In the evening, in the Sun family's courtyard, the family was having dinner, and the grandfather and grandson were drinking some wine.

As is his usual practice, Grandpa told some interesting stories.

"Did you know? There was some big news at the courtyard today. I heard that Xu Damao's wife is pregnant."

"What?"

Everyone at the table except for Grandma looked on with surprise.

Who is Xu Damao? He's a typical infertile man, so how did his wife get pregnant?

Could it be in vitro fertilization (IVF)?

Sun Zhengguo then rejected the idea, because the technology doesn't exist in China or even abroad.

It was rare to hear gossip from an old classmate, so he asked one more question.

"Grandpa, isn't it said that Xu Damao is infertile? Surely the Xu family can't just leave it unexplained?"

"There must be some explanation, otherwise things would be in complete chaos. I heard that drinking Chinese medicine every day has had an effect, but I don't know the specifics."

After listening to his grandfather's explanation, Sun Zhengguo nodded and didn't ask any further questions. After all, it wasn't his business, and he was too lazy to care. He just listened for fun.

As for where that child came from? That's none of my business.

...

Nothing major happened in the days that followed.

Aside from participating in the spring assessment, Sun Zhengguo spent his free time doing research, leading a fulfilling life.

The relatives in the family also lived up to expectations; all those who participated in the assessment passed, and those who were entitled to housing were basically allocated housing.

Even Sun Zhengnan and his wife were allocated two rooms and moved out completely.

...

Not long after, Qin Huairu finished her transformation and returned to work at the steel rolling mill.

Of course, the factory prepared a special 'welcome ceremony' for her, organized a public meeting, and gave her a stern lecture.

At the center of the stage, Qin Huairu once again stole the show, with a tall hat and a big sign as standard accessories, and thousands of audience members below.

After this conference, she became a well-known figure in the factory, to the point that everyone knew her.

Subsequently, she was assigned to the cleaning team, specifically responsible for the women's toilets in the factory, spending her days surrounded by flies.

That said, although her working environment was bad, and it smelled terrible all day long.

But there were still some old bachelors in the factory who liked to hang around whenever they had nothing to do, all wanting to try that stinky pickled vegetable.

If Qin Huairu hadn't become the focus of attention, it might have caused some kind of scandalous news.

...

Gradually, it came to the end of July 1965, in the sweltering heat of summer.

The antenna branch of the research institute has been successfully delivered and put into use, and has been in trial production for more than a month.

The first batch of 5,000 antennas was shipped to various parts of the country several days ago, awaiting the final sales results.

Meanwhile, the first batch of finished antennas had already been sent to Hong Kong Island, where comrades from the Xinhua News Agency branch applied for international patents on their behalf.

It's still being processed...

That day, as usual, Sun Zhengguo inspected several workshops as soon as he arrived at work.

Next came the workshop of the machinery factory, and finally we arrived at the antenna branch factory.

"Chief, here for another inspection."

Zhou Weimin remains the same as ever, always working on the front lines since construction began.

It can be said that he made the greatest contribution to the entire factory's creation from scratch.

"Weimin, after more than a month of adjustment, the workers' output should have increased significantly, right?"

As Sun Zhengguo asked his question, he continued walking forward unhurriedly.

Zhou Weimin kept a half-body offset, closely following behind.

"It has indeed improved a lot. Compared to when the factory was first built, production has increased by at least 30%. However, there is still a lot of inventory in the warehouse. Director, I'm worried...?"

What was Zhou Weimin worried about? Sun Zhengguo certainly knew.

But once the arrow is released, there's no turning back; in fact, the word "but" doesn't even exist in his dictionary.

He then said domineeringly.

"No buts. We finally built the branch factory, and even if it's a lump of mud, I'll still try to prop it up."

Remember, we must not only live up to the organization's expectations of us, but also live up to the General Secretary's extreme trust. We cannot let the people's money go to waste.

"Yes, yes, the director is much more enlightened. I still need to learn more from you and your calm and composed demeanor."

Zhou Weimin nodded in agreement, but Sun Zhengguo wasn't buying it.

"Stop flattering me, don't try to flatter me..."

...

The two have now become seasoned veterans of officialdom, and they speak with great finesse.

They walked into the workshop while talking.

Even when the supervisors arrived, the workers continued working without looking up.

This pleased Sun Zhengguo greatly.

He even spotted two familiar figures in the crowd.

These two were former neighbors in the courtyard house. This time, the branch factory was recruiting workers, and they were fortunate enough to be recruited into the factory and become part of the great working class.

There's an interesting story behind these two workers.

Because Sun Zhengguo was in the courtyard, the neighborhood committee gave him special consideration and provided him with two job openings during the recruitment process.

This was supposed to be a good thing, but when Officer Zhang announced the number of winners, the two lucky ones burst into tears on the spot, leaving the street office staff completely bewildered.

Why are you crying after getting this precious spot?

It was only afterward that Zhang learned that the two men were overjoyed because the institute's benefits were so good.

Just like people in later generations, how could they not be happy to work in tobacco, electricity, or other similar industries?

After inspecting the workshop, Sun Zhengguo gave a few more instructions before returning to the research institute.

As soon as he entered the office, Chen Wanchun came to his door.

"Director Sun, I have completed the initial sketch of the engine. Could you please help me improve it? If there are no major problems, let's move on to the next step as soon as possible! After all, it has already been delayed for a long time."

"Is it taking a very long time?"

Sun Zhengguo said this rather jokingly.

"Old Chen, I remember FAW started working on this in the 1950s, but it seems like their results are just so-so. We've only been working on it for a short time."

"Besides, we've incorporated electronic fuel injection and multi-valve technology this time, so why is it taking so long?"

"Uh...?" Chen Wanchun was speechless; it seemed that was indeed the case.

I don't know when it started, but it seems like I've been led astray.

Seeing that Sun Zhengguo's new machine tools were being developed at a rapid pace, people assumed that other research projects were doing the same.

It seems they really are aiming too high.

Quickly composing himself, Chen Wanchun continued.

"Um, Director Sun, that was a slip of the tongue, but the blueprints are indeed finished. Please correct me if I'm wrong."

"Alright! Old Chen, put the blueprints here, I'll study them for a bit more, but I probably won't finish them in a few days."

"Thank you, Director."

Chen Wanchun didn't stand on ceremony. He put down the blueprints and went back to the lab. There was still so much work waiting for him!

In the past two years, as Sun Zhengguo's fame has grown, he now has an endless stream of work to do.

Machine tools, engines, rolling mills, generators, cranes, and so on are all within their business scope.

I simply couldn't get away.