Siheyuan: Grassroots Counterattack

Every Chinese New Year, Yi Zhonghai would bring the deaf old lady, Sha Zhu, and He Yushui to the Jia family to celebrate the New Year. Every time, Yi Zhonghai and his friends would bring a lot of things to the Jia family, and the Jia family would have a good New Year without giving away anything.

Time quickly arrived at New Year's Eve. Early in the morning, Yan Bugui set up a table in the yard. Other residents in the yard came in groups of three or four to ask Yan Bugui to write Spring Festival couplets. As for the reward, it was just a few peanuts or a handful of melon seeds. Even so, Yan Bugui smiled from ear to ear.

Father Li also came to see Yan Bugui with red paper. His family needed to write several Spring Festival couplets, so this time he took a few candies as a fee.

Maybe it was the New Year, everyone in the yard was so friendly and greeted each other warmly when they met.

After breakfast, the women in the family began to prepare ingredients for the New Year’s Eve dinner at noon and in the evening.

At Li's side, Li's mother also brought her younger sister to the kitchen. Xiaoxue wanted to help, but was persuaded by Li's mother. Xiaoxue's belly was so big now, and they were really afraid that she would get bumped somewhere.

Li Tianyi didn't read today. Seeing that nothing was happening at home, he took Xiaoxue out to play.

In this era, the atmosphere of the New Year is still very strong. The air is filled with the smell of sulfur, children are running around with firecrackers, and the sound of firecrackers can be heard from time to time.

Li Tianyi rode his bike with Xiaoxue to the Imperial City, and then went to Shichahai. Shichahai had been frozen. Children and adults were skating on it. There were also many people gathered on the shore. It was obvious that many people came out to relax today.

Xiaoxue and Li Tianyi are happy today. They have no work and no worries. They just enjoy the peaceful time to their heart's content.

It was soon noon and Li Tianyi took Xiaoxue home. As soon as they got home, the fragrance in the yard aroused Li Tianyi's appetite. When Li's mother in the kitchen saw her son and daughter-in-law coming back, she asked Li's father to light the fire and she was going to start cooking.

After Li Tianyi sent Xiaoxue back to the house, he also went to the kitchen to see if he could help, but Li's mother thought he was in the way and drove him out.

Li Tianyi saw that there was really nothing for him to do, so he could only go back to his study to read. He had previously designed a semi-automatic sniper rifle, which had an effective range of 900 meters and a maximum range of 2 kilometers. (Author's imagination)

This sniper rifle is much more powerful than the sniper rifles currently in service in the country. Of course, this is only the theoretical range calculated by Li Tianyi. The actual range can only be known after samples are produced.

Li Tianyi borrowed some advantages of later sniper rifles for the appearance of this gun, and also applied some designs to the gun body.

He has just started drawing the sketch of this gun. As for when it will be completed, it depends on Li Tian's work arrangements one year later.

Of course, designing guns was only a part of his research, and his main focus was still on machinery.

Among them, he focused on the development of the positive circulation turntable drilling rig, which is mainly composed of a tower, winch, turntable, drilling tools, mud pump, faucet and electric motor.

After he came back from the frontier, he began to develop this drilling rig, hoping that it would be able to help farmers solve the problem of drought next year.

He had some information about this drilling rig in his mind, and he designed his own drilling rig based on this information. The project has entered the verification stage, the data has begun to be calculated, and the drawings are also being designed.

His study was filled with papers, some of which were discarded drawings, and some of which were currently usable. Usually no one came into his study, even Li's mother would only come in to clean when he was not around.

Just as he was drawing seriously, Li's mother's voice came from outside, "Tianyi, come out for dinner."

Li Tianyi then put down his pencil and looked at the clock on the wall. It was already past 12 o'clock. Li Tianyi organized his drawings and walked out of the room.

In the main room outside, there were several dishes on the table, including three meat dishes, plus plates of steaming dumplings, which made people feel happy just by looking at them.

At the dinner table, Li Tianyi took out the good wine from home and drank a few glasses with Li's father and Li's mother. Although Li's mother didn't drink much, she could still drink.

Everyone talked and laughed during the meal. Father Li drank a little too much, so Mother Li asked her second son to take Father Li home to rest, while she and her younger sister Xiaoxue washed the dishes and prepared the fillings for the dumplings in the evening.

When everything was ready, Li's mother and younger sister went home and came back to make dumplings in the afternoon.

Li Tianyi asked Xiaoxue to accompany him for a nap. It was a rare chance for him to have some leisure time, so of course he had to enjoy it.

The two of them soon fell into a deep sleep, and Li Tianyi woke up only when they heard someone knocking on the door.

He put on his coat and opened the gate. Father Li and others were standing at the door, and Li Tianyi quickly let them in.

"Where is Xiaoxue?" asked Li's mother.

"Xiaoxue is still resting." Li Tianyi said in a low voice.

Mother Li nodded, then tiptoed to the kitchen and soon came to the main room with a basin. The younger sister also came over with a kitchen knife and a working board.

The whole family worked together, and by the time Xiaoxue woke up, the dumplings had been almost finished.

"Mom, why didn't you call me? I can help you."

"What do I ask you to do? There are so many people, and you can't even make so few dumplings? Xiaoxue, go and have a rest if you are tired. Don't try to be stubborn, okay?" Li's mother warned.

Xiaoxue nodded, then took the glass of water that Li Tianyi handed to her and drank it in small sips.

The dumplings were finally wrapped around 6 p.m. In that era, there was no television, and people's limited form of entertainment was listening to the radio, which broadcast news, songs, or crosstalk.

The Li family's radio was turned off for a while when Li Tianyi and his friends were taking a break, and then it was kept on until the radio station went off work, then it was turned off.

The Li family was happy during this Spring Festival. From the first day to the fifth day, Li Tianyi had been wandering around. During this period, Li's father took the whole family to visit Li Huaide's home. Li Huaide originally planned to invite them to have lunch, but Li's father and others disagreed. In that era, no one would easily go to other people's homes for dinner, because the food supply was limited, and if you ate it, others would have nothing to eat.

When they went to the Shen family, Li Tianyi and Xiaoxue were not so polite. Before the New Year, Li Tianyi sent 5 kilograms of meat to the Shen family. Although Xiaoxue's grandfather, uncle, and aunt all held high positions, supplies were scarce in that era, and even the army could not distribute good things.

Nothing is as practical as sending meat, and these can all stand up to scrutiny. Grandpa Shen is naturally happy, as he hasn't seen his grandson-in-law for half a year.