Courtyard House: The Road to an Industrial Power

Feeling humiliated, Jia Zhangshi immediately started throwing a tantrum.

She plopped down on the ground, slapping her thigh and wailing, "You're bullying me! You stupid Zhu are bullying me! My Dongxu is starving to death, what's wrong with him eating a bite of your meat? You heartless bastard! You deserve to die a horrible death!"

Her insults grew increasingly vile, culminating in a vicious curse: "Your little brat is a debt collector! He'll die young!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the courtyard paled. Such vicious curses were the most taboo thing to do during a baby's one-month celebration.

Just then, He Daqing, who had been sitting in the corner drinking, suddenly stood up.

With his eyes wide with anger, he rushed over and slapped Jia Zhangshi's face hard several times.

"Snapped!"

After a series of crisp sounds, Jia Zhangshi's face instantly swelled up like a pig's head.

He Daqing pointed at her nose and cursed, "You fat pig! Your mouth is full of filth!"

"You not only stole my plate, but you also dared to curse my grandson! I'll teach you a lesson today!"

Jia Zhangshi was stunned by the beating, then cried even harder: "He's hitting me! He Daqing is hitting me! I don't want to live anymore!"

She threw a tantrum, overturning the table, smashing plates and bowls all over the floor, and splashing soup all over everyone.

The overturned pork knuckle rolled to her feet.

Sha Zhu and He Daqing were so angry that their faces turned ashen. Just as they were about to step forward and beat her, they saw Jia Zhangshi suddenly stop crying.

She saw the pork knuckle at her feet, picked it up, hugged it to her chest, and staggered home.

"I'm taking it home for Dongxu! Nobody can take it from me!"

Watching her flee in a disheveled state, everyone in the courtyard was both amused and exasperated.

Sha Zhu sighed and could only have the table cleaned up again. The lively full moon celebration was ruined and the mood was ruined.

Inside the Jia family's dilapidated house, Jia Zhangshi placed a dusty pork knuckle on the table and excitedly shouted, "Dongxu! Get up and eat some meat! Your mother got it back for you!"

Jia Dongxu's eyes lit up when he heard there was meat to eat.

He struggled to get out of bed, took the large piece of meat that Jia Zhangshi handed him, and stuffed it into his mouth.

He hadn't eaten meat in so long that he wolfed it down, stuffing his mouth full and swallowing it without even chewing it properly.

Madam Jia Zhang also began to wolf down her food.

Jia Dongxu suddenly coughed violently, his face turned red, and he made a "hoarse" sound in his throat. The meat in his hand fell to the ground.

He clutched his neck, his body convulsing, his eyes wide open.

"Dongxu! What's wrong with you?" Jia Zhangshi panicked and rushed over to pat his back.

But Jia Dongxu's cough got worse and worse. He had been bedridden for a long time and his lungs were inflamed. In addition, he ate too fast and a large piece of meat got stuck in his throat and he couldn't cough it up no matter what he did.

His face gradually turned from bright red to bluish-purple, and finally his eyes rolled back, his body went limp and he fell to the ground, where he remained motionless for a short while.

"Dongxu! Dongxu!" Madam Jia held Jia Dongxu and shook him incessantly, but Jia Dongxu never opened his eyes again.

He choked to death.

Jia Dongxu's death caused a minor stir in the courtyard.

Although the neighbors all disapproved of the Jia family's usual behavior, they respected the dead and no one said anything harsh.

When the people from the neighborhood committee arrived, Zhao Xiulan, as the deputy director, personally stepped forward to help with the funeral arrangements.

Lin Weidong and Lin Jianjun delivered a thin coffin, which was considered their way of showing neighborly affection.

Yan Bugui, Liu Haizhong, and others also pooled some money to help Jia Zhangshi arrange a simple funeral.

There were no musicians, no mourners, only a thin coffin and a few scattered mourners.

Jia Zhangshi followed behind the coffin, weeping uncontrollably. Perhaps she was crying for her son, or perhaps she was lamenting her own miserable life.

The funeral was very hasty; the burial was rushed, and the event ended abruptly.

At Jia Dongxu's grave, Jia Zhangshi sat on the ground, staring blankly at the small mound of earth in front of her.

Jia Dongxu's death did not bring much change to the courtyard house; it remained exactly as it was before.

A few days later at the steel rolling mill.

Lin Weidong placed the complete set of production blueprints for high-explosive armor-piercing rounds and the technical manual for modular rifle modification, which were awarded by the system, on his desk.

The dense array of parameters and structural diagrams made the veteran engineers in the technical department's eyes light up.

"Chief Engineer Lin, look at the tungsten alloy composition of this projectile. Can our existing smelting furnace meet the requirements?" said Senior Engineer Wang, looking at the blueprints.

Lin Weidong said in a relaxed tone, "The solutions to these problems are all in the information right here."

His words were like a reassuring pill, allowing the technicians gathered around to breathe a sigh of relief.

Because it's just too difficult to tackle a problem again.

In the days that followed, the military industrial workshop entered a state of intense focus and effort.

When the first high-explosive armor-piercing bomb was produced during trial production, everyone in the workshop was excited.

When the armor-piercing round penetrated the simulated armor plate at the firing range and exploded in a burst of fire on the back of the plate, everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The modular modification tests also went smoothly.

The original Type 95 rifle can be transformed into a precision sniper rifle by replacing the barrel with a sniper rifle and a high-powered scope.

By replacing the barrel with a short one and the stock with a folding one, it can be transformed into a submachine gun suitable for close combat.

When the soldiers tested the gun at the firing range, they all praised it highly, saying that the gun was simply tailor-made for the battlefield.

Recently, an interesting sight has appeared in the cafeteria.

He Yushui and Yu Haitang started going in and out of the cafeteria together again. Over the years, because He Yuzhu never lacked food for He Yushui, He Yushui has grown up to be more and more beautiful.

Walking with Yu Haitang in the steel rolling mill often attracted the attention of the young men there.

That day, He Yushui mustered up the courage to express her feelings to Lin Weidong, but was politely rejected by Lin Weidong because "her mind is entirely focused on the military industry."

She couldn't help but tear up while eating in the cafeteria.

Just then, Yu Haitang came over with her tray. Seeing her appearance, she sighed and sat down opposite her.

"He rejected me too. He was preoccupied with matters of national importance; our personal feelings probably meant nothing to him."

"Besides, how could someone like him possibly be interested in us?" Yu Haitang finished speaking and gave a self-deprecating laugh.

He Yushui paused for a moment, then looked up at Yu Haitang.

The two smiled at each other, and the previous misunderstanding and rivalry instantly vanished.

From then on, the two ate together in the canteen every day, chatting about what was happening in the factory. They would occasionally mention Lin Weidong, but their tone was filled with only admiration, and the previous affection was gone.

Sha Zhu was in charge of cooking in the cafeteria kitchen. Every time Yu Haitang came to get her food, he would secretly put an extra spoonful into her lunchbox.

After giving birth to her second child, Qin Huairu has been busy taking care of two children all by herself.

Sha Zhu works in the factory during the day and helps take care of the child when he comes home at night. He is so tired that he can't even straighten his back.

Qin Huairu saw this and felt heartbroken. After thinking it over, she decided to bring her mother from the countryside to live with her.