Chapter 42: A Pillow Delivered When Sleep Comes

The next morning, after arriving at work, Zhao Guoyang was once again busy with the Four Sheep Group’s C100 underbone motorcycle project. For the most part, the blueprints no longer posed any issues; Zhao Guoyang had thoroughly mastered them. As for Hua Guosheng, he was still quite capable of handling the simpler component drawings.

For the more complex parts, however, Zhao Guoyang decided he’d break them down himself, refining the drawings before handing them over to Hua Guosheng. As agreed the previous day, as soon as the workday began, Hua Guosheng called Xu Dongfeng aside to have him learn how to draw tooling diagrams under his guidance.

Although Xu Dongfeng was clearly reluctant, he had no choice. After all, Hua Guosheng was his mentor, and he wouldn’t dare disobey him. Observing the two of them huddled together, deep in discussion, Zhao Guoyang couldn’t help but smile.

There were a few others in the technical department at Hongda Machinery Factory, but calling them technicians was generous—“inspectors” would be more accurate. Most of them were in their thirties, not yet forty, and had, at best, a middle school education. When it came to real technical work, they were somewhat lacking.

Of course, in their era, a middle school diploma was already quite an achievement. Many had only attended primary school, and some hadn’t even finished that.

In the end, the only truly useful person on Zhao Guoyang’s team was Hua Guosheng; Xu Dongfeng was a half-measure at best, and the rest were essentially just bystanders.

Still, even bystanders had their roles. Zhao Guoyang had already made up his mind: once the component and tooling drawings were ready, he would have these technical department folks join the workshop workers for trial production. They wouldn’t need to do the work themselves—just offer guidance from the sidelines. After all, having spent so long in the technical department, they understood simple diagrams to some extent.

After a busy morning in the office, Zhao Guoyang was confident the blueprints were no longer an issue. The only thing left uncertain was the welding problem. The main challenge lay in welding the spine of the underbone motorcycle’s frame; if this joint wasn’t solid enough, it could become a safety hazard.

If they simply used the factory’s existing welding techniques, things would be manageable—even if it meant adding a few extra passes and leaving unsightly weld marks. But Zhao Guoyang wasn’t about to settle for mediocrity. He knew very well that Four Sheep Group had given Hongda Machinery Factory this rare opportunity to make a prototype largely because of his own impressive performance at Four Sheep. Otherwise, they would never have handed over a complete set of blueprints. They truly had faith in him.

Because of this, Zhao Guoyang was determined not only to build the C100, but to make it flawless—better, even, than the prototype from Shunxin Machinery Factory. Only then could he prove his own capabilities and worth.

With this in mind, ordinary welding simply wouldn’t do. Zhao Guoyang began pondering where he might borrow a laser welding machine. Even if he couldn’t bring the machine to the factory, he could transport the frame to wherever the machine was.

In the early 1990s, laser welders were rare and expensive; few small factories could afford them. Even Hongda, one of the most prestigious machinery manufacturers in HN City, hadn’t splurged on one. If his own factory didn’t have one, it was safe to assume the others in HN City didn’t either.

Was it time to seek help from his mentor? Zhao Guoyang wondered privately.

Just as he was fretting over the laser welder, the office phone suddenly rang. There was only one phone in the technical department, positioned by the door. Xu Dongfeng, being closest, picked it up first.

“Hello, who is this? Who are you looking for?” Xu Dongfeng asked boisterously.

“Oh, you’re looking for Zhao Guoyang? Yes, he’s here, hold on!” With one hand covering the receiver, Xu Dongfeng waved the other urgently at Zhao Guoyang. “Guoyang, someone’s on the phone for you!”

“I haven’t given my number to many people—who would be calling the office?” Zhao Guoyang wondered as he hurried over to answer.

As Zhao Guoyang picked up the phone, Hua Guosheng tugged on Xu Dongfeng’s sleeve, quietly admonishing, “Dongfeng, when you answer the phone, you should first ask who’s calling and what they want with Guoyang. You need to be thorough!”

“Master, if I asked all that, what would Guoyang have left to talk about?” Xu Dongfeng shrugged indifferently.

“And another thing—Guoyang is now our technical department head. You shouldn’t be so informal and just call him by name at work,” Hua Guosheng added after a moment’s thought.

“Oh, I forgot about that! Guoyang won’t hold it against me, will he? He won’t make trouble for me later, right?” Xu Dongfeng suddenly realized.

“Make trouble for you? How petty do you think I am?” Zhao Guoyang had already hung up the phone and now, amused and exasperated, gave Xu Dongfeng a friendly pat on the shoulder.

Seeing that Zhao Guoyang’s attitude hadn’t changed, Xu Dongfeng scratched his head and grinned sheepishly.

“Guoyang, who was it?” Hua Guosheng asked.

“Oh, it was a friend I met when I went home—the deputy manager of the supply and marketing cooperative in Jiangyu Town,” Zhao Guoyang replied with a smile. “Last time I was heading back to Jianghai County, I ran into him on the bus. He was worrying over a pile of broken hoes, and I gave him a solution that actually worked.”

“So, he called to tell me his friend at the Jianghai County Machinery Factory wanted to meet me and asked when I’d be available to visit.”

“Jianghai County Machinery Factory—could it be Xiangyang Machinery Factory?” Hua Guosheng suddenly interjected.

“Yes, that’s right! Manager Hu mentioned Xiangyang Machinery Factory just now. Is there something about it, Master Hua?” Zhao Guoyang nodded, slightly puzzled.

Hua Guosheng replied excitedly, “Guoyang, didn’t you ask me yesterday if any factories in Ninghai City had a laser welder? I told you none of them did. But just because Ninghai doesn’t have one doesn’t mean nowhere else does. As far as I know, Xiangyang Machinery Factory in Jianghai County bought a laser welding machine just last year!”

The moment Hua Guosheng finished, Zhao Guoyang clenched his fists in delight, his eyes shining.

The laser welder was the only obstacle left. Once that was solved, the C100 frame would be smooth sailing.

Now, to stumble upon this news, Zhao Guoyang was naturally overjoyed.

“Master Hua, this information is invaluable! I’m going to ask Director Wang for leave right now and head to Xiangyang Machinery Factory this afternoon. If they really do have a laser welder, our problem is solved!”

Hua Guosheng nodded with satisfaction. “Exactly, Guoyang. It’s like someone delivering a pillow right when you’re about to fall asleep—what luck!”