Siheyuan: I earned foreign exchange in the heyday

Early in the morning, Chen Changan earned five dollars, but he couldn't say whether he was happy or not.

Compared to five dollars, it’s best if no one in the yard bothers you.

When he arrived at the factory, Chen Changan plunged into the workshop to study his engine.

In the days that followed, Chen Changan began to go back to his factory and home.

Chen Changan understood the principles of engines, had seen real engines, and had even studied the drawings.

After several months of working overtime at night, Chen Changan finally drew the classic 150 motorcycle engine.

However, Chen Changan himself was not sure whether he could produce the parts, whether the parts could be assembled normally, and whether they could be used normally after assembly.

By the summer of 1958, the sales of honeycomb coal had plummeted compared to the winter.

Although the iron stove without a chimney is very useful for cooking, in this weather we basically only light a fire when cooking and we won't leave the stove on overnight.

Chen Changan's drawings have been completed, and every day when he goes to the factory he discusses the processing of parts with several technical workers.

The rest of the time we spent chatting in the accounting office. There was no other way, in this processing plant, all the workers were men, and they were all sweating in the hot summer.

Not long after the Yan Jiecheng incident happened, the factory promoted some important departments to regular positions or made adjustments.

Most of the people doing the work are veterans and do not need Chen Changan's supervision. After finishing the drawings, Chen Changan has more and more free time.

For several weekends, Chen Changan didn't see Grandpa Xiao when he went fishing. He didn't know why he suddenly couldn't see him. Maybe he was avoiding him or maybe he was really busy.

Autumn is here, and Chen Changan is thinking about where to buy some food these days.

Should I go to the countryside or go to the pigeon market? But no matter how I think about it, it's not safe, I don't want dozens or hundreds of kilograms.

There were more than ten vats in the cellar. Each large vat could hold at least 100 to 200 kilograms of food, so this one could hold more than 1,000 kilograms.

If I put another hundred pounds in the kitchen, the things I bought this time would be too big.

It is not easy to bring it back from the countryside, after all, there is no car, it is a headache. It seems that we still need to move less at a time and come more often.

Chen Changan, who was thinking about where to get food, was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the door opening and hitting the wall.

A technical worker from the workshop ran directly into Chen Changan's office.

Then he said to Chen Changan, "Director Chen, we have made the engine drawing you gave us."

Hearing this, Chen Changan immediately became excited. The current set of drawings was no longer the same as the one Chen Changan had drawn at the beginning.

The parts produced cannot be assembled at all, and many parts and components cannot be installed directly.

Chen Changan and several technical workers had no idea how many times they had modified the parameters.

This time, Chen Changan and the technical workers felt that it should be possible to assemble it.

Chen Changan made a start based on his knowledge from his previous life. At first, the workers didn't understand anything at all. They were all confused.

Thanks to Chen Changan's explanation, I was able to work according to Chen Changan's ideas. Later, I discussed with Chen Changan. Now Chen Changan has basically withdrawn from the discussion. It's a bit discouraging.

These are things Chen Changan had not thought of. Who said there are no good workers in this era? Are they just good at reading from a script?

As for the workers that Chen Changan knew, they were all very capable.

It may be due to limited vision, imagination and knowledge.

But as time goes by and they understand more, they can draw inferences from one example and surpass their teachers.

Shi Heping was originally an apprentice in a machinery repair factory and lived in a rural area near the city.

I came to Beijing to recruit workers in 1955. Although I was not illiterate, I had not graduated from elementary school and did not know many words.

Later, he went to a machinery maintenance factory as an apprentice. Gradually, he passed the first-level worker exam and became a regular worker.

Later, he became a second-level worker, a third-level worker, and a fourth-level worker. He brought his master to make way for his son.

After he left, Shi Heping became the most skilled worker in the machine repair factory.

But the machine shop was too small, and without a master, he could not learn anything. Later, the machine shop even lost its jobs.

Most of the people with connections were transferred to other positions. Shi Heping had no connections, so he could only work in the machine repair factory.

Later, the machine repair factory was merged into the honeycomb briquettes processing factory. Shi Heping was almost in despair.

In the first few days after arriving, Shi Heping worked with coal every day, which was a far cry from the machinery he loved.

Perhaps I would have to work with coal for the rest of my life. But not long after I arrived at the processing plant, the unbelievably young factory manager came to him and said that he wanted to make a machine to make honeycomb coal.

This made Shi Heping very happy. At least the machine that made wind-blown honeycomb briquettes was also a machine, right?

After meeting with Factory Manager Xiao Chen, Shi Heping discovered that Factory Manager Xiao Chen might not have good hands-on skills, but he had strong theoretical knowledge, much better than his former master who was a level 7 worker.

Many of the things that Factory Director Chen said were unbelievable and unheard of to Shi Heping.

When I first heard about it, I was stunned and couldn't believe there was such a machine. But I waited for the explanation of Director Chen.

Thinking about it again, I suddenly feel that it is still difficult, but not impossible.

This made Shi Heping admire Chen Changan very much. Maybe one day he would be able to make those incredible machines by following Director Chen.

In order to fulfill the agreement with Director Xiao Chen, Shi Heping worked day and night to complete Director Xiao Chen's drawing task.

After finishing, he started to assemble. If he couldn't assemble, he would modify it and continue. During this period, Shi Heping felt that he had made great progress.

It may be more than the sum of his previous learning. Design ability, hands-on ability, assembly skills. Director Chen taught him a lot without reservation.

I must repay the trust of Director Chen. Shi Heping is the first person to come to the factory and the last to leave.

Thanks to his unremitting efforts, Shi Heping finally completed the processing of all parts today.

Seeing that Director Chen was not there, I thought about assembling it myself first. When Director Chen was revising the drawings, I also participated.

Director Chen is so busy, I will assemble it myself first, and if I can't assemble it, I will modify it myself. Now I have the ability to do this, so I can't bother Director Chen anymore.

Then, while assembling, he found that he had no more parts at hand. The motorcycle engine designed by Director Chen was assembled.

Shi Heping realized that they were one step closer to success. Regardless of whether the engine could be started or not, it was a great victory for Shi Heping.

With an excited heart and shaking hands, he immediately ran towards Chen Changan's office after realizing what was happening.