Love in the Courtyard: Starting with Engineers

After what happened last night, the workers at the machinery factory clearly felt that the atmosphere in the factory was becoming increasingly tense, and there were many new faces in the security department.

Inside the courtyard, Sha Zhu hunched over, his two crippled hands tucked into his sleeves, leaning against the wall, staring longingly towards the alley entrance. His wrists swayed weakly, his fingertips too weak to even clench a steamed bun.

Footsteps came from the alley entrance; it was Aunt Zhang coming out carrying a vegetable basket, preparing to stew a pot of cabbage and tofu.

Sha Zhu quickly went up to her: "Aunt Zhang, you need to blanch the cabbage first to remove the bitterness, and fry the tofu until both sides are golden brown before putting it in the pan, then it will taste better."

Aunt Zhang glanced at him but didn't say anything. After the stew was ready, she brought out a small bowl of cornbread and placed it in front of Sha Zhu: "Here, that's all for today. The kids at home are still hungry."

Sha Zhu nodded and bowed hurriedly, holding the cornbread between his hands and slowly putting it into his mouth.

He choked on the cornbread, his eyes rolling back in his head, but he dared not waste a single bit of this half-bowl of food, which was his ration for half a day.

A few days ago, he was thinking of teaching some apprentices how to cook so he could earn a few more cents, but as time went on, everyone figured out the tricks of the trade, and who would still be willing to feed a crippled person like him?

The meager amount of coarse grains provided monthly by the neighborhood office is barely enough to make ends meet. When it's windy or rainy, they don't even have the strength to go out and wait for work.

He was munching on a cornbread bun when he saw Yan Bugui running past the alley entrance, carrying a cloth bag. Shazhu's eyes lit up, and he quickly called out to him, "Teacher Yan, wait a minute!"

Yan Bugui stopped in his tracks, and upon seeing it was him, his brows immediately furrowed. He took two steps back, as if afraid of being associated with poverty: "What is it? I'm busy!"

"I... I'd like to borrow some cornmeal from you. I'll definitely pay you back once I've saved enough money."

Yan Bugui shook his head vigorously, clutching his cloth bag and backing away: "My meager grain isn't even enough to feed my three children! Go find the neighborhood committee!"

Having said that, fearing that Sha Zhu would pester him further, he turned and ran, the keys on his belt jingling, and he ran faster than a rabbit.

Sha Zhu watched his retreating figure, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Back in the day, how prestigious he was in the courtyard house! And how powerful he was in the steel mill canteen, relying on his excellent cooking skills.

But ever since he schemed against Li Yu and ended up with crippled hands and lost his job at the steel rolling mill, he has become the laughingstock of the compound.

The wind grew colder, and Sha Zhu wrapped his patched-up jacket tighter around himself and huddled closer to the wall.

The loudspeaker at the alley entrance was broadcasting news about Longxing Factory's research and development of new materials to support national defense. He felt a mix of emotions as he listened. If he hadn't been so foolish back then, how could he have ended up in such a state?

Meanwhile, in the assembly workshop of Longxing Factory, static tests of drones are being carried out in full swing.

Heavy steel beams pressed down on the drone's wings, and various data jumped across the monitor screen.

Li Yu stood to the side, his eyes glued to the screen, his palms sweating. The biomimetic patterns on the wings were crucial; if they couldn't withstand the pressure, the entire development plan would have to be postponed.

"Increase the pressure to 80%!" Li Jianshe shouted at the top of his lungs.

The technician slowly turned the valve, and the steel beam gradually sank. The drone's wings bent slightly, but no cracks appeared. The readings on the monitoring equipment remained stable within the safe range, without any fluctuations.

"Increase it to 100%!"

The steel beams continued to sink, and the wings bent more and more.

The workshop was so quiet you could hear a pin drop; everyone's eyes were fixed on the silver-gray drone.

"Stable! Wing strength meets standards!"

Looking at the drone in front of him, Li Yu realized that he had created something for the future on his own, whereas before he had always relied on the system.

It wasn't until his emotional value was critically low that he had to think of his main account. Thinking about his excessive reliance on the system over the years, Li Yu felt somewhat ashamed. However, seeing the current development of China's industry, he still felt that his emotional value was a bit low.

Recently, due to reports on radio, television, and newspapers, he has accumulated a huge amount of emotional value, which he is just waiting to use at a crucial moment. After so many years of development, many basic industrial equipment and materials are already sufficient.

That day in the courtyard.

"Hey, Uncle, you used to be the second oldest in the compound, couldn't you have talked to the neighborhood committee and gotten me a bigger allocation of coarse grains?"

"My hand is useless now. I don't even have the strength to grip a spatula. Nobody wants to hire me to teach them how to cook."

Liu Haizhong slammed the wooden stick on the ground: "Whose fault is it that you've ended up like this? Back then, we were plotting against Li Yu together, but who knew you couldn't even get a sack over your head? If you had managed to get one over your head back then, would we be in this mess!"

These words struck a nerve with He Yuzhu, who lowered his head and muttered, "I regret it... I regret it so much I could die. If I had another chance, I would never have provoked him."

Meanwhile, at a military base on the southeastern coast, thousands of miles away.

At the end of the long table hung a huge map of the Taiwan Strait, densely marked with red markers indicating the command posts, radar stations, and armories of separatist forces.

Li Yu sat at the table, holding a tactical parameter table for the drone in his hand.

The generals opposite them, their epaulets gleaming under the lights, stared intently at the map.

"Chief Engineer Li, this short-range tactical drone has a range of 500 kilometers and an accuracy of within 5 meters, right?"

A lieutenant general pointed to a mountain on a southern island on the map and said.

"The separatist leader is in his command post on this island, which is surrounded by residential areas within 300 meters. Our requirement is to precisely strike the command post with zero civilian casualties."

Li Yu nodded and said, "Don't worry, sir. The drone uses a low-altitude penetration mode, which can avoid conventional radar detection. After reaching the target area, it will use remote sensing satellites to recalibrate the coordinates to ensure that it only hits the antenna on the roof of the command post, which is the core of the command center. The explosion range will be controlled within 50 meters and will not affect the surrounding residential buildings."

The lieutenant general slammed his hand on the table. "Good!"

"At that time, drones will take off from here to carry out the decapitation strike! At the same time, a naval destroyer formation will patrol along the median line of the Taiwan Strait, and air force fighter jets will be on standby to immediately suppress any unusual activity by separatist forces!"

After the meeting, Li Yu stood on the base's observation platform, gazing at the turbulent sea in the distance.

Another minor disturbance has erupted in the courtyard house.

Yan Bugui returned from the scrap yard in the morning, having earned three cents. He was about to buy a pickled vegetable when he discovered that the money in his pocket had vanished.

He immediately became so anxious that he jumped up and down, shouting in the alley, insisting that He Yuzhu had stolen his money.

The neighbors gathered around to watch the spectacle, but no one really helped anyone—He Yuzhu's reputation was ruined, Yan Bugui was notoriously stingy, and Liu Haizhong loved to act like a senior figure; none of them were popular.

Finally, an official from the neighborhood committee arrived, reprimanded the commotion, and calmed things down.