I'm ready when you are. What's the text?

  Zhu Tiejun promised to invite everyone to dinner, but there were no good restaurants around the petrochemical plant. Instead, the canteen run by the factory itself was quite decent and offered a menu, so the group followed Feng Xu's lead and came to the canteen.

  "What would you like to eat? Just order whatever you want." Zhu Tiejun said to everyone after the waiter brought up the menu.

  The menu was just a piece of paper with twenty or thirty handwritten dishes. At that time, printing, photocopying and laminating were not available, so the menu in the dining hall was even worse than those in rural restaurants nowadays. As for the variety of dishes, it was even more pathetic, nothing but stir-fried meat slices, fried meat slices, braised pork, small stir-fry fish and the like, whose richness was not as good as Lin Zhenhua's family banquet.

  "So many dishes? I'm dazzled." Yang Chunshan muttered while looking at the menu.

  "Just order this little dish, what's the big deal?" Lin Zhenhua was disdainful. "If not, don't order anything else, let Master Chef just bring one serving according to the menu."

  Everyone laughed and finally ordered six dishes and three bottles of white wine. Yang Chunshan and other welders rarely had the opportunity to participate in public-funded banquets, and when they saw the full table of dishes, their eyes lit up like sparks from welding. After symbolically asking Zhu Tiejun to take a bite first, everyone began eating like wolves.

  While eating, another group of people walked in from outside the cafeteria, still talking about something as they walked. As a reception cafeteria, it was normal for people to come and go, but this group was not ordinary, because among the conversations of the crowd, there were even a few sentences of foreign language mixed in.

  "Xiao Hua, look quickly, there are foreigners." Yang Chunshan's position was just opposite the canteen door, so he was the first to see that among those people, there was a foreigner with a high nose and blue eyes, and he hastily reminded Lin Zhenhua. In those years, foreigners were a rare animal, wherever they went, they would attract crowds of onlookers, to the point where at the time, there was even a civilized regulation that said "do not surround and stare at foreign guests".

  A group of people at the Hanhua factory turned their heads to look at the foreigner. Lin Zhenhua, although not interested in the foreigner, still followed everyone's gaze and turned his head. As soon as he did, he discovered that the person acting as interpreter for the foreigner was actually an acquaintance: He Haifeng from the Hunan Provincial Light Industry Bureau.

  "Lao He..." Lin Zhenhua blurted out, but when he said the word "He", he had already swallowed back half of it. He didn't know if it was appropriate to greet He Haifeng at this time.

  He Haifeng, however, spotted Lin Zhenhua at a glance. He said something to the people around him, probably telling them to go order food first, then walked over to the table for Hanhua Factory and greeted Lin Zhenhua warmly: "Little Lin, what brings you here?"

  "We've brought a submerged arc welding machine and sent it to the Petrochemical Machinery Plant for inspection." Lin Zhenhua quickly stood up, first explaining his situation to He Haifeng, and then hastily introducing everyone: "Director He, this is Zhu Tiejun, deputy director of our Hanhua Machinery Factory... Director Zhu, this is He Haifeng, director of the Light Industry Department of Hunan Province."

  "Hello."

  "Hello."

  He Haifeng and Zhu Tiejun exchanged a few pleasantries, shook hands, and chatted for a bit. As they were both at similar levels, one being the director and the other the deputy director, and both being relatively easy-going, they seemed to appreciate each other after chatting for a while. He Haifeng immediately invited Zhu Tiejun to visit him at the Light Industry Hall whenever he came to Changsha on business, while Zhu Tiejun promised to warmly entertain He Haifeng anytime he visited Fenghua County.

  After exchanging pleasantries with Zhu Tiejun, He Haifeng turned to Lin Zhenhua and said: "Little Lin, I really didn't expect to run into you here. I was thinking that after things are settled on this end, I'd take some time off to visit you in Fenghua County."

  Lin Zhenhua knew that He Haifeng was not joking, and hurriedly said: "Thank you, Director He, for remembering me. By the way, how did you come to Jiangnan Province? Is this foreign guest brought by you?"

  He Haifeng sighed, "Alas, let's not mention it. The Jiangnan Provincial Light Industry Bureau imported a CNC machine from the United States, and this foreign guest is named Ford, who is a technical personnel from the US side responsible for providing technical training. Your province found an English teacher from the Normal University to be Ford's interpreter, but her English can only cope with daily conversations, and when it comes to professional vocabulary, she was at a loss. The Light Industry Bureau asked for our help, and I happened to have studied some professional English before, so I was dragged over to do the job. It's embarrassing to say that many of the words Ford said, I couldn't translate either, every day holding an English-Chinese Mechanical Dictionary, temporarily muddling through."

  "Machinery English is indeed more troublesome." Lin Zhenhua felt deeply, "Teachers at Normal University, I reckon they would only know something like Long live Chairman Mao?"

  He Haifeng's eyes lit up: "Xiao Lin, do you understand English?"

