I reran to confirm it just now and model_int8.features[0].weight shows updated values, but model_int8.state_dict()['features.0.weight'] shows old vales.
Do I need to save and reload the model after a manual weight update – I do not see why?
Also, in the above case of mismatch, which weight values will be used for inference:  model_int8.features[0].weight or model_int8.state_dict()['features.0.weight']?