Break out of the courtyard

The way the capital city is handling the younger members of the Zhang family, such as Chang Wen and Zhang Yi, is still too conservative. Apart from temporary transfers, the only other option is to recommend them for entry into the Party.

Although the temporary transfer gave Chang Wen and Zhang Yi a seemingly good option, it first and foremost cut off their path to promotion in their original units.

Once their original employer lends them out, they certainly won't consider their promotion until they return to their original employer.

Even if they end up staying at the unit they were seconded to, they'll have to start all over again for promotions and such.

The key point is that, given Zhang Zhaodi and Zhang Pandi's current network of connections, they could completely skip the temporary transfer process.

So that very evening, Zhang Zhaodi called her friends at the People's Bank of China and the Ministry of Railways to confirm Chang Wen and Chang Qing's new jobs.

As for her second son, Chang Le, who had gone to the Northwest, Zhang Zhaodi had no way to deal with him.

Because Chang Le went there to genuinely support the work.

As long as Zhang Heping doesn't budge, Chang Le will remain an employee of Heping Aerospace Company, and he will also receive a high amount of subsidies during his support work in Northwest China.

Chang Xing, Zhang Yi, and Zhang Ting don't need to be worried for now; none of the three of them have any intention of moving.

Zhang Zhaodi gave the three of them some instructions, forbidding them from easily agreeing to the so-called temporary transfer, before she called her brother Zhang Heping.

From March to July this year, Zhang Heping moved the production of the Shouyuan 120 drug to Hong Kong Island and allocated most of the trial slots to employees of the Heping Group and Nobel Peace Prize winners.

From September to November, although some foreign trial participants did not cooperate with the six-month blood test, it did not have a significant impact on the production of Shouyuan 120 at the Shenzhen Peace College.

The original plan was to produce 358 vials of Lifespan 120 medicine in November, but this was reduced to 322 vials.

This steadily increasing production would be enough to meet the needs of the capital if Zhang Heping didn't have to sift through the list again.

However, Zhang Heping interfered, instead of focusing on the capital, he distributed most of the Lifespan 120 potions to various provinces, causing many people in the capital to have reservations about him.

Those unseen grievances, when accumulated, form layers of invisible obstacles.

For example, continue to prevent the Sanxingdui underground base from cooperating with Zhang Heping.

On the third day after Mr. Hua arrived on Hong Kong Island, the expert team sent from the mainland checked into the Peace Hotel on Hong Kong Island.

Subsequently, Mr. Hua and Director Wang tried to persuade Zhang Heping to meet with the mainland expert group first to discuss the virtual reality game helmet in person.

However, Zhang Heping did not agree and only sent his eldest son, Zhang Bei, to contact those people and answer their questions to a limited extent, because the mainland did not show any signs of reciprocal technology exchange.

On December 1st, good news came from the northwest: the core module of the Tiangong space station successfully entered Earth orbit. After the experimental module is connected, it will be able to fulfill the space station's mission of conducting research in outer space.

With the Shouyuan spacecraft taking the lead in achieving manned flight, the successful launch of the Tiangong space station's core module seems like a matter of course, even though it involved the efforts of many aerospace experts both at home and abroad.

Zhang Heping hadn't paid attention to the news from the Northwest. If it weren't for Hua Lao mentioning it during lunch, Zhang Heping wouldn't have known that the launch had been successful.

Even if you know that the probability of a successful launch is high, not paying attention is a different attitude altogether.

Before Hua Lao could continue chatting about the aftermath of the Palace Space Station, he was interrupted by a bodyguard who rushed in.

"Boss, two Americans have arrived at the door. One is Nathan, a liaison for the Wess family, and the other is Little K's personal secretary." The bodyguard whispered in Zhang Heping's ear, "They said they brought a gift you can't refuse!"

Zhang Heping casually said, "Take them to sit on the flat ground for a while, I'll come see them later!"

Old Hua didn't hear what the bodyguard said. After the bodyguard left, he tentatively asked, "A friend came over? Do I know them?"

“Two Americans!” Zhang Heping replied simply, and then fell silent.

Seeing that Zhang Heping had sped up his eating, Hua Lao swallowed the question he was about to ask and then also sped up his eating.

"Everyone, take your time eating!" Zhang Heping got up from the table and said to his concubine, "I reckon the Americans want to buy the Lifespan 120 potion. You should prepare to collect the money or gold."

After speaking, Zhang Heping, wearing a blue long-sleeved pajama set and gold-rimmed glasses, walked out of the villa.

The two Americans, who were curiously looking around on the plain, were reminded by the bodyguard next to them. Although they were a little stunned by Zhang Heping's casual attire, they quickly went to greet him.

