Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 233 Announcement
December 21st was the third day after the online gala ended, and the second day after the successful JF-12 test.

Two ordinary cars drove off in an unfamiliar direction.

Zhai Da sat in the back row, dressed in an ordinary shirt and dark coat, looking like a college student.

Academician Yu Hongru, on the other hand, was dressed very formally in a Zhongshan suit, an outfit that he hadn't brought out during yesterday's visit and testing.

Perhaps because he hadn't worn it in a long time, Academician Yu Hongru kept adjusting his collar and murmured, "You've gained some weight these past few years, Xiao Zhai. I hope you're not unhappy that I kept you here another day."

Zhai Da shook his head: "How could that be? It's just a bit of a surprise. I don't think I'm qualified to share the good news."

After all, he wasn't involved in the JF-12 project much or deeply enough.

Yu Hongru shook his head: "You're part of our project, there's no question of qualifications, at most it's just that I have some personal motives."

The old man looked out the car window: "I want that person to see a young face and have some fun."

This was the last thing Zhai Da did on his trip to Beijing. Yesterday, Yu Hongru said she would take him to share the good news, and he asked who it was for.

Academician Yu smiled and pointed to the ground beneath his feet: "You've been here for so many days, how could you not guess?"

The car drove into an old residential area, which was built by the Chinese Academy of Sciences decades ago. Theoretically, it would be more appropriate to call it a "dormitory".

Compared to newly built residential areas, it looks much older and outdated, and its location is not even in the city center. Its only advantage is that the density is relatively low, with only three or four-story low buildings spaced far apart.

However, the winter in northern Beijing is bleak and cold, with not a single leaf on the trees, which makes it seem even more desolate and lonely.

The car stopped beside the old building. Zhai Da and Academician Yu got out of the car together, and two or three people got out of another car behind them, including Gong Changzhang from the on-site engineering team.

This person is also very nervous today.

The five of them walked up the stairs together.

The hallway was very clean, but it couldn't hide the mottled appearance. The structure was also somewhat unusual, with the stairwell measuring thirty or forty square meters.

Zhai Da remained silent and followed Academician Yu into a room on the second floor.

The door, bearing the marks of time, was opened, and the hostess, an elderly woman, seemed to have known there were guests all along, smiling as she ushered them inside.

The room is furnished with old furniture reminiscent of the last century, or even earlier; a yellow bookcase; a dining table covered with a plastic sheet; and a gramophone in the corner, though it's unclear if it still works.

The moment he entered the room, several sharp lines appeared in Zhai Da's eyes.

"Congratulations, host. A blue special item has been discovered: [Engineering Cybernetics (Manuscript)]: People only remember his creations that made his swords soaring in the sky, but they do not know that he was the pioneer of human automatic control technology."

Ownership: Not owned, not activated.

"Equipment Effect 1: Carrying this item greatly increases learning abilities in engineering, automation, electrical, mechanical, and programming. There is a double bonus when studying the contents of the notebook itself."

"Equipment Effect 2: Focus on the notebook itself, there is a very small chance of temporarily resonating with the notebook's owner, greatly increasing the probability of becoming a 'bond' of blood, spirit, and emotion, and providing special feedback."

"Equipment Effect 3: ???"

Special effects: ???

"Unsealing Mission: ???"

"Note: Although it was not the first draft when I was under house arrest, it is still the work of the pinnacle of human intelligence."

"Congratulations, host. A green special item has been discovered: the Memory Phonograph. It has been out of service for many years, but its owner still likes to sit in front of it and organize his thoughts while his body still allows."

Ownership: Not owned, not activated.

"Equipment effect: This equipment can never function properly, but it can idle for ten minutes after being manually cranked. During this time, memory is enhanced by 50% within range (effective range 10 meters)."

"Special effect 'Memory Echo': Within the effective time and range, if a piece of music can be played, the performer's thoughts will flow smoothly like the music, and even the smallest ripples in the depths of memory will be captured."

"Note: This person is also an excellent saxophonist with remarkable skills in orchestral instruments."

"Congratulations, host. A special white item has been discovered: [The Von Kármán's handwritten letter]: Another master has personally admitted that his student has surpassed him in all aspects of academics, and he only regrets that he can no longer work with him."

Ownership: Not owned, not activated.

