Chapter 66: A Leaf Before the Eyes

Zhao Erwa genuinely admired Qin Jun's ideas.

The more he looked at the thing beneath his feet, the more wondrous it felt.

Such a simple creation—why hadn't they thought of it before?

If the state power were involved, surely it could be done even better?

Thinking of his brothers in the hospital who had lost their legs for various reasons, Zhao Erwa made up his mind.

He used to be just a humble squad leader. Even after being demobilized and reassigned, his job placement would be limited to the commune or the village.

However, some of his comrades were different, especially those city soldiers.

Even if they were just ordinary privates, simply because of their urban origins, they would eventually return to the cities and be promptly assigned jobs.

In the past, those connections were of no use to him, but things were different now!

Zhao Erwa had deeply realized the gap between urban soldiers and rural soldiers.

Unfair job assignments were truly not due to the state being unjust; rather, the disparity between urban and rural areas was simply that vast.

A rural boy's natural disadvantage lay right there. Even if you handed him a lot, could he handle it?

With Qin Jun, things were different. Because Qin Jun had a wealth of ideas and even stronger hands-on skills.

Whatever he thought of, he could build. And the things he made always stunned people.

From the long spears Qin Jun had crafted to these prosthetic limbs, and even the knives in the kiln's kitchen, none of these things were ordinary!

The more Zhao Erwa understood Qin Jun, the more he liked him.

This kid was truly extraordinary, and it was a stroke of luck that he originated from the countryside; otherwise, how could he have ever met him?

Qin Jun had no idea what Zhao Erwa was thinking; he only noticed this fellow gazing at him with an affectionate and concerned expression.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Qin Jun retreated into the room.

Opening the aluminum lunchbox, he found it packed to the brim with braised pork intestines, which greatly surprised him.

"Why so much?"

Zhao Erwa followed him inside, looked at the lunchbox, and smiled. "Who told you to be our little treasure? You were the last to eat, so all the remaining intestines were dished out for you."

Qin Jun fell silent. The efforts he put in were recognized by people after all.

"Don't overthink it. You're the youngest in the kiln; shouldn't you be taken care of a little extra?" Zhao Erwa said with amusement.

Qin Jun didn't care that the food was cold, nor did he think about heating it up. He simply grabbed a pair of chopsticks, picked up a steamed bun, and began to eat.

Cold food had its own advantages—for instance, braised intestines had a fantastic chewiness!

The more you chewed this stuff, the more fragrant it became; the more you ate, the more you wanted.

Qin Jun was currently at an age with a voracious appetite. Before long, five steamed bun alongside a massive lunchbox full of pork intestines vanished entirely into his stomach.

This undoubtedly counted as the most satisfying meal Qin Jun had eaten since his rebirth.

"These intestines were cooked in a rich stock. The old cook said it contains chicken broth and large bone broth, which is why they smell so much more fragrant!"

Qin Jun glanced at Zhao Erwa. Being a soldier really broadened one's horizons.

Qin Jun could naturally tell that this was prepared using the culinary technique of the "Nine-Turn Intestines."

As a famous dish born in the Qilu region that had once graced state banquets, how could he possibly not know it?

Later in life, Qin Jun had tasted the most authentic Lu cuisine, and among them were the Nine-Turn Intestines crafted by state banquet chefs.

During that era, as long as you had money, you could eat many things—quite incomparable to the present day!

The Nine-Turn Intestines were truly delicious. Even when cold, they were definitely superior to ordinary meat dishes.

Otherwise, Qin Jun wouldn't have been unable to resist devouring such a huge lunchbox of them.

Only after finishing did Qin Jun remember his family, though he couldn't really be blamed.

In the decades to come, after he went out to work odd jobs, he had already developed the habit of eating alone.

Besides, his family wasn't lacking this bite of meat right now anyway.

Whether it was Qin Jun or Qin Feng, every day they left behind some game for the family to feast on.

In fact, over the past few days, his grandparents had started complaining a bit. Who asked for those sparrows to be either roasted or roasted? The elderly folks couldn't chew them!

Moreover, eating this every day caused Comrade Qin Zhihe to grumble daily.

Because he couldn't eat in peace—as country folk, when could anyone afford to eat meat every day? This made Old Comrade Qin very unaccustomed to it.

Yet Qin Jun adapted to it quite easily; if only there were more cooking oil, otherwise he definitely would have eaten even more extravagantly!

After the meal, Qin Jun and Zhao Erwa strolled leisurely toward the kiln.

By now, Zhao Erwa no longer needed his crutches. He walked steadily right behind Qin Jun.

