Great Power Reclamation

On Monday morning, Junken City awoke in the autumn mist.

Ye Guigen got up very early and practiced Bajiquan in the courtyard. This was taught to him by his grandfather, Ye Yuze, since he was a child. He said that the men of the Ye family should have strong bodies and strong wills.

Ye Xin also got up and started jogging in the yard in her sportswear. Seeing Ye Guigen practicing boxing, she stopped and wiped her sweat.

"Starting your internship today?"

"Hmm." Ye Guigen stopped his movements. "Grandpa arranged it."

"That's good." Ye Xin took a sip of water. "It's better than you messing around like that before."

Ye Guigen didn't refute. After what had happened these past few days, he truly felt that he had been wasting his life.

"How's your water quality testing instrument project going?" he asked.

Ye Xin's eyes lit up: "We got the sensor samples! The Junken Precision Instrument Factory gave us three sets and even sent an engineer to provide guidance. Natasha was overjoyed and said that if the project succeeds, she can go back to East Africa during the summer vacation to conduct field tests on the rivers in her hometown."

"Do you need any help?"

Ye Xin glanced at him in surprise: "You'll help?"

"I'll make the mechanical shell for you," Ye Guigen said. "There's a processing workshop in the soldiers' building area that we can borrow."

Ye Xin smiled, a smile filled with the satisfaction of "my child has finally grown up."

“Okay, then the shell design and manufacturing will be yours. We need it to be waterproof, shockproof, and lightweight.”

"Okay." Ye Guigen checked the time. "I have to go. I can't be late for my first day of internship."

Ye Xin watched his retreating figure as he ran back into the house, lost in thought.

After breakfast, Ye Xin didn't go to the technical school, but instead went to the Military Reclamation University. Her water quality testing instrument project required some specialized equipment, and the environmental engineering laboratory at the Military Reclamation University was open to the public.

In the laboratory, she met Professor Wang, recommended by her supervisor—a female scholar in her fifties, wearing thick glasses, but with sharp eyes.

"Ye Xin, right? I've reviewed your project proposal," Professor Wang said bluntly. "The idea is good, but there are a few technical issues that need to be addressed."

She led Ye Xin to the experimental table: "The first thing is the stability of the sensor. The electrochemical sensor you chose is easily affected by temperature and humidity in the field. We need to design a temperature control module."

Ye Xin took notes diligently.

"Secondly, there's data transmission," Professor Wang continued. "You envisioned Bluetooth transmission to the phone, but in remote areas, phone signals may be unstable. I suggest adding local storage functionality."

"That would increase costs and complexity..."

“But it will increase reliability.” Professor Wang looked at her. “In scientific research, especially applied research, reliability is the top priority. If you take your testing instrument to East Africa, it may not be able to be repaired for several months. We must ensure that the data is not lost.”

Ye Xin nodded: "I understand. Thank you, Professor Wang."

"You're welcome."

Professor Wang smiled and said, "I've read your aunt Ye Rou's work report in East Africa, and I was deeply moved. It's very meaningful that you thought of doing such a project to provide low-cost testing solutions for remote areas. You can use the equipment in the lab, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions."

Emerging from the laboratory, Ye Xin stood on the tree-lined path of the Military Reclamation University. Sunlight filtered through the plane tree leaves, casting dappled shadows, and the distant sounds of students chatting and laughing drifted over.

She recalled the stories the adults told her about Ye Rou and Ye Mei in East Africa when she was a child. The two aunts established order in a war-torn land and brought forth flowers of hope in barren soil.

At that time, she thought that she wanted to be like them, to be the master of her own destiny, and to become a queen.

She is not a queen who rules others in the traditional sense, but a queen who controls her own life and influences the fate of others.

The phone rang. It was Natasha: "Ye Xin, I've contacted a non-governmental organization in East Africa. They're very interested in our project and said they can offer opportunities for field testing!"

“That’s great,” Ye Xin said. “But Professor Wang just raised a few technical issues, and we need to improve the design.”

"What should I do?"

“Redesign, redo it.” Ye Xin said firmly, “If we’re going to do it, we’ll do it to the best of our ability.”

She hung up the phone and headed towards the library. On the way, she passed a bulletin board and saw a notice:

"The Military Reclamation City Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition offers a first prize of 100,000 yuan, and outstanding projects may receive angel investment..."

Ye Xin stopped and read carefully. The competition required projects to be innovative and practical, which was perfect for her water quality testing instrument.

She noted down the registration deadline and made a plan in mind.

Meanwhile, Ye Guigen had already arrived at the Warrior Construction Company.

