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

"Who is it?"

Xiao Su, who was on guard duty, was very alert. Hearing the rustling footsteps, he immediately switched his shoulder pistol to a nock pistol and chambered a bullet.

At the same time, she bent over, half-stanced, and her fingers were firmly on the trigger.

"it's me."

Zhou Yunxiao came out carrying a military green canvas bag and waved to her cheerfully.

Seeing this, Xiao Su breathed a sigh of relief, put the safety back on, and changed her grip on the pistol back to shoulder-mounted. She was happy and wanted to greet them, but then pretended to be serious and said:

"Qinling Mountains. Report back?"

Zhou Yunxiao replied helplessly, "The Huai River."

Xiao Su then smiled, grinning as he slung his gun over his shoulder and said, "Comrade Yunxiao, why haven't you left yet?"

Zhou Yunxiao patted his bag. "Just finished teaching night school and was about to leave. But you, what are you doing here on duty?"

"I'll stand in for Tianna for a while; she had a stomachache and went to the toilet."

Zhou Yunxiao said "Oh". Tian Na is a female radar operator in the surveying team. Sometimes she needs to be on night duty, responsible for answering calls from various observation stations, and she will be assigned some guard duty tasks.

Xiao Su smiled mischievously, then shook the snowflakes off her hat brim and said proudly, "How about it? Aren't you just as capable as any man?"

As Zhou Yunxiao approached, he saw in the dim moonlight that Xiao Su was wearing a thick cotton coat and a fluffy cotton hat with the ear flaps down to cover her ears.

He wore fur-lined boots, genuine leather gloves, a wide armed belt around his waist, and carried a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle on his back, exuding an air of heroic spirit and commanding presence.

Zhou Yunxiao nodded with a smile, "Indeed, the women of Zhonghua are full of ambition, preferring military uniforms to feminine adornments. Comrade Xiao Su is truly a modern-day Mulan or Mu Guiying; with her steel spear standing tall, no god or demon can harm her!"

Xiao Su knew he was flattering her, but she was still very happy. "Hmph, don't underestimate us. This is a new era. Women hold up half the sky. We are just like the men. We can overcome all difficulties and stand guard without hesitation."

In the moonlight and breeze, Zhou Yunxiao closely observed Xiao Su, and looking at this comrade-in-arms with a belt around his waist and a steel gun on his back, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

This era was one of poverty and hardship, but it was also an era of positivity and progress.

Everyone has hope, everyone has strength!

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Xiao Su, Zhou Yunxiao was about to leave when Tian Na returned from the restroom.

"Hey, comrade, why aren't you leaving so late? Did you come all this way to visit our comrade on duty, Xiao Su?"

Tian Na stood with her hands behind her back, looking like she was watching the show, and kept winking at her best friend.

Su's face was burning under the fleece hat, and she scratched Tian Na in a hurry. However, since she was dressed in thick winter clothes, the attack had no effect and even looked a bit like she was being coquettish.

Seeing this, Zhou Yunxiao immediately made his escape, saying, "It's getting late, I'm leaving now..."

"Hey, comrade, don't be in such a hurry to leave! Let our Xiao Su see you off!"

Tian Na's hearty laughter could still be heard from behind.

However, Zhou Yunxiao hadn't taken more than a few steps when footsteps echoed behind him, panting as they caught up. "Comrade Yun... Comrade Yunxiao..."

He stopped in his tracks. "What's wrong?"

Xiao Su, panting, said, "I have... a set of old cotton-padded clothes that I just changed out of, and two old floral dresses that I used to wear, but I don't need them anymore. You can take them back for your sister. Also, my family sent some Tongrentang plasters from Jingzhou. Didn't you say Auntie's back wasn't feeling well? Take them back and use them, and she'll feel better quickly. Tongrentang plasters are very effective!"

"This... I can't possibly trouble you."

Zhou Yunxiao hadn't expected that he would catch up with her for this matter; it was quite touching that Comrade Xiao Su remembered the family matter he had casually mentioned.

"Keep all these clothes for the kids in your family. I've saved up the fabric ration coupons for my sister to make new clothes. As for the plaster, I'll reimburse you for the cost; I don't want you to spend money..."

