Chapter 103 The Master's "Mental Cultivation Method"

Quancheng No. 1 Machine Tool Plant, Workshop No. 3.

The atmosphere was somewhat eerie.

In front of several C616 lathes that had just been retrofitted with m1 kits.

A few apprentices who had been at the factory for less than three months were operating them with relaxed expressions.

On the other side.

The plant's top masters, several Seventh-Grade and Eighth-Grade Workers, looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

Sweat dripped down their foreheads, and their work uniforms were soaked through at the back.

"Beep—! Beep—! Beep—!"

The piercing sound of alarms rose and fell one after another.

"What's going on! Another tool crash?"

Cui Yushan was getting anxious:

"This is freaking bizarre!"

"These veteran masters who could usually turn out a masterpiece with their eyes closed..."

"How can they not even compare to an apprentice?"

Lin Xi stood by the aisle, holding a large tea mug, a slight smile on his lips.

In the livestream, the bullet chat had already begun diagnosing the problem.

[Hahaha! This is called 'the troubles of a max-level account'!]

[Muscle memory is a killer!]

[The masters' hands are too fast; before the brain can react, the hands have already moved!]

As they spoke, in front of a machine tool ahead.

Master Wu, a Seventh-Grade Fitter, was staring intently at the rapidly advancing tool post.

Seeing the tool tip about to contact the workpiece.

The instinct he had cultivated over decades made him reach an instantaneous judgment—

The feed is too fast, it's going to crash!

His right hand reached out almost subconsciously.

He gave a sharp twist to the handwheel, which had already been disconnected from its mechanical link.

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His body also leaned forward to perform a "fine adjustment."

That lean was a big mistake.

His belly pressed directly against the emergency stop button on the panel.

"Screech— Clang!"

The spindle locked, the tool post stalled, and the alarm light flashed wildly.

"Oh, for goodness' sake!"

Master Wu slapped his thigh and looked at his right hand in frustration:

"This useless hand! Why won't it listen!"

"The machine was clearly running fine, what are you messing with it for!"

Cui Yushan sighed and looked at Lin Xi:

"Manager Lin, this... what do we do?"

"The apprentices are learning just fine, but the masters are failing instead."

"This isn't a question of skill."

Lin Xi set down his tea mug, walked to the center of the workshop, and clapped his hands:

"Everyone, please stop for a moment."

Everyone looked at this exceptionally young "Engineer Lin."

"Masters, do you find this machine difficult to use?" Lin Xi asked.

"Difficult!"

Master Wu, from just now, gave a bitter smile.

"It's too rigid; it doesn't know how to yield, and it doesn't know how to coordinate with my breathing."

"That's exactly right."

Lin Xi raised a finger solemnly:

"The machine is fitted with chips; that is an 'electronic brain'."

"What you are using is a 'human brain' with decades of experience."

"The logic of these two brains is different, so a clash is inevitable."

"Then what? Are we supposed to swap our brains?" someone heckled.

"No need to swap brains, just change your mental cultivation method."

A mysterious expression appeared on Lin Xi's face.

"Mental cultivation method?"

Cui Yushan's eyes widened.

"Brother Lin, we're doing industrial work here, not practicing Qigong."

Lin Xi ignored Cui Yushan's retort, turned around, and wrote four large characters on the blackboard—

[Zeroing Mindset Method].

"From now on, every master above Sixth-Grade must do one thing before getting on the machine."

Lin Xi scanned the room, his voice deep and powerful:

"Close your eyes, stand in a meditative stance, and take deep breaths for five minutes."

"Silently recite three sentences in your heart:"

"First, I am not a high-grade worker."

"Second, I am a fool who just joined the factory."

"Third, I believe this pile of iron is smarter than I am."

Dead silence filled the room.

A group of veteran masters, whose combined ages spanned thousands of years, looked at each other.

This was too ridiculous!

Was this technical training or a Qigong recovery class?

"Try it once."

Lin Xi's gaze was firm. "Just once."

Master Wu, whose hands had been so "itchy" earlier, grit his teeth:

"Fine!"

"I've already lost all my dignity anyway, I'll trust you this once!"

He walked to the machine tool, let his hands hang, and closed his eyes.

One minute... two minutes...

At first, his eyebrows were still twitching, clearly indicating an internal struggle.

But gradually, his breathing steadied.

That oversensitivity to cutting force, vibration, and sound—etched into his very bones over decades—was forcibly suppressed into the depths of his consciousness.

Five minutes were up.

The veteran master snapped his eyes open.

The anxiety from before was gone, replaced by a trace of hollow calm.

He reached out his hand.

He didn't touch the handwheel, didn't adjust the coolant pipe, and didn't try to sense the vibration with his body.

He simply, mechanically, and coldly pressed the green [Start] button.

Then, he put both hands behind his back, like a mere spectator.

"Whir—"

The motor emitted a high-frequency whine, and the tool post cut in.

This time, the master's fingers twitched, but he ultimately held back.

Three minutes later, the spindle stopped.

A pin shaft lay quietly on the chuck.

No alarm, no emergency stop.

Perfect.

"Holy crap..."

Cui Yushan couldn't help but curse.

"It actually worked?"

"Is this... an electronic mindset?"

Thunderous applause erupted in the workshop.

Master Wu tremblingly picked up the part, feeling the slightly warm cutting texture on it.

His eyes suddenly turned red.

He turned around and looked at the cold machine.

Then he looked at his own calloused hands, his voice somewhat choked.

"It's good stuff, it really is..."

"But from now on, what use will these hands of ours be?"

"I've practiced my craft for a lifetime, only for a pile of iron to make it obsolete in a few minutes."

This sentence was like a bucket of cold water, dousing the cheers that had just ignited.

A sense of desolation known as "obsolescence" spread through the workshop.

Lin Xi's heart jolted.

He walked over and firmly grasped the master's hands.

"Elder."

Lin Xi's voice wasn't loud, yet it reached every corner.

"Machines can work, but machines have no soul."

"This m1 kit can do 99% of the work."

"But for that remaining 1%—the hardest, most critical work—we still need these hands of yours to carve it out."

"In the future, the machines will do the grunt work, and you will do the masterwork."

"You haven't been made obsolete; you've been upgraded. You've become the 'Grandmaster'."

The old man looked up, a glimmer of light appearing in his eyes.

"Grandmaster... heh, that title sounds pretty good."

The old man wiped the corners of his eyes and grinned.

"Fine! Then I'll be the supervisor for this pile of iron!"

...

A week later, the personnel training at Quancheng No. 1 Machine Tool Plant was fully completed.

The parameter packages and operation manuals were also finished.

Interestingly, the operation manual included the "Zeroing Mindset Method."

It was treated as a necessary action before operation.

Lin Xi thought about it; it really was useful for the veteran masters.

Even for newcomers, calming their minds before operating...

...would surely reduce errors and improve efficiency.

Alright, so be it!

The m1 kit had been successfully verified.

Then, the next step of the layout had to follow.

After arranging for Zhao Qiang and the others to return to the Northwest to prepare for the next stage of research...

Lin Xi began his next mission.

Yangcheng, Spring Canton Fair.