Chapter 9 This doll, I need to report it!
The trouser leg was suddenly ripped open, revealing the strange-looking iron thing inside.
The air seemed to freeze at that moment.
Chen Zhiyuan knelt on the snow, his hands, covered in frostbite, gripping Lin Jianguo's calves tightly, as if he were holding some rare treasure.
His eyes were wide open, almost bursting out of their sockets, and his breathing was rapid, like a broken bellows.
"This...this is..."
Chen Zhiyuan's fingers trembled as he gently stroked the joint that had been hammered out with a discarded sickle blade.
It was cold, rough, and had a rusty smell.
But in Chen Zhiyuan's eyes, this was not scrap metal at all.
This is a work of art.
This is the ultimate embodiment of industrial violent aesthetics.
"Dual bearing linkage? Utilizing human body weight to convert potential energy?!"
"My God... the torque design of this spring... it perfectly cancels out the blind spot of force on the knee joint?!"
Chen Zhiyuan has gone mad.
As he touched it, he uttered a string of bird language that Lin Jianguo couldn't understand.
That was Russian, that was German, those were the most advanced mechanical terms he had learned while studying abroad.
However, even the top-secret blueprints he saw in the Soviet experts' laboratory back then were not as exquisite as this thing hammered out of broken iron pieces!
"Old comrade! Let go! Let go now!"
Lin Jianguo was terrified by the old man's crazy behavior, and his face turned bright red.
He tried desperately to pull his leg back, but the old man, who looked so thin that a gust of wind could blow him over, suddenly had a frighteningly strong grip, like an iron clamp.
"I won't let go! I'd rather die than let go!"
Chen Zhiyuan suddenly raised his head, and his sallow face was now flushed with an eerie red.
He stared intently at Lin Jianguo, his gaze so fervent it was frightening.
"Comrade Lin Jianguo! Tell me honestly! Who made this thing?!"
"Who drew these blueprints?!"
"Do you even know what this thing means?!"
Chen Zhiyuan roared out, his voice hoarse and cracked, echoing across the empty snowfield.
Lin Jianguo's heart skipped a beat.
Although he was a rough and uncultured man, he had served in the army and been on the battlefield, so he knew that some things could not be exposed to the light of day.
Especially the strange things that happened to her own daughter.
If people find out that Zhao Di is a "monster," will she have any chance of survival?
"This...this is just something I messed around with!"
Lin Jianguo gritted his teeth and forced himself to lie.
"My leg was hurting, so I thought I'd get a metal frame to support it, and luckily it worked out..."
"fart!"
Chen Zhiyuan immediately swore, spitting all over Lin Jianguo's face.
"Just messing around?!"
"Try messing around with this for me!"
Chen Zhiyuan pointed at the ingenious hydraulic replacement structure, his fingers trembling.
"This mechanical transmission structure involves calculus calculations from advanced mathematics and stress analysis from materials mechanics!"
"Even if you brought all the top experts in Beijing and gave them abacuses and slide rules, they still wouldn't be able to find the optimal solution in less than a month!"
"You're a veteran with only a junior high school education, and you're telling me you're just messing around with things?!"
"Do you think I'm stupid?!"
Chen Zhiyuan was so angry that he was trembling all over.
This is an insult to science!
This is a blasphemy against the truth!
Lin Jianguo was rendered speechless by the rebuttal.
He opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found that he couldn't even fart.
yes.
He, as the user, knows best just how amazing this thing is.
Wearing it, even a broken leg feels stronger than a good one, and walking feels light and airy, as if someone is pushing you from behind.
This couldn't have been made by just messing around, could it?
"Comrade Lin Jianguo!"
Chen Zhiyuan suddenly took a deep breath, his tone becoming more serious than ever before.
He released his grip, straightened his tattered Zhongshan suit, and then looked at Lin Jianguo with utmost seriousness.
“I am a stinking intellectual who made mistakes and was sent down to be reformed.”
"But I am also Chinese."
"I once vowed to use the knowledge I have acquired to serve my country."
Chen Zhiyuan pointed to the exoskeleton on Lin Jianguo's leg, his eyes reddening.
Do you know what the situation is like outside right now?
"The US has blockaded us, the Russians have withdrawn their experts, and they're forcing us to pay our debts."
"Our soldiers patrol the border on foot, carrying dozens of kilograms of equipment, until their knees are worn out!"
"If we had this technology..."
Chen Zhiyuan's voice choked with emotion.
"If all our soldiers could wear this..."
"Then our individual combat capabilities will triple! Our Great Wall of Steel can be pushed forward by 300 miles!"
