On September 7, 1906, the day Pu Guanshui led his troops away from Fengtai County to pick up the families of the New Army from various places, You Gou also led members of her development team to the newly built cement kiln for a scaled-up production test.

Since studying in Germany, You Gou had always believed she would be an outstanding chemist. She just never thought she could really realize this ideal one day. In this era of the late Qing Dynasty, although women were gradually intervening in social activities and many people began to publicize women's liberation issues, in actual operation, these women pursuing liberation were mostly "focusing on participation" in social work, and there was no one who could truly take charge of a department alone yet. So Chen Ke entrusting the work of firing cement entirely to You Gou to execute could be said to set a precedent for women's social work in the late Qing Dynasty.

This was not just assigning work. Chen Ke followed the scientific research project method of the late twentieth century. You Gou wrote a formal project application plan, which was reviewed, discussed, and approved by the People's Party. According to the project plan formulated by You Gou, supplies and personnel were allocated to her. This advanced process made the People's Party, who had never seen this mode, very unaccustomed, and You Gou also felt very unaccustomed.

What if things are messed up? You Gou worried about this, and the comrades of the People's Party worried equally.

However, a large-scale irrigation system required a large number of water channels. Without cement, the leakage problem of these water channels would be extremely serious. If using materials from 1906 to prevent leakage of water channels, the volume of the water channels would be unacceptably large. For this reason, in You Gou's initial project application, she only proposed needing ten people to help. Chen Ke waved his big pen and increased the number from a squad to a company. These personnel were not only responsible for the cement firing test but also for firing red bricks and glass. Engaging solely in cement firing was too inefficient; since it was all firing kilns, they might as well do red bricks and glass together. Moreover, this company also had to undertake project research on how to use red bricks and cement to build water channels.

There were formulas for firing red bricks and glass, and even cement formulas were available. The problem You Gou had to solve lay in the craftsmanship and control flow required for large-scale production. In this respect, neither Chen Ke nor You Gou understood. One studied chemistry, the other studied polymer materials. Chen Ke had also studied mechanics, while You Gou had no engineering experience. Doing experiments in the laboratory was no problem, but You Gou knew nothing about how to carry out mass production.

This is the gap between industrial countries and agricultural countries, the gap between early-industrialized countries and late-industrialized countries. The foundation of old industrial countries lies in those data, those past experiments. Whether successful or failed, scientific and technological experience means scientific and technological investment. Agricultural countries originally have lower productivity levels than industrial countries, plus lack of experience, making the direction of scientific and technological investment even harder to grasp. This will only lead to an increasingly larger gap between industrial countries and agricultural countries.

Chen Ke had seen a photo of an African tribal "war" in the 21st century. Tribal warriors killed each other with bows, arrows, and spears, while jet airliners, the crystallization of modern high technology, flew in the sky.

According to Chen Ke's historical research results, China was completely pulled away from the world after the Second Industrial Revolution, that is, after 1919. In 1906, China still possessed some technologies and equipment of the steam age. But the Manchu Qing collapsed, and warlords fought in chaos, leaving Chinese science and technology far behind the times in the electrical age. After the establishment of New China, China restarted real construction. Having witnessed the arduous scientific and technological development process of New China, Chen Ke knew that on this incredibly firm path, besides conducting arduous research according to the development laws of science and technology itself, there was no way to be opportunistic.

So Chen Ke used his authority to give You Gou great support in manpower and material resources when supplies and personnel were not sufficient. He not only wanted to complete this project, but more importantly, he wanted to establish the base area's own scientific and technological research and development system.

Before the final approval and signature, Chen Ke held the last review meeting. At the meeting, Chen Ke expounded his overall thoughts to the participating comrades. Chen Ke wasn't quite sure how much the comrades understood. He could only say very seriously to the solemn-faced You Gou: "Comrade You Gou, if you undertake this project, it is putting you on the fire to roast. Everything you do is an exploration. Exploration has success and failure. But I require you to succeed this time, and I require that no matter what problems you encounter in the process, you must explain these problems one by one clearly in your final debriefing report. The People's Party stresses the word 'serious' (*Ren Zhen*) most. In the affairs of the People's Party, there are the two words failure and success. But there are no three words 'don't know'. Can you accept it?"

