Xiaomi Heavy Industry, its first entrepreneurial venture!

Chapter 331 Three! Two! One! Ignite! (First Update!)

"Your country's climate change is really significant!" Rashid suddenly remarked as the group, who had traveled all the way from Suzhou, stepped off the plane.

As everyone's eyes turned to him, he raised his hand and pointed to the distant mountain peaks:
"It has been raining in Suzhou for the past few days since I arrived."

"The plane took off from Suzhou and flew for a long time, passing through the clouds before finally arriving here."

"As soon as I landed, I felt that the place was very dry, which was very, very awkward."

"It feels like coming home!"

Realizing it was Rashid's childish nature, Saleh looked away and pointed to the distant mountains: "It's much drier where you live!"

Have you ever seen so many trees in Dubai?

"never seen it!"

"Let me tell you, if you want to appreciate the beauty of nature, you can buy a plane ticket from the easternmost point of China and fly to the westernmost point."

"You can see all sorts of scenery along the way."

“No!” Rashid was touched by Sall’s suggestion, but then resolutely refused, “I always feel like you’re trying to trick me!”

Having been falsely accused, Saleh's eyes widened, and he bared his teeth as he asked Rashid, "Would I betray you?"

"I'm your elder, do you think I would do you a disservice? Am I that kind of person?"

"Yes!" Rashid nodded slightly and spoke decisively.

Feeling somewhat bored after being thwarted, Saleh then tossed Rashid aside and began peering around, searching for Lin Yi.

After searching for a while, they found Lin Yi leaning against the plane exit, occasionally taking out his phone to check the screen.

It seemed like he was checking the time, but it also seemed like he was replying to a message.

Beside him sat his company's accountant, sitting on her suitcase, holding two bottles of ice water, and smiling at Lin Yi.

Saller walked over with a smile: "Are you waiting for someone?"

The question brought Lin Yi back to his senses. He looked up and said, "There are two more friends!"

"According to the flight information they provided, it should arrive in about an hour."

"The launch center we're going to is in a military-controlled area, so we need to use facial recognition."

“If I don’t take them with me, they’ll be arrested as spies halfway through the journey.”

After explaining, Lin Yi lowered his head and continued scrolling through the news on his phone.

Not long after I started browsing, the airport announcement came on: "Lu Province Airlines flight SC1771 from Yanjing to this station has begun disembarking passengers."

"Passengers who need to be picked up, please wait at Exit 1."

Lin Yi looked up and saw that the exit number above his head was 1, then naturally looked down again.

After waiting for about 10 minutes, people started to emerge from Exit 1. The continuous stream of tourists blocked most people's view, but Lin Yi still spotted the tall man in the crowd at a glance:

"This way!"

Amidst the outward-flowing crowd, Lei Jun and Lin Bin strolled along, one looking to the left and the other to the right.

Just then, a sound suddenly came from his ear. He looked in the direction of the sound and immediately saw Lin Yi standing there.

And several people around him.

His gaze swept over the group of people and quickly landed on the two people next to him who looked like foreigners.

With his eyes fixed on that direction, his movements unconsciously quickened.

"Mr. Lin, it's been a long time! You look even more energetic than before!"

Having met the person, Lin Yi pointed directly to the door with his right hand: "Let's go! Don't waste time here!"

"Once we get there, we have to register our information first, otherwise we'll all end up in jail."

After leaving the airport, Lin Yi took out his phone and casually dialed Han Pengfei's number.

The call connected, but there was no sound from the other end. Just as Lin Yi was about to ask further, a Toyota Coaster minibus slowly pulled up in front of them. The passenger window rolled down, and Han Pengfei's face appeared through the window:

"boarding!"

"Chairman Han, aren't you being a bit too kind to me?" Lin Yi joked with a smile, then stood to the side, pushed everyone behind him into the car, put away their luggage, and got into the car last.

As the car door closed, Han Pengfei looked in the rearview mirror and said:
"There's no other way. If it's just you, I can just send two other people."

“But you still have Mr. Saleh and Mr. Rashid with you.”

“They are honored guests to you, and they are even more honored guests to me.”

"It's perfectly normal for me to come pick you up in person."

"By the way, who are these two...?"

