Siheyuan: I, Shazhu, started out as an army and became a general.

Northwest Base, canteen.

It has been four months since the last launch.

The air was filled with a strange, indescribable smell, like the stalks of boiled cabbage and rotten sweet potatoes.

He Yuzhu held a lunchbox, the porridge inside so clear you could see your reflection. Across from him, Lu Guangda was shakily breaking apart the only half of a cornbread, intending to share it with his young assistant beside him.

"Smack."

Lu Guangda's hand trembled, and the steamed bun fell onto the table. He tried to pick it up, but his body fell straight backward.

"Professor Lu!"

He Yuzhu reacted quickly, catching the great hero who had just created the "long-range vision" for the country. He felt light as a feather, like a bundle of dry firewood, and his wrists were frighteningly thin.

"Low blood sugar, from hunger." The medic ran over, looking distressed. "Chief Engineer He, we're out of glucose. The base's food supplies are only enough for three days, and it's all coarse grains."

Looking at the researchers in the cafeteria, all of them pale and thin, yet still intensely discussing data, He Yuzhu felt as if a huge boulder was blocking his heart.

The backbone of the nation.

They are building the world's most advanced missiles, yet they eat food that even pigs in pigsties would find unpalatable.

[Ding! Host detected facing a crisis point during the 'Three Years of Natural Disasters'!]

[Check-in triggered! Location: Northwest Missile Base Cafeteria!]

[Check-in successful! Rewards: Portable Subspace Ecological Farm (Beginner, 10x Growth Speed), Super Hybrid Rice Seeds (Drought- and Cold-Resistant Version), Top-Tier Hunter Intuition!]

A glint of light flashed in He Yuzhu's eyes.

This is a sure thing!

Just then, a messenger rushed in, sweating profusely, clutching a telegram tightly in his hand: "Sir! Urgent telegram from Beijing! It's...it's a private, urgent telegram from Director Wang of the neighborhood office!"

He Yuzhu frowned and took it.

There was only one line of text on the thin piece of paper:

"The Jia family is forcing a marriage, intending to marry Yu Shui to Liu the Fool in the west of the city in exchange for grain coupons. The betrothal ceremony is tomorrow, so return home quickly."

"Snap!"

He Yuzhu actually squeezed the aluminum lunchbox in his hand into a glaring lump of iron with his bare hands.

In that instant, the temperature in the entire cafeteria seemed to drop, and the air was so cold it felt like ice crystals were about to fall.

Lu Guangda, who had just caught his breath, shivered. He was horrified to see that the usually cheerful and culinary genius "Chef He" had no smile on his face and the murderous intent in his eyes was almost tangible.

"Okay, very good."

He Yuzhu laughed in anger, his voice sounding like he was squeezing each word out from between his teeth.

"I'm forging swords for the country at the front, and you're selling my sister for food coupons at the back?"

"Get the car ready!" He Yuzhu threw the lump of iron in his hand into the trash can and strode out.

"Go to the guard battalion again, and transfer a platoon! Fully armed, they'll come back to Beijing with me!"

The communications officer was stunned: "Sir, the mobilization of combat platoons requires reporting the reason to the military region..."

He Yuzhu suddenly stopped and turned around.

That gaze was as cold as if it had been pulled from the icy hell of Changjin Lake, carrying a murderous aura of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

"reason?"

"Treating our military dependents constitutes human trafficking, and should be prosecuted as treason. Isn't that reason enough to execute them on the spot?"

……

Nanluoguxiang, Beijing.

The cold wind was blowing like a knife, but there was an eerie liveliness in the courtyard.

At the entrance of the Jia family's house, a crooked red "double happiness" character, which seemed to have come from nowhere, was pasted up in an eyesore.

A table was set up in the center of the courtyard, on which were twenty catties of cornmeal and ten catties of gleaming pork coupons.

In these years of starvation, this thing is a huge sum of money.

He Yushui was tied to a chair with hemp rope, her mouth stuffed with rags, her tears had long since dried up, and only a dead look remained in her big eyes.

Madam Jia's plump face was all wrinkled from smiling, looking like a rotten chrysanthemum, as she flaunted the grain coupons: "Oh my, Mr. Liu, you can rest assured! Yushui is a bit thin, but she's got the foundation. Look at that big bottom, I guarantee she'll give your silly son a big, healthy boy!"

Across from them, a drooling, chuckling, idiotic man reached out his dirty hand to touch He Yushui's face.

"Don't rush, my son." The mother of the simpleton slapped her son's hand away and glanced at Qin Huairu. "Qin Huairu, this matter needs to be handled properly. We don't want that idiot Zhu to come back and cause us trouble."

Qin Huairu stood to the side, her eyes red-rimmed, seemingly reluctant, but her hands, tightly gripping the sack of cornmeal, her knuckles white, betrayed her true feelings.

She kept her head down, not daring to look at He Yushui, and whispered, "Zhuzi... he's been missing ever since he came back last time. He's probably dead out there by now. An elder brother is like a father, and an elder sister-in-law is like a mother... As his sister-in-law, I'm only doing this for Yushui's own good. It's better than her starving to death..."

"Did you hear that?" An old man named Yi Zhonghai strode out, hands behind his back, a smug, self-righteous expression on his face. "This is a happy occasion arranged by our neighborhood, and it's also a way to ease the burden on the country. Old Liu's family has good social standing; Yushui will be blessed to marry into that family!"

Uncle Liu Haizhong, with his bureaucratic belly protruding, chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes! This is the justice upheld by Uncle Liu, who dares to object?"

Some of the residents in the courtyard looked reluctant, while others gloated, but under Yi Zhonghai's authority and the lure of the pile of grain, not one dared to utter a sound.

"Waaaaah!" He Yushui struggled desperately, the chair beneath her scraping against the ground with a piercing scream.

"Behave yourself!" Madam Jia rushed forward and slapped him across the face. "You little brat, you think you're so great?!"

"Let's see who gave you the nerve."

A deep voice, seemingly carrying a metallic quality, pierced through all the noise and clearly entered everyone's ears.

The sound wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced the entire courtyard, and everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

The courtyard gate is backlit.

A tall figure wearing a military green general's overcoat slowly walked in.

His black high-top leather boots stepped on the bluestone slabs in the courtyard.

Hey.

Hey.

Hey.

Every step was like a heavy hammer blow, slamming into the hearts of those beasts in the yard.