Chapter 2829
Zhao Gang visits, seeking help.
Chapter 2829 Zhao Gang visits, seeking help.
Since realizing the difficulty of computer research, Yang Xiaotao has been looking for ways to break through the deadlock.
First of all, it's unrealistic to expect the people at the Ninth Research Institute to come up with a solution, at least not in the short term.
As for those people at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, they probably can't be counted on either.
So in the end, I still have to do it myself.
There's nothing I can do; it's my own fault for having a cheat code.
And isn't now the perfect time to show your skills at this crucial moment?
After returning to the courtyard house, Yang Xiaotao had a simple meal and then went to his study to think.
Currently, the fastest way to earn credits is through artillery reconnaissance radar systems.
Moreover, after activating his computer proficiency, the infusion of knowledge gave him a new understanding of the principles and structure of artillery reconnaissance radar.
Knowledge gained from books can lead to more thorough research.
However, the core processor of the artillery reconnaissance radar still needs computer support; otherwise, it is merely a shell.
They might even miss a great opportunity because the calculation takes too long.
Therefore, the focus has returned to computer research.
Previously, this was a vicious cycle.
Which one to do first is a real headache.
But it's different now.
Currently, there are two ways to break this vicious cycle.
The first option is to directly use the PDP-8 computer as the core processor. The advantage is that the PDP-8 computer has been thoroughly studied over this period of time.
Choosing this method allows for the rapid completion of the design drawings for artillery reconnaissance radar.
However, there is a downside: only one can be made at the moment, and if more are to be made, it will be necessary to purchase more of these computers.
In addition, upgrading is also a hassle.
The second is what Mr. Ye and the others said: to make our own computer.
In this way, the disadvantages of the former are eliminated; the possibility of not being able to make a computer remains unknown.
After much deliberation, Yang Xiaotao chose the second option, trusting his own choice.
"So now all we need to do is copy the computer."
In the study, Yang Xiaotao was doing...
Xiao Wei flew around boredly, occasionally shooting out a jolt of electricity from her fingertips, like an electric mosquito swatter, burning any mosquitoes that tried to attack her owner to ashes.
Soon after, a burning smell filled the study. Yang Xiaotao glanced at Xiaowei with displeasure, but Xiaowei didn't seem to care at all.
Ran Qiuye went to the countryside, and the children who were going to school or not went to the Ran family's house. This little guy became quite unrestrained.
Sensing the change in Yang Xiaotao's expression, Xiaowei immediately flew to the window and stretched out her small hand towards the guy who seemed to be attacking her.
So the battlefield shifted to outside the window.
Just as Xiaowei was busy playing, a person walked into the courtyard.
The old man, who was enjoying the cool air at the entrance, immediately went up to greet the visitors.
"Hello comrade, who are you looking for?"
"Hello, I am Zhao Gang, a colleague of Comrade Yang Xiaotao."
Zhao Gang was carrying an oil paper package and smiling warmly.
Before Yan Fugui could speak, the workers in the Ninth Department immediately stood up, and Wang Jun, who was in charge, came up to him and asked, "Director Zhao, are you here to see Director Yang?"
Upon hearing this, Yan Fugui's eyes lit up.
Those who can become directors in the Ninth Department these days are no ordinary people.
Don't be fooled by the fact that a workshop director in an ordinary factory is considered a high-ranking official. In front of the Ninth Minister, even the factory directors of those factories might not be as powerful as him.
"Director Zhao, please hurry, there are a lot of mosquitoes tonight, and Director Yang is at home."
"Director Zhao, I'll take you there."
Before Yan Fugui could speak, Wang Jun immediately became enthusiastic and even offered to lead the way.
This greatly displeased Yan Fugui, who felt that this was stealing his job of receiving guests.
"Okay, I'm done."
Zhao Gang smiled and immediately walked into the courtyard.
"Director Zhao, I saw the light on in Minister Yang's study when I came out just now. I guess he's still busy."
Wang Jun said, and Zhao Gang asked curiously, "Minister Yang is very busy."
"Yes, yes, sometimes when I get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I can see the light on in Minister Yang's study."
Zhao Gang listened with a smile on his face, his heart filled with admiration.
Given Yang Xiaotao's current status, even if he slacks off and does nothing, he won't be bad off in his life.
Moreover, he is still young, yet he doesn't have the impetuousness typical of young people.
The key is being able to listen to different opinions, which is truly commendable.
After the group passed through the hanging flower gate, Zhao Gang saw a group of people gathered under the locust tree in the courtyard. An electric light, which had been pulled from someone's house, was hanging on the branch, illuminating the chessboard below.
As Zhao Gang approached, he saw Elder Ye and the old Taoist priest locked in a fierce battle, with onlookers pointing and commenting, creating quite a lively scene.
Zhao Gang did not go up to greet them, but followed the person into the Yang family's courtyard.
"Director, this is Director Yang's home. You can just call out here."
After Wang Jun finished speaking, he stopped moving forward. He knew that Yang Xiaotao disliked being disturbed when he was reading.
"Okay, thanks."
"Please don't be so polite."