Minister Wang led him to the project site: "From today onwards, you will be interning here. Your job is to assist the project manager and understand the entire project management process."

The project manager was a man in his thirties surnamed Zhang, with a dark face and rough hands, clearly someone who had spent a lot of time working on construction sites.

"Manager Zhang, this is Ye Guigen, he's here for an internship. Could you mentor him?" Minister Wang said.

Manager Zhang glanced at Ye Guigen a few times and nodded: "Okay. Xiao Ye, go change into your work clothes first, then come with me to the construction site."

Ye Guigen changed into blue overalls, put on a safety helmet, and followed Manager Zhang into the construction vehicle. The vehicle drove to the site of the western city renovation project.

On the way, Manager Zhang said while driving, "Little Ye, I heard you're Chairman Ye's grandson?"

"Ah."

"Then you'd better study hard," Manager Zhang said. "This project was personally overseen by your grandfather, and the requirements are very high. We can't let Chairman Ye down."

Upon arriving at the construction site, Ye Guigen was awestruck by the sight before him. Huge excavators were at work, tower cranes were rotating, and workers were busy on the scaffolding. The roar of the machines, the clanging of metal, and the shouts of the workers mingled together, creating a rough yet powerful rhythm.

"This is the foundation pit for the main building, fifteen meters deep," Manager Zhang said, pointing to the large pit in front of him. "Over there is the building materials storage area, and over there is the workers' living area. Come on, I'll show you around."

Ye Guigen spent the entire day running around the construction site with Manager Zhang. He reviewed blueprints, checked progress, coordinated materials, and resolved conflicts between workers.

I ate lunch at the makeshift canteen on the construction site, sat with the workers, and listened to their stories.

"How many years has Manager Zhang been in this business?" Ye Guigen asked during the meal.

"Twenty years."

Manager Zhang shoveled food into his mouth. "I started as an apprentice, carrying bricks, tying steel bars, and operating excavators. Later, I passed the construction engineer exam and became a project manager."

“Your grandfather is right. This job is tiring, but it’s real. Watching a building go from nothing to something, or a bridge turn from blueprints into reality, gives you a sense of accomplishment that nothing can compare to.”

Looking at the buildings under construction in the distance, Ye Guigen suddenly understood why his grandfather had sent him to the construction site for an internship.

Everything here is concrete and real. Every brick, every nail, every rivet—all require human hands to make.

In the afternoon, Manager Zhang took him to see the earthwork project that Old Scar's group was in charge of.

“These guys used to be involved in organized crime,” Manager Zhang said. “But they’re good at their jobs and work hard. Minister Wang instructed that as long as they follow the rules, they should be treated equally.”

Ye Guigen saw Gangzi there, pushing a wheelbarrow carrying soil. Gangzi paused for a moment when he saw Ye Guigen, then lowered his head and continued working.

"How is he?" Ye Guigen asked.

"Not bad, he's not slacking off," Manager Zhang said. "But Xiao Yezi, you have to be careful with this kind of person. He's being honest now because he has work and money to earn, but if there's no work one day, he might cause trouble."

"I see."

When Ye Guigen got home that evening, he was so exhausted he felt like he was falling apart. The labor intensity at the construction site was much greater than he had imagined, and his whole body ached after a day's work.

Strangely, he didn't feel tired as a burden; instead, he felt a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.

Ye Xin was waiting for him in the living room, with the design drawings of a water quality testing instrument in front of her.

"You're back? How was it?" she asked.

"It's tiring, but quite interesting." Ye Guigen sat down opposite her. "How's your design coming along?"

“We’ve hit a bottleneck.” Ye Xin pointed to the blueprints. “The temperature control module takes up too much space and consumes too much power. If we make it according to Professor Wang’s requirements, the whole device will become bulky and inconvenient to carry.”

Ye Guigen carefully examined the blueprints. It was a cuboid structure that needed to house sensors, circuit boards, batteries, and a display screen; now, a temperature control module also needed to be added.

"Could you make the temperature control module smaller?" he asked.

"I asked the engineers at the precision instrument factory, and they said it's impossible with current technology. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

“Unless we use the Warrior Group’s latest micro temperature control chip,” Ye Xin said, looking at him. “But that’s military-grade technology; civilians can’t get it.”

Ye Guigen thought for a moment and said, "I'll ask Grandpa tomorrow."

Ye Xin looked at him in surprise: "You'll ask for us?"

“This project is meaningful,” Ye Guigen said. “Besides, didn’t you say you wanted to be a queen? A queen needs good equipment.”

Ye Xin smiled: "Okay, then it's up to you."

