huaide chimed in.

The two of them sang in harmony, their coordination quite methodical.

Director Liu from the Chemical Industry Department had a thuggish air about him, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he waved the official document in his hand.

"I don't care. Either you deliver 10 tons of steel pipes to me, or you can settle the debt with 20 tractors. You can choose one!"

"We still have 3 tons of steel pipes. Put them in the stockpile to relieve stress. Take them if you want them, we don't have any more!" Seeing that Director Liu wouldn't listen to reason, Yang Youning's stubborn temper flared up.

"Hey, Yang Youning, you dare to argue with your brother Liu? This batch of steel pipes is due before the new year, and it's almost the end of the year. Tell me, how much have you delivered to our chemical department? My fertilizer plant in Bingzhou is waiting for the steel pipes to be delivered. If this delays production, I'll go complain to your uncle."

"Your uncle is waiting for the fertilizer!"

The moment his uncle was mentioned, Yang Youning immediately wilted, and the terrifying memories of being shrouded in the shadow of the leather belt flooded his mind.

"Brother Liu, that batch of steel pipes you made was finished a long time ago. They were reassigned to other places, weren't they?"

"Hehehe, Little Yang, steel pipes are hard to weld, but we have tractors readily available. Brother Liu, don't ask for too many, just ten to whet your appetite. You don't know how tough it is for Brother Liu in Bingzhou! I don't even have a Jiefang truck, all the equipment is carried and pulled by people and horses, I've even lost 10 pounds!"

"Alright, that's enough. Eight units! Eight units should be fine, right?"

Seeing the group arguing, Jiang Xia decided to stay far away.

After all, this is a contradiction between the demand for advanced equipment and outdated processing technology, which is irreconcilable.

Unfortunately, his tuft of hair fluttering in the wind gave him away.

"Jiang Xia!"

"brother!"

With three shouts in unison, Jiangxia turned his head in resignation.

You can call my name a hundred times and it won't work, I'm not Doraemon~~~