A courtyard house; Li Yunlong, a subordinate of the deputy director of Harbin Military Engineering I

Inside the Lou's steel rolling mill workshop, a flurry of activity erupted, accompanied by shouts of cursing.

"You idiot, Yi Zhonghai! How many times have I taught you? You still get it wrong!"

clap clap clap! !

The sound of a large foot striking a person could be heard coming from inside.

Zhang Rende held a file in his left hand and a shoe sole in his right. Yi Zhonghai was hunched over by the lathe, getting hit on the buttocks twice, groaning in pain, but still dared not let go of the half-finished shaft in his hand.

"Master, Master, please don't be like this. I was wrong, I know I was wrong."

"You know you're wrong but you won't admit it. Isn't that what you always say?"

Zhang Rende threw the sole of his shoe on the ground, bent down to pick it up, and then tapped Yi Zhonghai's forehead with his hand. "You are the dumbest disciple I have ever taught. Look at his bangs, he may be a little stupid, but he is not as petty as you!"

And then there's Jia Gui, he's almost a senior fitter. Look at you, look at you, what kind of person are you?

"If you fucking don't want to learn, I'll go tell Boss Lou that I don't teach pigs."

A dozen or so workers in the workshop looked up to watch the commotion. Some were trying to suppress their laughter, while others covered their mouths with their hands, but their eyes were all glancing this way.

Zhang Rende has a loud voice, and even the clanging of a stamping machine pressing down on a steel plate next to him couldn't drown out his voice.

Yi Zhonghai straightened up, clutching his buttocks. His face flushed red and then paled, and he murmured under his breath:

"Master, I was just thinking that meticulous workmanship and slow, careful work yields fine results..."

"You son of a bitch!" Zhang Rende kicked the tin box next to his feet with a loud bang. "Is that slow work? That's just dawdling! Others can finish a shaft in two days, but you've been dragging your feet for five days. How much work have you wasted?"

Do you think I don't know what you're really thinking? "Teaching the apprentice will starve the master," right?

Yi Zhonghai's face turned pale, and he didn't dare to reply.

Actually, it's not that Yi Zhonghai can't learn; in terms of ability, he's better than Liu Haizhong. The problem is that he's too selfish. Normally, a master teaches a disciple, and a disciple teaches a grand-disciple. But he gave him two apprentices, and after a year, they're still apprentices. Unlike Liu Haizhong, who, although his skills aren't great, tries his best to teach patiently. In just two years, he's taught five or six apprentices, all of whom are already intermediate fitters!

Yi Zhonghai felt wronged, rubbing the seams of his work pants with both hands: "Master, please have some mercy, I didn't want this to happen either, they're just stupid! Those two apprentices are like hands and feet, they can't remember anything even after being taught ten times..."

"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll fucking beat you to death..."

Zhang Rende held up the sole of his shoe, pretending to hit Yi Zhonghai on the buttocks.

Yi Zhonghai quickly took two steps back, his back hitting the lathe crank handle, wincing in pain.

Just then, Sha Zhu burst in, panting heavily. Only two buttons were fastened on his cotton-padded jacket, revealing half of his coarse cloth undershirt. His forehead was covered in sweat. As soon as he entered, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Uncle Zhang, something terrible has happened to your family! It's really bad..."

Zhang Rende's hand, holding the shoe sole, stopped in mid-air. He turned to look at Sha Zhu: "Speak properly, what the hell happened?"

Sha Zhu bent over, panting for a few breaths. He wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve and swallowed hard. "A military officer came to our house. He was wearing a military officer's overcoat and had a pistol on his waist. He looked like a high-ranking official."

Hearing this, Zhang Rende felt a chill run down his spine. He was doomed!

The sole of the shoe fell from my hand to the ground with a thud.

His mind was in turmoil. A thought crashed through his mind: Could it be that the Red Army found out about his past involvement in the revolution with the Guangxi clique?

Back then, he served as Huang Shaohong's bodyguard. After being wounded in the Central Plains War, he went into hiding in Beiping City for more than ten years, changing his name and identity. He thought he had hidden himself very well, so why did he suddenly come to his door?

I hid it quite well!

It's over! It's over!

Zhang Rende's first reaction was to run.

What if my wife and children run away?

Her eldest son is only fourteen this year, and her daughter is only five. That woman is raising two children all by herself. She doesn't know anyone in Beiping... What a joke!

He swallowed hard, then forced a smile and asked Sha Zhu, "Did they say what it was about?"

Sha Zhu didn't ask, nor did he dare to ask. He could only shake his head dejectedly, rubbing his hands on the front of his cotton-padded jacket: "I didn't dare to ask. The other party had a gun. You know, a few years ago when I was selling steamed buns, I was chased by deserters for several streets."

From then on, my legs went weak whenever I saw someone with a gun. That soldier was standing there, and I didn't dare say a word. I just yelled and ran away.

Zhang Rende didn't expect He Daqing's idiot son to give a coherent answer. He bent down, picked up the shoe sole, threw it on the workbench, tidied up his tools, untied his canvas apron, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into the toolbox. He grabbed Yi Zhonghai's ear and cursed, "I'll deal with you later."

