Courtyard Houses: The Great Masters of a Nation Hidden Within

Chief Engineer Sun looked on with curiosity and tapped his fingers on the table.

"Gao Jianguo? Do you remember that internal notice from the 17th Ministry of Machinery Industry, the one about the newly approved high-temperature alloy material?"

Engineer Zhao nodded.

"I just turned to this spot too, 3Z-591, the thing we're going to put on the solid-fuel engine casing of the missile."

"The report clearly states that this material was produced by that kid Gao Jianguo."

The chief engineer's enthusiasm immediately surged.

"What do you think, how about we bring him over here?"

"Xiao Lin's classmate, he must also be studying automation, which would be very useful here."

"Judging from his demeanor, this person is quite capable and knowledgeable."

Engineer Zhao waved his hand.

"Stop dreaming. You've already set your sights on someone just because you heard what they did. Do you think they wouldn't cherish them like a treasure?"

"I don't know if the 17th Ministry of Machine Building is in a hurry, but their factory will definitely be jumping up and down with you."

The chief engineer smacked his lips and chuckled.

"Haha, that's true."

"It's nothing, we'll just borrow his chicken and let it lay eggs for us."

"Let Xiao Lin visit him more often, and make sure he receives the recognition he deserves. I don't think there's a problem."

"Putting everything else aside, there's someone you can ask for advice on this engine casing. He's practically a brother-in-law when it comes to materials, hahaha."

Little did Gao Jianguo know that the two old comrades were plotting how to take advantage of him.

If he knew, he'd definitely stick his head out—come and grab it, don't be shy, hurry up!

Right now, he's engrossed in finishing the book on project management systems. After he finishes writing it, he'll have to hand it over to Liang Jianguo, Yong, and Qiang to check for typos and mark any parts he's unsure about.

Once they've sorted through what they found and fixed it properly, they'll give it to Old Chen for his approval.

The main thing is to check if there's anything taboo. Old Chen's nose is more sensitive than his in this regard.

As he was about to leave work, Gao Jianguo let out a long sigh of relief.

It's finally done.

This was the first time in his two lifetimes that he had actually produced a monograph, and his heart was churning with excitement.

Although he had never worked in a company in his previous life, he had at least glanced at the ins and outs of getting a professional title.

Specialization is a solid asset.

Although he doesn't lack these things right now, the sense of accomplishment is still incredibly satisfying.

Once you've done it once, you'll never have to worry about doing it again.

He suppressed his emotions, called over a few people in the office, and divided the manuscript into three stacks. Each person took one stack to proofread, and then they exchanged them after they were done.

After one round of single-cycle testing, he will be able to start making changes.

The three people took it as if it were a precious treasure.

They were really looking forward to reading and proofreading this.

Besides, once you get started, the title of co-author will be firmly in your grasp.

They knew perfectly well how thorough Gao Jianguo was in handling affairs.

Having given all the instructions, and seeing that it was almost time, Gao Jianguo packed his things and left.

As I rode my bike past the factory's bulletin board, a group of people were gathered there reading the notices, and I could faintly hear a few words being muttered over.

"Gao Jianguo has been demoted to deputy section chief again. That guy's risen really fast."

"A deputy section chief, huh? Their salary must be so high."

"That little bit of money is nothing to him. An eighth-level engineer earns twenty or thirty yuan more than a deputy section chief."

"Thirty for high school? I don't even earn thirty a month."

"For him, the deputy section chief level is the most practical; even a lower level is still a cadre status, allowing him to have his feet on both sides."

"..."

Gao Jianguo continued pedaling his bicycle toward the factory gate.

Near the factory gate, a convoy of CA10 Liberation trucks were mingling with the flow of people leaving get off work, rumbling away into the distance.

On the back of the lead and tail wagons, soldiers holding steel rifles sat upright, their eyes gleaming as they scanned their surroundings.

Above the front of the vehicle, the muzzle of the guns from Flight 56 ​​was faintly visible in the shadows.

The first batch of 3Z-591s has already headed to their battlefields.

Looking at this scene, Gao Jianguo felt increasingly relieved.

The idea of ​​treating myself to a meal popped into my head.

