The leader cuts the ribbon

  In Lin Zhenhua's opinion, it would take at least a week for Hu Yang to manually calculate those curves, and during this week, the task of cracking the problem could only be put on hold, and everyone would just have to focus on their own work.

  Who would have thought that just one day after Lin Zhenhua finished teaching Hu Yang finite element analysis, Hu Yang rushed to the mechanical workshop with a stack of draft papers to find Lin Zhenhua.

  "Kobayashi, I've finished calculating. Come and take a look, is there any problem?" Hu Yang's tone was filled with excitement.

  "Unbelievable?" Lin Zhenhua was shocked with his eyes wide open, "Old Hu, how long have you calculated?"

  "The day before yesterday, after you told me, I went home and started calculating. Yesterday, I took a day off and calculated until just now, it's almost a whole day plus two nights." Hu Yang said lightly, due to the continuous all-nighter, his eyes were filled with bloodshot, and his body still emitted a smell of tobacco, presumably because he had been using cigarettes to refresh himself.

  "You really don't have any calculating devices, you're just doing it all by hand?" Lin Zhenhua looked at the results of Hu Yang's calculations, and the more he looked, the more shocked he became. Although he hadn't done any verification, from the relationship between the data and the shape of the curve, Hu Yang's calculation should be correct. Moreover, he also found that Hu Yang's written formulas were very smooth, as if he had been doing this kind of operation for years.

  Hu Yang smiled and said, "I'm used to it. I've calculated even more difficult numbers than this one. Of course, I didn't do it purely by hand - our ancestors left us the abacus, didn't they? Besides, Qin Ying helped me calculate part of it too."

  "Can Master Qin also calculate?" Lin Zhenhua asked.

  "He said: 'She doesn't understand calculus, but she's a statistician, so using an abacus is no problem. I write out the formula and give it to her, then she uses the abacus to calculate the result.'"

  Lin Zhenhua apologized and said, "Master Hu, to be honest, I didn't think you'd work so hard. Otherwise, I should have helped you with the calculations too. This buried arc welding project isn't that urgent, is it? Let Director Zhu approve a few days off for you, and you can sit at home and calculate slowly."

  Poplar shook his head: "It's not just for burying the arc, Xiao Lin. I really like this finite element analysis. The more I calculate, the more I feel that this thing is really easy to use. When people get excited, they don't feel tired or sleepy."

  Lin Zhenhua said emotionally: "Master Hu, actually there are many things about finite element analysis. If you're interested, I'll tell you everything I know another day."

  "It's settled!" Hu Yang said excitedly, "Little Lin, I'll take you as my master."

  Lin Zhenhua waved his hand repeatedly: "Master Hu has humbled me, I just happened to learn this thing by chance. As for the understanding of this method, I am far from yours. I think that if you could have read a Ph.D. at MIT back then and given you a lab, it would not be foreigners who invented finite element analysis, but you, Master Hu."

  With the initial calculation results, the rest of the things are simple. Lin Zhenhua designed an experimental scheme, listing different welding agents, steel materials, current and other parameter combinations, and handed them over to Fan Shibin and Feng Xu to organize the electric welders to conduct experiments one by one. The non-destructive testing personnel waited with ultrasonic flaw detectors on the side, and after each weld seam was welded, the non-destructive testing personnel would come forward for inspection and record the detailed results.

  Lin Zhenhua and Hu Yang were specifically responsible for analyzing the results and establishing experimental curves. After following Lin Zhenhua for a few days, Hu Yang suddenly surpassed him, doing an even better job of analyzing data than Lin Zhenhua. At first, Lin Zhenhua was embarrassed for several days, but then he accepted reality. He found an excuse for himself: he had been accustomed to computer calculations in his previous life and couldn't do anything without a computer, whereas Hu Yang, as an amateur math enthusiast, had always been used to manual calculations, so under adverse conditions, he performed much better than Lin Zhenhua.

