As Xie Changning said this, she felt a fire ignite within her.
"And what if you lose?"
Li Guodong retorted, his face dark and menacing.
It didn't make sense for him to be the only one with something on the line.
Xie Changning raised an eyebrow. "If I lose, I'll help your factory land another foreign exchange order. How about that?"
The terms Xie Changning offered were very tempting, but Li Guodong just scoffed in disbelief.
Wang Lisheng shot him a glare. "The order the factory just received? Comrade Xie Changning helped us land that on the train, you blockhead! Her technical skills are even better than her foreign language skills."
He was trying his hardest to retain such a talent, and here was Li Guodong, doing everything he could to sabotage his efforts!
Absolutely no cooperation whatsoever!
"Since the factory manager puts it that way, I'll take that bet!" Li Guodong still refused to believe Xie Changning was that capable. Even though the skills she had just shown seemed impressive, he wasn't convinced!
"Done. Get a pen and paper. We'll sign and seal it!"
News of their bet spread like wildfire through the Chuncheng Screw Factory. Everyone gathered around curiously, eager to watch the drama between Xie Changning and Li Guodong unfold.
The boiler was having issues, so half of the factory's workshops were shut down. The workers didn't have much to do, so they all swarmed over at the first sign of excitement.
"Brother Wang, do you have a worker's dirty clothes? Can I borrow a set…?"
"Wear mine."
The words had barely left Xie Changning's mouth when an olive-drab military uniform appeared before her.
She pushed the uniform back. "Comrade Yue Yihan, this is a military uniform!" she scolded him sternly.
Xie Changning had noticed that Yue Yihan loved to help, a spirit she commended, but a military uniform was not the same as regular work clothes. You couldn't just treat it like that!
"Yes!" Yue Yihan didn't get angry at being lectured by Xie Changning. Instead, he answered with perfect obedience.
His reaction made Xie Changning give him a second look.
'Have to admit,' she thought, 'this flash-marriage husband of mine actually has a pretty good personality.'
(His troop members: Sister-in-law! You'd better speak from the heart! His personality is terrible!)
After changing her clothes, Xie Changning picked two assistants and began climbing all over to inspect the boiler, directing them from below.
Only when her assistants couldn't handle a task did she step in to do it herself.
They say you can tell an expert by their touch.
And right now, that was Xie Changning.
The moment she started working, everyone instinctively edged a little closer.
They watched her skillfully making repairs and welding. It wasn't exactly graceful, but the parts she worked on were cleaner and more beautiful than anything the factory's own workers could produce.
When Xie Changning had finished repairing the entire boiler, she turned to look at Wang Lisheng.
"We won't see the results today. Brother Wang, let's fire it up and make a batch of screws. We'll know tomorrow if they pass muster."
"Alright!"
Wang Lisheng immediately turned to delegate tasks and get people started.
After organizing everyone, Wang Lisheng came over to Xie Changning, rubbing his hands together. "Sister Changning, I really don't know how to thank you. If you have any requests, as long as I can grant them, I'll…"
"Brother Wang, we won't know if the boiler is truly fixed until tomorrow. No need to rush."
Xie Changning stood there with a calm smile, not a hint of impatience on her face.
In truth, if she were to ask Wang Lisheng for a reward now, he would give it. However, Xie Changning felt that asking after the results were in tomorrow would yield a much more generous offer.
Therefore, Xie Changning was willing to wait a day.
Her composed and humble attitude made Wang Lisheng respect her even more. "A top student from Beijing, indeed! Excellent! Truly excellent!"
"However, there is something I need your help with, Brother Wang." Xie Changning thought of the mission in her 'space' and decided to ask Wang Lisheng for assistance.
'This place shouldn't be short on scrapped diesel engines,' she thought.
"Whatever you need, just tell me!" Wang Lisheng, in high spirits, waved his hand magnanimously.
"My skills have gotten a little rusty lately, and I was hoping to practice on a scrapped diesel engine. I was wondering if you might have one here…"
"Hah! Is that all? Of course, we do!"
Wang Lisheng immediately led Xie Changning to the factory's scrap pile. The moment she entered the area, her eyes lit up.
To Wang Lisheng, this was all junk, but to Xie Changning, it was a treasure trove!
Her eyes sparkled as she looked at every single item. She turned to Wang Lisheng. "Brother Wang, could I… trade for some of this?"
At first, she had wanted to say "buy."
But then she remembered the strict regulations of the era, which forbade private sales, and changed her wording.
"Of course, you can! You help me repair half of these machines, and the other half will be your payment." Wang Lisheng understood what Xie Changning was getting at and readily agreed.
Xie Changning thanked him happily and dove headfirst into the pile of scrapped machinery.
She had Yue Yihan pull out a dilapidated diesel engine, then crouched on the ground, disassembling, reassembling, and repairing it.
Wang Lisheng should have gone back to his office to handle his own affairs, but after seeing Xie Changning at work, he wanted to see just how far her skills went.
About two hours later, Xie Changning had completely reassembled the diesel engine.
She gestured for Yue Yihan to come forward and crank the engine.
HUMMMMM—
With Yue Yihan's cranking, the roar of the diesel engine grew louder and louder until it settled into a steady hum.
Wang Lisheng subconsciously took two steps forward, listening intently. The previous sputtering sound was gone. The engine was running smoothly—it was obvious that Xie Changning had fixed it!
The sudden sound of a diesel engine from the scrap area drew over the workers who were temporarily idle.
As they got closer, they saw the diesel engine in front of Xie Changning—it was the same one they had scrapped three years ago!
"Is it… fixed?"
The workers knew about the bet between Xie Changning and Li Guodong. They had all thought she was no match for him; she was too young, and a girl at that.
With her delicate skin, she didn't look like someone who could handle such rough work.
And yet—
The workers looked at the black grease on Xie Changning's clothes. Even her fair face and hands were stained black.
You really can't judge a book by its cover!
The way they looked at her changed dramatically. She went from being a delicate woman who seemed too frail for physical labor to a delicate woman with incredible technical skills.
Xie Changning turned to Wang Lisheng. "Brother Wang, for my payment for fixing this engine, can I choose it myself?"
Wang Lisheng nodded, somewhat numb with shock.
Not knowing what might be useful, Xie Changning simply picked up a few parts lying near the diesel engine, packed them up, and handed them to Yue Yihan.
With her "payment" secured, Xie Changning headed home with Yue Yihan.
"Let's go home and wash up first. Later, we can go buy some things we need." As Yue Yihan drove, he kept glancing at Xie Changning out of the corner of his eye.
As he spoke, he pulled out grain coupons, flour coupons, and all sorts of other ration tickets from his pocket.
It looked like they were all from his personal savings.
"Should we go buy a double bed first?" Xie Changning turned her head and dropped the bombshell.