The car soon arrived at the steel factory.
A bright red banner was stretched across the entrance, reading: Warmly Welcome International Friends to Our Factory for Guidance.
Song Jinyue got out of the car alongside Secretary Wei.
Charles, Li Huguo, the police officials, the factory director, and the plainclothes officers also stepped out one after another.
The moment Charles got out and saw Song Jinyue, his eyes lit up. He gave her a bright smile and waved, signaling for her to come over.
Song Jinyue nodded and walked over with Secretary Wei.
Li Huguo stood beside Charles. Seeing Charles’s enthusiasm toward Song Jinyue, he lowered his gaze and rolled his eyes several times.
A few seconds later, Li Huguo lifted his head again, wearing a polite smile as he gestured to Charles that it was time to proceed with the inspection.
Charles withdrew his gaze and agreed, then reminded Li Huguo to make sure Song Jinyue followed along.
Li Huguo felt impatient, unable to understand why Charles was so attentive to someone he had just met that day.
What he didn’t know was that after witnessing Song Jinyue’s “martial arts demonstration,” Charles believed she was skilled in kung fu.
In his mind, if danger arose, Song Jinyue would be the one to save him with her skills.
As for Li Huguo—he was certain the man would be the first to run away, just like what had happened earlier that morning.
Once inside the factory, the director led the way, heading straight to the problematic machinery workshop.
Song Jinyue fixed her gaze on the machine before her. It was a hot strip rolling mill—judging by the model, it appeared to be the Angang 1700 hot rolling mill from the Soviet Union.
As she moved closer, amid the sound of rotating gears, she sharply picked up on a metallic clashing noise.
The sound was synchronized with the rotation of the gears.
Her brows furrowed. Listening more carefully, she confirmed it—there was indeed a metallic impact sound. Every full rotation of the gear produced one sharp clash.
Her expression grew serious. If nothing unexpected had occurred, it was likely a gear fracture.
Just as that thought formed, Charles’s urgent voice rang out—
“Stop it!”
Song Jinyue looked toward Charles, already flipping open the notebook Secretary Wei had given her.
Charles turned to Li Huguo. “Li, tell them to shut the machine down—stop it immediately!”
“Quick, quick!”
Seeing Charles’s anxious expression, Li Huguo turned to the factory director and translated his words.
The director immediately called over a senior technician nearby and ordered the machine to be shut down.
The machine stopped.
Charles stepped forward, muttering to himself, “Mechanical system failure…”
Secretary Wei, the factory director, and the police officials couldn’t understand him and looked toward Li Huguo.
Li Huguo translated everything one by one.
Finally, after completing the inspection, Charles turned to Li Huguo with a grave expression.
“Li, tell them this: mechanical system failure. Broken teeth in the gearbox. Opening the inspection port will reveal that the module-12 gear has more than three broken teeth. The vibration level exceeds 0.8 millimeters per second. The machine must not be operated until it is repaired.”
The moment the factory director heard that the machine had to be shut down, panic flooded his face.
If the machine stopped, production would halt. The losses, combined with the penalties for failing to deliver goods on time under contract, would be enormous.
Every hour of downtime meant a loss of nearly two thousand US dollars.
The director felt dizzy but forced himself to stay composed, repeatedly urging Li Huguo to ask Charles if there was a faster solution.
Charles replied that there was.
The emergency solution was a “steel wire repair method,” which could restore operation within twenty-four hours.
Hearing this, Song Jinyue pressed her lips together.
Charles was not being honest.
There was a faster repair method—one that would also last longer.
The steel wire repair method could last at least thirteen days and at most twenty-five days under continuous three-shift operation.
And this factory—without a doubt—operated on three shifts.
The alternative method could last at least thirty days and up to fifty days.
As Song Jinyue considered how to expose Charles, Li Huguo made a mistake.
There was an issue with his translation.
When translating for Secretary Wei and the factory director, Li Huguo claimed that the steel wire repair method could last at least thirty days and up to fifty days.
Song Jinyue paused her writing slightly, glancing sideways toward Secretary Wei.
Secretary Wei didn’t look at her, but his brows were tightly furrowed.
A faint curve tugged at Song Jinyue’s lips as she lowered her gaze and continued recording.
Li Huguo had overlooked something when he lied—Secretary Wei might not be fluent in foreign languages, but he could understand basic English numbers.
After hearing the emergency solution, the factory director felt like he was about to faint.
One day of shutdown…
The losses to the factory…
He urged Li Huguo again to ask if there was an even faster solution.
This time, when Li Huguo translated the question, Charles remained silent.
A few seconds later, he shook his head.
The factory director’s face turned pale.
Song Jinyue: “……”
She was about to step closer to Secretary Wei to explain the situation.
But just as she moved—
Li Huguo suddenly leaned in close.
“Are you secretly recording something?”