Traveling Back to the 1960s: The Entire Internet Teaches Me How to Build Missiles

Comrade Zhou, who had been promoted to technical captain, made his roommate, Comrade Jiang Weimin, very hurt when he looked in the mirror in the dormitory wearing his new collar insignia.

"It's only been a few months since the ranks were awarded, and you've been promoted again? Oh no, Comrade Yunxiao, your rank is higher than mine now. We're not comrades in the same class anymore..."

The captain is already a deputy battalion commander, which is indeed one rank higher than Jiang Weimin, the deputy captain of the launch squadron.

After all, a squadron is just a company-level unit.

Zhou Yunxiao straightened his military cap, put his hands behind his back, strode up to him, and patted the bed frame.

"Comrade Xiao Jiang, when you see a leader at the base, you must salute, understand?"

Jiang Weimin spat at him, "I'm a veteran, you're a new recruit! New recruits salute veterans too, understand?"

The two looked at each other and started laughing and joking around.

The dormitories nowadays are much better than before.

Since Brother Sulian left, the vacant expert building was specially approved by Ye Ling for technical personnel to live in, with priority given to those whose houses were dilapidated.

After making a fuss for a while, Jiang Weimin collapsed onto the bed, panting heavily, and said:

"Now we've learned how to grow vegetables and raise pigs, we can even launch missiles independently, and we live in small houses with electricity and telephones. Life is getting better and better, hehe!"

Zhou Yunxiao said, "It would be even better if you saluted me."

"You little brat, you have no respect for veterans at all, do you?"

Zhou Yunxiao smiled contemptuously, then bent down and reached under the bed, pulling out a nylon net bag.

Jiang Weimin's eyes widened instantly, then he stood up abruptly and saluted:

"Greetings, Commander! You've worked hard, Commander!"

Inside the nylon mesh bag were three cans of Meilin brand pork from Shanghai, two packs of Daqianmen cigarettes, a Hero brand gold pen, and a white enamel mug with a large red "Award" printed on it and the words "Presented to Outstanding Scientific Researchers".

Putting everything else aside, just these Merlin canned goods and Daqianmen cigarettes alone would be enough to make Old Jiang salute you; he'd be willing to wash Zhou Enlai's underwear for a month straight.

"Wow, so many canned meats, and cigarettes too! This is such a promising future!"

Jiang Weimin swallowed hard, his mouth watering, and asked curiously, "Didn't they say the base's logistical supplies were tight, and that the Third Division wouldn't get a reward for their collective contribution in shooting down reconnaissance planes? Why do you get these?"

"Ye Ling was referring to the lack of collective merit; I also have an individual second-class merit."

Zhou Yunxiao put his hands on his hips smugly, then warned, "I can give you a carton of Daqianmen cigarettes, but you'll have to exchange it for cloth coupons. I won't extort you, just give me ten feet of coupons."

"Ten feet? You call that extortion?"

Jiang Weimin glared at him.

In those days, grain harvests were poor, and cotton wasn't much better, so cloth coupons were also very valuable.

Zhou Yunxiao said, "Anyway, you can choose between Daqianmen cigarettes and cloth coupons. If you don't want to switch, I'll find someone else..."

"Hey, change it, change it, you swindler."

Jiang Weimin reluctantly pulled a handkerchief from the cabinet, took out the ten feet of cloth coupons he had saved, and handed them to him. "Don't tell anyone about exchanging them for cigarettes, or they'll all come asking me for cigarettes..."

"OK OK!"

Zhou Yunxiao nodded with a smile as he held the newly acquired cloth coupons.

Then, waving his hand dismissively, he said, "Don't go to the cafeteria tonight. I'll treat you to canned pork. Go get some cabbage and glass noodles, and we'll make a pot of 'Pork, Cabbage, and Glass Noodle Stew' to improve our meals!"

"Pork, cabbage, and glass noodles stew!!!"

Jiang Weimin stared at those words in a daze, as if they were just the name of a dish, yet they possessed boundless magic, making one's mouth water.

"It's so beautiful...this is such a beautiful life!"

Without hesitation, Jiang Weimin stood up abruptly, patted his chest, and said:

"Sir, please take care of it. I'll go to the kitchen to get cabbage and glass noodles. I'll also take care of cooking and washing the pots. I'll make sure you have a hot and fragrant stew of pork, cabbage, and glass noodles!"

His words were rather shameless.

After all, the most important ingredient—pork—was contributed by others. Even if he stole ten cabbages, he would still be a freeloader.

Zhou Yunxiao waved his hand magnanimously, "Go quickly and come back quickly, don't make a fuss!"

While canned pork is a scarce commodity, Chinese cabbage and vermicelli are equally rare.

No one knows how Jiang Weimin negotiated with the cooking squad, but he actually managed to bring back two precious cabbages and a large bunch of sweet potato noodles.