  After the experimental curve was fully established, Lin Zhenhua began to modify the original buried arc welding machine design drawing. According to the experimental results, many electronic component parameters need to be reset, and the mechanical part also needs to be adjusted. Hu Yang and engineers from the technical department also joined in the modification of the drawings. They have more experience in mechanical design than Lin Zhenhua, and some technical problems that Lin Zhenhua couldn't solve were solved quickly by them.

  Lin Zhenhua sometimes feels quite disheartened. In countless stories of traversing through time and space, the protagonists are always invincible wherever they go, with the best martial arts skills, the highest IQ, and even the most devastating effect on young girls and women. However, in his own group of time-travelers, although he has knowledge that is decades ahead of others, as soon as someone else learns a little bit, they surpass him. A certain Hu Yang, who claims to have only a high school education, learned finite element analysis from Lin Zhenhua for just a few days and now has already surpassed him. The engineers in the technical department, who had never seen submerged arc welding blueprints before, came up with better plans than Lin Zhenhua after working on it for just a few days.

  It's not surprising that such a situation occurred. Lin Zhenhua was just a graduate student before crossing over, and his knowledge was sufficient, but his basic skills and experience were far from being a match for others. His only advantage lay in using the cheat device "Foreknowledge", and other abilities couldn't be easily made up for.

  "What's the situation now?" Zhu Tiejun asked the task force every day.

  "Things are going very smoothly, the final drawings can be completed today, and we can start production tomorrow." Fan Shibin replied with a smile.

  "Good, this time your technical department has made a great contribution."

  "It's nothing, it's all thanks to Xiao Lin." Fan Shibin said, pulling Lin Zhenhua along.

  "That's right, Kobayashi is the first contributor." Zhu Tiejun nodded and said.

  Lin Zhenhua shook his head: "Director Zhu, Director Fan, don't tease me anymore. Now the whole research team is the most idle, I found that everyone's understanding of buried arc welding is deeper than mine. In comparison, the drawing I made at the beginning was simply garbage."

  Fan Shibin said, "Xiaolin, you're wrong about this. The principle of buried arc welding was first told to us by you, and if it weren't for that, we still wouldn't understand it now. All the relevant parameters were designed and tested through experiments by you, your role is irreplaceable."

  Zhu Tiejun patted Lin Zhenhua's shoulder and said, "Little Lin, you have a broad vision and understand many things, which is your strength. The buried arc welding project, if it weren't for you, everyone would still be groping in the dark. However, you are after all too young and lack experience in some aspects, while the old comrades are rich in experience. Once they grasp the principle, they can naturally find better ways to solve problems. In this regard, you still need to humbly learn from the old comrades."

  "I understand, I understand." Lin Zhenhua said solemnly.

  Lin Zhenhua's attitude is not pretentious, but a genuine feeling. He recalled that when he was a graduate student at Huaying University, his supervisor, Professor Yao Heliang, had also said so. He said that the real masters are on the front line of production, and practice makes perfect. This is not an empty phrase.

  "Good job, kid, you didn't let our team down," Zhu Tiejun said. "The other day, the factory meeting already agreed to transfer you to a different position. With your comprehensive skills, being a porter is a waste of talent for someone as young as you. Think about it and see what kind of work you'd like to do. Once the buried arc welding trial run is successful, I'll take care of it for you."

  Lin Zhenhua shook his head: "Director Zhu, thank you for your kindness, but I think it's not bad now. I still quite like being a porter."

  "What a useless thing!" Zhu Tiejun cursed.

  Fan Shibin interjected, "Director Zhu, I think someone as excellent as Xiao Lin shouldn't be placed in the workshop. He should come to our technical department and start by replacing labor with technology. In the future, the factory administration should try to give him a cadre position. Although Xiao Lin only has a junior high school diploma, his level is higher than many of our university graduates."

  "This is also a way, Xiao Lin, what do you mean?" Zhu Tiejun looked at Lin Zhenhua and asked.

