She stood up and walked to the front of the podium, smiling at everyone.

She began with a simple opening statement, “You all calling me the flower of architecture is really too much flattery. I’m deeply touched by your kindness and care. I’m really grateful.”

She stood to the side and bowed to everyone, “Thank you all again.”

Returning to the design draft, she started explaining the advantages of her class’s design, “Our country’s building materials, processes, standards, and technologies still have a lot of room for development.

Some high-quality building materials are not yet widespread.

For instance, the advanced technology and high-quality reinforced concrete used in the Great Hall of the People are not available for civilian use.

Currently, we can only use brick and concrete structures with cold-drawn low-carbon steel rebar, which limits height, width, and depth.

The high-ceilinged hall that Zhang classmate proposed might be difficult to achieve.

Therefore, we suggest collaborating with steel mills and building material factories to improve the quality of reinforced concrete, aiming to produce better rebar.

With better base materials, we can use on-site poured concrete columns combined with prefabricated panels and brick-concrete structures.

This way, we can ensure the main structure of the teaching building is strong, while allowing flexible space division and saving costs.”

She continued, “Currently, city factories and residential buildings use very simple technologies, mostly brick-concrete structures, or prefabricated buildings using pre-made panels.

Recently, there are also large-panel houses, with three panels forming one room.

They’re not aesthetically pleasing and lack insulation, heat resistance, and safety.

These low-rebar panels are prone to cracking and leaks. Summer heat and winter cold cause various problems.”

She mentioned, “The dormitory building we previously constructed at the provincial university was a large-panel house.

Although it was more advanced than simple prefabricated houses, it still leaked on the top floor, the walls cracked, and windows fell out…”

Zhang Shaopeng interjected, “Jiang Lin, you propose improving rebar and concrete quality, but we are not scientists. This is not within our purview. We can only build within the current conditions.”

Jiang Lin replied, “But I believe if we can improve building materials in a short time, it is worth waiting.

Using the best materials might increase the budget and extend the time, but it will also extend the building’s lifespan.

A well-built structure should last fifty years without issues. But look at our current buildings; they face problems after just a few years. Even ten years is barely manageable.”

She added, “Problems are often fixed as they arise, but buildings from the 60s and 70s have many hidden issues due to materials and technology.

If we achieve a technological breakthrough, the entire construction industry will experience significant advancement.”

She concluded, “Not only will this improve housing for the public, but it will also lead to rapid development in the construction industry.”

Several teachers nodded in agreement, while the school leaders, who didn’t fully understand, asked some concerned questions, mostly about quality and budget.

Building budgets were part of Jiang Lin’s coursework, and they had roughly calculated everything.

With the help of accounting professionals Jiang Min and Jiang Xinglei, the calculations were accurate.

The principal personally made the decision: “We will use the design plan from our Architecture Flower Group.

However, since this is our school’s teaching building, the other group will need to cooperate as well and contribute ideas.

Let’s all work together to build a teaching building that we’re proud of.”

Everyone stood up and applauded, expressing their commitment to the project.

After the meeting, Zhang Shaopeng and others met with Jiang Lin, Su Xingyun, and others to discuss building materials.

Although Zhang Shaopeng thought he had considered everything thoroughly, he was impressed by how much more Jiang Lin had thought about it.

It was admirable for a female student to be so thoughtful.

“It’s no wonder she’s our department’s top student; she really stands out,” they said.

In their department, there were more boys than girls, and their class only had a handful of female students.

They were very proud to have Jiang Lin as one of the top students in the entire school.

After two days of discussions, they came up with the final plan.

The teacher then took the students to visit a building materials factory for on-site learning and to study existing building materials, gathering more ideas in the process.

Meanwhile, the school assembled a team of the best students and researchers from the materials factory to form a new building materials research lab.

This collaboration was part of the school’s tradition of working with research labs, hospitals, and factories.

It provided students with internship opportunities and helped the school generate income—a win-win situation.

Jiang Lin, Zhang Shaopeng, Su Xingyun, and others joined the research lab.

After a month of joint efforts, they finally made progress.

In late spring, the campus of Provincial University was as beautiful as a garden.

However, the local spring weather was windy and dusty, with pollen, fluff, and bacteria that could cause skin issues and colds.

Jiang Lin was concerned that getting sick could affect her baby, so she was very cautious.

She made sure to eat nutritious food and exercise regularly to boost her immune system, even though it was warm, she avoided taking off her clothes too soon.

As the weather officially warmed up, she finally took off her heavy coat and switched to a wool sweater and a trench coat.

Yan Runzhi had knitted several wool sweaters for her.

Today, she wore a white one with a fuzzy collar decorated with handmade beads.

Over it, she wore a military-green wool trench coat, and matching skinny pants.

Even though she was six months pregnant, her waist was still slender, with only her belly slightly rounded, not very noticeable under her clothes.

As soon as she entered the campus, Jiang Lin attracted the attention of female students.

Thanks to Jiang Ling, there wasn’t a single person on campus who didn’t know Jiang Lin.

As soon as they saw her, they ran over to ask where she got her clothes, which they found very beautiful and wanted to have made for themselves.

Jiang Lin smiled and said, “I designed them myself, but my mother-in-law made them. If you want, I can give you the pattern.”

“No wonder you’re a designer, you can design buildings and clothes. We definitely want them!”

Jiang Lin chatted and laughed with them as she walked to the teaching building.

It didn’t matter whether she knew them or not; as long as they were friendly, she got along well with everyone, and they quickly became familiar.

One of the girls said, “Jiang Lin, so many people are opening their own tailor shops now. Why don’t you let your mother-in-law open one? We’ll support her.”

