In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 417 Time accurate to one ten-trillionth? $68 billion spent on supporting infrastructure?
"It's definitely not a good thing that old man Li Rui came here at this time!"

Xie Wei didn't bother to cause trouble for Xie Rou and turned to leave.

"Xie Wei, you actually came all this way to greet me. It seems you knew I was here to give you a reward!"

Seeing Xie Wei trying to run away, Li Rui didn't even bother to greet Xie Rou and Mo Lingyu, who were closer to him, and shouted to stop Xie Wei from running away.

"Xiao Mo and Second Sister are here too!"

Seeing that Xie Wei hadn't run away, Li Rui smiled and greeted Xie Rou, who was touching Mo Lingyu's belly, and Mo Lingyu, who looked helpless.

"Hello Grandpa Li!"

Xie Rou had always had a very good impression of Li Rui, even though Du Guowang and Liang Hongling had told her many times that she had messed up the generational order and that Li Rui had taken advantage of them, Xie Rou did not change her mind.

"You just got back? Perfect, let's go together..."

Li Rui completely ignored Xie Wei's unpleasant expression.

He immediately led the way to Xie Wei's house.

Xie Rou made up an excuse and ran away. She said she wouldn't get married or have children, and that she could have one of Mo Lingyu's children so she wouldn't have to go through ten months of pregnancy and pain. This statement provoked Liu Mei...

Xie Wei quickly stepped forward and took the bag containing Mo Lingyu's lesson plans from her. "Is everything alright?"

"No. Did Second Sister upset Mom again? She was running so fast just now..."

Seeing Xie Wei's unpleasant expression, Mo Lingyu immediately knew that Li Rui's purpose in coming was ill-intentioned and that he wanted to change the subject.

Did I hit you? Do you need to go to the hospital?

Xie Wei panicked.

"Don't pretend. Your little tricks won't work on me. If you really need to go to the hospital for a checkup, I'll arrange it right away!"

Li Rui snorted coldly.

Seeing Xie Wei helping Mo Lingyu turn around and leave, he spoke again: "We know each other very well. I can tell what you're going to do the moment you stick your butt out."

"..."

Left with no other choice, Xie Wei and Mo Lingyu had to go home.

Liu Mei was overjoyed to see Li Rui and the others at her home. After greeting them, she immediately went out to buy groceries again.

This infuriated Xie Wei.

A bunch of shameless old bastards came to my house to scam me, and I actually had to treat them to good food and drinks.

"this is yours!"

In front of Mo Lingyu, Li Rui opened the bag in his hand, revealing a set of military uniform inside. "Given that you uncovered such a large spy network, this is the reward the army is giving you..."

"Old Li, are you sure this is a reward for me, and not a punishment?"

Looking at the military uniform in front of him, Xie Wei was clearly displeased.

What the hell!
The old man's ambitions are far from small!
"Kid, you've lost even the most basic respect for your superiors?"

Li Rui glared at Xie Wei, then turned to Liu Debao and said, "I think the school should strengthen ideological education for its leading cadres!"

"The leader is right."

Liu Debao nodded repeatedly.

Xie Wei remained silent, only staring at Old Man Li and repeatedly pursing his lips.

"A document personally signed by Leader Long Yaohua appoints you as an advisor to the military, granting you the待遇 (treatment/benefits) of a deputy regimental commander..."

Regardless of Xie Wei's willingness or not, they announced it directly.

Deputy regimental level?
Xie Wei sensed something was wrong.

This hasn't happened in so many years, and now they're suddenly forcibly recruiting me into the military. This isn't a good thing.

“Such a young deputy regimental-level officer, once the new rank system is implemented, will directly become a rank of 22 cents, or even 23 cents... At that time, he will be very close to having a gold star on his shoulder.”

Li Rui knew why Xie Wei was resisting.

To prevent Xie Wei from causing trouble all the time, Long Yaohua had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure: recruiting Xie Wei into the army—if Xie Wei continued to cause trouble, he could be dealt with under military law.

Therefore, Xie Wei was directly recruited into the army to serve as an advisor on equipment development.

Li Rui came to appoint Xie Wei.

It's like a tight headband!

"I don't want to be a general!"

Xie Wei said irritably.

"It's not just to put a tight rein on me, is it? Tell me, what else is there?"

Xie Wei knew that Li Rui's personal visit, especially to his home, was definitely not just to use the military to control him.

Upon hearing this, Mo Lingyu hurriedly said she would go check if her mother had returned.

The others did not stop them.

Even though this is her home.

Xie Wei was even more displeased by the expressions on their faces.

"After years of research and discussion by the troops, we felt it was time to put the construction of the opposing force on the agenda for the systematic combat plan you provided."

"That's something the military leaders should worry about."

Xie Wei raised an eyebrow.

Should we build a blue team now?
That's utter nonsense.

