Reborn in 1977, I will no longer be my brother's blood bag.

The next morning, as soon as Lin Xiuhe went downstairs, she saw Director Zhou standing at the entrance of the guesthouse.

He was holding a bamboo basket covered with a blue cloth.

Xiao Zheng and her partner were also there.

Xiao Zheng's right hand was still wrapped in gauze. Her husband was carrying a bag of eggs. When he saw Lin Xiuhe come out, he switched the bag to his other hand, and the opening of the bag was crumpled from being squeezed.

"It's what I saved at home."

Xiao Zheng immediately contradicted him.

"You went to change it before dawn, how did it become something you'd saved up at home?"

The man looked embarrassed and turned to glare at her.

"Your words are everywhere."

"When I got home yesterday, he asked me if Comrade Lin liked salted duck eggs."

The man shoved the egg into Old Xu's hand.

"Take it or leave it."

Old Xu lifted the blue cloth covering the bamboo basket.

Inside were steamed buns and two boxes of pickles prepared by the factory canteen.

"Is this for our journey?"

Factory Director Zhou had a stern face.

"The cafeteria made too much today."

When Officer Chen caught up from behind and heard this, he laughed.

"Does the cafeteria even know which day you're leaving?"

Factory Director Zhou was immediately angered.

"You think you know so much?"

Yesterday he was criticizing the people from Beijing for only doing research, but today he was waiting at the guesthouse entrance with a bamboo basket, and even his thanks sounded awkward.

Lin Xiuhe took the eggs.

"We'll accept the things. Don't take anything else you already have at home."

Xiao Zheng's wife nodded hurriedly.

"Nothing else."

Xiao Zheng muttered quietly to himself, "There's also a basket of salted duck eggs."

The man turned his face away in anger.

Old Xu suppressed a laugh and took the bamboo basket.

Director Zhou waited until they finished speaking before speaking as if it were just a casual remark.

"We've extended your room for three more days."

As Officer Fang was coming down the stairs, he stopped abruptly.

"Who told you to continue?"

"They came to Linzhou for research, but they didn't say they would leave today."

"It was originally planned."

"Isn't the date for the arrangement still pending?"

Officer Chen reminded him helplessly:

"The bureau hasn't approved it yet. He paid the money last night."

Displeasure appeared between Fang's brows.

"Director Zhou, why do you always act first and report later?"

Factory Director Zhou crossed his arms.

"I've paid the money. Whether you stay or not is up to you."

Officer Fang wanted to say something more, but Lin Xiuhe had already walked towards the cafeteria.

"Let's eat first."

The breakfast at the guesthouse was simple.

Plain congee, steamed buns, and a small dish of pickled vegetables.

As soon as the group sat down, Director Zhou pulled out a mimeographed document from his pocket and pushed it to Lin Xiuhe's side.

"Take a look."

Fang's chopsticks stopped at the rim of the bowl.

"It's not finalized yet."

"Let her see it only if it's not decided yet."

The material is a briefing prepared by the Light Industry Bureau for submission.

The text begins by stating that, under the organization of the Linzhou Municipal Bureau of Light Industry, lock factories and personnel from the Beijing Institute of Automatic Control jointly completed temporary on-site improvements to ensure the timely delivery of key orders.

The list of participants is followed by a list of those who participated.

Bureau, factory, repair team, research institute.

Lin Xiuhe's name was listed last.

She looked through it from beginning to end and put the materials back on the table.

Factory Director Zhou waited a moment, but still couldn't resist.

"Why is your name at the end?"

Officer Fang put down his chopsticks.

"With so many people involved, there will always be a sequence of participants, some before and some after."

Factory Director Zhou scoffed.

"Then put yours last."

Fang, the clerk, looked rather grim.

"This is something that was accomplished collectively."

"I didn't say it would all be hers alone."

Factory Director Zhou pointed to the document.

"Just write down who modified the diagram and who made the work, isn't that enough?"

Their voices grew increasingly harsh.

Lin Xiuhe pulled out a blank sheet of paper from the side, picked up a pen, and wrote two lines.

On-site plan: Lin Xiuhe, Master Xu.

Trial production and processing: Lock factory repair and assembly group.

She handed the paper to Officer Fang.

"You should arrange the names according to the rules."

"Don't mix these two up."

Officer Fang took it and read it once. His brows were still furrowed, but he didn't object anymore.

Factory Director Zhou finally felt a little more at ease.

"That's more like it."

Old Xu picked up a piece of pickled vegetable with his chopsticks.

"If you don't eat soon, it'll get cold."

Just then, a shout came from outside the door.

"A call from Beijing!"

Officer Fang immediately stood up.

"graduate School?"

The people at the guesthouse nodded.

"They said they were looking for Comrade Lin."

The telephone is placed behind the front desk counter.

Lin Xiuhe picked up the microphone, and Engineer Zheng's voice quickly came through.

