The train driver in the courtyard

Two nights later.

Professor Gilotti, dragging his slightly tired body, boarded the flight back to Minsk.

As expected, it was another late night flight.

A director like him who comes from a fringe research institute can only choose to take this relatively cheap flight due to funding and budget constraints.

As soon as you enter the cabin, the smell of decay and staleness hits you in the face. It is a mixture of old leather, dull air and traces of time, which makes people frown.

Professor Gilotti walked slowly through the narrow aisle, found his seat and sat down. Through the porthole, he looked out at the land completely shrouded in darkness. In front of him, he could see nothing but endless darkness.

He suddenly felt a bone-chilling chill and involuntarily tightened his collar. He then sighed deeply, filled with fatigue and helplessness.

Looking at the land shrouded in darkness outside the porthole, Professor Giroud felt a little cold. He pulled his collar closer and sighed.

Recalling his experiences in Moscow over the past two days, Professor Gilotti felt mixed emotions.

In the past two days, he has been running non-stop between various institutions, visiting the Moscow Academy of Sciences, the Moscow Computer Institute... and even "broke into" the ministry building regardless of everything.

In that majestic building, he rushed into the office, risking severe punishment, and tearfully complained to those high-ranking leaders about the injustices and suppression that Minsk had inflicted on their institute.

However, the response he received was exactly the same: "The Minsk series of computers are useless. If your institute continues to work on them, it will be a sheer waste of precious research funds."

Of course, there are solutions provided above.

They said: "After the institute is disbanded, all researchers will be properly resettled. If Professor Gilotti is willing, he can also work at the Moscow Computer Institute."

"Moscow Computer Research Institute..." When Professor Gillotti heard the name, a bitter smile appeared on his face.

He was very familiar with this research institute. In the past, it was precisely because the emergence of the Minsk series of computers posed a potential threat to traditional vacuum tube computers that they were ruthlessly suppressed by the Moscow Computer Research Institute.

In his eyes, the research institute had long been corrupt and filled with stubborn and conservative forces.

He knew very well that once he got involved, he would probably never have the chance to engage in his beloved computer research work again in his life.

"Perhaps, we should really consider the Orientals' proposal seriously..."

In this dim and gloomy cabin filled with an old atmosphere, Professor Gilotti slowly closed his eyes.

In his mind, like a movie being played, pictures emerged like a tide.

In the picture, a young man resolutely puts down his pen, holds his rifle tightly, and rushes out of the trench like an arrow.

At that time, the battlefield was filled with smoke and artillery fire, and there was chaos and noise all around.

But the flag that symbolizes faith and hope is still bright and dazzling after being baptized by war, fluttering in the wind.

"As long as we have confidence, we will surely win the war."

As time passed, the war finally saw the dawn of victory.

The young man returned to the laboratory full of anticipation again.

At that time, the laboratory was simple, equipment was scarce, and funding was tight.

But there was no fear or retreat in the young man's eyes.

"As long as we have confidence, we will succeed!"

Time flies. The young man who was full of vigor and vitality has now become a steady middle-aged man.

On this day, he stood in front of the Minsk 1 computer that was running stably, his eyes flashing with excitement.

"As long as we have confidence, we can definitely develop the most advanced computer in the world."

There was constant cheering in the laboratory.

However, the beautiful vision was soon extinguished by the cold water of reality.

"The computer in your laboratory is running very fast indeed. Moscow has decided to continue developing the vacuum tube computer. Comrade Gilotti, I hope you can consider the overall situation. This is an organizational decision, so don't let your personal emotions get in the way."

The commissioner who came to visit Minsk left these words, and at the same time, left deep confusion and bewilderment on the middle-aged man's face.

"The orders of the ministry cannot be changed, Gilotti. If you insist on doing it, you will be betraying the organization. You should be aware of the consequences."

The senior leader of the ministry walked away in a huff, leaving a few sad expressions on the middle-aged man's face.

The middle-aged man slowly raised his head and looked at the fluttering flag outside the window.

I don’t know since when, but the once brand new flag actually showed some signs of fading and was swaying weakly in the wind.

At this moment, the face of the young man, the face of the middle-aged man, and Professor Gilotti's own face gradually overlapped in his mind.

For the first time in his life, Professor Gilotti felt deeply confused about the beliefs he had held for many years.

