151: Chapter 151 The Old Welder Teaches His Skills Step by Step! Countdown to 2,600 Beds

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

West side of the Second-floor Residential Area.

Han Zhengqing stood in front of a row of vacant steel-frame beds, gripping a welding torch in his hand as the blue flame at the tip hissed.

Twenty people stood before him.

Zhao Tiezhu's soldiers.

Their ages ranged from early twenties to forty, and they wore the old-style gray-green uniforms of The City-State, with cuffs and collars worn white.

Most of their palms were rough and thick, with old scars on their knuckles.

Han Zhengqing raised the welding torch to chest height, the flame reflecting on his graying hair.

"My name is Han Zhengqing. I'm from City-State Industrial Zone, and I've been a welder for thirty years."

His voice was hoarse, and his speaking pace was not fast.

"The City Lord sent you here to learn welding, but do you think it's to become master craftsmen?"

"I will only teach three things."

"First, Flat Welding. Align two steel plates, keep the weld seam straight—no tilting, no leaking."

"Second, Fillet Welding. Set the steel plate upright, angle the torch at forty-five degrees; the weld seam must be uniform without slag buildup."

"Third, safety. Point the torch downward when not in use, never aim the flame at people, and don't let welding slag fall on your feet."

He looked around at the faces of the twenty people.

"Who has handled a welding torch before?"

Thirteen hands went up.

"Good. Those who have handled one, stand on the left; those who haven't, stand on the right."

The crowd split into two groups.

Han Zhengqing handed the welding torch to the first person on the left.

"You, weld a ten-centimeter straight line for me to see."

The man took the torch, squatted down, and began to run a line on a piece of scrap steel on the ground.

Sparks flew, and the weld seam was crooked.

Han Zhengqing squatted down and watched for three seconds.

"Your hand is shaking. You're gripping the torch too tightly. Relax the space between your thumb and forefinger, move with your wrist, not your arm."

He took the torch from the man and ran a line on the adjacent steel plate.

The sparks were fine and uniform, and the weld seam looked like it had been drawn with a ruler.

The eyes of all twenty people were focused on that weld seam.

"See that? Steady wrist, even speed, constant flame angle. Just those three things."

He stood up and returned the torch to the man.

"Do another one."

The second line was a bit better than the first, but there was a spot of slag buildup in the middle of the seam.

"Stop." Han Zhengqing squatted down. "The speed was too slow here, causing the filler material to pile up. Compare this spot with the line next to it."

He ran his fingernail along the weld seam.

"Do you feel that? There's a bump where the slag piled up; your finger catches when you slide it across. A good weld seam feels as smooth as if it were polished."

The man nodded.

"Again."

Han Zhengqing stood up and walked over to the group on the right who had never handled a welding torch.

"Watch first, then try it yourselves."

He pulled a handwritten booklet from a cloth pouch at his waist and flipped to the first page.

On it was a structural diagram of a welding torch, with handwritten labels next to each component.

"A welding torch is divided into three parts: the head, the body, and the intake valve."

He explained each one while pointing to the labels on the diagram.

His voice was hoarse, but he enunciated every word clearly.

The communicator at Han Zhengqing's waist beeped.

He pressed the button to answer.

"Chief Engineer Han," came Lin Wan's voice.

"Technician Lin, what is it?"

"The City Lord asked me to check if there are enough welding torches for the first batch of twenty people."

"Not enough. I only have eight on hand, so they have to take turns."

"I'll let Zhou Yuan know and have him coordinate to bring a few more over from City-State Industrial Zone."

"Alright, the more the better. If there aren't enough torches, they'll just have to wait in line, and that waiting time is all wasted."

"Understood, I'll go coordinate it."

The communicator hung up.

Han Zhengqing turned his attention back.

The first person in the group on the left was already on his fourth line.

The fourth line was straighter than the first three, but a small "tail" was left where he pulled the torch away at the end.

"You withdrew the torch too fast." Han Zhengqing walked over. "Don't be in such a hurry to lift it when you reach the end. Pause for half a second to let the filler material fill in before lifting."

He squatted beside the man and watched him start a new line.

This one was flawless from beginning to end.

"Alright, you've passed. Go practice Fillet Welding to the side."

The man stood up, sweat on his face.

Han Zhengqing handed the torch to the second person.

In the open space on the west side of the residential area, welding sparks flickered intermittently.

The clanging sounds mingled with Han Zhengqing's low-voiced explanations.

Over three hundred completed steel-frame beds were lined up neatly under the lights, stretching from one end to the limit of his vision.

There were still over two thousand six hundred left to do.

Seven days.

At the other end of the passage, plumbers were busy in the Ventilation Renovation Area.

Newly laid pipelines were inserted into the holes already cut in the outer wall, and coiled heat exchangers made of bent copper pipes were fixed inside the holes.

A plumber lay on the ground, using a wrench to tighten a sealing nut, his forehead covered in sweat.

Han Zhengqing turned his head to glance at the progress over by the vents.

The installation of the first set of heat exchange coils was more than halfway complete.

They would finish the installation this afternoon and conduct sealing tests tonight.

His gaze shifted back from the vents to the twenty people learning to weld in front of him.

Two days ago, these people were still hauling steel plates; two days from now, they would be on the production line with welding torches in hand.

Thirty thousand people were waiting for beds.

"Next."

He handed the torch to the second person.

When the man took the torch, his hand was steady.