Rejecting Tsinghua and Peking Universities: I Will Lead Harbin Institute of Technology to World Lead

Old Chen's decision was like a thunderbolt, shattering the last vestiges of hesitation.

The resolutions in the meeting room were compiled into a top-secret official document within ten minutes and sent directly to the highest levels through an encrypted channel. The document cover contained only one line: "Emergency Request for Instructions on Launching the Kunpeng Project and Building a 120,000-ton Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier."

The wait for a reply was a long twenty minutes.

No one left the conference room. Academician Zhou's hand holding the thermos was trembling slightly, Vice President Zheng kept glancing at his watch, and the other experts, whether sitting or standing, all had their eyes focused on the red secure telephone.

The phone finally rang.

Old Chen answered the phone and only said two words: "Yes."

Then came a series of "I understand," "I guarantee I will complete the task," and "Please rest assured."

He hung up the phone, turned around, and faced the entire room. This seasoned scientist, who had seen it all, had tears welling up in his eyes.

"The supreme command," his voice was hoarse with excitement, "is that we must mobilize the entire nation to ensure success."

Eight words, each carrying immense weight.

The meeting room fell silent for a moment, then erupted in suppressed cheers. Some people slammed their fists on the table, while others hugged tightly.

Over the next 24 hours, the entire national machinery began to operate with incredible efficiency.

At a base in the East China Sea, the aircraft carrier research and development center, originally codenamed Hailong, received an emergency order at midnight. Three hours later, all signs, labels, and documents bearing the name Hailong were replaced with two powerful characters—Kunpeng.

Standing atop the newly built command tower, looking down at the brightly lit factory area, the base commander said to the political commissar beside him, "Old buddy, our mission has begun."

In the capital, Lin Feng had no time to celebrate.

He returned to his temporary lodgings and packed his belongings—there wasn't much to pack, just a few changes of clothes and the encrypted laptop he never parted with.

But before setting off, Lin Feng went to the hospital.

It was late at night, and the VIP ward area was quiet. Shen Moran had been transferred to a regular ward and was recovering. Lin Feng stood outside the ward door and looked in through the glass window—she was asleep, her complexion much rosier than a month ago, and her breathing steady.

He didn't go in; he just stood outside the door for ten minutes.

Then he turned and left, borrowed paper and pen from the nurses' station, and wrote down a note:

[Senior, I need to leave Donghai for a while due to some matters. I'll personally pick you up when you're discharged from the hospital in a month. Take care of yourself and eat on time. —Lin Feng]

I handed the note to the nurse on duty and asked her to give it to me the next morning.

Three o'clock in the morning, at a military airfield.

A Y-20 modified special transport aircraft was already waiting on the runway. The cabin was spacious, but it was full of people—Academician Zhou, Vice President Zheng, and seven other core experts. They had all received orders to rush to the Kunpeng Base as soon as possible.

"Chief Designer Lin, this way." Academician Zhou patted the empty seat next to him.

This title surprised Lin Feng for a moment.

"Mr. Zhou, what's wrong...?"

"It's time to change your tune," Academician Zhou said seriously. "We just received news from the base that the appointment documents have been issued. You are the chief designer of the Kunpeng Project, and I am the deputy chief designer and head of the ship's hull structure group."

The other experts nodded in agreement, their eyes showing no sign of dissatisfaction as they looked at Lin Feng—the Q&A session over the past day had completely won them over.

Lin Feng did not refuse again and sat down next to Academician Zhou.

With engines roaring, the plane soared into the night sky.

The cabin was quiet; no one spoke. Everyone knew that this journey to the East China Sea would be a tough one. Some people took out their documents and began studying them, while others closed their eyes to rest. Academician Zhou, however, kept staring at the clouds outside the window, lost in thought.

Four hours later, the plane landed at a military airport in the East China Sea.

As dawn broke, the sea breeze, carrying a salty, fishy smell, swept over us. Several camouflaged off-road vehicles were already waiting by the runway. After picking up the passengers, they headed straight for the base.

The Kunpeng base is larger than I imagined.

Spanning over twenty square kilometers, the site is surrounded by mountains on three sides and faces the sea on the other. The massive dry dock has been dredged and reinforced, and rows of newly built factories and laboratories line the shore. The most striking feature is the seven-story command building in the center, with its radar antenna slowly rotating on the roof.

