Volume One, Chapter Four: A Call to Pay Respects

Page 1/3

Ma Wenbin recounted the entire sequence of events in detail.

It turned out that during testing of a new type of hydraulic hoist at the Hydraulic Works Factory, they discovered that after lifting the gate to the operating height, the hoist could not be locked in place. The simulated gate’s downward displacement was excessive, reaching as much as 2.4 meters—an alarming deviation.

After a thorough inspection by Ma Wenbin and other experts, it was found that although there was no oil leakage from the hydraulic cylinder, valve assembly, or piping, the piston seals of the hydraulic cylinders showed varying degrees of wear, flanging, curling, missing edges, and fractures. The piston seals on the bottom gate’s hydraulic cylinder were completely pulverized due to aging.

The support rings of the hydraulic cylinders were worn as well; some had dimensional deviations with maximum clearances reaching 0.75 mm, which analysis attributed to internal cylinder leakage.

Ma Wenbin proposed replacing the seals, and after the operation, the downward displacement was noticeably reduced.

They thought the problem was perfectly solved, but unexpectedly, a young Uyghur worker suddenly appeared and bluntly declared that their solution was merely a temporary fix, not addressing the root cause.

Amidst the puzzled and skeptical gazes of everyone present, the young worker merely circled the hoist half a turn and revealed that the fault was related to system leakage, requiring the addition of a hydraulic lock and honing of the cylinder bore’s inner wall to remove scratches, rust, and contaminants.

The technical cadres felt their intelligence insulted upon hearing this.

They reasoned that since hydraulic oil constantly flowed through the cylinder, internal leakage could only be due to seal aging. If the inner wall had scratches, the cylinder bore would have long lost its roundness and tapered, thus rendering the cylinder scrap.

They unanimously thought the young worker was pretending to understand what he did not, and the workshop supervisor harshly scolded him and expelled him from the workshop.

However, Wang Xiquan, upon hearing the report, did not share this view.

Having worked in hydroelectric design for years, he was more familiar with heavy equipment like hydraulic hoists than the hiding places of his own secret savings.

The Hydraulic Works Factory was currently producing a differential-type curved hydraulic drive unit imported from the Soviet Union. The internal processes were complex, and some faults and repair techniques even he was uncertain about.

Curious, Wang Xiquan visited the archives after work and found the original maintenance and service manual for that model, authored by Soviet engineers. In a little-known corner of the book, he found technical details similar to what the young worker had relayed through Ma Wenbin.

A young worker at the factory knew foreign-language materials? Wang Xiquan immediately sensed something unusual about the young man and decided to visit the factory personally to meet him.

—

Unaware of the full context, Maimaiti’s mind could only summon one idiom—“a dagger hidden behind a smile.”

Page 2/3

His gaze grew cautious accordingly.

Seeing this, Wang Xiquan realized he might have startled the young man and hastily reassured him, “Young comrade, don’t be nervous, just speak freely.”

Seeing no sign that Wang sought to assign blame, and with his own anger not yet cooled, Maimaiti went all out:

“In that case, I’ll just say it plainly—there’s nothing much. The hydraulic hoist we demonstrated yesterday was originally built by the Hydraulic Works Factory last year for the Kapu River Fourth-Level Hydropower Station. Due to production errors, it failed acceptance and has been kept at the factory for engineers to test.

“Before the demonstration, the machine had been running for a long time. Because of the errors, after the gate was lifted and locked in the open position, the hydraulic system would stop working, cutting off oil flow to the inlet and outlet. The rod chamber built up oil pressure under the gate’s own weight, while the rodless chamber pressure was relatively low, creating a pressure differential between the two.

“When the sealing structure is damaged, oil leaks from the rod chamber to the rodless chamber, reducing the volume of the rod chamber and causing the piston to move downward, which leads to the gate sliding down.

“Additionally, damage to the piston seals, scratches on the cylinder bore’s inner wall, and severe wear on the piston support rings form a leakage path between the two chambers, causing internal leakage.

“Yesterday, Master Ma and his team only found the seal issue but overlooked the piston bore’s wear and oil pressure conditions. This is a commonly neglected problem with this type of hoist.”

As Maimaiti finished speaking, Wang Xiquan couldn’t help but applaud.

“Young comrade, your Mandarin is quite good, and your mechanical analysis is excellent. After Ma Wenbin told me yesterday, I went to the archives to check the materials.

“This hydraulic hoist indeed tends to have these issues. It requires adding a hydraulic lock to the cylinder and honing the bore to remove rust. But this technique is proprietary, needing special equipment and skilled personnel. Only a few masters at our factory understand it… In any case, your judgment is correct.”

Wang Xiquan’s tone suddenly shifted.

“However, young comrade, I have a question: how did you come to know all this? As far as I know, you just graduated from technical school, and the detailed manuals for this hydraulic machine are stored in the archives. The Chinese edition, due to some technical considerations with the Soviet side, does not mention these points.”

Maimaiti swallowed hard, feeling as if needles pricked his back. After a long pause, he slowly replied, “Well, I learned these things from books. I like to hang around the library at the Agricultural University.”

“You can read foreign language materials?” Wang Xiquan narrowed his eyes, his expression complex.

His suspicion was natural. In early reform-era Urumqi, few people understood foreign languages. Even within the entire water conservancy system, those proficient in technical Russian were rare, let alone an ordinary young worker like Maimaiti.

“I know a little, but I still rely on dictionaries. Basically, I understand,” Maimaiti answered truthfully.

Given their earlier discussion and Wang’s appreciation of talent, he trusted Maimaiti’s words more than doubted them.

Besides, his visit wasn’t to verify whether Maimaiti really knew foreign languages.

“Young comrade, do you usually read professional books on hydropower?” Wang continued, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and offering one with an outstretched hand.

Page 3/3

Maimaiti understood and politely took the cigarette. After lighting it for Wang Xiquan, the atmosphere between them relaxed considerably.

“I read quite a bit on hydropower, since it’s my specialty,” Maimaiti smiled.

He did not lie. In his previous life, he had studied Electrical Engineering and Automation at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which covered hydropower knowledge, enabling his accurate diagnosis of the hoist’s fault yesterday.

“That makes sense... But aside from hydropower, have you read about other fields, like photovoltaic power generation or... wind power, which are currently more advanced abroad?” Wang deliberately emphasized.

“I don’t know much about photovoltaics,” Maimaiti began, deliberately lengthening his tone to gauge Wang’s reaction, “but about wind power—”

“Not much either!” Maimaiti blurted out.

Wang Xiquan nearly choked on the smoke he had just inhaled.

Somewhat speechless and unwilling to accept defeat, he pressed further, “Young comrade, if ‘not much’ isn’t enough, then how much is it exactly?”

Although he had mentally prepared for possibly nothing special, Wang hoped to uncover some unique skills in this young man.

After all, when considering personnel yesterday afternoon, he found only Ma Wenbin and a few Agricultural University students were fully invested in wind power research.

At the Water Conservancy Department, although supported by Xie Shiqi, the latter was still busy with the ongoing Badukaisan River Hydropower Project and unavailable.

As for other colleagues, those strong in technology had only average relationships with him, and the ones close to him were mostly not technically trained.

He desperately needed the right talent.