Over the next few days, Ye Guigen spent his days interning at the construction site and his evenings discussing projects with Ye Xin at home.

He gradually became familiar with the operation of the construction site and began to understand the complex system behind a project—not just technical issues, but also personnel management, material supply, schedule control, and safety assurance.

On Wednesday afternoon, Manager Zhang took him to a project coordination meeting.

The conference room was full of people: designers from the design institute, engineers from the supervision company, heads of various subcontractors, and representatives from government departments.

The meeting discussed the relocation of underground pipelines. According to the plan, there is an old water supply pipeline under the construction site that needs to be rerouted, but the pipeline is old and the drawings are incomplete, so no one can guarantee that it won't be broken during construction.

"If the water supply is severed, the entire western part of the city will be without water for three days," said a representative from the water supply company. "Who will be responsible for that?"

The person from the design institute pushed up their glasses: "We can only design according to the existing drawings. If the drawings are incomplete, there's nothing we can do." "Then what can we do?" Manager Zhang frowned. "The construction period can't be delayed, but the risk is too great."

Silence fell over the meeting room.

Ye Guigen suddenly spoke up: "Could we do a ground-penetrating radar survey first?"

Everyone looked at him. A young man, dressed in overalls, sat in the corner, having remained silent until now.

"Ground-penetrating radar can detect metal and non-metal pipelines within a range of ten meters underground."

Ye Guigen said, "Our technical school's laboratory has equipment that we can borrow."

The people at the design institute's eyes lit up: "Yes, that's a good idea! Although it's not 100% accurate, it's better than blindly digging."

The water supply company representative also said, "If we can determine the general route of the pipeline, we can send technicians to provide on-site guidance to avoid key locations."

Manager Zhang looked at Ye Guigen: "Little Ye, can you contact the equipment?"

"I'll give it a try."

After the meeting, Ye Guigen called Master Lu at the technical school. Master Lu was very supportive after hearing about it: "The equipment can be borrowed, but it needs to be operated by professionals. I will send two students over to help you."

The next day, the ground-penetrating radar equipment arrived at the construction site. Ye Guigen, along with two students from the technical school, conducted surveys in areas that might involve pipelines.

The waveform on the screen showed abnormal reflections underground. They marked the location, and the water supply company's technicians confirmed it on-site.

"This is it!" the technician pointed to the screen. "This is the main pipeline. Work around this two-meter area; it should be fine."

Problem solved. Manager Zhang patted Ye Guigen on the shoulder: "Good job, Ye! You've got some skills!"

Ye Guigen smiled but didn't say anything. But he felt a sense of accomplishment—this was a problem he solved himself, using the knowledge he had learned and the resources he had found.

On Friday evening, his grandfather, Ye Yuze, called him to the study.

"How's it going at the construction site this week?" Ye Yuze asked.

"I've learned a lot," Ye Guigen said. "It's more practical than what I learned at school."

"Manager Zhang told me that you solved the pipeline detection problem."

Ye Yuze's eyes showed approval. "Well done. But ultimately, project management is not just about solving technical problems, but more importantly, about managing people."

“The workers on the construction site, the heads of the subcontractors, and the government officials—everyone has their own demands and interests. You have to learn to balance them.”

"I've got it."

"There's one more thing." Ye Yuze took out a document from the drawer. "This is the technical data for the miniature temperature control chip you requested. It's military technology and can't be used for civilian purposes, but I can have the lab make a few samples for your project."

Ye Guigen exclaimed with delight, "Thank you, Grandpa!"

"You're welcome," Ye Yuze said. "I've looked into your aunt's project, and it's definitely worthwhile. Tell her to do it well, and if it succeeds, Warrior Group can invest in mass production."

Emerging from the study, Ye Guigen handed the documents to Ye Xin. Ye Xin was so excited she almost jumped up: "Dad really agreed?"

"Yes. Grandpa also said that if the project is successful, we can invest in mass production."

Holding the documents, Ye Xin's eyes shone: "Ye Guigen, thank you."

"You're welcome, it's your own project that's good."

That weekend, Ye Xin barely left her room, constantly refining the design. Ye Guigen continued his internship at the construction site while simultaneously designing the casing for the water quality testing instrument.

On Sunday afternoon, he arranged to meet Su Xiao at the Cultural Palace.

Su Xiao looked much better; her complexion was rosy and her eyes were bright.

“I’ve choreographed a new dance,” she said. “I want to show it to you.”

In the small rehearsal hall of the Cultural Palace, Su Xiao changed into her dance costume. Music began to play; it was an ethereal guzheng piece.

