Xie Changning’s pitch was smooth, and Director Zhao was completely sold!

His eyes lit up instantly. He had been wondering why Xie Changning had suddenly come to see him today—so, it was all about the high-carbon steel!

"When you say you want to help a ’brother factory,’ you mean...?" Despite his inner excitement, Director Zhao asked cautiously, not wanting to get his hopes up.

Xie Changning raised an eyebrow and handed Director Zhao the documents she had prepared that morning.

"I hope you can grant me a quota of high-carbon steel. In return, I will help the steel mill’s manager improve their metallurgical technology to shorten smelting times, increase the success rate for high-carbon steel, and reduce decarburization."

Xie Changning’s words sounded too much like an empty promise, and the just-excited Director Zhao immediately cooled down.

He eyed Xie Changning skeptically.

"Xiao Xie, I know you’re technically brilliant, but do you have any idea what your words imply?"

They implied a metallurgical technology on par with foreign countries!

If that were the case, the scope of the required modifications would be completely different!

"I know. For our domestic factories, converting an open-hearth furnace to a basic oxygen furnace is a massive project, but not impossible..." Xie Changning had her own methods.

She didn’t necessarily need a basic oxygen furnace; she had a way to make an open-hearth furnace achieve the same effect.

While it wouldn’t cut the time down to forty minutes, getting it under two hours was a sure thing!

"Just by shortening the time, our output would double..." The more Director Zhao listened, the more excited he became. Xie Changning’s proposed modifications didn’t sound like a massive undertaking, just that there were many small components to change.

But...

Director Zhao wanted to give it a try!

If it succeeded, Lin Province’s quota would increase, and the factory’s revenue would rise as well.

So, without reporting to the provincial leadership, Director Zhao struck a deal with Xie Changning. "If you can do it, I’ll approve a high-carbon steel quota for you."

Of course, making the deal was one thing. To actually contact the steel mill, he would still need to run it by his superiors.

High-carbon steel had long been a pain point for every factory. They were all trying to overcome this hurdle, but no one had made any headway.

After Director Zhao contacted Mr. Wang, Mr. Wang thought it would be a good idea to brief the people at the steel mill first. They could explain the modification method; if an agreement could be reached, all the better. If not, no harm would be done.

After hanging up with Director Zhao, Mr. Wang contacted the Industrial Bureau of the neighboring province. Upon hearing that Lin Province had a modification method, the neighboring province’s Industrial Bureau didn’t dare to delay and immediately summoned the head of the steel mill.

Mr. Wang also had Director Zhao send a fax to the other bureau.

Director Zhao didn’t dare to waste a second. As soon as he got the notice, he began faxing the details based on Xie Changning’s proposal.

By the time the fax was sent, more than an hour had passed.

"Have a seat." The fax was sent. All they could do now was wait for a reply.

While Xie Changning anxiously awaited a response from the brother factory, the manager of the steel mill in the neighboring province found his hands trembling uncontrollably as he read the proposed modification method.

He never expected... he never expected...

The thick stack of faxed papers was a detailed guide on how to achieve the greatest return with the minimal investment.

Most importantly, he ran a quick mental calculation: following their method, they could absolutely triple their high-carbon steel output!

"Well?"

Seeing him remain silent, the Director of the Industrial Bureau couldn’t help but speak up.

’He should just say whether it’ll work or not. This waiting is agonizing!’

Snapped back to reality by his director, the steel mill manager nodded. "Yes, it’s completely achievable! The feasibility is extremely high. What’s more, if we start the modifications today, we can resume production in five days!"

Hearing this, the Director of the Industrial Bureau immediately called Mr. Wang, the director of Lin Province’s Industrial Bureau.

After some coordination, Xie Changning was finally put in contact with the steel mill manager.

"Hello, this is Xie Changning, manager of the Anong County Machinery Factory..." Xie Changning said, gripping the telephone receiver as she introduced herself.

The person on the other end was intensely focused on the modification, peppering Xie Changning with questions.

Xie Changning answered each one.

Only after addressing the technical issues did Xie Changning state her own needs. "Our factory has currently halted production and is in need of orders. I hope we can cooperate and that I can secure a high-carbon steel quota."

Hearing this, the steel mill manager covered the mouthpiece to consult with his superior.

After receiving an affirmative answer, the steel mill manager assured Xie Changning, "If we can increase our output, we’re willing to allocate the entire output of the next ten days to your machinery factory."

"That’s wonderful. I’ll give you our factory’s phone number so we can stay in touch. Feel free to contact us if any issues arise."

Since the other party was being so generous, Xie Changning naturally wouldn’t be stingy with her technical support.

The steel mill manager was overjoyed to hear that.

This whole series of events had lasted until six in the evening. After hanging up, Xie Changning stood up and thanked Director Zhao. "Thank you for your trust, Director Zhao. I hope Chuncheng can secure a larger quota of high-carbon steel this time."

Xie Changning’s words made Director Zhao beam with joy.

"This is all thanks to you, Manager Xiao Xie!"

Leaving the Industrial Bureau, Xie Changning took Wang Guofu back to the factory.

In the car, Wang Guofu still hadn’t processed what had happened. He felt like he was dreaming. "We just got a high-carbon steel quota... just like that?"

"It hasn’t started yet. We still don’t know the technical capabilities of their factory. Don’t be blindly optimistic."

It was one thing for Xie Changning to tell them how to do it, but it was another thing entirely for them to actually execute it.

Wang Guofu nodded, still in a daze.

Back at the factory, as soon as the two of them got out of the car, they saw that the entire complex was brightly lit. Wang Guofu turned to Xie Changning. "Everyone’s waiting to get back to work."

Just two days ago, he wouldn’t have dared to imagine their factory could get its hands on high-carbon steel!

This was high-carbon steel!

"Let’s go reassure the workers." Xie Changning was in a good mood, so she got out of the car to speak with them.

In Xie Changning’s mind, the probability of success was ninety-nine percent. The remaining one percent was reserved for unforeseen accidents.

As long as there were no surprises, it would be a done deal.

When Xie Changning and Wang Guofu returned and shared the news, everyone was ecstatic.

"That’s great!"

"Does this mean our factory will really start up again in ten days?"

"I can’t wait!"

Buzzing with excitement, the employees of the Anong County Machinery Factory finally left for home.

「A new day began.」

Xie Changning’s schedule was packed again. First, she gave a lecture to the factory workers, followed by an afternoon meeting to discuss the schooling for the employees’ children.

In between, she also had to take calls from the steel mill.

And just like that, another day was gone.

「Three days passed in this manner.」

By the time the factory workers could perfectly disassemble and reassemble the printers, the group competition was about to begin.