In the winter of 1982, Lu Zheng returned to Hongchuan Machinery Works with his discharge papers in hand.
On his first day reporting for duty, all three hundred hydraulic pumps were returned, and a shutdown notice had already been posted on the wall. More than a thousand workers were waiting to be reassigned. Everyone was convinced the problem lay with the seals, but from a single abnormal wear mark, Lu Zheng spotted the real cause.
But what right did a discharged soldier with no post or title have to make a Grade Eight worker stop and get the technical department to reopen the test bench?
Lu Zheng had no System, nor any futuristic technology to offer. He knew which way the future was headed, but every judgment had to be backed up by measurements, and someone had to sign off and take responsibility for every change.
From fixing one leaking pump to winning back an order for a thousand units; from saving an old factory on the verge of shutdown to making China's own core components.
This time, he was saving more than just a factory. He was also saving the crafts and the people who had yet to be swept aside by the times.
