Chapter 248: Special Forces Monitoring Finally Relaxed · Free Development Opens a New Chapter

Just after six o'clock in the early morning, Zhao Jianguo pushed open the Control Room door.

His left hand was still on the door handle, while his right hand instinctively brushed his left chest pocket.

The letter paper was still there.

It hadn't been opened.

At the Courtyard Gate stood a person in a dark‑blue uniform, the shoulder insignia shining a bit dazzlingly.

Special Forces Captain.

Zhao Jianguo walked over, said nothing, and only nodded.

Special Forces Captain also nodded, handed over the red‑topped document in his hand: "From eight o'clock this morning, the Siheyuan technology activity supervision level is downgraded."

Zhao Jianguo took it, without opening it to look.

"Are the monitoring devices being removed today?" he asked.

"Removed." Special Forces Captain said, "At midnight last night, all remote probes, data transmission ports, and signal monitoring modules were completely disconnected. The backend logs have been archived."

Zhao Jianguo hummed, and tucked the folder under his armpit.

He turned and walked inside, and Special Forces Captain followed: "I need to verify a few places in person."

Zhao Jianguo neither stopped him nor explained, just led the way.

The two passed through the main courtyard, passed the museum glass door that Jia Dongxu had just set up, and turned into the Laboratory corridor.

Along the wall was a row of cabinets, each bearing a white slip that read "Sealed", "Pending Inspection", "Disabled".

Special Forces Captain stopped, reached out and pressed the metal panel of the leftmost cabinet.

"This one." he said.

Zhao Jianguo took out a key and unlocked it.

When the cabinet door opened, inside were three neatly arranged vintage signal analyzers, their housings still bearing a "2021 Calibration" label.

"They haven't been touched in three years," Zhao Jianguo said.

Special Forces Captain looked down briefly, then looked up: "What about that infrared thermal imager?"

"Upstairs," Zhao Jianguo pointed at the ceiling, "it's stored in the clutter room, piled together with Sha Zhu's old radio."

Special Forces Captain smiled slightly: "You really dare to leave it there."

"We didn't dare to leave it; we took it down early," Zhao Jianguo said, "We kept it only in case we need it someday."

Special Forces Captain gave no reply, just reached out and closed the cabinet door.

Clack!

Zhao Jianguo watched his movement and suddenly said, "Every time you came before, you always checked this cabinet first."

"Right." Special Forces Captain nodded, "In the first year I came, I counted, a total of seventeen times."

Zhao Jianguo also laughed: "On the eighteenth time, you stopped counting?"

"I stopped counting." Special Forces Captain said, "From today onward, I'm no longer here to inspect."

He paused briefly, took a card from his pocket, and handed it over.

Zhao Jianguo caught it.

The card bore the inscription "Free Development Permission Card," with a line of small text underneath: "Can access all civilian technology platforms without reporting."

Zhao Jianguo flipped it over to look at the back; it was blank.

"No serial number?" he asked.

"No serial number needed." Special Forces Captain said, "From now on you set the rules yourselves."

Zhao Jianguo slipped the card into his pocket, next to the half‑sheet of letter paper.

He raised his hand, pointed at the Laboratory main door: "Shall we go in and take a look?"

Special Forces Captain nodded.

He pushed the door open; the room was empty.

On the Operation Console lay several circuit diagrams, with half a biscuit pressed beside them.

Zhao Jianguo casually picked it up, blew off the dust, broke off a small piece and put it in his mouth.

"It's okay," he said, "crispier than yesterday's."

Special Forces Captain didn't smile, but the corner of his mouth twitched.

He walked to the window and pulled back the curtain.

Sunlight surged in at once, illuminating the newly hung plaque on the wall—"Technological Self‑Reliance."

Four characters, black background with gold lettering.

"When was this plaque hung?" he asked.

"The day before yesterday," Zhao Jianguo said, "Jia Dongxu nailed it; the hammer missed twice."

Special Forces Captain nodded, turned and walked out.

At the doorway he stopped: "There's a plaque‑unveiling ceremony at noon, officials from the city are coming; you prepare a bit."

"Who will unveil it?" Zhao Jianguo asked.

"You." Special Forces Captain said, "They said it's your turn to hang it."

Zhao Jianguo gave no reply, just shoved the remaining biscuit in his hand into his mouth.

He chewed twice, swallowed, and said, "Fine."

Special Forces Captain left.

Zhao Jianguo didn't see him off, stood where he was, and heard the Footsteps recede.

He turned, closed the door, and dead‑bolted it.

Then he sat at the Main Control Console and powered it on.

Screen lights up, the interface is still the way it was when he exited last night.

In the lower right corner a prompt pops up: "System is calibrating historical impact value…"

Zhao Jianguo stares at that line, does nothing.

Three minutes pass.

The screen flashes.

Green light waves cascade from the ceiling, sweep over the desk, sweep over his hand back, and finally settle on his face.

System Prompt pops up:

【Detected that the historical interference level continues to steadily decline, now entered a safe zone.】

【"Free Development Mode" activated.】

【Granting ultimate development Permission.】

Zhao Jianguo does not click confirm.

He reaches out, drags the prompt box to the upper right corner, shrinks it, letting it sit there quietly.

Just like that untitled video from last night.

He opens a new window, enters the command: "Retrieve the full list of unauthorized items."

The list scrolls out.

Dense and crowded.

He scrolls down, sees "Emotion Resonator V2.0", "Energy-saving Stove Upgrade Pack", "Siheyuan Children's Programming Initiation Kit"…

At the bottom line, marked in red: "Holographic Historical Restoration Technique·Extended Application (requires manual review)".