"This is a vital national asset! Comrade Lin Jianguo!"
These words struck Lin Jianguo like a heavy hammer blow to the heart.
Lin Jianguo's body jolted violently.
He was a soldier.
Even after being discharged from the military, even if one becomes disabled, that military uniform is etched into one's very bones.
He remembered his comrades who had collapsed in the snow from exhaustion on the Korean battlefield.
He thought of his brothers who had run themselves ragged trying to seize the high ground.
If this thing exists...
If this thing exists...
Lin Jianguo's eyes instantly reddened, and his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.
The selfish desire of a father to protect his daughter and the instinct of a soldier to serve his country clashed violently in his heart.
Just then.
Zhao Di, who had been standing to the side sniffling, suddenly spoke up.
The little girl tilted her head, watching the two grown men, whose combined age was nearly a hundred, confront each other with red eyes.
She thought the adults were really strange.
It's clearly made of iron pants, what's there to argue about?
"Grandpa, don't be mean to Daddy."
Zhao Di walked over, reached out her little hand, and tugged at Chen Zhiyuan's clothes.
"That painting was done by Zhao Di."
"The fairy uncle taught Zhaodi how to draw it."
"The fairy uncle said that if you draw this, Daddy will stop hurting."
The little girl's voice was sweet and clear, like a spring of water, instantly extinguishing the tense atmosphere on the field.
Chen Zhiyuan froze.
He looked down at the little baby who wasn't even as tall as his knee.
Those big eyes were clear and bright, so clean that there wasn't a trace of impurity.
Uncle Fairy?
Chen Zhiyuan was a staunch materialist who never believed in God.
But looking at the three-year-old child in front of him, at the blueprint on the ground that was enough to shock the world, and then at the solid iron thing on Lin Jianguo's leg.
His worldview was shaken.
No.
Not a god.
A wilder idea suddenly popped into Chen Zhiyuan's mind.
genius!
This must be an unparalleled genius, one in a million!
Some geniuses in history were born with a certain mission.
For example, Mozart could compose music at a very young age, and Gauss could do arithmetic at a very young age.
This girl named Zhao Di might be one of those prodigies with an innate intuition for mechanical structures!
In her eyes, those complex mechanical formulas are probably just like building blocks!
The so-called "fairy uncle" is just a child's innocent explanation of his extraordinary talent!
That must be it!
Chen Zhiyuan was so excited that his whole body was trembling.
He suddenly squatted down, placed his hands on Zhao Di's small shoulders, and his eyes shone with an alarming intensity.
"Zhaodi, tell Grandpa."
"Besides these iron pants, did that fairy uncle teach you to draw anything else?"
Zhao Di blinked and thought for a moment.
The system inside my head is ranting like crazy:
[Hey! Old man! Stop shaking me! If you keep shaking me, you'll splatter my brains!]
[What kind of magical uncle? This system is high-tech! It's a cutting-edge auxiliary AI from 2050!]
However... never mind, it's pointless to explain this to you cavemen.
Zhao Di sniffed and said honestly:
"Yes, I have."
"Uncle also taught Zhaodi to draw big firecrackers, flying birds, and he also taught her to plant that grass that grows really, really tall..."
boom--
Chen Zhiyuan felt as if an atomic bomb had exploded in his mind.
A firecracker? That's a missile, isn't it?
A flying bird? That must be an airplane, right?
Tall grass? That must be a high-yield crop, right?
This is no child at all.
This is clearly a living national treasure!
This is clearly a divine intervention sent down by God to save our country from its suffering!
"I need to report this! I need to report this immediately!"
Chen Zhiyuan suddenly stood up, and because he stood up so suddenly, his vision went black and he almost fell over.
Lin Jianguo reacted quickly and caught him.
"Old comrade, slow down!"
"Slow my ass!"
Chen Zhiyuan shoved Lin Jianguo aside and ran towards the cowshed.
"Where's the phone? Where's the phone?!"
Lin Jianguo smiled wryly: "Where would we get a telephone in this remote mountain village? We don't even have electricity yet."
"Then I'll write a letter! I want to write a letter!"
Chen Zhiyuan rushed into the cowshed and frantically searched through the pile of rotten straw.
However, he was a prisoner who had been sent to reformatory, and apart from the tattered clothes he was wearing, he didn't even have a piece of paper.
Where's the pen?
Where's the paper?
Chen Zhiyuan was so anxious that he paced back and forth like an ant on a hot pan.
Sudden.
His gaze fell on his yellowed white shirt.
