Fusion System: Rebirth in a Courtyard - Bird Fighting Chronicles

Chapter 82 A sinister plot unfolds beneath the surface; the milling machine moves, and irrefutable e

The court's jeers pierced Lin Chen's ears like a poisonous thorn until late at night. He had just finished grading Yan Jiekuang's mechanical drawing assignments and was studying the newly unlocked "Material Stress Analysis" function on the system panel when a faint metallic scraping sound suddenly came from outside the courtyard wall. Lin Chen frowned and quietly approached the window crack—in the moonlight, a hunched figure was stealthily making its way towards the workshop; the faded work clothes clearly belonged to Yi Zhonghai.

"System, scan for target movement," Lin Chen silently commanded. A pale blue panel instantly appeared, clearly marking Yi Zhonghai's route with a red trajectory line: he climbed over the back wall of the courtyard house, circled around to the west gate of the steel rolling mill, and pried open the equipment department window with a thin wire. Lin Chen's heart sank. The gears for the military order had just encountered a tolerance issue yesterday; Yi Zhonghai's infiltration of the equipment department at this moment was no coincidence.

He quickly put on his coat and rummaged under the bed for the "night vision observation goggles" he had previously assembled—made from discarded telescope lenses, fluorescent powder, and sheet metal, capable of seeing details within ten meters in low light. Just as he reached the courtyard gate, he bumped into Sha Zhu, who was squatting in the corner, clutching a wooden stick. Upon seeing Lin Chen, Sha Zhu quickly waved his hand, saying, "I heard the noise and followed. Uncle Yi is acting strange; let's not make a sound."

The two walked along the wall, one after the other, and sure enough, the iron lock on the west corner gate was pried open. The window of the equipment department was ajar, and a slight clanging sound came from inside. Lin Chen gestured for Sha Zhu to stand guard at the door, while he slipped along the wall to the window and looked through the crack—Yi Zhonghai was squatting next to the newly repaired milling machine, holding a small iron hammer and gently tapping the spindle connection. The hammerhead was wrapped in thick cotton cloth, obviously to reduce the noise.

"It really was him." Lin Chen's pupils contracted sharply. He had felt something was amiss during yesterday's inspection; the deformed marks on the main shaft didn't look like natural wear and tear, but rather like stress damage from an external impact. He quietly pressed the recording device hidden in his sleeve—it was made from parts of an old radio integrated with the system, palm-sized, and capable of recording continuously for two hours.

Yi Zhonghai tapped the machine a few times, then pulled a cloth bag from his pocket containing several sharpened steel shot pellets. He carefully removed the dust cover from the milling machine, stuffed the steel shot into the spindle bearing, and muttered, "Lin Chen, you little brat, you ruined my plans! If this military order falls through, Zhou Jianguo will skin you alive!"

Just as Lin Chen was about to record this scene, he suddenly heard footsteps behind him. He quickly pulled Sha Zhu, who had rushed over, into the nearby pile of scrap metal. He saw Yi Zhonghai lock the window and sneak back. As he passed the pile of scrap metal, he kicked it and cursed, "Useless trash, can't even get drunk on a cup of wine." Sha Zhu was so angry that he wanted to rush out, but Lin Chen held him down firmly.

"Don't alert him." Lin Chen lowered his voice. "He put steel shot in the spindle. There will definitely be big problems when we turn it on tomorrow. We need to get evidence so he can't deny it." Sha Zhu's face turned pale. He had seen the terrible state of equipment failure in the cafeteria kitchen. If the milling machine spindle broke, not only would the order be lost, but people could also be injured.

When Lin Chen returned to the courtyard house, it was already dawn. He didn't dare sleep and went straight to the workshop. Liu Guangtian was already waiting at the door, holding a parts box: "Master, I came early this morning to check and found that the dust cover on the milling machine had been tampered with; there was a fingerprint on it." Lin Chen took the parts box and scanned it with the system, discovering that the fingerprint had obvious calluses along the edges, perfectly matching the hand shape of Yi Zhonghai, who had been holding a file for many years.

"Guangtian, go and invite Director Zhou over. Tell him we've made an important discovery," Lin Chen instructed. "Also, call Section Chief Wang from the Equipment Department and have him bring the spindle testing tools." He then squatted down next to the milling machine and carefully removed the dust cover—sure enough, there were a few gleaming steel pellets stuck in the bearing gap, and new impact dents on the surface of the spindle next to it.

When Zhou Jianguo and Section Chief Wang arrived, a large number of workers had already gathered in the workshop. Yi Zhonghai was also squeezed into the crowd. Seeing Lin Chen next to the milling machine, he immediately said sarcastically, "Master Lin, you're responsible for maintaining this milling machine. If it delays the military order, can you take responsibility?" Qin Huairu, behind him, chimed in, "Yes, Master Lin, it was fine yesterday, how come it broke down overnight?"

