One month later, Ju'er Hutong.
"Swish swish swish..."
Early in the morning, the heavy snow overnight had transformed the entire courtyard into a breathtakingly beautiful silver-clad landscape, but it also brought considerable trouble to Sun Zhengguo, who was up early to practice martial arts.
Looking at the yard buried in snow, he sighed helplessly and picked up a broom to start sweeping.
The weather outside was unusually cold, estimated to be around minus twenty degrees Celsius, making it feel as if one were in a world of ice and snow.
Even though others were wearing thick cotton-padded coats, they were still shivering from the cold.
Sun Zhengguo, however, was a bit different. He was only wearing a sweater, yet he didn't feel cold at all.
Not only that, but fine beads of sweat even appeared on his forehead.
All of this is because he has practiced martial arts for many years, which has made his body full of energy and blood, and he is more able to resist the cold than ordinary people.
The continuous swishing sound also disturbed Sun Zhengdong, who was fast asleep.
He didn't care about the cold weather. He got dressed, pushed open the door, and saw his older brother, Sun Zhengguo, sweeping the snow in the yard.
"Big brother! Let me help you!"
As he spoke, Sun Zhengdong ran to Sun Zhengguo's side, picked up a shovel, and began to shovel away the snow.
The two brothers worked together and quickly cleaned up the entire yard.
At this moment, Ning Xiaowei and Wang Aifang also woke up. The two walked out of the room and saw Sun Zhengdong and Sun Zhengguo busy at work. They smiled with relief.
"You two brothers are really hardworking!"
Ning Xiaowei said with a smile.
"Yes, they're up so early to shovel snow."
Wang Aifang echoed this sentiment.
"Haha! I'm used to getting up early to exercise, so I'll take this opportunity to clear the snow in the yard. Zhengdong was probably woken up by the noise, so he can't be considered diligent."
Sun Zhengguo said jokingly.
Ning Xiaowei and Wang Aifang exchanged a glance, but didn't intend to go up and help, because they knew that even if they did, they would be chased away.
However, the two of them didn't sit idle. After washing up, they went into the kitchen and started making breakfast.
Sun Zhengdong and Sun Zhengguo continued working and soon cleared all the snow from the yard.
Afterwards, Sun Zhengguo performed a few sets of boxing techniques, warmed up his body, and practiced stance training for a while before quickly finishing up.
Because there were sounds coming from the kitchen, telling him to go wash up and get ready for breakfast.
After finishing breakfast, Sun Zhengguo looked at his wife's slightly protruding belly and felt a little worried.
After all, it had just snowed heavily, and the roads outside were quite slippery. What if...?
"Honey, I'll take you to work later!"
Ning Xiaowei wanted to refuse, but she was only three months pregnant and not unable to walk, so why bother?
But seeing Sun Zhengguo's undeniable gaze, he obediently nodded.
Seeing that his wife agreed, Sun Zhengguo pushed the car out of the courtyard, and the two rode together on a bicycle towards the Chinese Materia Medica Research Institute.
At the entrance of the Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Sun Zhengguo slowly stopped his bicycle and waited for his wife to get off before speaking.
"Honey, I'll come pick you up again tonight. Don't go ahead alone; wait for me."
"Okay! I understand. Drive carefully on the way."
Ning Xiaowei gave a sweet reply and walked into the courtyard.
"You're a good guy! You're a man who dotes on his wife."
Uncle Zhou, the gatekeeper, carrying a large broom, suddenly appeared out of nowhere and said this.
"Good morning, Uncle Zhou. Take a break and have a cigarette."
Sun Zhengguo didn't dislike Grandpa Zhou. He was an old revolutionary who had no other hobbies but smoking.
"Oh! Thank you!"
Grandpa Zhou, who was already used to it, thanked him, took the cigarette, lit it, and took a satisfying puff.
"I must say, this Daqianmen cigarette is really good, much better than my Badaling cigarette."
Sun Zhengguo didn't understand cigarettes and didn't comment much, only smiling and saying...
"Alright, Uncle Zhou, you're busy, I have to go to school, so I'll be going now."
Only after Sun Zhengguo had walked far away did Grandpa Zhou mutter to himself.
"Strange, isn't school on holiday? What's this kid doing at school?"
If he couldn't figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it and shook his head, then continued shoveling snow.
"Bang!"
The road was slippery, and people were falling from time to time. Sun Zhengguo was also extremely careful while riding his bicycle.
What used to be a quick journey took twice as long today to reach Tsinghua University.
Because it's currently a holiday, the school is quite deserted, with only a few people occasionally seen, all of whom are clearing snow.
Sun Zhengguo reluctantly got off the car and pushed it, finally arriving at the laboratory door with great difficulty.
"Jung-guk, it's snowing today, what are you doing here?"
Professor Wu, who was clearing snow, stopped what he was doing when he saw Sun Zhengguo arrive, and said, breathing out warm air.
Among those helping out were Senior Brother Chen—Chen Lianshan—and a young man I didn't recognize.
"It's alright, Professor Wu, I'm just idling at home anyway."
As he spoke, Sun Zhengguo parked the car, picked up a shovel, and joined the effort to clear the snow.
Because the entrance to the laboratory was so large, it took the four of them more than an hour to complete the cleaning work.
"Professor Wu, the snow has been cleared now, I'll be leaving now."
The young man who helped said that.
"Okay, thank you."
After the young people left, the group entered the laboratory.
Professor Wu poked the heater, poured a few more cups of hot water, and called out from the side.
"Zhengguo, Lianshan, don't rush, have a cup of hot tea, warm yourself by the fire, and get rid of the cold."
Hearing the shout, the two men didn't stand on ceremony and came over. The three of them sat together, drinking hot tea, and started chatting.
“Zhengguo, although it’s not the New Year yet, today is already the first day of 1960. The higher-ups have also launched a lot of plans. You need to finish your thesis as soon as possible, or you might graduate early after the start of the semester.”
"What?"
Sun Zhengguo was caught off guard. He had no objection to graduating early, but why was this happening?
"What's there to be nervous about! This is just a suggestion. Anyway, you've already earned enough credits. You've been doing research with me all this time and haven't been attending classes much. You might as well graduate and be assigned to a unit. My next job needs you."
Professor Wu's words contained a lot of information, and he seemed to know where he would be assigned.
"Mr. Wu, could you tell me which unit I'll be assigned to?"
"Hahaha!"
"I knew you were smart, you get it right away. I also had a little ulterior motive, don't be angry when I tell you, but the reason I assigned you to a position early was to prepare you for the Ministry of Metallurgy."
"Professor Wu, could you explain in detail why it was the Ministry of Metallurgy, and not other departments?"
Chen Lianshan, who was standing to the side, was also curious. He silently took a sip of tea, ready to listen to what Professor Wu had to say.
"Here's the thing, I just received a notification yesterday that the higher-ups are very dissatisfied with the quality of the steel. They plan to upgrade the existing rolling mill after the New Year, and this process won't be short. I need your help. If I leave you until graduation, it will be filled with too many uncertainties."
Sun Zhengguo understood. This was because they were afraid he would be assigned to another unit, so the Ministry of Metallurgy made a move in advance so that everyone could work together again and continue scientific research.
"Alright then! Mr. Wu, you can make the arrangements. Anyway, you won't cheat me. Wherever I go, it's all for the sake of building our motherland."
Sun Zhengguo was quite confident about this, whether it was the Ministry of Metallurgy, the Ministry of Machinery, or other factories and units.
He can't make a name for himself anywhere!
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