Chapter 82

Xu Wen didn't say anything, she knew that all Wang Ying needed at the moment was to listen.

Wang Ying's crying became quieter and her words became more frequent.

She hid in her room and dared not go out, but she could endure it but her children could not.

Toddlers love to explore the outside world. They don’t want to stay at home all the time and will cry if they are not allowed to go out.

The younger one cried, and the older one cried too. Zhao Gang wanted the child to come over and see this scene. After asking about the cause, he considerately gave her three meals a day.

Not only did he prepare meals for her, but he also took her and the children to less crowded places on the island to relax during their breaks.

Encourage her that if she fails the exam this time, there is always next time, and that she will eventually pass it after studying for another year.

However, Zhao Gang was no longer as nice to her as before, and even though they lived under the same roof, he still lived in a separate room from her.

He was not as humble as before. Wang Ying couldn't describe the feeling. It was as if the two of them were not husband and wife. She was just a sister of Zhao Gang's neighbor. She felt empty and sad in her heart.

"I know I asked for it." Wang Ying sniffed. "These days, I find that although people are still not very willing to pay attention to me, no one laughs at me for failing the exam."

One day, she took her children to the grocery store to buy something, and even Mrs. Li encouraged her, "If you fail the exam this time, there will always be another time. Why not take it again next year?"

Others may not have offered her any kind of comfort, but they also didn't offer any malicious ridicule. They just ignored her.

But sometimes it hurts to be ignored.

Wang Ying didn't like this feeling, but she didn't know what she could do to change it.

Xu Wen listened to her rambling for a long time but still didn't get the point and became a little impatient.

The main reason was that Wang Ying was in a daze because this place was full of bushes and mosquitoes. Xu Wen listened and slapped the mosquitoes on his body. He became more and more annoyed and could not help interrupting her: "What do you want? When people worshipped you and gave you face, you refused. Now they are divorcing you and you don't want to divorce. When everyone treated you kindly, you were arrogant and no one wanted to pay attention to you. Now you have everything you want, but you are not satisfied? Wang Ying, the world does not revolve around you!"

Wang Ying was startled by Xu Wen's sudden outburst, and finally said something crisp and clear: "I want to live a good life with Zhao Gang, and I would like you to tutor me in my studies."

"Why?" Xu asked her, and before Wang Ying could speak, he added, "Stop talking nonsense!"

Wang Ying lowered her head and remained silent for a while, then raised her head and looked at Xu Wen in the dim light, and asked her carefully: "I said I want to change, do you believe me?"

"Change what?"

"I will try my best to be a good mother and wife like you." After a pause, she added eagerly, "I won't take advantage of the army! I can also help with things. I may not be able to help you with other things for the time being, but I have also attended high school for a year, so I can substitute for you and teach the children to read."

Xu Wen raised his hand and slapped a mosquito that had landed on his leg to death. His fingertips were stained with a trace of bright red, and the place where he was bitten felt itchy. His tone became worse and worse: "Wang Ying! I think you still don't realize your own problem. You are with Squad Leader Zhao, but you are not giving him charity, understand? Squad Leader Zhao is more principled than you. If you really want to live a good life with him, the first thing you have to change is always trying to achieve your goals through others.

Just like now you feel that you failed the college entrance examination, you can no longer be so proud, you feel very sad, and you want others to treat you the same as before. Then you have to exchange your heart for others', instead of thinking about using squad leader Zhao again and trying to please everyone, do you understand?

As for teaching children, when you really want to help everyone, talk to me again!

Oh! I can help you with your studies. If you don’t know, you can ask me. I’m doing this for the sake of squad leader Zhao. Do you understand? "

After saying that, he took Lu Yuanzheng's hand and walked back, complaining as he walked: "Why are the mosquitoes on the island so fierce? Not only do they bite people, but they also hurt!"

"I'll get you some mint leaves to rub on it when we get home." Lu Yuanzheng took off his coat and waved it around beside her to drive away mosquitoes.

