Rebirth in 1960, My Industrial Age

Chapter 389 I admire you!
"Principal Song, welcome, welcome! With you here, our research group can finally relax."

Upon seeing the newcomer, Zhou Fengnian immediately stood up to greet him.

This person holds a significant position in the domestic biomedical field and can be considered an authority in the area. He had not previously planned to take on the role of the group leader because he was a newcomer in the field.

There are too many accomplished and famous people. Zhou Fengnian is practically the number one in the fields of semiconductors, machinery and computers, but in the field of biomedicine, he is a complete newcomer.

However, having such a renowned vice dean serve as an ordinary group member would put even more pressure on the others.

If differing opinions arise, Zhou Fengnian's identity and position will become even more awkward.

"Vice Dean Zhou, you flatter me too much. I will do my best to contribute to the project."

Vice Principal Song smiled and shook hands, saying that although he was somewhat surprised when he first heard that Zhou Fengnian was in charge of the pharmaceutical and biological project, since the two were not very related.

They do use supercomputers in their research, but it's not to the point of directly involving the researchers.

However, this was an arrangement made by higher-ups, and although Vice Principal Song had doubts, he didn't show it.

"Principal Song, almost everyone has arrived. Except for those who can't make it right now, everyone else is here. Shall we have a meeting this afternoon?"

Zhou Fengnian said, "Let's confirm the project direction, and there are other things as well."

There are six planned projects in the field of biology alone, and they are just one of them, but one of the more important ones.

Their country has too many gaps in the field of biomedicine. Many vaccines and effective drugs still need to be imported. Only in recent years have they broken a few monopolies, and there is still a gap of at least thirty years between them and foreign countries.

"Alright, let's get started as soon as possible. Vice Dean Zhou, I heard that you were the one who proposed this high-tech development plan?"

"No, when I first arrived, Committee Member Wang and Committee Member Yang approached me. I offered some suggestions, which they thought were good and took into consideration. Actually, it was their suggestions. By the way, Principal Song, have your accommodations been arranged?"

"Everything is arranged. We're all together, so it'll be very convenient to have a car pick us up and drop us off every day."

The two talked as they walked toward the conference room and arrived there quickly.

There were quite a few people who came; including himself, there were twenty-six.

Although he initially selected a large number of people, after making phone calls to inquire, very few were available and able to come. Even for a national project, one cannot force people to come.

After all, it's all research. They've already invested a third of the funding over there, so how could they possibly put down their work to come here?

For various reasons, only this many people were able to come. Although it was fewer than Zhou Fengnian had expected, it was still enough to get the work done.

Once everyone was present, Zhou Fengnian, as the group leader, began to chair the meeting.

He was very amicable at the beginning, which was exactly what Zhou Fengnian wanted. As long as he didn't cause trouble at the start, he could then demonstrate a level of competence that would convince these researchers.

After all, he had planned to conduct biomedical research several years ago, and now he has leveled up his related skills to level eight, which is among the top in the country.

If I continue to conduct project research for a few more years, I will very likely be able to upgrade this skill to level ten.

Once you reach level ten, that's a realm that only gods can access.

Unfortunately, the foundation for implementation is currently lacking, and development must proceed step by step. Otherwise, Zhou Fengnian could directly explore biochips and brain-computer interfaces, allowing consciousness to directly control robots.
He has this technical idea, but lacks the conditions to implement it.

The only way is to continuously improve national strength first, and then develop things in sequence. With him around, there will be no problem of technological development bottlenecks.

Inside the meeting room, after presiding over the meeting, Zhou Fengnian proposed a very important gene-engineered drug that could be used to treat hepatitis B and cancer.

This is a research and development direction that he figured out after three simulation experiments a few days ago, and it is basically certain that it is correct.

In the simulated space, Zhou Fengnian could even materialize patients suffering from hepatitis B and cancer, but they had no consciousness.

If it weren't so convenient, allowing for direct and rudimentary experiments, his progress wouldn't have been this fast.

The results were quite good. After Zhou Fengnian demonstrated his true expertise in the field, all the researchers in the conference room became serious.

They weren't naive; when they first learned that Zhou Fengnian had become the group leader, they were simply puzzled as to why an outsider would be chosen as the group leader.