  "Hmm..." Lin Zhenhua hesitated, not wanting to hurt He Haifeng's feelings. He could imagine that He Haifeng's English was probably just barely passable, and it would be embarrassing for him to translate with a dictionary. Lin Zhenhua, on the other hand, was quite confident in his own English abilities, having accompanied his supervisor to several mechanical industry conferences at home and abroad, where he had presented papers in English and exchanged ideas with experts from various countries without any difficulty.

  "Where was I good at? When I was in the army, I learned a little bit of English." Lin Zhenhua said with a hint of modesty.

  "So, you understand English related to mechanical technology?"

  Lin Zhenhua nodded: "Also has some knowledge of it, but can't be proficient."

  "Great!" He Haifeng was overjoyed. Lin Zhenhua's two hands in Tanzhou were really too beautiful, which gave He Haifeng a special confidence in Lin Zhenhua. He thought that since Lin Zhenhua dared to say he had some experience, then he must have been confident in his heart.

  "Let's go, come with me to have a few words with Ford." He Haifeng said to Lin Zhenhua, pulling him along. He turned his head to glance at Zhu Tiejun, remembering that the other man's superior was still present, and hastily changed his tone to a more consultative one: "Director Zhu, I'd like to ask Lin to help me receive our foreign guests - do you think it's suitable? This matter is actually also related to your Jiangnan Province Light Industry Bureau. You saw earlier that the person accompanying the foreign guest was also Director Xie Chunyan from your bureau."

  Zhu Tiejun had indeed seen Xie Chunyuan, the director he knew, among that group of people. He knew what He Haifeng said was true, but he still wasn't sure if Lin Zhenhua understood English. He looked at Lin Zhenhua and asked: "Little Lin, are you okay? Don't mess up Director He's affairs, you can't make international jokes."

  Lin Zhenhua nodded: "Director Zhu, I learned a little English in the army, don't know if it's useful. Why not let me try with Director He? Isn't everything still under Director He's supervision?"

  "No problem, Director Zhu. I have confidence in Xiao Lin. As long as he says it's okay, there definitely won't be any issues." Hehai Feng said, pulling Lin Zhenhua towards his own table.

  "Everyone, sorry, I just met an acquaintance." He Haifeng came to his own table and greeted everyone. He pointed at Lin Zhenhua: "This is the hero of the War of Self-Defense and Counterattack, Comrade Lin Zhenhua. Now he has retired from the army and works at the Hanhua Machinery Factory. Coincidentally, he also studied some English. I think I'll invite him over to try out and see if he can be a translator for Mr. Ford."

  Everyone nodded to Lin Zhenhua, although they were muttering in their hearts, but considering He Haifeng's face, they didn't dare to show it. Lin Zhenhua saw that the American named Ford had a middle-aged woman with glasses and a teacher-like appearance next to him, translating what He Haifeng had just said to Ford, guessing that this middle-aged woman was probably the English teacher from Normal University that He Haifeng mentioned.

  Ford nodded after listening to the English teacher's translation and asked Lin Zhenhua in English, "Did Mr. He just say that you can be my translator?"

  Lin Zhenhua smiled slightly and replied in fluent English: "Yes, Mr. Ford. But my English level may not be very high, please forgive me."

  "No, no, no, your English is terrific!" Ford was so excited that he almost jumped up. It had been over a dozen days since he arrived in China and every day he had to listen to the teachers from Shida as well as He Haifeng's English which was full of oriental charm. Ford was on the verge of collapse. Lin Zhenhua's English was standard American pronunciation, even more standard than Ford's own English pronunciation, which gave Ford a feeling of being with his own people.

  "Is he speaking English?" asked another middle-aged woman sitting next to the English teacher in a low voice, one of only two women at the table. Lin Zhenhua could tell that she must be Xie Chunyan, the director from Jiangnan Province's Light Industry Department mentioned by He Haifeng.

  The English teacher nodded: "What he said is very correct, there is one place where the grammar is different from what we usually require in class, but it's very consistent with American speech habits. From the pronunciation point of view, I think his pronunciation is closest to Mr. Ford's, and should be considered a relatively standard American English. What we learn in school is generally British English, and there are some obstacles when communicating with Mr. Ford."

  "Does the Hanhua Machinery Factory have such talent?" Xie Chunyuan was somewhat surprised, she saw Lin Zhenhua had already greeted Ford, so she stretched out her hand to signal Lin Zhenhua to sit down and let the waiter add a set of bowls and chopsticks for him.

  "Your surname is Lin..." Xie Chunyuan asked hesitantly, she hadn't remembered Lin Zhenhua's name when He Haifeng introduced him earlier.

  "My name is Lin Zhenhua, I am a worker at Hanhua Machinery Factory." Lin Zhenhua replied respectfully, Xie Chunyuan was the leader of the provincial hall, he didn't dare to be presumptuous.

  "Oh, I'm also very familiar with Hanhua Factory." Xie Chunyuan said, "Where did you graduate from? I heard from Teacher Li that your English is extremely good."