Zhou Yunxiao opened three cans of Merlin brand pork and placed them on the table. The aroma immediately wafted out, and the two of them inhaled deeply, almost suffocating from the fragrance.

Ever since Ye Ling extorted a truckload of grain from Director Chen last time and had his first taste of meat, his diet has been quite frugal and bland.

To put it bluntly, everyone's been so bored they're practically starving.

The mere thought of pork, cabbage, and glass noodles evoked a strange reaction in Zhou Yunxiao, a sensation that seemed to travel from his brain straight to his stomach, then back up to his tongue, causing his mouth to water and his throat to twitch.

I'm so hungry!

Jiang Weimin couldn't wait any longer and pulled an electric stove out from under the bed.

Electric furnaces were rare these days, but for these technicians who could even manufacture missiles, they were a piece of cake.

As the resistance wire turned from black to red, the room gradually warmed up. Jiang Weimin placed a small iron pot for cooking noodles on it and eagerly began to peel cabbage leaves.

Seeing that the oil was almost ready, he carefully took out a small bottle of oil from his pocket. There were only a few drops left, so he poured it all in. After pouring it in, he even rinsed the oil with chopsticks.

Then came cabbage leaves and sweet potato noodles.

The small pot on the electric stove was bubbling away, filling the air with a fragrant aroma. Zhou Yunxiao and Jiang Weimin sat around the pot, their mouths watering. The former nudged his arm...

"Aren't you from the South? How come you can cook Northeastern cuisine?"

Jiang Weimin said smugly, "Back in my old unit, there was a soldier from Northeast China in my platoon who mentioned it to us once, and we learned how to do it. It's just stewing a dish, how hard can it be?"

Although Zhou Yunxiao was skeptical, the product looked quite appealing at the moment.

The fragrant steam rising from the pot kept hitting their faces. After waiting a while, Jiang Weimin stirred it with his chopsticks, sniffing the air, and said:

"Oh, if only I could get some soy sauce! Pork, cabbage, and glass noodle stew without soy sauce isn't authentic..."

Then, he scooped up the three cans of pork, used chopsticks as a knife, mashed them until they were a paste, and poured the minced meat into the iron pot.

The aroma of the meat grew even stronger.

Zhou Yunxiao seemed to understand the joy that Grey Wolf felt when he caught a lamb and threw it into a big pot to make soup.

After emptying the canned food, Jiang Weimin found a pot lid, put it on, turned down the heat of the electric stove, and let it simmer for a while before uncovering it.

As steam rose, the expressions of the two men softened, almost as if they were on a pilgrimage.

Then, the two of them brought over aluminum lunch boxes and scooped out pork, cabbage, and vermicelli stew, one spoonful at a time. They didn't waste any of the broth either, pouring it into an enamel mug.

"Now, in the name of our army fighting against foreign aggression and the Dongfeng missile test base, I hereby officially name this pot of pork, cabbage, and vermicelli stew—Victory Pot!"

Jiang Weimin tapped his chopsticks and said, "This is specially made to commemorate the downing of the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft! I'll take three bites as a sign of respect: the first bite is for our missile program! The second bite is for our comrades who fought day and night on the Gobi Desert! The third bite is for our wise, great, glorious, and immortal..."

Zhou Yunxiao smiled as he picked up the enamel mug. "Approved! Execution approved!"

The two of them slurped up the pork and cabbage stew with glass noodles, chewed on the fragrant canned pork, rubbed the oil from their mouths onto their hands, and then licked the oil off their hands back into their mouths, not wanting to waste a single drop.

Then one by one they started hiccuping.

Zhou Yunxiao finished another bowl of stew, poured some hot water into the enamel mug to rinse off the saltiness in his mouth, and then comfortably patted his belly as he leaned back on the bed.

Jiang Weimin was so full that his eyes were rolling back in his head, but he still wanted to get another bowl, as if he planned to stuff himself to death in his dormitory.

Zhou Yunxiao said, "Save it for tomorrow, no one's going to take it from you."

Jiang Weimin shook his head, "It won't taste the same after a night. Pork, cabbage, and glass noodle stew has to be eaten while it's hot. I didn't do a good job this time; I added a bit too much salt..."

After eating until his belly was round and full, he reluctantly drank a sip of soup, and like Zhou Yunxiao, leaned lazily against the headboard, sipping his drink:

"This soup is quite good, the flavor is just right. I'll have another bowl later to help with digestion. Pork, cabbage, and glass noodles stew—all the nutrients are in the soup..."

He pulled out a Daqianmen cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and began to enjoy the smoke, humming a Peking Opera tune:

"The wind howls, the fog is thick, the starlight is dim. Shouts and neighs echo through the valley... We brave the thorns and brambles to explore the way, to see clearly the perilous valley!"