Great Power Reclamation

The streetlight at the entrance of the research institute cast a dim, yellowish glow on the two young people.

Ye Hai held up a half-eaten strawberry ice cream, cream dripping down the back of his hand without him noticing.

Aygul took out a tissue from her pocket, pulled out one, took his hand, and wiped it clean for him. The movement was very natural, as if she were wiping a microscope lens in a laboratory.

Her beautiful face shone brightly, as white and flawless as a crescent moon, making Ye Hai swoon.

"How old are you?" Aygul asked.

Ye Hai didn't hear at all and kept staring blankly at Ayiguli.

Aygul was inwardly delighted, but her face showed annoyance as she stepped on Ye Hai's toes:
"Hey idiot, what are you looking at? How old are you?"

Ye Hai exclaimed "Oh dear!" as if waking from a dream, quickly composed himself, and honestly replied:

"Twenty-nine."

"Almost thirty and still no girlfriend?"

Ye Hai glanced at the graceful Ayiguli, and unconsciously licked his lips, his words carrying no sincerity:
"I told you, I don't have time."

Aygul released his hand, took a step back, and looked him up and down.

The Ye family actually has very good genes, and Ye Hai's mother is German, which improved the Ye family's original short stature and made their facial features more three-dimensional.

Aygul was stunned for a moment. This guy was too handsome. How could she win him over?
Ye Hai felt a little uneasy under her gaze and subconsciously touched his nose. This gesture was like that of his father, Ye Yuping, who would unconsciously touch his nose when he was focused, as if he wanted to concentrate his attention on one point and block out the whole world.

Seeing his silly look, Ayiguli chuckled and then asked:

"What do you usually do after get off work?" Ayiguli asked the same question she had asked earlier that day.

"work overtime."

"What happens after you finish working overtime?"

"Go back to sleep."

What about the weekend?

"work overtime."

Aygul sighed. "Besides engines, is there anything else in your head?"

Ye Hai thought about it carefully. "Yes."

"what?"

Ye Hai hesitated for a long time, his face turning red, before finally mustering his courage and uttering a single word:

"you."

Aygul was stunned. She never expected this man, who was as dull as a wooden post, to say such a thing.

Her face flushed slightly, but the dim streetlights made it hard to tell.

She lowered her head and kicked a small pebble on the ground. The pebble rolled away and hit the roadside ditch with a crisp sound.

"If you can't say sweet nothings, then don't. The way you say them is so stiff, like you're reciting technical specifications."

Ye Hai scratched his head. "I was never going to say it anyway."

“I know. That’s why I…” She didn’t finish her sentence, swallowing the rest of it.

"What do you mean?"

"That's when I realized how cute you are."

Ye Hai's heart was pounding. He had never been called "cute" before. Back in Boston, people in the lab said he was "serious," "focused," and "like a precision instrument."

But no one ever called him "cute". He didn't know what was cute about him, but he felt that being told he was cute by Aygul was a very good thing.

Ayiguli quietly reached out and touched Ye Hai's drooping fingertips beside her. Ye Hai was stunned for a moment, then suddenly woke up and grabbed Ayiguli's small hand.

A jolt of electricity sent a shiver through them both. Was this the taste of love? It felt so good…

The two stood at the entrance of the research institute for a long, long time, until they finished their ice cream and had enjoyed the wind.

Aygul gathered her wind-blown hair and tightened the red hair tie again.

Are you free tomorrow night?

Ye Hai thought for a moment. "I have time."

"Don't you work overtime every day?"

"I can skip overtime for you."

Aygul smiled. "Then I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow night. Not the cafeteria, but a restaurant outside."

Ye Hai looked at her, a smile playing on his lips. "Okay."

The two said goodbye and walked towards their respective dormitories. Ye Hai took a few steps, then turned around, and Ayiguli was also turning around to look at him.

Their eyes met, they both paused for a moment, and then laughed at the same time.

Ye Hai returned to his dormitory, sat on the edge of his bed, took off his work shoes covered in machine oil, and neatly placed them by the door.

Then he lay down and looked at the ceiling. There was a crack in the ceiling that stretched from the light fixture to the corner of the wall, like a thin river.

He stared at the crack for a long time, his mind not on the engine numbers, but on Ayiguli's laughter. Crisp and clear, like a mountain stream.

