A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Jiang Xia returned to his office and hadn't even sat down when the phone rang.

I checked my watch; it wasn't even 19 PM yet. This shouldn't be the agreed-upon call, right?

Picking up the microphone, Factory Director Zhao Bin's voice came through: "Hey, Engineer Jiang! I'd like to report to you that the improvements to the carriages are complete! The only problem is the limited number of air compressors; we've only modified four carriages so far..."

"Oh! How was the result?"

"It looks pretty good. I've packed the frozen fish in. You can come and check our results for yourself tomorrow..."

"Haha, okay then, I'll thank you in advance?"

Jiang Xia gave a thumbs-up to Factory 331's production efficiency, but unfortunately Zhao Bin couldn't see it...

"What's the big deal! Hey, Engineer Jiang, you have so many connections, could you help us get a few more air compressors from Shenyang? I called them yesterday, but they said they're completely out of stock. The Ministry of Railways is even complaining that there aren't enough modified carriages, it's a waste of transport capacity..."

"Hey, that's strange. A while ago they said they couldn't find any demand for their air compressors and asked us to buy a few more, but they sold out in just a few days? When I asked them a few more questions, they even yelled at me!"

He quickly offered a few words of comfort to Zhao Bin to appease him. There was no other way; the agreed-upon time was approaching, and these days phone connections were handled by the operator. If a more important call came in, Zhao Bin's line would inevitably be cut off.

A while later, Li Huaide appeared at the door carrying two boxes of tea.

"Xiao Jiang, these are the tea leaves I just snatched from Zhang Yiyuan..."

Before he could finish his enthusiastic words, Old Wang dragged him out, pointing at the wall clock. Secretary Liu, carrying an instrument with a long, looping antenna, walked out from next door with a serious expression and nodded to Old Wang.

"Ring ring ring..." The phone rang.

With a snap, Old Wang closed the office door, leaving Jiang Xia alone, who nervously picked up the phone.

"Hey?"

"Comrade Jiang Xia! This is a machinery factory in a certain area. We will be monitoring the entire conversation that follows. Are you ready? Call being transferred..."

Before Jiang Xia could say anything, a rough voice came from the microphone.

"it is good!"

Huff, huff... After waiting for a long time, all I heard on the other end of the microphone was heavy breathing.

?

"Comrade, is the transfer complete yet?"

Silence~~

However, a soft voice came from the other end of the microphone: "Oh, Director, the other party's level of secrecy is too high. We're not high enough level to switch to the dedicated line and can't eavesdrop!"

"Huh? What nonsense is this..."

Jiang Xia held the phone, unsure whether to put it down or continue waiting.

Then came another burst of noise, the sound as shrill as a broken horn.

Your uncle!

Jiang Xia put the microphone aside, and after the howling stopped, several "hello" messages came through the microphone.

"You little brat, are you still there?!"

"Oh! Master?"

"Master, where have you been! Why have you changed the locks again? I wanted to go and air out your house a couple of days ago, but I couldn't open the door!"

"Pah! You think you're so kind? You just want the liquor I make!" Li Changfu's cheerful voice came through the microphone.

"No, I just miss my teacher's wife! I haven't had any dumplings made by her this year..."

"Just wait, your master's wife is right there, she said she heard everything! You should take better care of yourself, don't make me worry about you! Weren't you staying at the factory again recently...?"

The master and disciple talked incessantly until someone reminded the master, at which point they stopped.

"There's something I want to ask you. Do you understand the gas diffusion method?"

Jiang Xia was taken aback. It wasn't that she didn't know this method, but that this gas diffusion method represented something different from the others.

Jiang Xia's voice trembled: "Master, if you're talking about the principle of energy equipartition based on gas dynamics, I do understand that to some extent. But you...you went to that godforsaken place?"

"Pah! What a godforsaken place! Let me tell you, there's a river right in front of me! It's just a bit cold..."

Then someone on the other end of the microphone muttered: "Old Li, keep this a secret!"

Li Changfu paused for a moment, then continued, "There's a porous thin plate on the diffusion machine with a pore size of about 0.01 micrometers. Can this be machined?"

"Hey, Master, I'm an amateur. This kind of precision isn't something that can be machined. There's a special process for preparing porous structures..."

"Nonsense, if such a technology existed, why would you be the one to talk about it? Could you even make it yourself? Didn't you manage to produce some kind of special steel?"

"Master, please wait a moment, let me look for some information..."

As he spoke, Jiang Xia put the microphone aside, took out his notebook from his bag, and found the records of his intense work on special alloy steel a while ago.

He searched and pondered at the same time.

The master has definitely gone to that place, and they are currently using gas diffusion to try to increase the abundance of a certain key element.

However, why is the gas diffusion method being used, such an outdated approach? I heard from Dr. Lan Ying recently that someone was working on a centrifuge.

Why not just use gas centrifugation?

It's important to know that the energy consumption of "diffusion" is an order of magnitude higher than that of "centrifugation".

To produce even a low concentration of 3% of an element, at least 1000 diffusers would need to be connected in series. 3% is only the concentration required for a reactor; the Big Apple requires concentrations of over 90%.

No wonder people in Shenyang say there aren't any air compressors left; they must have all been transferred to Master's place!

Thinking of this, Jiang Xia didn't bother to care anymore.

My rank should be high enough, so I might as well make my presence known! If that doesn't work, I'm sure the person listening nearby will force me to stop.

“Master! Why not use the ‘gas centrifugation method’? Using a centrifuge is much faster than you using a compressor to blow it up…”

There was silence on the other end of the microphone.

After a long while, Li Changfu's voice finally came through the microphone: "Come on, continue."

"Hmm! You just want to separate the important elements, but 235 and 238 are isotopes, which cannot be extracted using ordinary chemical reactions. But, Master, since you came up with the gas diffusion method, you must know that their weights are different. Blowing them is not as fast as shaking them!"

"Listen to this! Listen to this! That's what it means to have the same idea as a master! I always said centrifuges are incredibly useful!"

"Squeaky!!!"

Then another burst of shrill noise came through the microphone.

Tsk, did they disconnect? Is my level still not high enough?

Jiang Xia put down the microphone and sat in the chair, his mind somewhat blank.

On the other end, Li Changfu also grumbled as he put down the receiver, rubbing his ears: "What a piece of junk! A dedicated line!"

Beside him, his teacher's wife and a group of people stood together, looking somewhat astonished at the badged warrior who appeared at the entrance of the confidential room.

"What's the matter?"

The badge warrior scratched his head. "The security level wasn't high enough, and the relevant authorities cut off the connection..."

The master's wife slapped Li Changfu reproachfully: "I told you to be careful! The little brat is smart, but you still..."

"Big sister..." The badge warrior interrupted his master's wife, embarrassed.

"It's because your rank isn't high enough..."

"What!"