Courtyard House: Starting as an eighth-grade worker, with too many wives.

"Okay! I'll be waiting!"

He was humming a song as he left.

night.

Everyone left work early and collected their things at the gate. Director Yang had asked Secretary Cui to prepare them: a fish and two pounds of fruit for each person. It wasn't much, but in those days, it was considered excellent perk.

Everyone carried their things, chatting and laughing as they walked out.

Just then, Li Jianguo's car drove up.

Some people started a disturbance:

"Director Li, are you taking your partner home?"

"When are you going to the wedding?"

Jiang Min blushed again. Li Jianguo smiled and distributed the fruit in his hand to them.

"Can't you shut up with food? Be careful, or I won't invite you to my wedding."

Everyone laughed.

Li Jianguo, with a hint of fleeing in panic, started his car and drove off. Laughter followed behind him.

"Don't take it to heart, they just like to cause trouble."

Jiang Min nodded, blushing.

"I know."

After the car had been driving for a while, Li Jianguo suddenly remembered what Factory Director Yang had said earlier and asked, somewhat tentatively:

"Have you spoken with your uncle during this time?"

Jiang Min shook her head.

"No, I've been busy ever since I started working at the factory, and I haven't been home yet."

She looked slightly puzzled.

"What happened to my dad?"

"It's nothing, just asking casually."

Li Jianguo did not continue.

Jiang Min, however, came to her senses on her own.

"Actually, I miss my dad a lot too. Before I was assigned to an internship, he asked me if I wanted to go to the heavy machinery factory. It seems like they're doing some reforms at their factory recently, and he's been incredibly busy."

She sounded somewhat downcast.

"Spend more time with them these next few days. Once I go on my business trip, I won't see them for another ten days or so."

"Hmm," Jiang Min nodded, looking at him, "And you?"

"I'll come find you."

Jiang Min smiled, pursing her lips.

The car wasn't going fast, and there were quite a few people riding bicycles on the road. When we arrived at the Jiang family's house, we ran into Jiang's mother coming home from get off work.

"Ouch!"

When Jiang's mother saw her daughter, her eyes lit up immediately.

"You're finally back! It's been so many days since I've been home!"

She held her daughter's hand and looked her up and down.

"You've lost weight! I knew working with those men must be exhausting—"

"mom!"

Jiang Min quickly interrupted.

"I haven't lost weight, I've actually gained weight! The cafeteria cooks extra special meals every day, how could I possibly lose weight?"

She quickly changed the subject.

"Li Jianguo is still here, let's go inside and talk."

Only then did Jiang's mother realize that Li Jianguo was still standing to the side. A group of neighbors had already gathered around.

"Minmin brought her boyfriend home?"

"What a spirited young man!"

"When are you having the wedding?"

Jiang's mother handled the situation with ease.

"It's still early. The two have just started dating; they need to spend more time together."

"Minmin has just started her internship; work is more important. There's no rush."

She dismissed the neighbor with a few words and then pulled Li Jianguo into the house.

"Your uncle will be back in a while. Please have a seat and some tea. I'll go cook."

Li Jianguo stopped her.

"Let me do it, so that Uncle and Aunt can also try my cooking."

He went into the kitchen, and Jiang Min followed him in.

"I'll help you."

Jiang's mother watched the two figures walk away, nodding with a smile.

"Alright, I'll enjoy myself today."

She sat down by the door, watching the two young people busy in the kitchen. Her daughter was good at studying, but she'd spoiled her in other ways. It was a good thing that Li Jianguo could cook.

The more I look at it, the more satisfied I become.

He's much better than that old man at home.

Just as the meal was almost ready, Secretary Jiang returned.

He saw the car parked at the entrance, pushed his bicycle, and shouted:

"Li Jianguo's here? Where is he?"

Li Jianguo peeked out from the kitchen.

"Uncle, please wait a moment, it will be ready soon."

"Hey, we're in for a treat today!"

