Chapter 261: Found a Substitute

Lu Cheng was about to move a journal on the table when Lin Qingyan pressed his hand down and said, "Don't move, it'll mess things up; later I won't know where to resume the translation."

The Journals are in several languages and full of technical terms, which for Lin Qingyan is a pretty big challenge; it's clear the translation got muddled.

Lu Cheng still tossed the magazine aside, and only then did Lin Qingyan look up and see him holding a bowl and chopsticks.

"Eat first," Lu Cheng placed the bowl and chopsticks on the desk.

"I'm not hungry yet; let me finish translating that page first."

Lin Qingyan said she would fetch the magazine again, but ended up with a pair of chopsticks in her hand.

"People are iron, rice is steel; no matter how urgent the translation task, you must eat first. Eat quickly, I'm watching you eat."

Lin Qingyan pursed her lips and had to eat first; Lu Cheng casually opened a notebook of completed translations, all in Chinese characters, so he could read them.

"So, does the magazine mention any equipment related to hydraulic oil?"

Lin Qingyan ate in small bites, shaking her head slightly: "Not yet, but don't rush; there are still so many magazines left, there should be something."

Tian Shukuan had already said that searching journals for problems is like a blind cat stumbling onto a dead mouse.

Lu Cheng wasn't particularly hurried; instead, he watched Lin Qingyan be more anxious than he was.

"How about this: don't rush to translate; first skim, focusing on finding issues concerning hydraulic oil."

Lin Qingyan looked up: "First skim? Didn't you say it's best to translate everything? These are all about mechanical equipment and could be useful later."

"I mean we should solve the hydraulic oil issue first; if some magazines aren't related, skip them and translate them slowly later when we have time."

Lin Qingyan nodded: "Hmm, that works; this should speed things up a bit."

Having settled on this method, Lin Qingyan's journal‑translation speed increased considerably.

For some journals, a quick glance at the table of contents revealed no relevance to hydraulic oil, so they could be skipped outright.

They stayed up late into the night; the next morning Lu Cheng would find Lin Qingyan asleep, curled up on the magazine at the foot of the bed.

During the day they also visited Tian Shukuan, and despite so many people translating together, they still hadn't found a good solution for the hydraulic oil problem.

With the one‑month deadline approaching, fewer than five days remained.

Yet Lu Cheng still seemed unhurried each day, eating and sleeping as needed; he thought that if the Journals contain a solution, they have it, and if not, no amount of haste will help.

But Lin Qingyan was very anxious; she didn't want Lu Cheng to lose his deputy chief commander position at the Research Institute because of this.

To speed up progress, besides working by lamp light each night, the pace of reading also quickened.

That night, Lu Cheng was sleeping half‑asleep when Lin Qingyan jolted him awake.

Lu Cheng mumbled as if dreaming, "What's wrong? Need to pee?"

Lin Qingyan laughed at his words: "You're not a child, yet you want me to shake you awake to use the bathroom. Wake up quickly; I think I've found a way to solve the hydraulic oil issue."

Lu Cheng sat up straight, rubbing his face first: "What time is it?"

"Hmm? Looks like it's almost three o'clock."

Outside the window was pitch black, and even at this hour Lin Qingyan still hadn't slept.

Seeing Lu Cheng's calm stare, Lin Qingyan asked puzzled, "Why aren't you at all excited?"

After all that effort to obtain the journals and finally finding a solution inside, Lu Cheng still acted as if nothing happened.

"Excited? Of course I am. Not just excited, also moved."

"Moved?"

"Yes, you say you stay up so late every day just to help me; I'm even afraid I might accidentally fall for you."

Lin Qingyan shifted her gaze: "It's my duty to help you; you've helped me a lot too."

"That's true, ha. Hearing you say that, I no longer feel guilty."

Lu Cheng pulled the curtain all the way to the wall; Lin Qingyan, fearing to disturb his sleep, lay on the bed and used a flashlight to examine the magazines one by one.

"Where is it? Let me see!" Lu Cheng picked up a magazine, which turned out to be a Russian book, dense with tiny characters he didn't recognize at all.

"Hehe, you should tell me about it then."

Lin Qingyan snapped back to attention, skimmed those pages first, then pointed to the text and said.

"These paragraphs basically say that the Soviet Union, to cope with production difficulties in extreme cold, developed a hydraulic oil usable at low temperatures, and when equipped on certain tanks, it greatly extended the tanks' service life."

Lu Cheng was waiting for Lin Qingyan to elaborate professionally based on the text, but that was all she said.

"Nothing else?"

With Lin Qingyan shaking her head, Lu Cheng was a bit puzzled: "So this isn't a solution either. The Russians' winters are indeed like ours in the Northeast, and their industrial tech is more advanced than ours; the hydraulic oil used in their tanks isn't affected by extreme cold, which is normal, but the Russians won't tell us how to solve it."

"I know everything you said, but I've now practically gone through every magazine; they can't directly detail the production process of hydraulic oil. I think we should look for inspiration within this."

Looking for inspiration? It seems Tian Shukuan said the same.

Lu Cheng pressed his chin and thought for a moment: "You mean we should change our approach, not insisting on developing every item ourselves, but fully consider finding a substitute."

Lin Qingyan quickly nodded: "I thought I wasn't clear; you're actually quite smart."

Normally Lu Cheng would tease, but now all his thoughts are fixed on the word "substitute."

It must be said, if a substitute can truly be found, it would greatly shorten the entire snow‑removal machine development process.

But how should we look for a substitute?

At that moment Lin Qingyan muttered, "If only my grandfather were still alive."

"Your grandfather?"

Lin Qingyan, looking as pleased as if she'd found a solution, lay on the bed, her feet swinging back and forth.

"Yes, since the Soviets equipped their tanks with this hydraulic oil, I think the tanks we use on the border will face the same issue. If my grandfather were still alive, he could ask the military for us."

Lu Cheng suddenly saw the light; Lin Qingyan meant that to find a low‑temperature‑resistant hydraulic oil, they should turn to the military.

The military, huh?

Lu Cheng had no shortage of connections in that area.

"Got it, thanks for your effort. It's getting late; you should go to sleep first."

Having settled on a line of thought, Lu Cheng then knew which direction to go.

The journals of the past few days were indeed not read in vain; although they don't specify the exact production materials and process, they can indeed provide some ideas.

Lin Qingyan still wanted to translate this passage about hydraulic oil into the notebook, so Lu Cheng simply spread his own blanket over her, and Lin Qingyan dared not move any further.

The next day, Lu Cheng went to the Iron Science Institute Research Institute.