1959Siheyuan, a Turnaround

Judge Zhang opened his notebook, picked up his pen, and looked around again. He seemed to be silently planning the next review process in his mind, preparing to supervise this competition with the most fair and professional attitude and discover outstanding works that can truly contribute to the country's industrial development.

As the host's passionate opening speech echoed in the venue, the competition officially kicked off.

Each group took turns to present their works on stage. Most of the entries, like the previous groups, were transformations and upgrades of China's traditional mechanical manufacturing processes.

Limited by the technical conditions at the time, poor information exchange and resource shortages, although it had a certain degree of practicality, it lacked innovative breakthroughs that would make people's eyes shine.

However, when Lin Wanqing's group presented their semi-automatic grinder, which was an improvement on the original machine, as well as excellent on-site demonstration and explanation, it won applause from the audience.

Although their work is also an improvement, the improvement has made a substantial breakthrough in the efficiency of the original grinder and saved a lot of manpower, so this design stands out among the traditional improvement processes.

When it was Li Weiguo's group and Yang Qiming's group's turn to take the stage, the situation became delicate.

Yang Qiming walked onto the stage confidently, cleared his throat, and began to introduce: "Dear judges and classmates, our design has been carefully studied, and we have a unique idea in the field of semi-automatic to fully automatic conversion..."

However, his voice trembled slightly and there were many pauses between his words, and it was obvious that he lacked confidence.

When the start button was pressed, the machine started running normally, and the audience exclaimed in admiration.

The machine, which was originally running well, began to make unusual creaking noises, and the connections between components became stuck. The mode that was supposed to be switched smoothly became choppy, and finally the machine actually stopped.

There was an uproar in the audience, with boos and discussions mixed together.

Yang Qiming's face turned pale in an instant. He tried to adjust it in a panic, but it was in vain. He could only stand awkwardly on the stage, looking at his work at a loss.

Zhang Wenshu and Huo Rong immediately went forward to investigate the situation, and found that the circuits on the machine were somehow emitting black smoke.

The two looked at each other and sighed helplessly. Their many days of revisions ultimately failed.

There was only one group left on the field. At this moment, the atmosphere in the whole field seemed to be frozen and the tension reached its extreme.

Everyone held their breath and stared intently at the last group, wanting to see if they could turn the tide and create a miracle.

Just at this moment Li Weiguo walked onto the stage steadily, with a vigorous posture and a dignified demeanor.

He first bowed deeply to the judges and the audience, and then spoke calmly: "Ladies and gentlemen, our design not only overcomes the difficulty of fully automatic conversion, but also achieves innovative breakthroughs in many key areas..."

As he spoke, his eyes swept across the audience, revealing confidence and pride.

Under the expectant gaze of everyone, Li Weiguo pressed the start button.

The machine ran steadily, completing the seamless switch from semi-automatic to fully automatic with ultra-high precision and speed. The smooth movement drew bursts of amazement from the audience.

"It's done! It's really done!"

"This, this is too convenient!" The man was a little excited.

"Fully automatic. If this design is applied to various machines, it will save time and effort!"

"After the competition, I will talk to the team. I want to know if this design can be applied to other machines!"

As soon as this person finished speaking, many people had ideas.

After all, many technologies these days are in their infancy and there is great potential to be explored.

Then, while everyone was still immersed in the excitement, the machine demonstrated a new buffer protection mechanism.

When high-speed running parts collide with each other, the special buffer device comes into play, effectively avoiding vibration damage to the machine and greatly extending its service life.

Next to him was Zhao Shuheng, who was recording in detail the booklet that contained the machine's operation process and test data. As a member of the team that designed and researched this technology, he felt very honored.

Because every word and every page of paper he recorded carries their sweat, and every piece of data is the crystallization of their wisdom.

At this time, someone in the crowd took out a camera to take pictures, wanting to record this wonderful moment. This person even shouted: "Awesome! This is real innovation!"

The judges also put down their pens, leaned forward, eyes full of admiration, and nodded continuously.

Some judges even whispered to each other and praised the work of Li Weiguo's group.

Just as everyone was immersed in the wonderful presentation of Li Weiguo's group, some sharp-eyed audience members and judges discovered that the design ideas of Li Weiguo's group and Yang Qiming's group were surprisingly similar.

"Did you notice that the last two groups were changed from semi-automatic to fully automatic? How could it be such a coincidence!"

"Yes, semi-automatic technology is not yet popular, and fully automatic technology is unthinkable. It won't be such a coincidence. Let's wait and see."

Judge Zhang from the Ministry of Industry also frowned, and the atmosphere on the scene suddenly became solemn as they exchanged doubts with each other.

Zhang Wenshu and Huo Rong stood below, looking at the perfect performance of Li Weiguo's team, their faces turned pale.

The two of them had originally participated in the competition because of the novel ideas of Yang Qiming's group, and they fully expected to stand out in this competition and contribute to the country's industrial development. However, they did not expect to find that someone else in the competition had the same idea.

Is all this a coincidence or...

They both looked at Yang Qiming, who was standing nervously on the side, with deep meaning in their eyes.

Looking at Yang Qiming's expression, they knew there was nothing they didn't understand. They were being fooled by Yang Qiming!

At the beginning, Yang Qiming was very confident in saying that it was a new idea that was unprecedented.

Humph! Thinking about it now, it’s really ridiculous!

At this time, Judge Zhang from the Ministry of Industry walked onto the stage, looked at the two groups of Li Weiguo and Yang Qiming with a serious expression, and said, "Two group leaders, please explain why the first half of the two groups' works are highly similar? What's going on?"

The bigwigs on the judges' podium also frowned. They all noticed this and wanted to hear what was going on.

The eyes of the whole audience were instantly focused on them, and Yang Qiming's body began to tremble uncontrollably.

He opened his mouth but couldn't say anything for a long time. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead and his eyes wandered around in panic, trying to escape this embarrassing situation.

Li Weiguo took a deep breath, walked forward steadily, looked at the leader with a firm gaze, and said loudly: "Leaders, judges, and classmates, I didn't want to mention this matter on this occasion, but since everyone has questions, I have to say it."

"During the preparation for the competition, when our group was discussing ideas in the dormitory, our roommate Yang Qiming overheard our plans several times. We didn't notice it at first, but later we found that his group's work was the same as ours, and then we realized the seriousness of the problem. We then found a new place to revise our plan."