Courtyard House: A Major Power's Heavy Industry, Hand-Crafted Nuclear Fusion

three days later.

On the small square in front of the base's main auditorium.

A military jeep had already started, its engine emitting a deep roar.

Su Zheng stood in front of the car, carrying a simple bundle of luggage.

He is leaving.

The mission is complete, a great success. The department's transfer order came down yesterday, specifically requesting his immediate return to Beijing to report. It's said that the top leaders are all waiting to hear his report.

"Comrade Su Zheng."

Old Li, along with the base's leadership team and all the technicians from the machine repair workshop, stood in the square to see them off.

The sandstorm was fierce, but no one backed down.

"I'm not saying anything more." Old Li picked up a bowl of wine (actually water). "This glass is for you! Our 001 base will always keep that lab for you! You can come back whenever you want!"

Su Zheng took the bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

"Old Li, take care. I've left the machine's maintenance manual on the table. Remember, the lubricant must be the special kind."

"Don't worry! I treat it like a precious ancestor!"

Old Li wiped his eyes, then straightened his expression and took out an official document from his pocket.

"In addition, an organizational decision will be announced."

Su Zheng was taken aback: "There's another decision?"

Old Li glanced at Ye Xinyi standing behind Su Zheng, a meaningful smile appearing on his face. The smile contained a hint of kindness, as well as a touch of cunning as a "matchmaker."

"Given that Comrade Su Zheng possesses highly classified technical secrets, which are core national strategic secrets, and that Comrade Su Zheng is... well, rather 'selfless' in his daily life, often forgetting to eat and sleep."

"After organizational research and decision-making, and with the approval of higher authorities."

"Comrade Ye Xinyi is appointed as Comrade Su Zheng's full-time technical assistant, concurrently serving as his personal secretary and confidentiality officer."

"During the execution of the 'Spark' project, Comrade Ye Xinyi will be fully responsible for Comrade Su Zheng's data organization, itinerary arrangement, and daily life. The two of them need to... cough cough, maintain 24-hour working contact."

These words caused an uproar in the room.

Immediately following was a well-intentioned, deafening commotion.

"oh--!!!"

"Congratulations, Consultant Su!"

"Dr. Ye, this time it's 'life imprisonment'!"

"Hahaha, this isn't a personal secretary, this is clearly a wife assigned by the organization!"

Everyone here has been through this. In the past three months, Su Zheng and Ye Xinyi have had such an inseparable tacit understanding. Who couldn't see it?

Ye Xinyi was the unattainable beauty of the base, unattainable for many talented young men. She only had eyes for data and formulas.

But ever since Su Zheng arrived, this flower has only bloomed for Su Zheng.

This isn't about finding someone to take care of them; it's clearly about creating an opportunity for this "golden couple" and sealing off their marriage!

Ye Xinyi's face instantly turned bright red, the redness spreading all the way to the roots of her neck.

She lowered her head, twisting the hem of her clothes with her fingers, her heart pounding like a drum.

Personal Secretary...

We also need to be in contact 24 hours a day...

This...this is way too blatant, isn't it?

But she neither refuted nor refused. On the contrary, an indescribable sweetness and peace welled up in her heart.

She looked up and glanced at Su Zheng, who was also somewhat dazed beside her.

Then, she took a deep breath, straightened her back, and gave Old Li a standard military salute.

"Yes, sir! I will obey the organization's arrangements! I guarantee the mission will be completed!"

The crisp sound echoed across the Gobi Desert, carrying a shy yet determined quality unique to young girls.

Su Zheng looked at the girl beside him.

The wind tousled her short hair, but it couldn't extinguish the light in her eyes.

He smiled.

In this day and age, this is the most romantic confession, the most steadfast vow.

"OK."

Su Zheng returned the greeting and said generously, "Then I'll have to trouble Secretary Ye... to keep an eye on me in the future."

"Get on the bus!"

At a command, the two got into the jeep.

The wheels kicked up yellow sand as they sped eastward.

Behind them, the 001 base gradually receded into the distance, along with their passionate comrades and the newly born industrial mother machine.

Ahead lies Beijing.

It is a place filled with the warmth of traditional courtyard houses and the changing times.

Su Zheng looked out the window at the receding poplar trees and silently recited in his heart:

"Zhao Ming said in his letter that Sha Zhu has been subdued."

