Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 356 Isn't this just common sense?
In an office on the third floor of the research institute, Academician Yu Hongru opened the door for Zhai Da with kind eyes.

This man is also 81 years old, but his spirits have improved a lot in the past two years due to the progress of the wind tunnel project.

His story with the JF-12 can be described as a legendary tale worthy of being written into textbooks. Fifty years ago, under the guidance of Qian Xuesen, he began research on hypersonic shock wave wind tunnels. Unfortunately, the industrial base did not allow it, and he was not able to bring it to the world until he was eighty years old.

To outsiders, the long period of time during that time was merely a footnote to a legend, a few short words, but only he knew that it was a life that almost went to waste.

The old man slowly brewed tea: "Little Zhai, I missed it last time I was in the United States. Later I heard that you became Qian Lao's last disciple. I was so happy that I opened the last bucket of instant noodles I brought with me."

Zhai Da laughed heartily: "Is this what you eat when you go to the US for an inspection tour?"

"Sigh~ I'm getting old. The food over there is all meat and fish, or high in sugar and oil. It's so hard to eat vegetables. My stomach gets uncomfortable after a few meals. It's better to eat instant noodles to soothe my stomach."

Academician Yu studied under Guo Yonghuai, who was Qian Xuesen's junior fellow student. Therefore, according to seniority, the old man and Zhai Da are now also fellow students.

Although the old rules don't apply in this new era, the feeling of being even closer to each other is still undeniable.

After all, this young man was the one he took to the ward. Such a heartwarming story is a comfort in old age.

Zhai Da asked curiously, "Was the inspection trip smooth? I heard from Brother Gong that it took quite a while?"

Academician Yu smiled and said, "You could say it wasn't smooth, or you could say it went very smoothly."

"Oh? What do you say?"

"The reason things don't go smoothly is because we haven't seen anything truly valuable, and the reason things go smoothly is also because we haven't seen anything truly valuable."

Academician Yu's expression held a hint of emotion: "Before, we didn't have it ourselves, so we didn't dare to speak up. Now that we have it, we've discovered that there's too much false advertising over there; it feels like they're just making empty claims to scare people."

"They bend a few metal pipes, connect them to a computer, and claim they can simulate Mach 10, costing tens of millions of dollars. That's outrageous! The wrong approach is a minor issue; the most fatal problem is that kind of nihilistic research attitude. Even if they spend another ten years doing this, they might not succeed."

"The most interesting thing is that when I talked about our progress, I deliberately exaggerated some figures, but they thought I was exaggerating. It was a complete misinterpretation. Many university professors over there even thought we were starving and doing calculations in the Gobi Desert."

Gong Changzhang chuckled: "Is it that funny?"

Zhai Da took a sip of hot tea: "But perhaps it's a good thing, isn't it?"

Academician Yu shook his head: "Not necessarily. Being looked down upon might seem like we can hide our strength and develop in peace, but being looked down upon at every turn will also affect us."

For example, the previous debate over "physical wind tunnel/computational wind tunnel".
From academia to business to industry, it's all there.

The so-called "safe development" is actually dancing under an invisible ceiling, and the upper limit of this dance is not breaking through that ceiling.
Instead, they went outside the ceiling.

The first generation of scientists were all tough and resolute men, and the youngest generation is beginning to emerge and flourish, but the middle generation still retains many of the trends he looks down on.

Academician Yu suddenly felt there was no need to say this in front of young people, as it would damage their morale and reveal their premature decline.

Then he changed the subject, saying, "So your generation can be a little more flamboyant, hahaha."

Zhai Da smiled and said, "You can be a little more outspoken. What's there to be afraid of if you have results?"

"Me? I plan to be a bit more flamboyant. Next year, I intend to continue trying to design wind tunnels with even higher speeds. Mach 9 is still not enough in the aerospace field; we need even higher speeds."

"Originally, the institute thought I was too old and should be handed over to younger people. But I think the JF-12 project is progressing so fast, maybe I can work for a few more years. If I can't keep up, then they can replace me."

Zhai Dacheng asked earnestly, "I look forward to your wind tunnel project being even faster. How much progress do you plan to make this time?"

Academician Yu laughed heartily: "Be bolder! With so much experience accumulated, let's directly move towards Mach 30 and completely break the boundaries between the air and space domains!"

Because the first cosmic velocity is only equivalent to Mach 23.2.

A wind tunnel capable of Mach 30 means that it is possible to break the boundaries between the sky and the heavens.

Zhai Da said earnestly, "If there's anything else you need me for, please feel free to contact me."

"Okay, okay, let's go, I'll treat you to dinner! We can eat and chat, it's closing time here too." The three of them walked out together, and as they passed a corridor, they happened to see a group of people pushing suitcases in.

A metal box half a meter high, tightly wrapped, accompanied by as many as seven or eight people, some of whom were wearing dark uniforms, making it impossible to tell which department they belonged to.

The leader, a man in his early thirties, nodded and said, "Academician Yu!"

Yu Hongru glanced at it and roughly guessed what it was: "I'm going to have a meal. You can just follow the normal warehousing process. There's someone there to sign it."

"You're busy, we're already familiar with each other."

Zhai Da clearly felt the other person's gaze sweep over him for a moment before the two groups passed each other by.

When they got into Gong Changzhang's Volkswagen and drove out of the courtyard, Zhai Da secretly took out a "pure gold cane" from his sleeve.

He was curious about what might be inside the box.

However, in the end, he took the cane back.

Leave some secrets and surprises for yourself and for the world.

During dinner, Zhai Da briefly mentioned that he had registered a research institute, including the Hongtu OS project.

Academician Yu felt something was off about the name "Mechanical Core Research Institute," while the project was actually a mobile phone operating system.
He didn't know much about this, but he still wished his "junior brother" good success.

Zhai Da suggested inviting Academician Yu and Gong Changzhang to join in the fun at the press conference. Gong Changzhang seemed somewhat interested, but after thinking for a moment, Academician Yu shook his head.

"Xiao Zhai, I don't have much time left. I need to settle down, otherwise, there won't be enough days left!"

Zhai Da looked at the gray hair, the loose skin, and the smiling eyes.

He nodded silently and raised his glass to toast the man.

Wishing you all the best.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

For the next two days, Zhai Da went to the teacher's office on time every day, just like clocking in for work, just like every weekend before the holiday.

They became the teacher's "eyes" and "hands," navigating through a vast sea of ​​materials.

Zhai Da reported to his teacher on the progress of "Hongtu OS", such as the addition of several more companies to the platform and the successful completion of the live broadcast of the launch event.

But while the teacher was happy, she didn't devote much energy to paying attention.

Perhaps in Qian Lao's eyes, the time when this matter needs another "surprise" is only after it has swept the market and promoted industrial upgrading.

Does every hammer blow before a missile launch warrant a celebratory banquet?

He put on his reading glasses and continued his research, as if to say: Isn't this just common sense?
He naturally assumed that his last disciple wouldn't get stuck on such a basic thing.

Zhai Da then stopped talking and focused on assisting his teacher in conducting industry research.

In addition, he did not invite the teacher to the press conference.

From any perspective, it was an inappropriate invitation. No one approached him to discuss the matter, but Zhai Da himself was well aware that he had to protect his teacher's reputation because those three words involved too much.

It's not relevant to this field, so there's no need.

On the fifth day of their trip to northern Beijing, July 8th, Zhai Da, along with six staff members from Xinglang, returned to Harbin first. They would begin filming footage of the research institute and work intensively to generate buzz.

Almost two days later, the strange name "Mechanical Core Research Institute" appeared on the Internet in many corners.

(End of this chapter)