Fusion System: Rebirth in a Courtyard - Bird Fighting Chronicles

Chapter 9: Nighttime Forging, the Wrench's Sharp Edge Breaks the Scheme

The morning frost still clung to the iron fence of the steel rolling mill when Lin Chen, carrying the precision alloy chisel he had hidden the night before, stood at the entrance of the precision forging workshop. Master Li had arrived even earlier and was squatting beside an old-fashioned lathe, wiping the chuck's cold gleam with cotton yarn. Seeing Lin Chen approach, he adjusted his reading glasses: "You're here quite early. Go get a new set of measuring tools first. Today I'll teach you precision grooving."

Lin Chen responded and turned to walk towards the tool shed. Just as he turned the corner of the workshop, he bumped into Qin Huairu, who was hurrying towards him carrying an oilcloth bag, her face showing a hint of panic. When she saw Lin Chen, she paused, forcing a smile: "Comrade Lin, good morning." As she spoke, a soft metallic clanging came from the oilcloth bag, and she subconsciously tightened the bag around her chest.

"Good morning, Senior Sister Qin." Lin Chen replied casually, his gaze sweeping over the outline of the oilcloth bag—it was clearly a set of fitter's files, and one of the few imported carbide models in the workshop. According to factory rules, the workshop foreman's signature was required to requisition precision tools, and Qin Huairu, a perennial apprentice, had no authority to receive this set. A thought struck him, and without asking any further questions, he headed straight for the tool room. Behind him, he heard Qin Huairu's quickened footsteps, and faintly, he could hear her pleading in a low voice to the tool room manager.

After collecting the measuring tools and returning to the forging group, Master Li had already fixed a palm-sized alloy steel billet onto the lathe. "Today's job is to cut a V-groove on this billet. The angle error cannot exceed half a degree, and the depth tolerance must be controlled within 0.02 millimeters." Master Li picked up a piece of chalk and drew a thin line on the steel billet. "This is a part for precision machine tools; anything less than that won't work."

Several veteran workers gathered around to watch the spectacle. One of them, an apprentice named Sun Er, clicked his tongue and said, "Master Li, this job is too difficult! Old Chen from our group wasted three pieces of material when he opened this kind of groove last time."

Master Li didn't speak, but simply looked at Lin Chen. Lin Chen gripped the precision alloy chisel tightly in his hand, feeling the familiar coolness on his fingertips. He walked to the lathe, started the machine, and waited for the chuck to rotate at a steady speed before slowly bringing the chisel closer. The moment the chisel tip touched the steel billet, there was no harsh friction sound like that of an ordinary chisel; only a soft sound was heard, and fine iron filings fell like curling flowers.

Master Li's eyes lit up, and he leaned closer to examine it carefully: "Keep your wrist steady, lower the angle by half a second... Yes, that's it!" He kept measuring with the calipers in his hand, and the surprise on his face became more and more obvious. "There's something wrong with your chisel. An ordinary high-speed steel chisel would have chipped long ago when dealing with this kind of alloy steel."

Lin Chen smiled but didn't explain. "It's an old tool passed down in the family; it's still quite handy." As he spoke, the V-groove was already taking shape. The chisel tip seemed to come alive in his hands, each stroke landing precisely inside the chalk line. The surrounding workers were stunned. Sun Er rubbed his eyes and said, "That speed is more than twice as fast as Old Chen's, isn't it?"

During the lunch break, Lin Chen had just put away his measuring tools when he saw Yi Zhonghai walk into the forging group with his hands behind his back. His gaze swept over the steel billet that Lin Chen had just processed, then looked at the chisel in Lin Chen's hand, a hint of inquiry flashing in his eyes: "Little Lin, where did you get this chisel? There's no one of this quality in the forging group's tool room."

"It was left to me by my elders," Lin Chen said nonchalantly as he put the chisel into his workwear pocket. "I used to do this kind of work, so I left behind some handy tools."

