A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Chapter 712 The Competition. Hmph, it can't even match the abacus I've used my whole life!

Early morning, at the platform of Hongxing Comprehensive Machinery Factory.

Yang Youning jumped off the six-wheeled armored vehicle and waved to Jiang Xia: "Hey, didn't we agree to drive this metal lump? Why are we at the platform again?"

Jiang Xia looked at the two imposing pipes on the top of the armored vehicle and pointed at Old Wang: "I don't know! I'm just a commodity, and commodities have no right to speak!"

After saying that, the young man took out a large steamed bun that Master Nan Yi had specially made early in the morning, sat on the chair on the platform and began to eat it, while looking at the brand-new platform in front of him with great interest.

Today, the machinery factory's platform, after expansion, is no longer the rudimentary unloading point it once was, but a fairly large and standardized freight station. At this moment, apart from a few people and a mule carrying a double-mounted machine gun, the platform appears remarkably empty.

The newly expanded freight station is indeed impressive. The concrete platform is flat and wide, long enough to accommodate four carriages; the tracks have also been noticeably thickened and reinforced, and several brand-new high-mast lighting lamps even stand along the edge of the platform. Although the platform is currently deserted and seems somewhat desolate, its rugged industrial atmosphere is palpable.

It's nothing like that small unloading point from before, but what does that have to do with their plan to drive to Northeast China?

Old Wang smiled wryly. This simpleton must have remembered the time he shoved him into the freight car last time.

"This isn't my fault. I had already submitted my travel plans and issued the relevant orders. I just received the order ten minutes ago to wait at this platform!"

After retorting, Lao Wang patted Jiang Xia's shoulder heavily and looked at the end of the railway tracks extending from the platform with a complicated expression.

Oh, so Lao Wang's travel plan was just a smokescreen? Did the big shot above come up with a completely new plan?

Jiang Xia had a vague idea of ​​what was going on, but she pursed her lips and remained silent, only feeling a warm glow inside. Ah, this feeling of being valued is so wonderful!

However… as he munched on his steamed bun, he was a little puzzled:

Jiang Xia munched on a fragrant, crispy steamed bun, a hint of doubt in his mind. In his understanding, the reason he was sent to conduct an on-site inspection was more about pushing forward the "digital defense system," pointing out the path forward for the participants in the stalled Dongfeng 113 project, and implementing his proposed modification ideas.

As for checking the accounts, it's probably just a pretext to allow him to get involved in the project details.

But the fact that his itinerary was kept so secret, with his mode of transportation being changed at the last minute and him standing guard on this empty platform, suggests that there might be great danger ahead.

No way, my three senior uncles are still around, what am I afraid of!

Is there enemy sabotage involved?

Thinking of this, Jiang Xia shuddered. His gaze involuntarily drifted to the "beast" beside him. He munched on his steamed bun, walked over to the beast, and forcefully patted its thick, cold armor plating.

Hey, with you here, I'll take down two of them if one comes!

I'll draw a few tiny, broken figures all over your body then!

……

Yang Youning, carrying his abacus, looked at the armored vehicle and then at the empty railway tracks, muttering, "What's going on here? We can't expect the three of us to walk there, can we?"

"What time is it? You're still eating! Uh, give me a piece..." Yang Youning, clutching his precious abacus, unceremoniously tore a piece of crispy bread from Jiang Xia's hand and stuffed it into his mouth. "Hey, where's your brick? We're just waiting anyway, let's have another go! My wife taught me a new trick last night!"

"Tsk, Uncle Yang, still not giving up?" Jiang Xia burst out laughing when he thought of Yang Youning's performance yesterday, almost spitting out the crumbs of steamed bun.

"Hmph! Stop with the tricky questions! We're competing on common, solid arithmetic skills!" Yang Youning said somewhat resentfully, grinding his teeth as he stared at the calculator Jiang Xia had pulled out again, a calculator that could be used as a shield.

It turns out that Yang Youning had already tested this calculator yesterday.

The multiplications before were all fine, such as 12 multiplied by 34 equals 408. With his fairly skilled abacus technique, Yang Youning was almost as fast as a calculator in getting the answer. The beads clicked and clattered, which was quite impressive.

However, when Lao Wang, who was the one who set the questions, scratched his head and came up with a multiplication problem, Yang Youning was at a loss.

Upon hearing the question, even Mr. Weng, who was watching nearby, gasped: "This number... is quite large."

"Start!" Old Wang shouted, suppressing a wicked grin.

