Genius is just the threshold for me!

"Aunt Xia."

Zhang Xiali opened the door, and Xia Ran greeted her with a slightly restrained voice.

He Ying, who was standing next to him carrying a box of fruit, followed up with a smile: "Engineer Zhang, sorry to bother you."

"I'm on vacation at home anyway, so why bother me? Engineer He, and Xia Ran, come in quickly. You don't need to change your shoes; we need to mop the floor today."

Seeing the fruit in He Ying's hand, Zhang Xiali knew something was up. She invited the two in and called out, "Xiao Dong, your classmate Xia Ran and Aunt He are here!"

"understood."

Lin Dong responded, walked out of the study, closed the door behind him, and brewed another pot of tea.

After the tea was brewed, Zhang Xiali invited He Ying and Xia Ran to sit on the sofa in the living room.

Lin Dong took the cups and poured seven-tenths of a cup of tea for the two of them. Finally, he poured half a cup for Zhang Xiali and himself, then took a low stool and sat down next to Zhang Xiali to hear what the two had come to do.

"Mr. Zhang, it's like this."

He Ying picked up her teacup, took a sip, glanced at Lin Dong, then looked at Zhang Xiali, and smiled as she explained the purpose of her visit.

"My daughter Ranran wants to skip a grade and go to the third year of junior high, but the Education Bureau's regulations are quite strict this year, so we might need a coordination letter from Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group..."

"I see."

Zhang Xiali looked enlightened upon hearing this and nodded, saying, "School starts in two days, so this is a bit urgent. I'll go and draft a letter in a bit."

Having worked at Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group for over a decade, and thanks to her connection with Lin Weiliang, Zhang Xiali is now considered a mid-level manager in the logistics department.

As a military-industrial confidential unit, the logistics department takes care of a series of life problems encountered by the core employees' family members, such as medical treatment when they are sick and their children go to school.

The matter He Ying mentioned happened to fall within the scope of her duties.

"Xia Ran, are you skipping a grade and going into the third year of junior high?"

Hearing the conversation between the two adults, Lin Dong couldn't help but look at Xia Ran sitting opposite him.

"Uh-huh."

Xia Ran took a sip of tea and nodded gently, saying, "I've finished self-studying the second year of junior high school and I want to learn something new."

"sharp!"

Lin Dong immediately gave a thumbs up, praising in amazement, "Geniuses are just different."

"..."

Seeing Lin Dong's expression, Xia Ran smiled twice, picked up her teacup, and quietly drank her tea without replying.

"Mr. Zhang, we'll head back soon. I'll look for you again this afternoon."

After finalizing the letter regarding skipping a grade, He Ying sat and chatted for a while before standing up to say goodbye to Zhang Xiali.

"Mr. He, please wait a moment."

Zhang Xiali quickly got up, took out two bags of vacuum-packed nuts, put them in a bag, and handed them to He Ying: "We bought extra nuts last time, take some back for the kids as snacks."

"This... Mr. Zhang, you don't need to be so polite." He Ying quickly pushed her hand away in refusal.

"Here, these are cheap snacks for the kids." Zhang Xiali stuffed the nuts into He Ying's hand.

"Alright then..."

He Ying knew that this was a reciprocal gesture from Zhang Xiali, who was afraid of gossip, after she had brought fruit to Zhang Xiali's door. She declined a couple of times before accepting it and greeted Xia Ran.

"Ranran, let's go."

"it is good."

Xia Ran responded, put down her cup, looked at Lin Dong, and smiled, "Lin Dong, I'm going back now. Goodbye."

"Take care, goodbye."

Lin Dong smiled, got up and saw Xia Ran to the door. After she and He Ying had entered the elevator and left, he closed the door and went back to his study.

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.

evening.

In a shady spot outside the residential area, Xia Ran and Huang Qingyao bought a cup of milk tea and strolled around.

"What?!"

Suddenly, upon hearing Xia Ran's words, Huang Qingyao's eyes widened in disbelief: "You're going to skip a grade and go straight to the third year of junior high?"

"My mom has spoken with the school today."

Xia Ran nodded: "I'll be going straight into the third year of junior high when school starts in a couple of days."

"Shishi Middle School doesn't have elite classes; it's all about following the class schedule. From the first year of junior high to the third year, classes aren't reassigned. If you don't skip a grade and go to the second year, you'll still be in the same class as Qingling and Lindong..."

Huang Qingyao still didn't believe it, staring into Xia Ran's eyes and asking, "You don't like it anymore?"

Facing Huang Qingyao's probing gaze, Xia Ran remained calm and asked, "What do I like?"

"ha……"

Huang Qingyao couldn't help but laugh, patted Xia Ran's shoulder, and said with a hearty laugh, "I love seeing you so stubborn!"

"Yaoyao, don't be like Lala, okay?" Xia Ran quickly slapped Huang Qingyao's hand away.

"Go ahead and skip a grade. You're much more cheerful now than when we first met. It seems like the environment at Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group is quite nurturing."

Seeing Xia Ran like this, Huang Qingyao couldn't help but ask out of gossip and curiosity, "But tell me honestly, when exactly did you notice Lin Dong? I want to see if you're still salvageable."

"Tell me the truth or a lie?" Xia Ran asked with a smile.

"If you won't tell me, I'll go ask Lin Dong."

Huang Qingyao rolled her eyes.

"He didn't care about these eyes of attention, and he didn't even know it."

Xia Ran chuckled softly, but she didn't hide anything from her close friends whom she could openly talk to: "...I told you, you can't be angry."

"I'm just watching the show, why am I angry?" Huang Qingyao asked, puzzled.

"You said it yourself."

Xia Ran took a sip of milk tea and said seriously, "Actually, I noticed it at the offline game promotion event that summer."