He rode his bike to a state-run restaurant on his way home, intending to order a couple of dishes and have a good meal.

I was shocked when I got inside; all the meat and vegetables were gone.

They must have arrived too late.

I turned around and ran to the grocery store, but the meat was all gone, and there wasn't much else left.

It's normal. These days, trying to make a profit at this hour is like hitting the jackpot.

Gao Jianguo cursed his bad luck under his breath and simply kicked his car back home.

Once inside, we got a few pre-made dishes, put them in a hot pot, stirred them, and with a bottle of wine, we started playing the gramophone, enjoying ourselves until evening.

I'll make an exception tonight.

I've been working non-stop for over a month, and even the strongest person couldn't keep up. I'm taking advantage of the relief of finishing the manuscript tonight and I'm not touching anything.

In that dark corner outside the south house, a shadowy figure listened for a long time, but heard nothing, and then walked away listlessly.

-

Saturday afternoon, in Lao Chen's office.

Gao Jianguo handed a stack of manuscripts to Lao Chen.

"Master, I've finished working on that project management system."

"Liang Jianguo and the other two helped proofread it. This is what I've corrected; please point out any flaws."

Old Chen was quite pleased and took the manuscript.

"Haha, all done? Then I'll have to read my apprentice's work carefully."

The manuscript arrived, and the cover bore six large characters: "Project Management System".

Below that was a line of smaller print: "Editors-in-Chief: Chen Heming, Gao Jianguo".

Old Chen glanced at it, then ripped the cover off with a rip, crumpled it up, and threw it into the wastebasket.

Gao Jianguo couldn't stop him.

"Master, what are you doing?"

Old Chen shook his head.

"I understand your respect for me, and I accept your good intentions."

"But this thing is really unsuitable; I'm not qualified to be the editor-in-chief of this book."

Gao Jianguo sighed.

"Weren't you just about to give me feedback? How come this doesn't count?"

Old Chen smiled.

"Haha, I'll definitely offer my opinions, but I'm certainly not qualified to speak to the editor-in-chief."

"I can't even get over having my name on the list myself."

"Just put me in the 'Contributor' section, at the top of the list."

"That's settled then. Don't say anything else."

"Leave the manuscript with me, I'll take a look right away and get back to you later."

Although Old Chen stubbornly refused to take advantage of his apprentice, he couldn't hide the smile on his face as he expressed his gratitude.

As it was almost time to leave work, he spotted Lin Jianguo again.

This guy seems to be having a lot of free time lately?

As soon as Lin Jianguo stepped into the room and saw Gao Jianguo sitting there, his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, suddenly settled down.

These days, finding someone is all about luck.

Without a cell phone, making a call is difficult; you can only try your luck when you arrive at the location. If the person isn't there, you can only leave a message.

When Gao Jianguo saw Lin Jianguo, he guessed that there must be some trouble again.

But he doesn't develop missiles himself, so why does this guy keep bringing this up every now and then? His reasons don't seem quite right.

Gao Jianguo asked him to sit down.

"Lian Wei, you've come all this way to thank me? Haha."

Lin Jianguo looked embarrassed.

"Of course I'll thank you. I'll write you a thank-you note later, hehe."

"But I have serious business with you today."

Upon realizing it was serious business, Gao Jianguo stopped teasing him.

"Oh? Go ahead."

Lin Jianguo pondered for a long time.

"We have a material on hand that's good in every other way, but we feel it's a bit heavy."

"You guys are in materials science, do you have any ideas?"

Asking about the materials.

So it's somewhat plausible that he came to me for help to figure it out.

Even rolling steel plates, no matter how grand the concept, are still considered materials.

But this problem is the same as last time, completely unanswered and without any clear conclusion.

Gao Jianguo gradually got used to this kind of cryptic conversation.

What materials?

"I can't say."

This is even worse.

No wonder they work on air-to-air missiles; this dialogue is purely air-to-air.

If you don't even know what the material is, then the steel rolling mill's most common tricks, such as heat treatment to improve quality, then reducing quantity, and finally compressing weight, are completely useless.

Gao Jianguo was completely exasperated.