Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 220 JF-12
The project team is located in the CP area, which is considered a suburb of northern Beijing, but it is on the side closer to the city center and not too far from the HD area where Lu Siwen's family lives.

Zhai Da finally agreed to Lu Siwen's suggestion, since this trip would take a long time and staying in the hotel all the time was inconvenient, even if he paid for a better hotel out of his own pocket.

That's really the reason!
However, they would go eat first.

Huang Kai was driving a Volkswagen, quietly serving as a tool in the driver's seat, while Zhai Da and Lu Siwen sat in the back.

There wasn't much scenery along the airport expressway, but Zhai Da was still gazing out the window, somewhat lost in thought.

He had only been to this city once in his previous life, when he was about twenty-three years old. At that time, he had just started working and was still struggling in an advertising company. His manager had taken on a job that was a subcontractor of a 4A advertising company, a supplier of a large insurance company.

When they arrived at their floor, the budget was only 100 million yuan, with a profit of 15%. The manager felt it was difficult to manage, so he wanted to come to Beijing to poach the upstream supplier.

It turned out that the total cost of the project was 1500 million, which was outsourced to them after four layers of outsourcing, and they were responsible for 80% of the work.

Despite this, he failed to poach the supplier and instead broke the rules, leading to his forced resignation a month later.

Actually, that manager was very nice and taught Zhai Da a lot.

Zhai Da never came to northern Beijing again after that.

He suddenly realized that as a reborn person, he would eventually completely overwrite his past trajectory, revisiting familiar places time and time again, only to find everything changed.

As he reminisced, Zhai Da's fingers twitched unconsciously. If Lu Wei were beside him, Xiao Mutou would always immediately notice his emotional change, then offer his little hands and ask if he was alright.

However, this time it didn't happen. Only then did Zhai Da remember that Lu Siwen was sitting next to him. He turned his head and saw that the girl was a little flustered, with her hands tucked between her long, straight legs.

她冷
This car either has a weak air conditioner or some air leaks.
Because there was someone they weren't familiar with, Zhai Da and Lu Siwen didn't talk much along the way, including during a casual meal later.

After the meal, Huang Kai took Zhai Da to the residential area where Lu Siwen's "home" was located, according to the address. It was in a prime location in the HD district, only two blocks away from Peking University, and the high-rise buildings offered a panoramic view of the Summer Palace.

When the car drove into the residential area, Huang Kai thought to himself, "Whoa!"

I thought to myself, "This high school classmate is really something else!"
In 2008, the average housing price in northern Beijing was around 13,000 yuan per square meter, which would be considered a bargain by today's standards. However, residents are now lamenting that "the housing market is overheated and it's all a bubble." The price of this particular neighborhood is certainly several times the average price.

Zhai Da glanced around and suddenly remembered what he had mentioned a while ago about wanting to buy a house in northern Beijing or Shanghai.
Don't worry about whether you can live here or not. Many ordinary people missed this "chance to change their fate" in the housing market because they always put the "living" aspect of a house first.

Commercial housing, commercial housing, the commodity comes first and the house comes last. The high-speed train of the times roars past, asking if you want to get on board, but you insist on asking whether the boxed lunch is 25 or 40.

Let's get in the car and drive for a while first!
The price changes every year, and first-tier cities will gradually begin to impose purchase restrictions.

When he started school, he brought 208 million yuan to Harbin. Apart from investing 50 yuan in "Yueda Catering" and spending 10 yuan on buying the "Nine Turns Resurrection Car" and handling the procedures, he basically had no other major expenses. In contrast, he received two royalties and three reading revenue shares from Xinglang. Now he has about 280 million yuan in disposable income.

Let's round it up to 300 million.
Based on the down payment rather than the full amount, you can already lock in one or two properties in northern Beijing or Shanghai. With loans, it's definitely more cost-effective to do it earlier.
This time, I'll be spending a long time in northern Beijing, so it's definitely worth keeping an eye on.
After dropping the person off, Huang Kai didn't leave immediately. He played one last role as a "tool," driving his car into the underground parking garage and parking next to Lu Siwen's car.

A Land Rover Range Rover.

Looking at the dusty, rugged SUV, Zhai Da said speechlessly, "You drive this car? What was your dad thinking?"

Lu Siwen said awkwardly, "Actually, I've never driven one. My dad just left a car in northern Beijing, and he drives it sometimes when he comes over."

Okay, that makes sense.
He thought Lu Zetao had chosen a crash-resistant car because he was worried about his daughter having an accident while driving.

Zhai Da opened the hood and used Huang Kai's Volkswagen to jump-start the broken-down Land Rover. He was already an expert in mechanics, not to mention that he had recently read books on car modification.

