Rebirth in 1960, My Industrial Age

Chapter 412 World Shocking News
"Shit! How many calculations are involved? Quadrillions?"

"Is this a supercomputer that human civilization can currently build? Why is there no intelligence about it? What are those useless people who take our huge sums of money every year doing?"

"Will they be the last to know when missiles from over there land on our heads?"

Inside Ami's white house, their leader slammed his fist on the table in a fit of anger and questioned her.

Just three days ago, he was about to sign a comprehensive plan to support the development of computers and decided to further restrict the development of computers in China.

And then today I heard this terrible news: that country announced a bombshell announcement in the high-tech industry.

At first, he didn't understand what a supercomputer of this level represented, and he even asked his staff how long it would take for their country's computer companies to develop and manufacture one.
The answer was hesitant and stammering. After learning what level a supercomputer with a computing power of trillions of operations was, the president couldn't help but start cursing.

How can the gap be so big? They are still researching supercomputers with trillions of computing power, while the other side has already built quadrillions.

Is this how we catch up? Even if they successfully develop it, there will still be a thousand-fold gap in computing power.

"Immediately have those bastards who embezzle funds submit a report. I need to know why that country has developed so rapidly, and you also need to come up with a solution."

"Immediately, I mean right now!"

They knew how much supercomputers could help other high-tech research.

Any application that involves a large amount of computation will be greatly enhanced by having a powerful supercomputer.

Now that a country across the ocean has announced that they have the world's number one supercomputer, how fast will other fields that require supercomputers develop?
We've used so many methods before, and these guys still managed to produce mushroom bombs. So what methods will we use now?
This is what angered them. They had tried so many methods without success, and now they had this country join the GATT, which only made it develop even faster.

It's completely unstoppable, and I can't even think of a solution right now.

Besides the furious bald eagle, other countries also received this news from China, and many people interested in supercomputers wanted to visit China.

However, it's not the right time yet; they haven't established the supercomputing center.

Although China will publicly announce its supercomputing center, it will have to wait until mid-year, around July or August.

Only then will they invite renowned researchers from around the world to China to see their advanced technology.

Along with the news about the supercomputer, news also spread that they were applying to host the World Robot Exhibition, but compared to the former, this news seemed somewhat niche.

However, the World Robot Exhibition Association did not immediately refuse, but instead considered the pros and cons.

Now that China is much stronger, they would have refused without even thinking if it were the old China.

But China is now quite powerful, and its robotics industry is developing very well.

If we refuse, and China doesn't participate in the next robotics conference, it would be a loss for both sides.

But they certainly didn't want to set up the location in Beijing, so they delayed it.

The Academy of Sciences of Beijing

Today, Zhou Fengnian's office welcomed a rare guest. Upon seeing the visitor, Zhou Fengnian immediately instructed Qian Zhi to brew tea, and to make good tea at that.

While Qian Zhi was making tea, Zhou Fengnian greeted him with a smile, "Director Qian, it's been a long time since we last met. Has your project been completed?"

"It's still a bit short, but it's almost there. Thanks to the technical concepts you provided, Vice Dean Zhou, otherwise our progress wouldn't be so fast."

Director Qian said with a smile, then took the teacup from Qian Zhi, thanked him, and put it down before continuing to speak with Zhou Fengnian: "Vice Dean Zhou, I heard you've been busy with biopharmaceuticals lately, haven't you? It would be great if you could come and join us."
"If you had come, we might have been able to achieve global missile coverage last year. You're showing a bit of favoritism."

Now they are researching global coverage strikes, and have made many upgrades from fuel technology to launch methods and coverage range.

However, Director Qian still hoped that Zhou Fengnian could come and help them, but this idea was a bit difficult.

When I first heard that Zhou Fengnian had switched to biopharmaceuticals, Director Qian was a little skeptical. How could the field be getting so exaggerated?
He started with mechanics, then moved on to computers, then aerospace engines, and finally went on to research biopharmaceuticals.
However, after confirming the news, Director Qian had to admire Zhou Fengnian. He really did make a big mistake, and each mistake yielded fruit.

Zhou Fengnian laughed and said, "Isn't that because we trust you? If you're there to oversee things, it would be redundant for me to go. It's better to do something else to help develop various industries. By the way, Director Qian, how long do you plan to rest this time?"

