Chapter 138 – The Hot-Blooded Twins

“Young man, who are you looking for?”

Zhou Yimin handed over a cigarette. “Uncle, does Lu Guofu, the film projectionist, live in this courtyard?”

“Looking for Guofu? He’s one of ours, lives right in the front yard. You came at the right time—he’s home today.” The old man shouted toward the inside after speaking, “Guofu, come out, someone’s here for you.”

They were already in a different neighborhood, so it was understandable that the old man didn’t recognize Zhou Yimin.

For his grandma’s 60th birthday, Zhou Yimin wasn’t just organizing a banquet—he wanted to add a little entertainment. Knowing how much his grandma and the others enjoyed watching films, he’d tracked down the address of one of the projectionists from the steel factory.

There were three projectionists in total at the steel factory, and this Lu Guofu was the most experienced one. He had some connection with Team Lead Wang, who was the one that recommended him.

Just then, the side room on the left of the front yard opened, and a middle-aged man stepped out—it was indeed Lu Guofu.

Actually, both rooms on either side could be called side rooms.

In a traditional courtyard, the rooms next to the main gate are called “dao zuo” and were typically where servants used to live.

Side rooms, also known as “guard dragons,” refer to the buildings on either side of the main house. There are east side rooms and west side rooms.

The east side room sits on the east and faces west, while the west side room sits on the west and faces east. Side rooms rank lower than the main house in terms of hierarchy, with smaller size, less expensive materials, and simpler decoration. Generally, elders live in the main house, while the younger generation stays in the side rooms.

In traditional residences, the east is considered more prestigious than the west, so the east side room ranks higher. Typically, the eldest son and his wife would live in the east side room.

Lu Guofu recognized Zhou Yimin the moment he walked in and warmly greeted him.

At the steel factory, even if someone hadn’t seen Zhou Yimin in person, they’d definitely heard of him. Several new workshops had been added to the factory thanks to his inventions.

“Hello, Projectionist Lu! I’m—” Zhou Yimin guessed the man warmly greeting him must be Lu Guofu and was about to introduce himself.

“I know, you’re Comrade Zhou Yimin! I’m friends with your Team Lead Wang—no need to be so formal. Come on, have a seat in my room.”

At the steel factory, who wouldn’t want to build a connection with Zhou Yimin?

Zhou Yimin followed Lu Guofu inside, chatting as they walked. “Since you know our team lead, then I really won’t be polite! And you don’t have to call me ‘comrade’ either—just call me Yimin. How about I call you Uncle Lu?”

The moment Lu Guofu heard that, he was delighted—he couldn’t be happier to get closer to Zhou Yimin.

He laughed and said, “Sure! I’ll call you Yimin then. I can’t promise anything else, but if it’s about showing a film, you can count on your Uncle Lu to get it done.”

As they spoke, they entered the room.

Inside was a woman, likely Lu Guofu’s wife, and two young men around Zhou Yimin’s age. Seeing how similar they looked, they were clearly twins. Judging by their attire, they were probably still in school.

Lu Guofu introduced his family right afterward.

Zhou Yimin had guessed correctly—the two young men were indeed twins.

What surprised him even more was that the two of them actually recognized him. After a quick exchange, he found out they were his juniors. His inventions—the hand-pump well and the solar stove—had already made waves at school, with plenty of publicity.

Which made sense. When a school produces a genius student, of course they’d promote and brag about it.

The school even had a file on Zhou Yimin, with photos and everything.

Naturally, many of his juniors knew who he was.

“You two should learn more from your senior here instead of lazing around all day…” Lu Guofu couldn’t help lecturing his sons again.

It was a bit disheartening to think that his two sons together still didn’t measure up to one Zhou Yimin.

In truth, he didn’t have very high expectations for his sons. Once they graduated, they’d follow in his footsteps and learn to project films. As long as they mastered the trade, he believed they wouldn’t go hungry.

Projectionists were still in high demand during this era.

When they went to the countryside to show films, the locals would often slip them local specialties—like hens, eggs, garlic, mushrooms—just for the chance to watch another film.

Some widows would even quietly invite projectionists to stay overnight.

You think that kind of thing was a secret? That no one else in the village knew? People just chose not to make a fuss.

Widows had to feed their families too—the village had to let people survive somehow, right?

So even if folks knew, they usually just turned a blind eye. At most, a few gossipy women might whisper some unpleasant things in private.

No one knew what got into these two young men, but they kept pressing Zhou Yimin with questions about his inventions.

They seemed genuinely interested in inventing things themselves.

“Senior, what do you think would be good for us to invent?” asked Lu Xuezheng, brimming with enthusiasm.

Zhou Yimin: “…”

Lu Guofu laughed and scolded them, “Airplanes and cannons—think you can invent those?”

Asking questions like that was just silly.

They should think about what they were capable of inventing, not what would be “good” to invent. That wasn’t the right mindset.

Zhou Yimin didn’t want to crush their enthusiasm, so he gave it some thought and said, “You can start by thinking about small daily-use items. Don’t underestimate them—these things are closely tied to people’s lives.

Take a matchbox, for example. It’s actually very simple. It works on the principle of friction generating heat, using strong oxidizers and reducing agents to create a chemical reaction that ignites a flame.

Before matches were invented, wasn’t it a real hassle to make fire? Matches might seem insignificant, but they’ve had a massive impact on human society.”

In the latter half of the 18th century, matches primarily used white phosphorus as the ignition agent. But since white phosphorus was toxic, it was later replaced by phosphorus sulfide matches. Those were non-toxic but had a tendency to self-ignite, which was dangerous. In 1855, a Swedish match factory developed the first safety match, which gradually became widely adopted around the world.

Zhou Yimin was making a point—don’t aim too high. Try researching practical items around you.

“Like my hand-pump well and solar stove—they’re just tools for drawing and heating water,” Zhou Yimin added.

Lu Xuezheng and Lu Xueyi, the twin brothers, nodded. That made sense. Maybe you didn’t need to invent something huge to make a difference.

“Take the pencil in your hand, for instance. Pencils didn’t originally have erasers. But later, an American artist discovered that attaching an eraser to the other end of the pencil made writing and correcting much more convenient—so he invented the eraser-tipped pencil.

Sounds simple, right? Like something even a child could come up with. But do you know how much patent money that invention brought the artist?”

Lu Xuezheng and Lu Xueyi were instantly intrigued.

“How much?”

A pencil with an eraser cap—yeah, it really did seem simple! They probably could’ve come up with it too.

“Five hundred and fifty thousand U.S. dollars, which is over a million in our currency.”

The moment those words came out, even Lu Guofu’s eyes widened.

(End of Chapter)