Zhou Jianguo's face was ashen. He picked up the few grains of steel shot and examined them. "This is high-strength steel shot, not the type commonly used in the workshop. Section Chief Wang, what are the test results?" After measuring the dent on the spindle with a micrometer, Section Chief Wang said gravely, "Director Zhou, this is deformation caused by an external impact. The steel shot in the bearing will accelerate wear. If we restart the machine, the spindle will definitely crack."

"Hmph, I think it's just that Lin Chen didn't protect him properly and is trying to shirk responsibility!" Yi Zhonghai stepped forward, pointing at Lin Chen's nose, "You ruined my plans yesterday, and today you've caused this mess. Who else could it be but you?" Some people in the crowd joined in the commotion. After all, Lin Chen was young and already held a high position, so it was inevitable that some people would be jealous.

Lin Chen didn't rush to defend himself. Instead, he took out the pocket-sized recording device: "Uncle Yi, don't be so quick to label me. I have a recording here; you'll understand once you listen." He pressed play, and Yi Zhonghai's mutterings from the equipment department last night came through clearly: "Lin Chen, you little brat, you ruined my plans! If this military order falls through, Zhou Jianguo will skin you alive!"

The crowd fell silent instantly, and Yi Zhonghai's face turned deathly pale: "You...you forged the recording! When did I ever say such a thing?" Lin Chen sneered and took out the dust cover with the handprint: "Section Chief Wang should be able to authenticate this handprint, right? Also, there are wire scratches on the lock of the west corner gate last night, left when you picked it. Do you want to compare them?"

Section Chief Wang took the dust cover and examined it with a magnifying glass: "The distribution of calluses on this handprint is exactly the same as Master Yi's hand shape. Moreover, the oil stains on it are the equipment department's special anti-rust oil, which only people who have handled milling machine maintenance would have." Zhou Jianguo's face grew increasingly grim. He had long felt that Yi Zhonghai was acting strangely lately, but he never expected that he would dare to tamper with the equipment ordered by the military industry.

"There are witnesses." Lin Chen stepped aside, and Sha Zhu emerged from the crowd, holding a wooden stick. "Last night, Master Lin and I followed Grandpa Yi and saw him pry open the equipment room window and cause trouble in the milling machine." Yi Zhonghai trembled with rage, pointing at Sha Zhu and cursing, "You ungrateful wretch! I've always been so good to you, and you actually helped outsiders harm me!"

"Fine?" Sha Zhu finally snapped, "You're nice to me so I'll take care of you in your old age! You forced me to marry Qin Huairu, schemed to steal my food, and now you're trying to harm Master Lin! Let me tell you, Yi Zhonghai, even if I, Sha Zhu, am honest, I know who's truly good to me!" He pulled a cloth bag from his pocket, inside was the rouge Qin Huairu had used to fake frostbite: "Look what this is! Qin Huairu's hands weren't frostbitten at all; it was all an act!"

Qin Huairu's face turned deathly pale. She turned to leave, but Zhou Jianguo stopped her: "Master Qin, were you involved in this too?" Qin Huairu quickly waved her hands: "No! It was Master Yi who asked me to cooperate in this charade for a few days. I didn't know he would do such a thing!" Seeing Qin Huairu's defection, Yi Zhonghai became completely anxious: "It was all her idea! She said that as long as Lin Chen was brought down, Sha Zhu would change his mind!"

A commotion erupted in the workshop. Everyone looked at the two men, who were shifting blame onto each other, with disdain. Zhou Jianguo sighed and said to the security guard behind him, "Take Master Yi to the office. I need to report to the factory management." Yi Zhonghai tried to struggle, but the security guards dragged him out. As they passed Lin Chen, he said viciously, "I won't let you get away with this!" Lin Chen looked at him coldly: "Uncle Yi, leave a way out for others, so you can meet again in the future. You've ruined your own path."

After dealing with Yi Zhonghai's matter, Zhou Jianguo patted Lin Chen on the shoulder and said, "Luckily, you're here. Otherwise, if this military order had fallen through, our entire workshop would have been affected. Don't worry, the factory will definitely give you justice." Lin Chen nodded, but he knew in his heart that Yi Zhonghai had been running the factory for many years and would not fall so easily.

Sure enough, the factory's notice came down that afternoon: Yi Zhonghai's level eight worker benefits were suspended, six months' bonuses were withheld, and he was responsible for compensating for the milling machine's repair costs. However, given that he was a long-time employee, he would not be dismissed. Lin Chen wasn't surprised; this outcome was expected. He was more concerned about the milling machine's repair; the military order still had one last batch of gears left, which had to be completed within three days.