Wang Ying stared at Xu Wen's back in a daze, and suddenly understood what Xu Wen meant. She wiped away her tears and her gaze gradually became firm.

She is not a good person and she knows it.

She knew that she had made mistakes and was not liked by others.

But she also learned an old saying: "It is the greatest virtue to know one's faults and then to improve them!"

National Day, celebrated by the whole nation.

The island was bustling with activity.

It rained last night and it was wet everywhere.

The temporary stage that the battalion had rushed out these few days was beaten to pieces by wind and rain, and some soldiers were busy repairing it.

Next to the stage, another squad of soldiers were busy setting up tents to serve as changing rooms for the comrades or classmates who were performing at the cultural and arts gathering.

The road from the camp headquarters to the temporary port has not been paved yet. In order to prevent slipping, thick dry grass is laid along the road. It will get wet, but it can prevent slipping.

Shi Lei went to the central island in person to pick people up, and Lu Yuanzheng was responsible for adjusting the sentries and strengthening the defense.

Repeatedly guided and inspected the combat readiness deployment.

There were more than a hundred comrades and students coming to perform, and we not only had to ensure their safety, but also the safety of the island.

Therefore, the journey is long and it is usually early in the morning.

Xu Wen was woken up and complained: "It's finally a holiday, why are you guys busier than usual?"

Lu Yuanzheng kissed her on the forehead, stood up, took his clothes and put them on, and casually replied to her: "It's a holiday and we need to be more vigilant!"

"Why?" Xu Wen asked vaguely.

"When fighting, we always like to fight before dawn, because that is when people are most tired and exhausted. It's a battle of who has the strongest will. The same goes for holidays."

Xu Wen fell asleep again after listening to these words. She didn't remember what Lu Yuanzheng said afterwards.

When Xu Wen woke up again, it was still hot and noisy outside. Lu Yuanzheng was still nowhere to be seen, and Dongsheng was not there either.

Recently, many sisters-in-law who came to the island brought a lot of children with them. Dongsheng was busy making new friends and was basically not seen except at mealtimes and when he was sleeping.

Xu Wen went downstairs and saw food covered with a gauze net on the coffee table, with a piece of paper pressed on it.

She bent down and pulled it out. It said: Don’t just focus on research, eat first!

The handwriting was a bit sloppy, and it was obvious that the person who wrote it was in a hurry.

Xu Wen curled his lower lip, remembering to bring her food despite his busy schedule.

The food was still warm and Xu Wen was not hungry, so he ate quite a bit.

After dinner, I went back upstairs, took a cup of iced milk tea and a plate of fruit and walked back to the second-floor terrace. I put them on the small table, then went back to the bedroom to get a pen and paper. I sat on the futon and first looked around along the railing.

At the same time, Shi Lei's boat to pick up people had just arrived, and many soldiers gathered on the shore to pick them up.

Xu Wen vaguely heard a series of reminders such as "Be careful!" "Don't slip!" "Hold my arm" and so on.

On the other side, the beach was very lively as the new sisters-in-law were still getting familiar with Rainbow Island.

Most people on land have never seen the sea, so they are particularly excited because of the novelty.

It happened to be a rest day, so in order to allow the officers and soldiers whose families came to the island to reunite with their families, we tried not to assign them work and let them spend more time with their wives and children.

That's why the beach is so busy right now.

From time to time, I could hear the surprised shouts of my sister-in-law or children.

"Wow! There are crabs here!"

"Look at this beautiful shell!"

“The sea water is so clear.”

“This sand is so soft!”

"Be careful with your bare feet, don't get pricked by the stones."

Xu Wen looked around for a long time but didn't see Lu Yuanzheng, so he retracted his gaze, moved his eyes inward, closed his eyes and recalled what he had communicated with the magic mirror before.

"Magic mirror, magic mirror, the kids asked what the principle of the battery is?"

