Chapter 85 (1/2)

The Great Depression (Part Four)

”Help me contact my mother.” Huang Xuan followed behind the new workers. The smell of perspiration mixed with body odor filled the air; it reeked of testosterone. Just like in most other factories at that time, the newly recruited workers weren't required to go through complex procedures. The first thing they did was work. That way, their employers were able to exploit them.

This time, however, Rolin did not mention the energy loss. This was despite the fact that all he seemed to be able to do was calculate the amount of energy he was consuming.

Communication between the planes had been disrupted slightly. For pure energy to be transmitted as sound waves, more energy was required. Rolin linked all communication with Huang Xuan's cell phone to ensure they got numbers this time. However, this transfer too required energy.

They waited for a good two minutes before they heard Zhang Xinyi's voice. She sounded troubled as she asked, ”Son, you went out so early in the morning. Where are you?”

Based on Rolin's energy screen, it was now 6 am. Huang Xuan cheekily answered, ”Mother, I'm out of Nanjing at the moment. I've met with some problems, and I need your help.”

”You're out of Nanjing?” Zhang Xinyi sat up, waking Huang Qunsheng, who was sleeping next to her. Tugging on the blanket, she muttered, ”This Li Qing... how dare he bring you out in the middle of the night?”

Huang Xuan carefully stayed behind Thomas and said, ”This has nothing to do with him. I snuck out on my own.”

”What for?” Zhang Xinyi curtly asked. ”Where are you?”

This was the bad thing about speaking to his mother. She always wanted to clarify everything. Huang Xuan lied, ”It was too late yesterday. The factory in the suburbs met with some issues, and I had to come over. I was not rus.h.i.+ng to return home after resolving everything, so I decided to call you.”

”Then be careful. I'll ask Li Qing to fetch you. This fella...”

It looked like his mother was planning to teach Manager Li a lesson. Huang Xuan laughed bitterly, ”Mother, don't ask him to come over. I want to see to more matters while I'm here. I called you to ask for help; you're purposely changing the topic.”

Once she was sure her son was safe and sound, Zhang Xinyi put on her sweater and asked, ”Go ahead. What do you want your mother to do?”

”Hmm, I'm looking for a few professional aeros.p.a.ce engineers. I need them to think quick on their feet, yet be skillful. I need them to be especially familiar with skills related to aircraft from the '30s to the '70s. I'll also need them to be able to draw diagrams and prepare information.”

”You should ask your father about this,” Zhang Xinyi put the phone on speaker as she spoke, then said, ”Repeat it one more time for your father.”

Huang Xuan helplessly described his situation once more. By that time, a long line of people was quickly approaching the workshop. He nervously said, ”My car is arriving. I just need help with that one thing. But I need professionals to work on this for a few days. I'll pay them. Please look around for me. It'll be best if you can find a few by this afternoon.”

”What do you need them for?” Zhang Xinyi worriedly questioned.

”I can't explain everything to you at the moment,” Huang Xuan answered as he lowered his head. ”Mother, when you find the people, please ask them to prepare the materials. Then, arrange an office and a few computers with internet connection. I'll send the requirements and blueprint out to them when I can. When they're done, instruct them to send their findings to me. It'll likely take them a week or so. Is USD$1,000,000 enough?”

”What a waste!” Zhang Xinyi laughed. ”Alright, I'll pay for this. I'll check with my secretary, then I'll ask your father to meet with a couple of professors. But you must be courteous. Don't discuss with them about money. We'll arrange everything for you.”

”Thank you, Mother.” Huang Xuan was so elated that he sent a kiss through the receiver.

While he was speaking, Huang Xuan had already entered the small, newly-built factory. Rouge was the world's largest factory. New manufacturing rooms were being set up there each day. Even the Great Depression could not stop Henry Ford's expansion goals.

They couldn't hear the aircraft from within the workshop. The working conditions were definitely much better than average. Thomas brought the men in, uncovered their eyes and said, ”Listen to Jens's orders. Start from the older workers; those who don't give their best in their work must leave, understand?”

There was a collective mutter in response. Huang Xuan looked around curiously. There were only a few lathes there. Some of the men were wearing filthy clothes, lying atop the tables and perhaps busy with something around the lathe. Most of the people there were young and were skilled men of sorts.

Large diagrams were spread out across the black iron table. Huang Xuan moved to join them and see what was happening, but he was thrown backward with a slap from someone. ”Apprentices are not allowed to see these.”

The words came from Jens, a hairy man in his 40s. His hair was messily combed back. His nose was huge, and his ears were slightly bent.

Huang Xuan nonchalantly left the table. He turned around and said to Rolin, ”Study that diagram. Compare it with more advanced technology.”

”How advanced?”

”Within 50 years,” Huang Xuan replied as he tried to hide from the sight of the others. ”Do you have any idea how we can export those diagrams?” It was impractical to simply copy them. Huang Xuan was worried that he would be physically exhausted if the workload increased.

Without having to think, Rolin answered, ”Can we just use toner ink absorption? As long as we have toner ink and paper, we'll manage an output speed of a square for every 30 seconds.”

”That's OK,” Huang Xuan agreed as he rejoined the team. He added, ”Check on the car that Ford is researching on. Make up for the incomplete information, then look for the technology that they're lacking.”

”Alright.” Looking for information on technology in P112 was easy for Rolin. In fact, looking for information in a fixed plane wasn't difficult. It was only a matter of how much energy was consumed. If one wanted to conduct research in a large field, especially in other planes, a lot of energy was required, yet the process would be inefficient. After all, Rolin wasn't going to simply use a search engine. Searching for information looked different in each plane. Therefore, the costs were high.

Now, Huang Xuan was requesting for Rolin to search within P101, where they were. In that age, where there was hardly any data, searching for information was going to waste a significant amount of energy.

They had already consumed more than one million kWh of energy in the past day alone. Time traveling was indeed equivalent to burning cash. Yet, Huang Xuan was unbothered. He was still riding on the high returns he had obtained the previous few times.

”Gather around!” Jens thought he was speaking at normal volume, but he was in fact shouting. The workers, as usual, did not even lift their heads.

Huang Xuan was careful not to drag his feet as he walked over. Rouge's conditions were considered ahead of its time. However, the inside of the workshop was still a mess. The floors were covered in black oil stains and shavings of metal. Huang Xuan, who had never been in such a place, was having difficulty adjusting.

”The three of you, help Ke Qi with the diagrams. He still has to produce 50 drawings, and he has to complete them by today.” Jens was pointing at Huang Xuan and two other people. Huang Xuan glanced at them before walking over.

Ke Qi had big eyes. They looked hollow as if he had been deprived of sleep or he had been quarreling with his spouse for a long time. He was dissecting his painted parts and explaining them to a man who stood taller than him. He carefully placed the parts onto the table. Huang Xuan saw the thick stack of white paper and immediately regretted being recruited.

The computer was only going to be invented 14 years later. Using the CAD to make diagrams was even further down the timeline. Photocopying was completely out of the picture. From the looks of it, Ke Qi was not using parts manufactured by Ford.

Huang Xuan sucked in his breath. ”Rolin, take over from here.”