You Gou was also an old Party member and an old comrade. When she researched new drugs with Chen Ke, she personally experienced Chen Ke's rigorous and serious scientific research attitude. She knew what a huge workload was needed to implement such an attitude; it was an endless pursuit and study. After learning that she would be granted full authority for scientific and technological research, that kind of excitement and high spirit, that feeling as if something hot was poured into her soul, making the whole soul burn, You Gou could recall clearly many years later.

You Gou's eyes shone, and extreme excitement made her beautiful face turn bright red. A chest full of passion turned into a simple sentence, "Resolutely complete the task."

The cement Chen Ke required now was not that kind of high-grade cement, not even Portland cement. The base area lacked mineral exploration capabilities extremely at this stage, so they could only use what they had. After discussion, Chen Ke and You Gou chose the simplest formula: mixing limestone and clay in proportion, firing into clinker, and then grinding it to use. Fengtai County didn't lack coal, and there were also limestone and clay, so the experiment unfolded like this.

The research team was divided into three groups. One group engaged in infrastructure, which was firing kilns. One group engaged in data testing, which was testing the products in various ways. One group engaged in production with You Gou.

The Party has always attached extreme importance to cultural education, which was the case since the Red Army era. Chen Ke himself firmly supported this practice. An army without culture is an army without a future. In order to create a modern army with discipline, culture, and knowledge, besides leading soldiers who knew nothing about chemistry to carry out production, You Gou also had to popularize culture among these soldiers. The two assistants assigned to You Gou were named Zhu Guangzu and Zhong Shunqing, both liberal arts students from Fudan Public School. In the People's Party and Insurance Corps, there was an obvious trend in manpower use: those from science and engineering backgrounds held high positions and became leaders of certain projects. If liberal arts students wanted to stand out, they could only switch to military or political work at this stage. Otherwise, they could only be assistants to science and engineering students or engage in cultural education work. Chen Ke said clearly at the meeting that the People's Party and Insurance Corps did not raise "idle scholars" (*Xian Sheng*). Either go engage in production or fight battles. Or provide services for engaging in production and fighting battles. Those who thought they could command others high above just because they recognized a few broken characters could choose to go home now.

Those who followed Chen Ke to Anhui were all young people, energetic, aggressive, hoping to do a career. Liberal arts students certainly felt Chen Ke's words were quite harsh, but facing the situation of the flood, these people also admitted these words were not unreasonable. No matter how amazing one felt oneself to be, everyone knew a simple fact: if one didn't eat, the stomach would soon be hungry.

Zhu Guangzu and Zhong Shunqing were not very interested in military affairs but wanted to switch to industrial construction. You Gou led the research department, so they applied to work on You Gou's side, hoping to completely switch to the chemical industry through this research and development work. This was considered learning a craft. No need to work as hard as ordinary soldiers anymore.

But they were soon disappointed. Working under You Gou, the hardship level was only higher than ordinary daily work. Although You Gou was a woman, she worked desperately enough. In the days of researching drugs with Chen Ke, You Gou learned a lot, especially resting anytime and working anytime. Following the mode of the Shanghai laboratory, You Gou set up a lounge next to the laboratory. Others could work in three shifts, but she lay down and slept during experiment intervals herself, getting up anytime when work was needed.

As You Gou's assistants, Zhu Guangzu and Zhong Shunqing didn't have the ruthlessness of You Gou back then. Besides conducting daily cultural education for soldiers, they also had to learn chemical knowledge with You Gou and participate in experiments. Life was unspeakably bitter. In their view, You Gou graduated in chemistry herself; she only needed to worry about experiments. Soldiers didn't understand anything; they just needed to obey orders and listen to commands. Caught between these two layers, they had to learn and work. They couldn't compare with You Gou in knowledge, nor with soldiers in physical strength, yet they had to pay brainpower and physical strength simultaneously, acting as both teachers and students. This life couldn't go on.