Yi Zhonghai nodded and didn't ask any further questions. He then turned to Master Li and said, "Old Li, the fitter group has a batch of precision bolts to process this afternoon. They need the forging group to help with the forging of blanks. Why don't you ask Xiao Lin to lend a hand?" As he said this, he glanced at Lin Chen's pocket out of the corner of his eye, his expression meaningful.

Master Li hesitated for a moment: "Old Yi, Xiao Lin has just started learning precision forging, and he's getting quite skilled..."

"It's all for the factory's production, so cooperation is only right." Yi Zhonghai patted Master Li on the shoulder, his tone leaving no room for doubt. "Besides, if Qin Huairu is in the fitter group, let Xiao Lin go there. It'll be good for the young people to learn from each other." After saying that, he gave Lin Chen a meaningful look, then turned and left.

Lin Chen sneered inwardly; he had long seen through Yi Zhonghai's intentions. Qin Huairu had secretly taken the precision file that morning, undoubtedly to process some important part. Yi Zhonghai had sent him to help in the fitter group simply to probe the details of his chisel, and also to allow Qin Huairu to use the guise of "learning" to get closer to him—after all, he was currently very popular in the workshop, and if he could be won over, it would benefit Yi Zhonghai in consolidating his position.

When Lin Chen arrived at the fitter's workshop in the afternoon, he was stunned by what he saw. Piles of semi-finished bolts lay beside more than a dozen fitter's benches. Qin Huairu was squatting in a corner, using the imported files she had received that morning to grind the bolt heads. Sweat beaded on her forehead, but she deliberately rolled up her sleeves high, revealing her swollen wrists. Seeing Lin Chen enter, she quickly stood up, the file clattering to the floor. A look of grievance crossed her face: "Comrade Lin, you've finally arrived! These bolts need to be delivered tomorrow, and I simply can't handle it all by myself."

Yi Zhonghai walked out of his office, holding a blueprint in his hand: "Xiao Lin, you've come at the right time. The heads of these bolts need to be forged into hexagons, which requires a high degree of precision. You help Qin Huairu complete the forging process, and she will be responsible for the subsequent grinding." He handed over the blueprint, which had exceptionally strict tolerance requirements, two levels higher than usual for the parts.

Lin Chen took the blueprints and immediately spotted the problem. The blueprints indicated that the bolts were made of 40Cr steel, a type of steel prone to cracking when forged at low temperatures, and the fitter's forging furnace lacked any temperature control. Clearly, Yi Zhonghai had deliberately given him an almost impossible task. If he failed, Yi could use the excuse of his lack of skill to diminish Director Zhou's respect for him; if he succeeded, Qin Huairu could use the guise of "cooperation" to legitimately probe for his technical expertise.

"Okay, I'll give it a try." Lin Chen agreed calmly and walked to the forging furnace in the fitter's group. The furnace fire was burning brightly, but it was just ordinary coke fire, and the temperature was far below the optimal forging temperature for 40Cr steel. He squatted down, pretending to check the furnace temperature, and secretly scanned the furnace chamber with the system: "Ordinary coke detected, combustion temperature 1200℃, lower than the minimum temperature of 1500℃ required for forging 40Cr steel."

"Comrade Lin, how about I help you start the fire?" Qin Huairu came over, holding a coal shovel in her hand, but her eyes kept glancing at Lin Chen's work clothes pockets. "If you're tired, you can take a break. I'll take my time. I can always work overtime tonight." Her words seemed considerate, but in reality, she wanted to secretly study the forging process after he left.

Lin Chen smiled and said, "No need to trouble Senior Sister Qin, I can do it myself." He took out a few pieces of broken coal he had collected yesterday from his work clothes pocket, and picked up a small piece of discarded manganese steel sheet from the workbench. Taking advantage of the moment when Qin Huairu turned around to get bolt blanks, he quickly put the broken coal and manganese steel sheet into the system space. "Consuming 5 points, fusing broken coal + manganese steel sheet to generate high-combustion coke." The system panel flashed, and several pieces of coke with a metallic luster appeared in his hand.

