Privately, Wang Guofu didn’t want to agree.

"We can expand our production for the collaboration, but it will have to be after the New Year. Our schedule is completely full until then." Xie Changning didn’t refuse the request. If the machines were stable after the New Year, production could very well double, so she wasn’t worried.

"However, there’s one condition: they need to sign the contract and pay in advance." ’We can’t just reserve a slot for them for free.’

The Anong County Machinery Factory had already made a concession on the purchase price. Getting the factory to concede any further would likely be very difficult.

After all, when it came to the high-carbon steel, the two factories had a mutually beneficial relationship.

Without high-carbon steel, the Feige Bicycle Factory wouldn’t be working with them at all.

"Okay, I’ll reply to them later." With Xie Changning’s encouragement, Wang Guofu spoke with more confidence.

With everything settled, Xie Changning glanced at the latest account books. Seeing the healthy income figures, the smile on her face grew much wider. "Excellent. Now I can start working on the production machinery!"

"Contact Director Zhao."

’I’m sure Director Zhao will report this up the chain.’

Putting the machinery on the agenda, Xie Changning turned to them and said, "Oh, right. For this month’s model worker award, let’s give out a box of chocolate malt balls and a can of yellow peaches."

That should motivate everyone to be more productive.

Hearing this, Wang Guofu nodded and made a note of it.

After the others left, Xie Changning called Director Zhao. "Director Zhao... your soldier needs your help!" she began.

Her tone was sycophantic, putting on the air of a complete toady.

Her efforts earned a laugh and a playful rebuke from Director Zhao.

However, Director Zhao didn’t refuse Xie Changning’s request. With his superiors backing him, he was feeling quite confident and well-resourced!

Xie Changning listed everything she needed. Director Zhao frowned slightly. "The things you’re asking for are all in pieces. Is this because you’ve figured out that foreign countries won’t allow machinery to be shipped to us in China?"

"Yes... and it would be even better if we could get foreign scrap metal."

’To her, that stuff is treasure!’

Xie Changning currently had no way of going abroad herself, so she could only rely on her superiors to see if they could procure some "junk" for her.

At the mention of foreign scrap metal, Director Zhao’s eyes lit up. He understood what Xie Changning was getting at, but he still had to ask, "When you say you want scrap... do you mean you’ll take *actual* scrap, too?"

"As long as it’s foreign scrap metal, I’ll take it."

Her definitive answer made Director Zhao’s expression turn serious. "Alright! I’ll contact my superiors right away and figure out a way to get you what you need!"

"Thank you so much for your help."

After hanging up, Director Zhao rubbed his face and dialed his superior’s number.

"Mr. Wang, your soldier needs your help."

Mr. Wang, who answered the phone, was completely baffled. ’Who did this old coot learn to be so obsequious from?’

"Spit it out! Cut the theatrics!"

Mr. Wang couldn’t help but laugh as he chided him.

Hearing that, Director Zhao knew his request would likely be a success. "It’s like this, Xiao Xie... Comrade Xie Changning, you remember her, right?"

At the mention of Xie Changning, Mr. Wang recalled a phone call from the previous night.

He gave a soft grunt of acknowledgment.

"Well, the development of Xie Changning’s printer is nearing completion. She needs some machinery that isn’t available in the country... so, she was hoping you could help procure some foreign scrap metal for her."

"Naturally, the more scrap, the better. She says she can use it to build other machines."

At first, Mr. Wang didn’t understand the implication behind the word "scrap."

But after hearing Director Zhao’s explanation, Mr. Wang understood.

’Disassemble the machines into parts, then pack them up and ship them back to China.’

The process might take a while, but—

It was worth it!

"Alright, I understand. I’ll make the arrangements." He didn’t have any connections abroad himself; if push came to shove, he’d have to ask his own superiors for help.

And so, the request was passed up the chain of command.

The scrap metal destined for China was packed and loaded onto a ship.

The difficult part was that even as scrap metal, foreign countries prohibited its export to China. It could be shipped to any other country, just not China!

The leadership had to take a roundabout route, having the shipment "tour" a few neighboring countries before it could be brought home.

By the time the scrap arrived, more than a month would have passed.

Of course, this was all a story for later.

In the present, Xie Changning was busy collecting scrap metal from the factories within the county.

She didn’t collect it personally, merely having her subordinates file the necessary reports and then haul it away.

As for assembly, the process was straightforward: Xie Changning gave the instructions, and the R&D team members put everything together.

After this break-in period, they had become adept at understanding Xie Changning’s instructions, and their technical skills had improved by leaps and bounds.

It was a night-and-day difference compared to before they joined the project!

They could execute every intricate detail perfectly, much to Xie Changning’s satisfaction.

Finally, amid great anticipation, the first printer was ready for its test run!

On this day, every worker in the Anong County Machinery Factory put down their tools to come watch the debut of the printer they had all been so eagerly awaiting.

"Little Chen, hurry up! Don’t dawdle!"

Xie Changning, her pregnant belly prominent, stood a short distance away, watching the fitter who was supposed to start the machine. She felt a pang of exasperation.

’What is there to be nervous about at a time like this?’

’It’s do or die!’

’Besides, with me here, how could it possibly fail to start?’

Urged on by Xie Changning, Little Chen finally pressed the printer’s power switch—

The machine whirred to life, then settled into a quiet hum. The only sign of activity was the steadily glowing power indicator light.

"Startup successful! No unusual noise..." a member of the R&D team noted from the side, starting to record the results.

Little Chen then loaded A4-sized paper into the paper tray and began pressing buttons on the printer. On the small display screen, characters popped up one by one, allowing for selection.

God only knew how many sleepless nights they had spent just to create this tiny screen!

None of the other components had taken long, but this one part had taken them nearly a month to crack—and that was with the Factory Director guiding them personally!

*(Xie Changning: ’It’s only because the circumstances didn’t permit it. I had to secretly pull it from my dimensional space. Otherwise... why would it have taken a whole month!?’)*

Little Chen’s movements were slow; it was clear he was unsure of what to do.

But he was very careful. Only after confirming every character on the screen was correct did he press the print button.

The machine, which had been sitting quietly with an occasional hum, suddenly sprang to life. The workers grew tense. "It’s moving! It’s moving!"

The printer began to feed the paper...

Step by step, every part of the process was being documented to see how it measured up against their initial predictions.

The workers might not have understood the printer’s significance, but Wang Guofu and the others did. They had seen photocopiers before, as well as the few printers that existed only in the offices of high-ranking leaders.

Their speed...

They couldn’t even print that many pages in a full day!

But this machine of theirs could print a full page of text in under a minute!