“Hey, do you understand it or not?” Zhu Changgeng was an impatient man. Seeing her nod and shake her head at the same time, he couldn’t help becoming anxious.
“I’ve read some books about automobiles, and I’m interested in this kind of thing, so I know a little about it. But I’ve never studied it systematically.”
“Oh? You’ve actually read books like that? What does your family do? Judging by you, you’re not from our factory, are you?”
“No. My cousin works here. His name is Zhao Ming.”
“Zhao Ming?” When Gou Deshun heard this, he glanced at Zhu Changgeng.
“Don’t look at me,” Zhu Changgeng said, shaking his head. “There are so many people in our factory. I can’t possibly remember every single one of them.”
Regardless of who he was, he was at least an employee of their factory.
Zhao Ming?
Gou Deshun silently memorized the name before turning to Shu An.
“But you’re quite clever, girl. You were able to spot these problems just by reading books. You really have some talent.”
“My grandfather was a blacksmith at a machinery factory. I grew up watching them forge things, so I naturally became interested in machinery. I’ve read quite a few books, but I don’t have much practical experience. Most of what I know about repairing automobiles came from watching the mechanics at the machinery factory.”
“Wow, you really are something!” Zhu Changgeng looked as though he had discovered a treasure. “You can identify these problems just by observing. You’ve got quite a brain on you.”
He was about to say more when—
“You move aside. You talk too much!”
Gou Deshun slapped Zhu Changgeng to the side.
Listening to what Shu An had said and considering the problem she had just identified, he tentatively asked,
“Girl, if you were the one designing this automobile, besides tightening the gaps between the components, would you have any other ideas for improving it?”
The fact that she could identify the obvious problem with the automobile simply from reading books and watching the factory’s mechanics work showed that her talent was not to be underestimated.
For a moment, he wanted to test whether she was really as capable as she seemed.
Shu An thought for a while, combining what she knew from later generations, and said,
“Although this car is sturdy and durable, it has quite a few shortcomings. You could optimize the suspension structure to better handle complicated road conditions. You could also adjust the front-to-rear brake distribution so the braking is more stable.”
“You could also make some minor adjustments to the fuel intake system. That would save fuel while making acceleration smoother. If you don’t mind the extra work, you could also improve the steering system. That would give it a better feel and make driving less tiring.”
“I haven’t seen the complete design blueprint, so I can’t say much about the other structures. These are the only things I can think of.”
“Fine-tuning these areas should improve the overall performance of the vehicle quite a bit.”
After she finished speaking, she looked at the two men and added somewhat embarrassedly,
“If I said anything wrong, please don’t take it to heart.”
“No, no, not at all!”
Zhu Changgeng was, after all, in charge of production and knew quite a bit about automobiles. As he listened to Shu An, he realized that she hadn’t said anything wrong. In fact, what she said made quite a lot of sense.
Gou Deshun carefully pondered her suggestions and suddenly felt as though a veil had been lifted from his eyes. He immediately pulled out a pen and paper and began writing down her recommendations.
Just as he finished writing and was about to say something else to Shu An—
“Ring, ring, ring!”
The factory’s quitting bell rang.
“An’an!”
As soon as Zhao Ming finished work, he ran over. From a distance, he saw his cousin standing with two people. When he got closer, he realized that they were actually the deputy factory director and Master Gou.
He hurriedly called out,
“Hello, Director Zhu! Hello, Master Gou!”
“Mm, hello,” Zhu Changgeng nodded. “You are?”
“Director, I’m from the test-driving group of the Quality Assurance Department. My master is Qin Dali. My name is Zhao Ming. This is my cousin. She came here to wait for me for a while. We’re getting ready to go home now.”
“Oh, I see.”
Hearing this, Zhu Changgeng glanced at his watch. It was indeed about time to leave, so he said,
“All right, then, little comrade…”
He was just about to say something when Gou Deshun slapped him aside again.
Gou Deshun’s eyes were shining as he stared at Shu An.
“Little girl, what’s your name? I can see that you’re very interested in automobiles. Where does your family live? Is it nearby? When you have time, you can come here and take a look.”
