Great Power Reclamation

The night in Junken City was pure black. Ye Yuze sat in his study, a chessboard in front of him with an unfinished game, but his mind was not on the game.

He held a chess piece in his hand, turning it for a long time without making a move.

The phone rang; it wasn't the old-fashioned red landline, it was his cell phone—

A Youwei phone that looks like it's been used for several years has two thin cracks on the screen, but they don't affect its use.

He glanced at the caller ID and answered.

"Third brother."

On the other end of the phone, Ye Yuping's voice carried the calmness unique to a scientist, unhurried and composed, each word seemingly having been circulated in his mind three times before being uttered.

"Brother, Helena wants me to go back to my country."

Ye Yuze leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest twice.

"Return to China? Return to the military reclamation area?"

"Yes. Her small aircraft engine has obtained EU airworthiness certification, and the next step is large aircraft. She said that this is exactly what China is lacking right now, and it's also what Europe and the US are trying to restrict the most. She doesn't want me to stay in Boston anymore and wants to go back."

Ye Yuze remained silent for a few seconds. Ye Yuping—his third younger brother, the third son of the second generation of the Ye family, was also over fifty years old this year.

More than 20 years ago, Ye Yuping studied mechanical engineering at MIT, specializing in engines.

At that time, the Warrior Group was just starting out, and Ye Yuze needed someone to help him keep an eye on the most core technology—the engine.

Ye Yuping was that person. He stayed in Boston for more than 20 years, transforming from a naive student into a world-class engine expert.

Warrior Motors' global dominance and its engines' ability to hold established European and American automakers hostage are largely thanks to Ye Yuping.

But he paid a heavy price – he was away from home, from the military reclamation city, and from his parents for more than 20 years.

"How is Helena's health?" Ye Yuze asked.

"Not good. Her knees are giving her trouble; they hurt if she stands for too long. But she can't stay still; she still goes to the lab every day."

"And you? How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. I can still work for another ten years."

Ye Yuze smiled. This third brother of his never minces words.

When someone asks, "How are you feeling?", answering "I'm fine" is already the limit. Adding "I can still work for another ten years" translates to "I can still work for the Warrior Group for another ten years."

"Third brother," Ye Yuze's voice lowered, "what about Boston now that you're back? What about Luna and Cynthia? What about the two girls?"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone. "Luna said she's coming back with me. Cynthia too. The Boston Fund's business can be managed remotely, or if necessary, it can be handed over to professional managers."

"Both girls—Ye Lin and Ye Lang—are studying at Harvard. The older one will graduate next year, and the younger one will graduate in two years. They said they want to return to China after graduation."

Ye Yuze didn't speak. He thought of Ye Lin and Ye Lang—his two nieces whom he had only seen in photos and videos.

Ye Lin looks like Luna, with blonde hair and blue eyes, but speaks fluent Chinese;

Ye Lang resembled Cynthia, with brown hair, a quiet personality, and a love for drawing. He had never seen them in person. Not even once.

“Brother,” Ye Yuping’s voice interrupted his thoughts, “Helena asked me to ask you a question.”

"What?"

She asked, "Is the runway in Junken City long enough?"

Ye Yuze paused for a moment, then laughed. "Tell her that the runway in Junken City stretches all the way from the Gobi Desert to the horizon. It's long enough. Let her go for it."

"Row."

After hanging up the phone, Ye Yuze sat in a chair and looked at the stars outside the window. The night in Junken City was as quiet as a painting.

He recalled many years ago when Mei Hua took her family to America. At that time, Ye Yuping was only a little over ten years old, a bouncy little child.

Later, when I grew up, I never came back. It wasn't that I didn't want to come back, but that I couldn't.

Because the engine development of the Warrior Group cannot stop. If it stops, they will be overtaken. And if they are overtaken, they will be held hostage.