After living like this for more than a month, the two were exhausted by this heavy pressure. They felt they might have chosen the wrong direction. They even really had the intention to beat a retreat.

The soldiers below had a vastly different attitude towards engaging in scientific research work. Soldiers didn't understand chemistry and had no concept of these things at all. What everyone knew was merely that a female teacher named You Gou was their head from now on. This teacher would lead them to work.

In the company affiliated with You Gou, no one dared to look down on "Female Teacher" You Gou. Actually, from the beginning, no one dared to despise Female Teacher You Gou. Soldiers were just curious about a female leader. The organization of the Insurance Corps was originally a very rare organization in the eyes of ordinary people in 1906. Many soldiers assigned to the cement factory construction work had participated in the construction project of the water plant. That water treatment design was also You Gou's responsibility. Turbid river water became clean drinking water after layers of filtration and precipitation. This item alone made soldiers who had never drunk tap water feel very magical. You Gou, who commanded everyone to complete this work, naturally received everyone's approval.

Although Zhu Guangzu and Zhong Shunqing served as assistants, when You Gou was in low spirits during experiments, she would also teach everyone to read characters. Not only reading characters, You Gou also narrated hygiene and chemical knowledge. In Shanghai, You Gou had given the lecture "The Story of a Candle." Giving it again in Anhui was a familiar road. You Gou's magic-like numerous experiments, as well as those numerous basic knowledge never contacted before, opened a door of knowledge never seen before for these soldiers, and simultaneously made these soldiers develop a sense of awe bordering on superstition towards You Gou.

However, everyone was male after all. Although they admired her to death in their hearts, they refused to soften their mouths. After all, working under a woman, no matter how outstanding this woman was, was not a glorious thing worth boasting about. Soldiers being able to obey orders and listen to commands, never talking back to You Gou, was already the greatest respect. But You Gou couldn't quite understand this point, and she didn't have the energy to pay attention to this matter. As long as subordinates could obey orders, could build and assist experiments as she said, You Gou would thank Heaven and Earth.

Cement sample testing was very simple. Mixing cement with sand to make some cement blocks, they could be tested in various environments. The cement fired in the laboratory was basically qualified. Or rather, cement mixed with sand and bamboo reinforcement could remain without cracking problems for two weeks. Someone tested and checked every day. Two weeks ago, stable products of 300 *jin* scale had entered testing. Two weeks passed, and these products themselves still maintained sufficient stability.

This was the one hundred and fourteenth experiment, and also the first scaled-up test. When firing cement, glass firing was carried out along the way, and the initial goal was basically achieved, firing glass that wasn't quite transparent.

But these were all small-scale productions, producing more than three hundred *jin* of cement at a time. Once entering large-scale production, there would definitely be many quality control problems. Especially how to crush cement clinker into usable products; using stone rollers and other methods couldn't satisfy people. Machines had to be used. Chen Ke asked Qi Huishen to produce four sets of crushers at the Jiangnan Arsenal. Qi Huishen had replied that eight sets of machinery, including crushers, had been built. But transportation to the disaster area was very difficult. One of the important purposes of Pu Guanshui and the others going out this time was to transport the crushing machinery over. And You Gou's work was to complete the volume test before these machines arrived.

The Insurance Corps uniform didn't distinguish between men's and women's wear. To avoid trouble, after getting up and washing simply, You Gou bound her chest tightly with chest-binding cloth in her female lounge, then put on a shirt and dark blue military uniform. Her hair was cut short, very much like that Hepburn short hair. This wasn't because she had such advanced aesthetic vision, but because firing cement involved flying dust, and long hair was inappropriate at all.

The cement kiln was a small kiln of about three tons. Chen Ke didn't know, and You Gou didn't know either, that in 1889, near the Kaiping Coal Mine in Tangshan, Hebei, China, a Tangshan "Fine Cotton Earth" factory using vertical kilns for production was established. In 1906, based on this factory, the Qixin Cement Company was established, with an annual output of 40,000 tons of cement. A cement kiln of about three tons wasn't a very big thing, and the technology couldn't be called advanced. But even if they knew, Fengtai County was at this level; being able to produce cement was already a very remarkable achievement.