"Master, the spindle is too deformed. Direct repair probably won't meet the precision requirements." Liu Guangtian held the inspection report, his face somewhat grave. "How about we apply for a new spindle?" Lin Chen shook his head: "Replacing the spindle will take at least a week, which is too late. I have a solution: use the system to fuse a high-strength alloy and reforge a new spindle."

He led Liu Guangtian to the scrap heap and selected several pieces of chromium-containing alloy scrap—recovered from military waste, three times harder than ordinary steel. Lin Chen scanned them with the system and generated detailed forging blueprints: "Guangtian, you're in charge of controlling the furnace temperature; it must be kept at 1500 degrees Celsius. I'll operate the forging hammer; let's get to work tonight."

As night fell, only the clanging of forging hammers echoed through the workshop. Lin Chen gripped the hammer handle, precisely forging the spindle according to the blueprints, each strike perfectly timed. Liu Guangtian stood by, periodically measuring the temperature and adding fuel; the two worked in perfect harmony. At three in the morning, when the final step was completed, Lin Chen collapsed onto the floor, exhausted. The spindle in his hands gleamed with a uniform metallic sheen, and a micrometer measurement confirmed that the tolerances perfectly met the standards.

"Success!" Liu Guangtian jumped up excitedly. "Master, the spindle's hardness is even higher than the original!" Lin Chen smiled, took out the system panel, and saw that his points had increased to 3200, and his system level had also been upgraded to level 9, unlocking the "Equipment Automation Transformation" function. He knew that this was not just about repairing a spindle, but also about gaining a foothold in the workshop.

The next morning, the milling machine was running again, and the gears it produced met the precision requirements perfectly. After inspection, the military inspection personnel gave it a thumbs up: "Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill truly lives up to its reputation. Even in such an emergency, you can still guarantee quality. From now on, we will give you priority for our orders!" Zhou Jianguo was all smiles and immediately announced that Lin Chen and Liu Guangtian would each receive a reward of fifty yuan in cash, and also issued a commendation at the factory-wide meeting.

When the news reached the courtyard, Yan Bugui made a special trip to Lin Chen's house, holding an account book in his hand: "Master Lin, I've calculated it, your bonus is enough to buy fifty catties of flour! How about I save it for you and calculate the interest for you?" Lin Chen smiled and waved his hand: "No need, Teacher Yan, I plan to use this money to buy some professional books for Guangtian and Jie Kuang." Yan Bugui was stunned for a moment, then sighed: "You're so thoughtful, unlike some people who only care about themselves."

Liu Haizhong arrived, carrying a bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor): "Master Lin, let me toast you! I was foolish before, always going against you. Now I finally understand who truly cares about us." Lin Chen took the glass and clinked it with his: "Master Liu, let's not dwell on the past. Guangtian is a promising talent; with proper training, he'll definitely be more successful than me." Liu Haizhong's eyes reddened, and he nodded vigorously.

That evening, Lin Chen was explaining mechanical principles to Yan Jiekuang and Liu Guangtian when Sha Zhu arrived carrying a lunchbox filled with steaming braised pork: "Master Lin, this is specially made for you. I used to be constantly schemed against, but you enlightened me. From now on, if you need anything, just let me know!" Lin Chen took the lunchbox, a warm feeling welling up inside him. He knew that in this scheming courtyard, sincerity was the strongest foundation.

Just then, a quarrel broke out at the courtyard gate. Lin Chen went out to see what was happening and found Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu arguing. After Yi Zhonghai's salary was cut, his family was in financial straits and he wanted Qin Huairu to continue scheming against Sha Zhu, but Qin Huairu refused: "I can support myself and my child by sewing now, and I will never do such a despicable thing again!" Yi Zhonghai was so angry that he was about to hit her, but Lin Chen, who had rushed over, stopped him.

"Uncle Yi, if you lay a hand on me again, I'll call the neighborhood committee," Lin Chen said coldly. Seeing the neighbors surrounding him, Yi Zhonghai could only lower his hand, glaring fiercely at Qin Huairu before turning and going home. Qin Huairu bowed to Lin Chen: "Thank you, Master Lin. You've made me realize that earning a living with my own hands is the only truly secure thing."

Lin Chen returned to the room, looking at Yan Jiekuang and Liu Guangtian listening attentively, his heart filled with hope. He knew that Yi Zhonghai would not give up easily, and there would be more challenges ahead. But as long as he stayed true to his original aspirations, established himself with his skills, and treated people with sincerity, there was no obstacle he couldn't overcome. The moonlight streaming in through the window illuminated the blueprints on the table, and also lit up his path forward.

Late at night, Lin Chen lay in bed when the system suddenly popped up a notification: "The system detected that the host has successfully resolved the crisis and maintained order in the workshop. Reward: 500 points. Unlock the 'Advanced Material Fusion' function." Lin Chen smiled and closed his eyes.