Courtyard Check-in: Starting with a Small World of Cultivation

On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, the air at the Jiangnan Shipyard was already filled with the festive atmosphere of the New Year.

In the morning mist, the "Dongfeng" cargo ship's conversion project entered its final commissioning phase. Chen Yu stood in the control room of Pier No. 3, before him were two rows of newly installed control panels—green lights flashing, instrument pointers steady, the first linkage test of the semi-automatic loading and unloading system was about to begin.

"All departments, prepare!" Section Chief Sun shouted into a walkie-talkie, his voice booming. "Start the conveyor belt!"

"The conveyor belt is running normally!" came the reply from the loudspeaker.

"Start the gantry crane!"

"Gantry crane in position!"

Through the glass window of the control room, Chen Yu saw the scene inside the cargo hold: two conveyor belts were running at a constant speed, transporting wooden crates simulating cargo from the warehouse end to the center of the cargo hold; the gantry crane slid along the track, and the robotic arm precisely grabbed the wooden crates and smoothly moved them to the designated area. The entire process was unmanned, with only two monitors observing in front of the screen.

"Track positioning accuracy 0.2 mm, grab success rate 100%!" the data analyst reported.

Applause erupted in the control room. Section Chief Sun excitedly shook Chen Yu's hand: "It's a success! Chen, this system is even better than the design specifications! You've done a tremendous job in the past month!"

Chen Yu smiled, but his spiritual eye detected a subtle problem: the gantry crane's gearbox was making a faint abnormal noise when braking. He pointed to the monitor screen: "Section Chief Sun, have the crane stop at position three. I want to check the gearbox."

Five minutes later, Chen Yu climbed onto the gantry crane's maintenance platform. He opened the gearbox cover, and the internal gears were running smoothly. However, in his vision with his spiritual eye, he could see several tiny stress cracks on the tooth surface of the secondary gear—early signs of material fatigue that ordinary testing instruments could not detect.

"This gear needs to be replaced." Chen Yu pointed to the problem area. "It's currently a minor crack, and it might break after another month of operation."

"How is that possible?" the accompanying mechanic exclaimed in disbelief. "These gears were just replaced; they've only been running for fifty hours!"

Chen Yu didn't explain, but simply asked the technician to bring an endoscope and a magnetic particle flaw detector. Twenty minutes later, the flaw detection results came out—there were indeed three microcracks, the longest of which was about 0.5 millimeters.

The technician was dumbfounded: "Engineer Chen, your eyesight is even better than any instrument!"

"Just experience," Chen Yu said casually. In fact, this was an ability brought about by the increased precision of his Spirit Eye Technique after reaching the fourth level of Qi Refining. Now he could see defects as small as 0.1 millimeters inside metal, which was more accurate than the best non-destructive testing technology of this era.

After replacing the gears, the system was retested and ran perfectly. Section Chief Sun immediately approved: "Xiao Chen, from today onwards, you are our shipyard's chief technical consultant! All acceptance tests for critical equipment require your signature!"

At noon, the canteen served an extra meal to celebrate the successful renovation project. Braised pork, steamed fish, and four-happiness meatballs filled the long table. Chief Engineer Zhao personally attended, raising an enamel mug: "Comrades, this toast is to all those who participated in the 'Dongfeng' ship renovation! A special toast to Comrade Chen Yu; your technological innovations have propelled our shipyard's automation level forward by leaps and bounds!"

Everyone raised their glasses. Chen Yu responded modestly, but his mind was on something else—it was time for the weekly sign-in session again.

After lunch, he returned to his room at the guesthouse and closed the door.

"System, weekly sign-in."

[Ding! Weekly check-in successful]

【获得：中级炼器心得（特殊）×1、微型录音机升级模块（提高音质与续航）×1、1963年《电气工程》期刊合订本（已翻译适配）×1、初级传讯阵盘图纸×1、现金150元】

Intermediate Refining Tips! Chen Yu immediately used them, his mind flooded with knowledge about miniaturization of magical artifacts, composite runes, and optimization of spiritual energy conduction. What surprised him most was the blueprint for a basic communication array—a method for manufacturing a fixed communication device with an effective range of up to a hundred miles!

"Great!" Chen Yu unfolded the blueprints. The core of the array plate was a "Spirit Gathering Communication Array," which required twelve spirit stones to set up, with each spirit stone capable of supporting communication for one month. Although the cost was high, it solved the key problem of long-distance communication.

He immediately began his study. He took out the remaining spirit stone fragments from the Qiankun Cauldron and arranged them into a simple formation on the table according to the diagram. When the last spirit stone was in place, a ball of light appeared in the center of the formation plate, trembling slightly—this was the state of transmitting a communication signal.

