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

The lights in the workshop made everything appear white.

He Yuzhu stood at the back of the crowd, looking at the huge machine covered by a canvas. The canvas was dusty and worn at the edges, revealing dark green paint underneath. The machine was still running, humming like a heartbeat. The workers all stopped what they were doing, gathered around, and stood at a distance watching. No one spoke.

Ma Yuejin stood next to him, his palms sweaty. He wiped his hands on his pants, then wiped them again.

"Dean, I'm really a little scared."

He Yuzhu didn't say anything.

Lin Jianguo chimed in from the side.

"What's there to be afraid of? It's not like we haven't failed before."

Ma Yuejin glared at him.

"You have such a sharp tongue."

Lin Jianguo ignored him and continued to stare at the canvas.

Commander Chen walked in through the door, followed by several men in military uniform. He stopped in front of He Yuzhu without saying a word. He just stood there, waiting.

He Yuzhu nodded to Ma Yuejin.

Ma Yuejin walked over, his hand barely touching the canvas before he pulled it back. He wiped the sweat from his palms on his trousers, then gripped the canvas again. He took a deep breath, and with a mighty effort—

The canvas fell to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

The tank came into view. The gun barrel pointed diagonally to the sky, and the welds on the hull gleamed dimly under the lights. The tracks pressed deep into the ground, leaving two deep grooves.

Ma Yuejin stood there, stunned.

"Did it work?"

His voice was very soft, as if he were asking himself.

Lin Jianguo chimed in from the side.

"Didn't you see it?"

Ma Yuejin ignored him, took a step forward, and reached out to touch the armor plate. It was cool, thick, and dull to the touch. He suddenly smiled. Then his eyes reddened.

Commander Chen walked around the tank once.

He walked slowly, each step as if measuring something. Reaching the cannon barrel, he stopped, looked up, and said nothing. Walking to the tracks, he squatted down and touched the track plates. Standing up, he dusted his hands off.

"Xiao He".

He Yuzhu took a step forward.

"exist."

Commander Chen stared at him for several seconds.

"How long have you been working on this?"

He Yuzhu thought for a moment.

"From blueprints to prototype, it took two years."

Commander Chen nodded.

"2."

He paused.

"When I was in North Korea, we used Soviet equipment. I was thinking back then, when will we be able to use our own?"

He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood.

Ma Yuejin, standing beside him, had tears welling up in his eyes again.

Commander Chen turned around and looked at the tank.

"Let me drive around and take a look."

The driver was a young man in his early twenties, surnamed Zhou, who had worked in the workshop for three years. He climbed onto the tank, crawled into the driver's cab, and closed the sunroof. The engine began to warm up, chugging along with a muffled sound. After a while, the sound suddenly rose, so loud it made one's ears ring.

The performance was driven by the movement.

The tank moved forward, slowly pulling out of the workshop. Sunlight shone down, making the paint on its body gleam. It drove to the open space outside the workshop, stopped for a moment, and then began to circle. The tracks rolled over gravel with a whooshing sound, kicking up a cloud of dust.

It circled three times before stopping.

The workshop was quiet for a few seconds.

Then people started clapping. At first it was sparse, but then it grew louder and louder, making the whole workshop buzz.

Ma Yuejin stood there, staring at the tank, motionless.

He Yuzhu walked over and stood next to him.

"What's wrong?"

Ma Yuejin didn't speak. After a while, he suddenly squatted down and buried his face in his knees.

His shoulders were trembling.

He Yuzhu also squatted down.

"Ma Yuejin?"

Ma Yuejin raised his head, his face covered in tears, yet still smiling.

"Dean, I remember the first time we worked on an engine. It exploded. It was blown to smithereens."

He wiped his face.

"Back then, I wondered if I could ever make it happen in my lifetime. Now I've actually done it."

He stood up and hugged He Yuzhu tightly.

He Yuzhu was taken aback by the hug, then patted his back.

The workers nearby watched, some laughing, others wiping their eyes.

Lin Jianguo stood to the side, his eyes also red, but he held back his tears. He turned his face away, pretending to look at the tank.

Commander Chen walked over and stood in front of Ma Yuejin.

Ma Yuejin quickly released He Yuzhu and wiped his face.

Commander Chen extended his hand.

Ma Yuejin was stunned for a moment, then quickly wiped his hands on his pants and grasped them.

Commander Chen looked at him.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Ma Yuejin opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Commander Chen released his grip, turned around, and looked at the tank.

"I'll take this."

He paused.

"Equip the troops and move them to the border. As soon as possible."

he's gone.

The workshop was quiet for a few seconds, then applause broke out again.

In the afternoon, two people stood in the light at the workshop entrance.

Qin Huairu held He Nianhua in her arms and peered inside. Sunlight streamed in from behind them, gilding their silhouettes with gold.

He Yuzhu was talking to Ma Yuejin when he looked up and saw it.

He paused for a moment, then walked over.

"Why are you here?"

Qin Huairu shoved He Nianhua into his arms.

"Bring her to see. Didn't you say you were going offline today?"

He Nianhua leaned on his shoulder, her eyes wide open. She didn't recognize any of the machines, the workers, or the tank parked in the open space, but she wanted to see everything.

She stretched out her hand and pointed over there.

"Big...big big..."

He Yuzhu smiled.

"That's a tank."

He Nianhua didn't understand, but she kept pointing.

"Big Brother... Big Brother..."

Qin Huairu leaned on He Yuzhu's shoulder, looking at the tank. Sunlight shone on her face, casting the shadow of her eyelashes onto her cheeks.

"She'll find out later."

He Yuzhu nodded.

"Yes."

He Nianhua, nestled in my arms, was still muttering to herself. Her tiny finger pointed at the large iron thing.

Inside the workshop, the workers were still busy. The arc light from the welding flashed, casting long shadows on the ground.

That evening, He Yuzhu sat alone in his office.

He took off the gloves and placed them on the table. They were Qin Huairu's, worn for two years, the edges were frayed, but they were still wearable.

A layer of dust had settled on the lampshade, dimming the light somewhat. He didn't turn on the light, but sat there relying on the moonlight streaming in from the window.

There was a knock on the door.

Very lightly, three times.

He Yuzhu stood up, walked over, and opened the door a crack.

Old Sun stood outside. The moonlight shone on his face, casting long shadows on his brow bones. He didn't speak, but slipped inside and closed the door.

The room grew even darker.

Old Sun stood in the darkness for a while before taking the paper out of his pocket.

He Yuzhu took it and looked at it by the moonlight.

There were only a few words on the paper.

"Scarface has reappeared. It might be related to the blacksmith."

He pressed his hand on the paper. The edges of the paper were a little damp, from the sweat in Old Sun's palms.

Old Sun looked at him and spoke after a few seconds.

"Old He, this line hasn't been broken."

He Yuzhu nodded.

"I know."

Old Sun didn't say anything more, turned around and walked to the door. He placed his hand on the doorknob and paused for a moment.

Be careful.

The door opened, then closed again.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, casting He Yuzhu's shadow on the floor. He still clutched the paper in his hand, its edges slightly crumpled.

The moon is very bright outside the window.

He folded the paper and put it in his pocket.

The gloves were still on the table, neatly folded.