"Magic Mirror, how do you teach children to make their own batteries?"

"Magic mirror, the kids want to know if there were batteries in the 1970s"

“…”

Xu Wen collected every bit of information about batteries from the magic mirror.

Then she realized that the device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy is a chemical cell, commonly known as a battery.

If the battery is fully discharged, it can be reactivated by charging to store the electrical energy as chemical energy. When it is used again, the chemical energy is converted back into electrical energy. This type of battery is called a secondary battery, or a storage battery.

Batteries usually refer to lead-acid batteries.

Xu Wen also learned through the magic mirror that batteries were invented as early as the early 20th century, and rechargeable batteries were already used in automobiles in the 1920s.

Even as early as the late 19th century, battery grids were produced, and their principles are still used today as components of lead-acid batteries.

Until the end of Xu Wen's life, not much had changed. It was always those single batteries, electrodes, and sulfuric acid.

Of course, we are also gradually exploring lithium batteries with other compositions, but lead-acid batteries are the most suitable for this era.

These made Xu Wen breathe a sigh of relief and a long sigh.

The relief is that lithium batteries are not rare things.

A long sigh is that prices vary in different times.

The biggest difference between the 1970s and a few decades later is that houses are not valuable but industrial products are valuable.

In Beijing, 10,000 yuan can buy you a fairly large courtyard house, but 10,000 yuan won’t even buy you a car wheel.

Even though lead-acid batteries are the cheapest type of battery, for Xu Wen, buying finished batteries is still a bit expensive.

Although Xu Wen wanted to contribute all these to the army, she would definitely be reimbursed when the time came. Even if she didn't want it, she would get it as a reward or consolation.

But before it is made, it can only be considered a personal experiment, and you have to pay for the raw materials yourself.

Xu Wen was still closing his eyes and watching the video and instructions for making a homemade battery on the magic mirror again and again when he heard a knock on the door. "Sister-in-law, are you home?"

Xu Wen quickly opened her eyes, stood up and looked down. She saw Lu Yuanzheng's clerk standing at the gate. She waved at him and replied, "I'm here!"

Wenshu heard her voice, took two steps back, looked up at her, and raised the snakeskin bag in his hand, "Sister-in-law, Lu Ying asked you to send it over. Do you want me to deliver it to you or what?"

"Just put it in the yard for me. I'll be down right away."

The clerk agreed and pushed open the gate.

Xu Wen took his sun hat and went downstairs. He opened the snakeskin bag and found all the positive and negative electrodes, dilute sulfuric acid and other materials and parts.

A clerk is not illiterate. Seeing the dilute sulfuric acid, he took out a pair of gloves with rubber lining that they used for daily work from his pocket and handed them to Xu Wen, "Sister-in-law, this is dangerous. You'd better wear gloves! Don't worry, these gloves are new and not dirty."

Xu Wen accepted Wenshu's kindness and thanked him.

Wenshu was afraid that the things were too heavy, so he helped her put the things out one by one, and asked curiously, "What are these, sister-in-law?"

Xu Wen pointed to the lattice filled with spongy lead and said, "This is the negative electrode of the battery." He then pointed to the lead substrate grid filled with lead dioxide and said, "This is the positive electrode of the battery."

Wenshu said, "You want to make batteries? Sister-in-law, you are amazing! You know everything!"

"I'm just playing drums out of boredom."

Wenshu placed the things under Xu Wen's parasol and asked her, "Sister-in-law, is there anything else I can do for you? If not, I'll leave."

"No more." Xu Wen shook his head, remembering something, and called Wenshu again, "Wait for me."

She ran back to the room, poured him a glass of iced watermelon juice and handed it to him: "You've worked hard, drink some juice and cool down before you go downstairs."

It was such a hot day that the sweat on the clerk's head flowed down his hair.

Wenshu felt a little embarrassed and wanted to refuse, but he was really thirsty. When he saw the bright red and cold watermelon juice, he licked the corner of his lips and found it difficult to say no.