You guys were so bad back then, you couldn't beat any of you, and you all had your own ideas.

He's incompetent, but talks a lot.

But when Lin Dong and Qing Ling arrived, you all unconsciously followed Lin Dong's advice.

In addition, Lin Dong was interviewed on Channel 1 that day, which took up quite a bit of time. My dad saw that it was an interview for a promotional event and asked him a few questions out of curiosity... So when school starts, and they happen to be in the same class, it's inevitable that he'll pay more attention to them.

"What the hell?"

Huang Qingyao's eyes widened. "I admit I'm bad at games, but you're saying I should listen to Lin Dong's advice?"

"Yes, yes, yes..."

Xia Ran couldn't help but laugh: "You guys didn't listen to Lin Dong's advice."

"...You're hopeless. You even talk like Xu Qingling, mimicking Lin Dong's tone."

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.

Time flies.

The new school year has quickly passed by in just over two months, and the weather has gone from hot to cool, and then to a hint of early winter chill.

Su Yue, Li Tao, and the others were initially surprised by Xia Ran's skipping of a grade.

But soon everyone discovered that Xia Ran had only skipped a grade to junior high, and they could still go to and from school together every day.

Unlike Zhang Zihua, who skipped a grade to high school this semester, and whose school schedule is different, everyone else got used to it within the first week, except for Xu Qingling, who was a little unaccustomed to being in the same class.

【Xia Ran】：@Xu Qingling@Su Yue, come over to Yao Yao's place for a barbecue, the first barbecue of early winter.

[Huang Qingyao]: @Xu Qingling, stop holed up at Lin Dong's house, come over here quickly and skewer some meat!

[Xu Qingling]: I'm about to go.

[Su Yue]: I'll fly over right away!

Lin Dongjia, weekend afternoon.

Xu Qingling looked at the message that popped up in the group chat on her phone, then looked at Lin Dong, who was holding his laptop and waiting for emails: "I'm going to have a barbecue with Yao Yao and the others. Tell Aunt Xia that I won't be back for dinner tonight."

"good!"

Lin Dong looked up, pointed to the snacks on the side, and said with a smile, "Take some snacks with you, I'm afraid you won't have anything to eat."

"Don't underestimate us..."

Xu Qingling snorted.

But she still obediently carried a bag of snacks, called out to Lin Weiliang and Zhang Xiali who were still chatting in the living room, and went out.

Ding-dong-

Not long after Xu Qingling left, a long-awaited email popped up in Wang Xingguo's inbox.

[Chengfei Cai Gong]: This is the latest actual test data for the wing, along with a summary table of tests conducted over the past two and a half months.

"This test wing, after half a month of work, finally has the data ready..."

Lin Dong took a deep breath, opened the email sent by Engineer Cai, and instead of looking at the specific data, he opened the first test video.

In a large, enclosed workshop, a test wing, nearly 20 meters long and triangular in shape, was constantly bending up and down or twisting under the pull of tens of tons provided by high-strength tension ropes.

The high-precision sensors deployed on top are synchronously collecting data that changes every millisecond...

"The stiffness is a bit too high."

Lin Dong carefully looked at the data for a few minutes, then opened the second data sheet, quickly scanned the data, mentally calculated for a dozen seconds, and quickly typed a reply.

[Wang Xingguo]: Engineer Cai, removing some of the stiffness support bars will reduce the overall stiffness by 4.58 points, increase the tensile force by 8.9 points, and increase the pulling speed by 18.5 points... Do another test, and be careful during the test!

[Chengfei Cai Engineer]: Received!

"It doesn't involve uncharted technological territory, but this data collection is still a massive undertaking..." Lin Dong watched the video again, a sense of感慨 (gan3kai3, a feeling of deep emotion or reflection) appearing in his heart.

There are four core challenges in developing a large bomber.

One is the engine, another is the matching of the wing and flight control, another is the welding challenge of large components, and the third is the trade-offs in stealth design.

Without knowing these four key challenges, a solution cannot be determined, and the next design phase cannot proceed.

"The first engine design has been finalized, and we're just waiting for the overall design to be matched with it. The roadmap for the fourth challenge has also been determined, and the third problem is also progressing. Only the second problem remains: the matching of the wings and flight control system..."

Large bombers have wingspans ranging from 35 to nearly 60 meters, with the weight of the entire bomber, over two hundred tons, pressing down on them. Such wings must provide sufficient rigid support, but cannot be too rigid.

Because in addition to supporting the flight of an aircraft, the wing is essentially a shock absorber, requiring good elasticity to counteract various airflow fluctuations.

In this way, when encountering airflow impacts, the wings can move with the wind instead of being directly broken.

But too much elasticity is also not good.

With a wingspan of approximately 60 meters, and over 20 meters on each side, the torque effect caused by such a large span means that if the elasticity is too high and the rigidity is insufficient, the entire wing will twist into a pretzel when it encounters airflow.

The balance in this process requires extensive testing, and it must also be perfectly matched with the aircraft's speed and flight control system.

The trim control of the horizontal stabilizer must be able to adapt to the changes and fluctuations of the wing at all times, thus ensuring the stable flight of the entire aircraft.

"Fortunately, domestic industry has no problem manufacturing this wing. Once that problem is solved, and the large-scale forging process for the fuselage is resolved, the plan can be finalized..."

After carefully watching the video of the wing test and processing a few other emails, Lin Dong heard a cell phone ringing outside the living room.

"Hello... Are you Teacher Chen?... Yes, this is Lin Weiliang, this is my number... What? Someone is inquiring about my middle school?"

Lin Dong heard Lin Weiliang's phone call in the living room, and his expression changed slightly. He got up and left the study, watching Lin Weiliang holding his ordinary cell phone with a gloomy face, asking about the specific situation on the other end of the line.