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

The tank was towed in by steel cables.

The broken track scraped against the ground with a piercing scream, like something was crying. The workshop lights shone on it, and the light and shadow cut out the gash torn open by the shell—the edges curled up, blackened, like a charred wound.

No one spoke.

He Yuzhu crouched down and shone his flashlight inside. The beam cut through the darkness, revealing twisted pipes, melted seats, and dried black patches. There was an indescribable smell in the air—burnt rubber, engine oil, and something else.

Ma Yuejin squatted down next to him, glanced inside, and then turned his head away.

"This thing..." he began, then stopped.

He Yuzhu didn't look up.

Ma Yuejin wiped his hands on his pants; his palms were sweaty.

"Thicker than ours."

He Yuzhu hummed in response, but still didn't look up.

Ma Yuejin waited a while for him to ask. When he didn't ask, Ma Yuejin spoke for himself.

"The front is 20mm thicker. The sides are 15mm thicker."

After he finished speaking, he wiped his hands on his pants again.

He Yuzhu finally turned off the flashlight and stood up. His knee creaked, but he didn't pay attention. He'd been squatting for too long.

"dismantle."

Ma Yuejin was stunned for a moment.

"Now?"

He Yuzhu had already walked out of the workshop.

"Now."

On the third day of demolition, an accident occurred.

Three bolts on the side of the turret were rusted. Two workers took turns prying, breaking two of the pry bars, but the bolts wouldn't budge. Ma Yuejin squatted down and watched for a while, then took the pry bar and started prying himself.

On the tenth pry, the bolt broke.

The broken piece is stuck in the hole and can't be removed.

Ma Yuejin slammed the crowbar to the ground.

"damn it."

He Yuzhu walked over, squatted down, and took a look.

"Drill".

Ma Yuejin raised his head.

"Drill? There are wires inside."

He Yuzhu didn't say anything, but took out the hand-drawn blueprint from his pocket—he had spent the whole night drawing on the armor plate yesterday, marking out all the visible lines.

"Here, here, there's no wire."

Ma Yuejin took it and glanced at it.

He returned the blueprints to He Yuzhu and stood up.

"Bring the diamond."

On the fourth day, the armor plate was cut off.

Blue flames licked the steel plate, sparks flying everywhere. It took almost an hour to cut off a palm-sized piece. He Yuzhu took it and examined it against the light. The cut surface gleamed, revealing layers of texture.

He handed the steel plate to Ma Yuejin.

"Take it for testing."

Ma Yuejin took it and didn't leave.

"Dean, there's a hidden compartment inside."

He Yuzhu looked at him.

"What interlayer?"

Ma Yuejin pointed to the cross-section of the steel plate.

"Here, it's layered, not one whole piece."

He Yuzhu picked up the steel plate again and examined it closely against the light. It was indeed a sandwich structure, three layers, each with a different thickness, and other materials sandwiched in between.

He returned the steel plate to Ma Yuejin.

"Test it. Find out the composition of each layer."

On the fifth day, the test results came back.

He Yuzhu sat in his office, looking at the piece of paper. It listed a series of numbers: carbon, manganese, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, and silicon.

Ma Yuejin stood next to him, his expression somewhat off.

"Dean, this is not what we expected."

He Yuzhu didn't say anything.

Ma Yuejin pointed to those numbers.

"They added molybdenum, but we didn't. But the molybdenum we added wasn't for increased hardness. Look at the ratio; it's for impact resistance."

He Yuzhu looked at the numbers but didn't move.

Ma Yuejin waited for a while.

"Dean, should we continue with the imitation?"

He Yuzhu stood up and walked to the window.

It's all gray and hazy outside the window; it looks like it's about to snow.

"It's not about imitating it. It's about wanting to do it better."

Ma Yuejin was stunned for a moment.

"Better than that?"

He Yuzhu turned around.

"Yes. Better than that."

That night, He Yuzhu went to the hospital.