"It's time to go back and finish up, and while I'm at it... turn the courtyard house into my 'rear base'."

……

Two days later.

On the express train from Lanzhou to Beijing.

This was a special train with dedicated deluxe sleeper carriages. In those days, those who could afford to travel in sleeper carriages were either officials at the bureau level or above, or experts with exceptional contributions.

The carriage was carpeted in a dark red color, and heavy velvet curtains hung from the windows. A pot of plastic flowers and an orange lamp sat on the table. Compared to the noisy and crowded hard-seat carriages outside, it was as quiet as a small, independent world.

Su Zheng and Ye Xinyi were staying in the same private room.

Although this was somewhat against the rules (after all, they weren't married yet), under the guise of "special mission" and "close protection," the train conductor could only turn a blind eye.

Late at night.

The train sped through the dark night, its wheels clattering against the rails with a rhythmic "clang, clang," like a lullaby.

Su was sitting on the lower bunk, holding a cup of hot tea in his hand, but his mind was not on the tea.

He was looking at Ye Xinyi sitting opposite him.

At this moment, Ye Xinyi had taken off her somewhat bulky workwear and put on a beige turtleneck sweater, with a camel-colored coat draped over her shoulders. Under the dim yellow light of the table lamp, her cool and intellectual temperament was softened, gaining a more captivating gentleness.

She was organizing the materials for this report, her expression focused, occasionally tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Her snow-white neck was faintly visible under the light, breathtakingly beautiful.

"Su Gong".

Ye Xinyi seemed to notice Su Zheng's gaze and suddenly looked up. She didn't look away, but instead pushed a set of drawings in her hand towards her.

"I recalculated the stress distribution on that centrifuge rotor."

Su Zheng was stunned for a moment, then smiled.

This is Ye Xinyi.

In this sweet moment when a man and a woman are alone in a room, she is still thinking about centrifuges.

But it is precisely this purity, this ultimate pursuit of science, that attracts him the most.

"How so?" Su Zheng took the blueprints.

"If we use your 'basalt' steel as the base material, although the strength is sufficient, the density is still too high." Ye Xinyi pointed to a line of data on the blueprint. "The core of a centrifuge is its rotational speed. The higher the rotational speed, the higher the separation efficiency. If we can reduce the rotor weight by half, the theoretical rotational speed can be increased by 20%."

"so?"

"I want to try introducing composite materials." Ye Xinyi's eyes sparkled. "I've read some foreign literature, although it's very vague, but they seem to be trying to use something called 'carbon fiber' for winding and reinforcement."

Su Zheng's pupils contracted slightly.

Carbon fiber.

In China at that time, this term existed only in the minds of a very small number of top scientists. Yet Ye Xinyi had already astutely grasped this direction.

"That's a very bold idea."

Su Zheng put down the blueprints, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. "But China currently lacks carbon fiber technology. To develop this, we need to build a carbon fiber production line first. That's ten times more difficult than steelmaking."

Why?

"Because that's the field of polymer chemistry," Su Zheng explained patiently. "It involves the pre-oxidation, carbonization, and graphitization of the precursor fiber... every step is a major hurdle. Especially the precursor fiber, which is the essence of petrochemicals, and our current chemical engineering foundation is still very weak."

Ye Xinyi's eyes dimmed slightly. She knew Su Zheng was telling the truth.

Make bricks without straw.

Without the support of basic industries, even the best designs can only remain on paper.

"but……"

Su Zheng suddenly changed the subject, a confident smile playing on his lips. "Difficulty makes things interesting. If it weren't difficult, what would be the point of having us?"

He leaned forward, looking directly into Ye Xinyi's eyes.

"Xinyi, do you know what else I need to ask the top leader when I return to Beijing this time, besides reporting on the machine tools?"

Ye Xinyi noticed the change in his address, her heart skipped a beat, and a blush rose to her cheeks: "What do you want?"

"I need a code name."

"Code name?"

"Yes. 'Spark'."

Su Zheng's voice was very low, but every word was like a heavy hammer striking Ye Xinyi's heart, carrying a shocking power.

"Machine tools are the skeleton, and steel is the muscle. But for China's industrial giant to truly stand up and no longer be held back by others, it also needs a nervous system and an immune system."

Su Zheng pointed to his head, then to the dark night sky outside the window.

