March 3rd, Ascend Gao Yuan!

Every time Zhou Chunlei returned home on leave, he had to explain to others that where he worked was in Ali, not Alibaba.

Ali had no internet celebrities promoting sales, nor did it hold Double Eleven promotions; it was simply a barren plateau spanning 300,000 square kilometers.

Ali was a forbidden zone for life. Forget delicate and pampered internet celebrities; even a strong soldier like himself, built stout and burly, had to exert every ounce of his strength with great difficulty just to survive in that no-man's-land.

As time went on and the explanations piled up, Zhou Chunlei gradually grew weary.

With his simple reasoning, he began to question if the internet was consuming too many societal resources.

In Zhou Chunlei's hometown village, even the elderly who could no longer walk would sit by the wall, basking in the sun, and chat about Jack Ma and Pony Ma, laughing about the former richest man's goal of earning a hundred million.

Meanwhile, Zhang Chunlei had to repeatedly explain the difference between Ali and Alibaba, even though the difference was as vast as 300,000 square kilometers, a difference that required one war after another to defend.

In 2018, the situation took a sharp turn.

When insightful people across the land finally realized that the greatest danger was imminent, that what we could truly rely on was ultimately manufacturing, and that science and education must be developed at all costs, the internet still captivated everyone's attention.

When insightful people across the land finally understood that once the enemy army advanced, the only ones we could rely on were those most beloved individuals, and that we must take good care of our veterans so as not to chill their hearts, internet celebrities with snake-like faces and movie stars continued to capture everyone's attention.

Zhang Chunlei also loved online shopping and enjoyed watching Douyin, but deep down, he always felt a nagging sense that something was wrong with how societal resources were being allocated.

Was everyone paying too much attention to the internet and celebrities?

"It's not that I don't understand, it's just that the world changes so fast..."

Zhang Chunlei muttered. He picked up the cargo from the airport and drove his army-green truck towards the camp of the Military Equipment Testing Institute.

As a soldier who drove trucks, Zhang Chunlei didn't really want to stay at the Equipment Testing Institute. He had grand ambitions and wanted to go to Pangong Lake, to the front lines, believing that was where true men should be.

Those who have never been to the plateau will never understand what it's like to have only 40% of the oxygen content compared to the mainland, to have their faces and hands blistered by the sun, to feel their lungs tear with every breath, and to have to celebrate being alive every morning.

The word "arduous" is simply insufficient to describe the brutality of the plateau.

Every spring and summer, it takes about three days for a truck to transport supplies to Pangong Lake.

Once winter arrives, the mountain passes are blocked by snow. Trucks have to travel along National Highway 219, crossing three mountains over 5,000 meters high, navigating icy roads and snow-filled mountain passes, just to reach the front lines at Pangong Lake.

As for the time spent on the journey, it could be as short as a week or as long as a lifetime.

Let's put it this way: successfully delivering supplies to Pangong Lake in winter and returning alive could earn a second-class merit citation!

This is the high-altitude frontier. The hardship and brutality within it are unimaginable to ordinary people.

Zhang Chunlei was fortunate; he had never been to Pangong Lake in winter, but he still feared winter.

The winter on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is unlike that of the mainland. The biting wind seems capable of piercing all equipment and reaching the very bones.

The lack of oxygen on the plateau causes red blood cell counts to drop, leaving even the strongest men lacking the energy to fight against nature. Even a minor cold has a 19% to 40% chance of causing fatal cerebral edema.

This is a forbidden zone for life, and its existence is no mere exaggeration.

Soon, the truck drove into a neat courtyard. A five-star red flag hung in the center, surrounded by rows of single-story buildings.

Behind the courtyard was a firing range that stretched as far as the eye could see. It was often used to test new ammunition and weapons, and it was Zhang Chunlei's favorite place.

Zhang Chunlei didn't have a high level of education and couldn't understand the complex instruments in the laboratory. He found testing weapons much more exciting. Many of them were rare, one-of-a-kind items that, after testing, disappeared without a trace because they weren't equipped by the troops for various reasons.

These weapons were unknown even to military experts, yet Zhang Chunlei had not only seen them but also touched them, a past experience that filled him with pride.

After moving the cargo into the warehouse, the cook happily made tomato and egg soup, dry-braised green beans, and braised eggplant.

Everyone ate with great joy. In this place, fresh vegetables were far more precious than meat. When fresh vegetables were unavailable, everyone had to subsist on canned vegetables or boil freeze-dried vegetables for soup.

"Come, come, everyone gets a set. Change into them. This is a new product, high-tech, invented by us. Even foreigners can't buy it with money!"

Song Xiangyang said exaggeratedly, handing everyone a set of new clothes, a sporty style, directly from the large boxes Zhang Chunlei had just transported from the airport.

"Sportswear? Isn't that inappropriate?"

"What's inappropriate about it? The higher-ups have instructed us to test the high-altitude cold-resistance performance of the new clothing as soon as possible, so this is our mission, understand?"

"Understood! We will complete the mission!"

The men joked around. As a logistics unit, the Equipment Testing Institute was far less serious than frontline troops.

When they first received them, no one took these clothes seriously: a fleece-lined shirt, a sporty cotton jacket not much thicker than a windbreaker, a thin knitted hat, and slim-fitting athletic pants.

They were all veterans of the plateau; did they really think these items could withstand the biting wind?

What a joke!

However, the underwear was indeed good – close-fitting and dry, much more comfortable than the boxer briefs issued by the army.

But before long, everyone's complexions began to look rosy. Besides the lack of oxygen, the main reason was the heat.

"What's going on? Did the kitchen add something to the cooking? Why do I feel a bit hot?"

"I feel hot too, like I'm wearing the thickest winter clothes. But I have to say, this thin piece of clothing is quite warm."

"Could it be that what Song Xiangyang said is true, that these clothes are high-tech?"

"I just went outside wearing only the shirt, and my neck and chin were freezing, but the parts covered by the shirt felt nothing. Isn't that amazing?"

"It's truly amazing! This isn't high-tech clothing, it's black technology!"

Time moved to the evening. The cold wind picked up, howling like the roar of a pack of beasts, and the atmosphere in the Equipment Testing Department reached a fever pitch.

Although it wasn't yet the coldest season of the year, how could one possibly withstand the high-altitude night wind with just a shirt?

You wouldn't even need to wear fleece-lined pants on your lower body, just a pair of windproof sports pants, and it would be completely fine. How is that possible!?

"With this black technology, we won't have to bundle up like dumplings anymore, right? Feel it yourself, how light this fabric is, you can barely feel it when you wear it!"

"It's actually alright for us, but if we sent this whole set to the front lines at Pangong Lake..."

"Heh heh, with such awesome lightweight gear, no more bulky forty-pound sheepskin coats. Those guys on the front lines might even dare to raid the enemy camp at night!"

Everyone was discussing animatedly, they had already realized the immense value of the X2 thermal fiber in the military. After all, modern warfare is often a battle of logistics.

On this matter, everyone's evaluation was unprecedentedly consistent.

Awesome!

Fucking awesome!

Many years ago, I visited the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau once, and after returning, I decided to live life to the fullest.

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