Ai Aiguo pressed the button, and the rolling shutter door slowly rose. Inside the door was his "stronghold".
Nowadays, the AiAiguo Welding Laboratory has become a popular industrial tourism attraction in the Hualing Xianggang Industrial Park, spreading scientific knowledge to children and conveying the spirit of craftsmanship to young people.
On June 29, 2021, Ai Aiguo, a welding consultant at Xianggang, was awarded the "July 1st Medal". This is the only person in Hunan, known as the "Great Craftsman".
Before that, Ai Aiguo had won the title of "National model worker", and had achieved the ultimate goal of "being a worker, we must be a good worker".
In 1969, 19-year-old Ai Aiguo carried his luggage from the Luoxiao Mountains in Hunan to the Xiangtan Iron and Steel Plant by the Xiang River, transforming from an educated youth to a welder.
This year, Ai Aiguo is 71 years old and officially retired 6 years ago. His wife and children are all living in Guangdong.
Hualing Xianggang wanted to rehire him as a welding consultant. Ai Aiguo did not hesitate and stayed alone in Xiangtan, Xianggang, and this "battlefield" where he had been fighting for 52 years.

The corner of Ai Aiguo Welding Laboratory.

The key to craftsmanship
In 1983, the former Ministry of Metallurgical Industry organized multiple steel enterprises across the country to jointly develop a new type of through flow blast furnace tuyere.
How to firmly weld the forged copper and cast copper of the air vent together has become the biggest challenge of the project.
At that time, Ai Aiguo, who was still an ordinary welder, took the initiative to request a try and proposed using the unpopular argon arc welding process, which was not yet a precedent in China at that time.
When welding, the air outlet needs to be heated to a high temperature of 600-700 ℃. At the end of each welding test, there are blood blisters all over my hands and sweat all over my body.
"After many experiments in the early stage, there were many successes and few failures," Ai Aiguo told Red Net Times reporters, and the final leader agreed to his welding plan.
But on the day of the official welding, he and the team members were all dumbfounded.
The volume of the formal air vent is larger and heavier, which is different from what they imagined. In the cold winter of the twelfth lunar month, outside, there was heavy snow and goose feathers. Ai Aiguo and his colleagues covered their bodies with wet cotton quilts and wrapped their welding guns with asbestos rope reins, fighting for more than 6 hours continuously.
When coming down from the blast furnace, sweaters and sweaters can wring out.
Originally intended to report victory to the former Ministry of Metallurgical Industry, but ultimately failed. Without dinner, Ai Aiguo returned to the dormitory alone.
"I feel very tired, mainly because my heart is tired. I didn't take a shower and just lay down," Ai Aiguo said. Despite preparing for so long in the early stages, he still couldn't succeed, and some even advised him to give up.
Ai Aiguo couldn't sleep anymore. Turning over and getting up, he wrote a report overnight to the director of the Central and Southern Bureau of the former Ministry of Metallurgical Industry, analyzing the reasons for the failure and requesting that they be given another chance.
After more than a month of adjustment and repeated argumentation, the new plan has been approved.
On March 23, 1984, welding was finally successful. After X-ray inspection, all 21 air vents he welded met the national technical standards. Due to outstanding performance in this research, Ai Aiguo was awarded the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award.
"The key is the love for work. Once a person loves it, they can overcome hardships and achieve the ultimate." Ai Aiguo said.

The honor earned by Ai Aiguo fills a wall.