If they were held hostage, the Warrior Group would be finished. So Ye Yuping stayed in Boston for more than 20 years, from youth to middle age, from single to husband and father, from student to world-class engine expert.

He dedicated the best years of his life to the warrior group. Now, he's finally coming back.

Ye Yuze picked up his phone and sent a message to Yang Geyong: "Third brother is coming back. Helena is calling him."

The reply came quickly, just four words: "Good news. Let's drink."

Ye Yuze looked at those four words and smiled.

He put his phone on the table, stood up, and walked to the window.

The stars outside the window were shining, densely packed, like someone had spilled a bag of loose silver.

He thought of Helena—that German woman, a former employee of Hamburg Airlines and a shareholder of Airbus, who couldn't stay in Europe because she had offended someone she shouldn't have, and it was Ye Yuping who brought her to the military reclamation city.

At that time, Helena was in her early twenties, blonde with blue eyes, and tall. The way she looked in the laboratory wearing a white lab coat was like a model who had stepped out of a magazine.

But she is not a model; she is a world-leading expert in aero-engines.

She stayed in the military reclamation city for decades without marrying, but she had one child. She gave birth to a son for Ye Yuping, whom she named Ye Hai.

That child grew up in Junken City, and was later taken to Boston by Ye Yuping. He went through high school, college, and a doctorate, and is now an expert in engines.

At less than thirty years old, he is already one of the youngest top talents in this field.

Ye Yuze recalled Ye Hai's face—black hair, black eyes, a high nose, resembling Ye Yuping and also Helena.

The boy didn't talk much, but he was extremely serious about his work, just like his father.

Every year during the Lunar New Year, Ye Yuping would lead his whole family to pay New Year's respects to his elder brother. Ye Hai would stand behind, not saying much.

But every time Ye Yuze asked him, "What have you been doing lately?"
He would answer seriously, talking for more than ten minutes at a time, from the combustion efficiency of the engine to the material process of the turbine blades, leaving Ye Yuze, a layman, completely confused.

But Ye Yuze liked listening. Because the child's eyes were bright when he talked about these things.

That kind of brilliance isn't the brilliance of a young person; it's the brilliance of someone who truly loves something.

My phone vibrated again. This time it was Ye Feng.

"Dad, I know about Uncle San's matter."

Ye Feng's voice came from across the ocean, steady and clear:

"I'll arrange for someone to take over things in Boston. Brothers Group can send a team to support Luna and Cynthia's foundation. I'll handle Ye Lin and Ye Lang's work."

Ye Yuze paused for a moment. "Your third uncle came back not for work. He came back for Helena. Helena is in poor health and wants to develop the large aircraft engine while she is still able to move."

“I know,” Ye Feng said. “That’s why I doubled the budget for the Military Reclamation Research Institute. Ivan and Kevin are already prepared.”

Ye Yuze held his phone, remaining silent. Ivan and Kevin—these two were familiar faces.

Ivan is a Russian-born engine expert who has worked in the Warrior Group for over thirty years, from youth to old age.

Kevin is an American, a Princeton graduate, and a famous hacker. He was brought to the military reclamation city by Lao Si and Ye Yuze.

They all came together for one goal—to build China's own large aircraft engine.

“Dad,” Ye Feng’s voice interrupted his thoughts, “I went to pick up Uncle San when he came back.”

"Don't go. You stay in New York and do your thing. I'll pick you up."

"You? You have trouble walking—"

“My legs are perfectly fine,” Ye Yuze interrupted him. “I’m not so old that I can’t walk.”

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone. "Okay. Go answer it."

After hanging up the phone, Ye Yuze stood up, walked to his desk, opened a drawer, and took out a photograph. The photograph showed seven people: Ye Yuping, Helena, Ye Hai, Luna, Cynthia, Ye Lin, and Ye Lang, standing on the banks of the Charles River in Boston, with the Harvard University campus in the background.