He couldn't help but ask himself: Can I really achieve that great goal by working with this group of short-sighted, corrupt people who are as insect-like as me?

******
"Oh, it's Professor Gilotti. Do you want to ask about the Computer Research Institute? Um..." Li Aiguo held the phone with a hint of hesitation in his tone, and for a moment he didn't know how to answer.

He never expected that Professor Gilotti would change his mind so quickly.

I originally thought that the other party would last longer under the influence of those forces in Moscow, but it seems that I still overestimated the bottom line of those academic cliques.

Li Aiguo pondered for a moment: "Currently, the Computer Research Institute is owned by Andre Trading Company.

If you wish, you can work at Dongda as an employee of Andre Trading Company.

The monthly salary is 3,500 rubles, and the capital will provide you with housing."

You know, Professor Gilotti's current salary at his original unit is only 2,100 rubles, and it is often not paid on time.

However, when Professor Gilotti heard the attractive figure of 3,500 rubles, he did not show much concern.

He said in an urgent tone: "I would like to know more about your research plan on computers."

"How about this, I'll send someone to pick you up, and we'll meet and talk in detail."

After hanging up the phone, Li Aiguo couldn't suppress his inner excitement and clenched his fists tightly.

After all, as a train driver, he has already developed the ability to make big promises in the process of dealing with all kinds of people on a daily basis.

He felt that he was confident and confident that he could easily deal with an old scholar like Professor Gilotti who was focused on academics.

"Professor Gilotti, the computer we are about to develop will use a microprocessor as the computing core. You can think of it as a super integrated circuit. The circuit itself can perform floating-point operations based on the voltage."

"I have named this computer the electronic computer, and its operating speed will reach 250 million times per second."

When Professor Gilotti heard this, his eyes widened and he looked stunned.

He tried to interrupt Li Aiguo and ask his own questions, but for some reason, his throat seemed to be blocked by something.

You have to know that the Minsk 1 computer runs at a speed of only 2500 times per second.

The chip that Li Aiguo mentioned, which is only the size of a fingernail, is claimed to have a computing speed of hundreds of millions of times per second.

This sounds too incredible. Is this young man bragging?

However, as Li Aiguo continued to explain, Professor Gillotti gradually realized that things were not as simple as he had imagined.

"An electronic computer is a combination of hardware and software. From the hardware perspective, the computer architecture is divided into five major parts: arithmetic unit, controller, memory, input device and output device."

"The components such as the arithmetic unit and the controller are integrated into one body and are collectively called a chip. The chip is the core of the hardware system and is used for data processing. It can complete various arithmetic, logical operations and control functions."

"Memory is a memory device in a computer system. It is divided into two types. One is the memory stick, which can temporarily store data. The other is what I will temporarily name the hard disk, which can store programs and data for a long time."

"Input devices and output devices are collectively called external devices. Users will use external devices to operate computers."

“Software, including operating systems”

The knowledge that Li Aiguo talked about are all the most basic contents in the field of computer.

In later generations, anyone who has received primary education will be familiar with these concepts.

However, these seemingly simple knowledge are actually the result of decades of continuous development of computers, which have been gradually improved bit by bit based on the von Neumann architecture.

In this day and age, even for the world's top computer experts, it is difficult to conceive of a computer design that is so comprehensive and perfect.

Professor Gilotti often imagines what computers will look like in the future. In his imagination, computers in the future will be smaller and run faster.

But he never thought that the structure of a computer could be clearly divided into different parts like building blocks.

He subconsciously wanted to raise an objection.

However, in the face of Li Aiguo's rigorous logic and detailed explanation, no one could find any reason to refute it.

This computer framework is so cleverly designed.

Not only can the cost of the computer be greatly reduced, but each part can also be replaced and upgraded independently.

"So, what exactly is an operating system?"

Seeing that Li Aiguo suddenly paused, Professor Gillotti couldn't help but stand up and asked anxiously.

"The operating system is a low-level software that can communicate directly with the machine, and people can control the machine through the operating system."

"This, this is impossible! The automatic programming program I designed can't do this. There is absolutely no way such a complicated program can exist!"

Professor Gilotti felt that his common sense was challenged and couldn't help shouting.

