Chapter 16 Hardcore! An Eighth-Level Fitter's Human CNC Show

Lin Xi walked over to a pile of silver-white metal plates, squatted down, and flicked one with his fingernail.

"Ding—"

The sound was crisp and pleasant.

"Found it." The corners of Lin Xi's mouth curled up.

"LY12 aviation aluminum alloy skin scraps."

"Even though it's just leftover waste, using it for the 'little sun' reflector is practically luxury-grade material."

Next, he rummaged through a rusty iron bucket nearby and pulled out a large handful of shiny bearings.

"Haerbin Bearing Factory's 205s and 206s."

"They're rejects and a bit stiff, but we're making electric heaters, not something that needs to rotate. As long as they're sturdy and heavy enough for the base bracket, it's fine!"

"Lin... Brother Lin! Look... look at this!"

In the corner, Wang Yu suddenly called out stutteringly, holding up a bundle of metal wire with a dull red luster.

"Is... is this... is it that..."

Lin Xi took it, looked at it, and grinned, unable to resist patting Wang Yu's thin shoulder. "Good lad, you've got a sharp eye! This is nichrome wire!"

"It's probably waste left over from old heat treatment furnaces."

"This stuff is high-temperature resistant and oxidation-resistant. It's enough for us to wind thousands of heating tubes!"

Finally, from a pile of broken porcelain shards, Lin Xi dug out a box of intact industrial insulating ceramic tubes.

Aviation aluminum for the reflector, nichrome wire for the heat source, ceramic tubes for insulation support, and scrap bearings for the base weight.

Everything was ready!

The viewers in the livestream also started getting lively.

[Whoa! This isn't an abandoned workshop; this is clearly a 'Max-Level Newbie Gift Pack' sent by Elder Qian.]

[little sun material collection mission... completed in one click!]

[Still missing a few parts, but finding Officer Zhao at the supplies department now shouldn't be difficult at all!]

Lin Xi stood up, looked at the "treasures" all over the floor, and waved his hand with grand ambition.

"Brothers, grab your gear!"

"Sort all of this out for me!"

"Starting tomorrow, our Red Star Labor Service Agency is officially open for business!"

...

The next morning, Fifth Workshop.

Cold, a cold that seeped into the marrow of one's bones.

"Clang!"

[Remember the fastest novel site on the web, 101kanshu.com, always there for you, 101𝓀𝓀𝒔.𝒄ℴ𝓂 super thoughtful]

A harsh metallic screech shattered the originally bustling atmosphere.

Wang Dapao clutched a chipped scrap lathe tool in his hand, a warped and deformed aluminum plate lying at his feet.

This was already the third piece.

"Man... Manager Lin."

Wang Dapao was drenched in sweat, his usually expressionless face now filled with embarrassment.

"This stuff... it's too hard. I can't get any leverage."

"When the lathe tool pushes against it, it bounces. If I use too much force, it chips; if I use too little, it doesn't cut at all."

Lin Xi stood to the side, holding a blueprint covered in parabolic equations and stress analyses, his brow slightly furrowed.

LY12 aviation aluminum, commonly known as "duralumin."

High strength, high springback rate.

It was great for making aircraft skins, but trying to use a regular lathe for spin-forming was indeed difficult.

"About that..." Sun Erga huddled by the door, hands tucked into his sleeves, his gaze a bit shifty.

"Brother Lin, the blueprints are drawn beautifully; they really show your skill. However..."

He paused, lowering his voice a bit.

"I'm worried that things drawn on paper are too hard to bring to life."

"We are, after all, just a repair Service Center."

"If we take too big a step, we might overextend ourselves."

In the corner, Wang Yu had just finished sorting a bundle of nichrome wire.

Hearing this, the pliers in his hand paused. He pushed up his glasses and looked at Lin Xi with concern.

The atmosphere was a bit tense.

The bit of trust built yesterday through money and promises was as fragile as paper in front of these few pieces of scrap aluminum.

In this era, people believed in craftsmanship, in work that was visible and tangible.