The third-generation J-10 fighter jet just made its maiden flight not long ago, the early warning aircraft hasn't even made its maiden flight yet, the third-generation tank has only just begun development, and advanced equipment such as drones, robot dogs, and electromagnetic weapons are still in the works.

Not suitable.

"Director Li, just like you said, we all know each other well, so let's stop beating around the bush and get straight to the point."

Xie Wei didn't want to waste time.

Old Man Li is no good person.

"Your $68 billion..."

"Don't even think about it! The mess you left at school took a long time to clean up, so don't even think about stuffing any more projects into the school."

Xie Wei rudely interrupted Li Rui before he could finish speaking.

it is as expected!
Wang Zheng's $68 billion scheme in the international crude oil futures market was unknown to the school, but Li Rui and the military were absolutely aware of it.

Previously, Xie Wei hadn't asked Wang Zheng to transfer money to China, and Li Rui hadn't appeared. But now that the money had just been transferred back, Old Man Li had arrived.

"Don't be so quick to refuse. It's not about asking you to invest in military projects, but rather hoping that you'll consider all aspects when setting up the project..."

"It's still the same old thing!"

Liu Debao said in confusion.

Li Rui glared at him, then looked at Xie Wei, "It's completely different. The school has the power... If the school doesn't accept it, they won't force it on you."

Looking at Old Man Li's sincere face, Xie Wei would have believed him if he didn't know him.

"Don't even think about taking this money; it'll be useful."

Xie Wei felt he should make Li Rui give up on him beforehand, otherwise the old man would keep bothering him.

"Manned spaceflight? You wouldn't need that many!"

"The main profits from missile orders from major clients come from the military, including subsequent maintenance and upkeep contracts. The total amount must exceed $150 billion, right?"

Xie Wei did not explain the purpose of the $68 billion, but instead reminded Li Rui that the transactions with the big players had brought the military at least tens of billions of dollars in profits.

Don't focus on the school's money.

Due to its outdated technology, the Dongfeng-3 is now facing retirement as the second-generation medium-range strategic missile, the Dongfeng-21, has been designed and finalized.

With orders in place, continuing to produce these outdated medium-range ballistic missiles would be a complete waste of money.

Therefore, the seller of these missiles was not the aerospace system, but the Second Artillery Corps.

"With so much money, you can't possibly throw it all into manned spaceflight, can you?"

Li Rui frowned.

"Not much! Not much! If we really want to send astronauts into space, or even to the moon, this is just a drop in the ocean... Let alone $68 billion, I'm afraid even $6800 billion wouldn't be enough," Liu Debao said hurriedly.

"No. The vast majority of this money will have to be invested in the research and development of supporting technologies. The most crucial one is the construction of the time service center."

Xie Wei did not hide anything.

This is something we absolutely have to do.

What time service center?

Li Rui frowned; he had never heard of it before.

"You've been planning this with leaders from the Astronomical Observatory and aerospace departments for a while now?"

Liu Debao's brows were furrowed even more deeply than Li Rui's.

Since before the Lunar New Year, Xie Wei has been constantly communicating with some technical backbones from the Astronomical Center and the aerospace department. The school has no idea what the specific plans are.

"Last year, after passing the national-level technical appraisal organized by the State Science and Technology Commission, the Shaanxi Astronomical Observatory officially released standard time and standard frequency. However, for our computer and aerospace fields, the accuracy is still not high enough... This is the most basic! If the timekeeping accuracy of the timekeeping station is insufficient, our technology cannot make breakthroughs!"

Xie Wei said seriously, "In the next ten years, we will focus on basic technology research and development and improving supporting facilities."

"As for it?"

"Not really? You should first understand the importance of time. Once the national power grid is unified, even a difference of just one millisecond can cause widespread power outages at substations due to time-related confusion; a difference of one microsecond can result in changes of hundreds of billions in international stock market transactions; one nanosecond, or one billionth of a second, can cause our satellite positioning accuracy to deviate by tens of centimeters, as discovered in the current pre-research of the Beidou experimental satellite; one picosecond, or one trillionth of a second, can cause our positioning to be off by several kilometers during future lunar exploration, making successful return impossible... Do you think it's unimportant?"

Xie Wei's tone became serious as he said these words.

The importance of time can only be truly appreciated by those at the forefront of technological research and development.

For ordinary people, even a difference of a few seconds has no impact.

"This……"

Li Rui was stunned.

Liu Debao suddenly realized, "Could this be the root cause of the bottleneck our communication technology is currently facing?"

"It's not the root cause, but this aspect also has an impact."

Xie Wei did not explain the science to the two of them.

“Some projects really should be expedited. The military only has so much funding, and it’s useless if the state doesn’t allocate funds… Didn’t you suggest planning ahead first?”

Li Rui smiled ingratiatingly, showing no sign of giving up.

"Are you really determined to get your hands on this money?"

Xie Wei glared angrily at the old man, Li Rui.

