Courtyard Houses: The Great Masters of a Nation Hidden Within

As Gao Jianguo was about to welcome the person in, a smile spread across his face.

Everything was moved into the south room. After the movers left, Gao Jianguo closed the door, waved his hand, and everything went into the storage room.

After leaving the south room and closing the door tightly, he walked to the courtyard gate to see his masters off.

Turning back, Gao Jianguo closed the door, stretched out his arm and hugged Lou Xiao'e, and the two sat down close together.

"Why did you come? Didn't you say you weren't coming today?"

Lou Xiao'e rubbed her face against his like a cat: "My dad said he's finished what you asked him to do and urged me to bring it to you. What is all this stuff? You two are being so secretive; my dad didn't even tell my mom."

Gao Jianguo raised his hand and gently poked her forehead: "That's good news, you and your aunt will know later."

This matter cannot be revealed to Lou Xiao'e.

It's not that I don't trust her, it's just that she can't keep things to herself and she's not careful with her words. It's not that she'll gossip everywhere, but if she accidentally lets slip even half a sentence, that would be a big problem.

She'll find out eventually, and then it won't matter who she tells.

Lou Xiao'e didn't press the matter further.

She was naive, but not stupid. The two most important men in her life had agreed not to tell her, so they must have their reasons.

However, Gao Jianguo's words, which put her, him, her father, and her mother together, conveyed a sense of being a pair, which warmed her heart.

She giggled, hugged Gao Jianguo's face, and gave him a big kiss.

It was cold, and Lou Xiao'e didn't want to go outside; she just wanted to stay at Gao Jianguo's house.

After spending some time with her, Lou Xiao'e urged him to go about his own business.

Lou Xiao'e knows a little English, but the more she looks at the strings of letters written on the paper, the more confused she becomes.

At first glance, it looked like an English word, but upon closer inspection, it wasn't. The punctuation was so poorly written that she couldn't understand it at all.

My family's founding of the nation is truly amazing.

That's the only thought that popped into her head.

Seeing that it was time to cook dinner, she went to boil water and cook herself. She knew exactly where Gao Jianguo's things were, just like she knew her own home.

Except for the south room, she would never step into it unless Gao Jianguo called her.

Xiao'e's cooking skills are getting better and better, but she can only cook a few dishes.

As Gao Jianguo ate, he daydreamed, wishing he could find a cookbook sometime, preferably a Sichuan cuisine one.

After dinner, Gao Jianguo rode his bicycle to take Lou Xiao'e home.

The bells jingled, and Lou Xiao'e's laughter mingled within them, carrying far into the night.

After returning from delivering the person, Gao Jianguo took out the things Lou Xiao'e had brought that day from the storage warehouse and opened them one by one to examine them.

Uncle Lou is indeed reliable; he always gets things done exactly as I ask.

He took the contents out of one of the boxes and threw the rest back into the storage room.

This thing is a flat copper plate with mounting holes on one side.

Underneath the plate was a base roughly the same size as the plate, thick and extending beyond the depth of the plate, with a plug protruding from it.

Next to the plug outlet is a switch and two small holes, each with a wire leading out.

Gao Jianguo then took out a thermocouple from the storage warehouse, which was a prototype made during a previous project.

There is a junction box at the tail of the thermocouple, inside which is a special circuit board, and two wires extend from the junction box.

He installed the thermocouple in the mounting hole of the copper plate, tilting it downwards so that it didn't touch the bottom of the plate.

The two wires of the thermocouple junction box are twisted together with the two wires on the base.

After wrapping it with insulation, plug the base into the socket, turn on the switch, and the light on the base will turn on.

An unpleasant odor emanated from the bronze pan.

Gao Jianguo grabbed some gray metal pieces and threw them into the plate. The metal began to melt and turned silver.

Not long after, a "click" sound came from the thermocouple junction box, and the light on the base went out.

Gao Jianguo turned off the base switch, left the things in the south room, and went out, closing the door behind him.

The metal in the plate slowly solidified and turned back to gray.

-

It was Wednesday again, and Gao Jianguo grabbed a stack of papers and went to find Lao Chen.

Old Chen noticed what he was holding and spoke first: "Have you finished revising the entire draft of the project management system?"

Gao Jianguo nodded: "Yes, it's all been repaired according to your wishes."

He handed over half of the manuscript paper he was holding.

Old Chen reviewed it and found that all the suggestions had been corrected, and everyone who should have been listed was included.

He signed his name below his own and handed it back: "Not bad, not bad. Go find the people who are contributing to the editing to sign it, and once they've signed, you can send it to the Machinery Industry Press. I'll talk to the ministry, and the ministry will then contact the publishing house to ask them to expedite it."

Gao Jianguo took the papers and handed them to Lao Chen, saying, "This is the ESR research and development application report. Please take a look."

Old Chen took it: "Oh, you've written it down? Let me take a look."

He nodded as he read the report, then closed it. "Hmm, the matter is basically clear. This is a big job. What are your thoughts on personnel? Besides the technical department, we need people on the production line, and we might even need to hire people from outside the factory."

This isn't something the technical department can just move around at will, nor can they go to Director Yang every time.

Gao Jianguo smiled and said, "Master, if you ask me, how about we learn from Deputy Section Chief Wu De's old method back in the thermocouple era and bring in Deputy Factory Director Li? What do you think?"

Old Chen closed his eyes, pondered for a moment, then opened them again: "Right! Your idea is brilliant. Deputy Factory Director Li is perfectly suited to fill the role of Deputy Section Chief Wu in this matter. He knows the factory workshops and the external units inside and out; he knows everyone. We won't need to bother Factory Director Yang with personal matters every time; he can handle most things. Brilliant!"

After stuffing the application report into the drawer, Old Chen said to Gao Jianguo, "Go and talk to Deputy Factory Director Li about this matter. The report will be presented at the meeting on Friday."

Knowing that his mentor meant well, Gao Jianguo picked up the manuscript of the project management system and went to get the signatures of the contributors one by one.

With the signatures mostly complete, Gao Jianguo took the manuscript and headed towards the building where Deputy Factory Director Li lived.

Deputy Factory Director Li happened to be in his office, saving him the trouble of searching everywhere.

Upon seeing Gao Jianguo arrive, Deputy Factory Director Li was very enthusiastic, quickly offering him a seat and pouring him water: "Jianguo, it's rare for you to come and sit down."

Gao Jianguo took the water glass and said with a smile, "I'm here to report to my superiors."

Deputy Factory Director Li closed the door, sat down beside him, and asked in a low voice, "Something good?"

Gao Jianguo pushed the manuscript of the project management system towards him: "We've compiled a book, and we'd appreciate your feedback. If you have no objections, here, please sign your name."

Deputy Factory Director Li, of course, knew the significance of writing a book, and turned to the page with the signature.

Editor-in-Chief: Gao Jianguo; Contributing Editors: A long list of names.

Many people had already signed their names, including Chief Engineer Chen. He was listed after Chief Engineer Chen and Factory Director Yang, leaving only his and Factory Director Yang's names blank.

Seeing that Old Chen had already signed it, Deputy Factory Director Li flipped through the manuscript and wrote his own name on it as well.

Everyone understands what's going on with this kind of good thing.

After signing, Deputy Factory Director Li patted Gao Jianguo on the shoulder: "The book is excellent. Jianguo is always reliable in handling matters, haha."

Gao Jianguo laughed: "You flatter me so much I'm embarrassed. Director Li, there are actually two things that happened today."

Deputy Factory Director Li's eyes lit up even more. Was there more good news?