Chapter 221

The air around us seemed to freeze suddenly.

As it turns out, the creation of a CNC automated production line, capable of transforming the fate of a nation's industry, deserves the personal attention of any high-ranking official.

The doors clicked open, and the guard pulled open the door of the middle ZIS car from the outside.

After getting out of the car, the senior leader first exchanged brief pleasantries with the top leader of the ministry, and then his gaze swept across the crowd and landed precisely in the direction of Liu Guangqi.

The next moment, the deep wrinkles on his face smoothed out, and a genuine smile appeared.

"Comrade Guangqi."

The sound was soft, yet it conveyed warmth.

"You've been giving me one surprise after another lately."

"Nine-axis new machine tools, CNC automated production lines... Your First Machine Tool Department has been quite lively lately..."

With no outsiders present, the senior leaders of the institute could speak without any reservations.

Looking at the kind-looking senior leader in front of him, Liu Guangqi felt a surge of indescribable emotion and stepped forward to shake hands with joy.

That hand was very thin; you could almost touch its knuckles.

Liu Guangqi couldn't help but ask softly, "Boss, why... have you cut so many weight again?"

Indeed, compared to when we met at the beginning of the year, the leader appeared thinner, his facial features were more defined, and there was an undeniable weariness between his brows.

Upon hearing this, the top leader simply waved his hand dismissively and smiled gently:

"My appetite hasn't been very good lately."

He gently patted Liu Guangqi's hand, then changed the subject, his eyes regaining their sparkle.

"But... after hearing your good news today, I reckon I can eat two more bowls of rice."

Although the senior leader spoke to Liu Guangqi with a gentle smile, his expression turned slightly serious when he turned to the Minister of the First Ministry of Machine Building and others.

He wasn't criticizing anything else, but rather the scene of welcoming and seeing off guests—he had never liked such a spectacle.

What kind of mess is this? They should be working, but instead they're all gathered here welcoming him. Aren't they even doing their own work?

"It will never happen again!"

"Sir, we were just on our way to the research department when we ran into you..."

"You can't even come up with a plausible excuse."

The senior leader smiled and shook his head, saying no more about the matter.

The group headed straight for Liu Guangqi's research area.

The minister and the top leader walked side by side in front, Liu Guangqi was half a step behind, and the others were a little behind.

During the journey, the senior leader and the minister spoke in hushed tones without stopping.

Upon entering the research and development room, the group quickly saw the nine-axis machine tool and the winding CNC automated production line.

Undeniably, the unique rigor and powerful beauty of industrial creations are truly captivating.

Even the few entourage members who accompanied the high-ranking leader were stunned by the impressive mechanical array and fell silent for a moment.

In fact, with the continuous evolution of machine tool technology, the performance of these CNC devices will become increasingly powerful, and their appearance and craftsmanship will become increasingly refined.

It is foreseeable that, under Liu Guangqi's leadership, China's industrial machine tool manufacturing level has now reached the forefront of the world, and it is steadily transforming from a major agricultural country into an industrial powerhouse.

Subsequently, Liu Guangqi explained many details to the senior leader one by one, and finally concluded:

"If our machine tool business in the past was about catching up with the world's advanced technology and even achieving a leading position, then from now on, it's up to us to write the rules of this industry."

After a brief silence.

"good!"

The top leader spoke first, delivering a deep and powerful "good".

He stepped forward slowly, reached out, and gently stroked the cool metal casing of the nine-axis machine tool. His usually gentle face was now filled with barely suppressed admiration and satisfaction.

"Comrade Guangqi, you did a great job."

The senior leader turned around and showered Liu Guangqi with praise:

"I know how busy you've been lately. I've read the report from the Institute of Computing Technology, and it's excellent. I never imagined that you could also be here at the Ministry of Machine Building, forging such a crucial industrial instrument for the nation."

He withdrew his hand and looked solemnly at Liu Guangqi and all the staff of the research department:

"You have made great contributions to the country. On behalf of the country and the people of China, I thank you."