He calmly placed the highly flammable coke into the furnace. The moment it touched the open flame, a bluish-green flame erupted, and the temperature instantly rose considerably. An elderly fitter nearby, who was grinding bolts, looked up in surprise: "Hey, why is this coke burning so well today?"

Lin Chen didn't explain. He waited until the bolt blank was glowing red-hot, then quickly used pliers to remove it and placed it on the anvil. Instead of using an ordinary hammer, he pulled out a high-strength forging hammer from his pocket, and with a flick of his wrist, the hammer struck the blank with precision. Each strike was perfectly timed, and the hexagonal outline quickly emerged with minimal error.

Qin Huairu stood to the side, her eyes wide with astonishment. Having studied metalworking for five years, she knew all too well how difficult it was to forge such a high-precision billet, yet Lin Chen had completed it with only a dozen hammer blows, and the finished product was even more precise than the requirements on the blueprint. She was both amazed and envious, and secretly took out a small steel ruler from her pocket, intending to measure the dimensions of the forging billet, but Lin Chen swiftly stopped her.

"Senior Sister Qin, factory regulations stipulate that unfinished parts cannot be measured arbitrarily." Lin Chen's tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable authority. Qin Huairu's face instantly flushed red, and she awkwardly withdrew her hand. However, she became even more certain that there was something wrong with the hammer and chisel in Lin Chen's hand. If she could get her hands on these two tools, her skills would definitely improve by leaps and bounds.

As Lin Chen handed over the last batch of forging blanks to Qin Huairu at the end of the workday, he was called to the office by Director Zhou. "Lin, there's a batch of imported machine tool parts that need repairing tomorrow, and it's a big problem." Director Zhou handed Lin Chen a drawing. "This is the main drive shaft of the machine tool. The fixing bolts on it are rusted. We've broken three original wrenches, and the technical department is at a loss."

Lin Chen took the blueprint and frowned. The bolt had a very special specification; it was a fine-pitch imperial thread, and it was severely rusted. A regular wrench couldn't even be inserted, and even if it did, it would easily strip the threads. He thought for a moment and had an idea: "Director Zhou, I can give it a try, but I'll need to stay in the workshop and work overtime, and I'll need some scrap material."

"No problem!" Director Zhou immediately agreed. "I've already spoken to the security guard at the workshop gate. You can use any scrap materials you want. If you can fix it, your bonus this month will be doubled!"

When Lin Chen returned to the workshop, all the other workers had already left. He locked the workshop door from the inside and secured the windows with wire before taking out the alloy scraps he had collected that day from his work clothes pocket—in addition to the chromium-manganese alloy from before, there was also a small piece of tungsten steel he had picked up from the fitter's scrap pile that afternoon. He walked to the forging furnace, relit the fire, and put the scraps into the furnace to heat them.

Once the metal blocks were glowing red-hot, Lin Chen removed them and repeatedly hammered them on an anvil to remove impurities. Then he activated the system: "Consume 10 points to fuse chromium-manganese alloy, tungsten steel, and high-strength steel to create a special wear-resistant wrench. It must be compatible with British fine threads and have a hardness of HRC60 or higher."

A pale blue light enveloped the metal block on the anvil, filling the air with a strong smell of rust, mixed with a faint whiff of ozone. The metal block slowly melted in the light, forming a pool of silvery-white liquid, which then gradually solidified into the shape of a wrench. Lin Chen could clearly feel the system precisely shaping the threads and jaws of the wrench, every detail meeting his requirements.

Just as the integration was about to be completed, there was a sudden knock on the workshop door, accompanied by the voice of the doorman, Old Zhang: "Is anyone in there? The workshop has been closed for a long time, come out quickly!" Lin Chen's heart tightened, and he quickly covered the still-glowing wrench with cotton yarn and hurried to the door: "Master Zhang, it's me, Lin Chen. Director Zhou asked me to work overtime to repair a part. Here's the approval slip." He took out the approval slip written by Director Zhou from his pocket and handed it through the crack in the door.