Director Qian said, "It probably won't be long. First, they don't need me there for the time being, and second, I need to come back for a meeting of the National Defense Commission. By the way, Vice President Zhou, you should have received the notification for that meeting, right?"

"Yes, I know. We've become stronger, which has forced the Russians to take the initiative to show goodwill and want to negotiate!"

Zhou Fengnian was quite happy when he heard the news.

The Russians have eased tensions considerably regarding the border and territorial issues...

It seems that in order to win them over, they conceded on all the issues they had previously refused to compromise on.

Making such concessions in this regard directly boosted border trade and cross-border cooperation.

This also brought them many benefits; at least the military pressure on the east was greatly reduced, and they could basically develop with peace of mind.

As a result, the number of traders on the border increased, but there were still very few legal traders, and even fewer "big traders" like Zhou Xianzhe and Zhou Xianrui. Most of them were small-scale traders.

However, this time the Russians only made small concessions, and they did not mention the more disputed territories.

Zhou Fengnian felt that there would definitely be opportunities in the future. If they switched to geese, the country would become weaker and weaker and would never be able to return to the powerful era of Russia.

Director Qian said, "This time, there's a possibility of redeploying the rocket and missile base. I'll go back after this is done."

"I'm not too sure about that, so I can't offer much advice. I'll probably be completely invisible when the time comes."

Zhou Fengnian shook his head and said that although he was the deputy director of the National Defense Commission, the projects he was in charge of were rarely directly related to national defense, except for drones and robots.

So he rarely attends meetings, and he avoids them if they don't concern him.

The two chatted for a while longer, until lunchtime. When it was time, Zhou Fengnian originally wanted to invite Director Qian out for a meal.

However, they were refused, so the two had a meal in the cafeteria, and then Director Qian left.

Zhou Fengnian also went back to work. Director Qian had mentioned to him many times before that he hoped he would go there, but this time he was not mentioned at all.

It might also be related to the fact that the project over there is almost finished; before we knew it, more than three years had passed. Zhou Fengnian could only say that Director Qian's abilities were almost as good as his own, shortening a project that would normally take more than ten years to five or six.
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Late at night, Zhou Fengnian returned home after finishing his work.

It was past ten o'clock when he got home. The surrounding streets were quiet, and the only sound was the noise of his car driving, which was very abrupt in the silent night.

There's been no time to relax lately; I'm basically getting home around this time every day, and Zhou Fengnian has gotten used to it.

There was a rest area in the office, but his secretary and doctor advised against it, so he had to go home.

Zhou Fengnian quietly opened the courtyard gate, and before going in, he waved to the driver, signaling him to go back and rest as well. Then he closed and locked the gate.

The house is very quiet now. There are usually only two or three people at home. Zhou Xianyang, the son, is only thinking about his own good fortune. He brought his two elderly parents, both over seventy years old, to live near his house to help take care of their grandson, while he travels around the country at a leisurely pace.

Zhou Fengnian put down his briefcase, quickly washed up, and went back to his room to rest.

However, as soon as the door was opened, the lights in the room came on. Zhou Yan had already noticed that her husband had returned, so she turned on the bedside lamp for Zhou Fengnian to save him from having to change clothes in the dark.

Seeing someone turn on the light, Zhou Fengnian didn't tiptoe around. He quickly changed his clothes and came to the bedside, smiling as he said, "Did I wake you up? I'll be quieter next time."

“I’m not asleep. If you’re not in bed, I can’t sleep soundly, otherwise I’ll be woken up.”

As Zhou Yan spoke casually, she helped Zhou Fengnian spread out the quilt.

After Zhou Fengnian lay down on the bed, he turned off the light and said, "You've been coming home later and later lately. No matter how busy you are, don't overwork yourself."

Zhou Fengnian said, "Okay, things will be fine once this busy period is over. There are more and more things going on abroad lately, so I can't afford to be idle."

In the past two weeks alone, three foreign teams have wanted to come to China for exchanges, which is a very rare occurrence.

Previously, it was their country's research teams that went abroad for exchanges, and even then, the exchanges were mostly focused on learning.

Now they've completely reversed the order, turning it into a situation where foreigners want to communicate with the domestic community, have already submitted an application, and the foreigners have agreed.

