The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 326 Drinking Tea
Liu Hua was eyeing his two future graduate students, and those two graduate students were eyeing him too.

Beihang University selected two outstanding students from the Energy and Power Engineering major for direct admission to graduate school, and the supervisor assigned to them by the college is Liu Hua.

These two outstanding students were somewhat dissatisfied because they had never heard of Liu Hua before. Although universities in Beijing have formed a rudimentary network using computers, they are not yet luxurious enough to put their professional teachers online.

Therefore, Liu Hua's reputation is limited to Tsinghua University. People from other universities may have heard of Liu Hua in the field of semiconductor engineering, but only in the areas of semiconductors and software engineering.

Feeling their future was bleak, the two appealed to the college: "Dean, it's not that we're being picky. The college's recommendation for us to graduate school is a great honor for us. However, when it comes to choosing a supervisor, we hope to select one with strong academic standing. After all, we are among the top students in our major. We've never heard of this Supervisor Liu Hua before, and we don't know what we can learn from him."

"What do you two kids know?" the dean said bluntly. "The best mentor the college carefully selected for you, and you haven't even heard of him? The Two Bombs, One Satellite project is great, isn't it? Do you know the names of those pioneers? Some of the lists are classified. This Professor Liu Hua, although you haven't heard of him, doesn't mean he's not capable. I can't tell you his specific achievements, but you'll gradually find out after you become his students. It's just that he's still relatively unknown, otherwise, it wouldn't be your turn to study under him for graduate school."

The two boys were a little unconvinced, but since the dean valued their mentor so much, they figured their mentor must really be quite capable.

"Dean, when can we meet our advisor?"

The dean smiled and said, "It's good that you've figured it out. Your mentor is quite busy. I'll arrange a time for him to meet his first disciple."

The two looked at each other, wondering if this person had never taught students before.
Their thoughts were written all over their faces, and the dean saw it at a glance.

"Your mentor is a polymath. Just because he hasn't taught students in this major doesn't mean he hasn't taught any students. Study hard with him. Once you officially become his students, you'll know just how amazing your mentor is."

The dean was thinking of choosing a good time to call Liu Hua and invite him to Beihang University to visit the laboratory, get familiar with the environment, and contribute to the university's development in the future.

Before the dean could even schedule an appointment with Liu Hua, Liu Hua was called away by someone else.

The liaison officer personally drove him to the headquarters office building: "The leaders have thought it over and over again and feel that it would be inappropriate not to see you. After all, you have made so many contributions. The leaders said that we should at least meet the real god and express our gratitude. It is the most basic matter of courtesy."

The liaison officer escorted Liu Hua directly to the leader's office instead of waiting in the meeting room. After Liu Hua went in and sat on the sofa opposite the desk, the liaison officer went out to make tea.

Taking advantage of the break, I took a good look around the office. The most eye-catching thing was the newspapers and magazines on the coffee table.

With just a quick glance, Liu Hua knew where the leader's recent work priorities lay.

The supervisor said apologetically, "Engineer Liu, please wait a moment. After I've approved these two documents, I need to have a proper chat with you." "You go ahead with your work, may I look at that newspaper?"

"can."

The liaison officer brought in the tea, and Liu Hua drank it while flipping through the newspapers and magazines on the coffee table. After about half an hour, the leader finally finished his work.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Mr. Liu."

"You are very busy, it's okay if I wait a little while, I can't delay your work."

The leader smiled and said, "Your drones this time have given us a big surprise. We've had some internal discussions these past few days, and the Air Force has also come to the conclusion that the future trend of aerial equipment development is very likely to be drone warfare."

Liu Hua nodded in agreement: "Moreover, I think it's not just the Air Force, but the Navy and Army may also follow this trend in the future. After all, if we build a complete and advanced industrial system, then producing a mature robot that can be used in combat may only take a few minutes, while training a well-trained soldier may take years, which can save a lot of costs."

The leader laughed heartily: "I think your abilities, Engineer Liu, are not only reflected in scientific research. You have a great strategic vision. Xiao Sun mentioned before that you mentioned a great American TV series called Knight Rider in the airport hangar. I also asked around about it these past few days and organized some experts to watch it. They all believe that the combination of artificial intelligence and drones in combat is definitely a major trend in the future."

"This is just my opinion. Your work involves determining the strategic direction of our country for the next few decades, so you should be more cautious and listen to the opinions of other experts."

The leader nodded: "Have some tea. I specifically asked Xiao Sun to brew this tea. Xiao Sun said that the only tea in your office is Longjing, so it seems you like it. I have half a pound of top-quality pre-rain Longjing here, Lion Peak Longjing. Take it with you when you leave."

Liu Hua smiled and said, "Then I'll have to accept it."

"You're practically a native of Beijing, even if your hometown isn't in Beijing. You should still be influenced by Beijing culture to some extent. Those old Beijingers all like to drink jasmine tea, so why don't you?"

"What jasmine? That's just those Manchus showing off their ignorance," Liu Hua mocked. "The water quality in the capital is bad, and with so many people living here year after year, sewage from household garbage seeps into the groundwater, making the well water taste bad. To mask this strange smell, they brew some tea. But they don't understand green tea; there are too many rules. So they've discovered that jasmine is quite good—fragrant and able to suppress the odor. That's why, for those who are obsessed with saving face and suffer for it, praising jasmine is the ultimate expression of respectability."

“That makes sense.” The leader laughed heartily. “I’ve met quite a few engineers, and they’re all very disciplined and have very rigid personalities. I didn’t expect you to be so humorous. Chatting with you has made me feel much better. I’ve been quite troubled lately, and if I had known you were thinking about something, I would have asked you to come and talk to me sooner.”

(End of this chapter)