Actually, Old Man Clark hadn’t planned on speaking at all, but as soon as Manager Foster brought up the Japanese insult, he broke his silence and asked so many questions. Just as he was about to ask a few more, Old Man Clark suddenly saw Henry Grant striding into the workshop, swinging his arms energetically, and immediately burst out laughing.

“Hey, fatty, come here.” Old Man Clark walked straight to the door and called out.

Henry Grant looked up and immediately trotted over, grinning at Old Man Clark, “Old man, what did you call me here for today?”

“Didn’t you want to use my special tools?” Old Man Clark smiled at Henry Grant, rolling two exercise balls in his hand. “Look, there’s a crankshaft drawing and two semi-finished parts on the table. Go polish them up. You can use my room and everything in it as you like.”

“Are you kidding me?” Henry Grant looked annoyed at being played with. “Just clamp it on a lathe with an eccentric chuck and turn it. Why do you need me?”

“The precision is too high, can’t be done on a lathe, needs to be hand-finished by a fitter.” Old Man Clark kept smiling as he asked, “Can you do it?”

“Really?” Henry Grant’s eyes immediately lit up. “I can use your tools this time?”

“You can!” Old Man Clark nodded firmly.

“Alright then!” Henry Grant agreed at once, said no more, and walked right in. After entering, he nodded and smiled at the three people watching him, quickly rolled up the drawing, grabbed the two boxes, and left. As he passed the door, he didn’t forget to reach out to Old Man Clark for the key to that room.

Watching the fatty dash into that room, the other three people in the office were all left dumbfounded.

“Who’s that fatty, Liu?” Director Thompson was the most surprised. He knew all the workers in the factory, and there was no one that fat.

“Oh, a student I met yesterday.” Old Man Clark squeezed the exercise balls, making them clink, and answered cheerfully, “He’s pretty good with his hands. Oh no, I forgot to ask his name.”

Director Thompson, Manager Foster, and the young student beside Manager Foster all looked speechless. Such an important task, even a level-six fitter wouldn’t dare guarantee it, and you just handed it to a student?

“Forget it, I know you’re worried. Just wait.” Old Man Clark stood up, squeezing the exercise balls as he walked out. “For your sake, I’ll go give that fatty some pointers.”

With that, he didn’t explain further, just opened the office door and left, leaving the three in the office staring at each other.

“Director Thompson, who is Liu?” Manager Foster lit another cigarette for Director Thompson and then asked cautiously.

“A retired level-nine fitter.” Director Thompson said proudly, “All those precision instrument test machines in the department, the final installation and adjustment always needed Liu’s help and guidance.”

“A national treasure!” Manager Foster immediately gave a thumbs up with a look of admiration. “No wonder we have to come to your Shuimu University! With a national treasure like him holding down the fort, and you still say you’re just a school-run factory making ordinary parts?”

“Liu injured his arm, can’t do heavy work anymore.” Director Thompson sighed deeply. “I’m actually curious what that fatty is capable of, to make Liu think so highly of him.”

“Is that fatty really up to it?” Manager Foster was still worried and asked Director Thompson.

“Don’t worry!” Director Thompson actually wasn’t sure himself, but he couldn’t show any weakness in front of Manager Foster, so he said confidently, “If Liu says it’s fine, then it’s definitely fine. Just wait, two and a half days should be about right.” But by the end, he was losing confidence.

Time ticked by, and three hours had already passed, but there was still no news from over there. Manager Foster wanted to go take a look, but knew it wasn’t appropriate, and was so anxious he’d already smoked over twenty cigarettes, filling the ashtray on the table.

After waiting another half hour, Manager Foster was so anxious he started pacing. Just as he couldn’t wait any longer and was about to tell Director Thompson he’d go check himself, the office door opened.

Henry Grant and Old Man Clark walked in one after the other, the fatty holding the drawing and two boxes, which he set on the table. “It’s done!”

Chapter 0008: How Is That Possible (Part 2)

“Old man, I’ll need to use your room and those things for the next few days.” Henry Grant didn’t care about the looks on everyone’s faces in the room, and just said to Old Clark, “And you promised to teach me your secret skills. No backing out!”

Henry Grant dropped his things and left. After working nonstop for three and a half hours, he was already starving. Basically, saying these words was the limit of his endurance. Without waiting for anyone to respond, Henry Grant dashed out—if he didn’t run to the cafeteria now, there’d be no food left.

In the office, the anxious Director Thompson and Manager Foster were completely speechless. Done?

Director Thompson wasn’t just an office guy; he had real skills himself. Otherwise, how could he estimate how long it would take a fitter to hand-finish something? As for Manager Foster, he was in charge of frontline production, and had already discussed the timing with the factory’s senior fitters, so their estimate couldn’t be far off.

Faced with the fact that the fatty had finished in just three and a half hours what they’d estimated would take a level-six fitter a month, their first reaction was: impossible!