The domestic research environment is getting better and better, and in many fields we are catching up with the world's first-class level.

This achievement is remarkable, as they were almost completely isolated internationally. Although they had some allies, these were all third-world countries that were themselves very backward and could not provide them with any assistance in scientific research.

Coupled with the technological blockade imposed on them by foreign countries, it can be said that they have single-handedly caught up with and even surpassed Western countries in some areas.

This exchange application is the best example of this; given the arrogant nature of foreigners, it's incredibly difficult for them to even submit such an application.

The Academy of Sciences will be responsible for the exchange. Although Zhou Fengnian is not in charge of this matter, he still has to get involved, which is why he has been delayed recently.

Zhou Yan said, "My parents said they'd come over to stay tomorrow. Xianyang and Qing'an aren't home, and they don't have much to do there, so they might as well bring the two kids with them."

"That's fine, you can arrange it however you like, there are plenty of rooms in the house anyway."

Zhou Fengnian said, "That brat Xianyang, did he take Zhou Hao out? Last time I called him, I heard Zhou Hao's voice, but he stubbornly denied it. Did he tell you what they were doing?"

Zhou Yan said, "I told you, my younger brother seems to know someone in a neighboring city. Xianyang ran into some trouble, so he called his uncle over. He's married and has a family, but he's still so irresponsible."

“I knew it, he must have told you, otherwise he wouldn’t have dared to hang up on me without telling me.”

"Xianyang is all grown up now; his child is almost two years old."

Zhou Yan suddenly laughed and continued, "Zeqian has already learned to call out to everyone, but he hasn't called out to you, his grandfather, yet."

Zhou Fengnian said in surprise, "Really? Then I must see him next time I rest. It's all Grandpa's fault for keeping an eye on his great-grandson even when he's resting, otherwise I would have seen him long ago."

For the past year or so, Zhou Fengnian has been busy and hasn't had much time to rest at home. Even when he does have time to rest at home, he's always busy with various family matters, so he doesn't have enough time to care for his grandchildren.

However, that's just how he is. After his son and daughter were born, he rarely cared about them, and Zhou Yan raised them all by herself.

It's too difficult for researchers to have regular working hours. Back when conditions were bad, Zhou Fengnian once lived in the factory for a whole week.

"By the way, Fengnian, I might be going to the district in two months."

Zhou Yan suddenly spoke up, "Deputy District Chief Chen is being transferred to the city, and the vacancy for Deputy District Chief should be reserved for me. I won't be working at the Nanluoguxiang Subdistrict Office anymore."

She has been the director of the Nanluoguxiang Subdistrict Office for some time now. She had opportunities for promotion before, but she might have to be transferred to another district. Zhou Yan felt that it was a bit far from home, so she didn't go.

The vacant position will almost certainly go to her. The other qualified candidates are far inferior to Zhou Yan in terms of achievements, and even more so in terms of connections.

Therefore, Zhou Yan will definitely be promoted to the position of deputy district head this time, but she does not plan to continue to be promoted further.

The higher you go, the more responsibilities you have to take on. Zhou Yan only transferred from the factory women's federation to the Nanluoguxiang Subdistrict Office on a whim, and now that she has been promoted to deputy district head, she is quite satisfied.

Although she is far inferior to her husband, Zhou Yan is already very satisfied. When she first entered the factory, she never imagined that one day she would become the deputy district head.

"Isn't this great? But since you're new here, you might be put in charge of some minor tasks."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "That's exactly what I was thinking. I just need to do some things related to people's livelihood. I'm not very familiar with other aspects."

The couple chatted for a while, then gradually rested and fell asleep.

The next morning, Zhou Fengnian ate breakfast at home and then took a car to work; Zhou Linlin wanted him to give her a ride to school.

She probably bragged to her classmates at school about how great her father was, and the next day she wanted Zhou Fengnian to go and support her.

Zhou Linlin's little schemes couldn't be hidden from the two of them. Before Zhou Fengnian could say anything, Zhou Yan pulled her daughter, who had many thoughts, aside by the ear.

She didn't delay Zhou Fengnian's work at all.

Just as Zhou Fengnian arrived at the Academy of Sciences and had finished brewing tea, a phone call came in.

(End of this chapter)