Chapter 35: Opening the Small World, Jia Zhangshi is Discharged from the Hospital

"This is even better than I imagined!" Li Mingyuan said to himself in pleasant surprise. He could feel that the quality of this soil far exceeded that of the outside world. He squatted down and grabbed a handful; it was fine, soft, fertile, and possessed excellent water retention.

Even more magical was that he discovered he could adjust various parameters of this space simply by thinking about them in his heart.

"Weather, sunny." The sky instantly cleared up.

"Temperature, 25 degrees." The surrounding air immediately adjusted to the most comfortable temperature.

"Accelerate time flow, ten times." Li Mingyuan tried issuing the command and felt everything around him begin to change at a speed visible to the naked eye; clouds moved rapidly, and the stream surged more swiftly.

"This is just like playing a farm simulation game!" Li Mingyuan rubbed his hands in excitement and took out a few seeds he had just obtained from the Agricultural Science Academy.

He first cleared a test plot by the stream, about two mu in size, and carefully sowed the rice seeds. Then, he marked out a few smaller plots elsewhere, planting wheat, corn, and seeds for some common vegetables in each.

"Continue accelerating time," Li Mingyuan commanded.

The scene before his eyes was like a projector set to fast-forward; the seeds rapidly sprouted, grew, headed, and matured, completing a full growth cycle in just a few minutes.

Li Mingyuan stared at all this, dumbfounded. "This is too magical! I can cultivate high-yield varieties here and then take them out into the real world!"

He carefully observed the growth of every crop and discovered that by accelerating the flow of time, he could screen for the most superior varieties in an extremely short period.

"Small World, stop time acceleration," Li Mingyuan commanded, and the changes around him returned to normal speed.

He walked over to the matured rice, gently touched the plump ears of grain, and already had a plan in his heart.

According to the experiment just now, the larger the area, the smaller the acceleration effect.

The smaller the area, the stronger the acceleration effect.

He could arrange things based on the current situation.

The two mu on the right would be used to grow grain crops, the one mu on the left for vegetables; the area near the stream was suitable for fruits and vegetables with high water requirements, while the high ground in the distance was suitable for drought-tolerant crops.

"I can use this Small World to cultivate high-yield crops suitable for the outside environment, and I can also conduct grafting and hybridization experiments!"

He stayed busy in the Small World until late at night, carefully planning every test plot, and even used branches and stones to build a simple irrigation system.

Finally, he exited the Small World, feeling satisfied, and collapsed onto his bed, exhausted, falling into a deep sleep.

……

The next morning, Li Mingyuan woke up feeling refreshed and discovered that He Yuzhu was already up and had made breakfast.

"Uncle Li, try the pickled vegetable porridge I made." He Yuzhu looked at Li Mingyuan somewhat nervously, fearing his culinary skills would not be approved of.

Li Mingyuan took a sip and said in surprise, "Not bad. The porridge is cooked soft and mushy, and the saltiness of the pickles is just right—it's appetizing without being too salty."

He Yuzhu beamed with joy. "I'll cook for you every day from now on, Uncle!"

Li Mingyuan smiled and shook his head. "Your main task is to study; we can talk about cooking later."

After saying this, he took several design blueprints out of his briefcase and prepared to ride his bike to the Rolling Mill.

Upon arriving at the factory, Chen Dezhong was already waiting at the entrance. "Chief Engineer Li, the comrades from the Military Industry Department have arrived and are waiting for you in the conference room."

Li Mingyuan nodded and walked quickly toward the conference room.

Pushing open the door, a dozen Technical Workers and experts were sitting around, the table covered with various part samples.

"Good morning, everyone," Li Mingyuan greeted them with a resonant voice. "Today, I want to introduce a new technology—the production process for the Copper-clad Steel Bullet."

He spread out the design blueprints and explained in detail: "Traditional bullets are made of pure copper or pure steel, which is high-cost and low-yield. But the Copper-clad Steel technology allows us to use a steel core wrapped in a thin layer of copper, which saves copper material while maintaining the bullet's performance."

The workers in the technical group looked at each other, and someone muttered, "How could this be done? How can copper and steel be firmly bonded?"

Li Mingyuan smiled slightly and took a sample out of his briefcase. "This is an experimental piece I made yesterday. Please pass it around for inspection."

The sample was passed among the group, and everyone wore an expression of disbelief after inspecting it.

This bullet had a smooth surface with no visible seams; it looked exactly like it was made of pure copper, but it was significantly lighter in weight.

Chen Dezhong took the sample, examined it repeatedly, and said excitedly, "Chief Engineer Li, if this technology can be mass-produced, our ammunition production capacity could increase by at least three times!"

Li Mingyuan nodded. "The key lies in modifying the existing equipment. We need to make these adjustments to the rolling mill..."

He pointed to the details on the blueprints and explained each step of the operation in detail.

"First, we need to roll the steel into a specific thickness, then heat-bond it with the copper sheet before stamping, and finally stamp it into shape in one go." Li Mingyuan drew a process flow chart on the blackboard as he explained.

An old worker raised his hand to ask, "Chief Engineer Li, this heat-bonding process requires very high temperature control, right? Can our current equipment achieve that?"

"Good question," Li Mingyuan praised. "Conventional equipment indeed cannot meet the requirements, but I have designed an improved heating device; we only need to add this component to the existing equipment..." He pulled a detailed parts diagram from the stack of blueprints.

Chen Dezhong studied the blueprints carefully, becoming more excited the more he looked.

"This design is too ingenious! We only need to retrofit the existing equipment without needing to manufacture new ones; both cost and time can be greatly saved!"

Li Mingyuan nodded with satisfaction. "Yes, that is exactly the point I considered. Our goal is to obtain the maximum output with the minimum input. Next, I will explain the modification steps in detail..."

The meeting lasted the entire morning, and Li Mingyuan's new design won everyone's approval.

The workers were impatient to start modifying the equipment, and Chen Dezhong even went directly to lead people in preparing tools and materials.

……

Meanwhile, at the Hospital, Jia Zhangshi was impatiently packing her things, insisting on being discharged despite the nurse's dissuasion.

"My concussion is healed; there's nothing wrong with me!" Jia Zhangshi waved her hand irritably. The gauze on her head had only been removed a short while ago, and the wound was still a bit red and swollen.

Jia Dongxu stood to the side and said in a difficult position, "Mom, the doctor said to observe for a few more days..."

"Observe what, observe!" Jia Zhangshi glared at her son and lowered her voice. "We're going to Qinzhuang this weekend for your matchmaking; it cannot be delayed!"

"Matchmaking? I'm only an Apprentice Worker right now, and I haven't even applied for housing yet. How can I go matchmaking?"

"What do you know!" Jia Zhangshi said impatiently. "That girl from the Qin family is the daughter of the Qinzhuang production team leader; their family situation is very good! If this marriage goes through, we won't have to worry about food or drink in the future!"

Jia Dongxu shook his head helplessly. "But Mom, they will definitely ask about my job."

"Just tell them you work at the Rolling Mill and are a Technical Worker!" Jia Zhangshi had planned everything thoroughly.

"When the time comes, borrow Li Mingyuan's bicycle and ride it over—how respectable that will be! Put on that new Zhongshan suit of yours, and you're sure to leave a good impression!"