A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Chapter 692 The sword must be an imperial sword, and the horse must also be unique!

"Hey! Xiao Jiang is back!" He no longer cared about his precious bicycle, nor about the steel beast next to him that reeked of gunpowder, and rushed towards the young figure who was rubbing his eyes and looking a little dazed.

His shout was like cold water being poured into boiling oil. The workers queuing, entering the factory, and peering out the gate all turned their attention to him, first stunned by the uniquely shaped wheeled vehicle, and then recognizing Jiang Xia.

"Jiang Gong?!"

"It's Engineer Jiang! It really is Engineer Jiang!"

"Engineer Jiang is back! Engineer Jiang is back!"

The crowd erupted in cheers! The overwhelming joy dispelled their earlier shock and slight fear of the steel monster. Several strong young men reacted the fastest, roaring as they pounced on the metal monster, pushing Master Qin aside.

"Jiang Gong! You're finally back!" A burly young worker squeezed to the front, his face flushed with excitement, his voice choked with emotion. "We thought...we thought you were transferred to the First Ministry of Machine Building and wouldn't come back! That you didn't want our Hongxing Factory anymore, didn't want us workers anymore!"

"Yes, Engineer Jiang! We feel so lost without you!" Another experienced worker squeezed over, patting Jiang Xia's shoulder forcefully, his eyes a little red. "Everyone talks about how good you are! We've been looking forward to your return every day!"

"That's right! Engineer Jiang, you're not leaving again this time, are you?"

"Jiang, you look thinner. Have an extra meal at the cafeteria for lunch, and I'll give you my meat ration coupon!"

"Jiang, I caught a turtle in the river the other day. I'll ask the chef to stew it for you later..."

A cacophony of greetings and expressions of concern instantly overwhelmed the still somewhat dazed Jiang Xia. He was surrounded by his coworkers, one patting him on the shoulder, another shaking his hand, their faces full of genuine enthusiasm.

This overwhelming, undisguised closeness and longing warmed Jiang Xia's heart, instantly dispelling most of her drowsiness.

He subconsciously glanced back at the sleek, massive-wheeled tank, then looked at the eager faces before him, feeling as if he had returned from a cold world of weapons to a warm, welcoming home.

Yes, that's right. The Fire Seed Base has everything it needs, except for this human touch.

"Ouch, be gentle!" Jiang Xia replied with a smile, pretending to be hurt by the pat. "I'm coming, I'm coming, how could I not want our Red Star Factory? I'm back now! I missed everyone!" He looked around at those familiar and friendly faces, feeling extremely at ease.

Suddenly, the young men exchanged glances, bent down sharply, one grabbed Jiang Xia's hands and the other lifted his feet, and lifted him up before he could even react!

"Hey?! What are you doing! Put me down!" Jiang Xia was caught off guard and kicked her legs in the air, shouting in surprise and laughter.

"Hahaha! Catch him!" The young men laughed as they caught Jiang Xia as he fell, then tossed him into the air again with great force!

"Jiang Gong is back!"

"Welcome back home, Jiang!"

Amidst the good-natured laughter and cheers of his fellow workers, Jiang Xia, like a triumphant hero, was tossed up and caught again and again. Sunlight shone on his face, which bore a helpless smile, and also on the wheeled steel armored vehicle that stood quietly to the side, its cannon barrel pointing forward.

The coldness of modern weaponry and the warmth of human connection create a striking contrast at this moment.

Once again, he was tossed high into the air, and the feeling of weightlessness completely banished Jiang Xia's sleepiness. Looking down at the warm and genuine smiles on the faces below, and feeling the long-lost, heartfelt camaraderie among his fellow workers, his "rationality," which had almost reached its peak, suddenly plummeted.

So, this is the life I'm familiar with...

Jiang Xia simply stretched out his limbs, enjoying the long-lost feeling of weightlessness. While tossing himself around, Jiang Xia noticed that Tie Jun was struggling to squeeze into the crowd and was anxiously pacing back and forth.

Ah...it's been a while since I've had anything emotionally meaningful, so let's start with some silly poetry!