After Wang Jun left, Zhao Gang stood outside the courtyard and looked around.
To be honest, this was his first time visiting a courtyard house.
I had heard Xu Yuanshan and Wang Guodong talk about courtyard houses before, and I also learned about those years from other people in my spare time.
But this is the first time I've actually come here and seen it with my own eyes.
My first impression upon arriving at the courtyard was that it was very large.
But thinking about all the kids in Yang Xiaotao's family, I felt relieved.
Then my gaze was drawn to the vegetable garden in the corner of the yard.
He had heard Yang Youning mention this yard before, and had even eaten the tomatoes that Yang Xiaotao brought. Having a vegetable garden in this era of scarcity could alleviate the family's financial difficulties.
On the other side of the vegetable garden was a hand pump well, which was also made by the steel rolling mill of the Ninth Department. There was also one in the large courtyard where he now lived. It is said that for a period of time in Beijing, it was popular to dig wells by machine, which was both fast and efficient.
He stepped into the yard and saw a big yellow dog lying in the doghouse. The dog just glanced at him and then wagged its tail, looking harmless.
Little did he know that Wangcai acted this way because it was instructed by Xiaowei; otherwise, it would have bared its teeth at the sight of a stranger long ago.
At this moment, Yang Xiaotao, knowing that Zhao Gang had arrived, hurriedly left the study and opened the door.
"Old Zhao, you have a very distinguished guest."
Yang Xiaotao greeted him with a smile, and Zhao Gang smiled when he saw Yang Xiaotao, "It's been over a year since I came to Beijing, and I haven't paid a visit yet. Don't mind."
"I mind, I mind, I mind that you came alone."
"Next time, bring your sister-in-law and child so everyone can get to know them."
Hearing this, Zhao Gang laughed, "My wife is busy right now, and as for those little ones, they're all incredibly mischievous. If they came here, they'd probably turn the world upside down."
Upon hearing Zhao Gang's words, Yang Xiaotao remembered that Zhao Gang's wife, Feng Nan, was none other than the "Empress" of later generations.
Although the ending in the original work is somewhat tragic, that hasn't happened yet, has it?
Moreover, if Zhao Gang's fate has changed, then the fate of those associated with him will also change.
Thinking about this, Yang Xiaotao felt it was necessary to tell Ran Qiuye that Feng Nan was also a good person and that they should lend him a hand.
The two laughed as they spoke, and then walked into the house together.
In the living room, Yang Xiaotao poured a glass of water, and the two sat down.
"It's quite cool in your room. There's no electric fan, but the breeze is quite strong."
Zhao Gang looked around with great curiosity and spoke.
"Yes, this house used to belong to royalty and nobility. It was later confiscated and became our house. Speaking of which, the craftsmen of the early years had a set of houses. This house is quite comfortable to live in."
Yang Xiaotao said with a smile that he heard about this from Zhou Shenghong. It is said that in the old days, when building a house, you had to look at the feng shui and perform sacrifices before breaking ground. Anyway, the whole thing sounds complicated.
Yang Xiaotao didn't know about the feng shui of this house, but it was relatively cool in the summer and had good lighting in the winter, much better than the side rooms on both sides.
After chatting for a while, Zhao Gang opened the oil paper package he had brought, and a roast duck aroma wafted out.
"Old Zhao, you don't come here unless you need something. You brought roast duck, are you trying to bribe me?"
Yang Xiaotao ate a quick dinner, keeping it simple since he was eating alone, especially on such a hot day.
"You're right, that's why I came here today—I need your help." Zhao Gang readily agreed, and Yang Xiaotao was also delighted, "Then I can enjoy my roast duck with peace of mind."
"You go first, I'll go get a bottle of wine."
Without waiting for Zhao Gang to speak, he walked into the inner room.
When he returned, he was holding a plate of fried peanuts and two salted duck eggs in one hand, and a wine bottle in the other.
"I mean, does coming here mean I have to have a couple of drinks?"
Political Commissar Zhao Gang is online.
With his hands clasped, he sat upright in the chair and began to lecture, "You're so young, yet you act like some old people, so cunning and shrewd."
"Isn't this a requirement of the job? It's all learned through experience."
Yang Xiaotao chuckled, but Zhao Gang looked serious. "What kind of job requires this kind of training?"
"In my opinion, this is a matter of conduct. The friendship between comrades should be pure; the revolutionary friendship between comrades does not need this kind of thing to maintain it."
Yang Xiaotao sat at the table and listened quietly as Zhao Gang talked for a long time, while pouring him a drink.
"You're such a shameless bastard, aren't you?"
Suddenly, Zhao Gang stopped speaking, unsure of what to say next.
He looked at the wine glass on the table, picked it up, and drank it all in one gulp.
Yang Xiaotao laughed again, picked up his wine glass and drank another one, then picked up some peanuts and started drinking.
"Old Zhao, I knew you were here to have a drink the moment you walked in."
"This wine is good stuff."
"Because alcohol emboldens cowards."
“My great-grandfather once told me that when we were fighting the Japanese and taking down pillboxes, we would drink a sip of that drink and we wouldn’t be afraid of anything.”
