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

The next day, Lin Feng spent another whole day in the mountain city.

I accompanied Shen Moran to see the coffee shop that was under renovation—a two-story building converted from an old riverside building, with large floor-to-ceiling windows offering views of the river and distant mountains. Workers were doing plumbing and electrical work, and building materials and tools were scattered all over the place.

"We'll put bookshelves here, the bar over there, and the window seats on the second floor are the most comfortable; we can put some beanbag chairs there." Shen Moran held his hand, pointing excitedly, her eyes sparkling.

In the afternoon, the two strolled through the old street. They ate noodles at a roadside stall, browsed a few out-of-print books at a used bookstore, and watched an old man play chess by the river. Just like any ordinary couple, they had the most ordinary date.

No one mentioned parting.

But the farewell still came.

At four o'clock in the morning on the third day, it was still dark.

Lin Feng gently sat up and glanced at Shen Moran, who was fast asleep beside him. Moonlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, casting a soft silver rim on her face. He leaned down and placed a light kiss on her forehead.

Then I got dressed, picked up my simple suitcase, and went out the door.

In the living room, Lin Guodong and Su Wenqing were both awake. They sat on the sofa, the lights off, with only the faint glow of the streetlights outside the window.

"Dad, Mom," Lin Feng said softly.

Su Wenqing stood up, wanting to say something, but in the end just patted his shoulder: "Take care of yourself and eat on time."

"Mm." Lin Feng nodded.

Lin Guodong didn't get up, he just looked at him and said, "Don't worry about home, your mother and I are here, and so is Mo Ran."

"I know."

There were no hugs, no tears, not even a word of farewell. This is the Lin family's consistent way of getting along—love is kept in their hearts, not spoken aloud.

Lin Feng pushed open the door and went out; Zhao Weiguo was already waiting downstairs.

The car started and slowly drove out of the residential area.

Behind the curtains in the fourth-floor bedroom, Shen Moran stood. She had actually been awake for a while, from the moment Lin Feng got up. She didn't say anything, didn't try to stop him, and just watched him leave.

Tears silently streamed down her face, but she wiped them away forcefully.

"Child, I'm so sorry you had to go through this." Su Wenqing stood behind her unnoticed, her voice choked with emotion.

Shen Moran turned around, her eyes red, but she smiled: "Auntie, I'm not wronged. Since I chose Lin Feng, I chose everything about him—his career, his responsibilities, and this long-distance relationship."

She paused, her voice soft yet firm: "He's doing something very important. All I can do is ensure he has no worries."

Su Wenqing hugged her. Lin Guodong stood at the doorway, looking at the two women, and sighed deeply: "Good girl."

They are all good children.

The airport, the first flight of the morning.

Lin Feng and Zhao Weiguo boarded the plane through a special channel. Three hours later, the plane landed in the East China Sea.

The base's vehicle was already waiting on the tarmac. The person there to pick him up was Academician Zhou's assistant, a sharp-looking young man in his thirties. Upon seeing Lin Feng, his eyes lit up: "President Lin! You're finally back!"

"How's the base?" Lin Feng asked as soon as he got in the car.

"We've been incredibly busy!" the assistant said while driving. "In the few days you were gone, the ship's sections started to assemble, the reactor's first ignition test was successful, and the electromagnetic catapult prototype passed 100,000 durability tests..."

He rattled off more than a dozen developments in one breath, his tone as excited as if he were announcing good news.

Lin Feng listened, his face expressionless, but the light in his eyes gradually brightened.

As the car entered the base gate, Lin Feng rolled down the window.

Before us lies a massive dry dock. A year ago, this place was empty; now, a behemoth is beginning to take shape—the keel of a ship, over 300 meters long, has been completed, and huge sections are arranged like building blocks along the dock's edge, with crane booms standing like a steel forest.

The air was filled with the smells of welding sparks, paint, and the salty smell of the sea breeze.

Lin Feng took a deep breath.

He is back.

The following year was a crazy year.

Lin Feng moved directly into the base's dormitory—a small single room of less than ten square meters, with a bed, a table, and a bookshelf, that was it. He got up at five in the morning every day and went to bed at two in the morning, spending all his time in between in the workshop, laboratory, and conference room.

Academician Zhou was even more dedicated than him. The old man was over seventy, yet he stayed up all night just like the young people. Once, at the ship's hull section assembly site, he stood for sixteen consecutive hours, and Lin Feng had to force him to be carried back to rest.

