Chapter 15: Call Me Saint Zhang Yifu

As everyone knew, a thermal power plant’s generating units produced electricity through the relentless rotation of the impellers inside the steam turbines. This process was persistent, the work done was enormous, and it inevitably created countless friction and immense heat, severely wearing down bearings and even causing fires. Just like a car engine needed lubricating oil, the steam turbines in the power plant also required something called “turbine oil” to reduce friction and dissipate heat. Because the steam turbines were always operating, this “oiling” process was also dynamic, requiring constant addition of new turbine oil.

The used turbine oil, naturally, could not be wasted either. It would be filtered by the oil filter machine to remove mechanical impurities, oxidation byproducts, moisture, and so on that had mixed in, allowing the relatively clean turbine oil to be recirculated.

This incident was a leak from the oil filter machine of a 150,000-kilowatt unit in the plant. Due to a disconnected connection at the oil pipe, some oil had leaked onto the hot pipes below, causing a fire.

Fortunately, the duty staff discovered this immediately, extinguished the fire in time, promptly reported it to superiors, suspended the operation of that unit, and carried out emergency repairs. They managed to restart the unit within three hours, averting a major disaster.

The outcome was good, but the process was perilous. If that duty staff had not discovered it in time, giving those embers a few minutes, it might have caused a fire or even an explosion in the entire unit. A 150,000-kilowatt unit was absolutely expensive state-owned property in this era. Setting that aside, if this unit shut down, the Jibei Power Plant would directly lose 150,000 kilowatts of generating capacity, affecting the entire North China Power Grid’s operation. The whole plant would bear production responsibility, and even Niu Dameng would probably be in big trouble.

After reasoning through the cause and effect, Zhang Yifu couldn’t help but nod. Niu Dameng seemed rough, but he was still meticulous. On the surface, this incident was just a hidden danger without serious consequences. His big reaction might seem like making a mountain out of a molehill, but in a power plant, an accident was a big deal. No measure was too great for safety issues; they had to prevent problems before they occurred.

At the same time, Zhang Yifu couldn’t help but think of his father’s words.

Safety, safety first.

“What? Any thoughts?” Qiu Ling’s rather disdainful voice broke Zhang Yifu’s reverie. “Have you seen any of those machines? Do I need to explain the principle of the oil filter machine?”

Seeing that Zhang Yifu hadn’t spoken for a while, Niu Dameng quickly smoothed things over. “Yifu just arrived after all. He isn’t fully familiar with the power plant facilities yet. How about this, Qiu Ling, take him around first to look and learn before we discuss.”

“I knew it. He couldn’t possibly understand these things.” Qiu Ling shook his head as well.

The others also breathed a slight sigh of relief. They felt Niu Dameng had mythologized university students too much. Everyone was human; you needed to work to gain experience. A university student had just spent a few more years in school, nothing that miraculous.

Little did they know, Zhang Yifu wasn’t at a loss about the accident’s cause. He was thinking about how to phrase things to avoid offending people. When it came to power plant accidents, someone always ended up taking the blame… The interesting part was, the truth was deeply hidden. Who took the blame sometimes didn’t depend on science, but on people.

It was no exaggeration to say that, with his mouth and what was in his head, twisting black and white in front of these elders from the ’90s wasn’t difficult for Zhang Yifu.

After pondering repeatedly, considering he was new and shouldn’t make enemies, he simply found the simplest way to solve the problem, a method that would please everyone.

“Director Niu, leaders, there’s actually one thing I don’t quite understand.” Zhang Yifu stood up quietly, his face full of confusion.

Qiu Ling waved impatiently. “Ask later when we have time. Don’t make a whole group of us sit through a lesson with you.”

“Just one question. Let him ask.” Niu Dameng waved his arm decisively, deciding to give Zhang Yifu a chance.

Zhang Yifu cleared his throat and asked solemnly, “Under our oil filter machine… isn’t there an oil pan?”

This was a pretty silly question. Its silliness didn’t lie with the person asking, but with the people being questioned.

For example, if your faucet often leaked, naturally, you’d put a basin under it to catch the dripping water. So to prevent your oil filter machine from leaking oil, putting a pan underneath to catch it seemed like something anyone with normal intelligence would think of, right?

Unfortunately, the comrades at Jibei Power Plant seemed not to have considered this… Of course, not because they were dumb, but because such accidents were rare, not receiving enough attention yet, lacking sufficient experience. Unlike later power plants, having an oil pan under the oil filter machine had become a basic design standard.

Such a simple principle, even someone like Niu Dameng, who seemed uncultured, figured it out immediately.

Everyone in the room was stunned for a long time. Niu Dameng himself was stunned until his cigarette butt burned his hand, snapping him out of it.

Niu Dameng stared blankly at Qiu Ling and asked woodenly, “We… don’t have oil pans?”

“Such a thing… isn’t in the technical specifications… For a power plant… this is the first time I’ve heard about needing an oil pan.” Qiu Ling swallowed, only then realizing the core of the issue.

“What about you all? Have you heard of oil pans?” Niu Dameng turned to the others.

Everyone shook their heads.

At that moment, only a middle-aged man with thick glasses, wearing work clothes, raised his hand. “The paper mill next door seems to use some kind of oil pan. We could go ask.”

“Ask! Go ask right now!” Niu Dameng slapped the table, eyes wide. “I knew it! If a university student brought it up, there must be such a thing! Fang Hao, you go ask immediately. If necessary, I can personally intervene to get a few, quickly patch up this safety loophole! Once this is settled, the earlier disciplinary actions are all void.”

Upon hearing “disciplinary actions void,” everyone perked up immediately, quickly rising, about to escort the man named Fang Hao to the paper mill.

The meeting atmosphere instantly reversed completely. It was truly a happy ending for all. Zhang Yifu sat down satisfied. This way, he didn’t have to offend anyone; instead, he could help them avoid punishment. Call me Saint Zhang Yifu.

Actually, he knew himself: just as saints didn’t exist, a truly happy ending for all didn’t exist either. Not far from him, someone’s hostility toward him had invisibly increased quite a bit.

As the section chief of the Technical Department, having worked for so long, Qiu Ling hadn’t thought of something as silly as an oil pan. Instead, a young upstart discovered it as soon as he arrived. It was truly embarrassing, especially now that the university student the director had mythologized was actually becoming godlike. That was what truly irked him. He had always been the most technically experienced, highest-educated person in the plant, greatly valued by Niu Dameng. Now, it seemed a guy had appeared to compete for favor.

Most crucially, and what Qiu Ling feared most, was that he was no longer the only one, no longer had the capital to act impressive in front of the director, no longer had the qualification to make demands.