Xu Wen smiled and forced the enamel pot into his hand, "Drink it!"

Wenshu thanked her, raised his head, drank the drink in one gulp, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, returned the enamel pot to Xu Wen, and thanked Xu Wen happily: "Thank you, sister-in-law! I'm leaving now, sister-in-law."

Xu Wen nodded and waved at him.

After the clerk left, Xu Wen began to study battery assembling.

There is a saying that goes "You learn it when you see it, but you fail when you try it."

Although it is simple, there are always some details that cannot be done well.

After working hard until the sun was setting, Xu Wen finally wiped the sweat from his head and installed the battery on the four-wheeled fighting vehicle.

Literally, just take a discarded small wooden box, put the battery inside, and start connecting the wires to the small engine and bearings.

The electric wiring had already been laid, so she connected the wires and tried it out, and the electric four-wheeler actually started moving!

Dongsheng, who came back to call Xu Wen for dinner, happened to see this scene and jumped up with joy: "Wow! Mom, you are so amazing! A bike that can move without pedaling!"

Xu Wen patted Chedou, "Come on, come in! I'll take you out for a ride."

Dongsheng climbed into the car without saying a word.

Xu Wen sat in the seat, held the steering wheel, and stepped on the pedal.

The car really started moving.

Xu Wen drove all the way to the beach, not taking the already trampled path, but driving directly over the weeds.

Dongsheng stood in the car fight, holding the edge of the car and shouting excitedly.

Perhaps his voice was too excited and attracted a lot of people's attention.

No one noticed anything wrong at first glance; most people just glanced at it and turned back to look at the sea.

But there were also a small number of people who were very familiar with Dongsheng. They knew that Dongsheng was not the kind of child who liked to shout and yell and had no manners, so they looked at him a little more.

This one is amazing!

The car fight actually moves?

Oh, it has wheels.

It just doesn't have any footrests.

????

How do you ride without pedals?

Out of curiosity, the few people who noticed the abnormality stretched their necks to look in the direction of Xu Wen and his mother.

"Oh my god! Ask my sister-in-law what this new thing is? How come it's so fast without pedaling?"

"A four-wheeled vehicle that doesn't require pedaling? Isn't that a car?"

"But I didn't hear any engine movement!"

“…”

While everyone was talking, Xu Wen had already brought Dongsheng to the beach.

The soft sand immediately relieved some of the force, and Xu Wen clearly felt his speed slowed down, but it was still manageable, better than he had imagined.

Amid the astonished gazes of the crowd, she drove this simple but equally strange car and took Dongsheng for a ride on the beach.

Lu Yuanzheng was originally on the other side of the stage. Hearing the noise at the beach, he casually asked the warriors who had just returned from the beach, "What's going on at the beach? It's so lively."

The soldier put the sack he carried back on the ground, wiped the sweat off his head, looked back, and replied: "Oh, Sister-in-law Xu Wen got a very strange car to carry Dongsheng on the beach!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yuanzheng strode towards the beach without saying a word.

He knew that this meant that Xu Wen's electric car had been successfully developed.

He couldn't wait to see it.

Xu Wen turned around and happened to see Lu Yuanzheng coming in this direction, so he drove his four-wheel vehicle over to pick up Lu Yuanzheng.

When he got there, Lu Yuanzheng whistled and patted the frame, "Wow! It's finally done! Not bad!"

Xu Wen jumped down from his chair and raised his head proudly, "That's right! Don't you see who I am?"

She opened her arms towards Lu Yuanzheng.

Lu Yuanzheng understood immediately, picked her up and put her in the car.

Dongsheng was in the front, and Xu Wen moved back and squatted in the car.

Lu Yuanzheng jumped onto the seat and stepped on the pedal.

"Wow! That's really amazing! My wife is awesome!"

Xu Wen nodded: "There are still a few minor flaws. For example, we should add a reverse function and a brake function. We also need a first and second gear!"