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

The dock at Jiangnan Shipyard can hold three aircraft carriers. He Yuzhu stood by the dock, looking down. The 120-meter-long keel section lay at the bottom of the dock, silver-gray, made of nano-carbon nanotube composite material, gleaming dimly under the lights. Workers surrounded the section; some were checking dimensions, some were adjusting lifting equipment, and some were squatting on the ground smoking, their cigarette butts glowing.

Qin Huairu stood next to He Yuzhu, while He Nianhua stood in front of her, tiptoeing to look down. The child had grown taller, now half a head taller than Qin Huairu. He stared at the huge section for a while before turning his head away.

"Dad, this ship is huge."

He Yuzhu didn't speak. He remembered that year when He Nianhua was still a child, lying on his lap, holding a tank made of bullet casings, shouting "Boom boom boom." Now he was grown up, standing by the dock, watching the keel of the interstellar research vessel being cut open.

Factory Director Sun walked over, clutching the blueprints in his hand, his knuckles white. "Director He, everything is ready. Four sections in Shanghai, four in Dalian, and four in Guangzhou. Cutting will be done simultaneously in all three locations."

He Yuzhu nodded. "Let's begin."

Factory Director Sun shouted into the microphone, "Cutting!"

The plasma cutter started up, and blue electric arcs danced and hissed on the carbon nanotube composite material. Sparks flew, particularly glaring in the dimly lit dock. On the large screen, the images of Dalian and Guangzhou also lit up, with the cutters in both locations firing simultaneously, all three locations working in sync, sparks flying at the same time.

He Yuzhu stared at the large screen. Just as the cut was halfway through, the image from Dalian suddenly froze. The image remained motionless, frozen on the sparks emitted by a plasma gun.

Factory Director Sun's face turned pale. "What happened?"

After about ten seconds, the image returned to normal. The person in charge in Dalian leaned close to the camera, his forehead covered in sweat. "Director He, Director Sun, there was a power outage just now, it was interrupted for half a minute. The cutting parameters didn't change, so we continued."

Factory Director Sun turned his head and looked at He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu glanced at the half-minute blank space. "That section needs to be re-cut. The data comparison isn't up to standard; we can't just make do with it."

Factory Director Sun gritted his teeth and shouted into the microphone, "The section in Dalian that needs recutting!"

On the large screen, the workers in Dalian paused for a moment, then turned off the cutting machine, removed the already cut sections, and reloaded the machine. The cutting machine restarted, and the blue light came on again.

He Yuzhu stood by the dock, watching the sparks fly. As the sparks flew, he recalled the first carbon nanotube sample Qian Zhiyuan had handed him years ago. A thin sheet, as light as paper, the size of a fingernail, gleaming black under the light. Qian Zhiyuan had said this thing could be used to build spaceships. Now it truly had become the skeleton of a spaceship, lying in this dock with over a hundred years of history.

Cutting complete. Twelve segments, their silvery-gray surfaces gleaming dimly under the lights. Workers began hoisting them one by one to the storage area, stacking them neatly.

Factory Director Sun walked over with a notebook. "Director He, the cutting is complete. Four to Shanghai, four to Dalian, and four to Guangzhou. They'll be shipped to Shanghai for final assembly in three months."

He Yuzhu took the notebook and flipped through it. "Where's the official business?"

Factory Director Sun didn't answer immediately. He glanced at the screen showing footage from Dalian and Guangzhou, where they were also wrapping up work and the workers were packing up their tools. He looked away, his voice lowering. "The design allows for plus or minus 0.5 millimeters. But the work is being done separately in the three locations, with different measuring tools, different temperatures, and different workers. The accumulated errors..." He didn't finish, gesturing with his hand.

He Yuzhu turned around and looked at Lin Jianguo on the big screen. "Can Galaxy Six be simulated?"

Lin Jianguo nodded on the other end of the screen. "Yes. I'll input the Kunlun model, and the processing data from the three locations will be uploaded in real time and compared with the model. If any discrepancies are found, an alarm will be triggered immediately."

He Yuzhu looked at Factory Director Sun. "Let's do it this way. Upload the processing data in real time, and redo any that fail the comparison."

Factory Director Sun nodded.

Qin Huairu walked over and stood next to He Yuzhu. "How far can this boat fly?"

He Yuzhu thought for a moment. "It's very far. Farther than anyone else has ever been."

Qin Huairu didn't ask any more questions. He Nianhua squatted down, picked up a piece of scrap material that had been cut off, and felt its weight. He looked up at He Yuzhu. "Dad, can I have this?"

He Yuzhu nodded. He Nianhua stuffed the scraps into his pocket and patted them down.

That evening, He Yuzhu stayed at the guesthouse of Jiangnan Shipyard. He sat on the bed and took the list out of the drawer. Turning to the page for "Kunlun," after the words "segmented construction," he wrote a few lines: "Simultaneous cutting in three locations, the Dalian video was interrupted for half a minute, that segment was recut. Galaxy VI unified modeling, tolerance control plus or minus 0.5 millimeters."

Once you're done writing, put the list back and lock it.

The phone rang. He answered it, and it was Yang Xiaobing on the other end, his voice very low.

"Commander, we've located Pu Zheng. He goes to a Chinese restaurant in downtown São Paulo every Wednesday. He's alone, without bodyguards."

He Yuzhu gripped the microphone, his hand unconsciously tightening. "What time?"

Yang Xiaobing said, "It's seven o'clock in the evening. It's dark, and there are no lights in the alley, so it's easier to make a move."

He Yuzhu remained silent. He thought of Pu Zheng's biological warfare units in the rubber plantation, and how he had never been caught in decades. Could someone like that be so careless?

"He's alone? He never brings anyone with him?"

Yang Xiaobing was silent for two seconds. "Mr. Lin has been keeping an eye on things for two months, always alone every Wednesday."

He Yuzhu stood by the window, looking at the night outside. The Shanghai night was bright; the lights of the Bund shone in the sky, casting a yellow glow. He stood there for a long time before speaking.

"Stick to the plan. But tell Chen Guodong that if anything goes wrong, retreat immediately. Don't force it."

Yang Xiaobing responded, "Understood."

A voice speaking in Portuguese came from the other end of the phone, from a distance. Yang Xiaobing lowered his voice. "Commander, I have to hang up."

The call was disconnected. He Yuzhu held the receiver, listening to the busy tone. He stood there for a long time, not putting the receiver down.

Outside the window, the Shanghai night is very bright.