But as soon as he finished speaking, Professor Gilotti realized that this was actually a very brilliant idea.

A computer is like a dark house, and the internal operation is like a secret that is difficult for users to pry into. The operating system is like a bright window that allows users to understand the computer's operating status in real time.

But… we need to build a layer of human-understandable code on top of the underlying machine code.

This idea is really too bold and too shocking.

Even the most unconventional computer experts would probably not have such a bold and arrogant idea.

Li Aiguo saw Professor Gilotti's excited reaction and did not blame him for being stubborn.

After all, the development of computers has been a long and gradual process.

It was not until the 1980s and 1990s that there was an explosive growth in updates and iterations.

It's like five hundred years ago, people could never imagine that an iron box weighing more than ten tons could fly freely in the air like a bird.

This kind of thing is beyond the scope of cognition at the time and it is difficult to explain it clearly with words alone.

But now the pie has been drawn big enough, and continuing to draw it may not be worth the effort.

Li Aiguo restrained his smile and said seriously: "Professor Gilotti, I already have a more mature idea about the compilation of the operating system, but the content is too complicated, and I can't explain it clearly here in a short time."

Professor Gilotti was already attracted by Li Aiguo's idea and couldn't wait to say, "Okay, okay, I'll go to Dongda with you. When can we leave?"

"Mr. Professor, we haven't discussed the relevant treatment yet," Li Aiguo reminded.

"That doesn't matter, you know! Compared to the future of computers, nothing matters!" Professor Gilotti shouted almost hoarsely.

At this moment, Professor Gillotti had forgotten all about the salary of 3,500 rubles and related welfare benefits.

He seemed to realize his own gaffe, took a breath and said, "Compared to this place, your Dongda University is more suitable for us to realize the dream of the proletariat."

When Li Aiguo heard this, he was slightly stunned and couldn't help but feel a sense of respect for the old professor.

He realized that the old professor was a true patriot...

But after careful consideration, Li Aiguo understood the reason.

Professor Gilotti's attachment to this land stems more from a class sentiment.

This seemingly idealistic idea may be difficult for people in later generations to understand and imagine.

But if we just think about the comrades who took the initiative to go to Spain to provide support during the war, we will be able to understand the profound meaning of this.

"Professor Gilotti, please believe that we will be the ones to win in the end!"

Li Aiguo patted Professor Gilotti's shoulder heavily.

The dark clouds outside dissipated silently at this time.

The sunlight poured in through the glass window, casting a shadow on the two people, with the two shadows overlapping and intertwining with each other.

******
Li Aiguo has always had great ambitions.

It’s not that he is greedy, but the situation is pressing.

At present, foreign countries are vigorously developing transistor computers.

In another two years, the guys at Texas Instruments would have invented the integrated circuit.

Neither the Russians nor the University of Tokyo realized that a drastic change was imminent, and they still focused their attention on vacuum tube computers.

Li Aiguo knew very well that if he wanted to successfully develop a very large-scale integrated circuit computer, or a chip computer, from scratch, it would be far from enough to rely solely on abundant funds.

The gathering of massive professional talents and the support of advanced and complete equipment are both indispensable and key factors to success.

Thinking of this, Li Aiguo picked up the phone in the study and made an international long-distance call using the dedicated line of Andre Trading Company.

At the same time, more than 10,000 kilometers away, in a small room in the Beijing Meteorological Station, a red telephone suddenly rang.

The male attendant on duty, who had been sitting next to him with full concentration, quickly reached out and picked up the phone the moment it rang.

For the sake of confidentiality, he did not speak immediately, but only made breathing sounds.

"Hello, is this my wife?" Li Aiguo's voice came from the other end of the phone.

The male attendant on duty quickly waved to the female attendant next to him, and then made a series of agreed gestures.

"Brother Aiguo, when will you come back? Xiao Hongsheng misses you." The female attendant on duty understood what he meant and immediately imitated him in a pinched voice.

Thanks to the slight distortion of the line, her voice was somewhat similar to Chen Xueru's.

"We have to wait two more days. My dear wife, you have always wanted to give a few televisions to your relatives. We have a few here. Besides, the people here are very easy to get along with and their words are funny and pleasant. I really want them to meet you." Li Aiguo continued.

