Li Cu knew what this thing was partly because of his family background. He lived in a factory area in Beijing, where many of the factories were related to military industry. Although not all the products manufactured were for military use, a significant portion of the products supplied to the military were produced there.

It was in the warehouses of this factory area that Li Cu first saw this kind of thing when he was still very young. One night, after his father finished his night shift, he took him through the warehouse district, where both sides of the road were lined with large warehouses that were five people high.

At that time, one of the warehouse doors was open, and the yellow light of incandescent bulbs was shining inside. Since the road was pitch black in both directions, his attention was naturally drawn to the light coming from the warehouse.

Although the distance from the road to the warehouse door was short, he couldn’t see much. He only saw some parts he had never encountered before, each about the size of a wheelchair tire, piled up in the warehouse.

Children are naturally curious, and walking on a dark road made him feel anxious, so when he saw this strange thing, he couldn’t help but ask his father, “Dad, what are those things?”

He clearly remembered that his father was a bit absent-minded at that moment, lost in thought as they walked forward. Upon hearing his question, he turned his head toward the warehouse. In that instant, Li Cu felt his father’s grip on his hand tremble.

Then, that large hand let go, and his father rushed into the warehouse, starting to yell angrily inside.

Because the situation happened so suddenly, Li Cu didn’t catch what his father was shouting about. He vaguely heard some scattered words that seemed to relate to the manager not closing the warehouse door properly. Indeed, it was nighttime, and the warehouse door shouldn’t have been left open.

However, Li Cu felt that his father shouldn’t have been so angry over such a minor issue; he was a bit stunned by his father’s reaction. Afterward, his father came out, personally closed the warehouse door, and then took Li Cu along to continue their way.

He remembered that his father’s hand was shaking at that time, but he didn’t understand that some questions shouldn’t be asked in such situations. He still curiously pressed his father, “Dad, what are those?”

His father didn’t answer him but picked him up and said, “These are very dangerous things, Little Duck Pear. You must remember, never come near this warehouse to play. And don’t touch what you just saw, okay?”

“Dad, why?” Li Cu wanted to know more, but his father didn’t say anything else and just carried him away into the darkness.

Later on, Li Cu felt that his father made a mistake in this situation because, at his age, intimidation could sometimes be effective, but it had to be very concrete. Simply saying “this thing is dangerous” wasn’t enough.

Only descriptions like “you could lose your hand” or “you could go blind” could truly scare a child. At that time, children didn’t really understand what danger was. The word “dangerous” could even heighten their curiosity instead.