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

The gray building of the Northern Industrial Research Institute stood in the morning light, three stories high, with two stone lions crouching under the porch, their bases already mottled. He Yuzhu stopped at the door and glanced up. Ma Yuejin followed half a step behind him, his hand holding a test report rolled into a tube.

"Dean, are we really going in?"

He Yuzhu pushed open the door.

The corridor reeked of a mixture of ink and old paper. The man carrying blueprints stepped aside, while the man with the teacup looked up and sized them up. His gaze swept over them, then looked away, like a shadow skimming across water. He Yuzhu didn't stop. He walked to the wooden door at the end of the corridor, which read "Dean's Office," and knocked three times.

"Come in."

Chief Engineer Liu sat behind his desk, holding an official document in his hand. Upon seeing He Yuzhu, he raised an eyebrow slightly, gently set the document down, and put on a smile.

"Oh, Director He. A rare guest."

He Yuzhu walked to the table and laid the test report flat on it. The edges of the paper had softened from repeated folding.

"Chief Engineer Liu needs to give an explanation for this batch of steel."

Chief Engineer Liu lowered his head, his gaze sweeping over the report, but his smile remained unchanged.

"Steel? What steel?"

"The batch that was switched," He Yuzhu said. "Zhou Guodong confessed."

Chief Engineer Liu's smile froze at the corners of his mouth, then quickly melted away.

"Zhou Guodong? I don't know this person."

Ma Yuejin took half a step forward.

"You don't recognize him? He ran errands for you for three years and received a stipend for three years!"

"Young comrade," Chief Engineer Liu's smile vanished, his expression turning cold, as if a layer of wax had sealed away all vitality. "You need evidence to back up your claims. You accuse me of ordering the substitution, where's the evidence?"

Ma Yuejin opened his mouth.

Chief Engineer Liu leaned back in his chair and turned to He Yuzhu.

"Director He, I know your tank project is on a tight schedule and you're anxious. But this has nothing to do with me. You've come to the wrong person."

He Yuzhu didn't move.

"There are records of the laboratory's supplies coming in and out, the steel mill's delivery slips have signatures, and there are two unattached travel allowance slips in Zhou Guodong's dormitory drawer." He paused, "The reimbursement unit is listed as the Northern Research Institute. Does Chief Engineer Liu need to take a look at all of these?"

Chief Engineer Liu stood up and walked to the window.

"Our two families each have their own paths. You're working on composite armor, we're following the Soviet route. We'll keep to ourselves."

"Keep your distance, Mr. Liu?" He Yuzhu said bluntly. "Chief Engineer Liu, we're digging the same well from the same country. You have people throwing sand into my half of the well, and you complain that I'm making too much noise when I'm drawing water?"

Chief Engineer Liu had his back to him and didn't turn around.

"I told you, I had no idea."

He Yuzhu had just returned to the lab when the phone rang. It was already dark outside, and the blueprints on the desk were bathed in a yellowish glow from the desk lamp. He answered the phone.

It was Commander Chen's voice on the other end, deeper than usual.

"Xiao He, did you go to see Chief Engineer Liu?"

"I've gone."

There was a two-second silence.

"He called me and said you framed me."

He Yuzhu held the microphone, and a faint hissing sound came from the receiver.

Commander Chen sighed.

"I've checked. Zhou Guodong is indeed his man, but he said that Zhou Guodong acted on his own initiative and he was unaware of it."

Do you believe it?

A longer silence.

"Whether you believe it or not is not important. What's important is that this matter cannot be allowed to continue."

"Commander," He Yuzhu's fingers tightened, "whether the truth is important or not depends on whether we'll continue fighting in the same trenches. If we can get a batch of steel today to advance the project, we can get a blueprint tomorrow to earn credit. The battle hasn't even started, and we're already calculating how much flesh we can squeeze from our own people—how can we fight this battle?"

There was no sound on the other end of the phone.

After a while, Commander Chen said, "I'll come over tomorrow."

