The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 518: Muddling Through
The South China Daily revealed that Liu Hua was the boss.

The entire nation was stunned. How could private individuals now be allowed to enter the military industry? They hadn't heard of this before. Similarly, they were also worried that allowing private enterprises to operate military products might lead to leaks of classified information.

Unfortunately, while military enthusiasts were anxious, our country and our great Americans seemed to be playing dumb, remaining tight-lipped about reporters' questions, even when reporters held the microphone to their faces, they still wouldn't answer.

Even when pushed to the limit, he would only reply that he didn't know the specifics yet and would study the situation more thoroughly before making a decision.

Both sides pretended to be mute, so the reporter turned his attention to Liu Hua.

"Academician Liu, what are your thoughts on the fact that the United States has put your company on its blacklist?"

Liu Hua feigned ignorance and said, "Is that so? The Americans haven't announced it, and I haven't received any relevant documents. Does that mean our Taiyi Group can't do business with the Americans anymore?"

The reporter could only explain: "It's not your Taiyi Group, it's Dijun Group. Dijun Group has been blacklisted."

"Really? I don't know the details either, but our Dijun Group has no trade relations with the United States." Liu Hua said ambiguously, "Being put on the blacklist won't have a big impact. The United States has its considerations, and we have our own countermeasures, but for now, our company doesn't need to take any action."

"Aren't you going to protest against the US government?"

Liu Hua shook his head: "What's there to protest? They have their own considerations. We haven't suffered any losses. This world is just a giant makeshift operation. Let's just take it easy."

The reporter was completely fooled by Liu Hua and had no chance to argue. What was originally planned as a series of reports to conduct in-depth investigations ended up being abandoned.

However, the angry young people on the internet were discussing it heatedly. They felt extremely aggrieved, feeling that they had been sanctioned and hadn't even made a sound, which was incredibly humiliating.

So some people online ridiculed Liu Hua for losing his integrity and having no backbone, but Liu Hua didn't explain himself. In ten days or half a month, these people would forget about it. That's the memory of the internet.

The J20's engine has been designed and is currently undergoing testing; Liu Hua is devoting 80% of his energy to it.

It's not just Liu Hua who's paying attention; many others are too, because it's the engine for a fifth-generation fighter jet, and it's related to the security of our future skies.

Ma Shan looked at Liu Hua and nudged him with his elbow: "If the Americans knew you designed this thing, it probably wouldn't just be a matter of putting you on the blacklist. They'd probably want to bite you to death."

Liu Hua shrugged: "Well, there's nothing I can do about it. If he had surrendered to us, I guarantee he wouldn't have had such thoughts. It's his fault for opposing us, there's nothing I can do about it."

Ma Shan nodded excitedly: "Once the engine is finished, our fifth-generation fighter jet will be ready soon, right?"

Liu Hua shook his head: "The first step in a long journey. As we all know, the standard for fifth-generation fighters is stealth fighters. Do we have any plans for stealth coatings?"

Ma Shan's face fell immediately, and he said with a wry smile, "You were right. We haven't even seen a trace of the invisible coating. This thing is no less difficult to find than an engine. The most important thing is that we can still find clues for engines, but for invisible coatings, it's like finding a needle in a haystack."

"No rush, take your time, we'll figure it out eventually." Liu Hua smiled and said, "Our scientific research capabilities are actually stronger than those of the Americans. There's no reason why they can do it but we can't."

"You have a point, but there are still difficulties at the moment."

“Difficulties can always be overcome,” Liu Hua subtly guided. “Our ancestors were so amazing; we can’t let them down. The terracotta warriors unearthed from Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum have a chromium salt coating, which was achieved more than two thousand years ago. Aren’t we researching coatings now? We can achieve the same thing.” Ma Shan, confused, said, “You mean those colored terracotta warriors? Isn’t that paint? How can it be a coating?”

"It's possible that the ancients stumbled upon it by accident, but it's said that it's not difficult for people to replicate this process nowadays. It's supposedly a nano-coating, which is difficult for modern technology to match."

Ma Shan suddenly realized: "That's possible. Our ancestors were quite capable. Nano-coatings might have some unexpected benefits. We'll have someone study them then."

I'm not afraid of you doing research, I'm afraid you won't do it. Go ahead and do your research, and you'll all be silent.

Sun Guangming stood aside and listened for a while. He felt that Liu Hua was deliberately leading him astray, so he asked, "Liu Hua, you seem to know a lot about this coating."

"No, I'm not researching nanomaterials." Liu Hua waved his hand. "I'm just chatting. I'm just marveling at the greatness of the ancients, like Lu Ban's wooden kite. It's a pity that our Yongle Encyclopedia has been lost. It is said that many Western technologies were based on the records in the Yongle Encyclopedia."

"is it?"

Looking at the surprised Sun Guangming, Liu Hua asked with ill intent, "Aren't you going to keep an eye on that big guy at the Darian Shipyard?"

"I just got back, and the overall coordination work is quite challenging and difficult."

Liu Hua smiled and said, "Of course. Those are the three jewels in the crown of the shipbuilding industry. We have already conquered LNG, the next one is the aircraft carrier, and the last one is the cruise ship."

"What pearl? They're all called pearls, where do so many pearls come from?"

Liu Hua nodded, then deliberately asked, "There's something you need to consider beforehand."

"what's up?"

“Arresting cables,” Liu Hua sighed. “This is a major challenge for aircraft carriers. Even if you solve the problem of carrier-based aircraft, without arresting cables, the aircraft carrier is still unusable.”

Sun Guangming slapped his thigh: "How could I forget this? I remember that the research on the arresting cable was not among the top priority challenges. No, I have to go back and make arrangements."

“There’s no rush.” Ma Shan pulled Sun Guangming along. “They’re still testing the car. You don’t get to see something like this every day.”

The engine's vector nozzles emitted dazzling light. Liu Hua and the others, all wearing sunglasses, stared intently at the vector nozzles, every movement captivating their attention.

The flame from the nozzle grew larger and then smaller again. Although the color of the nozzle changed, its shape remained unchanged, which was excellent news.

"1500 degrees!" the tester shouted excitedly. "The engine is working normally, we've succeeded."

Liu Hua coughed and said, "Don't be too happy. The test drive is not over yet, so we can't let our guard down. The purpose of the test drive is to find problems."

The flames from the nozzle completely disappeared, and the crowd erupted in thunderous cheers—they had succeeded.

(End of this chapter)