Traveling Back to the 1960s: The Entire Internet Teaches Me How to Build Missiles

Chapter 75 Huang Shiren and Nan Batian

Zhou Yunxiao never expected that this public opinion offensive would actually produce such an unexpected result.

The butterfly effect caused Kenneth to lose to his opponent by a few votes, despite initially holding a slight advantage.

After serving as Nixon's deputy for eight years, he was finally promoted to the top position, thus ushering in a new era.

He put down the newspaper and couldn't help but feel a little emotional. He realized that he, a butterfly hovering in the East, had flapped his wings and caused a huge change ten thousand kilometers away.

May this future "winner" bring peace and friendship!

At this moment, Mu Chunsheng jumped down from another soft sleeper berth and squeezed over to chat: "What are you looking at, you little rascal? You've been grinning like an idiot. Let me see!"

He snatched the "Reference News" and read for a while before realizing that half the page was filled with news about the US and Canadian elections. He couldn't help but scoff, "That's it? Some foreigners are electing their leader, what's there to be happy about?"

The excuse Zhou Yunxiao made about "King Wuling of Zhao and Ying Ji" was only known to a few high-ranking members of the base, such as Ye Ling and Staff Officer Xu, as well as members of the special task force. Therefore, Captain Mu did not know what was interesting about this news.

Zhou Yunxiao said, "Of course Nixon won the election, so we're happy. This is a good thing for us."

"Good news?"

Mu Chunsheng asked, puzzled, "These people mentioned here, Di and Song, aren't they all evil foreign devils? No matter who's in charge, they won't give us a good face. How can you distinguish between good and bad? Does it mean that if Di wins, it's a bad thing?"

Zhou Yunxiao couldn't explain the pros and cons to him clearly, so he changed his approach, "Although they're both pretty bad, it's like Huang Shiren and Nan Batian—which one do you think is more of a scoundrel?"

Mu Chunsheng pondered, resting his chin on his hand. "Huang Shiren was a beast for taking Xi'er and driving Yang Bailao to his death! But Nan Batian was also despicable. Not only was he cruel and domineering, but he also indiscriminately killed people with guns. He was even worse than a beast, so Nan Batian was the more despicable one!"

"That settles it then. Just think of the guy who won the election as Huang Shiren (a notorious landlord in Chinese folklore). He's not exactly likable either, but he's at least a bit more conscientious and easier to talk to than the Southern Tyrant, understand?"

Mu Chunsheng said "Oh," and added, "I understand!"

Steam trains roared across the vast plains, where the early spring Gobi Desert was already teeming with life.

The saxaul, tamarisk, camel thorn, and jujube trees have grown back, and all things on earth are full of spring and thriving.

Zhou Yunxiao would fantasize about the future of America, ponder the atomic bomb, and then dream about the scene of combining the two bombs.

Outside the window, the sky is high and the clouds are light, and even the air is filled with a faint fragrance of flowers. Occasionally, you can see some iron slag and ore by the roadside, as well as abandoned steel mill mounds that look like graves.

The journey from Qingshui to Jincheng took the Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway, a total of 700 kilometers. Team 501 set off early in the morning and arrived in Jincheng in the early dawn.

Stepping out of the sleeper car, the bustling Jincheng Railway Station immediately invigorated everyone.

Zhou Yunxiao, in particular, seemed to have traveled to another world by train.

A bustling and vibrant world.

After all, the Gobi Desert is too desolate and remote. Although more than 12,000 people were stationed in the No. 10 government unit, it was like a well-ordered small town.

However, due to militarized management and heavy research and development tasks and production labor, there are basically no recreational activities.

At most, people can gather together to have some fun when Al-Qaeda shows movies.

Normally, he wouldn't think much of it, but now that he's using a business trip as an excuse to leave the Gobi Desert, Zhou Yunxiao feels like he's been released from a labor camp and is finally free!

Chief of Staff Xu returned from questioning people at the supply depot and said, "The train to Tianduo won't arrive until the afternoon, so everyone should rest this morning. Store your luggage at the supply depot's transport room..."

Afterwards, we will act as a group. No one is allowed to wander off alone or cause trouble. Do you understand?

"Understood!"

Everyone was quite happy to hear that they could spend the whole morning in such a lively place.

Even if you can't run around or wander around, just watching the excitement with your eyes wide open is quite interesting.

"Let's go find a restaurant to eat! We've been eating nothing but sand and dust at the base for so long, you haven't had any oil or fat in your stomach except for the dumplings we had during Chinese New Year, have you?"

Staff Officer Xu led the way with a smile.