  Lin Zhenhua now understands a lot about the things of this era, he knows that this society is divided into many levels. First, the urban-rural difference is one of the biggest level differences, people in cities are called workers, and those in rural areas are called peasants, compared to each other, they are absolutely on different levels. Furthermore, within the workers, there is another distinction, which is the division between cadres and workers. Cadres are managed by the personnel department, while workers are managed by the labor department, with differences in salary and benefits.

  However, because the cadre status represents better treatment, it is extremely difficult for a worker to become a cadre. In many units, there is a practice called "replacing cadres with workers", which means that workers take on the work of cadres first and then formally become cadres after some time when there are vacancies. Being able to replace cadres with workers is also considered a step up for many workers, not to mention that it's easier for them to find romantic partners compared to ordinary workers.

  Fan Shibin's proposal might be very attractive to other workers, but it had no effect on Lin Zhenhua. Lin Zhenhua knew that all these workers, cadres, and substitutes were just fleeting clouds; once they entered the market economy, these identities would become meaningless.

  "Director Zhu, Director Fan, let's put this issue aside for now. Everything will be discussed after the second-class pressure vessel certification is completed." Lin Zhenhua adopted a delaying tactic and avoided Fan Shibin's invitation.

  The time for the submerged arc welding machine test drive has finally arrived. Two steel plates with opened slopes are placed in the center of the container car room, and two guide rails used to support the welding machine have been laid along the seam of the steel plate. A small car with fine workmanship is parked at one end of the guide rail, which is the submerged arc welding machine. Under the welding machine, a short steel column extends out, which is the welding machine's electrode holder. The welding wire protrudes from the electrode holder and hangs above the weld seam, waiting for the start of the welding operation.

  The workers in the container car workshop all put down their work and surrounded the test site. Lin Zhenhua, Hu Yang, Fan Shibin and others repeatedly checked the welding machine many times, striving for perfection.

  "Alright, Director Zhu, we can start the test drive now." Reported Feng Xu, the director of the container car department to Zhu Tiejun.

  "Who operated it for the first time?" Zhu Tiejun asked.

  Lin Zhenhua and others looked at each other, smiling but saying nothing.

  "How is it that none of you dare to come forward, or are you all thinking of yielding this opportunity to others?" Zhu Tiejun asked in surprise.

  "Director Zhu, you're just pretending not to know. An opportunity like this ribbon-cutting ceremony should definitely be given to the leaders." Lin Zhenhua couldn't help but remind him.

  Zhu Tiejun was stunned for a moment before reacting to what Lin Zhenhua meant. He pointed to his own nose and asked, "What, you want me to sew the first seam?"

  "That's right. Director Zhu, we're waiting for you to cut the ribbon." Feng Xu said.

  Zhu Tiejun burst out laughing: "Good, I'm willing to cut this ribbon." After that, he walked forward and pressed the electric button on the buried arc welding machine.

  The drive motor hummed softly, and the welding machine moved slowly along the guide rail. The wire feeder rotated lightly, pushing down the welding wire, and the nearby flux box also opened, with the flux flowing down at a set speed, just covering the electric spark emitted by the welding wire contacting the workpiece. Where the welding machine passed, it left behind a smooth weld seam like fish scales.

  "Clap! Clap! Clap!" Feng Xu led the applause, and the workers followed suit, filling the workshop with thunderous clapping.

  "Director Zhu, this weld is too beautiful, it's simply the level of an eighth-grade electric welder!" Feng Xu applauded and flattered Zhu Tiejun, his flattering words louder than the applause.

  Zhu Tiejun knew that the quality of this weld had nothing to do with his own wisdom and bravery, Lin Zhenhua and others had already set all the parameters, he just pressed a button. However, seeing the excellent effect of the welding machine, Zhu Tiejun was still very excited, after all, the buried arc welding project was something he had taken charge of, and the success of this project was certainly due to his leadership.

  "Congratulations!" Zhu Tiejun shook hands with each member of the problem-solving group, then announced: "Everyone has worked hard, I'll give you all three days off. Three days later, Old Fan, Old Feng, Little Lin, and Master Yang Chunshan, we'll take this submerged arc welding machine to the petrochemical plant for inspection."