"Equipment effect: Holding this letter will grant you special favor from your 'teacher,' and the determination of your 'teacher' status is solely based on psychological identification."

"Remark:"

A dazzling array of zigzag lines came into view, and each one looked extremely powerful and unique.

Zhai Da simply didn't have time to examine it further, as it would be impolite to wander around someone else's home.

Before he could even distinguish several zigzag lines, Zhai Da had already followed Yu Hongru into the innermost room.

This is a spacious bedroom, or rather, it used to be a bedroom.

Now it has been transformed into a ward, complete with a large wheeled hospital bed, a monitor commonly found in ICUs, and an injection stand with empty medicine bottles hanging from it.
A curse called aging imprisons a giant here.

He was an extremely old man, the oldest person Zhai Da had ever seen in his two lifetimes. He had no beard or hair, only skin that had become thin and translucent with the passage of time.

The winter sun shone through the window, falling on the old man as if trying to ward off the chill.

Zhai Da was stunned.

He had assumed that the person he would meet after traveling through time would be younger than the image in his mind.

But he never expected it to be far older than he had imagined.
Yes, this person is already 97 years old.
Yu Hongru saw that the person in front of her had aged much more rapidly than a few years ago, and her eyes became slightly moist.

He came to the bedside, bent over, and said loudly, "Old Qian! It's me, Xiao Yu! I've come to see you! I've come to bring you good news!"

Seemingly worried that others might not understand, the old woman smiled and reminded them, "He's hard of hearing, so please speak louder in a bit, don't worry about disturbing him, he can't hear if you speak too softly."

Old Qian turned his head, his bright eyes looking at Yu Hongru: "Little Yu... ah... which unit are you from... Little Yu?"

The old man's voice trembled and he often paused, because his vocal cord muscles could no longer control it.

His trembling voice always made people think that the old man was weak or even confused, but those who were always by his side knew that Mr. Qian's mind was not clouded. Time may defeat his body, but it cannot defeat his mind.

Yu Hongru laughed and said, "Yu Hongru from the Institute of Mechanics! He's Professor Guo Yonghuai's student, your junior brother, and I'm your nephew!"

Qian Lao recalled Yu Hongru's identity: "I remember you. You're the one who works on shock tunnels, right?" "Yes, Qian Lao! I've come today to tell you some good news! The hypersonic shock tunnel! We've completed it!!"

Old Qian's eyes visibly lit up: "It's finished! How fast was that?"

Yu Hongru reported his life's work in an almost shouting voice: "Yesterday's test: Mach 5.2! Stabilization time: 73 milliseconds! But the design goal of this wind tunnel is a maximum of Mach 10! 100 milliseconds!"

After hearing this clearly, Mr. Qian's smile grew wider and wider, and he clapped his hands and said, "Great! Great! Is 100 milliseconds enough?"

"That's enough! Modern sensors are advanced! 100 milliseconds is more than enough, while the US sensors only have 30 milliseconds! And that's for low hypersonic speeds!"

"That's good. That's good. Tell me about the structure."

Yu Hongru felt his voice was getting hoarse, and he was already an old man. He turned to Zhai Da and said, "Xiao Zhai, didn't you bring the map? Explain it to Old Qian."

Zhai Da nodded and took out a hand-drawn sketch of the JF-12 from his briefcase. It was a sketch that Yu Hongru had asked him to draw yesterday. It had no details, only the structure, so he could bring it with him.

As they approached the hospital bed, Zhai Da held up a drawing on an A2 sheet of paper, and Gong Changzhang, ever perceptive, stepped forward to help by holding one corner of it.

"Professor Qian said, 'The JF-12 shock tunnel is a world-leading wind tunnel that was completely independently developed.'"

"This vacuum tank has more than forty sensors that can collect data from all directions."

Zhai Da spoke as loudly as possible, but also tried to control his voice to avoid cracking.

"This is the world's first hypersonic wind tunnel and also the world's first shock tunnel. With it, our research on hypersonic vehicles, including airplanes, rockets, missiles, and all other objects flying within the atmosphere, will make leaps and bounds."

With each word Zhai Da spoke, the light in Qian Lao's eyes increased. He didn't interrupt Zhai Da, but at crucial moments he would smile and softly say, "Good. Very good."

