The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 398 Basics
"Pioneer" is fine, at least it means being at the forefront of the times, a fashionable term, unlike terms like "taxpayer" or "law-abiding taxpayer," which would make Liu Hua cringe.

Liu Hua reviewed his recent work, as his engine is still undergoing testing in the lab. He believes the most urgent task is to develop the metal 3D printer.

my country's achievements in ultra-high precision machine tools are not outstanding, so there is an urgent need for a high-precision processing instrument, and metal 3D printers can effectively fill this gap.

The metal 3D printer project is currently being undertaken jointly by Liu Hua's students and the physics department. Liu Hua came to the school to check on the progress.

As Liu Hua walked toward the physics department, he passed a classroom and heard clear and fluent English coming from inside, so he stopped and paused for a moment.

He was initially puzzled, wondering why the foreign language department was taking classes here instead of the physics department.
After listening for a while, Liu Hua suddenly realized that it was a materials science classroom. Liu Hua peeked at the teacher who was giving the lesson. He was probably under forty years old, with a neatly combed hairstyle, wearing a suit and gold-rimmed glasses. He looked like a very handsome man.

Liu Hua shook his head and walked towards the research building. Upon entering the building, he happened to run into the professor in charge of the metal 3D printer.

Liu Hua joked, "Professor Ma, I was wondering, when did your Materials Science department become the Foreign Languages ​​Department?"

Professor Ma said with a bitter face, "This is a completely new attempt in teaching, using English to teach and aligning with international standards."

"Are you kidding me?" Liu Hua said in an unfriendly tone, "If mathematics is the foundation of science, then language is the foundation of all education. If the foundation of our education is based on foreign languages, then how do you think we can compete with foreigners for the right to speak in education and science? If all our papers are in English, then all the interpretation rights belong to foreigners."

The materials science office was completely silent. No one had expected Liu Hua to raise the issue to such a high level all at once. This was no longer just a matter of worshipping foreign things; it had already touched upon the issue of academic sovereignty.

“But the level of scientific research abroad is quite high now.” A young teacher said with doubt, “If we don’t use English for teaching, we might not even be able to understand their papers.”

“Yes. If we use English as the sole language of instruction, we might not even be able to write our own papers clearly.” Liu Hua said irritably, “Materials science is the foundation of your physics. If you can’t even explain your own subject in your own mother tongue, I really can’t imagine whether the people taught here in the future will still be our own talent.”

Professor Ma felt that Liu Hua's tone was unfriendly, so he could only try to smooth things over: "Alright, Lao Liu, don't make a big deal out of it. This is just an educational exploration."

"If you don't understand the underlying logic, just wait for the whole country to criticize Tsinghua University behind your backs."

"But most people don't understand these things," the teacher explained. "Science is very rigorous, but most people don't understand it."

“But most people understand human nature.” Liu Hua said irritably, “Isn’t the computer science I teach also pioneered by foreigners? I’ve always taught in Chinese, but that doesn’t prevent my level from being ahead of the international level.”

This is a fact, and facts cannot be denied. Liu Hua looked at the young teacher, and for a moment he couldn't explain it either.

“You’ve all studied Daudet’s Last Lesson, right?” Liu Hua shook his head. “If even the most basic mother tongue is changed, what’s the difference between that and the destruction of the country and the destruction of the family? Our Chinese is the most rigorous and scientific writing system and language in the world. If we can win back the right to speak in science, then science will truly be progressing.”

Professor Ma felt that this issue should not be discussed any further, otherwise it would never end today.

"Old Liu, what brings you here today?"

Liu Hua shook his head: "Let's find a quiet place to talk." "What, you don't trust the others?" Professor Ma said cheerfully, "We're all on the same side, what can't we do?"

"It's not that we don't trust them, but our ancestors were right: 'If things are not kept secret, they can cause harm.' The issues we are researching are about our future, so how can we just talk about them indiscriminately without considering the occasion?"

The young teacher looked rather displeased. He felt that Liu Hua was targeting him, but he didn't dare to argue back.

Professor Ma led Nianhua to his office, glanced outside, closed the door, and said, "What you just said is just making people distrustful. She is also a teacher at Tsinghua University, and isn't she also working to build our country and our university?"

"Are you sure?" Liu Hua shook his head: "Anyway, I think there are bad people, especially those who have returned from studying abroad. We need to be careful when using them."

"Nonsense." Professor Ma shook his head in dissatisfaction: "How many of the pioneers of the Two Bombs, One Satellite project were returned students who had studied abroad? Didn't they dedicate themselves to building the motherland?"

"The pioneers abandoned their comfortable lives abroad. When Qian Xuesen lectured on engineering cybernetics in foreign classrooms, he was unwilling to repeat himself even once. If you could understand it, you could learn it; if you couldn't, then forget it."

Liu Hua said with a smile, "But after returning to China, Professor Qian was incredibly patient with his students, explaining things until they understood. The difference in their character is like heaven and earth."

"I can't argue with you," Professor Ma waved his hand. "Are you here to cause trouble in our physics department?"

Liu Hua waved his hand: "What are you trying to disrupt? You've watched too many Hong Kong movies. I just came to ask how your laser nozzle for the 3D printer is coming along?"

"That's a real problem," Professor Ma sighed. "The control requirements are too stringent, but fortunately, our laser technology is the most advanced in the world, and we've already made some breakthroughs. Don't worry, you can't possibly distrust me, can you?"

"That makes me sound petty. If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have asked you to do the research together."

Professor Ma complained, "You're clearly in a bad mood today. You've been finding fault with everything since you came in."

"I'm furious." Liu Hua shook his head: "Teaching English is just the first step. Just you wait and see, there will definitely be a day when they sneak in their own agendas."

"Come on, research isn't enough for you to worry about. Let's get down to business."

So Liu Hua shared his ideas with Professor Ma: using highly sensitive temperature control elements and having the temperature controlled by a computer, which is a new research direction.

Professor Ma was greatly troubled: "This is one problem after another. I haven't even finished my research here, and you've already found me a new topic."

"There's no way around it, learning is a lifelong process."

(End of this chapter)