Old Zhang took the approval slip, glanced at it under the streetlight, and muttered, "Why didn't you say you were working overtime sooner? I thought a thief had broken in." He paused, then sniffed the air. "What were you burning in there? Why does it smell so weird?"

"It smells like rust inhibitor. The parts were rusted so badly that I soaked them in it," Lin Chen lied without batting an eye. "It'll be done soon, just wait ten more minutes."

Old Zhang didn't ask any more questions and turned to leave. Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief, returned to the anvil, and lifted the cotton gauze. A completely black wrench lay there, its jaws perfectly matching the bolt specifications on the blueprint. Its surface gleamed with a fine metallic sheen and felt icy cold to the touch. He used the system to analyze it: "Wrench for wear resistance, containing chromium-manganese-tungsten alloy, hardness HRC62, with 'anti-slip engagement' properties to effectively prevent slippage during tightening, suitable for 1/2 inch fine thread."

Lin Chen smiled with satisfaction, tucked the wrench into his pocket, cleaned the ashes from the furnace to ensure no trace was left, and then locked the workshop door before leaving. As he reached the factory gate, he saw Qin Huairu and Yi Zhonghai standing under a streetlamp talking. Qin Huairu was holding a lunchbox and trying to put it in Yi Zhonghai's hand, muttering something as she did so. Seeing Lin Chen approach, their conversation stopped abruptly. Yi Zhonghai took the lunchbox, turned, and left. Qin Huairu also lowered her head and quickly walked away.

Lin Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he quietly followed. When he reached the courtyard gate, he saw Yi Zhonghai enter his house, while Qin Huairu stood by the communal pond in the central courtyard, opening her lunchbox and eating. The lunchbox was full of braised pork, clearly made by Sha Zhu's canteen. Lin Chen frowned. Yesterday, Sha Zhu had said he didn't have enough food, and today he'd sent Qin Huairu such a large box of braised pork. It seemed this woman's methods had escalated.

The next morning, as soon as Lin Chen arrived at the workshop, he was surrounded by Director Zhou and the technical staff. The rusty drive shaft was on the workbench, with a broken original wrench still attached to it, and several technicians were standing around it, at a loss. "Lin, it's up to you now," Director Zhou said, his tone full of expectation.

Lin Chen nodded and took out the wear-resistant wrench he had fused the night before from his pocket. The wrench looked very ordinary, even rougher than the original factory wrench. A young engineer from the technical department couldn't help but laugh: "Lin, did you make this wrench yourself? Is it even good? The original alloy steel wrench broke."

Lin Chen didn't speak. He picked up the wrench and aligned it with the bolt on the drive shaft. The wrench's jaws fit perfectly into the bolt. He took a deep breath, exerted force with his wrist, and slowly turned the wrench. At first, the bolt wouldn't budge, and everyone around held their breath; even Director Zhou's forehead was beaded with sweat. Just then, a soft "click" was heard, and the bolt had loosened!

Lin Chen persisted, and with minimal effort, he unscrewed the rusted bolt. Everyone around was stunned. The young engineer quickly picked up the bolt to inspect it, exclaiming in amazement, "The threads aren't damaged at all! That's incredible!"

Director Zhou patted Lin Chen on the shoulder excitedly: "Good lad! You've done a great job! If this part hadn't been fixed, our factory would have had to pay the foreign trade company a huge sum of money! Tell me, what kind of reward do you want?"

Lin Chen smiled and said, "Director Zhou, I don't need anything else. I just want to apply for a separate tool cabinet to store my own tools." He knew that he had more and more tools, and they were all very special. It would be unsafe to put them in the public tool room, and it would also easily arouse suspicion.

"No problem!" Director Zhou immediately agreed. "I'll approve it for you tomorrow!"

