The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 480 Daughter-in-law

Recently, an employee of a steel plant has been going around with his head held high. There's no other reason than that their steel plant is equipped with a nuclear power plant as a supporting facility. Anyone would be proud of that.

Starting in the 80s, the government began to encourage enterprises to build their own power plants, but most of them were thermal power plants that burned coal. There was only one nuclear power plant in the whole country.

Someone in Tangshan posted this online, saying that a new nuclear power plant was being built in Tangshan specifically to support the steel mill's production, which immediately caused a huge uproar.

There's a lot of online debate, with many saying it shouldn't have been built in the Tangshan area because it's too dangerous.

Someone uploaded the speech by the leaders of TS City to the internet. Although it was very choppy and took a long time to watch, it was very impactful.

This sparked a wave of enthusiasm, with city leaders explaining the situation to citizens on television, which was quite rare at the time.

As a result, many other cities were eager to try as well. At that time, we were in the early stages of infrastructure construction, and the public did not understand many infrastructure projects. So, city leaders went on television to explain them to the people of the city, which became a trend at the time.

Liu Hua returned to Beijing because his son came back, this time with his girlfriend. When Liu Feifei came back from the south last time, she said that her son and Professor Yuan's new graduate student had hit it off, and it turned out to be true. Today, he brought her to meet his parents.

Liu Guodong had already visited the woman's family to meet his future father-in-law, so this time he also brought his future daughter-in-law to meet his parents-in-law.

When Liu Hua arrived home, his son and daughter-in-law were reading and discussing in the yard. When they saw Liu Hua come in, his future daughter-in-law became a little nervous.

Liu Guodong laughed and said, "Why are you so nervous? My dad is very kind."

The future daughter-in-law lowered her head and said, "Nonsense, you were nervous when you met my dad, not to mention that your dad is an academician."

Liu Guodong said cheerfully, "It's okay, just treat him like an ordinary old man. No matter how much of an academician he is, when he goes home, he's just my dad, an ordinary old man in his fifties. Our teacher is also a great scientist, isn't he? You're not nervous at all, and you often joke with him."

The future daughter-in-law rolled her eyes at Liu Guodong. How could these be the same?

Liu Hua waved his hand: "Sit down, don't be nervous, I'm even more easygoing than Lao Yuan."

Liu Feifei and the nanny were busy in the kitchen when they saw Liu Hua return. She made him a pot of tea and told him to have a good chat with his future daughter-in-law.

After chatting for a few minutes, the daughter-in-law relaxed. The girl's name was Lin Yu, and she was from the south, specifically the Jiangnan water towns. Her name itself suggested she was from the south.

"Dad, your company has really made a name for itself this time," Liu Guodong said with a smile. "Building a steel plant and even having a nuclear power plant attached to it is unique in the whole country."

“Basic operation.” Liu Hua waved his hand: “I’m about to research new technologies, which are particularly power-consuming. Don’t expect to rely on the current power generation. When you’re in dire need, you have to change. Change leads to success.”

Lin Yu looked at the father and son with curiosity. Seeing Liu Hua describe the nuclear power plant so casually, she felt a great sense of admiration.

Lin Yu asked curiously, "Guodong, why didn't you study heavy industry or nuclear industry back then?" Liu Guodong shook his head: "In this major, I estimate that I will never be able to surpass my father in this lifetime, so I can only find another way. Everyone says that the 21st century is the century of biology, so I studied biological sciences. Later, I became a disciple of Professor Yuan in graduate school. I just want to surpass my father and ancestors."

Liu Hua picked up the magazine his son had just been reading from the table, glanced at it, and said, "Weren't you researching hybrid rice? Why are you interested in drip irrigation technology now?"

"Isn't this because the teacher wants to grow rice all over the country? Some places are really extremely short of water." Liu Guodong said with a smile, "If you want to grow rice in places with water shortage, you can only study water-saving technologies. The world's best in this regard is Daweixing, whose drip irrigation agriculture is second to none."

Liu Hua said dismissively, "It's a fake, you know? Daweixing fabricated this."

Liu Guodong suddenly sat up straight: "Impossible. Developing agriculture in the desert, they are the only ones in the world who can do it, and feed so many people. If they don't use drip irrigation, what technology do they use?"

"Military technology".

Liu Hua said with a smile, "In such an arid region, the most effective and cost-efficient technology is military technology."

Neither of them understood. Liu Guodong frowned and asked, "Military technology can be applied to agriculture? What kind of technology? I've never done that before?"

"Go ahead and fight, seize more territory and water sources." Liu Hua said with a smile, "Those squid have always been profit-driven capitalists. They know better how to operate with the lowest cost. Using low-cost technology to support agriculture is always better than using drip irrigation technology."

"Then why do they still promote their drip irrigation technology?"

Liu Hua pointed at his son and shook his head: "You are still too young. They have to put on a kind face to cover up their cruel nature. You can find out if you look it up. They even exported fruit. At one point, the European citrus market was dominated by the Starfruit brand. I ask you, can the little water dripped with drip irrigation technology sustain citrus fruits?"

Both of them shook their heads, explaining that fruit cultivation requires a large amount of water.

Liu Hua said, "There is an old saying in our country: oranges grown south of the Huai River are sweet oranges, but those grown north of the Huai River are bitter oranges. You should understand the difference in rainfall between the south and north of the Huai River. The reason why the oranges are bitter in the north of the Huai River is due to both the temperature and the amount of rainfall."

"So, it's impossible to grow rice using drip irrigation technology?"

Liu Hua shook his head: "I don't know. After all, I'm not a biotechnology student. But I do know that we have a saying, 'Man can conquer nature.' This is a treasure passed down to us by our ancestors. Just because squid can't do it doesn't mean we can't. But I reckon that with the current technology, it's unlikely to work because drip irrigation is too expensive. The cost of water diversion projects for rice grown this way would be even higher, unless a new permeable membrane technology emerges."

Liu Guodong threw the magazine aside: "We'll have to wait. Materials technology is all about luck; there's no telling when there will be any progress."

Daughter-in-law Lin Yu, resting her chin on her hand, said, "They always thought about growing rice in the desert, but it seems unlikely."

“Rice can’t be grown in the desert, but that doesn’t mean other crops can’t be grown there,” Liu Hua said with a smile. “And with biotechnology, it doesn’t mean rice can’t be grown in the desert.”

Liu Guodong sighed: "Maybe so. That's why I studied biotechnology. I want to turn the impossible into the possible, and I'll achieve it sooner or later."

(End of this chapter)