Break out of the courtyard

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Tang Ming sat in the lobby of the Peace Hotel all morning, but Zhang Heping and his family did not come to pay their respects.

Just as he was thinking of taking his family to the Peace Academy across the street for lunch to ease the tension between his second son's family and Zhang Heping, Tang Ren's family all objected!

"Dad!" Tang Ren frowned as he looked at his father, Tang Ming, who was acting on wishful thinking. "My brother-in-law's attitude has already been very clear, so why are you doing this?"

Tang Ming noticed that only Tang Lie and Tang Qiang had followed Tang Ren, and said irritably, "If we don't talk about this sooner rather than later and build up our relationship, we'll become strangers in the future!"

“Strangers are strangers!” Tang Qiang, the third grandson, said indignantly from the side, “Don’t even mention that my uncle doesn’t want to talk to them, I’m too lazy to even acknowledge them.”

"You..." Tang Ming was speechless for a moment after his third grandson's words.

Because Tang Hai and the others were nearby, Tang Ming didn't want to bring up this topic with Tang Qiang, lest it escalate the conflict.

Then, the eldest grandson, Tang Lie, said, "Grandpa, if you continue to act this way, not to mention whether my uncle will take his anger out on my dad and us, my fourth aunt is already feeling very uncomfortable being caught in the middle."

Tang Qiang chimed in, "Your uncle didn't come to the restaurant for dinner last night, which made his resentment quite obvious. He didn't come to wish you a Happy New Year this morning, and you still don't take it seriously!"

Seeing his father's displeasure, Tang Ren waved his two sons away. "Dad, we agreed before that if my brother-in-law is unwilling to help the second son's children and grandchildren, I will take care of them. There's no need to strain relations with my brother-in-law!"

Tang Ming frowned and glanced at his eldest son and grandson, then looked at his second son's children and grandchildren who were waiting beside him.

Tang Hai, the second son of Tang Yijia, spoke up: "Grandpa, judging from the fact that Uncle took Third Aunt and Fifth Aunt to the hospital for a check-up yesterday, he is at least still sentimental. Why don't we slow down for now?"

“My brother-in-law doesn’t have any aversion to Ah Hai. In the future, we can let Ah Hai come to Hong Kong Island and Shenzhen more often to ease the tension,” Tang Ren continued to persuade from the side. “When my brother-in-law gets stubborn, he doesn’t even listen to his father, let alone us. Don’t you think so?”

Tang Ming pondered for a moment, then finally sighed, "Tell them to come downstairs for dinner!"

After speaking, Xu Jiefeng helped Tang Ming's hunched body walk towards the restaurant.

Tang Ren patted his second nephew Tang Hai on the shoulder and told him to go to the bar and make a phone call to ask the people upstairs to come down for dinner.

Seeing his grandfather's listless appearance, Tang Lie couldn't help but ask his third brother, Tang Qiang, "How far has Uncle's research on the longevity potion progressed? Has he said when he'll give Grandpa the medicine?"

"I don't know!" Tang Qiang said with a hint of helplessness. "I don't understand any of the biological and genetic terms they used. All I know is that the samples in the No. 1 space capsule have been sealed. After the New Year, when the No. 2 space capsule goes into space and docks with the No. 1 space capsule, animal experiments will be conducted."

While the two Tang brothers were discussing animal experiments, someone in the capital was also bringing it up.

This year's Spring Festival was somewhat special because of the Middle East war initiated by the Americans. Even on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Hua Lao, Li Lao, Zheng Laotai, and others were still holding meetings.

“According to the information provided by Teacher Zhang, we did successfully produce the Longevity 100 Potion, but…” An elderly man in a burgundy down jacket stopped mid-sentence.

The others in the conference hall waited for a while, then looked at the experts next to the old man with suspicion.

A middle-aged male expert glanced at Professor Hua, then said with an awkward smile to the others, "Distinguished leaders, we've signed a confidentiality agreement, so there are many things we can't disclose. Perhaps you could consult Professor Zhang?"

Upon hearing this answer, everyone else couldn't help but look at Elder Hua, because he was Zhang Heping's undisputed superior.

"Ahem!" Old Hua cleared his throat and said seriously, "Although they have learned how to make the Lifespan 100 potion and have conducted some animal experiments, the side effects of the potion they made are much more serious than those of the Lifespan 100 potion made by Consultant Zhang."

"Therefore, Consultant Zhang did not allow them to make Lifespan 100 potions for people to use, but instead had them continue to learn how to make Lifespan 120 potions."

"This Lifespan 120 potion is the same kind of potion with no side effects used by Elder Zheng and Elder Zhuang."

"Really?" Someone asked eagerly as soon as Elder Hua finished speaking.

"Is it that longevity potion that can't be mass-produced?" an old man asked at the same time.

