Chapter 39 (Combining Chapters 41 and 42)

"Hmm..."

Professor Wu picked up the fountain pen beside him and began to make corrections on Lin Yilan's paper.

"Your paper? It is well-written and ready for direct publication. Just fix these few grammatical issues, recopy it, and hand it back to me."

With that, he capped his pen and handed the paper back to Lin Yilan.

"You are even better than I expected, classmate Lin. If I didn't know for a fact that you've never written a paper before, I would have suspected you were a seasoned veteran at it. Your choice of words is standard, and you even included diagrams; there are just a few minor issues with the English grammar."

"Alright, your future is bright." Professor Wu looked at Lin Yilan and nodded with satisfaction.

No matter how he looked at it, he felt his judgment was impeccable—he had a sharp eye for discovering talent.

Lin Yilan was unaware of Professor Wu's inward complacency at the moment. She picked up her corrected paper and prepared to leave.

"Well, Professor Wu, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave."

Professor Wu nodded. "Alright. Remember to bring the paper back to me soon. I'll try to mail it out before the end of the year."

Leaving Professor Wu's office, Lin Yilan intended to continue working on her design drawings.

Hand-drawing design drawings was truly a character-testing, time-consuming, and exasperating task.

God bless computers, and God bless drafting software! When on earth would such technology be invented in this lifetime? It would free her from the agony of hand-drawn design drawings.

"Junior Lin, we meet again."

Lin Yilan looked up and saw Peng Junhua.

"Yes, Senior Peng."

Peng Junhua stared inquisitively at the sheets of paper in Lin Yilan's hand. "Junior, which professor are you here to see?"

Lin Yilan shrugged, giving an evasive answer. "I just had some coursework to ask a professor about."

Had Peng Junhua not constantly tried to dig into her business, Lin Yilan wouldn't have kept things from her.

She had sensed that something was off with Peng Junhua, thanks to the hard lessons she had learned during her previous jobs.

Although she wasn't sure what Peng Junhua was specifically up to, her internal alarm bells had already started ringing.

Faced with this situation, Lin Yilan didn't want to waste time playing palace intrigue with her, so she raised her wrist to glance at her watch. "Senior, I have some matters to attend to, so I must take my leave."

"Alright, let's get together when we have time, then." Peng Junhua had no choice but to let Lin Yilan leave.

Over the next few days, Lin Yilan recopied her paper and promptly handed it back to Professor Wu.

Fortunately, this time, she didn't run into Peng Junhua.

Shortly after finishing the transcription of her paper, the seventh of the month arrived—the day she had agreed to meet with Director Yang of the neighborhood committee.

Wearing her hat, she got on her bicycle. The Beijing winter was growing colder, and there were even fewer people riding bicycles on the streets than in the summer.

Yet, wrapped in her heavy military overcoat, she wove through the major streets and narrow alleys. Buildings slowly receded as she continuously forged ahead; it was genuinely interesting.

"Screech—"

Lin Yilan gripped her brakes tightly. It had snowed in Beijing a few days prior, and the snow on the roads had frozen into ice, making the surface considerably slippery.

This meant it took her much longer to brake on her bicycle than before.

Parking her bicycle in the neighborhood committee's bicycle shed, Lin Yilan dusted off her clothes, straightened her wind-blown hat, and pushed open the front gate of the committee office.

Standing at the door of Director Yang's office, Lin Yilan smoothed down her hair with her hands and then knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Lin Yilan took a deep breath, put on a smile, and pushed the door open.

"Director Yang, I am Lin Yilan from the Institute of Technology."

Director Yang put down his pen, closed the notebook on his desk, stood up to welcome her, and said, "Classmate Lin is here. In such cold weather, I appreciate you making a special trip."

"Come, please have a seat."

Following the direction of his finger, Lin Yilan sat down on the wooden stool next to the desk.

"Director Yang, it's no trouble for me at all. You are the one working hard, having to be put out on account of my affairs."

Director Yang took a teacup from the cabinet nearby and poured a cup of tea for Lin Yilan.

"It's no trouble. I was going to head up to report on the neighborhood's recent situation anyway."

Holding the teacup in both hands, Lin Yilan tentatively asked, "Director Yang, what is your leadership's opinion on this?"

Director Yang pulled a folder from a stack of documents on his desk and handed it to Lin Yilan. "This is the map of the sewer pipelines for our neighborhood section."

"The leadership is very supportive of you, especially since you are doing this for our neighborhood hero, Zhao Yingxiong.

However, the leadership hopes you can provide him with a copy of the design for the pipeline connecting Zhao Yingxiong's house to the sewage well. He needs to coordinate with the Construction Bureau personnel first."

"Classmate Lin, actually, the leadership is also worried that letting anyone casually connect their private sewage pipe to the public sewers and sewage wells might cause problems for the neighborhood's drainage system.

Of course, we are not saying there is a flaw in your design, but the state has invested so much manpower and material resources into sewer construction, so we must cherish it properly, right?"

Saying all this, he was also worried that if this hero Zhao's younger sister were offended and went back to complain to Zhao Yingxiong, what would happen? After all, Zhao Yingxiong was not only a decorated war hero, but his family background was also not simple.

Naturally, Lin Yilan wouldn't get angry. If the neighborhood committee had agreed to let her connect Zhao Qiangjun's drainpipe to the sewage well without even reviewing anything, that would truly be terrifying.