“Thank you for the meeting, Mr. Zhang! We are deeply honored!” Nathan, the liaison for the Wes family, said, extending his right hand.

Unfortunately, Zhang Heping walked straight to the parasol with his hands behind his back and casually found a plastic chair to sit on.

"You have five minutes!" Zhang Heping crossed his legs, looked at the man and woman in front of him, and said calmly, "If I feel you're wasting my time, don't even think about coming in next time!"

“Yes, Mr. Zhang!” Nathan, the liaison for the Weiss family, clearly knew that Zhang Heping was not joking with them, because the American woman who had previously brought information to discuss cooperation with Zhang Heping only got one chance to submit the information to Zhang Heping, and then never had another chance.

After responding, Nathan quickly looked at the bodyguard beside him, "Please hand over the glass cylinder and the documents underneath the suitcase on the left to Mr. Zhang, thank you!"

This tall, thin, blond old man in his fifties had come here dozens of times. Although he had only met Zhang Heping once before, he had dealt with Zhang Bei, the eldest son of the Zhang family, several times afterward, so he was very clear about the process of transferring items here.

Simply put, once all items have been inspected by the bodyguards, they will not pass through their hands again until they leave, at which point they will be returned to them depending on the circumstances.

When Zhang Heping received the transparent glass cylinder and saw a black, withered branch inside, he didn't pay much attention at first, simply instructing his bodyguard to put the stack of documents aside.

"Boss, the documents and the dead branches inside have been checked. There's no poison or radioactivity!" The bodyguard put down the documents, said simply, and then retreated.

However, the moment Zhang Heping opened the plastic lid of the glass cylinder and took out the black, withered branch, he sat up straight the next second!
Construction communication device repair: Beginner (1%).
Upon seeing this, the tall, thin, blond old man assumed that Zhang Heping had recognized the withered branch and couldn't help but smile, saying, "This branch was picked from a strange tree. The information next to it is part of the research on that strange tree. Please take a look, Mr. Zhang."

Zhang Heping put the black, withered branch, which was only a little over ten centimeters long, back in, without asking on the spot why the branch showed signs of melting.

After Zhang Heping picked up the documents on the plastic table next to him, glanced through them briefly, and obtained the "Principles of Interstellar Communication" skill, he put the documents aside and asked, "Was that strange tree destroyed in the last explosion?" "This..." The tall, thin, blond old man, Nathan, was unaware of the details of the explosion a few days ago and turned his questioning gaze to the woman next to him.

The black-haired female secretary stepped forward and, instead of answering Zhang Heping's question directly, asked in English, "Mr. Zhang, if we use the complete set of interstellar communication research data, can we exchange it for the preparation technology of the Lifespan 120 potion?"

Zhang Heping glanced at his watch and said indifferently, "If it were a complete set of interstellar communication technology data, we could naturally exchange it. But your research has only scratched the surface, while my Lifespan 120 potion has already proven its efficacy."

Both Americans noticed Zhang Heping checking his watch, but the black-haired female secretary didn't speak Chinese. After listening to Nathan's translation, she hurriedly got down to business.

"Mr. Zhang, the briefcase on the right contains information about the Bu family. You can send someone to Huacheng to verify it," the black-haired female secretary said in English, pointing to the briefcase to the bodyguard's right.

Zhang Heping raised his right hand and waved to the bodyguard behind him who was about to open the briefcase, "I'll look at it separately later, there's no need to take it out now."

After listening to Nathan's whispered translation, the black-haired female secretary continued, "Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, the four of them correspond to four doses of the Lifespan 120 potion. Could we pay for three of them with magnesium dollars?"

"Once I send someone to confirm, you can bring the equivalent amount of gold to pay for the three potions!" Zhang Heping said, then stood up, clearly intending to end the meeting.

Just then, Old Hua also came out of the villa. Judging from his hesitant expression, he probably wanted to come over and listen in.

"Mr. Zhang, please wait a moment!" The black-haired female secretary pointed to the documents under the withered branches of the Jianmu tree and said, "There are two photos at the bottom of that stack of documents. One is a photo of us successfully opening the star gate, and the other is a photo of the remnants of the star gate after it was destroyed for unknown reasons."

"If Mr. Zhang is interested in researching that residue, he can contact me at any time through Mr. Nathan. We in the United States welcome you anytime!"

After speaking, the black-haired female secretary left first, and the blond old man hurriedly followed after her after saying goodbye.

Zhang Heping didn't know where the other party got their confidence from, that they would think he would risk going to the United States after seeing two photos.

The key point is that the other party's confidence successfully aroused Zhang Heping's curiosity.