Then look at those who hadn't spoken; they all had their eyes on Old Lady Zheng's face, which looked more than 30 years younger.

"Don't spread the word about the Lifespan 120 potion, lest others disturb Consultant Zhang's research." Old Hua didn't try to prove anything, he just gave this advice.

It's certain that I won't share this information with others, at least not before I and my family use it, to avoid long queues for the medicine.

Deciding who gets to use it first and who gets to use it later will be another troublesome matter.

After discussing the Lifespan 100 Elixir, Elder Hua, Elder Li, and the others stood up and saw the biology and genetics experts out the door.

After waiting a while, the guards brought in three biological and genetic experts from the space capsule's remote control center!
After exchanging pleasantries, the others inquired about the experiments inside the spacecraft.

Although Hua Lao was aware of this and revealed some information, some people still wanted to glean more information from these experts.

Wearing a long black down jacket, Mr. Lü introduced with a smile: "The progress is going very smoothly. Professor Zhang's planned No. 1 space capsule experiment has been completed, and the relevant samples have been sealed. We are just waiting for the No. 2 longevity space capsule to dock successfully so that we can carry out animal experiments and human cell drug experiments."

An elderly man in a gray Zhongshan suit asked eagerly, "Professor Lü, what do you think of the newly developed longevity potion? Can it be mass-produced?"

"This hasn't been tested yet, so it's hard to say about the drug's effectiveness," Elder Lü said, shaking his head. "Furthermore, Professor Zhang kept some of the raw materials a secret from us, so we can't determine whether the new drug can be mass-produced."

"He also kept some of the raw materials a secret?" The gray-robed elder looked at Elder Hua in astonishment.

Old Hua spread his hands helplessly and said, "This is Consultant Zhang's research achievement. Don't forget that his family also has a large corporation to run!"

Old Hua gave a light but firm reminder, implying that Zhang Heping was not someone to be trifled with and would not be easily manipulated.

Some people, upon hearing Hua's barbed words, couldn't help but wonder if he minded their questioning of these biology and genetic experts.

After all, Elder Hua had already told them quite a bit about the longevity potion, and asked them to wait patiently.

But they didn't listen, and instead called over these experts who had gone home for the Chinese New Year to question them.

Several people asked a few more questions, but after not receiving any substantial answers, they had no choice but to give up.

……

Zhang Heping had a leisurely day. After sending out red envelopes in the morning, he took a deck chair and fishing rod and went fishing by the artificial lake.

However, Zhang Bei, that brat, had a lot of questions. He kept squatting next to Zhang Heping, asking him for his views on the future development of the Internet.

Compared to Hao Da'er, Xiao Ba Zhang Hao, who was squatting next to him fiddling with the fish in the bucket, was much cuter.

Zhang Heping lifted the rod again and caught a red carp about three fingers wide.

Then, with a loud thud, the red carp was thrown into the red plastic bucket containing fish, startling Xiao Zhanghao so much that he fell to the ground with a thud.

The boy, startled, didn't cry or fuss. Instead, he excitedly leaned over the edge of the bucket and started counting the fish again. "Dad!" Zhang Bei asked again as Zhang Heping cast the empty hook back into the water, "To create a platform for uploading and watching short videos on computers and mobile phones, the existing servers and video compression technology probably can't meet the requirements!"

"So what?" Zhang Heping asked instead of answering.

Zhang Bei replied, "Short video platforms can indeed develop into another gathering place for netizens besides QQ dating and the World Internet Forum, but I think it's a bit early to enter the market now."

Looking at the shimmering lake surface, Zhang Heping ignored the sinking buoy and said in a complicated tone, "Xiao Bei, there are many unpredictable things in this world."

"Therefore, when you look at something, don't be too subjective; try to look at it from multiple perspectives."

"For example, the online payment and online shopping platforms I mentioned to you before, there are already companies in the United States that are doing that. Although their software has many security issues, they are already ahead of your company."

"So here's the question: how do you view this?"

"Won't you blame all the problems your company encounters on those American companies?"

“I…” Zhang Bei hesitated, “I will first investigate those companies, and then try to imitate their operating model.”

Hearing his eldest son's lack of confidence, Zhang Heping pondered for a moment and said, "In this world, there is only one operating model with the highest success rate, and anyone can learn it: the free model!"

"No matter what kind of internet product you want to make, just remember the word 'free'."

After speaking, Zhang Heping got up, reeled in his line, and pulled a palm-sized yellow carp out of the water.

After throwing the carp into the bucket, Zhang Heping continued to cast his hook into empty air.

Zhang Bei stood up thoughtfully, stomped his numb feet behind him, and then silently went home after a while.