He also said that when the Japanese soldiers' blood was seen, the smell of blood would rise up, but this breath of alcohol would suppress it, and the Japanese soldiers would not be able to turn the tables.
As Yang Xiaotao spoke, he picked up the wine bottle and filled the bottles for the two of them.
"Actually, you see how much I can drink, but to be honest, I don't really like drinking."
"But sometimes, you need this to give yourself courage."
As Zhao Gang listened to Yang Xiaotao's words, his gaze was fixed on the wine on the table as if lost in memories. After a long while, he slowly said, "Wine emboldens cowards, but it emboldens them to have no tomorrow."
At this point, Zhao Gang looked at Yang Xiaotao and said, "If there were no tomorrow, everyone would live as if it were their last day."
"Back then, we never thought there would be a tomorrow."
"So everything is very simple: open your eyes, fight the Japanese devils, close your eyes, and think about how to kill the Japanese devils."
"Living is for the sake of national resistance."
"It's that simple."
As Zhao Gang spoke, he picked up his wine glass and examined it, "But now, we have countless tomorrows."
"Then, simple life becomes complicated."
"Power, wealth, ambition, and even pain, entanglement, resentment, etc., have become so complicated."
Yang Xiaotao also raised his glass and extended it towards Zhao Gang.
Zhao Gang reached out his hand.
Bang
The two of them did it together.
Setting down his glass, Yang Xiaotao leaned back in his chair. "So, when you face countless tomorrows, when you spend each day together, there aren't many friends left who can sit down and drink with you."
Speaking of this, Yang Xiaotao recalled his past life.
We were friends from the same village and the same school.
But as the days go by, in the end, how many friends are left who you can just call and go out for a drink with?
Perhaps there are, but truly very few.
Zhao Gang nodded silently after listening.
He suddenly laughed again, "You said the same thing as Old Li."
Yang Xiaotao laughed along, "Lao Li tricked us out of a batch of our best equipment last time."
"Speaking of which, I really want to see what kind of unruly person this old Li is."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Gang picked up the wine bottle next to Yang Xiaotao, poured himself a drink, and then picked it up, saying, "He's just an ordinary person."
As he spoke, Yang Xiaotao raised his glass, glanced at Zhao Gang, and then smiled as he clinked glasses with him.
After three cups of wine, the roast duck on the table remained untouched; the two of them only ate a few peanuts.
"Old Zhao, that's three cups."
"Alcohol emboldens cowards, especially when it comes to someone like you, Political Commissar Zhao."
"Say what you have to say quickly."
Zhao Gang lowered his head for a moment after hearing this, then raised it again. "I came for Lao Li."
"Him? What happened?"
"Something happened."
Zhao Gang recounted the news he had recently heard, which was similar to what Yang Xiaotao had learned from reading novels in his previous life. In short, no one was protecting him from above.
If that "Congratulations on your fortune" guy were still around, who could touch him?
"Is this what you think?"
Yang Xiaotao looked serious, and Zhao Gang nodded in agreement.
"I know Lao Li. He's as stubborn as a donkey."
"But Lao Li is also proud. Sometimes he may seem very shrewd, but he won't tolerate any wrongdoing."
“I’ve been through it, so I’m afraid he won’t be able to handle the pressure.”
Yang Xiaotao nodded slightly, then picked up the wine bottle, filled it with wine, and took a sip. Zhao Gang wasn't in a hurry; he had already explained the situation and trusted that Yang Xiaotao would help.
Just because he left me his equipment last time, just because he helped me, and just because of the wine on this table.
“I can’t help him, but I can find someone else to help him.”
Yang Xiaotao said earnestly.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Gang laughed.
If even Yang Xiaotao needed to ask for help, then this person's identity is quite obvious.
If even people at that level can't help, then there's nothing he can do.
I just hope my old friend can stay strong.
The only people Yang Xiaotao could think of to help were Boss Peng and his uncle.
In a way, both of these men are Lao Li's superiors.
"That's good."
Zhao Gang smiled and said, "Come on, let's eat roast duck."
Upon hearing this, Yang Xiaotao joked, "Look, if we don't agree, we won't even be able to eat roast duck."
"Haha, no way, I brought it here and I can take it away."
"Hard to say."
The two of them laughed again.
"Old Zhao, tell me about what happened back then."
"What's the matter?"
"Of course it's about fighting the Japanese devils!"
Yang Xiaotao tore off a duck leg and handed it to Zhao Gang, then tore off one for himself and started gnawing on it.
"What's there to say?"
Yang Xiaotao, however, was in high spirits. "Since I'm free anyway, let's talk about it."
"Then I'll start from when I met Lao Li."
Zhao Gang started talking non-stop until the roast duck on the table was finished, the peanuts were all gone, and the wine in the bottle was empty. Only then did Zhao Gang get up and leave.
After seeing Zhao Gang off, Yang Xiaotao returned to his study.
Sitting in his chair, looking at his previous notes and the materials on the table, and thinking about Zhao Gang's request, Yang Xiaotao suddenly laughed.
"Isn't this a ready-made opportunity?"
(End of this chapter)