Chapter 453: Unbelievable
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Hai Dongli was a little stunned. He did not know why they thought that the waste was the result of his research.
He walked over and saw that some of the oil used to produce the fibers had condensed in various experimental containers for some reason, forming a layer of black structure that looked like plastic.
One of the larger ones was accidentally poured out of the bucket by him. It was like a tough jelly that could bounce and move around, as people poked it.
Hai Dongli was a little interested himself. He picked one up and studied it for a moment.
He realized that this kind of material was not as heavy as iron, nor was it as fragile as gla.s.s. While it was very elastic, it was also very tough and flexible.
Someone said, “It’s quite good to carry water with this thing. It has a texture. It’s not very heavy, nor will it leak easily like other wood containers.”
“Well, this kind of plastic seems to be quite malleable. It should be able to be cast into all kinds of things like gla.s.s.”
“Is it too soft?” someone asked.
Hai Dongli poured out the material from the other molds. When he picked up one of them, he realized that each plastic had a different feel and soft hardness.
Some were as hard as ironwood, and some were as soft as paper. As someone had just said, this thing was very malleable, dense, and strong. It could be made into many products that were durable, useful, and not easily broken.
Everyone praised the new product developed by Hai Dongli. It was just that the color and smell was a little strong. If it could be improved, this material should be able to be used as pipes and a container for transportation.
Suddenly, their gazes landed on Hai Dongli’s arms. They realized that there were actually a few textile machine in the entire laboratory. There was also an unfamiliar textile worker here. They could not help but ask curiously, “Are you trying to improve the textile machine?”
Hai Dongli’s attention was completely focused on the black plastic in his hand. It took him a long time to recover and he shook his head.
Everyone was even more puzzled. Why would Hai Dongli get someone to weave here?
Hai Dongli couldn’t speak and it was too troublesome to explain to them. He only gestured with his hand. “The fabric is made of oil.”
Everyone was at a loss as to what he was gesturing at. At this moment, Hai Dongli’s a.s.sistant, Lin Qingcai, arrived.
Lin Qingcai was in charge of taking care of Hai Dongli’s food and daily life. At the same time, he was also Hai Dongli’s a.s.sistant disciple.
He was delighted to see the fabric in Hai Dongli’s hand. He leaned forward. “Sir, is it made of liquid petroleum?”
As soon as he said this, the others revealed doubtful expressions.
How could oil be used to weave cloth?
Did they hear wrongly?
Hai Dongli nodded happily, confirming Lin Qingcai’s words.
Lin Qingcai immediately wanted to reach out and touch it. His excited smile was about to overflow. “That’s great! I told you we could definitely do it!”
Lin Qingcai had contributed a lot to Hai Dongli’s success in developing the synthetic fiber in such a short period of time.
Before his hand could touch the fabric, Hai Dongli hid it and gestured with his hand. “You have to wash your hands first. Come with me to meet the Great Empress later.”
They had spent so much effort to make so much textile fabric. They could not dirty it. Lin Qingcai nervously retracted his hand and ran to the fountain at the side to quickly wash his hands. Then, he quickly ran back and touched the fabric under everyone’s confused gazes.
It was smooth and soft, like snow silk that was only offered to the emperor.
Lin Qingcai widened his eyes in disbelief. “Sir, this is too good!” It was a thousand times better than he had imagined.
Hai Dongli nodded. “Let’s go see the Great Empress now.”
“Okay!” Lin Qing replied.
They gestured to each other the whole time. No one had yet to figure out what was going on.
Someone stopped them and asked anxiously, “What’s going on? What’s going on with your fabric?”
Lin Qingcai smiled and said, “You’ll know when we get back.”
As soon as they left the place, Hai Dongli reversed back and carried all the plastic buckets. He left the research inst.i.tute under everyone’s puzzled gazes. “Could this big bee have produced two research inventions at once?” “Making fabric from oil? Do you believe it?”
“Unbelievable!”
“That’s right!”
Bai Wutong was taking a lunch break. Hai Dongli and Lin Qingcai waited anxiously for a long time before seeing her.
Bai Wutong thought that Hai Dongli had encountered some technical difficulties. Unexpectedly, with just a rough process blueprint, and the most primitive one.
Not long after, he extracted the synthetic fiber from the petroleum and weaved the fabric to showcase to her.
Bai Wutong picked up the fabric. If no one had told her that this was fabric produced from synthetic fiber, she would not have been able to tell the difference between it and ordinary satin.
No, there was still a difference.
The silky texture would not have the feeling of static electricity.
Bai Wutong picked up the fabric again and sniffed. There was a slight smell, but it was not pungent.
Bai Wutong said happily, “The fabric is very good. How is the production? How long will the production process take?”
Hai Dongli quickly wrote on the paper, “A barrel of oil is estimated to produce 30 bolts of cloth. Excluding the time to weave into fabric, it will take about seven days to extract the raw materials.”
A barrel of oil could produce 30 bolts of cloth. It was much more worth it than cotton.
Moreover, it only took seven days each time, which was much shorter than Bai Wutong had imagined.
Bai Wutong said, “Is there a way to produce it in large quant.i.ties?”
Hai Dongli quickly wrote on the paper, “That requires rea.s.sembling and modifying our machinery to produce it in large quant.i.ties.”
Their machinery was made as they fumbled around. There was still a lot of room for improvement.
Bai Wutong nodded and reminded him, “I remember that you created an engine last time. Perhaps you can use it this time to replace energy supplied by heating and greatly reduce the amount of coal required.”
Hai Dongli’s engine was still in the experimental stage, but Bai Wutong’s affirmation made him feel much more confident. He immediately wrote on the paper, “I’ll speed up the production when I get back.”
Bai Wutong commended the two of them and made a suggestion. “Since oil can be used to make cloth and it’s very malleable, we can further study materials for different applications.”
Lin Qingcai immediately nodded. “The softness and hardness of textile fluids are different at different temperatures and times. As long as you grasp the differences or add other textile materials, you can definitely make different fabrics.”
Hai Dongli was still in charge of further developing the engine and improving the machinery, so Bai Wutong handed the task of developing cloth to Lin Qingcai.
Lin Qingcai was extremely excited that Bai Wutong was willing to believe him. He gladly accepted the task.
Suddenly, Hai Dongli took a step forward and placed a few strangely shaped black buckets in front of her.
Although the shape was strange, Bai Wutong still recognized it as a plastic bucket at a glance..