1980s: The Return of the Defector

Lin Cheng, a senior engineer from the modern era, finds himself accidentally thrust back into the year 1987 in the body of a government-sponsored overseas student. The original host was a disgraced defector who abandoned discipline, secretly changed his major, and attempted to stay abroad illegally. Facing a dead end, he is repatriated through the embassy and assigned to hard labor in a factory. Unwilling to let his elite mechanical R&D expertise go to waste, Lin starts from a dilapidated workshop. By dismantling imported prototypes, cracking formulas for specialized rubber seals, and pioneering high-precision hydraulic cylinder manufacturing processes, he sets out to eliminate domestic industrial bottlenecks and build a fully independent manufacturing ecosystem. From a humble workshop to the heavy industries of a sleeping giant, Lin clears his name, shatters overseas technological blockades, and single-handedly revitalizes the mighty manufacturing power of China.