Love in the Courtyard: Starting with Engineers

In the production workshop of Longxing Factory, the mass production of upgraded shipborne anti-aircraft guns is on track, and the formula for rare earth tungsten alloys has been handed over to the state-owned smelting plant for mass production.

Li Yu was finally able to spare half a day to visit Bai Ling and her daughter at the Bai family home.

The Bai family's courtyard was kept clean and tidy, with several potted plants on the windowsill. Sunlight streamed through the glass windows into the living room, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere.

Bai Xiaoling was sitting on the sofa holding her three-month-old baby. The little one had his eyes closed, his little mouth moving slightly, and he was sleeping soundly.

Hearing the door open, Bai Xiaoling looked up and saw that it was Li Yu. "You're back."

Li Yu tiptoed over and carefully sat down next to Bai Ling.

"Did I disturb you?" he asked in a low voice, afraid of waking the child.

"She's very well-behaved; she sleeps after eating, but she wakes up twice during the night."

Bai Xiaoling gently patted the child's back, her voice full of maternal love, "You've been so busy at the factory lately, you've lost so much weight. Come and try the chicken soup my mom made."

As soon as she finished speaking, Bai's mother came out of the kitchen with a bowl of steaming chicken soup, smiling and saying, "Little Li is back. Come and have some soup to nourish yourself."

We've all heard about what's been happening at the factory lately. The fighting in the South China Sea was brilliant; you really deserve a lot of credit!

Li Yu took the chicken soup. Bai's father sat in a rattan chair beside him, holding a newspaper in his hand, but his expression was not as relaxed as usual: "Little Li, you have made the greatest contribution to the Weihai ship breaking the blockade this time, but this is only the beginning. The trouble is yet to come."

Li Yu paused in his drinking of chicken soup and looked at Bai's father.

Bai's father, a leader in the national security department, was well-informed: "We intercepted intelligence from multiple sources. Those Western countries are unwilling to accept defeat and have recently sent a large number of spies into their countries, infiltrating all walks of life, especially the military-industrial complex, which is their key target."

The mother also put away her smile and added, "Moreover, they have increased their military deployments and activities in the waters surrounding our country. On the surface, it's a deterrent, but who knows what they might be planning behind the scenes? Their military interference will only become more and more intense."

Bai Xiaoling held the child, looking at Li Yu with a determined gaze.

"My dad has been notified that the national security system has been fully activated and will cooperate with Longxing Factory to strengthen security. But you also need to be more careful. You can't be so focused on research and development as before and ignore the dangers around you."

Li Yu nodded, his heart growing heavy.

He knew that as Longxing Factory made continuous technological breakthroughs and my country's military industrial strength increased day by day, the West would inevitably resort to any means to suppress and sabotage it.

Just as I was pondering this, a rapid preparatory tone suddenly came from the old-fashioned radio in the living room, followed by the announcer's impassioned yet trembling voice:

"Listeners, we now have an important news briefing. At 10:00 AM Beijing time, my country successfully detonated its first atomic bomb in the western region! This is a major breakthrough in my country's defense science and technology, marking my country as a nuclear-armed nation. From now on, my country's national defense security has a more solid guarantee!"

The moment the broadcast ended, the entire courtyard fell into a brief silence. Then, Bai's mother clapped her hands excitedly, her eyes welling up with tears:

"It's a success! It's a real success! We'll never have to fear nuclear threats again!"

Bai Xiaoling also held the child, her face full of pride and excitement. The little one seemed to be awakened by the applause, opening his round eyes and looking around curiously.

Mr. Bai stood up, walked to the window, and gazed into the distance, his tone heavy and resolute:

"The successful atomic bomb test is a good thing, it can deter many petty people, but it will also thoroughly enrage the West. They will never tolerate us having such a deterrent force, and their subsequent actions will only be more frequent and covert. Espionage infiltration will escalate, technological blockades will be intensified, and military provocations may also become more extreme."

Li Yu put down the chicken soup bowl, walked to Bai Ling's side, and gently stroked the child's soft hair.

The child babbled and grabbed his finger with his little hand.

He looked up at his father, his eyes filled with no hesitation, only unwavering determination: "Dad, don't worry, I understand."

"Longxing Factory cannot stop, and the pace of military research and development cannot be slowed down either."

"The more they suppress us, the faster we need to accelerate the development of shipborne vertical launch systems, anti-submarine torpedoes, and even more advanced fighter jets. These must be put on the agenda as soon as possible. Only when our military industry is strong enough and our national defense is solid enough can we truly protect this country and our families."

Bai Xiaoling held his hand and whispered, "I support you. Your parents and I will take care of things at home, so you can focus on your research and development. I'll let you know as soon as there's any news from the National Security Bureau."

"Hmm," Li Yu nodded.

After that, everyone deliberately avoided work-related topics, and Li Yu just spent time with Bai Ling and playing with the children.

Bai's mother went out to buy groceries and cooked a sumptuous meal. Although everyone had various worries, they still happily finished their meal at the table.

The next day, just as dawn broke, Li Yu quietly got dressed and prepared to leave the room. Bai Ling grabbed Li Yu's hand, and Li Yu patted the back of Bai Ling's hand.

Then he opened the door and went out.

In the precision machining workshop of Longxing Machinery Factory, the roar of the five-axis machine tool suddenly stopped.

Operator Lao Zhang abruptly pressed the emergency stop button, his face grave as he stared at the precision error data on the machine tool's display screen: "Chief Engineer, it's out of control again! This is the third gun barrel today to show an ellipticity deviation, with an error exceeding 0.01 millimeters, which does not meet the military's acceptance standards."

Li Yu strode over, his fingertips tracing the fluctuating curves on the screen, his brows furrowed in worry.

This deviation is not a malfunction of the machine tool itself, but a strange occurrence that has been happening frequently over the past three days. Whenever the workshop starts high-intensity processing, an unidentified signal interference appears in the air above the factory area, causing slight deviations in the CNC system's calculations. These deviations accumulate and cause the accuracy of the gun barrel processing to exceed the standard.

"It's electronic interference again."

Chief Engineer Lao Wang rushed over with the testing equipment, his tone anxious. "The equipment has detected high-frequency interference waves, originating from high altitude. It should be an enemy unmanned reconnaissance aircraft circling around."

"Yesterday, the Air Force reported that two high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft of unidentified nationality approached our airspace, with their targets being our factory and Jiangnan Shipyard."

"Damn it, do you really think we have no temper?! Have Zhang Jianshe from the security department arrange a few men to patrol with man-portable air defense missiles! Shoot them down if we encounter this situation!" Li Yu said angrily.