"The nervous system is a semiconductor, a chip. The immune system is a new material, carbon fiber, a stealth coating."

"I want to establish a '001 Research Institute' in the capital that is independent of the existing system."

Su Zheng stood up and took a few steps in the cramped private room, his eyes burning with a fanatical flame.

"I want to develop our own carbon-based chips in this research institute, to create carbon fiber superior to the American T800, and to develop a phased array radar that can see a fly thousands of miles away!"

"I want to ignite this 'spark' to spark an industrial revolution across China, enabling our nation to leapfrog ahead and reach the pinnacle of the world, even amidst blockade!"

At this moment, Su Zheng radiated a light that was impossible to look directly at.

That wasn't the brilliance of an ordinary technical expert.

He was a strategist, a pioneer, and the radiant king who bore the fate of the nation on his shoulders.

Ye Xinyi listened intently.

Her heart was pounding, and her blood was rushing through her veins. Looking at the man in front of her, who was two years younger than her, she felt her very soul tremble.

This is the person she has been searching for.

This is the career she should pursue for the rest of her life.

"Take me with you."

Ye Xinyi suddenly spoke, her voice not loud, but extremely firm.

"Whether you're building some kind of 'spark' or some kind of 'research institute,' take me with you."

She stood up, walked to Su Zheng, and looked up at him.

"I can calculate data, conduct experiments, and be your assistant... I'm even willing to wash your beakers. As long as I can help you turn the future you envision into reality."

Su Zheng looked down at her.

The two were very close, close enough to feel each other's breath.

Su Zheng smiled, reached out, and gently tidied the stray hairs by her ear.

"Washing beakers is a waste of my talent."

"You are my chief scientist, and the future number two at 001 Research Institute."

"Without you, the 'ultimate calculator,' many of my crazy ideas wouldn't be able to come to fruition."

"Calculator Princess?" Ye Xinyi frowned, ruining the atmosphere. "What a weird name! It sounds awful."

"That's a compliment saying your computing power is even stronger than a computer," Su Zheng chuckled. "It's a term of endearment, you know?"

"You're so glib." Ye Xinyi rolled her eyes at him, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up slightly, and she felt as sweet as if she had eaten honey.

The atmosphere inside the carriage became incredibly warm at that moment, as if even the cold wind outside the window had become gentle.

However, this warmth did not last long.

It's 2 AM, late at night.

The train has entered Hebei Province and is about to arrive in Baoding.

The lights in the carriage were off, leaving only the faint glow of the floor lamps in the corridor.

Su Zheng and Ye Xinyi were already lying down. Ye Xinyi was on the upper bunk, and Su Zheng was on the lower bunk.

His breathing was even and steady.

Su Zheng, who seemed to be fast asleep, suddenly opened his eyes.

In that instant, there was no trace of sleepiness in his eyes, only a chilling killing intent.

[Eye of Truth] is triggered passively.

Hearing enhancement: On.

He heard extremely faint footsteps, masked by the rhythmic rumble of the train.

It wasn't the rhythmic, leather-shoe-wearing patrolman's footsteps. Instead, it was the deliberate, low-profile sound of someone wearing soft-soled shoes, moving stealthily like a cat.

Moreover, it wasn't just one person.

Three.

Two in front and one behind, forming a tactical formation.

The footsteps stopped at the door of their private room.

Immediately following was a very faint metallic scraping sound—someone was using a wire to pry open the lock.

Ye Xinyi seemed to sense something as well, turned over, and was about to speak.

"Shhh."

Su Zheng let out an extremely soft hiss. He reached out and, in the darkness, precisely grasped Ye Xinyi's hand, which was hanging by the bedside, and gently squeezed it twice.

This is a signal.

Ye Xinyi immediately understood. She held her breath, her whole body tensed, and one hand quietly reached for the stun gun under her pillow (which Su Zheng had made for her).

Su Zheng slid off the bed silently, like a fallen leaf landing on the carpet.

He was barefoot, pressed himself against the shadows by the door. In his hand, he held a solid metal tube, about two fingers thick, that he had somehow taken from the lamp base.

The door lock was turned gently.

"Click".

A soft sound.

The door opened a crack.

A hand wearing a black glove reached in, holding a thin tube that was still smoking—it was sleeping gas!

In that very instant.

Su Zheng made a move...