"Boss, this is what we should do!"

The Minister of the First Ministry of Machine Building was so moved that his eyes reddened: "Contributing to the development of the country is simply the duty of the First Ministry of Machine Building!"

The subsequent inspection continued in this solemn yet uplifting atmosphere.

The afternoon sun was warm and gentle. As Liu Guangqi led her two children out of the building, a clear nursery rhyme drifted on the breeze.

"Little ball, kick it with your foot, the Malan flower blooms at twenty-one..."

Several little girls with pigtails were jumping rope in the open space, their figures rising and falling in the sunlight, their voices innocent and cheerful. Liu Guangqi's steps slowed involuntarily. He looked up, his gaze passing over the playing children, towards the pale blue horizon in the distance.

That evening after the inspection, the image of the car driving away from the ministry gate suddenly resurfaced clearly in his mind. The weariness that the leader couldn't hide in his eyes as he turned away was like a fine needle, gently pricking a spot in his memory. It wasn't ordinary fatigue, but the silent mark that only someone who carries a heavy burden on their shoulders would have.

Study for the rise of this land, and dedicate your heart and soul to the tomorrow of countless people—that sentence suddenly took on a concrete form.

"Dad?" His daughter, Ruixue, shook his hand.

Liu Guangqi snapped out of his reverie and looked down into two pairs of clear eyes. He smiled slightly and tightened his grip on his palm: "Let's go to the small park."

For the past six months, he had indeed been like a taut string. One technical challenge after another, one presentation after another, calendar pages torn away, yet the bloodshot in his eyes remained stubbornly visible. His wife, Zhao Mengyun, saw this and every weekend she would snatch everything from his hands without a word—no housework, no touching the kitchen, even playing with the children was gently blocked by her. "No matter how important the matter, it has to wait until you've had enough sleep," she would always say, her tone gentle but leaving no room for argument.

When Director Duan congratulated him with a beaming smile yesterday, Liu Guangqi simply shook his head. Success never belongs to one person alone; the countless nights spent working side-by-side, the repeated data analysis, the sweat on the production line—all of these had bound everyone together as one. Words of congratulations seemed too insignificant; a cup of tea and a knowing glance were far more fitting.

The leisurely weekend felt so real. The sun warmed his shoulders, and the pages of the book in his hands still smelled of ink. If his two children hadn't tiptoed over and tugged at his clothes with their tiny fingers, he probably would have stayed on the sofa for a while longer.

"Dad, can we go for a walk?"

They even changed into newly bought cloth shoes, embroidered with pale yellow flower buds. Zhao Mengyun came out from the inner room, her hands still wet with water droplets, and nodded with a smile: "Go on, you should get some fresh air too."

She had secretly instructed the children long ago: they shouldn't cling to their fathers for hugs or make a fuss when he comes home. So at this moment, Ruixue and Fengnian simply looked up, their eyes sparkling, waiting obediently, which was so endearing.

The nursery rhyme still danced in the air. Liu Guangqi led his two children across the yard; the girls' jump rope rhythm was light and familiar, as if it rippling through time itself. He suddenly remembered a certain afternoon many years ago, when perhaps he too had run to a similar song, back when the world seemed small and the future seemed far away.

Now, the future is in his hands—not just his, but many others'.

He took a deep breath; the warm afternoon breeze carried the scent of grass and trees. The two children's small, soft hands trembled in his palm as he stepped, one step at a time, onto the dappled shadows of the trees.

The road ahead is long. But at this moment, the sun shines brightly.

Sunlight filtered through the locust tree branches and leaves, casting shimmering golden light across his face, making him squint slightly.

It's that ballad.

In his previous life, he also grew up with this tune. From the alleys of Jiangnan to the snowy plains of the North, wherever children played, you could always hear this crisp singing.

And in this life—

He first heard it in the depths of the dusty, sandy Gobi Desert in Northwest China, in that isolated village. Two vastly different life trajectories, because of this same melody, silently overlapped and intertwined at that moment.