After that, Huang Kai left. Before leaving, he made arrangements with Zhai Da for the next day's itinerary, and Zhai Da would go to the project site to report on his own.

For a moment, only Zhai Da and Lu Siwen remained in the basement.

As Zhai Da hesitated about what to say, the perceptive girl took the initiative and said, "I won't go up. Here are the car keys and the house keys."

Lu Siwen placed the two items in Zhai Da's palm and took a step back.

She didn't have strange ideas like "I'll take you upstairs and then stay there" or "I missed the dorm curfew and then stay there."

One semester at Kyoto University did not change this girl's pure and innocent heart.
She genuinely wanted Zhai Da to live in the house for his convenience and comfort, so she shouldn't make him feel inconvenienced.

This actually made Zhai Da a little embarrassed.
"You're leaving already? Doesn't that make it seem like I'm taking advantage of you?"

Lu Siwen tilted her head, her short hair falling over her shoulders, her big eyes full of seriousness: "I'm the one who invited you, how can you say that! Besides, we're business partners, have you forgotten? Alright, alright, my dorm is under curfew if it gets any later! Go upstairs and rest! It's only two blocks away!"

Lu Siwen stepped forward and pushed Zhai Da's back towards the elevator. She didn't use much force, but her attitude was very firm.

After helping Zhai Da into the elevator, he thoughtfully pressed the button.

Then, standing outside the elevator, he took out a thick notebook from his bag. It was still the familiar "Tiffany Blue" notebook, but it was definitely not the one from Dongyang County.

He presented it with both hands, and even gave a playful bow.

"Professor Zhai must be tired from the flight today, so I won't bother you any longer. My only request is that Professor Zhai, in your busy schedule, take some time to correct my humble work."

Zhai Da smiled and solemnly accepted it: "I will definitely look at it carefully, no, I will hug it to sleep!"

Before the elevator doors closed, Lu Siwen waved her hand: "As long as it doesn't interfere with your work, that's fine. I have class tomorrow, and you're busy too. Let's talk again tonight~"

------

The next morning, Zhai Da woke up in an unfamiliar bed.

This house is over 200 square meters, with four bedrooms, two living rooms, and three bathrooms. There's no need to go into the obvious about the high-end renovation; the floor tiles are marble. But judging from the timeline, it shouldn't have been renovated by the Lu family themselves.

It has only been five months since Lu Siwen decided to attend university in China instead of going abroad.

The formaldehyde concentration is incorrect.

Nothing happened last night. After going inside and getting familiar with the place, he called Xiao Mutou to let him know he was safe and sound. After that, he started studying. The trip to Beijing had put a lot of pressure on him for the final exams, so he had to make the most of every spare moment, even on the plane.

After brushing his teeth in the unfamiliar restroom, putting on his "magic vest," and putting each piece of equipment back in its proper place, Zhai Da went downstairs. He needed to arrive before nine o'clock.

Zhai Da drove Lu's Range Rover into the garage and headed towards the CP area following the car's navigation system. He briefly experienced the morning rush hour in northern Beijing and arrived in forty minutes.

If there's no traffic, 25 minutes is actually enough.

This is the base of the Institute of Mechanics under the "Academician". From the outside, it looks ordinary and unremarkable, like a suburban factory. It's even a bit too ordinary. Zhai Da thought that at least there would be soldiers on guard.

The security guard checked the form and confirmed that the vehicle had a registered license plate number (handled by Huang Kai), so he let it through. The area inside was very large, with many winding factory buildings, each with signs for different organizations. The "Shock Tunnel Project Team" was located in Building 4.

Three people were already waiting at the entrance, and a bright yellow metal sign hung to the side:

"Qian Xuesen Engineering Science Experimental Base"

As Zhai Da looked around from inside the car, the people waiting for him were also looking him over from outside.

A burly man from northern China, who looked to be in his forties, whispered, "Is this the master chef you hired for me? Is this his son? Is the master chef in the back seat?"

The fifty-year-old main pipe operator, in the throes of balding, said, "No, it should be him. Besides him, no one his age should be able to get into this base."

Unless it's an undergraduate student visiting for scientific education, but those visits are led by teachers who wave small flags.

The burly man said, "Driving a car like that at such a young age, he looks like a spoiled rich kid."

Huang Kai, the only person I met yesterday, shook his head: "This car doesn't belong to him; it must belong to his girlfriend."

I couldn't find a more suitable word at the moment.

The burly man thought to himself that he was not even as good as a spoiled rich kid!
Isn't this just a further step down to becoming a gigolo?

