Risking one's life

  "Gambling with lives? What does that mean?" This time it was Koizumi Jiro who was stunned, he didn't know what the Chinese worker in front of him wanted to gamble with.

  Sun Changyuan pointed to the two ice machines and said, "Didn't you just say that using your axle is very safe, but using our axle is very dangerous? Alright, you stand next to your ice machine, I'll stand next to mine. We'll both accelerate at the same time. If our axle has a problem, then my life will be forfeit right here. But if our axle is fine and yours isn't, then your life will also be forfeit. Are you daring enough to make this bet with me?"

  As soon as this was said, everyone's expression changed. Koizumi's face showed embarrassment, and he stammered: "Sir, this is against the operating rules. During the test drive, the operator cannot approach the ice machine."

  During the test drive, there is such a rule, and everyone present knows it. Although in normal conditions, ice machine test driving will not cause catastrophic accidents, this is only from a probabilistic perspective. No one dares to guarantee against unexpected events. Sun Changyuan said so, apart from being arrogant, he also has high confidence in his own products. Xiao Quan's confidence, on the other hand, is even less than Sun Changyuan's.

  "You little devil, didn't you say your axle was fine? Come on, let's make a bet to the death. We'll start from 1500 rpm and keep increasing the speed until we reach 3000 rpm. If I'm still alive at 3000 rpm, we'll continue to accelerate. Can't these two devices reach their limit of 5000 rpm? Let's see who breaks first."

  Sun Changyuan said as he grabbed hold of Koizumi's wrist and dragged him into the equipment area, stopping in front of the Japanese main shaft ice machine. He let go of Koizumi's hand and said: "You stand here honestly, I'll also stand by my ice machine, whoever moves first will be a loser."

  Sun Changyuan's actions startled everyone present. They couldn't help but turn their heads to look at Xie Chunyan, wondering about her reaction. After all, Koizumi Kotaro was a foreigner, and Sun Changyuan's behavior could be considered a violation of diplomatic protocol.

  At this time, Xie Chunyan was facing away from the scene. Sun Changyuan's voice was very loud, but Xie Chunyan seemed to have not heard it at all, and continued to chat with Zhu Tiejun about children's education: "Old Zhu, I heard your daughter got into college this year, I haven't congratulated you yet."

  Zhu Tiejun also chuckled: "Director Xie's information is very well-informed. However, my daughter only took a vocational school exam, which is nothing like Little Lin's sister, who got into Huaqing University."

  "Wow, Kobayashi's sister is so tough?"

  "It's still mainly thanks to Xiao Lin being awesome," said Zhu Tiejun, "Even my own daughter, Zhu Xia, was able to get into vocational school because of the guidance she received from Xiao Lin."

  Xie Chunyan pretended to be serious and said, "Oh my, my son is also in high school this year. Why don't I bring him to find you little Lin sometime and have him help with tutoring?"

  The two leaders on the scene were both pretending to be deaf and dumb, so naturally everyone else knew what to do. Koizumi's entourage didn't dare say much, while all the Chinese people had a schadenfreude mentality, watching Koizumi standing pitifully in front of the ice machine.

  "Let's get started!" Sun Changyuan shouted loudly, "Xiaodong, you take care of this machine and turn it to 1500 rpm."

  Sun Xiaodong, who followed Sun Changyuan to the control panel, bit his teeth and pressed the start switch. He then pushed the handle and adjusted the speed to 1500 revolutions per minute. The operation of the ice machine was not too complicated, and Sun Xiaodong had learned from his father for several years as a fitter and had also installed small-sized ice machines in other factories, so he could operate it skillfully.

  The machine's roar sounded again, Sun Changyuan stood beside the ice machine, with his hands behind his back and standing proudly, his eyes staring at Koizumi Jiro who was standing on the opposite side of the machine.

  "It's up to you." Lin Zhenhua walked over to the control panel of the machine and said to Suzuki Nobuo, who was standing there. Earlier, when Sun Changyuan pulled Koizumi Jiro in front of the ice machine, Suzuki had already stopped it, and now he was hesitating whether to start it like Sun Xiaodong did.

  "Koizumi-kun, what should I do?" shouted Suzuki Nobuo to Koizumi Jiro.

  "Let's get started." Koizumi Jiro replied helplessly. He didn't dare to leave the position that Sun Changyuan had set for him, and if he left now, it would be equivalent to slapping himself in the face.

  The machines on both sides started, and the ground in the workshop was slightly shaking. Sun Changyuan stood beside the ice machine, carefully identifying the sounds coming from the ice machine. He could hear that the main shaft was running very smoothly, completely unlike what Koizumi Kotaro had said.

