The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 325: Obvious Advantages
The liaison officer and Liu Hua walked out of the hangar. Seeing that no one was around, the liaison officer complained in a low voice, "Why are you always like this? Why don't you just slip away in time and do some in-depth research?"

"First, I am confident in what I am researching. It will be very advanced for some time to come," Liu Hua said proudly. "Second, I am no longer a purely institutional scientist. You see my research is quite impressive, but there are some things I have to control and not go too deep into. I also have many companies to support."

"I don't quite understand you. If you were to develop new equipment for us, our combat effectiveness would skyrocket."

Liu Hua shook his head: "No, combat effectiveness is certainly reflected in weapons and the quality of soldiers, but there is another very important factor, which is comprehensive national strength. The reason why the United States was able to integrate the post-World War II international order is because they have the strongest comprehensive national strength."

The liaison officer shook his head: "What you're saying is also biased. During the War of Resistance against Japan, China's national strength was a complete mess, but didn't we still win?"

"At that time, our overall national strength was indeed terrible. But you have to consider who you are comparing it to. Compared with those great powers, it was indeed the same. But even then, our overall national strength was still far superior to 70% or 80% of the countries in the world."

Seeing that the liaison officer was somewhat unconvinced, Liu Hua smiled and said, "It's useless for me to be strong alone, or rather, my strength is limited. If our country's entire industrial chain prospers, then technology will naturally explode. At that time, we won't need to fight; all the countries in the world will be crushed by us. This is called subduing the enemy without fighting."

"Including the Americans?"

Liu Hua nodded: "Including the United States, we are now opening up and developing our economy, and the United States is happy to move those low value-added factories here. It seems like we are doing hard labor for them, but in fact we are secretly accumulating our own strength and laying a solid foundation. This stage is for thirty years. After thirty years, it will be our time to explode."

"I'm a little skeptical, but I'll wait and see. You're more knowledgeable than me, so I'll wait for the day you mentioned when things will explode."

Liu Hua returned to the factory in a large truck, but because the van had been fitted with a control panel, he was left behind.

The liaison officer smiled and said he would compensate Liu Hua with a car. Liu Hua guessed it would most likely be a Dafabet van from Tianjin, since Liu Hua's van was imported from Japan.

Of course, he also knew that the funds for each department were insufficient, and that it would be good enough to compensate for one Daihatsu vehicle, so he stopped arguing about it.

To everyone's surprise, the liaison officer returned the van the very next day, installed the original seats, and even repaired the minor scratches and dents.

"The boss said that we can't just take your car for free. We had the car repair shop restore it overnight, and the experts installed the control panel on an all-terrain vehicle."

"I'm really sorry, I didn't take this car seriously at all, and you guys fixed it for me."

"Of course, we must abide by the Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention." The liaison officer said cheerfully, "The leader said that you have made a great contribution this time, but it cannot be publicized. We can only record your merit and announce it when the time is right."

"I don't care," Liu Hua said calmly. "Compared to the pioneers of the Two Bombs, One Satellite project, I'm still far behind. They didn't care, so why should I?"

"The leader asked you if you would be willing to go to Beihang University or Harbin Institute of Technology to mentor students, since you have made great achievements in weaponry."

Liu Hua waved his hand dismissively: "No, I don't have that much free time. The students at Tsinghua University are already keeping me busy enough."

“Take some along,” the liaison officer said. “Just from Beihang University, don’t take too many, just one or two talented ones each year, especially in engine engineering. Do you know how much the H-6 project team and the WZ-1 project team admire you, especially your turbojet design? It’s amazing. If they hadn’t mentioned it, the leadership wouldn’t have even thought of it.” “What did the leadership say?”

"The leader said that our country's engine has always been a weakness. Since you have the ability, you should train more talents for the country. The capable should do more."

"It's like the higher-ups just give a few words, and the people below are running themselves ragged," Liu Hua joked. "I can't refuse. The leader just opened his mouth and put such a big label on me. If I don't accept it, it would seem like I'm ungrateful."

Ultimately, Liu Hua accepted the suggestion to go to Beihang University to mentor two graduate students. After seeing the liaison officer off, Liu Hua called Ju Wei over.

"Why can't we recruit any recent graduates with relevant majors in the past two years?"

Ju Wei protested, "Boss, I did my best. Logically speaking, our salary level is not bad, but college graduates either go to ministries or state-owned enterprises or foreign companies. Although our small factory has some big clients, it is just a small processing plant affiliated with a collective. It is not attractive to those high-achieving students."

"Stubborn." Liu Hua shook his head: "Can't you show us what makes our factory stand out?"

"I told them," Ju Wei said helplessly. "I told them that we supply engines to all the major motorcycle manufacturers in China and that we have licensed our patents to Honda and Yamaha, but the students don't believe me."

“What’s so attractive about that?” Liu Hua shook his head. “You don’t understand. These kids have just graduated from school. They haven’t yet shouldered the burden of supporting their families. They value their future development more.”

“In the future, we will definitely not be able to compete with state-owned enterprises and ministries. Even now, we are still far behind foreign companies.”

“That’s my advantage,” Liu Hua said anxiously. “My advantages are so obvious: I’m affiliated with the State Science and Technology Commission and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and I’m a graduate advisor at Tsinghua University and Beihang University. I’m asking you, isn’t that an obvious advantage? Isn’t it attractive to students who want to improve themselves?”

Ju Wei clapped his hands: "How could I forget about this? It's so attractive. What student could refuse to learn from a famous scientist?"

"Boss, don't worry, I'll find you a few college graduates this year."

"Then let's promote my brand!" Liu Hua scratched his head. "I can't do all the research work."

Liu Hua touched his chin and muttered to himself, "The boss asked me to mentor two graduate students from Beihang University. They're studying engine design anyway, so bringing them to the factory shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"There's definitely no problem," Liu Hua replied. "It's not a big deal for a professor to use students for free. Back in the day, many of my brothers were fooled by their professors in the same way."

Then he nodded: "I'll give them subsidies, benchmarking against foreign companies."

(End of this chapter)