Um... he's older than me!
"No, no! Talk to the leader, I don't need a service staff member, I can take care of myself."
"This... does Engineer Zheng not want me to take care of him? We have other women here."
What kind of talk is that?
He knew there was something wrong with what he said: "Engineer Zheng, don't misunderstand. What I meant was that women are more meticulous."
"I really don't need it, I can manage on my own."
"Then go wash up first, dinner will be served soon."
I agreed, and when I came out after washing up, I saw everyone sitting in the yard eating noodles, each with a bowl of noodles.
Actually, that's a bowl, but it's too big; to me, it's more like a basin.
"Here comes Zheng Gong!" It was the same Xiao Song, who handed over a large bowl of noodles.
"No! This is breakfast?" I feel like I could eat this whole bowl all day.
"Engineer Zheng! Eat more, this food has little oil and you'll get hungry quickly."
I need to be able to eat it, right?
"I can serve myself, I really can't eat anymore."
I had to coax and plead with them before they finally put most of the noodles back in the bowl, then added the meat sauce. And you know what? It actually smelled pretty good.
While I was eating, several girls came over under various pretexts, blocking the door.
I felt too embarrassed to eat it after seeing it.
"Hey, hey, hey!" A man in his fifties arrived, and the girls quickly made way for him.
"Chief!"
Everyone else stood up, and I wanted to stand up too, but the director pressed me down right there.
"Engineer Zheng, please don't do this. I have to take good care of you here."
"Director, you're too kind."
"Of course, of course. You are a treasure of our military. I... I don't know how to thank you enough for coming here."
Conditions here are tough, but no matter what, we'll take good care of you.
"Director, don't say that. I'm here just like you guys, so please don't treat me any differently."
The conditions here are quite harsh; several people are dressed in clothes that are old and worn out.
"Um... what time do we start work?" I asked, taking a bite of food.
"No rush! Once you've finished eating, Xiao Song can take you to the research institute before nine o'clock."
After the director finished speaking, he exchanged a few more polite words before leaving. The girls also left; they had to start work at seven o'clock.
I felt too embarrassed to make an exception, so after we finished eating, I asked Xiao Song to take me there.
I thought the research institute was in the village, but it turned out to be in an old mine, about two miles outside the village.
The outside is dilapidated, but the inside is a different story.
It was bigger than an airplane hangar, and there were many people inside, all very busy.
When I got here, I realized I had come at the wrong time. If I had come in the morning, I could have taken the little train here.
The research institute was located on the upper level of the hangar. As soon as we went up, the director took me to a laboratory:
“Engineer Zheng, take a look. We’ve tried several materials, but we just can’t achieve the desired power output.”
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