The furnace fire was raging. Whether You Gou or the soldiers, they all wore soft hats made of blue cloth and masks. They even had to splash water on their clothes to get close to the kiln. Early industrial production was so hard. Without so much auxiliary equipment, except for a few main production equipment, others needed to be completed by manpower. Filling coal and handling fire required manpower. Although You Gou didn't need to do physical work personally, having worked with Chen Ke for so long, You Gou knew well the necessity of the leader visiting the front line personally. As long as You Gou stood near the cement kiln where heat waves were boiling, others wouldn't say much anymore.

Halfway through the experiment, someone ran to tell You Gou that a relative came to find her. You Gou thought she might not have heard clearly. She took off the uniform mask same as the soldiers and asked strangely: "Say it again."

"Teacher You, a relative of yours came to find you," the messenger soldier said.

Could her own brother run to Anhui to find her? You Gou felt incredible. This time she basically ran away from home. Although she left a letter saying she went out with Chen Ke to do some big things, You Gou didn't bid farewell to her parents formally. In You Gou's imagination, her parents would definitely think this unfilial daughter just pissed off and that was it. She really didn't expect that her letter didn't write where she went, yet her family actually found Fengtai County.

You Gou couldn't say whether she felt guilt or some other emotion at this time. Anyway, her heart felt empty.

"How old are the people who came?" You Gou asked.

"Seven or eight people came, all looking twenty or thirty years old," the soldier answered.

Hearing the soldier say this, You Gou knew her father probably didn't come, and her heart relaxed a lot immediately. Since it was her brother who came, You Gou immediately felt there was no need to be so polite to her brother. She said: "Bring them over."

The soldier received the order, and partly because he couldn't stand this intense heat, ran away like a wisp of smoke.

Putting on the mask again, You Gou continued to direct production work. The key to firing work was how to maintain a constant temperature during the process. Chen Ke could only provide the concept of a regenerator; You Gou was responsible for researching the rest herself. Although the Insurance Corps claimed to have many university students, the problem was that the number of science and engineering students was very limited. Moreover, among these people, there were basically no chemistry majors. The comrades in Beijing whom Chen Ke never forgot were said to arrive at the base area only in October. Chen Ke was already busy enough to have his feet in the air. You Gou knew she couldn't count on others and could only fight alone.

Work is like this; once started, one can't think of anything else. You Gou quickly forgot about her brother coming. Not knowing how long she directed everyone to be busy, when she really couldn't stand the heat wave and walked back, pouring a bucket of water on her hot clothes, she suddenly heard a familiar voice shouting: "Sister?"

Turning her head, she saw several people not far away. The leader was You Gou's eldest brother. Among the others were You Gou family's servants, and some she didn't know; they looked capable one by one. Only the young man standing beside You Gou looked like a child from a rich family in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Delicate skin, but tanned quite dark.

Although You Gou originally intended to act strong towards her brother, and the relationship between You Gou and her brother wasn't that harmonious. Seeing her brother actually found Fengtai County thousands of *li* away, and hearing that "Sister," tears surged up somehow. Wiping her tears, You Gou wanted to walk over with a smile and greet her brother. But the tears couldn't be held back no matter what. You Gou suddenly covered her mouth and cried *wu wu*.

You Gou's eldest brother was originally not sure that the familiar figure in dark blue coarse cloth clothes, wearing a soft hat and mask, was his sister who ran away from home. Especially this free and easy looking youth was directing a large group of strong men to work. That posture of issuing orders didn't look like a female at all, but a male with high status.