Mu Chunsheng put his arm around Zhou Yunxiao's shoulder and immediately reported, "Reporting to the commander, Comrade Zhou secretly ate pork and cabbage stew with vermicelli with Captain Jiang of our First Squadron last month!"

Staff Officer Xu raised an eyebrow: "Oh, the food's pretty good, isn't it?"

Zhou Yunxiao chuckled twice. "Captain Mu ate some too. When Captain Jiang brought the last pot of stew to the team, Captain Mu was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan!"

They were exposing each other's shortcomings, and he also reported on Comrade Lao Mu.

Mu Chunsheng blushed, covered Zhou Yunxiao's mouth, and stepped aside.

The others burst into laughter.

Staff Officer Xu led six people into the Red Flag Restaurant near the station and found a table facing the street to sit down.

A menu with black background and white lettering hangs on the wall, with the words "beef noodles," "dumplings," "guokui" (a type of flatbread), and "scrambled eggs" written in large characters.

Mu Chunsheng, who was in charge of the budget, was about to call the waiter when Staff Officer Xu stopped him. "Don't rush to order. We rarely get to go out like this, so let's try to have a good meal. Check your pockets to see if you have any food coupons that are about to expire. Use them up during this meal so they don't go to waste. If we go away for several days, we might not even have a chance to spend money on food anymore."

In those days, grain coupons were something that had a price but no market, especially local grain coupons, which were basically invalidated monthly or quarterly, and were all invalid after the expiration date.

If someone were to carelessly miscalculate the dates and waste a grain coupon, they would truly regret it to the core.

Upon hearing this, everyone agreed that it made sense, and they all started flipping through the pages.

Soon, Li Difeng, the engineer, chuckled and pulled out a grain coupon. "I have a three-jin Jincheng grain coupon here. It will expire at the end of the month. I'll contribute a few bowls of noodles to everyone."

Another comrade from the second division also happily raised his hand, exclaiming, "I have a pound here!"

"I—I only have half a jin of it here—"

Zhou Yunxiao and Mu Chunsheng exchanged an awkward glance. They either sent their food coupons home, or they ate too much to save them.

Therefore, his pockets were completely empty.

Seeing this, Chief of Staff Xu waved his hand and said, "Alright, let's take another 1.5 jin of grain coupons from the business trip fund, and we'll make up 6 jin, enough for a hearty meal! If you can't afford the grain coupons, that's fine too, just contribute some money. 4.5 jin of grain coupons, that'll make up 9 yuan, and we'll add another 3 yuan from the fund!"

Mu Chunsheng said, "There are seven of us, what can we eat with 12 yuan? Let's say each jin (500g) of grain coupons costs three yuan, so if we pool together 18 yuan, we can afford scrambled eggs!"

Staff Officer Xu asked for everyone's opinion, and everyone raised their hands in approval.

So they gathered four and a half jin of Jincheng grain coupons, and took out one and a half jin of national grain coupons from the high-standard business trip budget, plus eighteen yuan, and ordered everything that everyone wanted to eat.

Soon, the waiter brought over three bowls of beef noodles, three plates of dumplings, and a pound of pancakes.

The side dishes included stewed pork with potatoes, scrambled eggs with scallions, stir-fried cabbage with dried tofu, a small dish of peanuts, and a pot of egg drop soup. The aroma of the meat and vegetables made everyone's mouths water. Chief of Staff Xu announced, "Dinner is served!"

Everyone eagerly grabbed their chopsticks and began to feast.

While eating dumplings, Mu Chunsheng asked, "Xiao Zhou, are the pancakes delicious? Why do people from Jiaodong love to eat them?"

Zhou Yunxiao broke off a small piece and gave it to him, "Try it."

Mu Chunsheng chewed a couple of times and said, "It tastes just so-so, dry and bland."

"That's because the pancakes here aren't authentic."

Zhou Yunxiao picked up a few slices of cabbage, rolled them up, and said, "The pancakes from our Yimeng old revolutionary base area are really chewy and springy!"

Everyone chatted about this and that, and they were all quite satisfied with today's meal.

The only meat dish was a few pieces of pork stewed with potatoes, and they were all fatty pieces.

But Zhou Yunxiao, who was used to eating wild vegetables and cornbread, had long lost the spoiled air he had developed in his previous life.

He tore off a large piece of pancake, stuffed it into his mouth, then picked up a piece of fatty meat, put it in his mouth, and swallowed it down in a few gulps.

After finishing the egg drop soup in the pot, everyone patted their full bellies, left the restaurant contentedly, and strolled out onto the streets of Jincheng Station, picking their teeth as they went.