Chapter 54: Principles Above People

Watching Zhao Guoyang’s casual sketches, Hua Guosheng was utterly convinced. With a sigh, he spoke, “Guoyang, your design skills are truly extraordinary. I have to admit I’m not your equal—even Xiao Huang can’t match you.”

“In our entire Hongda Machinery Factory, perhaps only Director Wang could compete with you…”

“You’re talking about Section Chief Huang Xiaohua, right?” Zhao Guoyang’s heart stirred, and he asked.

Hearing this, Xu Dongfeng, who was standing by, looked surprised. “Hey, Guoyang, how do you know about Section Chief Huang? I don’t think I ever mentioned him to you!”

Zhao Guoyang only smiled, offering no explanation.

Hua Guosheng shot a reproachful look at Xu Dongfeng, then turned to Zhao Guoyang and said, “Xiao Huang does have some ability, but he’s far too proud and difficult to get along with. Not like you, Guoyang—you’re talented, yet so approachable…”

Perhaps realizing his words sounded a bit like he was sowing discord, Hua Guosheng hurriedly cleared his throat and added, “Um, Guoyang, I’ll revise the tooling drawings according to your ideas at once. I’ll try to have them done by today!”

“No rush. The workshop still needs time to finish the previous batch of parts. As long as you can hand over these new drawings to them by tomorrow, that’s good enough,” Zhao Guoyang reassured him.

With that, Hua Guosheng and Xu Dongfeng went off to revise the blueprints, and seeing there was nothing else pressing in the technical department, Zhao Guoyang decided to head to the workshop to check on the progress of the other parts.

As soon as he stepped into Workshop No. 2, he heard a heated argument.

“Old Zhu, why won’t you listen to reason? The head tube for the bike—we’ve confirmed in the technical department that it must use 20-gauge steel. Just follow the plans. Why are you so stubborn about insisting on Q235?”

The speaker was Zhang Chaoyang from the technical department. Though still under thirty, he’d been with the factory for nearly a decade and could be considered a veteran in the department.

Zhang Chaoyang was usually quiet, the type who would do whatever the leadership assigned without question. While not especially gifted, his unwavering diligence made him highly reliable, which was why Zhao Guoyang had assigned him, along with another technician, Chang Yuan, to supervise production in the workshop.

After Zhang Chaoyang finished speaking, a disgruntled snort sounded. “Humph! Haven’t we built motorcycle frames before? Those are even bigger than this underbone frame you’re working on.”

“Even for those larger frames, the head tube only used Q235. Why is it now that, with smaller frames, you want to use more expensive materials? You folks in the technical department just slap your foreheads and make random decisions. 20-gauge steel costs a lot more than Q235. Are we just supposed to waste money because of your whims?” The voice continued.

Zhang Chaoyang knew he was supposed to follow the blueprints, but explaining the reasoning behind them was beyond him. Faced with this rebuttal, he fell silent, unable to answer.

Seeing his opponent speechless, Old Zhu perked up. “Ha! Nothing to say now, eh? I’m telling you, this head tube should be made of Q235—there’s absolutely no problem!”

At this point, Zhao Guoyang couldn’t help stepping forward. “Master Zhu, this frame we’re developing is for a new model and is a completely different concept from the previous straddle-type frames. The size of the frame alone doesn’t determine whether higher-strength materials are needed.”

“Oh, Guoyang, you’re here?” Upon seeing him, the workshop director, Zhang Fusheng, who had been trying to mediate, quickly came over to greet him.

Zhao Guoyang nodded in return, then turned his attention back to Old Zhu.

Old Zhu, in his forties or fifties, was tall and lean, his hair streaked with white, making him look older than his years. He was an experienced craftsman in the workshop, renowned for both his speed and precision—a true pillar of the team. He was also notoriously stubborn, always sticking to principles over people. Even Factory Director Mu Aijun found it hard to sway him when he had made up his mind.

When Zhao Guoyang approached, Old Zhu barely glanced up, snorting coldly through his nose, clearly unimpressed with the newly appointed section chief.

Unbothered, Zhao Guoyang walked up beside him and explained earnestly, “Master Zhu, when producing parts, you’re right to question the technical accuracy of the blueprints. But once our technicians have confirmed their correctness, it’s your duty to follow them to the letter.”

“After all, in both manufacturing and quality control, everyone has their own responsibilities. If we overstep or interfere with each other’s roles, the result will be chaos and endless disputes.”

“That’s only if your decision makes sense! Take material selection, for example—I think your choice is unreasonable!” Old Zhu’s voice rose with indignation.

His words were echoed by several workers behind him. “That’s right! Old Zhu’s got years of experience—much more than these greenhorns in the technical department. You can’t go wrong listening to him!”

But Zhao Guoyang wasn’t swayed by the voices around him. Calmly, he said, “Very well, since you insist, Master Zhu, let me explain it thoroughly. If I can convince you, I hope you’ll handle your future work as required, without letting your pride get in the way.”

“Fine! If you can persuade me, I’ll do everything your way from now on!” Old Zhu, temper rising, huffed his reply.

Zhao Guoyang nodded, took out his pen and notebook, and began to sketch and explain as he went.

“You’re familiar with the technical requirements for two-wheeled motorcycle frames, Master Zhu. Now, let’s check the strength calculations for this new frame.”

He drew a diagram, annotating it with horizontal load F(0), vertical upward load at the rear wheel center F(Z), and vertical downward load from a passenger on the rear seat F(S).

After listing these three values, Zhao Guoyang detailed the stress distribution on the frame, pinpointing areas prone to stress concentration.

Pointing to the figures, he explained, “As you can see, Master Zhu, the load distribution on this underbone frame is different from that of the traditional straddle-type frame. With the center of gravity shifted forward, this frame is more likely to experience yield failure at the head tube.”

He wrote out a formula: “According to the load calculations, the horizontal reciprocating load F(0) is equal to… the vertical impact on the rear wheel F(Z) is equal to… and the downward load on the rear seat F(S) is equal to… You understand these, right, Master Zhu?”

Old Zhu stared blankly at the formulas Zhao Guoyang had written, nodding unconsciously.