"You guys have some nerve, putting something hastily made onto the production line?"

"The bureau approved the on-site verification and made 500 pieces first."

"Did Officer Fang sign it?"

"Signed."

The sound of turning pages came from the other end of the phone.

"Okay, it's hard to explain over the phone."

"Bring back the sketches, experimental records, and materials lists."

After asking a few more questions about the locking plates, Engineer Zheng continued:

"Don't agree to other factories contacting you yet."

"You're there to conduct research, not to be stationed permanently in Linzhou."

Factory Director Zhou was not far away, and upon hearing this, the slight relief on his face immediately vanished.

Lin Xiuhe asked, "What about the lock factory's system?"

"Have the factory record the usage information first."

"What if it's even more remote?"

"Stop first, then make the call."

Engineer Zheng probably heard the commotion nearby.

"Is Factory Manager Zhou here?"

"exist."

"You tell him for me that things have to be done step by step."

Factory Director Zhou turned his head away and exhaled through his nose.

Officer Chen quickly tugged at his sleeve.

Engineer Zheng continued:

"I'll be back in three days."

"The institute has a project that needs to be done at the factory, and Zhao Wenbo can't leave, so you'll have to go with it."

After hanging up the phone, Director Zhou took out the room extension receipt from his pocket.

He unfolded the paper, then crumpled it up again, his face radiating unconcealed anger.

"Well, it was all for nothing."

Fang, the clerk, was also a bit annoyed.

"If there's an urgent task at the institute, who can know in advance?"

"If we had just received another call yesterday, that batch of goods would have been in the Yong'an factory warehouse by now."

After Director Zhou finished speaking, he looked directly at Lin Xiuhe.

"Really leaving in three days?"

"The institute wants me to go back."

"What should we do here?"

"Go through all the common problems over these three days."

Factory Director Zhou's lips moved slightly, but he finally stuffed the crumpled receipt back into his pocket.

"I'll have Xiao He go with us."

He reached the doorway, then turned back.

"Don't delete those two lines."

Fang, the clerk, said irritably:

"understood."

In the afternoon, Zhou Zhiyuan called as well.

Lin Xiuhe picked up the phone and first heard him ask:

"Are you comfortable living here?"

"good."

"Where's the food?"

"It's alright."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

"Whenever you say it's okay, it probably means you haven't eaten well."

Lin Xiuhe couldn't help but laugh.

"You call and this is all you ask?"

"They even asked when you'd be back."

She did remember the return date.

The research institute told her to go back in three days, but there was still a stack of incomplete on-site records on her desk.

She hesitated for a moment.

Zhou Zhiyuan quickly asked:

"Is there anything else going on over there?"

"It's a bit messy."

"Then let's figure it out first."

Aren't you going to ask me how many days later?

"Will you be back right away if I ask?"

Lin Xiuhe was stumped by his question.

There was a hint of a smile on the other end of the phone.

"I have the key; the house can't be moved."

"Eat your own food, don't just make do with steamed buns again."

"Know."

After she finished answering, the turmoil she felt from being torn between two sides subsided somewhat.

When I got back upstairs, Xiao Zheng was standing at the door.

Besides working by the machines, she also helped the workshop keep track of the number of pieces, and what she was holding in her arms was that old ledger.

Seeing Lin Xiuhe return, she awkwardly moved aside.

"Director Zhou wouldn't let me take it out."

"Then why did you take it?"

"He was afraid that if you saw it, you would find the factory's accounts messy."

Xiao Zheng handed over the account book.

"Didn't you ask yesterday why we can't stop even for a day?"

The ledger records the lock factory's orders, piece-rate wages, and number of days of downtime over the past two years.

One of the pages contained a piece of paper that had been folded several times.

The machine broke down once last year.

It was suspended for four days.

That month's orders were partly taken by Yong'an Factory, and everyone in the workshop received more than ten yuan less.

Xiao Zheng pressed down on that line with his uninjured hand.

That winter came early.

"My family has saved up enough coal coupons, but we haven't managed to raise the money. My child's hands are so cold while doing homework at night that he can't even hold a pencil."

She tucked her bandaged right hand into her sleeve.

"Who among us isn't afraid of that machine?"

"But as soon as it stops..."

Xiao Zheng pursed her lips.

"The house is also missing a piece."

The phone downstairs rang again.

The staff at the guesthouse shouted in the corridor:

"Comrade Lin, another call from Beijing!"

Lin Xiuhe took the account book and went downstairs.

The call was from the research institute's office.

The person speaking this time was not Engineer Zheng.

"Engineer Sun will arrive in Linzhou tomorrow."

"The institute decided to give him the on-site data to take back first."

"He will also be responsible for follow-up arrangements."

Lin Xiuhe held the microphone.

The ledger was spread out on the counter.

The first order that Yong'an Factory took over last year is currently sitting on her plate.