Zhao Jianguo clicks into it.

The page pops up a line: "Enable? This operation will grant Permission for cross‑comparison of non‑classified files from 1950‑1980."

His finger hovers over the Enter key, pauses for two seconds.

He does not press.

He closes the window, switches back to the main Screen.

He opens the contacts, finds "He Yushui".

Dials.

Two rings, the other side picks up.

"Is the three‑line at Xizhimen stable?" he asks.

"Stable," He Yushui says, "Gansu reports that after the Speaker is repaired, the whole village squats under the Speaker every day to listen to lessons."

"Have them record the radio serial numbers, then later replace the filter capacitors uniformly."

"Okay." He Yushui pauses, "By the way, the Special Forces just called, said the surveillance was withdrawn."

"I know," Zhao Jianguo says, "Change the homepage of the maintenance school's official website."

"How to change it?"

"Delete the line 'Regulated Pilot Unit'," Zhao Jianguo says, "Replace it with 'Independent Technology Development Base'."

"Alright." He Yushui laughs, "Teacher Zhao, your spirit is stronger than our pressure cooker."

Zhao Jianguo also laughs: "When the pot rattles, the fire can be strong."

Hangs up.

He stands up, walks out of the Laboratory.

The courtyard has already become lively.

San Daye moves two long benches onto the open space, Wang Nainai carries a thermos over, pours hot water into a cup.

Li Yeye leads Tie Dan, circling at the side.

Zhao Jianguo walks over, takes the cup from Wang Nainai's hand.

"Master Zhao, I heard the surveillance was withdrawn?" she asks.

"Withdrawn." Zhao Jianguo says.

"Then in the future when we fix things, we won't have to be secretive, right?"

"No need." Zhao Jianguo says, "From now on, just put up a sign for whatever you want to fix."

"What sign to put up?"

"If you want to fix something, just write it." Zhao Jianguo says, "For example—'Wang Nainai Light‑bulb Repair Studio'."

Wang Nainai giggled: "Then I'll put it up tomorrow!"

Grandfather Li also joins: "Then I'll put up 'Grandpa Li Walking Dogs and Repairing Radios'."

Zhao Jianguo nods: "Alright, I'll have Sha Zhu's son make the signs for you two."

Tie Dan suddenly let out a cry.

Zhao Jianguo looks down at it.

It is tilting its head upward, its tail wagging rapidly.

Zhao Jianguo bends down, pats its head.

Tie Dan sticks out its tongue, licking his palm.

Itches.

Zhao Jianguo withdraws his hand, wipes it.

He straightens up, looks toward the Laboratory doorway.

There, a new plaque has already been hung.

"Technological Self‑Reliance".

Gold lacquer reflected light in the sunlight, not glaring, not dark.

He lifted his foot and walked that way.

Just as he reached the bottom of the steps, a shout came from behind.

"Uncle Zhao!"

It was Zhao Chen.

He ran over, holding a paper box, its lid not fastened tight, a corner of red silk showing.

"The silk is for unveiling the plaque." Zhao Chen panted, "I just borrowed it from the residents' committee."

Zhao Jianguo reached out and took the box.

The silk was true red, feeling thick.

He lifted the lid and shook out the silk.

Zhao Chen looked up at him: "Uncle Zhao, do you think we can still manage something bigger in the future?"

Zhao Jianguo did not answer.

He lifted the red silk upward.

The silk unfolded, like a small flag.

A breeze blew, and the silk made a rustling sound.

Zhao Jianguo reached out and grabbed one corner.

Zhao Chen also reached out and grabbed the other corner.

The two stood at the bottom of the steps, each on one side, pulling the red silk.

The laboratory door was open.

The signboard came into view.

Zhao Jianguo loosened his grip.

The red silk slipped down, covering the four characters "Science and Technology Self-Reliance".

He stepped back.

Zhao Chen also stepped back.

The courtyard fell silent.

San Daye put down his broom.

Wang Nainai held her cup, motionless.

Grandpa Li loosened the dog's leash.

Tie Dan squatted on the ground, looking up.

Zhao Jianguo raised his hand, making a gesture.

Zhao Chen understood, stepped forward, grabbed a corner of the red silk, and pulled hard.

Swish—

The red silk fell to the ground.

The golden characters shone forth.

Zhao Jianguo said nothing.

He merely raised his hand and lightly patted Zhao Chen's shoulder.

Zhao Chen grinned.

Zhao Jianguo also smiled.

He turned and walked toward the control room.

Just as he stepped onto the first step, his phone rang.

He took it out, didn't check the number, and answered directly.

"Hello?"

No sound came from the other end.

Only breathing could be heard.

Zhao Jianguo stood still, not hanging up.

He lowered his head and saw that his left shoe lace was loose.

He squatted down and tied his shoelace.

After tying it, he stood up straight.

The phone was still pressed to his ear.

The other end still remained silent.

Zhao Jianguo took the phone away and glanced at the screen.

There was no caller ID.

He put it back against his ear.

"Hello?"

Still no sound.

Zhao Jianguo flipped the phone over and pressed the power-off button.

The screen went black.

He put the phone back in his pocket, lifted his foot, and climbed onto the second step.

Third step.

Fourth step.

He stopped at the Control Room doorway, not going inside.

He just stood there, looking up at the sign above the Laboratory doorway.

The gold lacquer reflected, landing on his lenses, flashing briefly.

He raised his hand, pushing his lenses up a bit.

Then he reached out and pushed open the Control Room door.