He rolled over, picked up his phone, and wanted to message Aygul, but realized he still didn't know her number.

He thought for a moment, opened the research institute's address book, and found a name under "Materials Group"—Aygul Maimaiti. A string of numbers followed it.

He saved that string of numbers into his contacts, noting it as "Aygul".

Then he stared at the screen for a long time, wanting to post something, but not knowing what to post.

"What time tomorrow?" is too formal. "Goodnight" is too ordinary. "Are you asleep?" is too cliché. He placed his phone beside his pillow and closed his eyes. The phone vibrated.

He picked it up and saw it was a text message from Ayiguli:
"This is my number. Save it. See you at the R&D institute entrance tomorrow night at 7 PM. Don't be late."

Ye Hai looked at the line of text and smiled. He replied with a single word: "Okay."

Then he added two more words:
"I won't be late."

A smiley face appeared on the other end. Ye Hai placed his phone beside his pillow and closed his eyes. This time, he fell asleep quickly.

Junken City, Ye Family Villa, on the same evening.

Ye Yuze sat in his study, a chess game in the middle of the board in front of him.

Yang Geyong sat opposite him, holding a bowl of milk tea in his hand, slurping it down loudly.

Zhao Ling'er and Yu'e sat on the sofa next to them, one knitting a sweater and the other looking at her phone.

"Old Ye, have you heard?" Yang Geyong put down his bowl. "Ye Hai is in love."

Ye Yuze held a chess piece, hovering it in mid-air. "With whom?"

"The new Uyghur girl in the materials team, Ayiguli."

Ye Yuze placed the chess piece down with a snap. "Has that kid Ye Hai finally figured it out?"

Yang Geyong laughed. "It's not that you've suddenly become enlightened. It's that someone has smashed your way out."

Zhao Ling'er looked up, her knitting needles pausing in her hand. "How is the girl?"

"She's great. She graduated from the Metallurgical Engineering Department of Beijiang University. Her father is a professor and her mother is a dancer. She's also beautiful."

Yang Geyong took out his phone from his pocket, pulled out a photo, and handed it to Zhao Ling'er:
“Look. This is a photo from the R&D institute’s annual meeting. She’s standing in the back row.”

Zhao Ling'er took the phone, looked at it, and nodded. "He looks energetic. He has big, bright eyes."

Yu'e also came over to take a look. "That's enough for Ye Hai. Ye Hai is too dull; we need to find someone more lively."

Yang Geyong put his phone away and picked up his milk tea bowl. "Old Ye, tell me, if Ye Hai gets married, will he be considered part of the Ye family or Helena's family?"

Ye Yuze glanced at him. "He is Helena's son, and also Yuping's son. His surname is Ye, not Helena's. He's married, so of course he's a member of the Ye family."

Yang Geyong muttered, "Then what's his child's surname?"

"His surname is Ye."

"What's his wife's last name?"

"His surname is Maimaiti. He doesn't change his surname."

Yang Geyong opened his mouth, as if to say something, but didn't. He picked up the milk tea bowl, took a big gulp, and slurped it down, as if trying to hide something.

Zhao Ling'er glanced at him and said in a low voice, "What do you care what their surname is? As long as they're doing well, that's all that matters."

Yang Geyong put down the bowl and glared at her. "I didn't care. I was just asking."

Zhao Ling'er ignored him and continued knitting. Yu'e secretly smiled to herself.

Ye Yuze leaned back in his chair, looking at the chessboard. Ye Hai was in a relationship. It wasn't a big deal, but it wasn't insignificant either. Ye Yuze was happy about it.

Ye Hai, that kid, has never liked to talk, make friends, or go out to play since he was little.

His life revolved around his engine. Now, finally, there's someone who can make him put down that engine and start thinking about something else.

Outside the window, the buds on the apricot tree had grown larger. Ye Yuze would go and check on them every day, watching those tiny buds swell up day by day.

He knew that the flowers would bloom in a few days. It was the same every year. No matter how cold the winter, they would bloom in time. Not a day early, not a day late.

London, East End docks, the same afternoon.

Yang Chenglong sat in his office with Tianma's ledger spread out in front of him.

His eyes were fixed on the numbers, but his mind was elsewhere—Ye Guigen had just received a phone call, and his expression had changed. He put down the ledger and looked at Ye Guigen.

"what happened?"

