Siheyuan (traditional courtyard house): Starting with the Korean War, returning home to take charge

Before ignition, Ma Yuejin had prepared all the materials two days in advance. Nickel plates, ferrochrome, and molybdenum bars were stacked one by one around the furnace, covered tightly with oil paper, and the corners were tucked under the pile of materials. The few new college graduates circled the furnace several times, some saying the temperature should be increased by another fifty degrees, others saying that the molybdenum in the formula was 0.2 less, arguing until their faces turned red.

He Yuzhu stood to the side without saying a word.

Li Zhiming pushed up his glasses and handed the notebook in his hand forward.

"Dean, there's definitely something wrong with Team Leader Ma's formula. The book says that the molybdenum content of high-speed steel should be between 1% and 1.5%, but ours is only 0.8%, which is far from the ideal."

Ma Yuejin glanced at him.

"What's in the book is in the book, and what's in reality is reality. We tried 0.9, but the grains were too coarse. 0.8 is just right."

Li Zhiming opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something. The girl with braids next to him quietly tugged at his sleeve, and he swallowed his words.

He Yuzhu picked up the piece of material, weighed it in his hand, and examined the broken edge against the light. He put it down.

"Follow Ma Yuejin's formula."

Li Zhiming was stunned, and his face turned red instantly.

"Dean, this doesn't meet the requirements—"

"How many experiments have you conducted?" He Yuzhu interrupted him.

Li Zhiming fell silent.

Ma Yuejin patted his shoulder lightly, just twice.

"Xiao Li, don't rush. Let's look at the data after this batch comes out."

When the stove was lit, everyone in the house retreated to the doorway.

The thermometer needle slowly climbed. Eight hundred, one thousand, one thousand two hundred. Ma Yuejin stared at the needle, his palms sweating. He Yuzhu stood beside him, motionless.

At 1400, there were sounds coming from the furnace.

It was a buzzing sound, like something churning inside. The sound grew increasingly muffled, making one's chest tighten.

Li Zhiming took a step forward, wanting to get a closer look.

Ma Yuejin reached out to stop him.

"Don't get too close—"

Before he could finish speaking, a plume of black smoke suddenly shot out of the furnace.

laugh--

Thick smoke billowed out from the cracks, carrying a pungent, acrid smell. Chaos erupted inside; some people ducked back, some shouted "Turn off the fire!", and some stood frozen in place.

Ma Yuejin's face turned pale instantly.

"Dean, the temperature is too high... it's eighty degrees higher than expected."

He Yuzhu didn't speak. He walked to the furnace, touched the furnace wall, and glanced at the thermometer. 1580. He turned around, quickly walked to the pile of materials, grabbed a handful of grayish-white powder, and turned back.

"Get out of the way."

Ma Yuejin stepped aside.

He Yuzhu opened the furnace door a crack. A wave of heat rushed in, and he instinctively squinted, his eyebrows instantly furrowing. He sprinkled the powder inside, and then slammed the furnace door shut.

The room fell silent.

Everyone stared at the stove.

The thermometer needle stopped at 1560 for a few seconds, then started to drop.

One thousand five hundred and two, one thousand four hundred and eight, one thousand four hundred and three.

Ma Yuejin swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

"Dean, what was that just now...?"

"Calcium silicate powder." He Yuzhu patted the dust off his hands, and the powder fell off in a flurry. "It's for deoxidation."

Li Zhiming opened his mouth and stared blankly for several seconds.

"The book...it doesn't say that."

He Yuzhu glanced at him.

"What's written in the book is what others have done. What you need to do is what's not written in the book."

Li Zhiming lowered his head and remained silent.

The stove burned for another forty minutes.

Ma Yuejin stared at the sampling port, his hand resting on the valve, waiting for He Yuzhu to nod. The veins on the back of his hand were bulging.

He Yuzhu glanced at his watch.

"open."

Ma Yuejin turned on the valve. Molten steel gushed out from the sampling port, glowing red-hot, splashing onto the ground, and a plume of white smoke rose from the cement floor. He scooped up a spoonful and poured it into the mold, waiting for it to cool.

No one spoke inside the room.

It had solidified. Ma Yuejin picked up the sample and examined it closely under the light. The surface was smooth, without cracks, and the color was shiny. He then tapped it with his finger, listening to the sound.

He handed it to He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu took it, weighed it in his hand, and turned it over to examine the fracture. The crystals were fine and dense, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen.

"Send it to the testing group."

Ma Yuejin nodded, clutched the sample, and ran out. His footsteps faded at the end of the corridor.

The people inside began to whisper among themselves. Li Zhiming stood in the corner, staring at the furnace. After a while, he took out his notebook, turned to a blank page, and wrote three words on it: Calcium Silicon Powder. After writing it, he stared at those three words for a long time.

In the afternoon, the phone rang.

He Yuzhu answered the phone; it was Yang Deming on the other end.

"Director He, is there any news about the high-speed steel project?"

He Yuzhu paused for a moment, holding the microphone.

"The first batch just came out. The samples have been sent for testing."

Yang Deming hummed in agreement.

"Our sister factory is doing it too. I heard they hired Soviet experts and are making progress faster than us."

He Yuzhu didn't say anything.

Yang Deming remained silent for a few seconds.

"Old He, we can't fall behind. If someone else develops this first, all the work we did in this lab will have been for nothing."

He Yuzhu looked out the window.

"I know."

The phone hangs up.

He stood there, looking out the window at the gray sky. At the foot of the mountain were a few houses, smoke rising from their chimneys.

By the time the test results came out, it was already dark.

Ma Yuejin rushed in, clutching the paper in his hand. He was so fast that he had to grab the doorframe for support when he reached the doorway. The expression on his face was hard to tell—his lips were upturned, but his brows remained furrowed.

"Dean, its hardness is 68, and its wear resistance is three times higher than that of ordinary high-speed steel."

He Yuzhu took the paper and glanced at it.

"OK."

Ma Yuejin stood there, waiting for him to say something.

He Yuzhu didn't say anything, and put the paper on the table.

Ma Yuejin couldn't hold back any longer.

"Dean, did we succeed?"

He Yuzhu looked at him.

"Done? This is only the first batch. There are still ninety-nine batches waiting for you."

Ma Yuejin paused for a moment. Then he laughed, his eyes narrowing as he laughed.

"Fine, I'll do a hundred batches."

He turned and walked away after speaking, but stopped at the door and glanced back at the furnace. The furnace walls still emitted residual heat, glowing with a dark red light. There was a glint in his eyes, and a hint of fierceness.

Then he ran out.

He Yuzhu picked up the paper and looked at it again. Then he put it down.

He walked to the window and looked outside.

At the foot of the mountain, a few lights were flashing. Above the mountainside, it was pitch black, and nothing could be seen.

Old Sun came in the evening.

He was dressed casually, sat opposite He Yuzhu, and lit a cigarette. The smoke rose and swirled in the lamplight.

"There's something I need to tell you."

He Yuzhu waited for him to continue.

Old Sun took a drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaled.

"The security bureau detected that foreign forces are inquiring about your laboratory. The radio signals are coming from the city and pointing south."

He Yuzhu looked at him.

"Specific objectives?"

Old Sun shook his head.

"It's not clear yet. But one thing is certain: someone is watching you."

He Yuzhu didn't say anything.

Old Sun stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and crushed it forcefully.

"You need to be careful. They might have spies in the lab too."

He Yuzhu stood up and walked to the window.

It was pitch black outside the window; nothing could be seen. The distant mountains and the nearby factory buildings were all shrouded in darkness. Only his own shadow was reflected in the glass, a blurry indistinct image.