Han Pengfei's gaze then fell on Lin Bin and Lei Jun, whose information Lin Yi had already submitted.

If Lin Yi hadn't been there, he definitely wouldn't have given those two a second glance.

But since Lin Yi was present, the necessary procedures had to be followed, and he had to act as the introducer.

Lin Yi could roughly guess what Han Pengfei was thinking, and pointed at Lei Jun:
"Lei Jun, founder of Xiaomi Group, and his partner Lin Bin next to him."

"President Lei, President Lin, this is Chairman Han Pengfei of the Aerospace Group."

After hearing the introduction, Lei Jun quickly stepped forward, smiled, and shook hands with Han Pengfei, saying, "Chairman Han, I've only ever seen you in the news before."

"Now that I've met you in person, I find you're even more handsome than in the news."

"Mr. Lei, you too!" After shaking hands with Lei Jun, Han Pengfei quickly extended his hand to Lin Bin:

"President Lin too!"

After they finished meeting, Han Pengfei looked ahead and said in a calm tone:

"Gentlemen, Mr. Lin should have told you that we are going to the Jincheng Rocket Launch Center, in the city's military management area."

"I would like to add a few points here."

"Once we arrive, you will all stay at the launch center's guesthouse."

"The guesthouse is located on the outskirts. While at the guesthouse, you are free to make phone calls without any restrictions."

"However, if you enter the core area, you must hand in your mobile phone and you may not carry any electronic devices on your person."

"If you need photos taken, we will have professionals to help you take them and edit them to ensure the quality of the photos."

"If you enter the core area, you will find that you are carrying a mobile phone, camera or other electronic devices that can record audio or video without permission."

"They'll be treated like spies..."

As Han Pengfei explained, the minibus drove out of the city, winding along the mountain roads, and finally stopped at the launch center's guesthouse.

The guesthouse is a very ordinary six-story building with a little Soviet architectural style, but not much.

Leading the group to the target floor, Han Pengfei pushed open a door and pointed to the room behind it, saying:
"This guesthouse is an old building that has been renovated. The rooms are a bit small, so please don't mind."

"It's getting late, so I won't take you to see the core area."

"I have work to do later, so I have to leave first."

"The guesthouse has a canteen with staff on standby 24 hours a day. You can go directly to the canteen to eat whatever you want."

"The cafeteria is on the first floor. Go downstairs, turn right in the stairwell, go out through the back door, then cross the courtyard behind the door; the cafeteria is right there." "Remember to call if anything happens!"

After arranging his accommodation, Han Pengfei disappeared like the wind.

Lin Yi watched until the other person disappeared from sight before turning around and looking at the people who had been standing beside him:
Want to play mahjong?

Upon hearing that they were going to play mahjong, Salle rolled up his sleeves and said, "Come on, I'll join in."

Hearing this, Rashid quickly came over:
"Uncle Sale, you fight, and I'll help you strategize."

Lei Jun and Lin Bin, who were left, looked at each other and nodded at the same time: "Let's fight!"

Once the mahjong table is set up, time flies by, and before you know it, it's the morning of the next day.

At 8:00 a.m. sharp, Han Pengfei and his Toyota Coaster appeared in front of the guesthouse on time.

He stood in front of the Toyota Coaster, checking each person as they came in before allowing them to get on.

The vehicle continued along the road into the mountains. Han Pengfei sat next to Lin Yi, pointing out the buildings that appeared along the roadside and enthusiastically explaining to the people in the car:
"See those two towers in the distance? Those are our two launch pads."

"The taller one is workstation number 9, which mainly handles the launch of meteorological and resource satellites."

"The one that's a little shorter over here is workstation number 7, which was there when the launch center was first built."

"This launch pad is gradually becoming too slow to keep up with the current pace. According to the launch center's idea, they need to build another launch pad to verify some things."

As the vehicle continued forward, Han Pengfei suddenly raised his hand and pointed to a very tall building in the distance.

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a tall factory building with a large door.

Roughly estimated, even Ultraman would be much shorter.

Exclamations of surprise rose and fell, and Han Pengfei found these surprised voices very pleasing.

He withdrew his finger and pointed to the steel structure in the distance, saying:

"This is the core of a launch center, namely the vertical assembly and testing facility for rockets."