Before the two Americans had gone far, Zhang Heping found the photo the black-haired female secretary had mentioned at the bottom of the stack of documents.

In the first photo, an electric arc illuminates a cloud of black mist, revealing a hammer-shaped object within it. The black mist is surrounded by a ring of hollow brown wooden structures, the nature of which is unknown.

In the center of the second photo is the same hammer that appeared in the first photo.

However, in this photo, the hammer is clearly visible in every detail: a bright silver rectangular hammerhead with polished edges and corners, about the length of an arm, and a round handle with silver and brown patterns.

A rope was tied to the handle of the hammer, and seven or eight strong foreign men were pulling hard on the other end of the rope, but they couldn't move the hammer that was suspended more than 20 centimeters above the sand!

The words "Thor's Hammer" popped into Zhang Heping's head almost as soon as he saw the second photo!
But the next second, Zhang Heping went through all the major companies in the world and was quite certain that there was no Stark Corporation, Stark Industries, Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, or other Avengers in this world.

"What's going on?" Zhang Heping looked at the two photos in his hand, pondering the unusual situation at the Sanxingdui underground base, completely baffled!
In the previous life, there were no strange trees like Ruomu, Fusang, and Jianmu underground at Sanxingdui, nor were there any proven qigong or spiritual power.

Of course, there was no Peace Group that he created either!
"Is there something wrong with this hammer?" Old Hua moved closer to Zhang Heping, looking at the photo Zhang Heping was holding in front of him. He wondered why Zhang Heping was frowning and staring at the photo without moving.

"This is the stargate opened by the Americans!" Zhang Heping shook the photo in his left hand, then looked at the photo in his right hand and said in a deep voice, "This is the secret at the bottom of the huge crater after the stargate exploded, covered by a yellow tent!"

"If the levitating hammer in this photo is real, then we're in big trouble!"

In Zhang Heping's mind, if the hammer in the photo really is Thor's hammer, then according to the Avengers' parallel universe theory, Zhang Heping's world might actually be connected to the universe where the Avengers are located.

If that's the case, I wonder if Thanos snapping his fingers would affect the world of this courtyard house TV series.

Zhang Heping had absolutely no idea what to do about this issue.

Compared to the technological level in the Avengers universe, his current technical skills are at best those of an elementary school student!

An unprecedented sense of urgency swept over Zhang Heping, making him want to send someone to the United States on the spot to verify the authenticity of the hammer!

If it can be confirmed that the hammer is suspended in the air and cannot be moved by any external force, he might really have to go to the United States in person to dispel his many doubts.

After listening to Zhang Heping's explanation, Hua Lao asked incredulously, "You mean, when the Americans first tested opening the stargate, a hammer was sent from somewhere, which caused the violent explosion a few days ago?"

"This is what those two Americans were trying to convey!" Zhang Heping suppressed his emotions, handed the two photos to Hua Lao, and said, "Take a picture with your phone and see if you can get the Americans to confirm the authenticity of this hammer!"

After handing over the photos, Zhang Heping picked up the glass cylinder from the documents and said, "This dead branch comes from Jianmu. Judging from the melting marks on it, Jianmu has probably been destroyed. Have someone confirm that as well."

Old Hua took out his phone and took several photos of the photograph and the withered branch. Then, while sending a message, he asked, "What did you mean when you said we were in big trouble? Because of that hammer?"

"Yes and no!" Zhang Heping gestured for Elder Hua to sit down in the plastic chair and said with a serious expression, "If that hammer really exists, it first proves one thing: there is more than one civilization in this universe!"

"Secondly, based on the amazing technologies displayed by Ruomu, Fusang, and Jianmu, it is certain that other civilizations have technologies far surpassing ours!"

"Then, the violent explosion that occurred after the hammer was teleported over proves that the civilization represented by the hammer is not benevolent!"

"We must find out the truth about this as soon as possible!" Zhang Heping's voice sounded very heavy. "Our Earth's position in the universe may have been exposed to the civilization behind that hammer because of that stargate teleportation!"

"If that hammer were to spark a war between two civilizations, or even allow the other side to covet our Earth, wouldn't that be a huge problem?"

After sending the message, Hua put down his phone, frowned, and said, "If there really is an extraterrestrial civilization, we can try to communicate and seek peaceful coexistence!"

Zhang Heping shook his head, casually placed the photo that Elder Hua handed him onto the stack of documents, his brows showing no sign of relaxation. "We cannot rule out the possibility you mentioned."

"However, we cannot rule out the possibility that other extraterrestrial civilizations, like those discovered by Europeans in the closed-off East Asia and the primitive tribes of North America, possess a strong sense of possessiveness and aggression!"

...(End of chapter)