After watching Wang Chunhua run away, Lin Qiaoyun decided that she was going to teach that old woman a proper lesson tonight.
The old woman was simply too nasty.
If she came to their house every day to cause trouble, how were they supposed to live?
After Wang Chunhua left, Lin Youshui and Xu Nian’en went off to work.
At home, only Grandpa Zhao, Grandma Zhao, and Lin Qiaoyun remained.
When everyone had been eating at the communal canteen, there had been no need to cook.
Now that the communal meals were gone, they had to cook for themselves again.
Someone had to stay home to prepare meals every day.
Today, it was Lin Qiaoyun’s turn.
Zhao Dahu had only come out because the noise was too loud.
Who would have thought that the old woman would run away the moment she saw him?
“Hmph. She only knows how to bully honest people.”
Lin Qiaoyun silently nodded.
That was true.
Her father had been honest his entire life, and people had bullied him endlessly because of it.
“Grandpa, have you eaten breakfast?”
“Mm, I have. If something like this happens again, come get me.”
“Okay!”
That day, Lin Qiaoyun didn’t go up the mountain.
She obediently stayed home, cooked meals, and read her books.
School would start in another month, yet she hadn’t even touched her textbooks.
She also wondered how Zhao Tiezhu was doing in the army.
Was he being bullied?
She had read the novel before.
In it, Zhao Tiezhu, the cannon fodder character, was constantly bullied in the military.
Even though he was a company commander, he was always suppressed and held back by others.
She wondered how effective the essence liquid she had given him had been.
Could it make him stronger and smarter?
At that very moment, Zhao Tiezhu, who was leading training, suddenly sneezed several times in a row.
“Company Commander, is Sister-in-law thinking about you?”
Zhao Gang grinned mischievously as he teased him.
The moment his wife was mentioned, Zhao Tiezhu found himself missing her too.
He wondered whether she could handle the farm work during the busy harvest season.
When he thought about his wife working in the fields, he once again felt his own helplessness.
If only he were a battalion commander.
Then he could bring her to the military base.
She wouldn’t have to work in the fields anymore.
There was also a school on the base where she could continue her studies.
Thinking about that gave Zhao Tiezhu some new ideas.
After finishing training and returning to his dormitory, Zhao Tiezhu took out paper and a pen and began drawing a design that had long existed in his mind.
He redesigned the current sniper rifle, modifying it to improve shooting accuracy.
At the same time, he designed an entirely new sniper rifle.
This new rifle had existed in his mind for years.
Although he understood sniper rifles extremely well and had specifically studied related technical knowledge, he had always felt unable to turn his ideas into an actual design.
But during the past few days, something had changed.
For some reason, he could repeatedly simulate the entire rifle inside his mind.
Zhao Tiezhu buried himself in his work.
He had no idea how much time passed.
By the time he finished the blueprints, daylight had already arrived.
He stood up, not caring that his clothes were wrinkled and messy.
After casually wiping his face, he left the dormitory and headed straight for his regiment commander.
It was only dawn.
The wake-up call hadn’t even sounded yet.
Regiment Commander Liu Yaowen was sleeping soundly with his blanket wrapped around him.
When someone suddenly knocked on his door, he thought an emergency had happened.
He jumped out of bed and got dressed in less than a minute before opening the door.
The moment he saw Zhao Tiezhu, he nearly started cursing.
He looked at the time, then at Zhao Tiezhu.
“Zhao Tiezhu, why aren’t you sleeping at this hour?”
“You’d better have something important to report, or I’ll deal with you myself.”
Zhao Tiezhu scratched his head.
“Hehe, sorry, Commander. I have something I want to show you.”
“Fine. Come in and talk.”
Liu Yaowen let him inside and sit down while he went to wash his face.
“What amazing thing have you drawn this time?”
Seeing the stack of papers in Zhao Tiezhu’s hands, Liu Yaowen guessed that he had come rushing over because he had created something valuable.
“Commander, take a look.”
Liu Yaowen accepted the blueprints.
The moment he saw them, he exclaimed,
“Holy hell! A sniper rifle?”
His education level wasn’t particularly high.
But as a regiment commander, he had learned enough over the years.
He knew a thing or two about firearms.
“You brat, you’ve finally had a breakthrough!”
“Impressive!”
“I’ll send this up immediately.”
“The commander is still here. I’ll let him have a good look.”
As he looked at Zhao Tiezhu, Liu Yaowen felt a little emotional.
He knew Zhao Tiezhu’s circumstances.
If not for all the unfortunate twists of fate in his career, this man should have been a regiment commander by now.
Maybe even something higher.
But starting over now wasn’t too late.
He was still young.
He still had plenty of opportunities.
“Alright. Go back and get some rest.”
“Yes, sir.”
After Zhao Tiezhu left, Liu Yaowen didn’t even bother eating breakfast.
He rushed straight to the commander’s residence.
He had acted calm in front of Zhao Tiezhu, but now he was just as excited.
After all, such an outstanding soldier had come from his regiment.
Of course he was proud.
Commander Wang Fusheng was eating breakfast when he heard that someone had come looking for him.
Since it was so early, it had to be important.
His wife quickly brought the visitor inside.
“Commander! Commander! This is huge! This is huge!”
“What is it? Can’t you speak properly?”
“Xiao Liu, honestly, you’ve been like this since you were a child.”
“If your father saw you acting like this, he’d definitely teach you a lesson.”
“Oh, come on. I’m here with good news.”
“Why bring up the old man?”
Liu Yaowen immediately handed Zhao Tiezhu’s blueprints to the commander.
Zhao Tiezhu was actually quite lucky.
He had run into Liu Yaowen.
If he had handed the designs to his battalion commander instead, who knew what might have happened to them?
Sometimes luck really mattered.
Commander Wang took the blueprints and began examining them.
The longer he looked, the more surprised he became.
“Who designed this?”
“The name’s right there.”
“Zhao Tiezhu? The Zhao Tiezhu who took first place in the competition?”
“That’s right.”
“Surprised?”
Commander Wang smiled.
“Not bad. Not bad at all.”
“That kid is an expert marksman.”
“It’s not surprising that he could design such an impressive sniper rifle.”
He continued studying the designs.
“Once the all-military competition is over, give him a place at a military academy so he can continue his education.”
“We can’t waste talent like this.”
“I doubt this is the only weapon he’s capable of designing.”
He chuckled.
“He finally learned to use his head.”
Meanwhile, Zhao Tiezhu returned to training.
By giving the blueprints directly to the regiment commander, he had technically bypassed the chain of command.
So what?
He knew that after the all-military competition, he wouldn’t remain in his current position anyway.
Whether he offended Battalion Commander Zhou Guang no longer mattered.
Besides, even when he hadn’t offended him, Zhou Guang had never liked him.
The man had constantly suppressed him at every opportunity.
In the past, Zhao Tiezhu hadn’t cared.
But things were different now.
No one was going to suppress him anymore.
And there was still that person—
The one who had stepped on his shoulders to climb higher.