Chapter 55: Raw Material Supply Bottleneck? Solved in a Single Sentence!

As soon as He Yuzhu and Ivanov stepped into the laboratory, Xu Damao slunk away from the crowd, his face burning with humiliation.

Ivanov’s furious tirade and his status as a Soviet expert weighed down like a massive mountain, crushing his petty, malicious schemes into oblivion.

He kept his head down, not daring to meet the contemptuous stares of the onlookers, wishing only to scuttle back into the scrap yard.

"Bah! What a piece of trash!"
"A mere clown!"
"Almost ruined something major!"

Scattered curses and murmurs rose behind his back.

Clenching his back teeth until they ached, Xu Damao blamed everything on He Yuzhu. The toxic rage in his heart burned ever brighter as he stumbled toward the scrap area.

Inside the laboratory, the atmosphere was entirely different.

He Yuzhu spread out his notebook, and Ivanov, eager as an eager student, leaned in close. The two quickly finalized the production workflow and parameters based on the new formula.

Orders were immediately dispatched to the various workshops, and the entire factory sprang into action like a newly wound machine.

The first batch of raw materials was successfully fed into the giant reaction kettle. He Yuzhu stood guard by the control panel, closely monitoring the instrument readings.

Temperature, pressure, stirring speed... everything was normal. The workshop director and technicians let out a collective sigh of relief.

However, before that breath could be fully exhaled, a young clerk from the procurement department ran in breathlessly, panic written all over his face. "Section Chief He! This is bad! Over at the chemical warehouse... they're withholding our special antioxidant! They say... they say without Director Li's written approval, we can't draw it!"

"Director Li? Which Director Li?" the workshop director asked, momentarily stunned.

"It's... Li Huaide from the labor union!" the clerk stomped his feet in anxiety. "Old Wang at the warehouse said it's the old rule—special chemicals have always required a signature from the logistics supervisor! He said he wouldn't dare break the precedent!"

The laboratory fell instantly silent.

Everyone froze, and then a wave of fury surged into their hearts. Li Huaide! He was actually resorting to such despicable tactics to choke them off! At a time like this!

"Damn it! He's doing this on purpose!" a young technician blurted out in anger.

Ivanov had also grasped the situation, and his mustache twitched in rage as he waved his fists. "Despicable! Shameless! I am going to find your factory director!"

"No need." He Yuzhu's voice remained calm, without even lifting an eyelid, his gaze still fixed on the steadily running instruments. "Xiao Wang, go to the warehouse and tell Old Wang just one sentence."

Clerk Xiao Wang leaned in closely.

He Yuzhu's voice was not loud, but it was clear and chilling. "You just ask him whether he takes orders from a former deputy factory director who only knows how to hand out movie tickets, or from an emergency military directive issued by the Military Commission. Let him choose for himself. Within three minutes, I want to see the supplies delivered to the feed inlet."

Xiao Wang's eyes lit out with realization, and he straightened his back instantly. "Understood, Engineer He!" He turned and bolted out.

Everyone in the workshop held their breath, their eyes involuntarily drifting toward the door.

Time ticked away second by second. The reaction kettle continued to run smoothly, but the next processing stage waiting for materials was almost empty.

In less than two minutes, the sound of hurried footsteps and rolling wheels echoed down the corridor.

Clerk Xiao Wang ran back with a triumphant look on his face, followed by two warehouse keepers who were laboring to push a flatbed truck loaded precisely with those urgently needed barrels of special antioxidant!

Old Wang, the warehouse keeper, lagged at the very rear, his face pale, drenched in sweat, not even daring to glance into the workshop.

"Section Chief He! The supplies have arrived!" Xiao Wang reported loudly, brimming with sweet vindication.

"Feed the materials according to the proportion," He Yuzhu ordered, his tone completely unperturbed.

The workers immediately stepped forward, operating with practiced efficiency, and the crisis was instantly averted.

Ivanov opened his mouth, looked at He Yuzhu's nonchalant demeanor, and ultimately swallowed the curse words on his tongue, muttering something in Russian that roughly translated to "Well done."

Just as Xu Damao had sneaked back to the scrap yard, hoping to find a corner to catch his breath, he saw several people from the warehouse anxiously pushing a flatbed truck toward Workshop Number Three. The truck was loaded with precisely the raw materials that had just been withheld.

The team leader who supervised him happened to be walking by from that direction, still muttering curses under his breath. "...Damn it, Old Wang that senile fool! Almost pierced the heavens! He dares to block an order from the Military Commission? Li Huaide? Li Huaide is a piece of crap! Right now, the person whose word counts in this factory is He Yuzhu!"

These words struck like a sharp dagger deep into Xu Damao's heart.

He had just made a complete fool of himself at the plenary assembly, pinning his hopes on Li Huaide to make things difficult for He Yuzhu, and yet... yet even the old gatekeeper at the warehouse wouldn't listen to Li Huaide anymore?

And He Yuzhu had resolved it with just a single sentence?

Seeing the team leader turn away to attend to other business, Xu Damao's eyes turned vicious, and he silently slipped behind a pile of newly cleared scrap metal.

Discarded parts, rusted steel pipes, and several empty chemical drums—which had once held unknown substances and still emitted a pungent odor—were piled chaotically there.

His gaze locked onto a half-meter-long, thick iron rod with one end flattened and pointed, stained heavily with rust.

He glanced quickly left and right, finding no one paying attention to this secluded corner.

He bent down abruptly, grabbed the iron rod, and crept toward the narrow pipe alley running along the rear side of Workshop Number Three.

He knew there was a section of the main oil pipeline there, responsible for supplying cooling and lubricating oil to the critical components of the reaction kettle! As long as... as long as he could smash that pipe open... even just crack it open...

Xu Damao breathed heavily as he found the main oil pipeline, which was as thick as a rice bowl.

He swung the heavy, rusted iron rod with both hands, aiming directly at the oil pipe.

Just as the iron rod was about to descend, a large hand violently seized his wrist from behind! The strength was astonishingly brutal, almost enough to shatter his bones!

"Agh!" Caught completely off guard, Xu Damao let out a miserable shriek, and the rusted iron rod slipped from his grasp, clattering loudly onto the ground.

Terrified out of his wits, he whipped his head around and locked eyes with a pair of icy glares.

It was an officer from the factory security section! Two grim-faced workers stood close beside him.

"Xu Damao! What do you think you're doing?!" the security officer shouted sternly, his other hand already twisting Xu Damao's arm behind his back.

"I... I didn't..." Xu Damao's soul left his body as he struggled to argue.

"You didn't? We saw the whole thing!" A worker pointed angrily at the rusted iron rod on the ground and the undamaged oil pipe. "Sneaking around here like a ghost, holding that thing right against the oil supply line! Are you trying to commit sabotage?!"

"Take him away!" the security officer demanded without a shred of courtesy, giving him a hard shove. Xu Damao's legs went weak, and he was dragged right out of the pipe alley.

The news quickly reached Workshop Number Three.

A worker ran over to He Yuzhu and whispered a brief report.

He Yuzhu was in the middle of recording data; his pen tip didn't even pause as he simply said indifferently, "Understood. Handle it according to factory regulations."

The workers in the workshop soon heard the news and began cursing in low voices.

"A dog can never change its habit of eating shit!"
"It wouldn't be unjust to execute this bastard!"
"Section Chief He has a big heart! If it were me, I'd go out there and slap him twice!"

He Yuzhu acted as though he heard none of these discussions.

He raised his hand to check the Shanghai watch on his wrist and instructed the workshop director, "The first batch of samples is almost ready. Prepare for sampling and testing, and notify the laboratory to get ready."