"This is the foundation left over from the previous Sea Dragon Project." The base commander personally greeted them, pointing to the facilities in the distance, "But according to your requirements, sixty percent of it needs to be modified or rebuilt. The materials laboratory arrived yesterday, and the CNC machine tools will be installed within three days."

Lin Feng didn't rest and started working immediately.

That afternoon, the first plenary meeting was held in the command building. Attendees included not only the expert team, but also heads of various subsystems, engineer representatives, and key technical workers—a total of over three hundred people.

Lin Feng stood in front of the projection screen, with a 3D model of the Kunpeng behind him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, from today onwards, we have only one goal." His voice echoed through the microphone throughout the hall, "To have this aircraft carrier launched within two to three years."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across each face: "I know some people think it's impossible. But I want to tell everyone—our theory is complete, our plan is feasible, and what we need to do is turn every line on the blueprint into every steel plate in reality."

There were no grand pronouncements, only simple statements.

But it was precisely this calm confidence that ignited the passion of those present.

After the meeting, the work was fully launched.

Lin Feng became the busiest person in the entire base. He only slept four hours a day, and spent the rest of his time either coordinating the progress of various groups in the conference room, verifying key data in the laboratory, or solving process problems in the workshop.

Academician Zhou was in charge of the hull structure group, Vice President Zheng was in charge of the power system group, and other experts each performed their respective duties. But everyone had developed a habit—when encountering a problem they couldn't solve, they would immediately turn to Lin Feng.

Lin Feng has never disappointed anyone.

The materials team failed seventeen times in a row while prototyping the new composite armor. Lin Feng spent two days in the workshop, adjusting three parameters of the hot pressing process. On the eighteenth test, all performance indicators met the standards.

During simulated launches, the energy storage system of the electromagnetic catapult always triggered prematurely. Lin Feng spent three sleepless nights rewriting the control algorithm and adding an adaptive adjustment module, which solved the problem.

The most challenging aspect was reactor miniaturization. According to the design, the Kunpeng's reactor volume needed to be 40% smaller than traditional models, while still increasing power output by 50%. The nuclear power unit worked for a month, but progress was slow.

Lin Feng moved directly into the nuclear power laboratory.

Seven days later, he came out with a brand-new design plan in his hand: "The reactor core adopts a honeycomb fuel rod arrangement, the coolant flow channel is optimized, and a new neutron reflector layer is added."

The team members began trial production with some skepticism. Half a month later, when the first scaled-down prototype completed testing, everyone was stunned—the power density was 8% higher than the original design.

"President Lin," Vice Dean Zheng said, his hands trembling as he looked at the test data, "how... how did you develop your brain?"

Lin Feng just smiled and turned to go to the next workshop.

A month passed in this way, with everyone working day and night.

The Kunpeng base is progressing at an astonishing pace. The basic preparatory work, which was originally planned to be completed in three months, was all in place in just one month. Each subsystem has entered the prototype trial production stage, and the entire base is brightly lit 24 hours a day.

But Lin Feng knew that the hardest part was yet to come.

The leap from prototype to physical product, from small-batch to large-batch production, from subsystem to overall system integration... every step is a formidable challenge.

That evening, Lin Feng went to see Academician Zhou.

The senior expert was still looking at blueprints in his office, with a half-eaten box of cold dumplings on his desk—a late-night snack specially left by the cafeteria for experts working overtime, but he had obviously forgotten to eat them.

"Old Zhou." Lin Feng knocked on the door and came in.

"President Lin? It's so late and you're still not resting?" Academician Zhou quickly got up.

"There's something I need to ask of you," Lin Feng said, getting straight to the point. "I need to leave for a few days to go back to Beijing. Please take care of things at the base..."

"Go ahead." Academician Zhou patted his shoulder without asking any further questions. "I'll take care of things here. All the groups are on track, so your absence for a few days won't cause any major problems."

"Thank you, Elder Zhou," Lin Feng said with a smile. "I'll be back as soon as possible."

"No need to rush," Academician Zhou waved his hand. "Just get things done. In our line of work, once we really get down to business, we might not be able to free up our time for years."

Lin Feng bowed deeply.

The next morning, before dawn, Lin Feng was already in a car leaving the base.

Zhao Weiguo drove, and neither of them spoke. As the car drove out of the base gate, Lin Feng glanced back—the lights in the command building were still on; Academician Zhou must have stayed up all night again.

Four hours later, the plane landed in Beijing.

Lin Feng went directly to the hospital without notifying anyone.

A month has passed.

He came to fulfill his promise.