Qian Zhiyuan lay in the hospital bed, looking unwell. Several books and a half-finished glass of water sat on the bedside table. He smiled when he saw He Yuzhu enter.

"Xiao He, here again."

He Yuzhu sat down on the edge of the bed.

He took the steel plate out and placed it on the bedside table.

Qian Zhiyuan glanced at it but didn't pick it up.

You've lost weight.

He Yuzhu was stunned for a moment.

"You too."

Qian Zhiyuan reached out, picked up the steel plate, and examined it from all angles for a long time. He then used a magnifying glass to look at it for an extended period.

He Yuzhu didn't say anything, he just waited.

Qian Zhiyuan put down the magnifying glass and looked up.

"Do you want to hear me say I can do it, or do you want to hear me say I can't?"

He Yuzhu did not answer.

Qian Zhiyuan looked at him, looking into his eyes.

"Your face tells you exactly what you're thinking."

He Yuzhu lowered his head.

Qian Zhiyuan put the steel plate down.

"I can do it. But if you ask me if it's worth doing, I'll have to think about it."

He paused.

"How many people are still doing this over there?"

He Yuzhu thought for a moment.

"More than twenty."

Qian Zhiyuan nodded.

"enough."

The eighth trial production took place two months later.

Ma Yuejin slammed the test report on the table, his expression unreadable.

"That won't work either."

He Yuzhu picked up the paper and glanced at it. The data was slightly better than the seventh time, but still far from the target.

Ma Yuejin sat down in the chair and buried his face in his hands.

"Dean, I quit."

He Yuzhu didn't say anything.

Ma Yuejin raised his head, his eyes bloodshot.

"Eight times already. Four different materials, seven different processes. We've tried everything we could, thought of everything we could think of. What else can we do?"

He Yuzhu put the paper down.

"The ninth time."

Ma Yuejin was stunned for a moment.

"Dean..."

He Yuzhu stood up and walked over to him.

"The ninth time."

The ninth trial production took place on the fourteenth day.

That night, only a few people remained in the workshop. Ma Yuejin squatted beside the testing machine, clutching his notebook, staring at the fluctuating data. Lin Jianguo slumped over the control panel, his eyes barely open. Qian Nian handed him something, then stood there in a daze.

He Yuzhu was also there.

He stood at the doorway but didn't go in.

The test machine stopped at 3 a.m.

Ma Yuejin took out the sample and tested it with a hardness tester. After the test, he squatted there, motionless.

Lin Jianguo walked over.

"How is it?"

Ma Yuejin did not answer.

Lin Jianguo pushed him away and looked at the number himself.

He glanced at it, then stopped moving.

Qian Nian ran over.

"Did it work?"

No one spoke.

Ma Yuejin stood up, walked to the corner of the wall, and squatted down. His shoulders were twitching, but he didn't make a sound.

Lin Jianguo walked over and stood next to He Yuzhu.

"Dean, it's done."

He Yuzhu nodded.

He looked at Ma Yuejin squatting there, at Lin Jianguo's tired face, and at Qian Nian standing beside him with red eyes.

"That's good."

The workshop was packed with people on the day the new tank rolled off the production line.

That vehicle was a size larger than the one they had captured, with a longer gun barrel and thicker armor. Its paint was military green, gleaming in the sunlight. Ma Yuejin stood beside it, his eyes red-rimmed, saying nothing.

He Yuzhu walked over and patted the tank.

"Let's take it out and try it."

The driver climbed in, and the engine roared to life. The tank drove out of the workshop, circled the open space a few times, and then drove back.

No one cheered.

Ma Yuejin squatted down and lit a cigarette. He took a puff, choked, and coughed a few times.

He Yuzhu walked over and squatted down next to him.

Ma Yuejin handed him a cigarette. He took it and took a puff.

"Dean," Ma Yuejin said, his voice hoarse.

He Yuzhu didn't let him continue.

"Go back and get some sleep."

Ma Yuejin was stunned for a moment.

He Yuzhu stood up and returned the cigarette to him.

"Let's keep going tomorrow."