Some of the girls didn’t trust the tailors outside and felt that the clothes Jiang Lin wore were so nice that no other tailor could replicate them.

Jiang Lin responded, “My mother-in-law is quite old now and still has to take care of the kids and cook. Embroidering is hard on her eyes, and I don’t want her to work so hard. A tailor shop is probably not a good idea. Instead, you can find Zeng Hongjie from the Literature Department; she knows some good tailors.”

The girls were relieved to hear this and smiled as they said goodbye to her.

Jiang Lin had two large classes in the morning, in big classrooms at either end.

The classrooms were large with high load-bearing requirements, almost as if they had removed the partition walls between several rooms.

Their military theory class had been running for two months, with classes every two weeks.

The teachers varied, usually sent by the military district command or the political department; even Be Dongshan and He Changjiang had taught.

Today, it was unknown who would be teaching.

Jiang Lin was sitting there drawing chibi-style babies. Su Xingyun, Yang Lu, and others gradually arrived and sat next to her.

Su Xingyun asked with a smile, “Why isn’t Team Cheng here to teach us today?”

Without looking up, Jiang Lin replied, “He’s so busy that he’d rather split his days into three. He has to make time for his wife and children, so he really doesn’t have time to teach.”

Because he was so busy, the political department had assigned him a large jeep, as the ordinary jeep from the logistics department was not sufficient.

He always had to take people out for meetings or missions, which were confidential, and Jiang Lin suspected they involved cases related to corrupt officials.

Yang Lu leaned over and said, “Hey, Jiang Lin, are you complaining about Team Cheng? Have they been ignoring you for several days? You look like a little grumbler.”

Jiang Lin pushed her head away. “You’re blocking my light.”

Yang Lu had a habit of prying into others’ secrets and gathering gossip, which she probably wouldn’t change.

She even asked about where people were from and if they were married.

If Yang Lu weren’t already married, Jiang Lin would have suspected she had other intentions.

While they were talking, the once noisy classroom suddenly fell silent, and the sound of boots walking across the cement floor could be heard.

Yang Lu said, “Wow, looks like an official is here!”

Jiang Lin looked up and saw He Liang and Bian Haitao enter.

She didn’t quite understand this pairing.

Bian Haitao stood at the lectern, resting his hands on the desk.

He looked around and finally focused his gaze on Jiang Lin’s face.

As he scanned the room, Jiang Lin had already looked away and resumed drawing.

Bian Haitao introduced himself, writing his name on the blackboard. “Today’s class will be taught by me. We’ll discuss our country’s strategic thinking during the Korean War and analyze the Vietnam War.”

Then he opened his lesson plan but remained silent, looking around and reaching out to He Liang for the roll call sheets for the two classes. “Let’s start with taking attendance.”

The students immediately started chattering since many had skipped class!

However, he wasn’t taking attendance just to take attendance.

It didn’t matter if some people were absent or if others answered for them.

When it was Jiang Lin’s turn, he paused for a moment.

He looked at Jiang Lin, pronounced her name slowly, and said, “Jiang Lin.”

Jiang Lin raised her hand casually and responded, “Here.”

She didn’t even bother to look directly at Bian Haitao and instead smiled at He Liang.

He Liang, excited, waved at her but quickly became more composed, standing straight with his mouth closed.

He was exchanging glances with Jiang Lin when the back door opened, and Cheng Rushan walked in.

Cheng Rushan locked onto Jiang Lin’s location in half a second, strode over, and tapped the desk with his fingers, asking Yang Lu to move to another seat.

Yang Lu quickly shifted to a different spot, letting Cheng Rushan sit next to Jiang Lin.

As soon as he entered, every student in the room turned to look at him.

Those in front turned around, those beside him turned their heads, and even the roll call was forgotten.

Bian Haitao on the podium wanted to kick him out directly.

Jiang Lin hid her face behind a book and quietly asked him, “Why are you here?”

Cheng Rushan sat upright and calm, but he held her hand tightly, fingers interlaced, and turned his head to smile at her, saying gently, “I missed you.”

Jiang Lin’s heart skipped a beat at his smile.

Despite being an old married couple who had shared the same bed and exchanged affectionate words the night before, he was now putting on a serious face!

It wasn’t just Jiang Lin who was affected; even Zhang Shaopeng, who was sitting diagonally behind her, felt a shiver and thought, “Damn, I’m a man!”

Perhaps because Cheng Rushan’s sudden appearance made Jiang Lin too happy, or maybe the interlocked fingers lifted her spirits, the baby in her belly began to move energetically.

She actually felt the baby doing somersaults!

It was so amazing!

Cheng Rushan noticed the light in her eyes and understood why.

He was now very familiar with the baby’s movements.

When the baby made her uncomfortable, she would frown slightly and gently rub her abdomen to soothe the baby.

When she was happy, she would smile and also gently rub her abdomen as if communicating with the baby.

He kept his right hand holding her left, while his left hand rested lightly on her belly.

At six months, her belly was noticeably rounded, and he could feel the little one moving.

For him, it was an incredibly miraculous experience to have a little life growing beneath his eyes, and each day brought new sensations.

He felt grateful and willing to give up some of his previous obsessions, immersing himself fully in the sunshine and leaving the darkness behind.

…

Da Bao: “If you’re so capable, sleep by yourself!”

Xiao Bao: “Fine, I’ll sleep by myself!”

That night.

Xiao Bao kicked off his own blanket and forcibly crawled into Da Bao’s bed.

“Hoo hoo hoo,” Xiao Bao thought, “I’m not scared anymore. I sleep so well. When I sleep alone, it feels like someone’s watching me, and when I go to the bathroom, it feels like something’s chasing me.”