The sun was shining brightly, and everyone was smiling. Ye Yuping stood in the middle, his left arm around Luna and his right arm around Cynthia. Helena stood beside him, holding Ye Hai's hand.

Ye Lin and Ye Lang stood at the front, each taller than the other, their eyes narrowed into slits with laughter.

Ye Yuze stared at the photo for a long time. He put it back in the drawer and turned off the light.

The study was plunged into darkness. The stars outside the window were still shining.

Boston, on the banks of the Charles River, on the same afternoon.

Ye Yuping stood in front of the laboratory window, looking at the sailboats on the river.

Boston was already cold in December, with a thin layer of ice on the river. The sailboats were all put away, and only a few wild ducks swam around on the water.

His laboratory is in an unassuming red brick building near Harvard University. There is no sign or address, only a small brass plaque at the entrance with three letters engraved on it—YPL.

Ye Yuping's Laboratory.

He bought the building himself, paid for the equipment inside himself, and hired the more than twenty researchers inside—most of whom were graduates of Harvard and MIT—at his own expense.

He doesn't take a single penny from the Warriors Group. His research funding comes from the Boston Foundation—the family foundation of Luna and Cynthia.

This is why he was able to quietly conduct engine research and development for more than 20 years right under the noses of European and American countries, without anyone bothering him.

Because he is not "Ye Yuping of China", he is "Ye Yuping of Boston".

The door was pushed open. Helena walked in, wearing a gray cashmere sweater, black trousers, and flat shoes.

Her blonde hair had turned gray, and she had more wrinkles on her face than last year, but her blue eyes were still very bright.

She walks with a slight limp in her right leg—her knee is giving her trouble, and it hurts when she stands for a long time.

"Yuping, what are you looking at?"

"Look at the river." Ye Yuping turned around. "The river is frozen."

Helena walked over to him and looked out the window as well. "Boston winters get colder every year."

"It's not that Boston is cold. It's that we're getting old."

Helena turned to look at him. Ye Yuping's features hadn't changed much since he was young, except that half of his hair had turned white and there were a few more wrinkles around his eyes.

But he stood there, his back ramrod straight, like a pine tree.

"You're old, but your mind isn't."

Helena came to Boston specifically to pick up Ye Yuping.

Helena said, "Our engine has received EU airworthiness certification. This is the first time a Chinese company has received this certification. Do you know what that means?" Ye Yuping certainly knew. It meant that the small aircraft engine they had developed could now fly in European skies.

This means that the blockade imposed by Europe and the United States on China's aero-engine industry has been breached.

This breach is small, but it will grow larger and larger. When it becomes so large that they can no longer plug it, Chinese aircraft will be able to be equipped with their own engines and fly all over the world.

“Helena,” Ye Yuping said, “Are you sure you want to go back? Why don’t you get your knee treated here?”

“My knee is fine,” Helena interrupted him. “When we get back, I’ll go into the lab in a wheelchair.”

Ye Yuping looked at her and remained silent for a long time. He recalled the scene when he first met Helena more than twenty years ago.

It was at an air show in Hamburg. She was standing behind the Airbus booth, dressed in a black business suit, with her blonde hair flowing down her shoulders, negotiating with a client from the Middle East.

Her German had a slight English accent, and her English had a slight German accent, but every word she uttered was to the point, leaving no room for argument.

He listened for a few minutes and was completely captivated by her. He later learned that Helena was a shareholder of Airbus and its youngest engine expert.

Her turbine blade design reduced Airbus engine fuel consumption by 15 percent. That was the biggest breakthrough in the entire industry in decades.

But she also offended some people because of this. The European aviation industry is a very complex and murky place.

Established families, military-industrial groups, politicians, bankers—the various forces are deeply intertwined.

Helena wasn't one of them; she was too outstanding, so outstanding that she posed a threat to those who relied on connections and hereditary privilege.

They began to ostracize her, suppress her, and eventually even threatened her life. She had no choice but to leave Europe, leaving behind the place where her father had spent his entire life.

