Courtyard House: Primordial Chaos Pearl

In June, the outskirts of Beijing were already in the height of summer. In the staff dormitory area of ​​the Hongxing Agricultural Machinery Manufacturing Plant, several newly completed family buildings were piled high with timber—He Yushui's parents were with several old carpenters, making new furniture for Lin Dong and He Yushui's wedding. He's mother was sanding the red pine wardrobe door with sandpaper, looking up towards the workshop: "These two kids said they were going to buy fabric to make their wedding dresses today, they must have been held up by R&D again."

Sure enough, Lin Dong and He Yushui were arguing heatedly over a huge blueprint in the workshop. The blueprint was a structural diagram of the "Hongxing-60" combine harvester, an urgent task recently assigned by the Agricultural Machinery Bureau: to produce a sample capable of simultaneously harvesting rice and wheat within two months, and to provide it to farmers in the south for trial use before the autumn harvest. "The biggest problem is the threshing and cleaning system," He Yushui circled the core component in the center of the blueprint with a red pen. "When rice and wheat are harvested in the south, the straw is damp, and the existing spike-tooth threshing device is prone to getting tangled in straw. The cleaning fan's airflow is not well controlled; it either blows away the wheat grains or doesn't sift out the broken straw properly."

Lin Dong had just returned from the quality inspection site for an order in Southeast Asia, his trouser legs still stained with port salt. He took the straw sample from He Yushui—the wet rice stalks were so damp you could squeeze water out of them. "Ordinary threshing devices rely on impact to thresh the grains, but wet straw is tough and will definitely get tangled. We need to change the structure and use a composite threshing roller with 'textured rods + nail teeth.' The textured rods loosen the wheat ears first, and then the nail teeth precisely thresh the grains, reducing straw tearing."

Mr. He came over carrying a stack of mechanical journals and flipped to a paper on airflow cleaning: "The cleaning system can draw on the principle of airflow sieves, but precise wind parameters need to be calculated. Wet wheat grains are heavier than dry wheat grains. If the wind is weak, it won't blow away the straw, and if the wind is strong, the wheat grains will follow." This is the core difficulty of the research and development. Without precise airflow simulation data, they can only rely on repeated experiments and trial and error, which is far from meeting the two-month construction period.

That evening, Lin Dong entered the chaotic space alone. He placed the straw sample and wheat grains into the space and activated the "fluid dynamics simulation" function—a pale golden halo transformed into countless airflow lines, circulating within the simulated threshing chamber. He adjusted the fan power and screen angle, observing the separation effect of the airflow on the wet straw and wheat grains, with each set of data appearing in his mind in real time. When the fan power was adjusted to 1.2 kilowatts and the screen angle to 15 degrees, the airflow precisely formed a "stratified field": the chopped straw was blown towards the air outlet, while the wheat grains fell steadily into the grain receiving hopper, achieving a cleaning rate of 98%.

The next morning, Lin Dong slammed the optimized parameter table in front of the R&D team: "Modify the drawings according to this data. Use a dual-speed motor for the cleaning blower, low speed for rice harvesting, and high speed for wheat harvesting; the spacing between the sprockets of the threshing drum should be 5 millimeters, and the protrusion height of the spikes should be 3 millimeters to ensure that the threshing process doesn't tangle with straw." He Yushui took the parameter table to verify the calculations and returned in less than half an hour, her eyes shining: "Brother Lin Dong, your data is so accurate! The result I calculated using the formula is only 0.02 kilowatts different from yours!"

As research and development entered its final sprint, Jia Dongxu's supporting factories were also extremely busy. After receiving an order for combine harvester parts, he not only introduced CNC lathes but also specially sent workers to the Hongxing factory to learn the technology. "Director Lin, don't worry, I personally supervised the processing of this threshing drum, and I guarantee the error will be controlled within 0.01 millimeters!" In Jia Dongxu's workshop, a newly recruited technician was using a coordinate measuring machine to inspect parts, while Jia Zhangshi was cooking for the workers in the canteen. Upon seeing Lin Dongxu, she smiled and stuffed freshly steamed corn into his hands: "Director Lin, is Yushui's wedding dress ready yet? I learned the art of making Chinese knot buttons from Qin Huairu. If you need it, just let me know."