After a while, Zhang Heping's concubine, Chen Shuting, came over, picked up their youngest son whose clothes and pants were all wet, and said to Zhang Heping with a resentful tone, "Our son is all wet, and you don't even care."

Zhang Heping laughed and said, "I saw that he was having a lot of fun, and I was wondering if you and Ah Xin would beat him up if you saw him like this."

“If you don’t beat him, why should we?” Chen Shuting said, reaching to take off her youngest son’s wet clothes.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Heping hurriedly stopped him, saying, "Take it home and take it off. If you take it off here, you'll easily catch a cold from the wind on the street."

Chen Shuting responded and took her wet youngest son home to change his clothes.

After that, everyone else only saw Zhang Heping sitting by the lake, not lifting his fishing rod, as if he were in a daze.

After Chen Shuting changed her youngest son's clothes and then changed her own, she went downstairs and was pulled aside by her second sister, Zhang Pandi.

"Has the Peace Group encountered any difficulties recently?" Zhang Pandi said, her eyes fixed on her third brother's somewhat lonely figure.

"No!" Following her second sister's gaze, Chen Shuting noticed her husband's unusual behavior and frowned slightly. "There's plenty of money in the account, and the business hasn't run into any problems. He's probably thinking about the lab."

On the other side, Tang Xin, who was playing mahjong absentmindedly, got up and glanced at the figure by the lake after hearing the next player remind her of Zhang Heping's unusual behavior. She wondered to herself if her husband was still upset about her second brother's family's visit yesterday.

Thinking about all this, Tang Xin didn't have the courage to go and ask, afraid that Zhang Heping would blame her for not telling her about it beforehand.

Zhang Bing, who was playing cards with his two sons-in-law and Professor Luo, the father of his granddaughter-in-law, also noticed his son's unusual behavior.

However, Zhang Bing was still secretly blaming Zhang Heping for sending his relatives back to their hometown as vagrants. He hadn't spoken to Zhang Heping recently, and he didn't want to talk to his unsympathetic son now.

After an unknown amount of time, when Ma Xiuzhen came out of the kitchen and began to call everyone to prepare for dinner, the old woman walked to the lakeside and started talking to Zhang Heping.

Then, Zhang Heping poured all the red, white, and yellow carp from the bucket back into the artificial lake.

"Heping, Mom has something to tell you!" Ma Xiuzhen tugged at her son's sleeve and said somewhat shyly, "Isn't Roy pregnant?"

“Her mother passed away early, and your second sister often works overtime. I was worried that no one would take care of her diet, so I thought I would come to Shenzhen to live with you in two years.”

"Oh!" Zhang Heping replied casually, "Whatever you want, I'll bring the kids back to see you when I have time."

Zhang Heping's statement, "I have time," came too early.

Little did he know that this first day of the Lunar New Year was the freest time of his year.

The next morning, Zhang Heping took his family to Heping Aerospace.

Zhang Heping came here to inspect the launch vehicle for the No. 2 Lifespan Space Module. This was a schedule that was arranged before the new year, and it wasn't because he was deliberately avoiding people from the Tang family.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Zhang Heping spent the whole day in the biological gene laboratory building, equipping the No. 2 longevity space capsule with some confidential materials.

Finally, he also collected some flesh and blood tissue from Tang Ming and Xu Jiefeng, intending to send it into space for experiments.

At 23 p.m. that night, the experimental monkeys and mice that had passed multiple rounds of inspections were packed separately and fixed inside the No. 2 Lifespan Space Capsule along with a small return capsule.

After Zhang Heping put various experimental materials into the space capsule, and after two groups of people checked the materials according to the list prepared by Zhang Heping, the hatch of the No. 2 Shouyuan space capsule was closed.

Next, various safety checks on the launch vehicle began.

People at the rocket launch site and launch command center are making final preparations to ensure the successful launch of the No. 2 Shouyuan space capsule into space.

Then, the first-ever spacecraft docking in China's history took place!

At 4 a.m., just as many members of the Zhang family were starting to doze off, the countdown finally began at the rocket launch command center.

Meanwhile, the air defense systems on the hills to the north and south of the rocket launch site, as well as the fire trucks on the two roads to the east and west, are all ready to respond to any emergencies.

As the command to "ignite" was given, a ball of fire could be clearly seen lighting up from the observation platform where the Zhang family members were standing.

Then, the flame rose higher and higher into the darkness.

"Why is it launching at night?" Zhang Nan said, looking at the fiery light that had just risen and was slowly descending in the sky, somewhat annoyed.

"All I saw was a little spark; I didn't even see how the rockets separated."

Holding his eighth brother, Zhang Long looked at the television on the wall inside the room and laughed, "I told you to look at the TV here, but you wouldn't. There's a live broadcast of a rocket launch on TV, and even footage from the camera on the rocket. Look what that is..." (End of Chapter)