The Improved Spinning Machine

Anna had just finished making a bacon sandwich when it was time for Li Mo to leave.

It had to be said, Anna made a truly delicious sandwich.

He had eaten them since he was little, and they had the taste of a mother's cooking...

While Li Mo ate, Anna stood obediently beside him, holding a tray with black tea and a handkerchief on it. Her service was impeccable.

Good food always put people in a good mood.

At the same time, he was about to go to the factory and improve its equipment, taking his first step toward advancing the Industrial Revolution in this era. That pleased him too.

In a good mood, Li Mo wanted to share it. Before leaving, he complimented her. "Anna, that outfit looks great on you today. I'm off~"

"Huh?"

Anna froze for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief.

While cutting the bacon in the kitchen just now, she had still been wondering whether the young master was possessed.

Now it seemed he probably wasn't.

She looked down at her dark formal dress, and a little burst of happiness welled up inside her.

She had taken care to dress up, after all.

It seemed that had helped improve the young master's mood. How nice~

Li Mo pushed open the front door. His father, Li En, was already waiting for him in the family carriage.

He climbed aboard, and the coachman flicked the reins, sending the carriage toward the south of town.

In 1861, Mondel Town wasn't particularly well-off, but perhaps for that very reason, the neighbors visited one another often and got along well. When they saw the Li family's carriage, some would even stop and take off their top hats in greeting.

The carriage passed the edge of the central square, where they came across an old woman selling flowers.

When she saw the Li family's carriage, she called out a greeting, picked up a small bunch of chamomile, and came to the window to hand it in.

She had originally wanted to ask the master to take the flowers home to the young master, but she hadn't expected him to be in the carriage.

The old woman said with concern, "Young Master Li Mo, this flower is for you. I hope you recover soon."

Li Mo accepted the chamomile and nodded his thanks. "Thank you. By the way, have you received a letter from your grandson recently, ma'am?"

The old woman shook her head. "No, I haven't heard from him in two months."

The kingdom was at war, and the old woman's grandson was serving on the front lines.

Hearing this, his father offered her some comfort. "It'll be all right. The reports from the front have all been great victories. The kingdom's army is advancing smoothly, so the war should be over soon."

The old woman smiled and nodded. "Yes, that would be best."

After a few more words, the carriage set off again and left the square.

Li Mo leaned back in his seat and narrowed his eyes slightly.

It wasn't that he deliberately doubted the truth of the battle reports...

It was mainly that, while studying at Wellington Higher Truth Academy in the capital, he had noticed something.

Over the past year, the new rituals developed by the academy had been increasingly geared toward combat.

Not only that, he had heard that admission standards were being lowered year after year, and large numbers of new students were being sent into the army after brief training.

Hmm... I hope I'm overthinking it.

After turning down two streets, the carriage arrived at the Li family's spinning mill by the river.

They pushed open the door and went inside, only to be immediately engulfed by the noise.

Industrial equipment in this era was basic to begin with, and noise reduction simply wasn't a consideration.

Dozens of steam-powered spinning machines ran at once.

The noise easily exceeded 110 decibels.

Working in this environment for long periods, the workers had grown accustomed to communicating through hand signals.

Li En walked to the center of the factory floor and pulled a control rope beside him.

A steam whistle let out a piercing blast, and only then did all the workers stop what they were doing and turn to look.

Li En smiled and greeted everyone, then gestured for the forewoman to come over.

A tall woman came walking over.

She wore coarse work clothes with the sleeves rolled high, and there was machine oil on her face.

She was the factory's technical supervisor and forewoman, and everyone called her Sarah.

Li Mo sighed as soon as he saw her.

Sure enough, Sarah climbed onto the platform and greeted Li En first. Then she strode up to Li Mo, reached out and ruffled his hair, and asked loudly with a smile, "You little rascal, feeling better?"

Sarah was, in a sense, his father's partner. She had watched Li Mo grow up and was like an older sister to him.

She was a highly capable mechanical engineer.

She handled all the factory's machine maintenance and technical adjustments herself.

Li Mo smoothed his hair and said, "Sarah, I'm here to take a look at the spinning machines."

Sarah was a little surprised, but she promptly expressed her approval. "You should've come to see them ages ago. I've told you before, you can't make a living off mysticism."

Li Mo's attention had already shifted to the spinning machines below, which had stopped running, so he replied offhandedly, "True."

Sarah grinned.

Before, Li Mo would have argued with her, trotting out all sorts of theories to refute her.

Now that he had fallen ill and dropped out of school, he'd become more agreeable instead. Good, good...

His father watched from behind, shaking his head, and coughed to remind her not to go too far.

Sarah turned and waved a hand. "Relax, little Li isn't as fragile as you think~"

Then she turned back, pinched Li Mo's cheeks, and pulled them outward. "Isn't that right, little Li?"

With his cheeks pinched and his mouth stretched wide, Li Mo mumbled an indistinct response. "Ah, true, true..."

Sarah laughed and let go, then led Li Mo down from the platform to a spinning frame.

Li Mo studied the machine carefully.

The drive shaft at the top was connected to a cowhide belt that transmitted power from the steam engine.

Broken yarn lay scattered on the floor. Clearly, this machine had a high rate of yarn breakage.

Judging by the transmission ratio of its mechanical assembly, excessive clearance between the meshing gears caused a slight jerk when workers drafted the cotton sliver.

That jerk was what made the yarn prone to breaking.

A plan for improving it quickly took shape in his mind.

Change the number of teeth on the third-stage drive gear, add an idler gear to absorb vibration, and adjust the belt pulley tension.

The plan wasn't complicated and could be put into action immediately.

Li Mo was thinking hard, and since this involved engineering, his comfort zone, he slipped into the zone without realizing it...

The aura of a core project engineer from his previous life suddenly emerged.

Thinking as he went, he gave an instruction. "Sarah, get me the thirty-six-tooth gear from the spare gearbox. Hmm... and a caliper, a wrench, and a set of shims."

Sarah didn't react right away. She paused, then said, "What?"

Li Mo was still deep in thought, calculating the optimal speed ratio in his head.

After waiting a while, he saw that the person beside him hadn't moved. He frowned and repeated, "Go on, hurry up. Don't just stand there."

The surrounding workers found the scene quite amusing.

Some scratched their heads, while others stifled their laughter...

It was the first time they had seen Boss Sarah ordered around like an apprentice at the factory.

Sarah wasn't angry, though. Instead, she suddenly found it funny and replied with a laugh, "All right, young master, I'll go get them for you right away~"

She turned and walked toward the machine repair room, but she was thinking to herself.

Let's see what this kid is up to.

If he just came to the factory to mess with me because he had nothing better to do, just wait and see if I don't pound him later.