This was also a habit left over from the battlefield: no matter how fast he marched, he loved to trail behind someone!

At this moment, Zhao Erwa was still somewhat excited, so he alternated between brisk walking and skipping, moving about very joyfully.

It was evident that he was thoroughly satisfied with his new prosthetic foot.

Full of springiness, it allowed him to run faster and leap farther.

Yet Qin Jun found this sight slightly troubling; he should have just honestly made him a plain wooden fake leg instead.

Ignoring Zhao Erwa, who was as happy as a child with a brand-new toy, Qin Jun strode into the kiln.

As time passed, this kiln, originally situated deep in barren mountains and wild ridges, was looking increasingly proper.

For instance, the former dugout shelters had all been transformed into thatched adobe houses.

Though built with mud bricks and thatch, they were warm and spacious.

Now there was an office, a finance room, and an even larger canteen here.

"Old Zhao, Little Qin, come over here. You two are certainly busy; whenever I come by, I can never find you!"

Just as they stepped into the kiln, Yu Love Country popped out from somewhere and called out.

Seeing Yu Love Country, Qin Jun was momentarily stunned. It had been quite a while since he last saw this leader.

"Damn, Old Zhao, what happened to you?"

Clearly, Qin Jun had been walking in front, but Zhao Erwa instantly drew all the attention.

Seeing Yu Love Country's astonished expression, Zhao Erwa burst into hearty laughter.

As he laughed, he sprinted forward a few steps, then executed a front flip and landed steadily on his feet.

"That leg of yours..."

By now, not only Yu Love Country, but even Qin Zheng and Qin Shi were staring in shock at Zhao Erwa.

Of course, the most thunderstruck of all were Zhao Chuanjia and Liu Zhuanfu!

The two of them dropped their jaws wide open, utterly speechless.

Although their situations differed slightly, the difference was minor—both had suffered lower limb amputations, differing only in how much of the calf was gone.

Now that Zhao Erwa could actually stand and walk by himself, and even run and jump, did that mean they could too?

At this thought, the eyes of both men instantly turned red.

Who wanted to sit around all day? Who wanted to lean on a pair of crutches the moment they stood up?

What could one do while sitting? When standing they were unstable and incapable of doing anything—wasn't that just being a useless cripple?

Though the state had arranged jobs for them, whenever they caught people's strange looks, their hearts remained unsettled.

Now, things had changed. There was actually something that could help them stand, and even run and jump like normal people. This was simply wonderful!

Yu Love Country reacted the fastest. He had already dashed over to Zhao Erwa to inspect that prosthetic foot of his.

"Good lad, how did you think of making this? Truly magnificent!"

Yu Love Country pulled Zhao Erwa to sit down somewhere while he meticulously examined the leg.

It wasn't that Yu Love Country was fascinated by the object itself; rather, it was because this thing was immensely useful.

Over the past half year, a large proportion of the young men returning to their commune were missing arms or legs.

There was no helping it; they were part of the same draft, or belonged to the same military unit.

Consequently, they went to the front lines in the same wave and suffered injuries under identical circumstances.

They were all young men in their twenties and thirties, yet missing a leg or two, unable to work and forced to rely on their families for support—how could that do?

Now things were looking up. This invention was brilliant; it could actually resolve his recent headaches.

No, it wouldn't just solve his own headaches—it should resolve the headaches of superiors, and even many military district leaders.

"Is it really that simple? You tell me, why couldn't we think of it?"

After careful examination, Yu Love Country wore an expression of deep vexation.

Only then did Qin Jun speak up: "You could say it's like a leaf blinding the eye to the Mount Tai; actually, this thing has existed for a long time."

"Existed for a long time?" Yu Love Country's expression turned extremely unsightly.

Since it already existed and didn't cost much, why weren't sets made for all the wounded and disabled soldiers?

Qin Jun shook his head. "Though it has existed for a long time, wanting to produce standardized prosthetic limbs is truly no simple matter. One could even call it high technology."

"What's so high-tech about it? I think the current one looks just fine," Yu Love Country said indignantly.

Qin Jun shook his head once more. "By hospital or medical standards, this prosthesis is far from simple."

"Take safety, for instance—that's the most crucial factor."

"You surely wouldn't want a prosthetic limb to end up injuring someone's remaining good leg, would you?"

"Secondly, convenience—such as stability."

"Making this thing requires proper balancing; you can't have people falling over!"

"How should the contact-surface support points be designed? What about adjusting the tightness? And the choice of materials?"

"What I've put together is merely makeshift. If it were truly put through an inspection, it would definitely fail!"