The reason that made him shout was You Gou's short hair. Insurance Corps soldiers kept queues; only You Gou had short hair alone. With the brother's understanding of his sister, his sister could do such a thing. That was why he mustered up courage to shout. But seeing his sister take off the mask with her own eyes, her beautiful face full of surprise, and then actually crying, You Gou's eldest brother's heart softened immediately. Since You Gou left without saying goodbye, You Gou's parents were panicked. Searching for their daughter's whereabouts everywhere, and counting You Gou's family having many connections, they actually spent three months to roughly determine that You Gou went to Anhui with Chen Ke and the others. When they confirmed it, Anhui flooded. Although the old couple loved their daughter dearly, they couldn't send their son to the disaster area and risk losing the son too. As a result, after the flood receded, they actually got news that their daughter was safe and sound. So they sent the son to come, hoping to bring You Gou back.

Although seeing his sister cry softened You Gou's eldest brother's heart, thinking of his father's sighs and mother's sadness these days, You Gou's eldest brother was still furious. He stepped forward ferociously and wanted to slap You Gou.

Two soldiers, one left and one right, suddenly blocked in front of You Gou. They asked: "Who are you? What do you want to do?"

"Who am I? Who are you?" You Gou's eldest brother was even more annoyed seeing someone block him. Plus seeing You Gou commanding these people very impressively, he didn't take these two soldiers seriously. While speaking, he used his hands to push these two soldiers.

The military training of the Insurance Corps never slackened, and the style of officer-soldier equality in the troops violently improved the soldiers' self-esteem. As soon as You Gou's eldest brother's palm pushed on the soldier's chest, the military boxing the two soldiers trained for several months came in handy. One grabbed You Gou's eldest brother's wrist, and with a twist of the wrist, twisted You Gou's eldest brother's arm behind his back. Another soldier pressed down You Gou's eldest brother's other arm.

"Don't move!" the soldier shouted.

Those helpers following You Gou's eldest brother saw the young master arrested and immediately wanted to come up and get him out. They rushed forward, and immediately twenty-some soldiers rushed up and surrounded them. Suddenly a soldier shouted: "Someone here wants to hit Teacher You!" As soon as these words fell, soldiers in the distance became furious one by one, running here with their respective tools in hand.

The rich family child originally standing beside You Gou's eldest brother didn't move. Seeing such a group of strong men killing their way over, his face turned white with fright. And those people following You Gou's eldest brother saw these people obeying You Gou's orders were so fierce, and their numbers were far greater than them. More importantly, more people were killing their way over continuously. They also looked at You Gou's eldest brother with ashen faces. Many people looked at You Gou fiercely, hoping she would come out to resolve this "misunderstanding."

Originally You Gou thought it would be a tender meeting, but suddenly it became swords drawn and bows bent. She was also somewhat at a loss. She heard soldiers shouting all at once, "Who are you?" "What do you want to do to Teacher You?" "Coming to our Insurance Corps to act wild?"

Someone also said to You Gou: "Teacher You, how to deal with these people? Beat them first?"

You Gou saw the soldiers were filled with indignation and knew her brother's reckless action caused a misunderstanding. She said hurriedly: "This is my eldest brother! Release him first."

As soon as these words came out, the soldiers still didn't quite believe it. "Teacher You, this person is your own brother?"

"Is my own brother!" You Gou said.

Since You Gou said so, the soldiers couldn't say anything else. But that anger couldn't be quelled no matter what. Someone actually wanted to use force against Female Teacher You Gou whom everyone respected very much. Even if this person was You Gou's own brother, the soldiers still couldn't accept it.

"Teacher You, we are right next to you. Call us if anything happens." This was a polite way of saying it.

"You, not allowed to use force against our Teacher You. Don't think because you are Teacher You's brother." This was a very impolite way of saying it. Not only that, when the soldier said this, he pointed at You Gou's eldest brother with his index finger.

Being pointed at by country bumpkins like this, You Gou's eldest brother felt he lost all face. But there were at least fifty or sixty Insurance Corps soldiers. You Gou's eldest brother also understood the principle that a wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him. So he turned his face aside and ignored it.

You Gou had never been defended by so many people like this. She felt warm in her heart. She suddenly remembered a sentence of Chen Ke, "Treat comrades as warm as spring."