Just then, Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu also walked over. Seeing the unscrewed bolt, a hint of surprise flashed in Yi Zhonghai's eyes. He picked up Lin Chen's wrench, examined it, and then tapped it with a hammer, his expression growing increasingly serious: "Xiao Lin, what material is this wrench made of? It's so hard."

"It's just something cobbled together from scraps in the workshop, a random guesswork," Lin Chen said casually, taking the wrench back from Yi Zhonghai. "Luckily, it works."

Qin Huairu stood to the side, her eyes filled with greed. She stared intently at the wrench in Lin Chen's hand, plotting how to get her hands on it. Last night, she had delivered braised pork to Yi Zhonghai, hoping he would help her find a solution. She hadn't expected Lin Chen's craftsmanship to be so impressive; he could even repair imported parts. If she could steal this wrench and learn Lin Chen's forging methods, she was sure she could pass the fitter's certification exam and never have to be at the mercy of others again.

At lunchtime, Lin Chen had just opened his lunchbox when he saw Sha Zhu storming over angrily, holding an empty lunchbox: "Brother Lin, did you see someone take my braised pork? I saved it for my mom this morning, and it's gone when I got back!"

Lin Chen understood immediately. It seemed the braised pork Qin Huairu had received yesterday was saved by Sha Zhu for her mother. He was about to speak when he saw Qin Huairu approaching from a distance, her eyes red, holding a cleanly gnawed bone. "Brother Sha Zhu," she said, "I'm sorry, it was me… I saw your lunchbox in the cafeteria this morning and thought it was for me, so I took it." She wiped tears with her sleeve as she spoke. "My family's Jia Geng hasn't had meat in a long time, I was confused for a moment…"

"You!" Sha Zhu was so angry he couldn't speak, but seeing Qin Huairu's aggrieved look, he couldn't bring himself to scold her. "Fine, fine, next time if you want to eat it, just tell me. Don't take it secretly."

"Brother Shazhu, you're such a good person!" Qin Huairu immediately stopped crying and smiled, leaning close to Shazhu and whispering, "By the way, I heard that Comrade Lin has a particularly powerful wrench that can loosen rusted bolts. Could you ask him how he did it? I've been learning to be a fitter for so many years and I've always wanted a handy tool."

Sha Zhu paused for a moment, then looked at Lin Chen with a hint of curiosity in his eyes: "Brother Lin, is what Sister Qin said true? Is your wrench really that powerful?"

Lin Chen put down his lunchbox and said calmly, "It's just an ordinary wrench, nothing special. If Senior Sister Qin wants one, she can just go to the tool room and get it herself. Why ask me?" His words carried a hint of sarcasm, and Qin Huairu's face instantly turned bright red. She awkwardly stopped talking.

When Lin Chen got back to work in the afternoon, he had just received the key to the tool cabinet when he received a new task—to process a batch of precision washers for the fitter group. As he went to the fitter group to deliver the drawings, he saw Qin Huairu secretly fiddling with the wear-resistant wrench he had used that morning. It turned out that while Lin Chen was getting the key, she had secretly taken the wrench out and was sanding its surface to examine the material inside.

"Senior Sister Qin, these are my tools. It's not proper for you to touch other people's things without permission, is it?" Lin Chen's voice suddenly rang out, startling Qin Huairu so much that her hand trembled, and the wrench fell to the ground. She quickly picked it up and handed it to Lin Chen, her face showing a hint of panic: "I'm sorry, Comrade Lin, I was just curious and wanted to see how this wrench works..."

"Just because you're curious doesn't mean you can touch other people's things." Lin Chen took the wrench and said coldly, "This wrench is for repairing imported parts. If you break it and it delays production, who will be responsible?"

Qin Huairu's face flushed red and then paled, wanting to retort but unable to utter a word. At this moment, Yi Zhonghai walked over, frowning, and said, "Xiao Lin, what you said is a bit excessive. Qin Huairu is your senior sister, what's wrong with her looking at your tools? We're all from the same factory, learning from each other is only natural."