Ye Guigen turned away from the window, his smile gone. "Someone wants to tamper with the Tianshan engine."

Yang Chenglong stood up. "Who?"

"I don't know. But the news came from Beijing. Someone is investigating the background of the research institute, Helena's nationality, Ye Hai's education, everything. It's not an ordinary investigation, it's a thorough one. Once they find out, they'll take action."

Yang Chenglong clenched his fist. "Does your grandfather know?"

“I know. He said to let them investigate. They won’t find anything.”

"If they can't find anything, they'll create something. You can't prevent that."

Ye Guigen looked at him and remained silent for a moment. "When did you become so good at analysis?"

"You forced me into this." Yang Chenglong walked to the window and stood beside him. "Gui Gen, what do you think will happen in the end?"

Ye Guigen looked at the Thames River; the water was grayish and flowing very slowly.

"There are two possible outcomes. One, they find nothing and give up. The other, they find nothing but don't want to give up, so they create something themselves. They attach that thing to your grandfather. Then, your grandfather will become a 'problematic person'."

Yang Chenglong remained silent for a long time. "Then what should we do?"

"No rush. They are in the shadows, we are in the light. Those in the light cannot see those in the shadows. But those in the shadows, if they make a move, will reveal their shadows. Once their shadows are revealed, we can catch them."

Yang Chenglong looked at him. "You're the kind of person who can wait for anything."

"It's not that we can wait, it's that we have no choice but to wait."

The two stood by the window, neither speaking. Sunlight filtered through the clouds, illuminating the river and scattering it into a golden hue.

Military reclamation city, research institute, 7 pm the next day.

Ye Hai stood at the entrance of the research institute, wearing a dark blue jacket and with his hair neatly combed.

He hadn't worn this jacket in a long time; Helena had bought it for him last year, and it had been hanging in his closet ever since.

He wasn't used to it; the collar felt a bit tight and the cuffs a bit long. But Helena said it looked good, so he wore it.

Aygul walked over from the dormitory building, wearing a light green dress, her hair loose and not braided.

The red hair tie was tied around her wrist, like a thin red thread.

Ye Hai was stunned for a moment. He had never seen her in a dress before; she looked like a painting, like a flower, like the first wild tulip to bloom in spring at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains.

"What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a girl wearing a skirt before?" Aygul walked up to him, her face slightly flushed.

"I've seen it before. But I've never seen you wear it."

Is it pretty?

"nice."

Aygul laughed. "You always praise people in such a stiff way."

“I’m telling the truth.”

"The truth is the best to hear."

The two walked along the path outside the research institute toward the town. There were several small restaurants in the town, all run by locals, serving home-style dishes that tasted good and were reasonably priced.

Ye Hai had never been here before, nor had Ayiguli, but she found the highest-rated restaurant on her phone's map called "Tianshan Renjia".

"Don't you usually come to town for meals?" Ayiguli asked.

"I'm not coming."

"So what will you eat?"

"canteen."

"Is the food in the cafeteria good?"

"good."

Aygul sighed. "You really don't care about anything except the engine."

Ye Hai thought for a moment. "I care."

"What do you care about?"

"I care about you."

Aygul stopped and turned to look at him. The orange light of the streetlamp shone on his face, and his expression was serious. It wasn't like he was saying sweet nothings; it was like he was stating a technical parameter—precise, certain, and leaving no room for doubt.

“You,” she said softly, as if she were talking to herself, “you really don’t know how to say sweet words.”

“But everything I said is true.”

Aygul looked at him for a long time. Then she reached out and took his hand. His hands were large and rough, with thick calluses on his fingertips, the result of years of holding wrenches and files.

She held his hand, feeling the calluses digging into her palm, but she didn't let go.

"Let's go eat. I'm hungry."

The two walked hand in hand on the sidewalk of the town's small street. The streetlights lit up one by one, casting their shadows long and thin.

Aygul suddenly started singing a Kazakh folk song. Her voice wasn't loud, but it was very beautiful.

Ye Hai couldn't understand the lyrics, but he could understand the melody. The melody was like the wind, like the wind on the grassland, free, vast, and unrestrained.

He squeezed her hand. She squeezed his hand too.

The two walked through the night in the military reclamation town, with the research institute behind them and the town ahead. There were no stars in the sky, but the streetlights were bright.

(To be continued) (End of this chapter)