"We need another array plate to test it..." Chen Yu recorded the data. Making a complete array plate requires more materials and tools, which cannot be completed in a short time.

He put the blueprints and spirit stones back into the cauldron and exited the small world. When he did, he found a letter on the table—a reply from Qin Huairu.

The letter, five thick pages long, was opened. Qin Huairu wrote in detail about the family's recent situation: the jujube tree in the Beixinqiao courtyard had shed its leaves, and she had swept the whole yard; after the Jia family moved away, Xu Damao's house had been officially allocated to them by the neighborhood committee, and the key was with Director Wang; He Yuzhu delivered vegetables every three days, saying that pregnant women need to supplement their nutrition; most interestingly, she wrote: "...the baby kicked particularly hard yesterday, and when I touched my belly and said, 'Daddy is learning skills in Shanghai,' he quieted down, as if he understood..."

At the end of the letter, a new photo was attached. In the photo, Qin Huairu was sitting in the courtyard, her belly clearly protruding, holding a small sweater she was knitting, and a gentle smile on her face.

Looking at the photo, Chen Yu felt a mix of emotions. Two months away from home, his wife had endured the hardships of pregnancy alone, while he was thousands of miles away...

He wrote back, a full three pages long. He talked about the shipyard project, subtly mentioned technological breakthroughs, but mostly urged her to take good care of herself. At the end of the letter, he wrote: "...I have asked someone to buy some fine fabric and baby supplies in Shanghai, which I am sending with this letter. The Spring Festival is approaching, and although I cannot return home, my heart is with you. We will be reunited when I return from Guangzhou."

After writing the letter, he went to the post office to mail it and then stopped by the department store on Nanjing Road. He picked out a dark blue woolen fabric for Qin Huairu, along with some brown sugar, red dates, and two cans of milk powder—rare items that could only be purchased with remittance coupons. The baby supplies section didn't have many items, so he chose the softest little cotton-padded jacket, tiger-head shoes, and a silver longevity lock.

When he returned to the guesthouse carrying his bags, the receptionist called out to him, "Mr. Chen, you have a phone call. You're from Beijing."

Chen Yu's heart tightened, and he quickly walked into the duty room to answer the phone.

"Hello, is this Xiao Chen?" It was Section Chief Li's voice on the other end of the phone. "Can you hear me? The Shanghai to Beijing route isn't working well..."

"Section Chief Li, it's me! What are you saying?"

"Two things!" Section Chief Li raised his voice. "First, you've been named a 'Ministerial-Level Technological Innovation Pioneer'! The certificate and bonus have already been sent to the factory, and I've had the finance department send them directly to your spouse! Second, the Guangzhou Shipyard sent a letter requesting that you go there ahead of schedule; they have an urgent technical problem that requires their assistance!"

"Ahead of schedule? When?"

"We have to leave before the Spring Festival! Around the 20th of the twelfth lunar month!" Section Chief Li paused, "Xiao Chen, I know this doesn't make sense, your wife is almost seven months pregnant... but this is a mission from the department, you see..."

Chen Yu was silent for a few seconds. The birth on the 20th of the twelfth lunar month meant he would be spending the Spring Festival in Guangzhou. Qin Huairu's due date was next March, and he had originally planned to return to Beijing after finishing his studies in February...

"Xiao Chen?"

"I'll go." Chen Yu made the decision. "Section Chief Li, could you please tell Huai Ru that... that the department has an important mission and I will return as soon as possible after the Spring Festival?"

"Good boy..." Section Chief Li's tone was complicated. "Don't worry, the factory will take good care of your husband. I've also spoken to Director Wang, and the neighborhood committee will send someone to visit him regularly."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Yu sat in the duty room for a long time. Outside the window, the sky over Shanghai darkened, and fine snowflakes began to fall—this was Shanghai's first snowfall of the winter.

"System, check-in for today," he muttered unconsciously to himself.

[Ding! Japanese visa successfully obtained]

[Received: 3 feet of Shanghai cloth coupons, 1 industrial voucher, a small basic communication principles knowledge kit, and 10 yuan in cash]

Communication principles... Chen Yu smiled wryly. The system seemed to be reminding him: the communication device must be made as soon as possible!

Over the next few days, Chen Yu entered workaholic mode. He spent his days finishing up the modification project at the shipyard, and his evenings studying the communication array in his room. He obtained a batch of electronic components from the imposter Chen Mingyuan: transistors, capacitors, resistors, and a small oscilloscope—all of which were acquired from Hong Kong through a trading company.