Having things made clear was better, as it defined individual responsibilities.

"Of course, I understand what Director Yang is saying. Rest assured, I will copy this map today, and I can bring you the pipeline design drawing in a few days."

Director Yang was extremely pleased with this response. Only through active and mutual cooperation could they achieve a win-win situation.

"Right, you will come with us when the time comes. We don't understand design drawings, so we need a professional like you."

Lin Yilan nodded. "Alright. Just notify me when the time comes, and I will definitely be there."

After exchanging a few more casual remarks, Lin Yilan glanced at the time, quickly pulled her sketchpad out of her bag, and began copying the sewer map.

Director Yang also returned to work mode. He picked up the materials beside him; with more and more educated youth returning to the city, the neighborhood committee had increasingly more matters to handle.

Amidst his busy paperwork, he looked up and glanced at Lin Yilan, who was drawing nearby.

He noticed she was still drawing the sewer map without even raising her head, and she seemed close to finishing.

Sure enough, less than half an hour later, Lin Yilan stood up and handed the folder back to Director Yang.

"Director, thank you for today. I now have a basic understanding of the distribution of our neighborhood's sewer system.

Qiangjun brother has some other matters for me to attend to later, so I won't disturb you any longer."

Director Yang put the folder away. "Alright, then we'll see you next time."

Lin Yilan nodded. "Director, I will definitely bring the design drawing to you as soon as possible."

Bidding farewell to Director Yang, Lin Yilan retrieved her bicycle and headed to Zhao Qiangjun's home.

Originally, she hadn't planned to see Zhao Qiangjun today, but two nights ago he had suddenly called the school saying he wanted to meet and discuss the house renovation, so she had scheduled it for today.

"Sister Qin Qin."

Lin Yilan got off her bicycle just as Qin Qin opened the door.

Qin Qin was holding a small bucket in her hand. "Xiao Lin, you've arrived so early. I was just finishing washing the vegetables."

"Then you should go pour out the water quickly." Lin Yilan kicked down her bicycle stand. "Do you need any help?"

Qin Qin shook her head. "No need. Go inside and wait for me, it's cold outside. Besides, Qiangjun has something he wants to ask for your help with today."

With that, she carried the bucket away.

Seeing that Qin Qin genuinely didn't need help, Lin Yilan pushed her bicycle into their courtyard.

As soon as she entered the yard, Lin Yilan heard the voices of a group of men talking.

"Qiangjun brother! It's Xiao Lin, I'm here."

She called out loudly.

In this era without doorbells where communication relied entirely on shouting, Lin Yilan had long grown accustomed to standing in people's courtyards and calling out loudly for the hosts.

"Xiao Lin, you're here." Zhao Qiangjun's voice arrived before he did. "Did you just see your Sister Qin Qin?"

Skillfully parking her bicycle, Lin Yilan replied, "I did. We just greeted each other at the door."

Immediately following, Zhao Qiangjun walked out with a crutch tucked under his arm. Behind him followed a tall man with striking eyebrows and starry eyes, along with several other men of varying heights who looked somewhat sturdy, though a few seemed to have physical disabilities.

Giving them a sweeping glance, she could confirm that these men, like Zhao Qiangjun, must have all come from the military.

Seeing Zhao Qiangjun coming out of the house, Lin Yilan stepped inside first.

Seeing her, Zhao Qiangjun steadied himself against the coffee table and sat down. "This is Division Commander Lin's youngest granddaughter. She is currently studying at the Institute of Technology, and she's also my younger sister. She's also the designer renovating my house."

"Xiao Lin, these are my brothers. They've all retired from the military as well."

As soon as he sat down, he began introducing the people on both sides.

Lin Yilan glanced at them and smiled in greeting. "Hello everyone, I'm Lin Yilan. You can just call me Xiao Lin."

The tallest man in the group, who was the most eye-catching, took the initiative to introduce himself first. "Hello, Comrade Xiao Lin, I am Shi Hongxing."

"Hongxing used to be in the same military unit as me before he was transferred," Zhao Qiangjun chimed in from the side.

The remaining men introduced themselves one by one. "Comrade Xiao Lin, I am Wang Ersheng."

"Comrade Xiao Lin..."

For a moment, Lin Yilan felt a bit dizzy taking it all in, but fortunately, her memory was sharp.

By the time the introductions were complete, Qin Qin had returned.

"It looks like you've all met each other." Qin Qin said somewhat apologetically, "Thank you all for taking the time to visit Qiangjun today. We don't have any fancy dishes at home, so please just bear with it."

"Don't say that, Sister-in-law."

"That's right, Battalion Commander took care of us plenty of times before."

"Yeah, if Hongxing hadn't told us, we wouldn't have known."

"Sister-in-law, you've had a hard time lately."

Hearing these words exchanged one after another, Qin Qin's eyes turned red.

Seated, Zhao Qiangjun also rarely revealed a vulnerable side.

Watching from the side, Lin Yilan couldn't help but marvel at the deep bonds forged in the military.

Once everyone's emotions had settled, Qin Qin went to the kitchen to prepare dinner, while Shi Hongxing and the others followed her in to help.

At that moment, only Zhao Qiangjun and Lin Yilan were left in the living room.

Zhao Qiangjun propped himself up on his crutches and stood up. "Xiao Lin, I'm sorry to bother you today, but I have a favor I'd like to ask of you."