Xiao Su waved her hand with a smile, "It's okay. Anyway, I don't have any relatives in Jingzhou, and the plasters aren't expensive, just a few cents a plaster. The main problem is that this kind of medicine for back injuries is hard to buy; you can only buy it in Jingzhou."

At this point, she squinted her crescent-shaped eyes and said, "If we're talking about valuable things, the copy of 'Bradius's Handbook of Mathematical Functions' that you made by hand before—those function solutions with 16-digit precision are priceless! You can't buy a book like that anywhere in the country. My shoe insoles aren't enough to express my gratitude!"

Since the other party had said so, Zhou Yunxiao could no longer refuse, so he gladly accepted it and followed the other party to the girls' dormitory building of the first division.

Having been a bachelor for two lifetimes, this was the first time Comrade Zhou had ever walked alone with a girl at night.

Xiao Su walked lightly beside him, having returned the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle to Tian Na. She waved to familiar female comrades from time to time, her hands empty, looking cheerful and happy.

Zhou Yunxiao pressed down hard on his dog-skin hat, keeping a slightly uneasy distance. He could feel the curious glances from the young female soldiers around him.

Damn! Do these guys think we're dating?

Soon, Xiao Su brought out a set of cotton-padded clothes and two floral dresses that had been packed, along with several plasters from Tongrentang.

She noticed Zhou Yunxiao's mood and asked with a smile, "What's wrong? Don't want to come to the women's dormitory? Or are you afraid people will gossip about us?"

"Uh...nothing, I'm just cold."

Zhou Yunxiao wasn't stupid, and quickly tried to argue his way out of it.

Xiao Su pouted, "Still saying no? Look at your face, it's as long as a donkey's, as if I brought you to the girls' dormitory and suffered some great injustice."

She tilted her head and looked at him. "What, do you think that an ugly comrade like me is not good enough for a handsome guy like you, and that's hindering your plans to pursue those young female soldiers in the cultural troupe?"

"No, no, no," Zhou Yunxiao thought to himself, wondering what this was all about. "You...you're quite pretty."

Xiao Su finally giggled, her fair and slender neck tilting playfully beneath her long braid. "Thank you for the compliment. I'll take it as you're telling the truth."

She waved at Zhou Yunxiao, flashing her pearly white teeth, "Let's go, see you next week!"

See you Monday!

After carrying the clothes that Xiao Su had "gifted" him back to the dormitory, Zhou Yunxiao found Jiang Weimin already snoring loudly, fast asleep.

After a long day of work, he didn't even bother to boil some water to soak his feet. He went out, quickly rubbed some snow on his face, came back, poked the stove, added some coal, kicked off his shoes, and fell asleep on the bed.

When I woke up in the early morning, it was already bright daylight.

A faint scent of laundry soap lingered around his nose. Zhou Yunxiao took a deep sniff and realized that it was coming from the clothes that Xiao Su had worn.

"Tsk... Comrade Su's soap smells really good..."

Zhou Yunxiao sat up in bed and stared blankly for a while.

Today is a day off, so he can take a break. He thought he would write a letter home and have the post office send all the odds and ends he had collected back to his hometown.

Just then, Jiang Weimin returned from getting breakfast at the cafeteria, with two letters in his mouth, and started barking at him.

Seeing this, Zhou Yunxiao quickly ran over, put the food on the table, took the letter down, and said with a smile, "Up so early today?"

"Sigh, it's a habit I developed from fighting in the past. I can't sleep when I hear the sound of artillery. This morning, when those idiots in the cookhouse went to blast ice on the river, I was jolted awake."

Jiang Weimin said enviously, "You're a heavy sleeper, aren't you? You can't even be woken up by this?"

You'll get used to it.

"It's a day off today, so the cooks didn't prepare anything nice, just cornbread and wild vegetable soup. I'll get some for you."

After saying that, Jiang Weimin eagerly picked up a letter: "The post office also notified us that there was mail coming home. I checked and saw that there was one for you too. I'll collect it together. You can read it after you finish eating!"