A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Before leaving, Jiang Xia sent the three bulky pressure pumps onto the Yellow River truck and asked Director Fan about some details regarding the hydraulic pumps.

Factory Director Fan didn't hold back either, handing over three thick notebooks to Jiang Xia.

On the Yellow River Jeep, Jiangxia closed his eyes to rest, but in reality, he had already set up the scanner.

As each part was modeled, wow, it really works! This Factory Manager Fan is a genius!

He took out a pill and put it in his mouth—no, it should be a candy.

"Brother Wang, is that forging center in Beijing still open?"

The forging center is another example of the Ministry of Machine Building's questionable practices. Well, actually, it's not entirely the Ministry's fault.

It was around that time that the Ministry of Machine Building wanted to implement a specialized collaborative production model, concentrating forging presses to produce large forgings.

They were very popular at the time, but somehow they gradually disappeared from the public eye.

Wang Kui tilted his head and thought for a moment, then said definitively, "It's gone. It was changed to General Machinery Factory."

"What happened to their original free-forging hydraulic press?"

"Tsk, you really think I'm your secretary? I'm just a gatekeeper, how would I know so much? If you want to know the news, read the newspaper yourself!"

"Pshaw, you won't find this kind of news in the newspapers. Besides, buying a newspaper involves queuing at the post office, which is such a hassle. And whether you can even buy one is another matter..."

That's true; there aren't newsboys selling daily newspapers on the streets anymore.

The delivery work is the exclusive responsibility of the post office, and now the post office only sends postmen to large units to deliver newspapers. Each unit receives two copies, one for the factory leaders and one for the bulletin board in the yard.

The bulletin board can only be viewed on one side at a time. The other side can only be turned over and put into the bulletin board after the leaders have finished reading it.

Li Huaide, being the slowpoke he is, could spend ten minutes reading a single word of the newspaper. By the time he hands the newspaper to the propagandist, it will be at least the next day.

Of course, there are also designated people to read during the daily study sessions. But they only read the front page headlines...

Why? Right now, there are only four printing plants, and the typesetting work is still done manually. Typesetters need to arrange and combine the movable type according to the layout design.

The workload was enormous, and it was all night shift work. Coupled with the malnutrition of today, many people suffer from night blindness. The typesetters back then really had a hard time.

Aside from the outdated printing methods, an important point is that the full-size paper (787*1092mm) used for newspapers and magazines was also imported.

Hey, it's kind of ironic, isn't it? The country where papermaking originated actually has to import paper.

Daily newspapers used to publish only four pages a day, and the Sijiucheng Evening News even stopped publishing on Mondays. Why?

Because there wasn't enough paper.

Fortunately, this issue was resolved this year, and the daily newspaper proudly expanded to eight pages, increasing volume without raising prices—a good thing. (This point is questionable; most online sources say the format was changed in 1956, but the information I have states it was changed in 1960 because the Yunxi Paper Mill went into production, solving the paper supply problem. Oh well, too lazy to change it; just consider it filler.)

Therefore, 60 years ago, using newspapers to wallpaper walls was a privilege reserved for only a select few. It was a precious commodity! Most organizations collected them and took them to recycling stations for reuse.

Chatting, the two returned to the textile factory.

Wang Tiezhu had been waiting impatiently for a long time, so he stepped on the gas and drove off with the pressure pump.

The small square in the textile factory area.

Uh, there were a lot of people there.

All four key technical personnel were present, and even many young people from the steel rolling workshop came.

The steel mill dispatched five trucks at once. In addition to one Yellow River truck carrying various steel pipes and radiators, two other trucks were loaded with small blast furnaces that had been dismantled from the commune's steel plant, and the remaining two Jiefang trucks were full of people.

A rough count shows over 100!

Dude, how do you guys manage to squeeze through so many people and still keep your hairstyles from getting messed up?

Is Yang Erlengzi really going to such lengths just to have a bed to sleep in?

Watching the young man swinging the wrench and yelling, Jiang Xia sensed something was wrong.

Hey kid in Workshop 1, your hair always stands on end, right? I only have a few tufts of hair sticking up, but you have a whole head full of them. How come it's all smooth today?