Ye Yuping took her in. He took her to the military reclamation city.

On the Gobi Desert, in Ye Yuze's study, Helena met the head of the Ye family for the first time.

Ye Yuze didn't ask her too many questions, he just said, "Now that you're here, stay here. Stay as long as you want."

Helena settled down. She stayed for more than a decade. In the military reclamation city, she set up a small aero-engine laboratory, leading a few young people, starting from scratch.

Ye Yuze bought her the equipment she needed. Yang Geyong found the materials she needed.

There was no one available, so Ye Yuping sent her from Boston. Over the past decade, she has developed China's own small aircraft engine, obtained EU airworthiness certification, and won three international awards.

Those who once ostracized, suppressed, and threatened her, now seeing the awards she received and her engines flying in the skies over Europe, I wonder what their expressions are.

“Yuping,” Helena’s voice interrupted his thoughts, “Why didn’t Ye Hai come today?”

"In the lab. He said there was a combustion chamber design that needed to be changed, and he'd come back after it was revised."

"Just like his dad. He works like his life depends on it."

Ye Yuping smiled. "He's not like me. He's like you."

Helena smiled too. When she smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes gathered together like a fan.

But her smile is still as bright, warm, and captivating as it was at the Hamburg Air Show more than 20 years ago.

The door opened again. This time, two people entered—Luna and Cynthia.

Luna wore a dark blue wool dress, her golden hair was styled in a low bun, and she wore a pair of pearl earrings.

Cynthia was wearing brown corduroy pants, a white sweater, and her brown hair was loose. She was holding a cup of coffee.

Luna and Cynthia are twin sisters and heirs to the Boston Foundation.

Their grandfather, Old Boston, was a legendary figure on Wall Street who built his fortune from scratch, accumulating billions of dollars.

Old Boston had only one daughter, who gave birth to Luna and Cynthia. Therefore, the two sisters are the heirs to Old Boston's entire estate.

Luna studied economics, while Cynthia studied law.

They met Ye Yuping while studying at Harvard and were attracted by his focused, determined, and unwavering demeanor. Later, they both fell in love with him.

This is no ordinary story. It involves one man, two women, and twin sisters.

To outsiders, this is simply unbelievable. But Ye Yuping, Luna, and Cynthia have spent more than twenty years together like this.

There were no arguments, no jealousy, nothing that could crush them from worldly opinions. Because all three of them were simply too busy.

Ye Yuping was busy with engines, Luna was busy with funds, and Cynthia was busy with law.

The three of them don't get to spend much time together throughout the year. But whenever they do get together, they can talk all night long, just like they did more than twenty years ago, until dawn.

“Yuping,” Luna walked up to him, “I checked the flights. There’s a Hainan Airlines flight next week that flies directly from Boston to BJ. Which one are you taking?”

Ye Yuping thought for a moment. "Helena's knees aren't good, she can't sit in economy class for that long."

“I know. I booked business class. Three tickets for you, Helena, and Ye Hai.”

Ye Yuping looked at her, wanting to say thank you, but swallowed the words back.

For over twenty years, what he owes Luna and Cynthia cannot be repaid with a simple thank you.

"Luna," he finally spoke, "when are you and Cynthia going back?"

Luna glanced at Cynthia. Cynthia put down her coffee cup, walked over, and stood next to Luna.

“I’ll go back once the fund matters are settled. It’ll probably take two or three months,” Cynthia said. “Ye Lin and Ye Lang said they’ll go back too when school is out for break.”

Ye Yuping nodded. He looked at the three women in front of him—Helena, Luna, and Cynthia.

They were the most important people in his life. One gave him his son, one gave him his career, and one gave him stability. He didn't know how to repay them.

Perhaps they don't need him to repay them. All they want is for him to live well, to be a good engine, and to successfully launch China's own planes into the blue sky.