"I just got back from vacation, and this is my first day back. Are you guys really not all messing with me?"

There was no time to continue the discussion. Zhai Da had already gotten out of the car, and Huang Kai greeted him with a smile: "Master Zhai! You've worked hard. This is Supervisor Yue, and this is Master Gong."

"Hello."

No matter how nervous they were inside, they were all adults and wouldn't show it in person. Their first meeting was quite pleasant.

Supervisor Yue's real name is Yue Zhifeng. He is the on-site manager of the project's construction section and manages a construction team of twenty people.

Master Gong's name is rather unusual; it's Gong Changzhang. Zhai Da speculates that his parents might have the surnames Gong and Zhang, respectively.

A key technical member of the Institute of Mechanics, the only "master craftsman" in the shock tunnel project, with his hands still wrapped in splints, he was the first to recognize Zhai Da's skill level, but now he is also the one who is most apprehensive.

So, he was supposed to be the one to handle the communication directly, but for a moment he couldn't find the words to say.

Supervisor Yue took on the important task of communication and led Zhai Da inside.

The structure here is quite unique: a huge factory building with a small "side building," which is an auxiliary building on the periphery, where offices and other facilities are located.

Upon entering, it felt no different from any other old building, with a long corridor and doors on both sides.

Master Yue asked, "I heard from Dr. Wan that Master Zhai is self-taught?"

He still trusted Zhai Da, because he knew that many skilled technicians were quite young.

For example, both Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group and Shengfei Aviation Industry Group have a genius technician who can tighten screws at the age of fifteen or sixteen and is already capable of taking on major responsibilities by the age of 20.

However, those who have followed the "skills training" route from the beginning, seamlessly transitioning to vocational training after nine years of compulsory education, and gradually standing out, are on a completely different path from the "college entrance examination + university" route.

Zhai Da said, "I guess so. I learned some things before I went to university. I don't know how well you guys used those blades before."

"We tested the first one and found some issues. It's not that it's poorly made, but rather a design flaw. We haven't used the second one yet."

Zhai Da asked curiously, "Although I heard it was a wind tunnel before I came, you can't make it supersonic just by blowing with blades, right?"

Not to mention "hypersonic".

Supervisor Yue laughed and said, "Of course not. If the wind tunnel problem could be solved by the blades spinning, we wouldn't need to do any more research; we could just use an aero engine, wouldn't we?"

As they spoke, the group seemed to have walked to a spot specifically reserved for "visits," where the wall had transformed into a giant glass panel.

Zhai Da finally witnessed the awe-inspiring full view of the "hypersonic shock wave wind tunnel".
Outside the window, a thick, massive tubular structure stretched hundreds of meters away from where you stood.

A few people could be seen moving around inside the factory, but it was clear that they were almost at a standstill. The steel structure, several meters thick, made it look like a toppled giant tower.

No, maybe not. This thing is 247 meters long, which is equivalent to laying an 83-story building on its side.

The feeling was incredibly powerful, and Zhai Da was completely absorbed in watching it.

Yue, the main pipe expert, said: "This is the main structure of the project. Of course, it's still far from completion and is currently in the testing phase."

Zhai Da muttered, "This is what the wind tunnel uses to blow fighter jets. It really is just a tube."

The kind that's tall and rough!
Supervisor Yue shook his head and said, "You can't say that. Wind tunnels are for basic scientific research, not just for weapons. Passenger planes and rockets also need wind tunnels. If it's a low-speed wind tunnel, it also includes fields such as automobiles, trains, and construction."

"Human beings have not yet deciphered all the mysteries of fluid mechanics, but we can use the power of engineering to reproduce the 'results' of fluid mechanics, which is the significance of wind tunnels."

After saying that, Manager Yue proudly added a sentence.

"But ours is extremely advanced! If successful, it will give us at least a ten-year lead over the United States!"

The last sentence was resounding and even emphasized. After he finished speaking, Manager Yue looked at Zhai Da with anticipation.

It seemed like they wanted to see shock, but they didn't.

Didn't you hear me? We're ahead of the US!
Which organization, project, or scholar in the entire country would dare to say such a thing, even if it's not limited to any particular field?

Shouldn't you be shocked and incredulous?
Zhai Da merely glanced around, his indifference making him feel as if he had punched cotton.

"By the way, what's the code name for this project?"

Manager Yue coughed lightly and reorganized his thoughts.

"Now that we've arrived and seen it, I won't keep you in suspense any longer. We started this project in January of this year, and the project code name is tentatively set as JF-12."

"The goal is to build a hypersonic wind tunnel that can replicate flight conditions at 5 to 9 times the speed of sound."

(End of this chapter)