"Sizzle—"
A crisp sound.
Without hesitation, Chen Zhiyuan tore off a piece of his shirt.
There is no pen.
He looked around but couldn't find even a piece of charcoal.
Chen Zhiyuan gritted his teeth, a resolute glint in his eyes.
He put his right index finger in his mouth and bit down hard!
"hiss--"
The pain in my fingers is excruciating.
Bright red blood gushed out instantly.
Ignoring the pain, he lay on the broken wooden board and frantically wrote on the tattered cloth with his bleeding fingers.
[Top Secret! Urgent!]
I am Chen Zhiyuan, formerly of the Department of Power Engineering at Tsinghua University. Today, I discovered an astonishing genius in Linjiagou, northern Henan!
This three-year-old child possesses blueprints for a revolutionary machine that could solve our national defense crisis!
Please send someone to pick us up immediately! Delay could lead to complications!
If Chen Zhiyuan utters even half a lie, he is willing to atone with his death!
Every single word is bloody.
Every word conveyed an eagerness to tear out one's heart.
Lin Jianguo stood at the door, watching this scene, and was completely shocked.
He looked at the old man who usually staggered when he walked, but now he was like a warrior, writing a certain faith with his own blood.
This is the true integrity of a scholar.
These are the backbone of the nation.
"It's finished...it's finished..."
Chen Zhiyuan held the blood-written letter, his face pale, but his eyes shone like stars.
"Comrade Jianguo! Exploration team! Captain Zhang of the exploration team is leaving today!"
"We must make sure he gets this letter out of here!"
"It must be delivered to the stationed troops!"
Without saying a word, Lin Jianguo picked up Chen Zhiyuan and ran outside.
"Come on! I'll carry you there!"
At this moment, at the village entrance.
Captain Zhang of the exploration team was packing up with several people to prepare for evacuation.
This place is so cold, it's going to be closed off soon if we don't leave.
"Captain! Wait! Hold on!"
Lin Jianguo carried Chen Zhiyuan on his back, limping but running incredibly fast, like an out-of-control tank charging towards them.
Captain Zhang was startled.
"Chen Zhiyuan? What are you trying to do, you bad element? Trying to escape?"
Captain Zhang's face was stern, and his hand unconsciously reached for the pistol at his waist.
"Captain Zhang! I have important information to report!"
Chen Zhiyuan struggled to get off Lin Jianguo's back and knelt down on the snow with a thud.
He held the blood-written letter high with both hands, his voice trembling but firm.
"This is a matter of great importance concerning the fate of the nation!"
"Please! You must deliver this letter to the nearest military commander!"
"If anything goes wrong, you can take my head anytime!"
Captain Zhang was stunned.
He looked at the timid, obsequious intellectual in front of him who only knew how to work.
Looking at the strip of cloth that was still dripping blood.
Looking at that crippled veteran whose eyes were so fierce they looked like he wanted to eat people.
A strange chill crept up my spine.
Although he looked down on these intellectuals, he wasn't stupid.
This kind of willingness to risk one's life can't be faked.
Captain Zhang was silent for a few seconds before reaching out and taking the blood-stained cloth.
The handwriting was messy, but the overwhelming smell of blood and the sense of urgency made his palms burn.
"OK."
Captain Zhang tucked the blood-written letter into his pocket and kept it close to his body.
"Old Chen, I'll trust you this time."
"If you dare to mess with me, wait till I get back, you'll be sorry!"
After saying that, Captain Zhang waved his hand.
"Retreat! Full speed ahead! Get over that hill before nightfall!"
Watching the exploration team's jeep disappear into the distance, kicking up snowflakes, at the end of the mountain road.
Chen Zhiyuan's body went limp, and he collapsed onto the snow.
He looked at the gray sky and let out a long sigh.
"It's been sent out...it's finally been sent out..."
Lin Jianguo helped him up, but looking at the heavy snow, he didn't feel much better.
"Old Chen, is this... likely to work out?"
Chen Zhiyuan gripped Lin Jianguo's hand tightly, his eyes as firm as a rock.
"It can happen! It definitely can happen!"
"If the nation sees this letter, they will come even if they have to turn these 100,000 mountains upside down!"
"What we need to do now is hold on."
"Protect Zhaodi, protect this family."
"Until the country comes to take us away!"
The wind is getting stronger.
The swirling snowflakes felt like knives cutting into my face.
Lin Jianguo looked up at the sky.
Dark clouds loomed overhead, heavy and oppressive, like a giant black pot turned upside down.
An ominous premonition lingered in his mind.
Things are about to change.
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