Secretary Jiang smiled and asked his mother to bring out the Moutai he had hidden.

"You cook, I'll serve the drinks. Let's have a couple of drinks, just the two of us."

After the liquor was placed on the table, Li Jianguo's eyes lit up when he saw the bottle of Moutai.

"This is truly fine wine."

Secretary Jiang shook the wine bottle smugly.

"It was given to me by my former boss last year; he doesn't have many bottles left. This kind of wine is usually only seen at state banquets."

"But alcohol is meant to be drunk. Let's drink to our hearts' content today, and if we get drunk, we'll stay at home!"

Jiang's mother's expression changed.

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Secretary Jiang realized he had misspoke and quickly corrected himself.

"Drink less, drink less, I still have to drive home tonight."

Li Jianguo smiled.

I know what I'm doing.

He always drank with restraint. What he feared most was drinking too much and letting something slip that he shouldn't have said. It would be one thing if people thought he was crazy, but if he were actually dragged into research, there would be no way to reason with them.

After a few rounds of drinks and most of the food, the conversation really started.

Li Jianguo tentatively asked:

"Uncle, I heard the heavy machinery factory is making agricultural implements recently?"

Secretary Jiang took a sip of wine and nodded.

"I've thought carefully about what you said last time. Our country's industry needs to develop, but the foundation still lies with the farmers. Look, in the south, people are still using oxen to plow the fields, while the northeast and Xinjiang have started mechanization, but all the machines are imported from the north. Not only are they expensive, but if they break down, you can't even find spare parts."

He sighed.

"Farmers have it tough. Having an ox makes things much easier. I thought I should at least help out. Farm machinery is the right direction."

Li Jianguo expressed his agreement.

"Life should always get better. With fewer people farming in the future, those who remain should have an easier time and be able to do other things."

Secretary Jiang became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke.

"Simple agricultural machinery isn't difficult, but large ones are. I brought back a self-propelled combine harvester from the north, intending to copy it, but I only realized how complicated it was after taking it apart."

He took another sip.

"Screw conveyor header, double drum threshing, air screen cleaning... the engineers all say that the technology is not difficult, but once you start doing it, there are problems everywhere."

Li Jianguo listened quietly, without rushing to respond.

He had the information and understood what Secretary Jiang was referring to. It was a model imported from the north in the 1960s, and it was still the most advanced in the 1970s. It took a lot of effort for China to successfully replicate it.

He poured Secretary Jiang a full glass of wine.

"Technology seems incredibly difficult until you figure it out. But once you find the right approach, it's a natural process."

He paused, then added:

"However, simply imitating is too slow. We need to innovate on the basis of thoroughly understanding the technology to achieve a leapfrog development."

"Overtaking on a curve?"

Secretary Jiang's eyes widened in surprise.

"Young man, you're trying to run before you can even walk? Aren't you afraid of falling down?"

Li Jianguo smiled.

"Uncle, please let me finish speaking before you start scolding me."

Jiang's father glared at him.

The look in his eyes wasn't exactly fierce, but it was unsettling. Li Jianguo felt like a piece of meat being examined on a chopping board—judged for its fatness, freshness, and whether it was worth the price.

"I'd like to see what kind of nonsense you can come up with."

Jiang Min was extremely anxious. She knew her father too well; that tone meant an argument was imminent. But she was even more worried about Li Jianguo getting hurt—he was stubborn, and what if he argued back…

"Uncle, our current technological accumulation is actually sufficient for further development," she spoke up first, "and I don't think the Soviet-style approach is suitable for our country's national conditions."

I spoke so quickly that I almost bit my tongue.

Mr. Jiang didn't take the first part of what was said seriously. But he listened to the last part.

"I understand what you're saying." He put down his chopsticks and tapped his fingers on the table. "Our country has a lot of small-scale arable land, and everyone's farmland is scattered. The large harvesters we've introduced are indeed only suitable for large-scale use on plains—but we can't even handle that, so how can we talk about anything else?"