"Learning from each other is fine, but shouldn't we get the other person's permission first?" Lin Chen looked at Yi Zhonghai defiantly. "Master Yi, you're an eighth-grade fitter; you should know better than anyone how important tools are to a skilled worker. If someone touched your precision measuring tools without your permission, would you be okay with it?"

Yi Zhonghai's face instantly darkened. He valued his measuring tools most highly, and usually wouldn't even let his apprentices touch them. Lin Chen's words had struck a nerve. He opened his mouth, wanting to retort but unable to find a reason, so he could only glare fiercely at Qin Huairu before turning and leaving. Qin Huairu was also too frightened to speak, lowering her head and returning to her workstation, feeling even more jealous of Lin Chen.

As Lin Chen was leaving the workshop in the evening, Wang Tieshan stopped him. "Lin, you'd better be careful. I just overheard Liu Haizhong and Yi Zhonghai talking in the office. It sounded like they were targeting you." Wang Tieshan lowered his voice. "Liu Haizhong is holding a grudge because of the rust removal incident last time, and Yi Zhonghai seems quite interested in your tools. They might team up to sabotage you."

Lin Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he nodded, "Thank you for the reminder, Master Wang. I will be careful." He knew that his performance was too dazzling, which had already aroused the suspicion of Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong. One of them was a technical authority, and the other was a seasoned veteran in the workshop. If they joined forces, they would indeed be difficult to deal with. But he was not afraid. With the system and his technical experience from his previous life, even if they joined forces, they might not be able to gain the upper hand.

When Lin Chen returned to the courtyard, the central courtyard was bustling with activity. Madam Jia Zhang was sitting on a small stool, showing off something to some neighbors, holding a brand-new piece of fabric in her hand. Seeing Lin Chen approach, she deliberately held the fabric high: "This was bought for me by my husband Huairu. He said it's fine cotton from Shanghai, very precious!"

Lin Chen glanced at the piece of fabric, a cold smile playing on his lips. Qin Huairu's monthly salary was only a little over twenty yuan; she couldn't possibly afford such expensive fine cotton cloth. This fabric must have been bought with the grain coupons she'd swindled from Sha Zhu. He ignored Jia Zhangshi's boasting and went straight into his side room. Just as he closed the door, he heard Jia Zhangshi outside saying, "Some people, just because they know a little skill, think they're something special. They don't even respect their master and senior apprentice. They'll get their comeuppance sooner or later!"

Lin Chen ignored Jia Zhangshi's provocation, took out a small piece of tungsten steel left over from processing gaskets earlier that day, and rummaged through the bed to find some scrap iron he had hidden earlier. He sat down at the table and activated the system: "Consume 8 points to fuse tungsten steel + scrap iron + silicon carbide to generate a precision caliper, requiring a measurement accuracy of 0.01 millimeters."

A pale blue light shone again, and the air was filled with the smell of molten metal. Lin Chen was completely focused on controlling the system. He knew that to gain a foothold in the steel mill and thwart Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong's schemes, he had to continuously improve his skills, and sophisticated tools were key to that improvement. He had a premonition that a conspiracy against him was brewing, and only by being powerful enough could he remain undefeated in this conspiracy.

Half an hour later, the light faded, revealing a pure white precision caliper on the table. The caliper's markings were clearly visible, the vernier slid smoothly, and its precision far surpassed that of ordinary measuring tools in the workshop. Lin Chen used the system to assess it and smiled with satisfaction. He hid the caliper, walked to the window, and looked at Jia Zhangshi, who was still showing off in the courtyard, a cold glint in his eyes. Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, Qin Huairu, I'll accept your schemes. This time, I won't be at their mercy like I was in my previous life.

Night deepened, and the courtyard gradually quieted down. Lin Chen lay on the bed, holding the durable wrench in his hand, feeling the coolness of the metal. He knew that this wrench was not only a tool for repairing imported parts, but also his weapon for retaliation. Tomorrow, a new contest would begin, and he was ready.