"Ouch, ouch, Master, be gentle, my ear is going to fall off..." Yi Zhonghai tilted his head as Zhang Rende pulled him by the ear and sent him two steps out of the workshop. Only after Zhang Rende let go and quickly walked out of the workshop door did he straighten up, rub his reddened earlobe, and force a smile at Sha Zhu.

"Zhu Zi, putting aside the facts, I'm not disrespectful to my elders, is that wrong? There are no elders who are wrong. Uncle Zhang is my master, so it's normal for us to scold and beat each other. Just don't spread this around."

Sha Zhu nodded, scratching the back of his head, looking puzzled. "Alright, Uncle Yi, I'm going back now. Xu Damao is still waiting for me at the alley entrance."

After saying that, Sha Zhu ran away in a flash.

Yi Zhonghai stood there, touching his burning ears, cursing inwardly, "Teaching a disciple can starve the master. I'm not a fool like Liu Haizhong, who would give away everything. Once I teach someone my skills, they just walk away and forget about it."

Besides, despite teaching so much, Lou Zhenhua hasn't received a raise!

At this moment, Liu Haizhong walked over with his belly protruding. He had his hands behind his back, his chin slightly raised, and spoke in a pretentious tone: "Old Yi, you got beaten up, didn't you? I told you, Master Zhang is capable, but you just wouldn't listen."

Let me tell you, we workers value passing on our skills and knowledge. If you keep your skills hidden away, they can become incredibly valuable.

"Look at my apprentices, they're all intermediate-level fitters now. Boss Lou even singled me out for praise at the factory-wide meeting last time."

Yi Zhonghai didn't even bother with his bangs.

They're all in their thirties, yet they're not mature at all.

He only has a few apprentices, but he acts like he's the factory manager every day, walking with a swagger and clearing his throat before speaking.

He's just an ordinary citizen, yet he's always scheming about policies!

If the Kuomintang ever wins back, you'll be the first one dragged out to be sacrificed as a flag offering.

Anyway, the courtyard house was full of ugly people, and there wasn't a single one that Yi Zhonghai would look down on.

Let's just take it one day at a time.

Zhang Rende hurriedly ran back to the courtyard house. He was covered in sweat and took a few breaths while leaning against the screen wall after entering the courtyard.

As soon as he entered, Li Huaide looked at him with a smile:

"Are you Brother Zhang?"

Zhang Rende: ? ? ?

Has this PLA comrade lost his mind?

Call me big brother?

I'm going to call you grandpa, so please don't mess with me!

Yan Fugui walked over with a smile, his hands tucked into his sleeves, a small apron tied around his waist. "Master Zhang, that soldier looks somewhat like you, but a bit more dashing. He's a head taller than you, and his shoulders are broader. And that officer's overcoat on him...tsk tsk tsk..."

Zhang Rende's head was buzzing, and he didn't hear a single word of what Yan Fugui said afterward.

He only had one thought in his mind: Does he look like me? Is he dashing? Is he taller than me? His parents died early, leaving only him and his younger brother. When his brother was ten years old, he was conscripted into the army. Later, he heard that his brother had gone with the Red Army, and then he lost all contact with him.

Zhang Renfeng, who lived in the east courtyard, came out after hearing the commotion.

It's been almost twenty years since we last met, brothers!

Unlike Zhang Renfeng's excitement, Zhang Rende was completely dumbfounded!

He didn't recognize his younger brother at first; after all, it had been almost twenty years. When he was conscripted, his brother was only ten years old!

Could a ten-year-old dark-skinned boy be the same person as the 1.8-meter-tall, broad-shouldered, and thick-backed People's Liberation Army officer in front of you?

Zhang Renfeng looked at Zhang Rende, his Adam's apple bobbed twice, his lips moved, and his eyes reddened first.

"Big brother, it's me, Renfeng!!"

He took a step forward, his arms outstretched, his voice trembling, and his Guangxi accent came out. Having heard the Beijing dialect for over a decade in Beiping, hearing this accent felt like a knife stabbing into Zhang Rende's heart.

Zhang Rende was stunned.

He stared at Zhang Renfeng's face for several seconds, his eyebrows, eyes, nose, and even the curve of his chin... He repeatedly compared his younger brother's appearance when he was ten years old in his mind, and slowly he made up the match.

Zhang Renfeng stepped forward and grasped Zhang Rende's hand.

Zhang Rende's hands were clasped together. They were the hands of a fitter, with large knuckles, calluses on his palms, and black oil stains that couldn't be washed off his fingernails.

Zhang Renfeng's hands were also calloused, with calluses on his palms and the area between his thumb and forefinger even thicker than Zhang Rende's, the result of years of holding guns and swinging entrenching tools.

"You...you really are Renfeng?" Zhang Rende's voice was hoarse. "You...you're not dead?"

"He's not dead."

Zhang Renfeng grinned, tears welling up in his eyes and sliding down his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away with his sleeve. "Big brother, I'm tough. I won't die."

Zhang Rende gripped his younger brother's hand, his lips trembling for a long time before finally managing to utter:

"You, you've fucking grown so tall?"

Zhang Renfeng laughed heartily, tears still streaming down his face, his laughter ringing out: "Big brother, I was only ten years old when you left, almost twenty years have passed, how could I not have grown taller?"