After the whole presentation, Mr. Qian seemed much more energetic; the saying "a happy occasion makes one feel refreshed" is no exaggeration.

Old Qian said happily, "Finally, it's done. Little Yu, I knew you had this talent back then, but unfortunately... it wasn't mature enough..."

Yu Hongru pointed at Zhai Da and said, "What do I mean by talent? Mr. Qian, look at this kid. He's only eighteen or nineteen, but he's already a skilled technician! He was also the top scorer in the college entrance examination! And he's a writer! Don't you think he looks a lot like you back then? He's also very handsome."

Comparing himself to Qian Lao in his youth, Zhai Da felt extremely embarrassed, but that seemed to be the reason why Yu Hongru had called him over.

Make the elderly happy.

Mr. Qian exclaimed with delight, "Still a writer! That's wonderful! Art, literature, and science all require study, and sometimes one can gain a comprehensive understanding of all things."

Zhai Da could only reluctantly agree, "I need to keep trying."

Yu Hongru remarked with emotion: "Now that our children can all go to school and receive an education, a continuous stream of geniuses will emerge! Industry has also developed, our financial resources have increased, and scientific work will become increasingly easier."

He grasped Mr. Qian's hand and saw that the age spots on the back of his own hand were no less than those on Mr. Qian's.

Her voice carried a hint of sadness: "I'm getting old, and this is the only major achievement I've ever made in my life. I answered the assignment my teacher gave me too late back then..."

Mr. Qian patted Yu Hongru's hand, comforting this eighty-year-old junior.

It's not too late to be dragged down by the times; it's not too late to be dragged down by yourself. It's not easy for you to keep going.

Mr. Qian looked at Zhai Da. Even with his reading glasses, he could no longer see the young man's face clearly, but he could still sense that he was a vibrant, tall, upright, and confident young man.
They're much better off than their generation.
Historically, whenever there was a major breakthrough in aviation, aerospace, missiles, or mechanics, people would be sent to this ward to report the good news to Professor Qian.

This has become a tradition in the scientific community, especially in the engineering field.

Because he was the founder of all of the above fields.

His life was filled with so much glory, each of which had the power to change the world.

It's rare to see such young faces in this ward these days.

Mr. Qian was very happy. Just seeing it made him happy.
"Xiao Yu, have you told your teacher? It's good news."

Yu Hongru was taken aback, then said wistfully, "Mr. Guo has been gone for many years. I'll go back to sweep his grave."

Mr. Qian suddenly realized: "Oh, I remembered wrong, that's right, Yonghuai has already left."

"What about Jinchang? Is Jinchang still around...?"

Mr. Wang has also passed away.

This time, Qian Lao remained silent for even longer, seemingly recalling names one by one, only wanting to find the one who was still alive:
"Where's Huang Kun? Is Huang Kun still there?"

"Mr. Huang has also left."

"Li Xuan? Li Xuan is young..."

"Academician Li has also passed away."

Every time a name was asked, every time an answer was received.

The light in the giant's eyes dimmed slightly.
It was as if I was witnessing the passing of faces and the end of eras.
The mountains and rivers are safe and sound, and the fireworks display is as desired.
They were once as young as this child, yet they were forced into the storms of the times.

They crossed mountains and oceans, returning from all over the world, just to raise a newborn sun.

The ideals they carried seem to have been realized, but those who bloomed together with passion have withered and died.

He was left alone, imprisoned by old age in his hospital bed, awaiting his own end.

Sometimes he wondered what the point was of staying in that hospital bed.
But actually, good things will still happen.
There will be waves of different people, pushing open this decaying door again and again, loudly telling him what fruitful results have emerged on this land.

He still hopes to hear it for a few more years and see it a few more times.

Holding the blueprints, Gong Changzhang could no longer hold back; he sniffed, trying to stop the tears from falling.

Old Qian trembled as he took off his reading glasses.
"Great, that's wonderful, young man."

Zhai Da quickly leaned forward and asked the old man, "Please speak."

Mr. Qian smiled with relief, as if he was no longer troubled by unnecessary sadness.

"You guys have to keep it up! It's all up to you now! Hahaha!"

　I want to upload a lot of information, but the review process probably won't allow it.

　　Feeling moved and touched.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)