"President Lin, the parameters are still unstable during the second reactor commissioning."

"Mr. Lin, the adhesion test of the stealth coating shows that it degrades too quickly in a salt spray environment."

"President Lin, the tailhook system for carrier-based aircraft landings only has a 70% hook-up rate..."

Problems kept popping up, and difficulties kept emerging. But Lin Feng was like a tireless problem-solving machine; no matter how thorny the technical difficulties, he could always find a solution in the shortest amount of time.

Sometimes it involves deriving formulas on a whiteboard, sometimes it involves adjusting equipment directly in the workshop, and sometimes it involves gathering everyone together for a brainstorming session.

He had lost weight, his eyes were sunken, and his beard had grown long and he hadn't had time to shave. But just by standing there, everyone felt at ease—with President Lin there, everything would be fine.

Lin Feng did not contact anyone that year.

The messages from Shen Mo about dyeing his hair on my phone went from one a day to one a week, and finally one a month. The messages were all simple: "I'm doing well, Mom and Dad are doing well too, the coffee shop opened, business is good." " Went to the company today, Uncle Lin taught me how to read financial statements." "It's getting colder, remember to wear more clothes."

He rarely replies, not because he doesn't want to, but because he genuinely doesn't have the time. Occasionally, late at night, when he's so tired his brain can't function, he'll look through those messages one by one, then stare blankly at the moon over the sea outside his window for a long time.

A year passed quietly amidst the flying sparks of welding, the roar of machines, and countless sleepless nights.

That day, Lin Feng was in the nuclear power control center, staring at the real-time data of the reactor on the screen. Suddenly, the door was pushed open violently.

Academician Zhou rushed in. The old man's face was flushed, his hands were trembling violently, and his lips quivered for a long time before he finally managed to squeeze out three words: "It's done...it's done..."

Lin Feng suddenly stood up: "What? It's done?"

"The entire ship... is now fully assembled!"

The entire base fell into an eerie silence for a moment.

Then, it erupted.

Cheers erupted from the dry dock, sweeping across the entire base like a tsunami. Workers threw off their hard hats, engineers embraced each other, and veteran experts patted each other on the shoulder, laughing and crying at the same time.

Lin Feng rushed out, with Academician Zhou following behind him. The two practically ran towards the dry dock.

Standing on the observation deck by the dock, Lin Feng's breath caught in his throat at the sight before him.

The seawater in the dry dock had been pumped out.

A massive steel warship lay there silently—317 meters long and 76 meters wide, its gray-black hull streamlined like a blade, its huge flight deck as flat as an airport runway, and its island superstructure featuring an unprecedented stealth design with sharp angles.

The sunlight shone on the ship's hull, reflecting a cold light.

This is Kunpeng.

China's first large aircraft carrier designed and built entirely independently.

"President Lin..." Academician Zhou's voice choked with emotion, "We...we really made it..."

Lin Feng didn't say anything.

He simply stood there, looking at the ship. Images from the past year flashed through his mind—those sleepless nights, those failed experiments, those heated debates, those moments of ecstasy upon breakthrough…

It was all worth it.

【Ding! 】

In that instant, a familiar mechanical voice echoed in my mind.

[Detection indicates that the Kunpeng aircraft carrier, developed under the host's leadership, has been successfully manufactured in the real world.]

[Project rewards are now being distributed...]

Lin Feng's heart skipped a beat.

[Reward 1: Core Theory of First-Generation Artificial Intelligence]

[Description: Includes a complete theoretical system encompassing the underlying architecture of strong artificial intelligence, autonomous learning algorithms, multimodal perception fusion, and ethical and safety frameworks.]

[Reward Two: Core Theory of Controlled Nuclear Fusion]

[Description: Includes miniaturization schemes for tokamak devices, plasma stabilization control algorithms, tritium self-sustaining cycle systems, and direct thermoelectric conversion technology.]

[Reward 3: Cash Reward - 50 million Huaxia Coins]

[Note: Funds have been injected into the host's personal account through compliant investment channels, with a clear source and are available for use at any time.]

[Rewards distributed]

Behind him, Academician Zhou was still excitedly patting the railing: "President Lin, shouldn't we report the good news to the higher-ups? Shouldn't we prepare for the sea trial? And the naming ceremony..."

Lin Feng turned around, looked at the old man who had dedicated his life to the aircraft carrier, and nodded solemnly:

"Mr. Zhou, you're right."