The microphone went off, then clicked shut. He Yuzhu put down the receiver, and one by one the lab lights came on, casting points of light in the deepening night.

The next day, in the small conference room.

The curtains were drawn tightly, and only a chandelier shone in the room. Commander Chen sat in the main seat, with He Yuzhu and Chief Engineer Liu on either side. Three cups of tea sat on the table, their steam rising slowly.

Commander Chen didn't exchange pleasantries.

"Let's not talk about right or wrong today, let's talk about the future."

Chief Engineer Liu lowered his head, tapping his fingers lightly on his knee. He Yuzhu watched the tea leaves floating in his teacup.

Commander Chen pushed a document to the center of the table.

"The new requirements from the National Defense Science and Technology Commission: the tank project must be finalized in three years. Can your two companies, working separately, produce it in three years?"

Chief Engineer Liu looked up.

"Our progress..."

"My question is, in three years, will I be able to get out?"

Chief Engineer Liu fell silent.

Commander Chen turned to He Yuzhu.

"Xiao He, you speak."

He Yuzhu thought for a moment.

"It will take three years to get out. But you have to focus your energy on the right path."

"Alright." Commander Chen nodded, stood up, walked to the window, then turned back. "You're all technical people, you're all government employees. Let bygones be bygones. From now on, we'll cooperate."

Chief Engineer Liu's Adam's apple bobbed.

"Commander Chen, it's not that I'm not cooperating, it's just that their side..."

"What's going on over there?" Commander Chen interrupted, "You don't want their composite armor technology?"

Chief Engineer Liu was stunned.

Commander Chen looked at He Yuzhu.

"Xiao He, what do you mean?"

He Yuzhu stood up.

"Technology can be shared. But I have one condition."

"What are the conditions?"

"That batch of substandard steel was re-quenched furnace by furnace by my team. The 27 days that were lost were made up by the experimental group working overtime." His gaze fell on Chief Engineer Liu's face. "Your excuse of 'not knowing' can't erase all of this. I want you to apologize for this—not for me, He Yuzhu, but for that batch of steel, for those 27 days, and for all the effort and time wasted because of internal strife."

The veins on Chief Engineer Liu's neck bulged. He caught his breath, his fingers clenched tightly. The room was so quiet you could hear the hum of electricity from the chandelier.

A dozen seconds later, Chief Engineer Liu stood up and walked over to He Yuzhu.

"Director He," his voice was dry, "it was my fault for not managing my subordinates well regarding that batch of steel. I'm sorry."

He stretched out his hand.

He Yuzhu looked at the hand, reached out and grasped it. The palm was icy cold and damp with sweat.

Commander Chen didn't speak, he just nodded.

On the day of the technical data exchange, the technician sent by Chief Engineer Liu was stopped at the door and his credentials were checked three times. When Ma Yuejin led the group in, the young technician's forehead was covered in sweat.

The first document delivered was about the cooling system. He Yuzhu opened it, read two pages, and looked up.

"We've never dealt with this before."

Ma Yuejin took it, and his eyes slowly lit up.

"Dean, this method is better than ours. Using this, the engine temperature can be reduced by eight to ten degrees."

"Get their people involved." He Yuzhu closed the file. "Let's do it together."

Ma Yuejin smiled.

"OK."

At ten o'clock at night, everyone in the lab had left. He Yuzhu sat alone in his office, took out a pair of old gloves from his drawer, and slowly put them on. The cotton thread was worn thin, and the palms were a darker color.

The moon outside the window was bright, its cold light spreading across the table like a thin layer of frost.

He recalled the cool, damp sweat on the other person's palm when they shook hands earlier that day. He was unwilling, yet had no choice but to submit. Commander Chen's words echoed in his ears—

"Who benefits from internal strife?"

He Yuzhu raised his hand, looking at the rough texture of the glove in the moonlight. He already knew the answer. But only today, only when he held that sweaty hand, did he truly feel the shape of that price.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

You can still feel the coolness through the cotton thread in your palm.