"Hey—! Brothers—don't panic!"

The workers were taken aback, and their throwing and catching movements slowed down subconsciously. They all looked up at Jiang Xia in the air with curiosity.

"Without Red Star—my heart feels cold!"

A burst of good-natured laughter erupted from below: "Hahaha, Engineer Jiang is homesick!"

"I often dream of it—the equipment is great!"

The master craftsmen in the fitter's workshop were the most cheerful, nodding vigorously.

"Upon waking up, I crave even more—the smell of the meat ticket!"

The whole factory went wild with joy. Nan Yi, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, climbed onto the iron gate fence, waving a ladle and shouting, "Enough is enough! Entrepreneur Jiang, enough is enough! You can have all my meat coupons!"

"Today we're bringing back—an iron mule!"

Jiang Xia twisted his body in mid-air, pointing at the imposing wheeled vehicle. All eyes turned to him, and gasps of amazement rose again.

"Six big wheels—traveling in all directions!"

"Good!" "Great!" The workers cheered in unison, throwing and catching the ball with even greater force.

"When the blueprints are ready—transformation steel..."

"we……"

"Ouch!"

Before Jiang Xia could even utter the last two sentences, he was caught by his overly enthusiastic coworkers. They almost tossed him over their heads again because they used too much force, causing an even bigger burst of laughter and frantic scrambling.

"Hahaha! Brother, I'll pick you up! I'll pick you up!" Tie Jun couldn't help but feel poetic as he listened to Jiang Xia's rhyme.

"Okay! If you can't keep it up, we'll beat you up!"

"Once the blueprints are transformed into real steel, we workers will have power!"

"Excellent! Excellent! We workers have strength!"

This simple word resonated with everyone, and they spontaneously began to sing it aloud:

"Hey! We workers have strength! We're busy every day, hey! We're busy every day!"

"It made plows and hoes easy to produce, and it made guns and cannons sent to the front! Hey hey hey!"

Inside the driver's cab, Old Wang grinned from ear to ear as he watched the scene unfold. Secretary Liu shook his head and chuckled as well, their gazes sweeping over Jiang Xia, who was being enthusiastically "tortured" by his coworkers. Both of them simultaneously broke into maternal smiles.

What? You're saying that if these two don't get out of the car to protect Jiang Xia, it could cause safety problems?

Heh, this is Jiangxia's "old lair". Anyone who tries to do something bad at this time... even if they look at the wrong person, they can be torn to shreds by these workers armed with hammers and sickles.

Watching Jiang Xia being carried on Tie Jun's shoulder and walking towards the factory office.

Secretary Liu reached out and nudged Old Wang: "Stop grinning like an idiot, hurry up and drive to the workshop. Xiao Jiang is pressed for time, don't delay his business."

"Iron Mule, still so unreliable. I thought he'd give it some kind of name like 'Fierce Tiger'..." Old Wang sighed, stroking the giant beast's steering wheel as he lightly pressed the accelerator to catch up with the group ahead. "The research team that created this thing would cry if they heard that name..."

"Ha, what can you do when that kid is this thing's 'father'? Even if it calls him Dog Egg, it can only accept it!"

Hearing what Secretary Liu said, Old Wang was somewhat surprised: "Hey, brother, you've been a bit too aggressive lately..."

"Let's build up our emotions. Anyway, I'm prepared to kill anyone who gets in my way. What about you?" Secretary Liu clenched her fist, though her fingers trembled slightly.

"Hey, I've been wanting to ask this for a while now. How could someone as principled as you agree to bring this car back?" Old Wang tossed a cigarette to Secretary Liu in the back seat.

Secretary Liu scoffed, "I'm IDCPC, not an idiot. Since Xiao Jiang has taken up the sword, he naturally needs to be equipped with armor as well."

"After all, the most dangerous place is on the journey... Equipment is meant to be used!"

Old Wang grinned maliciously, looked up at the round hole in the roof of the car, and said, "Yes! My treasured collection finally has a place to go!"

"A twin-barreled 14.5mm gun..."

"I'd like to see who dares to provoke me!"