His intermediate-level weapon crafting experience gave him a deeper understanding of miniaturization of magical artifacts. He attempted to combine a communication array disk with a transistor circuit: using runes to replace some circuit functions and spiritual energy conduction to replace some electrical signals. This was a completely new field, and he failed countless times.

Late at night on the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, when Chen Yu finished assembling the thirty-seventh improvement plan, the device on the table finally emitted a stable "humming" sound.

This is a wooden box about the size of a book, with intricate arrays of runes engraved on its surface. Inside, it integrates a fragment of a spirit stone and a micro-circuit. When powered on (ordinary 220V AC), the indicator light in the center of the box illuminates green.

"Chen Mingyuan, test." Chen Yu commanded with his mind.

"Received, Master." The voice of Pseudo-Man Six came through the device; although there was some static, it was clearly audible. "I'm currently at the Nanjing Road office, about ten kilometers away. How's the signal strength?"

"Clear! Keep the call going, I'm moving to a different location to test."

Chen Yu carried the wooden box out of the guesthouse and tested it along the street. One kilometer, three kilometers, five kilometers... At eight kilometers, the signal began to weaken; at ten kilometers, there was noticeable static, but it was still understandable.

"Eight kilometers of effective range, barely enough..." Chen Yu recorded the data. This was an improvement over his original pocket watch artifact, but it was still far from his goal—from Shanghai to Beijing.

On his way back, while passing a watch shop, a grandfather clock in the window gave him an idea: what if a large array was used as a base station, and small ritual implements as terminals...?

He revised the design drawings overnight. Large array panels were placed in fixed locations, powered by spirit stones or electricity, serving as signal relay stations; small terminals were carried by the user and relayed signals through the array panels. Theoretically, as long as the base station network provided coverage, the communication distance could be extended indefinitely.

"Like a mobile phone system..." Chen Yu was surprised by his own idea. In this era, even landline phones were not widespread, yet he was beginning to envision a mobile communication network.

However, this idea requires a lot of resources and time. The most realistic approach right now is to create a point-to-point communication device that can cover a distance of 100 kilometers.

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the training course organized a "Laba porridge" activity. The canteen of the Shanghai Machinery Factory cooked a large pot of Laba porridge, with red beans, mung beans, peanuts, red dates, longan... the ingredients were plentiful, and the porridge was sweet and fragrant. The trainees sat together, enjoying a rare moment of relaxation after three months of training.

"Chen Yu, I heard you're going to Guangzhou for the Spring Festival?" Wang Zhiqiang sat down with a bowl in his hand.

"Yes, it's a task from the department."

"What a pity, I was hoping to invite you to the City God Temple fair," Wang Zhiqiang said regretfully. "Shanghai is so lively during the Spring Festival, especially the 'staying up all night' on New Year's Eve. Every household sets off firecrackers, and there are even fireworks on the Bund..."

Chen Yu smiled but didn't say anything. He recalled his first Spring Festival in Beijing last year, making dumplings, putting up Spring Festival couplets, and staying up late with Qin Huairu... They had only known each other for a short time then, and everything was just beginning.

"By the way, Director Sun asked me to ask you if you'd be interested in working at the Mechanical Engineering Research Institute after the New Year?" Wang Zhiqiang lowered his voice. "They're setting up an 'Automation Research Laboratory' and want you to be their deputy director, at the deputy section chief level!"

Another olive branch. Chen Yu was already used to it: "Let's talk about it after my studies are over. I still need to go back to Beijing."

"I understand, I understand." Wang Zhiqiang patted him on the shoulder. "But Chen Yu, with your abilities, it's a waste to stay stuck in a steel rolling mill. There are more opportunities and a bigger platform in Shanghai..."

Chen Yu was well aware of this. But Beijing was his home, his roots.

On the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the "Dongfeng" ship renovation project was officially completed. The shipyard held a brief handover ceremony, and Chen Yu, as the technical head, signed his name on the acceptance document. This document will be filed in the ministry's archives, becoming an important entry in his resume.

After the ceremony, Chief Engineer Zhao approached him privately: "Xiao Chen, I've already spoken to the people about the task in Guangzhou. Chief Engineer Zhang from the Guangzhou Shipyard is an old classmate of mine; he'll take good care of you. Also..." He handed him an envelope, "This is a Spring Festival bonus from the shipyard for you, one hundred yuan. Don't refuse."

Chen Yu took the envelope, which felt heavy: "Thank you, Chief Engineer Zhao."