Wedding preparations were also underway. He Yuzhu volunteered to be the officiant, running around helping with booking the banquet hall and sending out invitations. He even managed to get Director Zhang from the Agricultural Machinery Bureau and Section Chief Wang from the Foreign Trade Bureau to be guests. The workers even pooled their money to buy a black-and-white television as a wedding gift, which they placed in the soon-to-be-completed employee activity center. "The factory director's wedding is a celebration for the whole factory!"

During this time, Lin Dong didn't forget Yi Zhonghai in the courtyard house. After stabilizing Yi Zhonghai's condition with the help of a caregiver, he brought the old man directly to the factory's staff dormitory—a sunny and well-ventilated room on the first floor, close to the canteen and clinic. He's mother delivered nutritious meals to the old man every day. Although Yi Zhonghai's speech was still not very fluent, his spirits had improved considerably. Every day, he would sit in his wheelchair watching the tractors roll off the production line in the workshop, his eyes filled with satisfaction.

That day, Yan Bugui suddenly came to the factory to find Lin Dong, carrying a basket of eggs. He was wearing a newly made blue cloth jacket and clutching a red envelope in his hand: "Lin Dong, I was foolish before, always calculating small gains. Now, Jiecheng is working as a technician in a factory in the city, earning more than twenty yuan a month, all thanks to you. These eggs are from our own chickens, and this red envelope is a small token of my appreciation. I wish you and Yushui a happy marriage."

Lin Dong accepted the eggs and pushed the red envelope back: "Uncle, I appreciate your kindness, but please take the red envelope back to pay for your child's tuition. If Jiecheng wants to return to the outskirts of Beijing to develop his career in the future, he is always welcome." Yan Bugui's eyes reddened, and his hand holding the red envelope trembled—after living most of his life, he finally understood that sincerity was more precious than calculation.

In mid-July, the prototype of the combine harvester finally rolled off the production line. Its silver-gray body was wider than a tractor. The feed inlet of the threshing chamber slowly opened, and workers fed in the prepared wet rice straw. After the machine started, only a steady hum could be heard, without any of the noise of straw getting tangled. When the grain hopper opened, golden rice grains poured out, without a single grain of straw mixed in; the cleaned straw was neatly bundled into bales and fell to the ground.

"Success! 98% cleaning rate, 99.5% threshing rate!" He Yushui's voice trembled with excitement as she held the test report. Director Zhang of the Agricultural Machinery Bureau immediately approved: "Arrange field trials immediately. If the performance remains stable, the bureau will approve a special subsidy of 50,000 yuan and place an additional order for 300 units!"

The field trial was scheduled for three days later in a rice-producing area in the south. When Lin Dong arrived with his research team and samples, local farmers had already crowded the paddy field ridges. "This machine can harvest and thresh in one go? Is it just for show?" some farmers wondered. But when the combine harvester moved smoothly through the paddy field, the rice ears went in, the rice grains came out, and the straw bales landed in one go, thunderous cheers erupted from the ridges. An old farmer, holding a handful of golden rice grains, excitedly said, "Before, harvesting one acre of rice required four people working all day. Now this machine finishes in half an hour, and there's no need to dry the straw! It's amazing!"

News of the successful experiment reached the factory just in time for Lin Dong and He Yushui's wedding. On the eighth day of the eighth lunar month, the factory's staff activity center was decorated with festive cheer, red silk hung from the beams, and the character for "happiness" was pasted all over the doors and windows. He Yushui, wearing a bright red wedding dress and a silver hairpin passed down from her mother, walked up to Lin Dong with eyes full of happiness.

