In the following days, Ren Baqian's students encountered a problem, which was that the locomotive carriage was too heavy. The mechanical energy produced by the steam engine was insufficient to move the locomotive carriage. The steam engine was also too big for its frame to withstand. They had been coping with these two problems from the start, which caused the size of the locomotive to begin growing bigger and bigger.
After two weeks, it was clear that the locomotive carriage was almost half the size of the courtyard.
Ren Baqian eventually couldn't hold it in any longer and asked, "You bunch of blockheads! Why don't you just replace the frames with metal?"
"Metal is too expensive! We can't afford it!" Tong Lan put herself forward and replied with the courage of her convictions. Everyone else nodded as well.