Factory Director Yang immediately bent down, his fingers flying across the table, the abacus beads clicking loudly. He was quite fast, and he was muttering to himself. Clearly, his wife had really trained him quite well.

与此同时，江夏的手指也在巨大的按键上沉稳地移动着，按键大，但他输入速度也不慢：1-2-3-4-5-6-7-*-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-=

Almost at the same moment Jiang Xia pressed the "=" key—

*Whoosh!* A huge red number popped up instantly:

"Tsk, thankfully the digital tube displays sixteen digits. If you had added even one more digit, it probably would have gotten stuck in a loop..."

Yes, that's right. Although the LED digital tube only has nine windows side by side, two of them are displays with four digital tubes connected in series. The extra one is just used as a decimal point.

In other words, this calculator can only display two decimal places. However, there's no need to worry about its practicality. The dedicated multiplier logic built by Jiangxia in hardware can actually achieve a calculation accuracy of six decimal places. If needed, you can simply add a digital display afterwards.

After all, the kid's primary goal in creating this calculator was simply to be lazy when auditing accounts; the second, well, that's where things get interesting...

"..." Yang Youning looked at the ridiculously long string of numbers on the calculator, then at the beads on his abacus that he had only moved halfway, and sweat dripped down his forehead.

Why not continue calculating?

Uh, Yang Youning's abacus only has ten rows, not enough digits, so he can't continue calculating...

(Actually, this was due to Yang Youning's limited understanding of the abacus; an experienced person could have calculated it using distributed cumulative calculation.)

"No, no!" Yang Youning blushed and stubbornly protested, "Wang Kui, the question you set is beyond the scope! My abacus doesn't have enough digits! If you're so capable... if you're so capable, wait for me!" After he finished speaking, without waiting for anyone's reaction, he grabbed his abacus and ran towards the factory office building.

Not long after, Yang Youning came running back, panting. In his hand he was carrying his old abacus, and under his arm he was carrying another brand new abacus with seventeen columns!

Behind them followed a middle-aged woman wearing blue overalls, arm sleeves, her hair neatly combed, and a serious expression.

"Here it comes!" Yang Youning placed the large abacus on the platform chair and patted it triumphantly. "See? Seventeen gears! That should be enough! You all know Sister Zhang from the finance office, so I won't say more! Wang Kui, give me that question again! Let Sister Zhang do it!"

"Come here, Sister Zhang. This kid is underestimating our ancestors' skills just because he has an iron box! Please come out of retirement, let's teach him a lesson with our real skills!"

Jiang Xia was speechless as Yang Youning brought in the factory's head of finance.

However, men, for some inexplicable reason, are driven by a competitive spirit. Don't tell me you never had a competition with your friends when you were kids to see who could pee the farthest…

……

The competition restarted, and with Sister Zhang's years of experience with the abacus, Jiangxia's calculator was defeated this time. It wasn't that the calculator was slow; rather, Old Wang had come up with another brilliant idea.

Now, the calculator's digits are immediately insufficient. Although the built-in hardware multiplier can still perform calculations, it cannot display the results.

But Sister Zhang had a different plan.

There must be a reason behind what our ancestors passed down.

To demonstrate her skills, Sister Zhang combined her abacus with Yang Youning's and completed the calculation in one go.

Finally, he proudly added: Actually, you can also use Yang Youning's abacus with ten positions to calculate. Just place the multiplier, multiplicand, and product in different areas of the abacus, or use "segmented multiplication"—the abacus is best at "step-by-step accumulation".

Jiang Xia sighed with admiration, "No wonder people always say that our young lady was 'made' with an abacus. We Chinese are so clever!"

Jiang Xia didn't see anything wrong with acknowledging the wisdom of their ancestors. Both things were merely tools to help people with calculations.

Unfortunately, Yang Erlengzi's carefree remark shattered this harmonious scene:

"Hehe, see that? The Red Dragon's Eye, huh? When it comes to multiplication speed, the abacus passed down from our ancestors is still the best! Sister Zhang's hand speed is something even your iron lump can't match, right? All that effort you put into this thing, and it can't even beat the abacus, tsk tsk..."

"Oh, Lao Wang. Find an apprentice with only a primary school education from the workshop."

“Uncle Yang, since you’ve brought in a shrewd strategist like Sister Zhang, I should probably find someone else. If the kids weren’t in class right now, I’d definitely bring in a preschool child…”

Jiang Xia looked at the smug Yang Youning and smiled maliciously.