  As an old worker, Sun Changyuan has both a hot temper and sufficient rationality. He wouldn't really go to gamble with the safety of equipment. This is not just a matter of one's own life, but also tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment. His life belongs to him, he can afford to gamble it away. But the equipment belongs to the country, if something really goes wrong, he can't afford to compensate for it.

  "Xiao Dong, shift up one gear, to 1800 rpm." Sun Changyuan shouted loudly.

  Sun Xiaodong hesitated for a moment, pushed the handle, and increased the speed to 1800. Suzuki Nobuo across from him had no choice but to follow suit, increasing the speed of the ice machine next to Koizumi Jiro by one gear.

  Xie Chunyan no longer pretended not to see, she nervously asked Fan Shibin: "Director Fan, is this okay? We can't just vent our anger and joke about the country's property and Master Sun's life."

  Fan Shibin said, "Judging from the condition of the ice machine, it should be fine. Our axle is very strong and not as prone to accidents as those little devils say. However, anything can happen, and with Master Sun staying there, there's still some danger."

  "Then, are Japanese in danger?" Xie Chunyu asked.

  Fan Shibo said: "At least so far, the danger on both sides should be equally great. Now it's just a matter of who has the bigger guts. Old Sun is a person with a bad temper, and this time the Japanese have really provoked him."

  Xie Chunyan turned back to look at Zhu Tiejun and asked him, "Old Zhu, what do you think about this...?" She wasn't Sun Changyuan's direct supervisor, so she couldn't make up her mind whether to call off the life-or-death duel. However, deep down, she was cheering for Sun Changyuan.

  Zhu Tiejun did not respond to Xie Chunyan's inquiry. He walked over to the toolbox that Sun Changyuan had placed aside, rummaged through it for a moment, and pulled out a cloth bag. Then, he stepped across the safety line and headed towards Sun Changyuan. Xie Chunyan and Fan Shibin did not expect Zhu Tiejun to also enter the equipment area. By the time they wanted to stop him, it was too late.

  Zhu Tiejun walked up to Sun Changyuan's side and chuckled: "Old Sun, standing here all alone, don't you feel bored?"

  Sun Changyuan panicked a bit and hastily said: "Director Zhu, you can't come over here, it's still dangerous."

  Zhu Tiejun shook the cloth bag in his hand and said, "What's so dangerous about it? You can stay, why can't I? I think you're bored being alone here. How about we play a game of chess?"

  Sun Changyuan's eyes showed a hint of emotion, he knew that Zhu Tiejun was supporting him with actual actions, and it was at the cost of his own life safety.

  "Alright, Director Zhu, let's have a game then," Sun Changyuan said magnanimously. "You sit on that side."

  Zhu Tiejun sat on the ground with his legs crossed, opened the cloth bag, pulled out a chessboard stained with oil and spread it on the ground, then poured out a pile of chess pieces and began to arrange them on the board. Sun Changyuan was not good at sitting cross-legged, so he squatted on the ground and also started arranging the chess pieces.

  Zhu Tiejun was very fond of playing Go, and when he had free time in the workshop, he would often pull out a chessboard and play with his coworkers. Sun Changyuan was one of Zhu's chess friends, and Zhu knew that Sun always carried a set of Go pieces in his toolbox.

  Sun Changyuan deliberately let Zhu Tiejun sit on the side farther away from the ice machine, while he himself stuck close to it. This way, if something unexpected really happened, he could more or less shield Zhu Tiejun from some of the danger. Zhu Tiejun understood Sun Changyuan's intention, but he didn't decline this kind gesture either. After all, accidents involving the ice machine were relatively rare; once something happened, it wasn't something that a little protection could solve. Sun Changyuan's action had much more symbolic significance than practical significance.

  "Old Sun, why is one of your pawns missing?" asked Zhu Tiejun after both sides had set up their chess pieces.

  "Never mind, last time I played chess with Peng Gang, he lost and was unhappy, smashing my chess pieces and breaking a pawn. Look, now I'm using a nut as a substitute, isn't it just as good?"

  As expected, on the fifth line, where a middle pawn should have been placed, Sun Zhongyuan placed a large nut. The size of this nut was indeed similar to that of a chess piece, with a rather deceptive effect.

  "This thing is great, Peng Gang thought it would be broken but it's still intact." Zhu Tiejun cheered, "How about it, who goes first?"

  "You're the factory director, you go first." Sun Changyuan said.

  "There's no father and son on the chessboard, let alone a factory director. Otherwise, why don't you go first? Your level is worse than mine."

  "Who says I'm no match for you?" Sun Changyuan was enraged, "I'll leave first and don't think that just because you're the factory director, today I'll defeat you without leaving a single piece of armor intact."

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  It's officially announced: it will be on shelves in two days, and everyone is advised to reserve their monthly tickets.