PDLP Chapter 45 Plasma Spraying Equipment
Chapter 45 Plasma Spraying Equipment
On the first weekend of May, when Jiang Cheng returned home, he found that Zheng Yanxi's belly was already quite noticeable. She was wearing a loose floral dress—made of fabric sent by her mother and sewn by herself—standing in the kitchen cooking, her movements clumsy but earnest.
"I'll do it," Jiang Cheng said, taking the shovel.
Zheng Yanxi didn't refuse, but stepped aside and leaned against the door frame to watch him cook.
"Jiang Cheng, there's something I want to tell you."
"What is it?"
"Station Chief Liu said that the factory's medical station was going to be upgraded to a health clinic, and they needed two certified nurses. She told me to take the exam."
Jiang Cheng paused, shovel in his hand. "When is the exam?"
"next month."
Are you confident?
Zheng Yanxi was silent for a while: "I don't know. I've been studying for three months, but I still don't feel confident."
Jiang Cheng served the food, turned to look at her, and asked, "Yan Xi, do you believe me?"
Zheng Yanxi was taken aback: "Believe what from you?"
"Trust me," Jiang Cheng said. "Go take the exam. You'll definitely pass."
Zheng Yanxi looked at him without saying a word. After a long while, she nodded: "Then I'll give it a try."
On the day of the exam, Jiang Cheng took leave to accompany her to the exam venue. The exam venue was located at the Municipal Health School, and there were quite a few people taking the exam, mostly nurses from various factories and mines, who were about the same age as Zheng Yanxi.
"Are you nervous?" Jiang Cheng asked.
Zheng Yanxi nodded, then shook her head.
"I'll wait for you here," Jiang Cheng said. "After the exam, let's go eat wontons."
Zheng Yanxi glanced at him, said nothing, and turned to enter the examination room.
Jiang Cheng stood outside the examination hall, leaning against the wall, even more nervous than she was. He knew that this exam wasn't just about a certificate for her; it was about proving herself. She wanted to prove that she wasn't just "Jiang Cheng's wife," but that she could do things on her own.
Two hours later, Zheng Yanxi came out of the examination room. She looked unwell, her knuckles white as she gripped her pen.
"How is it?"
"It's alright. But there's one question I'm not sure about, it's about newborn care."
Jiang Cheng laughed: "Newborn care? Why would you study that?"
Zheng Yanxi glared at him: "What business is it of yours what I study?"
The two went to eat wontons. Jiang Cheng ordered two bowls, but Zheng Yanxi could only eat half of it and pushed the rest to him.
"Jiang Cheng, what should I do if I fail?"
"Then let's take the test again."
"What if you fail again?"
Jiang Cheng put down his spoon and looked at her: "Yanxi, do you know why you were able to get in?"
Why?
"Because you refuse to admit defeat," Jiang Cheng said. "A nurse who didn't even graduate from junior high school managed to finish three professional books in three months. If someone like that can't pass the exam, then there's something wrong with the exam itself."
Zheng Yanxi paused for a moment, then lowered her head and smiled slightly.
On the day the results came out, Zheng Yanxi was doing laundry at home. Jiang Cheng rushed back from the academy, holding a piece of paper, and stood at the door, deliberately not going in.
"Yanxi, have you guessed it yet?"
Zheng Yanxi peeked out of the house, saw the paper in his hand, and her heart raced: "Stop messing around, let me see it."
Jiang Cheng handed the paper over. Zheng Yanxi took it, glanced at it, and then froze.
"Did you pass?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
"You passed," Jiang Cheng said. "Eighty-two in theory and ninety in practical. Station Chief Liu said you had the highest score in that batch."
Zheng Yanxi stood there, looking at the report card, and suddenly burst into tears. Not a quiet sob, but a loud sob. She squatted on the ground, buried her face in her knees, and her shoulders shook.
Jiang Cheng squatted down and gently hugged her.
"Stop crying, what are you crying about?"
"I don't know," she said, her voice choked with emotion. "I just want to cry."
Jiang Cheng didn't speak, he just held her. He knew how hard these past few months had been for her. She worked during the day, studied at night, and did housework on weekends. While other pregnant women had someone to take care of them, she carried it all alone. She never complained, but he knew it all.
After crying for a while, Zheng Yanxi finally raised her head, her eyes and nose red.
"Jiang Cheng, thank you."
"What are you thanking me for?"
"Thank you for letting me take the test."
Jiang Cheng laughed: "You took the exam yourself, why are you thanking me?"
Zheng Yanxi shook her head and didn't say anything. She knew in her heart that if it weren't for his words—"You're not incapable of learning"—she might never have opened those books in her entire life.
That evening, Jiang Cheng called Zheng Huaiyuan to tell him the good news. Zheng Huaiyuan was silent for a moment on the other end of the phone, then said, "Yanxi has always been stubborn. There's nothing she can't do if she sets her mind to it."
Jiang Cheng hung up the phone, stood by the window, and looked at the night outside. The moonlight was bright, shining on the factory area and on the row of old factory buildings.
Jiang Cheng ultimately accepted Professor Fang's research project.
The research project was titled "Research on Machine Tool Precision Restoration Technology," which, simply put, was about how to restore the precision of old machine tools. This topic held special significance in China in 1980—the country had hundreds of thousands of old machine tools; buying new ones would cost foreign exchange, and discarding them was a waste. If a low-cost, high-efficiency repair method could be found, the foreign exchange saved alone would be enough to build several large factories.
The research group consisted of a small number of members: Professor Fang supervised two graduate students, plus Jiang Cheng. The two graduate students were named Li Zhiyuan and Wang Xuemei, both of whom were among the first batch of university students after the resumption of the college entrance examination. They had a solid theoretical foundation, but almost no practical experience.
At their first meeting, Li Zhiyuan pulled out a thick stack of documents and began discussing international research progress. He spoke fluently and knowledgeably about topics such as "grinding repair," "plasma spraying," and "laser surface treatment." Wang Xuemei supplemented the data, citing the latest papers from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Jiang Cheng sat beside him, listening silently. He understood every word, but he knew these things were completely useless in China—plasma spraying equipment cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and laser surface treatment was even more of a pipe dream. Let alone a small local factory like Hongxing Factory, even large factories like Ansteel and FAW couldn't afford such equipment.
"Comrade Jiang Cheng, what are your thoughts?" Teacher Fang asked.
Jiang Cheng thought for a moment and said, "Professor Fang, could I start from reality and research a low-cost method? It doesn't require imported equipment or high-end materials; we can just use what we have on hand."
Li Zhiyuan frowned: "Can a low-cost method guarantee accuracy?"
Jiang Cheng said, "I once repaired a milling machine in the factory. The guide rail was worn down by 0.5 millimeters. We used a scraping method, scraping it bit by bit, for three days, and the precision was restored to the factory standard. The cost was just the labor cost of a few workers."
Li Zhiyuan shook his head: "Scraping and grinding? That's manual work, too inefficient, it's impossible to promote it."
Jiang Cheng looked at him without speaking. He knew Li Zhiyuan was telling the truth—scraping was indeed inefficient; a skilled fitter could only restore the precision of one guide rail in a day. But the problem was, there were tens of thousands of fitters in China, and each of them could do scraping. And there were only a handful of plasma spraying machines nationwide.