No matter how strong Lin Xi's theory was, it was like a cloud floating in the sky;

If it hit the ground and left a crater, it would be a joke.

In the livestream, the comments were also getting anxious.

[Is the Streamer stuck? Why not just use a hammer to smash it?]

[It's over, it's over. He just became manager and he's already failing. His prestige is going to hit rock bottom.]

[Quiet down, you guys. This is called spin-forming; it relies heavily on feel. A regular fitter really can't do it.]

Lin Xi looked at the waste on the ground. He didn't argue, nor did he stubbornly give blind orders.

He knew very well,

His mind was filled with cutting-edge industrial processes from 2025,

But those hands had only ever held a mouse and electronic probes in 2025.

It was like a peerless swordsman who only had the manual but no sword in hand.

"Big Cannon, stop the machine." Lin Xi folded the blueprint and stuffed it into his pocket, his voice calm.

"Prepare the materials. Clean those remaining good aluminum plates and put them on the chuck." Lin Xi checked his watch.

"Wait for me for half an hour."

With that, he fished out the pack of filtered "Daqianmen" cigarettes Erga had bought last night from his pocket.

He then felt for some change in his inner pocket and turned to walk into the wind and snow.

If there are some mountains you can't cross yourself, then invite someone who can.

...

Half an hour later, the workshop door was pushed open again.

"Bang!"

A strong smell of alcohol mixed with the cold wind came howling in.

"Which spendthrift is wasting materials?"

A powerful roar shook the dust from the ceiling, sending it fluttering down.

Li Jianguo strolled in with his hands behind his back.

The old man's face was flushed, clearly well-"lubricated" by Lin Xi's bottle of good liquor.

Though his gait was a bit unsteady, his eyes were as bright as searchlights.

Lin Xi followed behind him obediently, like a well-behaved apprentice.

When Sun Erga saw this Great Buddha, the cigarette butt in his hand almost burned his mouth. He quickly stood at attention.

"Mas... Master Li! Why are you here?"

Li Jianguo ignored him and walked straight to the lathe, kicking aside the scrap aluminum plate on the floor.

"LY12?"

Li Jianguo picked up a piece of waste, ran his finger over the break, and his brow instantly knotted into a clump.

"What a sin!"

"This is good material left over from making radomes, and you're smashing it like it's a tin can?!"

He turned to glare at Wang Dapao. "You did this?"

Wang Dapao shrank his bear-like body, not daring to even breathe loudly.

"Master Li, I... I'm clumsy."

"It's not that your hands are clumsy; your brain is clumsy!"

Li Jianguo cursed, unbuttoned his greasy cotton coat, and tossed it aside.

"Move! Stand to the side!"

The old man let out a boozy burp and stood before the C620 lathe.

In that moment, his drunken decadence vanished instantly, replaced by a suffocating focus.

It was a master's aura, honed through decades of dealing with steel.

"Big Cannon, put your hands on the handles," Li Jianguo commanded.

Wang Dapao quickly grasped the feed handwheel.

Li Jianguo reached out with his large, calloused hand and covered the back of Wang Dapao's hand.

"Kid, you've got strength, but don't throw it around like a reckless calf," Li Jianguo breathed out a puff of alcohol-scented air, his voice low.

"Aluminum has a temper and a grain. You have to follow it."

"Hum——"

The spindle started, 1200 RPM.

"Feed it!"

With Li Jianguo's roar, Wang Dapao felt a surge of immense force enveloping his hand, yet at the moment it touched the workpiece, it became incredibly gentle.

It wasn't a hard push, but rather using the force against itself.

"Zzzzz——"

The tool tip cut into the aluminum plate, letting out an ear-piercing screech.

"Don't let your hand shake! Do you feel it?" Li Jianguo roared in his ear.

"The vibration coming back from the tool tip—that's the aluminum plate crying in pain!"

"When it cries, you back off half a millimeter, then advance another millimeter! It's called 'inch-force'!"

Wang Dapao's pupils constricted sharply.

He felt it!