He hadn’t seen a young person with such quick and sharp instincts when it came to automobiles in many years.
What was even more remarkable was that she was an outsider who had never received systematic training. She had managed to figure all this out simply from books and watching the factory’s mechanics work.
That was truly impressive.
“Hey, Old Gou, what do you mean by that?” Zhu Changgeng asked, completely puzzled by Gou Deshun’s words.
Shu An, however, understood that this was an invitation from an expert, so she immediately nodded.
“Okay, Master Gou. If you don’t mind, I’ll come by whenever I have time and take a look.”
“Of course, of course. I don’t mind at all. When you come, just look for your cousin, or tell them my name.”
Gou Deshun wanted to observe this girl’s foundational knowledge a little more.
If she really was a promising talent, it wouldn’t be difficult to speak to the factory director and get her recruited.
The college entrance examination had been suspended at this time, so talented people were extremely scarce. A clever child who could draw inferences from one example was, in any case, far more valuable than those who came from the Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers University.
On the way home, Zhao Ming was completely baffled.
He glanced at his cousin walking beside him and asked curiously,
“How did you manage to start chatting with our factory director and Master Gou in such a short time?”
“Oh, they were taking apart a car over there, so I got curious and went over to take a look. I just gave them a few suggestions.”
“A few suggestions? I’m afraid they weren’t just ordinary suggestions, were they? Do you know who that was? He’s an Eighth-Grade Fitter at our automobile factory.”
“And he’s not like an ordinary Eighth-Grade Fitter. I’ve heard that he has a very impressive background. Back then, he even had a chance to work at one of those major, highly prestigious factories, but for some reason, he ended up coming here instead.”
“He’s different from ordinary fitters? What’s so different about him?” Shu An asked curiously.
“You wouldn’t know. An Eighth-Grade Fitter is an Eighth-Grade Fitter, but there are differences even among fitters. Some masters are simply extremely skilled with their hands, but Master Gou is different.”
“Master Gou isn’t just skilled with his hands. He can also read blueprints and design and modify machinery. That’s why our factory treats him like a treasure.”
“It’s just that he has a bad temper. A lot of people have wanted to learn his skills, but he’s never taken on apprentices. Even when he teaches people normally, he’s extremely stern.”
“You have no idea. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw him talking to you so kindly just now. He’s usually incredibly fierce when he chews people out at the factory.”
“How fierce?” Shu An asked curiously.
That little old man had seemed pretty normal just now.
“How fierce? Let me tell you…”
Zhao Ming suddenly looked left and right. When he saw that there was no one nearby, he lowered his voice.
“I only heard about this, but everyone in the entire factory knows the story.”
“I heard that once, a deputy factory director who was in charge of production came over. He had apparently been transferred from another major factory. He had quite a temper too—arrogant and ambitious, wanting to accomplish something big.”
“But he didn’t know much about design, yet he still tried to give orders and interfere. That touched Master Gou’s absolute bottom line.”
“I heard they got into a huge argument right in the office. And Master Gou even slapped him across the face.”
“What? Seriously?” Shu An’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You wouldn’t expect that, would you? But the strange thing was that after Master Gou hit him, Master Gou was perfectly fine. Instead, that deputy factory director was transferred away. So tell me, doesn’t that mean his background is pretty powerful?”
“Wow… That really is impressive.”
Now Shu An had a completely different understanding of how much influence that little old man had.
Someone who could hit a superior without being fired or punished, and even have that superior transferred away afterward—just how important did he have to be to the factory?
Zhao Ming had also heard what Master Gou said to Shu An. After thinking about it for a moment, he said,
“An’an, you heard what Master Gou said just now.”
“Anyway, you have nothing to do in the countryside. Come here and hang around whenever you have time. This is an opportunity, understand?”
Shu An naturally understood what her cousin meant.
She should show her face around the factory more often and see whether she could find an opportunity to get a job there.
And this happened to fit perfectly with what she had in mind.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gone out of her way to say so much just now.