At the beginning, he took his seven younger siblings to join Yi Zhonghai.

"Yes, comrade, I've been checked so many times today. It feels like the whole of Beijing is under martial law."

Tu Youyou said, even more puzzled.

"Sorry, this is a military exercise. Please bear with us. You two may leave now."

After the class monitor looked at the two men's identification documents, his expression softened, but he still spoke with a blank face.

"Oh well."

Tu Youyou sheepishly took back her ID.

"By the way, if you see any suspicious people, don't get into a fight, just call for backup immediately."

As the class monitor turned around, he whispered a reminder.

Yi Zhongding and his companion returned a military salute, then mounted their bicycles and left together.

On the rest of the journey, they underwent two more routine checks, but both times they left without incident.

The two finally stopped in front of the Academy of Military Sciences.

The two showed their identification, registered at the gate, and entered the campus of the Academy of Military Sciences.

The Academy of Military Sciences covers a large area, with several Soviet-style buildings scattered throughout.

Tu Youyou led Yi Zhongding across a playground and to a gray three-story building.

A sign hangs at the entrance of the building that reads "Research Center for Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine".

"The equipment is installed in the low-temperature extraction workshop on the first floor."

As Tu Youyou spoke, she pushed open the building door.

A strong smell, a mixture of ethanol and ether, wafted towards us.

Yi Zhongding took a deep breath. It was a smell he was extremely familiar with—the smell of the solvent, the most crucial component in the artemisinin extraction process.

He followed Tu Youyou through the corridor to the workshop door and pushed open the heavy iron door.

Inside the workshop, a brand-new freeze-drying machine stands quietly in the center of the room, its silver-white stainless steel casing gleaming coldly under the fluorescent lights.

Several technicians in white coats are conducting final checks.

"Team Leader Tu."

When they saw Tu Youyou and Yi Zhongding come in, they all looked up to greet them.

"This is Director Yi Zhongding, the person you've been wanting to meet."

Tu Youyou stepped aside, pointed at Yi Zhongding, and laughed.

"Hello, Director Yi."

They quickly stood at attention and saluted.

"Hello, comrades, you've worked hard."

Yi Zhongding greeted them.

Then he walked up to the equipment, circled it, and carefully examined every interface, every pipe, and every instrument.

Yi Zhongding reached out and gently tapped the casing of the device, the metal producing a dull echo.

A technician came out from the side and introduced the machine to him.

"Start the test run."

After understanding the situation, Yi Zhongding turned around and spoke to Tu Youyou.

Fortunately, we can still talk about machines these days.

"Yes, start the test run."

Tu Youyou shouted to the technicians.

Yi Zhongding stood in front of the equipment, his eyes fixed on every set of data on the instrument panel.

The hum of the freeze-drying equipment echoed through the workshop, like a deep and powerful march.

Yi Zhongding gently touched the outer shell of the device with his fingers, and his divine sense probed into the inside of the machine, feeling the vibration frequency transmitted from the metal. It was even and stable, without any abnormal noise.

At the same time, he silently sketched out the structure of this imported machine in his mind.

"The temperature has dropped to minus forty degrees Celsius."

Operator report guide.

"What about the pressure?"

Yi Zhongding asked.

"The vacuum level has reached the predetermined value of 0.08 millibars and is being maintained."

The observer said loudly.

Yi Zhongding nodded and turned his gaze to the observation window.

Through the thick glass, you can see the extract slowly condensing into ice crystals inside the cryogenic chamber, its color a nearly transparent pale yellow.

That is the ideal crystalline form of artemisinin crude extract.

"Initiating the heating process."

Tu Youyou issued the instructions.

The operator immediately pressed the button, and the heating system inside the equipment started working.

As the temperature slowly rises, the ice crystals inside the cryogenic chamber begin to sublimate, turning into gas that is then extracted by the vacuum pump.

This process lasted about twenty minutes.

When the temperature returned to room temperature, only a thin layer of pale yellow powder remained inside the freezer.

"Crystallization is complete, yielding 93.4 percent. Purity testing is underway."

The operator reported.

Yi Zhongding walked to the sampling port, put on a pair of white gloves, and took the sample handed to him by the technician.

He gently picked up a little powder with his fingertips, placed it in his palm and examined it carefully. The particles were fine and uniform, with a pure color and a distinctive bitter aroma of artemisia.

Then he placed the powder on the tip of his tongue and gently licked it, closing his eyes to savor it for a moment.

It took him a while to open his eyes.

A satisfied smile appeared on his lips.

"it is good."

Yi Zhongding only said one word.

But this word represented his affirmation, which relieved everyone present.

"So, this process can be solidified?"

Tu Youyou smiled and asked impatiently.

"It can be solidified. From today onwards, this freeze-drying process will be the standard process for the production of artemisinin raw materials."

"Report to superiors immediately that the artemisinin production process has been finalized and can proceed to industrial-scale trial production. All subsequent production lines should be designed and built according to these parameters."

Yi Zhongding said firmly.

A burst of excited cheers erupted in the workshop.

Several young technicians high-fived each other in celebration, their faces beaming with barely suppressed excitement.

They have been working overtime for more than two months to debug this equipment.

Finally, it has received the most authoritative recognition today.

Seeing their excitement, Yi Zhongding didn't stop them and let them cheer.

He walked to the control panel, picked up the data recording notebook, and signed his name on it.

"After on-site verification, the freeze-drying process parameters meet the standards. It is agreed to solidify them and include them in the industrialization plan. Yi Zhongding, November 17, 1960."

Yi Zhongding solemnly wrote his annotations and signature at the signature section.

After Yi Zhongding finished writing, he put down his pen, turned around, and said to Tu Youyou:

"Team Leader Tu, the commissioning of this equipment has been successfully completed. I will truthfully report your hard work and the hard work of the technical team in the project summary report."

"The credit belongs to everyone, not just me. Besides, being able to take artemisinin from the laboratory to the production line is the greatest reward for us."

Tu Youyou waved her hand dismissively and said.

Yi Zhongding smiled and didn't say anything more.

He understood Tu Youyou's personality.

She is the kind of person who truly loves scientific research; fame and fortune are far less important to her than turning a research result into reality.

"Let's leave this to the technicians. We'll head back to the hospital first. There's still some preparation work to do for the afternoon meeting."

Yi Zhongding glanced at his watch and said.

The two bid farewell to the technical staff of the Academy of Military Sciences and rode their bicycles back the way they came.

Roadside checks remain strict!

Both men were from clean backgrounds and politically reliable working-class families, so they passed through all the checkpoints smoothly without any complications.