"A TV set? That's too expensive, Aiguo. Let me talk to my parents about it. Have fun over there. I'm at home. Oh, forget it. The phone bill is too expensive."

After the female attendant finished speaking, she decisively hung up the phone, and then solemnly handed the call record that had been prepared long ago to the male attendant.

The male attendant took the record and without delay, he ran over to present it to the team leader: "Team leader, it's driver Li calling from Minsk."

The team leader took the record with both hands, looked solemn, and hurried to the door of the farmer's office.

He raised his hand and knocked gently on the door a few times. After hearing a response from inside the house, he pushed the door open and walked in.

"Report, the driver comrade suddenly contacted the special plane. This is the record."

Within the weather station, "special phone" is a specific name for emergency calls.

Since it is not a confidential line, in order to prevent being monitored by the enemy, team members performing special tasks will only activate this dedicated line to contact the weather station in extremely urgent situations.

Hearing that it was Li Aiguo who contacted the weather station using a special plane, the farmer put on his glasses, took the record and studied it carefully.

"This TV set should be some kind of cutting-edge equipment, right? Several TV sets, it looks like a lot of equipment."

"Those friends want to meet Chen Xueru. Chen Xueru is in Beijing. If you want them to meet, it seems that the driver is going to bring some people back."

The farmer flipped through the intelligence from the previous few times, pondered for a moment, and suddenly his eyes widened.

"Comrade Driver, are you planning to bring back all the people and equipment from the Computer Research Institute in Minsk?!"

Although the team leader had seen a lot of the world, when he heard this speculation, he was still shocked by Li Aiguo's extremely bold idea and stood there in shock.

You know, the equipment in the Computer Research Institute are all cutting-edge scientific research equipment from the Russians, and each one is priceless.

The researchers at the institute are all top computer experts in the country, bringing together the country's smartest minds in this field.

If we can successfully bring them and the equipment back to the great Eastern country, the country's computer research capabilities will surely achieve a leap-forward growth.

But can the Russians just sit there and watch the equipment and personnel being sent to the University of Tokyo?
Precisely because the matter was so serious, the driver took the risk of making a phone call to the weather station for instructions.

Otherwise, according to the driver's authority, the decision can be made recently.

The team leader saw the farmer light up a cigarette and smoked, his face covered with smoke, but he didn't reply. He asked cautiously: "How should we answer the driver comrade?"

The farmer's expression hidden behind the smoke kept changing as he thought.

After a long pause, he smiled bitterly and said, "The risk is indeed huge, but the benefits are too tempting. If the driver can really accomplish this, we can save at least five years of research and development time..."

Let's put it this way. You tell the driver that the station has no objection to his actions and can provide all the support he needs.

However, the premise of all actions is to ensure safety.”

Compared with the driver, those researchers and equipment seem less important.

For a moment, the farmer couldn't tell whether he was acting impartially or out of selfish considerations.

"understand!"

The team leader had no objection to the farmer's decision, so he turned and walked away quickly.

The door of the office slowly closed. The farmer took off his glasses, smiled bitterly, shook his head, and murmured softly: "This apprentice is really worrying."

The tone was a bit complaining, but it gave people a sense of pride.

A moment later, the phone on the desk rang crisply.

The assistant's voice came from the receiver: "Driver Li specifically told me to take your medicine on time. After all, your health is the capital of revolution."

"Even though this guy is far away in Minsk, he still worries about me!" The farmer said in a feigned anger. After hanging up the phone, he stood up, opened the office door, and walked into the next room.

On the table in the room, there was a simple enamel bowl filled with black medicine. A strange but medicinal smell filled the air.

The farmer picked up the bowl and drank it all.

In an instant, he felt a warm current slowly flowing through his limbs and bones, and he suddenly felt much more relaxed.

"This medicine is pretty good. Forget it, I'll forgive that kid."

The assistant who was standing not far away almost laughed out loud when he heard this.

*****
This world is so unfair, when some are happy, others are sad.

At this moment, in an airtight secret room on the fifth floor underground of the Moscow Ministry of Internal Affairs, Semenov was feeling extremely nervous and restless.

He subconsciously looked up at the crackling and flickering incandescent bulb.

In this flickering light and shadow, he was full of doubts. He really couldn't figure out what kind of distinguished person would summon him in person.

(End of this chapter)