The door opened again. This time, a young man, around thirty years old, entered. He was wearing a dark blue work jacket, holding a stack of blueprints, with messy hair and smeared machine oil on his face.

Ye Hai.

“Dad,” he walked up to Ye Yuping and handed her the blueprints, “a new design for the combustion chamber. The efficiency is three percent higher than the previous version.”

Ye Yuping took the blueprint and examined it carefully. The lines on it were dense, and the data was clearly marked.

Every number has been precisely calculated, and every label is neatly written.

"Three percent? Are you sure?"

"Confirmed. I conducted three simulations, and the data was consistent."

Ye Yuping placed the blueprints on the table and looked at his son. Ye Hai looked like him, but his personality was like Helena's—not talkative, but every word he uttered was to the point.

He is extremely meticulous in his work and never does things half-heartedly. He has an almost obsessive passion for engines.

“Ye Hai,” Ye Yuping said, “you will be coming back to China with us next week.”

Ye Hai was taken aback. "Back to Junken City?"

"Yes. Go back to Junken City. Your mother's large aircraft project needs you."

Ye Hai glanced at Helena. Helena nodded at him. He then looked at Luna and Cynthia. The two of them nodded at him as well.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll go back.”

He did not hesitate. Because Junken City was not an unfamiliar place to him.

He was born there, grew up there, and learned to walk, talk, and read there.

He spent his childhood in the Gobi Desert. He remembers the sandstorms, the scorching sun, and the star-studded nights.

He remembered Ye Yuze's study, Yang Geyong's milk tea, and the tombstone on the back hill. He remembered those things. Those things were his roots.

London, the same evening.

Yang Chenglong sat in his dormitory with the "Pegasus" project plan spread out in front of him, but his eyes were fixed on his phone screen.

Ye Guigen just sent him a message: "Third Uncle is coming back. Ye Hai is coming back too."

He replied: "Who is Ye Hai?"

The reply came quickly. "My great-uncle's son. An aero-engine expert. He won an international award."

Yang Chenglong was taken aback. He remembered Ye Guigen mentioning Ye Yuping before, saying that he was working on engine research and development in Boston and was a great contributor to the Warrior Group.

But he didn't mention Ye Hai, nor did he mention Luna or Cynthia.

"Your third uncle has three women?" he typed.

"Not three. Two. Helena is not his wife. Luna and Cynthia are."

Yang Chenglong stared at the words, his mind a jumble. But he didn't press the matter. It was the Ye family's private affair, and it wasn't his place to ask.

"Is their return a good thing or a bad thing?" he asked.

"Good news. Helena wants to develop large aircraft engines. The country lacks them."

Yang Chenglong looked at the words "large aircraft engine" and his heart skipped a beat.

He remembered when he was a child, Yang Geyong took him to the provincial capital to see an airshow. The planes were flying in the sky, making a loud rumbling noise that shook the ground.

He craned his neck, his neck aching from looking up. Yang Geyong said from the side:

"The engines of these planes all belong to other countries. When we can install our own engines, our planes will be able to fly all over the world."

Now, that "when" seems to be approaching.

He sent Ye Guigen a message: "When your third grandfather comes back, I'll go to Junken City to see him."

"it is good."

Yang Chenglong placed his phone on the table and looked out the window at London. Night had fallen, and the streetlights were on. The warm, orange glow shone on the windowsill.

He recalled a quote from Yang Geyong: "A man must have strength. Without strength, he is nothing."

Strength isn't just money or fists. It's technology. It's the engine. It's what makes an airplane fly.

He stood up, walked to the window, and opened it. A cold wind rushed in, making his hair fly wildly. But he didn't care.

He looked at the distant sky, which was pitch black and starless.

But he knew that eight thousand kilometers away, the night sky over Junken City was filled with them.

Those stars were lit up one by one by people like Ye Yuping and Helena.

(To be continued) (End of this chapter)