Yes, Liu Guangqi remembered. In both past and present lives, almost everyone living on this land had heard this folk song. But back then, no one knew where it came from; it was as if a spring breeze had swept through every corner overnight.

"Daddy, what's a little ball?" Fengnian, the son, looked up with his little face, his voice still carrying a childish tone.

Liu Guangqi lowered his gaze. His children's clear eyes were filled with curiosity, which suddenly made him feel a warm, bittersweet feeling.

A small ball?

What popped into his mind was not a toy in a child's palm, but the behemoth codenamed "596".

Deep within the base, people called it "Old Ball"—because of its smooth, glossy appearance, and because the word "ball" sounded affectionate. Initially, it was a tacit nickname among the researchers; later, when it was slowly lowered into the container, which was wrapped in cables like a waterfall of hair, someone jokingly remarked, "Old Ball is going to dress up as a girl; it should be called 'Ball Girl'."

And so the name was decided.

"Dressing it up" means assembling the missile body, "braiding it" means installing the fuse, and "setting up the kick" refers to the towering iron tower that supported the nuclear explosion experiment.

These secret codes, known only to core participants, have now been woven into nursery rhymes, becoming the clearest rhythm as children leap and bound in the open space of the government compound.

Liu Guangqi's lips unconsciously curved into a gentle arc.

That feeling washed over me warmly, yet carried a subtle sting. And there was also a... heavy, indescribable pride.

Who could have imagined that a nation's deepest secret could be hidden in such an innocent way, within the most ordinary play?

Perhaps this is the silent romance unique to those who dedicate themselves to this land.

"What are you laughing at, Daddy?" His daughter, Ruixue, gently tugged at his finger.

"It's nothing."

"What exactly is that little ball? And why can it make the Malan flower bloom with twenty-one petals?" the child persisted.

Liu Guangqi squatted down, gently stroking the two little heads with his palms, and said in a soft voice, "You just need to remember that this little ball is something extraordinary."

He said no more. This secret, buried deep in time, is a medal he and those who sacrificed their youth and even their lives in the Gobi Desert wear together in their hearts.

Ruixue and Fengnian nodded as if they understood, but their gazes had already drifted to a spot not far away.

"Little ball, kick it with your foot, the Malan flower blooms at twenty-one..."

Several girls with pigtails were dancing to the song, their long rubber bands nimbly twirling between their ankles and knees, drawing smooth arcs.

Ruixue gripped her father's clothes tightly with her small hand, her face flushed red, her eyes filled with longing, but she shrank back slightly: "Daddy... what are they playing?"

That shy yet longing feeling almost overflowed from her eyes.

"That's jump rope." Liu Guangqi looked down into her daughter's sparkling eyes, smiled, and asked softly, "Want to try it?"

Xiao Ruixue nodded vigorously, then hurriedly shook her head, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Go on, your father is here watching over you."

"I...I'm scared..."

"What are you afraid of! Sister, I'll take you!"

Before the words were even finished, Feng Nian, who was standing nearby, could no longer contain himself. Like a small cannonball, he broke free of his father's hand, took a few quick strides, and rushed over. Standing tall and proud in front of the group of girls, he raised his head and shouted with all his might:

Hello!

"Can we play together? My older sister wants to jump rope too!"

The child's voice was childish, yet it conveyed an air of absolute determination to join in.

The rubber band stopped abruptly. The singing abruptly ceased.

Several pairs of eyes all fell on the little person who had suddenly barged in.

The girl leading the group was about ten years old, with two tight, shiny braids, the red ribbons at the ends of which looked like two tiny flames. She first glanced at Feng Nian, then her gaze quickly swept past him and landed on Liu Guangqi, who was squatting behind her.

"Is that your father?" she asked.

"Yes!" Feng Nian replied.

The girl's eyes suddenly lit up, her voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement: "Uncle Liu? Are you Uncle Liu from the research department?"

This sound caused several children nearby to turn around.

Liu Guangqi stood up with a smile and nodded to her.