Chapter 33 The Allure of "Military Green"

"Pshhh—"

With the sound of the air valve releasing pressure, the machine slowly opened.

Everyone leaned their heads in to get a closer look.

Wearing gloves, Master Liu carefully removed a still-steaming object from the mold.

A deathly silence filled the workshop.

It was a fan casing.

It wasn't the pitch-black, flow-marked scrap they had expected.

Under the dim yellow light, its entire body presented an extremely deep, cold dark green.

The surface was as smooth as a mirror, gleaming with a texture similar to high-grade lacquer or even enamel!

The impurities and black spots that should have appeared...

Were all swallowed and blended into this profound green.

Instead, they had turned into a natural texture similar to metallic ore.

It lay quietly in Master Liu's hands, possessing the beauty of industrial heavy metal.

"This..."

Wu Defa's Adam's apple bobbed as he reached out to touch it.

Smooth.

It was so damn smooth.

How could this be scrap?

This was clearly a work of art!

"How is this possible?"

Master Liu took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on.

"An aluminum mold can produce this kind of gloss?"

"And the recycled material didn't shrink?"

Lin Xi picked up a screwdriver from nearby and lightly tapped the casing.

"Ding—"

The sound was crisp and pleasant; the hardness was extremely high.

"This is the power of the 'formula'."

Lin Xi boasted non-chalantly.

"Factory Director Wu, how much does a ton of this waste cost?"

"The scrap yard buys it for... about a hundred yuan a ton," Wu Defa answered subconsciously.

"Including the pigment powder and electricity, the cost of this casing doesn't exceed twenty cents."

Lin Xi picked up the dark green casing and tilted it against the light.

"But if I didn't tell you, how much would you think it's worth?"

Wu Defa swallowed hard.

With this kind of texture, if you put it in a department store, people would believe it was imported!

Even if it were sold for five yuan a piece, people would fight to get one!

A cost of twenty cents, but the appearance of five yuan.

What kind of injection molding was this?

This was a money-printing machine!

"Manager Lin! Incredible!"

"Truly incredible!"

The fat on Wu Defa's face was trembling; his previous contempt had long since vanished to the back of his mind.

He tightly grasped Lin Xi's hands.

"Our factory is taking this order!"

"Just say the word, and we'll do whatever you want!"

The surrounding workers' looks toward Lin Xi also changed.

In this era, technology was hard currency.

Someone who could turn trash into treasure was practically a deity.

Lin Xi pulled his hands away and smiled.

"Don't be in such a hurry, Factory Director Wu."

"The casing is easy to make, but these fan blades..."

He pulled out the blueprint for the 5-blade high-curvature fan from his bag.

And a white plastic sample block in a sealed bag.

"The blades must be dynamically balanced; the precision requirements are extremely high."

"And for strength and toughness, we can't use recycled material. We must use this."

Wu Defa took the sample and smelled it after burning a bit. "ABS engineering plastic?"

His face immediately fell. "Manager Lin, this is a high-demand item!"

"Forget about our factory not having the raw materials; even if we did, this machine couldn't handle it!"

He pointed to the old-fashioned injection molding machine that was still humming.

"We mainly serve civilian needs."

"Making washbasins and such."

"The ABS you want to process has high viscosity; this old machine's injection pressure isn't enough."

"Especially with these oddly shaped blades of yours, they'll come out full of defects."

"I have the raw materials." Lin Xi pointed outside.

"There's a batch of ABS stock in the Materials Department warehouse that was originally bound for a southern electronic organ factory."

"Because the order was canceled, it became dead stock, and I intercepted it."

"But the machine is indeed a problem." Lin Xi frowned.

Making such high-curvature, variable-section precision fan blades required extremely high injection speeds and multi-stage pressure holding.

Using this old injection molding machine was like asking an old ox to pull a Ferrari; it simply couldn't do it.

"In our base... where is there a better injection molding machine?" Lin Xi asked.

Wu Defa thought for a moment, then lowered his voice and pointed north.

"There is one."

"Over at the Power Room, they just brought in a decommissioned foreign hydraulic precision injection molding machine last year."

"It's for making precision insulating parts and precision instruments."

"However..." Wu Defa shrunk his neck.

"That place is Director Wang Bin's pride and joy. Even Vice President Zhang has to file an application to borrow it."

"Outsiders can't even get through the door, let alone use it."

The Power Room.

Wang Bin.

Lin Xi's eyes lit up.

Wasn't this a coincidence?

The corners of his mouth curled into a meaningful arc.

He just happened to hold the 'key' to that place.

A living key named 'Wang Yu'.

"Alright, we'll make the casings here." Lin Xi made the decision.

"Factory Director Wu, using this process, help us make 100 sets of casings, 100 sets of bases, and 100 sets of mesh covers!"

"We'll provide the molds and the materials, and we'll pay you the processing fee."

"The quality must be exactly like this one!"

Having said that, he rolled up the blueprint, tucked it under his arm, and walked out quickly.

Next stop: the Hydraulic Injection Molding Workshop in the Power Room.

...

The Power Room.

This was the heart of the entire Aerospace City.

The floor was painted with anti-static green paint.

Even during the New Year, indicator lights still flickered in front of the rows of precision instruments.

Lin Xi walked in front.

Behind him followed Wang Dapao carrying the aluminum mold and Wang Yu carrying the bag of ABS pellets.

"Stop right there."

They had just reached the entrance of the Hydraulic Injection Molding Workshop.

An old man with white hair, wearing deep blue overalls, blocked their path.

Chen Guobang, the injection molding technician of the Power Room.

He was also the 'caretaker' of this precious injection molding machine.

Master Chen's gaze swept over the metal lumps on Wang Dapao's shoulder.

His brow instantly furrowed into a deep scowl.

"Nonsense!"

Master Chen pointed at the mold, his spit nearly hitting Lin Xi's face.

"Using an aluminum mold on a hydraulic machine?"

"Which unit are you from?"

"Do you know the rules?"

"Is aluminum something that can be used on this kind of precision machinery?"

"Once the clamping force is applied, that mold will be squashed like tofu!"

"If the mold shatters and bends the tie bars, can you afford to pay for it?!"

Wang Dapao shrunk his neck from the scolding and instinctively looked at Lin Xi.

Lin Xi's expression was calm; this had been expected.

In 1980, everyone still manufactured things with the mindset that 'steel is the only way'.

The 'rapid prototyping' approach of using aluminum molds was seen as heresy by the old military industry workers.

"Master Chen, we are from the Red Star Service Cooperative."

"Director Wang approved the slip." Lin Xi neither humbly nor arrogantly handed over a permit.

"Approved by the Director?"

Master Chen took the slip and looked at it, his expression softening slightly.

"The Director is in charge of power, he doesn't understand injection molding."

"I can't watch him make a mistake."

"This machine is a national treasure, not for you to play house with."

Having said that, Master Chen crossed his arms and blocked the control console like a guardian deity.

"Go back! Otherwise, I'm calling the Security Department!"