Chapter 46: Issues with the Blueprint

Tongtong narrowed her eyes, smiling as she looked at Muchen.

Hmm… So Brother Muchen isn’t pretending anymore?

He’s finally revealed that he can make things appear out of thin air!

Muchen felt a bit embarrassed under her gaze and silently turned his head away, his handsome little face cold and aloof.

He grumbled in a rough tone, “If you don’t eat it, I’ll throw it away!”

Tongtong quickly gobbled up the little cake.

Her big, dark eyes sparkled, and her pink, chubby cheeks puffed out as she chewed, making her look like a little hamster.

Mmm! So delicious!

“Thank you, Brother Muchen! This is the best little cake I’ve ever had!”

Si Muchen’s lips curved into a smile.

Hehe! Anything produced by the System is top quality!

The little System was feeling quite smug.

Gu Yanbin watched the three children, his eyes filled with warmth.

He rolled up his sleeves, brimming with confidence, ready to show off his cooking skills for the kids.

Half an hour later.

Boom!

A loud crash echoed.

Gu Yanbin rushed out of the thick smoke, coughing violently.

His handsome face was now blackened by the soot.

The three children couldn’t help but laugh.

In the end, it was the orderly Xiao Zhang who came in, both amused and exasperated, to clean up the mess and swiftly prepared four dishes and a soup.

During the meal, Gu Yanbin kept piling food onto Tongtong’s plate.

His eyes were filled with clumsy affection: “Eat up, Tongtong! From now on, this is your own home! If you want anything to eat, just tell Godfather! Godfather… Godfather will buy it for you!”

Given his embarrassing culinary skills, it was better not to show off.

Tongtong gnawed on a chicken leg, her eyes crinkling with a smile: “Thank you, Daddy! Daddy is the best!”

Hearing the word “Daddy,” Gu Yanbin felt utterly content, his lips curling into a wide grin.

Not to be outdone, Gu Jingnan gave the egg from his own bowl to his little sister.

Si Muchen remained silent, simply feeding Tongtong nonstop.

In no time, the little bowl in front of Tongtong was piled high like a small mountain.

She puffed out her cheeks and, with a chopstick for each of them, shared the food.

Then she covered her face with her little hands, putting on a fierce yet adorable expression: “Everyone should eat meat together! No more putting food on my plate!”

Only then did the three of them stop.

After Tongtong finished eating, Si Muchen silently used a small handkerchief to wipe her mouth clean.

“Thank you, Brother Muchen!”

Tongtong smiled sweetly, her voice soft and obedient.

Watching this, Gu Jingnan gritted his teeth, annoyed that he had been a step too slow.

Si Muchen even turned back to give him a haughty, disdainful look, making Gu Jingnan want to give his little brother a smack.

Tongtong giggled, amused by her two brothers.

Gu Yanbin watched this heartwarming scene, feeling indescribably content, a smile never leaving his face.

After the meal, Gu Yanbin leaned back on the sofa to rest.

Casually, he pulled a document from his briefcase and began flipping through it, his brow slightly furrowed as if he had encountered some difficulty.

Tongtong leaned over, tilting her little head curiously: “Daddy, what are you looking at? Is it a map for fighting battles?”

Gu Yanbin chuckled at her question, put down the document, and lifted her onto his lap: “It’s not a map. It’s a blueprint for a new type of… well, a new weapon designed by the research institute. Kind of like your toys.”

Tongtong blinked her big eyes, looking at the blueprint filled with complex lines and data.

In her little mind, that vast knowledge repository instantly activated.

Various pieces of data flashed through her thoughts.

She tilted her head in thought for a moment, then extended her little finger and pointed at a connecting structure on the blueprint. In a soft, childish voice, she said, “Godfather, the arm of this ‘toy’ seems a bit off here.”

Gu Yanbin was taken aback. “Oh? What’s wrong with it?”

“Hmm…” Tongtong tilted her head, as if trying hard to organize her words. “Its strength doesn’t seem to pass through properly. It gets ‘stuck’ here and can’t exert any force. Plus, this part is very prone to breaking. It might ‘get sick’ and break after just a few uses!”

What she was referring to was precisely a core issue in the design of this new model rifle—one that several senior engineers had been debating endlessly: the energy transfer efficiency and structural fatigue problem between the gas-operated system and the automatic mechanism group!

Even the experts at the research institute found it challenging!

Gu Yanbin’s pupils contracted slightly, his heart filled with shock.

This was the very issue that Peng Zhengbo, the chief engineer of the military project, had privately mentioned to him during his inspection at the research institute a few days ago. Peng had described it as the biggest technical bottleneck at the moment. How could this little one spot it at a glance?

And describe it so vividly.

Suppressing his astonishment, he dismissed it as a coincidence or the innocent babble of a child.

Unable to resist, he smiled and teased her, “Then, Tongtong, how do you think we can make this ‘toy’s’ arm stronger and less likely to ‘get sick’?”

Tongtong bit her finger and thought for a while, then her eyes lit up.

In a serious, little voice, she said, “We could make this part… just a little bit curved, like the flow of a small river. Don’t let it crash straight into it, and the strength will slip through! And here, we could add a little spring baby to help cushion the impact, so it won’t keep getting hurt from bumping!”

As she spoke, she gestured with her little hand over the blueprint.

She was precisely suggesting optimizing airflow by adjusting the curvature of the gas tube and adding a buffer mechanism to reduce impact wear!

Gu Yanbin listened in confusion. As a military commander, he was not well-versed in such intricate designs.

Nevertheless, he smiled and patted Tongtong’s head. “Good, good! Tongtong is so clever!”

He didn’t take the child’s innocent words seriously at all, merely finding them amusing. After chatting and laughing with her for a while, he put the blueprint away.

In the evening, Gu Yanbin picked up a picture book and haltingly read a story to Tongtong, his tone as stiff as if he were reciting a combat report.

Gu Jingnan, standing nearby, grew so anxious that he scratched his head and ears, wishing he could snatch the book and read it himself.

Si Muchen sat quietly on a small stool nearby, lowering his head as he whittled a piece of wood, his ears perked up attentively.

Tongtong giggled at her godfather’s comical reading voice, laughing until she let out a soft, sleepy yawn and dozed off leaning against him.

Gu Yanbin put down the book, gently laid the little girl on the bed, and carefully tucked her in.

Looking at the child’s peaceful sleeping face, which bore a seventy to eighty percent resemblance to Yu Wanqin, Gu Yanbin’s heart melted completely.

If things had been different back then… Tongtong would have been his own child.

He left the room and whispered to Gu Jingnan and Si Muchen, who were waiting outside, “From now on, Tongtong is part of our family. Out there, protect her well. If anyone dares to bully her, don’t hold back—come back and tell me!”

Gu Jingnan nodded vigorously. “Don’t worry, Dad! If anyone so much as touches a hair on my sister’s head, I’ll beat them until they’re picking their teeth off the ground!”

Si Muchen didn’t speak, only nodding calmly with quiet eyes, his small hand silently tightening around the newly carved little slingshot in his pocket.

Gu Yanbin was quite satisfied with the two children’s reactions.

He nodded, then finally sent them off to sleep.

…

The next day, Gu Yanbin woke up early.

As usual, he was going to the Military Industry Research Institute today to inspect the progress of new equipment development.

In the conference room, the atmosphere was tense.

Several gray-haired senior engineers were gathered around the rifle design blueprint, arguing heatedly, their faces flushed—the focus was precisely on that damned matching problem between the gas-operated system and the automatic mechanism group.