But now, after listening to Zhou Fengnian's explanation of the research and development direction, themes, and corresponding ideas, the other researchers in the meeting room, including Vice President Song, realized that everything Zhou Fengnian said was substantial.

'This doesn't seem like someone who's an amateur. But isn't Team Leader Zhou a computer researcher?'

They were familiar with Zhou Fengnian, who had led teams to develop supercomputers several times and built Shenzhou Computer Factory into the world's number one computer factory.
While he may not be nationally renowned, researchers certainly know of his existence; moreover, they are all government employees, so they must be aware of the change in the vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

But I've never heard of Zhou Fengnian studying biomedicine before. I haven't seen him study it at any university in the country. Could it be that he's self-taught?
The meeting lasted all morning, and everyone quickly decided that the first project would be to study this genetically engineered drug.

Once completed, they will have made a significant breakthrough in drugs for disease prevention; and most importantly, they already have the ideas, so all that's left is to start research and development experiments as soon as possible.

In the morning, the researchers had some doubts about Zhou Fengnian, the group leader, but by lunchtime, those doubts had been completely dispelled.

When they went to the cafeteria to get food, everyone gathered around Zhou Fengnian, as if they regarded him as their pillar of support.

After we finished eating and went back, besides deciding on our research direction, there were other things we needed to confirm.

After Zhou Fengnian had Qian Zhi distribute the prepared documents, he addressed the group, saying, "Comrades, next we need to determine the location for our research experiments. There's no need to build a new research institute; there are three that meet the criteria."
The researchers at the Beijing Municipal Institute of Biological Sciences, where Deputy Director Xu works, and the Shanghai Medical College... As for the one in Jiangsu, although it meets the requirements, it lacks both space and equipment, and they also have their own projects.”

They needed to choose a location to proceed with their next plan. Emotionally speaking, Zhou Fengnian preferred Beijing, since it was close to home.
However, it must be said that the medical school in Shanghai is more suitable, as can be seen from the information alone; the equipment there is more comprehensive and complete.

Moreover, there are many patients, which makes it easier to proceed to the experimental stage.

It means I have to go on business trips, and frequently, and often for extended periods!
After reviewing the information from both institutions, some people remarked, "The Shanghai Medical College would be a good fit."

"That's right, they have a lot more equipment and instruments than we do."

"Wait a minute, Shanghai doesn't seem to have any supercomputers, right? I remember the supercomputing center there is in Suzhou and Hangzhou. Maybe we should choose the one in Beijing instead?"

After hearing a researcher's question, everyone looked at it again carefully and then frowned.

That's true. Without supercomputers, data processing and computation would definitely slow down.

“Indeed, although the one in Suzhou and Hangzhou is almost finished, and we can borrow their facilities then, it’s so far away, it might be quite troublesome.” Some researchers raised questions, but before more people could speak, Vice Principal Song interrupted, “Comrades, in fact, Shanghai has already proposed to build a supercomputing center, and the plan has already been submitted to Shenzhou Computer Factory.”

They are also including it in their plans; Shanghai will soon have a supercomputing center.

"Vice Principal Song, how long will that take?"

"Well... I don't really know much about the construction cycle of supercomputing centers either."

As soon as Vice Principal Song finished speaking, everyone in the room turned to look at Zhou Fengnian; when it came to understanding computers, probably no one knew more than Zhou Fengnian.

"I haven't been involved in the operations of the Shenzhou Computer Factory for a long time, but if construction starts now, it will generally take a year and a half to complete."

Zhou Fengnian said, "If the supercomputing center in Shanghai has already started construction, then in the early stages we can make more trips to the one in Suzhou and Hangzhou, or to other supercomputing centers. The pressure will ease in about a year and a half."

Even after the supercomputing centers are built, they will be in high demand and everyone will be scrambling to use them. Currently, every region is using them in droves.

Although Beijing has a supercomputing center, it is basically in high demand by various research institutes and universities, and sometimes you have to wait a week to apply for one.

The situation is a bit better in the Northwest, where there are fewer projects and they are used in rotation, sometimes for several days at a time.

"The Shanghai market can still accept that."

"Yes, it would be even better if the supercomputing center could be built a little faster."

After hearing what everyone in the room was saying, Zhou Fengnian said, "It seems that everyone is more inclined to vote for Shanghai. Let's cast our vote and make a record for future reference. In a couple of days, I will notify Shenzhou Computer Factory on behalf of the project team to inquire about their progress."