"The main function of this factory is to undertake the hoisting of rocket segments, vertical assembly, and system testing. Only after passing these tests can a rocket be considered qualified and launched into space."

"The rockets assembled here will be transported to the launch pad by rail trucks, secured, and then launched."

"The satellite testing center is right next to it."

"This test center is the same as the rocket vertical assembly and test plant, except that this test center tests satellites."

"All satellites need to be tested here before they can be mounted on rockets and launched into space."

"In addition to these regular duties, they are also responsible for tracking the attitude of satellites and rockets after launch."

"The building next to the test center is the general command headquarters for the rocket launch."

"The observation deck I reserved for you is in that building; it's an excellent location."

"The person who will be shouting the countdown will be right next to you. You can listen to him shout, or you can imitate him shouting."

The launch center is quite large, and it took the group a whole day to explore it, even with Han Pengfei, an acquaintance, as their guide.

After a day of sightseeing, the group returned to the guesthouse, not wanting to say a single extra word. They lay down on the bed, closed their eyes, and when they opened them again, another day had passed.

November 11!

At 8 a.m., Han Pengfei and his Toyota Coaster arrived on time once again.

Without him even needing to say a word, a group of people eagerly got into the car, and then the driver started the vehicle and drove towards the control center in the core area.

The vehicle stopped, and Han Pengfei took the lead, walking ahead of everyone towards the "viewing platform" he had reserved.

This so-called observation deck is on the top floor of the command center, right next to the joint command center lobby.

Leading the group into the observation deck, Han Pengfei stood by the window and tapped on the highly transparent tempered glass:

"From this position, we can see the rocket being transported to the launch pad, then the launch pad being secured, and we can also see the rocket being erected."

Heaven was on his side; just as he finished speaking, a commotion came from outside the window.

Everyone rushed to the window, stood behind it, and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the massive, tens-of-meters-high gate of the rocket vertical assembly and testing facility had been opened.

Inside the open door, a silver-white rocket stood there quietly.

The moment the rocket was spotted, the people on the observation deck let out a scream.

Soon, the rocket, towed by a specialized transport vehicle, slowly moved toward Launch Pad 9.

Once the two systems were connected, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, commands came from the command center just a wall away.

"Check the hydraulic lines and begin fueling!"

The sound was powerful and clear, penetrating the wall and reaching the ears of everyone present with perfect accuracy.

Saller looked at the rocket in the distance for a while, then turned back to look at Lin Yi:
"By the way, why are you thinking of launching three arrows at once? Why don't you just put all these things in one launch center and take your time?"

His questions made Lin Yi roll his eyes repeatedly.

With a sigh, Lin Yi explained helplessly, "Our country has three satellite launch centers. The three satellite launch centers have different geographical locations, different roles, and different focuses."

"The launch center to the west is mainly used for launching geosynchronous orbit satellites."

"This launch center in the desert is also a military restricted area. That launch center also has its own name, called Space City."

"The space city mainly launches various low-Earth orbit satellites."

"Of the 27 satellites this time, three are geostationary orbit satellites, which can only be launched from Jincheng."

As he explained, Sall once again turned his gaze back to the distant rocket.

No one spoke. Han Pengfei turned around, walked out the door, and went into the command center next door.

He found a corner to stand in, stared at it for a while, and then walked up to Xiao Wenkang, the person in charge of the launch center.

Looking at Xiao Wenkang, Han Pengfei asked in a low voice:
"By the way, where's the remote control I asked you to prepare?"

"Find it for me right now!"

"This way!" Xiao Wenkang turned and walked out of the command center, took a burlap sack from the next office, then took out a remote control from inside and handed it to a few people leaning against the window:

"One for each of you. I'll start the countdown in a bit. When the countdown reaches zero, everyone press the remote control at the same time to launch the rocket!"

"You can't press it in advance, and you can't press it later; you have to press it together."

The group nodded in agreement and took the remote control from Xiao Wenkang.

After distributing the remote controls, Xiao Wenkang turned around and returned to the command center next door to continue overseeing operations.

Looking at the countdown timer displayed on the wall, he picked up the walkie-talkie:

"Attention all units, only 5 minutes left!"

"Attention all units. Last minute!"

"Countdown 10 seconds!"

"Three or two, light the fire!"

(End of this chapter)