"Individualized" Old Workers "
National Employee Self study Achievement Award, Chinese Skills Award, National May Day Labor Medal
At Hualing Xianggang, there is a wall filled with honor certificates and trophies obtained by Ai Aiguo. For decades, he has overcome more than 400 technical difficulties for industries such as metallurgy, mining, machinery, and power in China with his superb skills, and has won countless awards.
"No matter how famous or honored, they are all given by the Party and the state, and cultivated by enterprises." For Ai Aiguo, workers have always been his positioning.
Ai Aiguo worked at Hualing Xianggang for his whole life, and his highest position was as the welding team leader.
At the award ceremony of the "July 1st Medal" to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC in June this year, he walked into the Great Hall of the People in working leather shoes to receive the "July 1st Medal" on television.
Nowadays, Ai Aiguo, who has been rehired and returned to the factory, still clock in and out on time every day. A set of blue work clothes and a pair of yellow suede shoes always appear in the laboratory on time.
Someone advised him that at such an old age, he doesn't need to come every day or clock in, he can go later.
"I am an old worker and also an old party member. I clock in on time every day, but in fact, I want to show it to the young people around me." Ai Aiguo said that the most crucial aspect of the so-called "craftsmanship spirit" is the love for work. After loving it, anyone who wants to do anything well can persevere and overcome hardships to the extreme.
Ai Aiguo said that he has no hobbies. Every day when I come home from work, I stop going downstairs when I go upstairs. When I come across a book I like, I read it to the end, often staying up late at night.
"This habit is not good for the body, and my children have advised me many times, but it has gradually changed." However, Ai Aiguo's enthusiasm for "things he likes" has not diminished at all.
Recently, Ai Aiguo, who is over seventy years old, has received a new task of welding an 18 meter long shaft.
The welding site is in Hebei, and the shaft is produced in Germany, with a compressive strength of 1500 megapascals.
"The difficulty is not small. A few days ago, I talked to the leader about this matter, and we need to consider the transformation and stress situation." Ai Aiguo said, "Since we have accepted the rehire, we cannot be afraid of difficulties.".
In recent days, he has been arriving at the laboratory on time every day, buried in studying welding plans.
"What kind of welding method and welding material to use cannot be based on experience, but on data." For over a month, Ai Aiguo led the team to repeatedly verify.

Ai Aiguo's work leather shoes.

A restless "daily life"
Welding is not like anything else, it must be successful at once, there is no chance of trial. So every time Ai Aiguo said, "No matter how well prepared, every welding will still be a bit uneasy, afraid of failure."
Small as engineering equipment, big as venue bridges, with 1000 to 10000 welding points, as long as one of them is not welded properly, the entire project may declare failure.
Behind this, it may cause the country's investment of billions or even billions of yuan to be wasted.
Whether the welding is successful does not mean that it is successful even if it is qualified during acceptance, it requires time to inspect.
Rather than being anxious about patriotism, it is more of a reverence for science, security, and responsibility for work and career.
In 2012, Ai Aiguo welded a 1 meter diameter and 12 meter long shaft, and it is only now that the pressure in his heart has decreased.
"Because it has been so long without any problems, it indicates that the quality is up to standard," said Ai Aiguo.
Science never talks about emotions, every welding is a new scientific adventure.

Ai Aiguo and the spirit of great country craftsmen behind him.

As long as we can still do it, we need to continue working
In 2018, a domestic enterprise encountered problems with a large motor purchased from an internationally renowned motor manufacturer. The internationally renowned motor manufacturer sent someone to repair it and said it can be managed for one year. Three months later, problems arose again. After hiring two more companies for repairs without success, the company sought assistance from Hualing Xianggang.
The leader still found Ai Aiguo. Without a word, he arrived at the accident motor the next day.
"The country has cultivated you, and at critical moments, you must demonstrate your value." Ai Aiguo said, "At such times, you cannot consider yourself. As long as you can still do it, you must continue to do it.".
Over the past few decades, he has trained over 600 welding technicians for the country, but he has no special requirements for students, "simplicity is good."
Nowadays, Ai Aiguo still rides a worn-out bicycle every day, going through the wind and rain, fighting on the front line of production and research at Xianggang.
I start work before 7:30 in the morning and finish work after 5:30 in the afternoon every day, living a "two points, one line" life.
"I will be going to the welding training base soon, and there are a few students who need guidance. I hope they can represent Hunan and get good rankings." After the interview, Ai Aiguo rushed to the training base, where the students were waiting for him.

Article source: Xiangtan Iron and Steel Group Co., Ltd