The wedding was officiated by Director Zhang, with He Yuzhu serving as the witness. Standing on the stage, He Yuzhu spoke with tears in her eyes: "I've known Lin Dong for so long, watching him rise from a small side room in a courtyard house to the director of an agricultural machinery factory today. He relied on his abilities, but even more so on his conscience. Yushui and he are a match made in heaven!" Thunderous applause erupted from the audience. Jia Dongxu and his wife brought their children to offer their congratulations. Yi Zhonghai, sitting in a wheelchair, mumbled "good, good" in a slurred voice, tears streaming down his face.

At the wedding banquet, Section Chief Wang from the Foreign Trade Bureau approached Lin Dong and handed him a new order: "Our customers in Southeast Asia have used your tractors and the feedback has been excellent. This time, they want to order two hundred combine harvesters and even want to sign a long-term agency agreement with you!" Lin Dong and He Yushui smiled at each other; this was the best wedding gift they had ever received.

The wedding had barely ended when Lin Dong received a call from the Beijing Machinery Industry Bureau: "Director Lin, the government is planning to build an agricultural machinery industrial park in the suburbs of Beijing, and your Hongxing Factory is a key recipient of support. Once the industrial park is completed, you will not only enjoy preferential land policies, but also have access to national-level research and development resources!"

The news spread, and the entire factory was in an uproar. He Yushui leaned on Lin Dong's shoulder, looking at the brightly lit workshop in the distance: "Brother Lin Dong, our combine harvesters will be sold all over the world in the future." Lin Dong held her hand and looked at the morning star on the horizon: "Not only combine harvesters, we will also develop seeders and dryers, build a complete agricultural machinery industry chain, and make it easier for farmers from planting to harvesting."

In early September, mass production of combine harvesters officially began. Jia Dongxu's supporting factory was responsible for producing threshing drums and cleaning screens, while Hongxing Factory assembled the core components. The two production lines operated simultaneously, producing ten machines per day. Orders poured in from all over the country, and even agricultural machinery stations in Xinjiang sent people specifically to order machines, saying they needed to be suitable for cotton field operations there.

Yi Zhonghai's health gradually improved, and with the care of the caregiver and He's mother, he was able to walk slowly while holding onto the wall. He would go to the R&D center every day to watch He Yushui and the technicians discuss the blueprints, and occasionally offer some suggestions in his hoarse voice—he had been an apprentice in a factory when he was young, and his experience could always be of help.

Yan Jiecheng heard that Hongxing Factory was going to expand, so he specially returned from the city to apply for a position. Lin Dong saw that he had indeed become much more down-to-earth, so he told him to learn management from Jia Dongxu. "Work hard, and your factory can be included in the agricultural machinery industrial park in the future." Yan Jiecheng clenched his fist and nodded solemnly.

One late autumn day, Lin Dong took He Yushui to see the proposed site for the agricultural machinery industrial park. On the vast expanse of land, surveying teams were taking measurements, and in the distance, trucks carrying Hongxing agricultural machinery drove steadily towards the horizon. He Yushui picked up a fallen ear of wheat and handed it to Lin Dong: "Look, how plump this ear of wheat is."

Lin Dong accepted the ear of wheat, the grains gleaming golden in the sunlight. He recalled the hardship he faced in the courtyard when he first transmigrated, the numerous challenges he encountered during research and development, and the support and companionship of those around him. A warm smile crept onto his lips. He knew that this plump ear of wheat was not only a symbol of harvest, but also the hope he had planted in this era with his original aspirations and hard work.

The road ahead is long, with the construction of the agricultural machinery industrial park, the research and development of new models, the expansion into overseas markets, and countless other challenges awaiting him. But Lin Dong is fearless—he has the help of the Chaos Pearl, the companionship of He Yushui, a group of hardworking and reliable partners, and above all, his original aspiration to improve the lives of farmers. His agricultural machinery business will ultimately, like the golden ears of grain covering the fields, bear even more abundant fruit on the fertile soil of this era.