"Why would you be eyeing this money? It's all for scientific research and national defense anyway."

"Tell me about it, what project?"

"The Blue Team in the Combined Tactics Training Center..."

Li Rui was about to explain in detail when he heard Liu Mei return outside, so he stopped talking.

However, Xie Wei understood what he meant: a systematic approach to building a blue team! The other side clearly wanted better equipment, and they didn't want to pay for it.

This must be the real reason why Li Rui sent this military uniform and the deputy regimental commander title!
"Xie Wei, don't just chat with the leader, make some tea!"

Liu Mei greeted the group at the door. Seeing that Xie Wei hadn't even brewed tea for Li Rui and Liu Debao for so long, she complained that her son didn't know how to treat guests.

"Hey girl, it's okay, we're not thirsty."

Li Rui answered hastily.

"If you have any shame, you should take your leave now."

Xie Wei looked at Li Rui with annoyance.

"What's a face? Can you eat it? Or can you eat it with alcohol?"

Li Rui curled his lip, completely ignoring Xie Wei's dissatisfaction, and twitched his nose a few times. "Not bad, there's pork head tonight. Xie Wei, bring out two bottles of the good wine you've been saving up over the years... Don't force me to do it myself, or it'll be more than just two bottles!"

"..."

Seeing Li Rui's helpless expression, Xie Wei was so angry he wanted to grind his teeth, but there was nothing he could do—the man was taking advantage of his age and had no principles or bottom line, so what could he do?
Beat him up?

The old man probably couldn't be happier.

They will then use this as an excuse to extort money from me.

After having a free meal at Xie Wei's house, finishing two bottles of Xie Wei's saved-up liquor, and taking two bottles with him, Li Rui finally left.

"You silly kid, the boss doesn't treat you like an outsider. Two bottles of wine aren't even worth much, and you're still being stingy! It's a shame he's always valued you so much..."

Liu Mei scolded her son.

People from Sichuan are generous, straightforward, and value etiquette.

Liu Mei knew that Li Rui used to be the principal; she also knew the identities of Liu Debao and others.

Li Rui asked for two bottles of wine, but his son refused, which made Liu Mei very dissatisfied with her son's lack of manners.

"..."

Xie Wei did not explain.

This doesn't make sense to me.

"You'd better hurry up and get things done with your second sister! Don't let her end up an old maid..."

"Okay! Okay! Okay!"

Xie Wei could only nod in agreement, "Mom, I have to get back to work."

Only then did Liu Mei reluctantly leave Xie Wei's study.

"Xie Wei, have you noticed how much Mom has changed in the past few years? She's completely different from before..."

After Liu Mei left, Mo Lingyu asked Xie Wei in a low voice.

"Having your own business and income gives you more confidence."

How could Xie Wei not know?
My mother is a strong-willed woman. However, after she married my father, there were few job opportunities, and my father was unwilling to ask for favors. As a result, my mother couldn't even get a temporary job at Hongfeng Factory. Later, after having children, she devoted all her energy to taking care of them.

"..."

Mo Lingyu was at a loss for words.

On their way back to school, Li Rui and Liu Debao chatted as they walked, especially about the importance of the time service center that Xie Wei had mentioned. Li Rui was skeptical of Xie Wei's statement—he believed that Xie Wei was deliberately saying this to prevent him from eyeing the huge sum of money invested by Xingkong Investment.

"...Comrade Debao, can you give me a hint? Is the school really planning to invest in basic technology, and the required funding is enormous?"

His tone was full of doubt.

"Sir, Xie Wei didn't mention the specifics. However, the development of many technologies at the university is indeed constrained by the availability of supporting infrastructure..."

"Is time really that important?"

"What Xie Wei values ​​must be extremely important. The launch date of the BeiDou test satellite has been postponed several times already... The ministry is also working hard to upgrade the supporting infrastructure..."

Liu Debao actually thought Xie Wei's claim that even a difference of one part in ten trillion in time would produce a huge error was a hoax, but he couldn't say that.

Once the door is opened, the $68 billion will be gone in no time.

Li Rui stopped and stared at Liu Debao for a while, but ultimately said nothing.

He'll go to the Astronomical Center and the Ministry of Aerospace to find out the truth. If Xie Wei is lying to him, he'll definitely give him a good beating.

The next day, Li Rui left the school.

Xie Wei felt not relief at his departure, but rather worry.

"That old guy never acts until he sees a clear benefit. He left without any result, so he definitely wasn't holding back!"

Xie Wei suspected that Li Rui, that old fellow, had gone to get reinforcements.

If Long Yaohua comes in person, should I still give him the same advice?

Long Yaohua sent Li Rui to find him, probably with this in mind.

"Sigh, the higher-ups won't let me leave Harbin, there's no escaping it..."

Director Xie looked worried.

Having too much money can also be a source of worry.

(End of this chapter)