"We are the ones who should be thanking you," Chief Engineer Zhao said with emotion. "Xiao Chen, your skills saved us at least three years of wasted time. You are welcome to come back anytime after the Guangzhou mission is over. The shipyard's doors are always open for you."

On the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, Chen Yu began preparing for his trip to Guangzhou. He wrote a long letter to Qin Huairu, explaining in detail the importance of the mission in Guangzhou and promising to return to Beijing within two months at most. Enclosed with the letter were all the things he had bought in Shanghai, as well as the consolation money he had just received—he kept half for travel expenses and other costs.

News also came from Chen Mingyuan's side: Mingyu Trading Company has set up an office in Guangzhou, and the person in charge is False Man No. 7, using the alias Chen Minghui. At the same time, False Man No. 1 sent intelligence from Beijing: everything is normal in the courtyard, Qin Huairu is in good health, and the neighborhood committee sends people to visit her once a week.

"There's one more thing," reported Man Number One. "We've detected a group of suspicious individuals appearing three times near the Beixinqiao courtyard. We've sent people to follow them, and our initial assessment is... they might be members of the Dragon Seeking Society."

The Dragon Seeking Society! Chen Yu's eyes turned cold. These people actually came to Beijing!

"Strengthen protection; use force if necessary," Chen Yu ordered. "Ensure Huai Ru's absolute safety."

"yes!"

On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Chen Yu went to Longhua Temple to bid farewell to the monk Huiming.

"Are you heading south to Guangzhou, benefactor?" Huiming, who was copying scriptures in his meditation room, put down his brush upon hearing this. "Guangzhou... is very close to Hong Kong."

"Does the master know about the situation in Hong Kong?"

"I know a little bit." Huiming poured himself a cup of tea. "Hong Kong is a mixed bag now, with the Hung Society, the Green Gang, British influence, Taiwanese spies... and the Dragon Seeking Society. Senior Xuanzhenzi's cave is in Kowloon, which is now a no-man's-land, very chaotic."

"What suggestions do you have, Master?"

"Take this with you." Huiming took out a string of Buddhist prayer beads from the drawer. "This is a blessed ritual object from our temple; it might protect you in a critical moment. Also..." He paused, "The abbot of Guangxiao Temple in Guangzhou is my junior brother, his Dharma name is Huijue. If you encounter any difficulties, you can seek him out."

Chen Yu accepted the prayer beads with both hands. The eighteen sandalwood beads were each engraved with intricate scriptures. They felt warm and smooth to the touch, and one could sense a faint Buddhist power.

"Thank you, Master."

"No need to thank me." Huiming looked at him. "Benefactor, you bear the inheritance of the senior Xuanzhenzi, and are destined to walk an extraordinary path. The road ahead is fraught with difficulties, but it is also an opportunity. I hope you will stay true to yourself and never forget your original intentions."

As Chen Yu emerged from Longhua Temple, a light rain began to fall. He walked along the Suzhou Creek, umbrella in hand, lost in thought. In three months in Shanghai, he had risen from an ordinary technical trainee to a ministerial-level technical consultant, acquiring a complete technical lineage and becoming entangled in the Hongmen, the Dragon-Seeking Society, and even potentially the secrets of the Imperial Seal of the State...

It all felt like a dream.

But the Buddhist prayer beads in his arms reminded him that it was all real.

On the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, Shanghai was blanketed in heavy snow. This was a snowfall unlike any seen in decades, transforming the entire city into a pristine white wonderland. The training course concluded its final session early with a simple graduation ceremony.

Chief Engineer Zhou presented each trainee with a graduation certificate. When it was Chen Yu's turn, he gave him an extra envelope: "Little Chen, this is an appointment letter for a specially appointed researcher at the Shanghai Machinery Plant. You are not required to work in the office; you just need to complete one research project each year. The salary is equivalent to that of an associate senior engineer, with a monthly salary of 120 yuan."

Chen Yu accepted the letter of appointment. This meant that even after returning to Beijing, he would still maintain contact with Shanghai and have a stable source of additional income.

"Thank you, Chief Engineer Zhou."

"Keep a good job." Chief Engineer Zhou patted him on the shoulder. "The country needs technical talents like you."

On the nineteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Chen Yu packed his luggage. A wicker trunk contained all his belongings: a few pieces of clothing, technical documents, research notes, and most importantly—the Qiankun Cauldron and the heirloom treasure inside.

Standing by the window of the guesthouse, he looked at the snow-covered streets of Shanghai. This city had given him opportunities, challenges, and growth; now he had to leave for the time being.

Next stop, Guangzhou.

Then, Hong Kong.

His face was reflected in the windowpane, his eyes resolute.

The road ahead is long, but he is prepared.