Vice Principal Song said, "I also have acquaintances over there. When I get back, I'll let them know and ask them to resolve this as soon as possible."

Zhou Fengnian smiled and said, "Then I'll trouble you, Principal Song."

After a busy day, Zhou Fengnian treated the project team to dinner at the Imperial Kitchen in the evening as a belated welcome-back dinner before everyone dispersed.

He paid for the meal himself, and it cost him over 300 yuan.

There were quite a few people, and the food at the Imperial Kitchen wasn't cheap, but the meal did make these colleagues very happy.

Moreover, Zhou Fengnian is going to be the team leader next. It's not a big deal for him to treat his team members to a meal; it's not like he can't afford it.

At the dinner table, Vice Principal Song mentioned more than once in his excitement that after they went to Shanghai, he would also treat everyone to local specialties.

They were very efficient throughout the day.

They not only determined their group's planned projects, but also some research directions and ideas, as well as the locations for the next research and development experiments.

It was almost nine o'clock when I got home.

However, the lights were still on in the backyard house. Zhou Fengnian originally thought that Zhou Yan was waiting for him to come back so they could rest together, but when he pushed the door open, he found that his wife was looking after their grandson and granddaughter.

Hearing the door open, Zhou Yan turned around and saw Zhou Fengnian. She said, "You're back so late again today. Did you go drinking?"

"I treated my colleagues to dinner, and since it was unavoidable, I only had a small glass of wine."

Zhou Fengnian gestured with his hand, indicating that it was indeed only a small cup. Today, all the attendees were researchers, and they were drinking because they were happy.

There were more than twenty of them, and they only drank a little over one bottle. The person who drank the most only drank less than two glasses.

Zhou Yan fanned herself with her hand and said, "Go wash up. Don't let Zeqian and Shuyu smell the alcohol on you. I finally managed to get them to sleep."

While changing his clothes, Zhou Fengnian said, "Okay, but why are you bringing them today? Did you get them from Mom and Dad?"

"My parents aren't feeling well and are worried about infecting the child, so they asked me to take care of the baby for a couple of days. There's a nanny coming tomorrow."

"This couple abandoned their child after it was born."

The son and daughter-in-law that Zhou Fengnian mentioned were both unreliable. The two children were barely a month old when they were born.

Although he didn't manage things much during the day, he would still come back to check on things every night.

When Zhou Fengnian finished washing up and returned to the room, he saw that his grandson and granddaughter had been coaxed to sleep, so he asked in a low voice, "Xianyang is gone?"

"He's gone. He took the train early this morning and might not be back until next week. But he said he's going to take Yi Yi to Hong Kong next month."

Zhou Yan glanced at her husband and continued, "He said this was your idea?"

"Let them go. It'll prevent our daughter from having such a narrow perspective. I'll talk to Pan Heng about it; they have connections in Hong Kong too."

At least in Hong Kong, there were people Zhou Fengnian could talk to, including not only local telecommunications operators but also government officials.

Zhou Xianyang also brings security personnel, all armed, but as long as it's just for watching a movie shoot, there shouldn't be any trouble.

We still need to have Zhou Xiangyang bring a few more security personnel. If he brings six to eight people, and each of them has a gun, then there definitely won't be any problems.

However, Zhou Fengnian didn't need to remind him of this. He remembered that his son seemed to know a few people in Hong Kong. His MP3 music player sold well in Hong Kong, and it seemed that locals were in charge of distribution.

"As long as nothing bad happens, that's fine. What's the deal with my daughter's boyfriend?"

"It's probably nothing good, but let Xianyang go check it out. He's good at judging people. If it's not anything good, then let Xianyang give him a warning."

Zhou Fengnian said, "The person who has been urging his daughter to go abroad and even helping to pay for it doesn't sound like a good person."

However, Zhou Xianyang is away this week. When he comes back, he will take his sister to Hong Kong and then talk to that kid.

"By the way, I might have to go on a business trip to Shanghai for research in a while, and it will take a long time. But this time it won't be as tight as last time. I'll have a few days off each month, and I'll try to come back when I have time."

"Busy again."

Zhou Yan sighed after hearing this, but she could understand; her husband had been promoted, how could he not be busy?

(End of this chapter)