sinovels Chapter 38 is complete!
Chapter 38 is complete!
"An electric kettle? What's an electric kettle?" Xiao Ke suddenly became interested and came closer.
Zhang Chengfei explained simply: "It's a cup that uses electricity to heat water. Brother Ke, didn't you just say that the Russians have an abundance of electricity, more than they can use?"
Old Tai pondered for a moment, then looked over: "Explain in detail."
Zhang Chengfei picked up a pen and paper and drew a simple electric kettle that had been popular in my country for more than a decade since the late 1970s.
This cup is very simple, without much technical complexity. The heating base is integrated with the metal or enamel body, using a ceramic connector and a thin red power cord. Its function is quite basic; it can only be used to boil water.
It lacks the temperature control, heat preservation, and anti-dry-burning functions found in later electric kettles.
However, due to its portability and other reasons, it was still very popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s when science and technology were not advanced.
After Zhang Chengfei finished drawing, he handed the blueprint to Team Leader Tai.
Old Tai was very interested after looking at it and said that the base could be made right now, and the enamel cup body was readily available. Overall, it's worth a try.
The leaders all said we could get started, so what were we waiting for? Since the entire office building was currently without power, making it impossible to draw detailed diagrams of the mini-tiller, Zhang Chengfei pulled Xiao Ke along and got to work…
The two made several trips to the electrician's room, workshop, maintenance team, and warehouse, and soon they had gathered enough materials.
The next morning at eight o'clock, in the office of the technical department of the machinery factory.
Old Ma looked at the metallic-looking cup in the center of the table, his brow furrowed, and he began to lash out.
"I asked you guys to research mini-tillers, and this is what you came up with? Can this thing even plow the land?"
Old Tai explained politely, "No, because this is an electric kettle, it's for boiling water."
Old Ma laughed: "The national electricity penetration rate is less than one-fifth, and a considerable number of rural people don't even know what electricity is! You expect them to buy this?"
"This thing has a high power output; urban households might not be able to power it. It's unusable in both urban and rural areas, so who are you going to sell it to?"
Xiao Mao gasped in astonishment: "Section Chief, you even know about power now? That's truly impressive!"
"Go to hell!" Old Ma kicked him in the butt, and Xiao Mao rubbed his butt and ran away.
Zhang Chengfei knew that further discussion was pointless, so he told Lao Ma that the electric kettle wasn't for his own use, but rather intended to be sold to Russia to earn foreign exchange.
"Foreign exchange?" Old Ma clearly hadn't thought of that and was somewhat tempted.
Xiao Ke had been eager to try it out, and seeing that he was interested, he immediately offered to demonstrate boiling water for everyone.
He first filled the blanket with two-thirds of its volume of cold water, and then plugged it in.
The next second, with a bang, the entire office building lost power again.
Xiao Ke stared blankly at the cup in his hand. A second before Lao Ma exploded, he started to shift the blame: "It's not my fault. It's because the electrical circuits in our office building are old and can't power the electric cups."
Old Tai chimed in, "Our factory was founded in the 1930s, and that's when we got electricity. Later, after it became a state-owned enterprise, the workshop's electrical system was upgraded, but the office building wasn't; it's still using the old system from twenty years ago."
Zhang Chengfei also said, "The electric heating cup only has a power of 500 watts. Even if the power doubles the moment it is turned on, it will only be 1,000 watts at most."
Normally, the maximum power carrying capacity of electrical wires in this era can reach 2,500 to 3,000 watts.
Xiao Mao didn't understand these technical details, but he still wanted to join in the fun: "It must be that other offices use too much electricity, and the remaining electricity can't power the electric kettle."
Old Ma poured out the water from the electric kettle, picked it up, and walked away, instructing, "Old Tian, go and turn the power back on. Everyone else, wait to start work."
Old Ma and the electric kettle did not reappear all morning.
In the mini-tiller office, Xiao Ke was restless, asking Zhang Chengfei where Lao Ma had taken the cup, and Lao Tai whether the cup could really generate foreign exchange.
A little while later, he took out some scrap paper and started writing and drawing, trying to figure out how much an electric kettle should cost.
Feeling extremely uneasy, he pulled up a stool and sat down next to Zhang Chengfei: "Chengfei, I've heard that many factories that produce foreign exchange goods survive only by receiving government subsidies."
If our electric heating cups can be mass-produced, will the government give our factory a special subsidy?
Zhang Chengfei shook his head: "Those factories receive subsidies because their products lack core competitiveness. They can't survive without subsidies. Our cups are unique. As long as we succeed, we will definitely be able to achieve self-sufficiency and profitability."
Xiao Ke clicked his tongue in amazement: "You kid, you're that confident?"
Zhang Chengfei smiled slightly: "Why would I research this thing if I wasn't confident? Would I be bored? Since I started doing it, it's because I'm sure it will be useful."
He wasn't just talking about electric kettles, but also mini-tillers.
"He's a recent graduate after all; that's some spirit! Good for him!" Xiao Ke gave a thumbs up, then looked at Lao Tai. "Team leader, what do you think of Cheng Fei's statement?"
Old Tai pushed up his glasses: "I don't know if he's any good or bad, I only know that if you don't work soon, you'll have to work overtime to finish your job for me today."
From the very first day the R&D team was established, he set a rule that, unless there was an unforeseen circumstance, the work done that day could not be postponed to the next day.
Yesterday, due to the power outage and the work on electric kettles, they didn't finish their work for the day. Today, Xiao Ke hasn't done any work either. Thinking about this, Lao Tai shook his head.
Xiao Ke graduated from a vocational high school with a high level of education. He is quick-witted and can be considered to grasp things easily. However, he is too impulsive and his mind is too scattered, so he is not focused on his work.
In contrast, Zhang Chengfei, who had only been with the company for a few days and was only eighteen years old, seemed much more composed...
Upon hearing that he would have to stay up all night, Xiao Ke let out a strange cry, pulled his chair to his seat, and started drawing.
Seeing this, Zhang Chengfei picked up his cup and walked over, sitting opposite Xiao Ke to enjoy his tea.
He leisurely lifted the lid of the large tea mug, blew away the foam, took a sip of tea, and exclaimed, "Good tea, fragrant!"
Xiao Ke asked him, "Chengfei, aren't you going to do any work?"
Zhang Chengfei: "It's done."
"Finished?" Xiao Ke asked incredulously, raising his voice.
"Yes, I finished yesterday's and this morning's tasks, and even half of this afternoon's are done." After saying that, he took another sip of tea. "This tea smells really good. Would you like some, Brother Ke?"
Looking at his leisurely demeanor, Xiao Ke was speechless.
Dislike rating +36!
At 11:40 a.m., with only 20 minutes left before the end of the workday, Lao Ma strode back with an air of indifference.
As soon as he walked in, he slapped Old Tai on the shoulder and exclaimed, "This electric kettle is fucking amazing!"
Old Tai sat where he was, looked up at him, and asked, "Tried it? Does it work?"
"I've tried it, and it works really well!"
I took Lao Feng to the workshop to test it out. The water boiled in no time after we plugged it in, you didn't see it? Everyone was incredibly surprised, saying, "With this, why do we need a thermos?" Lao Ma beamed, pulling up a stool to sit down. "I said it could earn foreign exchange, and Lao Feng grabbed the electric kettle and tried to run away, but he almost got scalded by the hot water..."
"Old Tai, you've really given me a big surprise this time!"
Old Tai slowly wiped his glasses: "I didn't invent the electric kettle."
Old Ma blinked his bull-like eyes: "Not you? Then who is it?"