Courtyard House: From Deputy Division Commander to Civilian, Progressing All the Way

Lin Yang turned around and looked at the workshop director and workers who had gathered around in the corridor outside the door after hearing the commotion.

He took a deep breath, and his voice carried throughout the entire administration building via the loudspeakers in the corridor.

"Comrades!"

"I hereby announce that, effective today, Comrade Lin Fan is officially reinstated as the director of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill! He will be fully responsible for all production and administrative work of the mill!"

boom!

The corridor was initially deathly silent.

Immediately afterwards, thunderous applause and cheers erupted!

The veteran workers and workshop foremen were moved to tears. They knew that the old factory director, who understood production and cared for the workers, had finally returned! The steel rolling mill was saved!

Standing beside Lin Yang, Lin Fan's eyes welled up with tears as he looked at his excited old colleagues.

He turned his head and looked at his younger brother's cold and resolute profile, his heart filled with endless gratitude and pride.

……

The news spread like wildfire from the steel mill.

In less than half a day, the news spread throughout Nanluoguxiang.

In the courtyard at No. 95.

Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and others, who were sunbathing in the courtyard, were stunned when they heard the news.

It was as if they had been struck by lightning, and they all stood frozen in place.

Yi Zhonghai's pipe fell to the ground with a "thud".

He stared at the tightly closed main door of the courtyard house, his cloudy old eyes filled with extreme fear and trembling.

"Reinstated to his original position... that living devil has returned from the Northwest..."

Yi Zhonghai muttered to himself, a bone-chilling cold rushing up his spine to his head.

He knew that the Lin family had once again firmly trampled the sky over this courtyard.

Moreover, this time, it will be an absolute suppression from which there is no chance of recovery.

got windy.

The withered leaves in the yard were swirled up, spinning desperately in mid-air.

···········

Early winter, 1961.

The sky over Beijing was shrouded in a leaden gray, bleak atmosphere. The north wind carried fine snowflakes that pattered softly against the gray bricks and tiles.

The headquarters, in a top-secret meeting room next to the West Flower Hall.

The heating was on full blast, but the atmosphere inside the room was so heavy it felt like water could drip from it.

Lin Yang, dressed in a dark gray woolen Zhongshan suit, sat upright on the side of the long conference table.

His face was much thinner than it had been three years ago in Beijing, and his once fair skin had been tanned into a rough bronze by the ultraviolet rays and sandstorms of Northwest China. But his eyes were like the sharp, deep, and unbearable edge of a tempered blade.

Sitting opposite him were General Peng Dehuai and Zhao Erlu, Minister of the Second Ministry of Machine Building.

In the very center of the table was a handwritten report, more than two hundred pages thick, with a red "Top Secret" stamp on the cover.

This is a summary of the progress that Lin Yang personally brought back from the 211 nuclear weapons research and development base in Jinyintan, Qinghai.

"Boss, Minister Zhao."

Lin Yang spoke slowly, his voice slightly hoarse from years of shouting in the wind and sand, but every word was firm and resounding.

"This report details the hard work and dedication of all the researchers and construction workers at our 211 Base over the past three years."

Lin Yang stretched out his calloused right hand and gently pressed it on the report.

"When the Soviets withdrew their experts and destroyed the blueprints, it did cause us enormous difficulties. We were completely clueless about the geometric parameters of the implosion lens and the critical mass equation of uranium-235."

"Without large electronic computers, our scientists used abacuses! Hundreds of abacuses were used day and night in Hall One! The beads broke, and tons of draft paper were wasted!"

"Without precision machining tools, we brought in highly skilled fitters from all over the country to painstakingly file out the mold for the uranium sphere, micrometer by micrometer!"

General Peng gripped the teacup tightly in his hand, his eyes slightly red. He knew all too well how much blood, tears and sacrifice lay hidden behind this simple narration, a story unimaginable to most.

"Comrades, you've suffered." General Peng's voice trembled slightly. "The country's foundation is weak right now, and we also encountered natural disasters a couple of years ago, resulting in insufficient food supplies. I heard that many scientists at the base have developed edema?"

Lin Yang was silent for two seconds, then nodded heavily.

"During the most difficult times, each person only had four moldy potatoes a day. To keep their minds clear, those old professors boiled leaves and grass roots into a paste and swallowed it. Several comrades collapsed in front of their calculators and never got up again."

A deathly silence fell over the meeting room.

Zhao Erlu took off his glasses, secretly wiped the corner of his eye, then looked up at Lin Yang with intense eyes.

"Comrade Lin Yang, as the deputy commander-in-chief of the base, give me your honest opinion. At the current pace, how long will it take before we hear the explosion of this 'praise bomb'?"

Lin Yang raised his head, meeting the expectant gazes of the two leaders.

Without the slightest hesitation, his eyes blazed with unwavering confidence.

"Three years!"

Lin Yang held up three fingers, his tone like the clash of metal and stone.

"The theoretical model has been fully derived, and the centrifuges in the uranium enrichment plant are already operational. We've conducted three simulated cold tests on the most crucial detonation device, and the data matches perfectly!"

"Give me three years! By the fall of 1964!"

Lin Yang slammed his hand on the table.

"I guarantee that in Lop Nur in the Northwest, the mushroom cloud created by the Chinese themselves will pierce the sky! Let the whole world hear the roar of our new China!"

"good!"

General Peng suddenly stood up and, in his excitement, slammed his fist on the edge of the sand table.

"With your words, I feel much more at ease! For the next three years, you'll be in charge of coordinating operations between Beijing and the Northwest! Provide manpower and funding as needed! Anyone who dares to obstruct the logistical support of Base 211, I'll personally shoot them!"

Zhao Erlu was also beaming with excitement, tightly grasping Lin Yang's hand: "Comrade Lin Yang, I'm entrusting this to you! The backbone of the nation rests on your shoulders!"

After the report, Lin Yang declined the invitation to stay for lunch.

He strode out of headquarters and got into the jeep that was waiting outside.

"Sir, shall we return to Yuquan Mountain?" asked the bodyguard, Xiao Li.

Lin Yang leaned back in the leather seat in the back and rubbed his tired temples.

"Let's go to Nanluoguxiang first."

Lin Yang casually instructed, "My elder brother was reinstated as factory director a few days ago, and many handover documents are still in the safe at the old house. I'll go and retrieve them for him on my way, and bring them back to the compound tonight."

"Yes!" The jeep smoothly turned around on the snow-covered street and headed towards the East District.

……

at this time.

No. 95, Nanluoguxiang, is a courtyard house.

Although the most difficult period of the three years of natural disasters has passed and the rationed food supply has been restored somewhat, people's faces still show the sallow complexion left by long-term malnutrition.

However, the atmosphere in this courtyard today is like a pot of boiling water, churning with undisguised restlessness, jealousy, and deep fear.

The news that Lin Fan had been reinstated and was once again in charge of the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill had spread like wildfire throughout the entire alley.

Moreover, news of Lin Yang's return to Beijing from the top-secret base in the Northwest and his frequent visits to headquarters also reached the ears of these cunning beasts through various clandestine channels.