This dance was different from the previous ones. There weren't as many difficult techniques; it was more about the expression of emotion. Her body flowed like water, her arms were as light as the wind, and every movement was full of storytelling.

The dance tells the story of a girl's growth—from naivety to maturity, from confusion to determination, from drifting with the tide to finding her direction.

When she finished dancing, Su Xiao was slightly out of breath, with beads of sweat on her face: "How was it?"

"It's beautiful," Ye Guigen said. "Does this dance have a name?"

“Rebirth,” Su Xiao said. “Ye Guigen, thank you for giving me the chance to be reborn.”

The two sat on the floor of the rehearsal room, drinking mineral water.

"I signed up for the Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition in Junken City," Ye Guigen suddenly said, "along with the water quality testing instrument project."

Su Xiao exclaimed in delight: "Really? That's wonderful!"

“Your dance can also participate in cultural and artistic competitions,” Ye Guigen said. “After the cultural and artistic center is completed next year, there will be an annual performance. You can prepare a solo performance.”

Su Xiao's eyes sparkled: "Can I really do it?"

"Why not?" Ye Guigen looked at her. "Su Xiao, you are a good dancer. Don't let the past define you."

Su Xiao lowered her head: "Sometimes I still have nightmares, dreaming about the past, dreaming about Old Scar... Ye Guigen, can I really start over?"

"Yes," Ye Guigen said firmly, "as long as you believe in yourself."

It was already late when they left the Cultural Palace. Ye Guigen escorted Su Xiao back to her residence. Once they reached the building, Su Xiao didn't go upstairs immediately.

"Ye Guigen, can I hug you?" she asked softly.

Ye Guigen paused for a moment, then nodded.

Su Xiao gently hugged him, burying her head in his chest: "Thank you. Really."

Her body was very supple, and her hair had a faint scent of shampoo. Ye Guigen's hand paused in mid-air for a moment, then he gently patted her back.

"Go upstairs and get some rest."

"Yes. You too."

Watching Su Xiao go upstairs, Ye Guigen stood downstairs, feeling a strange mix of emotions.

Back home, Ye Xin was still revising the design drawings in the living room.

"You're back?" She asked without looking up. "How's Su Xiao?"

"It's going well; we're preparing a new dance."

Ye Xin looked up at him and asked, "Ye Guigen, do you like her?"

Ye Guigen remained silent.

“You don’t need to answer me,” Ye Xin said. “But you need to think this through. Relationships aren’t just a momentary impulse; they require responsibility. Su Xiao is a girl with a complicated past and a sensitive heart. If you’re just feeling sorry for her, or it’s just a passing fancy, make things clear as soon as possible. Don’t hurt her.”

"I know."

Ye Xin put down her pen and said seriously, "Ye Guigen, the people of our Ye family either don't get emotional, or when they do, they're serious. That's how Grandpa treated Grandma, that's how Dad treated Mom, and our two aunts never messed around even though they were in East Africa for so many years. That's the Ye family tradition."

"I see."

"Good, I understand." Ye Xin continued drawing. "By the way, how's the casing design coming along? We've finished modifying the circuitry here, and we're just waiting for your casing."

"It's almost done. I'll show it to you tomorrow."

As night deepened, the military reclamation town gradually quieted down.

Ye Guigen lay in bed, reflecting on the past week's experiences. The sweat on the construction site, the arguments in the meeting, Su Xiao's dance, Ye Xin's instructions... everything felt real and concrete.

He recalled what his great-grandfather had said at the nursing home: "Every generation has its own battlefield."

My great-grandfather's battlefield was the Gobi Desert and the laboratory; my grandfather's battlefield was the workshop and the shopping mall; and my father's battlefield was the global market.

So where is his battlefield?

Perhaps it is right here on this construction site, in this water quality testing instrument project, in Su Xiao's dance, in Ye Xin's ambitious plans.

Perhaps, his battlefield is the battlefield where he finds himself.

Outside the window, the night sky over the military reclamation city was sparsely lit by stars. The city lights, like stars on the ground, shone brightly in contrast to the starlight above.

Under this starry sky, several young people are fighting on their respective battlefields.

Ye Guigen searches for direction between construction sites and laboratories, Ye Xin pursues the path to queenhood through science and innovation, and Su Xiao seeks rebirth through dance and life.

They are all responding to the expectations of this family and this city in their own ways.

They are also becoming themselves in their own way.

It was late at night, but the light in Ye Guigen's room was still on. He was drawing the design sketches for the casing, each stroke meticulously executed.

He knew that the road ahead was still long.

But he's already on his way.

That's enough. (End of Chapter)