And you, the big boss of Workshop Two, didn't you claim that only the dirty ones are the true working people? How come you're all washed so clean today, I can't even recognize you.

Hey, Master Xia Fengnian, what brings you here too?

As Jiang Xia greeted the young men, he moved closer to Xia Fengnian, wanting to discuss with him whether a certain workpiece of the hydraulic press could be directly machined on a lathe.

"Hey, why does it smell so good?"

"Master Xia, did you apply face cream?"

Xia Fengnian, who usually had an arrogant expression, blushed for once.

"Damn, you guys didn't think this was a matchmaking event, did you?!" Jiang Xia exclaimed belatedly.

Xia Fengnian shoved Jiang Xia's mouth shut: "Little brat, what are you yelling about? Let me tell you, we've already discussed the terms. If you don't agree, you'll lose your life!"

Even Master Qin's youngest apprentice, who had always admired Jiangxia, raised his wrench menacingly.

"Big brother, this is a serious matter! I advise you not to make a mistake!"

Damn it, you little stutterer, you can speak fluently in this kind of situation, huh!

Jiang Xia let out two soft whimpers and turned his gaze to Wang Kui.

Unexpectedly, Lao Wang and Wang Tiezhu, who had arrived early, were chatting happily, and Lao Wang didn't even glance at Xiao Jiang.

You old Wang, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, you've rebelled too, haven't you!

They finally managed to break free from Xia Fengnian's control.

"Hey guys, what's the deal? I don't know anything about it, how can I agree to it?"

The group exchanged embarrassed glances. Hey, they were so busy getting excited that they hadn't really explained anything to this little airhead.

"Yes, when we're installing the pipes later, we'll have to rotate people every ten minutes!"

That's it?

Hey, I thought you guys had some illogical ideas, like knocking someone out and taking them away.

"As long as you guarantee the installation quality, I have no objection to you replacing it every minute!"

"Besides, why are you all only looking at the pipes? These radiators are going to be installed in the workshop. Wouldn't it be better to take a closer look?"

Xia Fengnian suddenly realized: "Hey, thank goodness it's you! No wonder Tie Jun from the technical department said the radiators were hard to install and made us take charge of the pipes. So that's the root of the problem!"

Hehe, even this honest and simple-minded guy, Tie Jun, can talk a good game now. It seems that winter is here, but spring won't be far behind.

It's so good to be young!

I wonder when my spring will come.

Jiangxia walked around for a while, his hands behind his back, looking like a little old man.

He then picked up a few pieces of chalk and, looking dejected, began drawing pipeline diagrams on the dusty wall.

"Tsk tsk, why does Engineer Jiang look so desolate?"

Li Tiejun squatted on the ground and reached out to wipe his greasy hair: "Didn't Dr. Ding from the health center go to university in Shanghai with his family?"

"Oh, no wonder! Tsk tsk, Dr. Ding is so beautiful, even so-and-so goes to the health center for a stroll every now and then!"

"Hey! Why don't we go and help Engineer Jiang get Dr. Ding back!"

"What nonsense! That kid's not even infatuated; he just has a crush on her." Li Tiejun scoffed. "When it comes to mechanical manufacturing, he's a genius; when it comes to relationships, he's an idiot."

"With our poetry skills, we couldn't even influence him. It's so frustrating!"

"Hey, everyone take a look. Why does my hair look like a clump is sticking up? Can you help me get it down?"

"Huh, where did everyone go?"

"Ah, your hair is standing on end. Could it be that it sensed danger?" Jiang Xia poked her head out from above Tie Jun's head, bent down with difficulty, and made eye contact with Tie Jun.

"Brother Jiang, flowers don't bloom for a hundred days..."

"Yeah, it's all fake brotherhood."

“Perfect parallelism! Your hair has become a spirit, this old monk will help you send it to the afterlife!” Jiang Xia stood up and grabbed Tie Jun’s hair in a sinister manner.

"No, bro, how do you perform a ritual to release hair?"

"Just pluck them all out, one by one, don't even think about doing it all!"