Xu Mingwei, a burned-out engineer, steps straight from a spotless 21st-century factory floor into the dusty Hongxing Machinery Plant of the 1980s. The good news: she’s the youngest and prettiest technician at the plant, known as the “untouchable beauty.” The bad news: the plant is on the verge of bankruptcy, wages are going unpaid, morale is low, and the blueprints in her hands are older than her grandmother. The original owner of that “untouchable beauty” reputation was also ostracized by the entire workshop for her aloof personality and poor social skills.
Faced with outdated machine tools, conservative veteran workers, and colleagues waiting to see her make a fool of herself, Xu Mingwei pushes up her nonexistent glasses and decides to put her old skills to use. While everyone else is tearing their hair out over imported parts, she quietly pulls out a notebook and sketches a design for a replacement.
The workshop director is distraught. “This batch of German machine tools is broken. Repairs will take at least half a year!”
Xu Mingwei: “Don’t worry. I’ll take a look inside first. It might just be a capacitor.”
A rival from a neighboring factory tries to poach her. “We’ll pay you double!”
Xu Mingwei doesn’t even look up. “I’m busy. I haven’t finished calculating the model for my new production line.”
Gradually, everyone realizes that the “pretty face” of a technician actually knows her stuff. She can repair even the most troublesome machines, improve processes and boost efficiency. She even leads everyone in developing new products, turning the plant’s fortunes around and bringing in orders nonstop!
Her coworkers: “Sister Wei, you’re the best! We’re in awe!”
The factory director: “Xiao Xu, what do you think of my son... I mean, what do you think of the deputy director position? Would you be interested?”
Only the taciturn man who is always quietly handing her tools from the corner...