  "Modestly, Lin Zhenhua said: "No, no, Teacher Li is overpraising me. I only have a junior high school education, and my English was learned when I was in the army. In the army, I was a scout, so what I learned was quite miscellaneous."

  "Kobayashi's knowledge is very broad," said He Haifeng, Lin Zhenhua had just exchanged a few words with Ford, which made He Haifeng feel completely at ease, knowing that Lin Zhenhua's English would absolutely not make him lose face as the recommender.

  "Kobayashi helped us solve two major technical problems when he was in Tanzhou." He Haifeng continued to introduce, and briefly talked about the process of Lin Zhenhua helping two porcelain factories in Tanzhou to solve technical problems. Everyone present was a knowledgeable person, and as soon as they heard it, they knew that this young man really had some skills and could quickly grasp the core of the problem.

  "How come we didn't discover such a talent before?" Xie Chunyuan's gaze at Lin Zhenhua changed, she had been in contact with He Haifeng for several days and knew that he wouldn't speak randomly, since he was praising Lin Zhenhua, it was clear that this Lin Zhenhua was indeed extraordinary.

  A man sitting next to Xie Chunyan interrupted: "Comrade Lin Zhenhua, you learned English in the army, so do you understand mechanical professional English? You should know that if it's just daily conversation, we already have Teacher Li serving as a translator. Teacher Li is an English teacher at Normal University and has a very high level of English proficiency. Our main problem now is that some mechanical professional English vocabulary can't be found to be translated by the right person, otherwise we wouldn't have come all the way to Xiangping Province to ask Director He for help."

  "Kobayashi, he is the technical section chief of the petrification machine, Wei Dongqi, Chief Wei." He Haifeng introduced beside him.

  "Oh, Wei Dongqi, hello." Lin Zhenhua nodded politely to Wei Dongqi and then said: "It's a coincidence that when I was in the army, the professor who taught us scouts English was a local professor who taught mechanical engineering, so I understand some mechanical engineering English."

  The teacher Li from the Normal University had been translating for Lin Zhenhua and Wei Dongqi, and she translated their conversation faithfully. Ford listened to half of it, then waved his hand repeatedly and said: "I'd like to ask Mr. Lin to be my translator. I don't care if he's familiar with mechanical English or not, I believe we can communicate very well."

  As long as you can understand me, it doesn't matter if your English is mechanical or not. As long as I don't have to listen to that kind of English with a Jiangnan accent every day, it's fine. If all else fails, I can simplify the professional vocabulary and you can find a way to translate it.

  Xie Chunyan heard Ford say this and no longer had any doubts. She said to Lin Zhenhua: "Alright, Comrade Lin, I am now formally notifying you on behalf of the Light Industry Bureau that you will serve as Mr. Ford's translator and assist him in completing his equipment installation, debugging, and training work in China. As for your factory, I'll make arrangements. You can consider these days at Petrochemical Machinery as business travel."

  "Director Xie, the factory director of Xiao Lin is just at that table over there. You can go over and talk to him personally in a minute," said He Haifeng. He wanted to make Hanhua Factory's leaders realize the importance of Lin Zhenhua through this action, which was also a means to help Lin Zhenhua get a better condition.

  Xie Chunyan nodded: "Oh, okay, I'll go over and say hello after dinner. It seems like they're led by Deputy Director Zhu? I've dealt with him before."

  Lin Zhenhua saw that everyone was discussing his work arrangement without even consulting him, directly treating him as a transparent body, feeling helpless. However, it was like that back then, you were an employee of the company, and your superiors needed to arrange tasks for you, what else did they need to discuss with you? Anyway, Xie Chunyuan just said that during his shift at the petrochemical plant, he could be treated as on a business trip, which meant he could get 50 cents in travel allowance every day, this was considered a good deal.

  "Thank you, Director Xie. I'll follow the arrangement. By the way, what equipment did Mr. Ford come to install this time? Can I get some information?" Lin Zhenhua asked.

  "It's a new type of milling machine, fully controlled by computer." Wei Dongqi replied, not thinking that Lin Zhenhua knew what CNC machines were.

  "Oh, it's a CNC machine tool." Lin Zhenhua said, he suddenly had an idea and couldn't help but ask: "Director Wei, you just mentioned that the imported one is a digital milling machine? Could it be Spindel's MK800?"

  "That's right, it is MK800. How did you know?" Wei Dongqi was shocked. Lin Zhenhua could speak English, which was not enough to make him feel incredible, but Lin Zhenhua was able to judge the model of the milling machine as MK800 with just two key words "USA" and "milling machine". What a godly person!

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  Hehe, yesterday all of you readers gave me a lot of face, and cast a total of 440 recommendation votes. Today, Orange will once again attempt to break through the daily update of 12,000 characters, so please continue to vote and support as always.

  Advance notice: One update this afternoon and another one tonight.

  Say one sentence: This intense exercise, orange dare not play more, stored draft is not much...