Chapter 274

Next, they toured the remaining three workshops and found that the problems discovered in the first one were also present in the others—some issues were even more severe.

Factory Director Chen noticed that Zhou Yimin’s frown was growing deeper and deeper, and his heart sank. Could there be something wrong with the workshops?

“Yimin, is there a problem? If there is, feel free to bring it up.”

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Yimin said, “I noticed that the sealing ring on the rice cooker doesn’t seem to be made of rubber—it appears to be a material I’m not familiar with. That won’t do. At high temperatures, it could release a pungent smell, which would affect the taste of the rice. If used over the long term, it could even have negative health effects.”

The choice of material for the sealing ring is crucial to its sealing performance and lifespan. The material’s properties directly impact how well the ring functions.

It might also be that the country’s current technology is still far behind the rest of the world—there are many things that we simply can’t produce yet.

Director Chen nodded, acknowledging that this was indeed a problem, but they hadn’t yet found a replacement: “We’re still trying to find a solution to this issue.”

“I think I’ve seen a type of material overseas, and it’s also being researched domestically—it’s called silicone rubber,” Zhou Yimin said.

Silicone rubber was first synthesized in the UK using ferric chloride as a catalyst. In 1945, silicone rubber products hit the market. In 1948, silicone rubber reinforced with high-specific-surface-area fumed silica was successfully developed, boosting performance and laying the foundation for modern silicone rubber production technology.

Countries that began producing silicone rubber starting from dimethyldichlorosilane include the UK, the Soviet Union, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and China. China’s industrial research into silicone rubber began in 1957, with several research institutes and enterprises successively developing various types of silicone rubber.

“Yimin, are you serious?” Director Chen asked excitedly.

If the material had already been successfully developed domestically, then all they had to do was submit a report to get approval.

“I believe so—I heard about it. Director Chen, you could try applying for it. If the development’s been successful, it shouldn’t be difficult to get approved,” Zhou Yimin replied, sounding a bit unsure.

Director Chen and his group were delighted. As expected of the man who developed the rice cooker—he identified a viable replacement right away. This solved a major problem.

Just then, a section chief from the R&D department asked, “Expert Zhou, I’d like to ask—is it better for a rice cooker to have a higher power output? Wouldn’t that make it cook faster?”

Since Zhou Yimin submitted the rice cooker design, the country had already assigned people to research whether better versions could be developed, or whether they could extend its application—find more uses and thus earn more foreign exchange.

“A rice cooker’s power isn’t necessarily better the higher it is. If the power is too high, it generates excessive heat, which can lead to overheated wiring, short circuits, and even fire hazards,” Zhou Yimin explained.

He added, “While greater power does speed up the cooking process, we can’t blindly chase speed and ignore safety. If we want to earn foreign exchange, we need to establish a good reputation for our country first. That way, when people abroad think of our products, they’ll immediately associate them with high quality. That’s how we can stand out among global competitors.”

In later generations, the mere mention of China would leave everyone in awe. Whenever China entered an industry, the prices would plummet. For example, Japan once had a grape variety called ‘Shine Muscat’ that sold for over five hundred yuan per jin, but once China started growing it, the price dropped to just a few yuan per jin—like cabbage.

Everyone present applauded. They hadn’t expected Zhou Yimin to carry such weight on his shoulders.

“It’s precisely because of ambitious young people like you, Yimin, that our country is getting better and better,” Director Chen said admiringly.

Zhou Yimin responded modestly, “I’m just an ordinary person. There are so many people in this country far smarter than I am—they are the real hope of our nation.”

Compared to the geniuses in China, he was still far behind. He simply had the advantage of being reborn with knowledge from the future. If they had his memories, they could probably recreate all the technologies they remembered—maybe even more powerfully than he could.

“Still, one shouldn’t be too modest,” Director Chen reminded.

Excessive modesty can make it easy for others to take advantage and steal the credit that rightfully belongs to you.

And so the group moved to the meeting room. The section chief from R&D even brought along several staff members, hoping they could ask questions while Zhou Yimin was still there. This way, they might avoid some detours.

Director Chen was very pleased to see this and wished he could call in the whole factory. If there were any issues, they could bring them up and see whether Zhou Yimin could solve them. If he could, great. If not, then with the combined efforts of the entire factory, they were bound to find a solution.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt this was a good idea. It seemed feasible—but before that, he would need Zhou Yimin’s approval. He didn’t want to take action first and ask later. If he upset Zhou Yimin and made him unwilling to share his true skills, that would be a big problem.

Director Chen and several members of the management team had other matters to attend to, so they left the R&D staff to accompany Zhou Yimin.

“Accompany” was really just a way for the R&D team to have a chance to raise technical issues they couldn’t solve and see if they could tackle them together.

And so the group began a lively discussion. After all, everyone had their own perspectives and ideas. Sometimes debates got pretty heated, but it was all in the spirit of friendly cooperation. People’s thinking was still quite pure at the time—everyone just wanted to help the country move forward.

Back then, many people didn’t care whether they got credit. As long as they could contribute to the country, they were satisfied. Even if they didn’t get recognition in the end, it didn’t matter.

It was like the national effort to develop Mushroom Island. The country gathered its top scientists and pooled national resources. Everyone across the country tightened their belts just to allocate a little more funding to the project.

To ensure the scientists had better meals, even the nation’s great leader repeatedly reduced his own food rations until they were basically the same as what ordinary people had.

In fact, to save even more, he gave up eating meat altogether so the scientists could eat a bit more. After all, scientific research takes a huge toll on both body and mind.

At that moment, the doors to the meeting room swung open. It was Director Chen.

“No matter how dedicated you are to research, you still have to eat. You know what they say—‘people are iron, food is steel.’ If you skip a meal, you’ll feel it in your bones.”

(End of chapter)