Twenty years of cold chain

During this period, Hu Shutong and Luan Pingxin went to and from get off work together every day. She kept a close eye on the early stages of the project. The two teams worked together seamlessly, reorganizing and combining their respective expertise to focus on specific technical details. Needless to say, the efficiency of any project personally overseen by Luan Pingxin was exceptional.

We say we'll go home together for dinner every day.

As a result, it was either him waiting for her or her waiting for him; by the time they got back, dinner had practically turned into a late-night snack. Having stayed in Tongxing for several days, after dinner, Luan Pingxin would go to the study to browse company emails. Hu Shutong, even when he had nothing to do, would be busy, listening to the refrigerator, walking around the rooms checking the light bulbs—there really wasn't anywhere in the house to fix anything.

Only then will he sit down and browse through mobile news or something.

Luan Pingxin spent a long time in the study that day, until midnight, when she suddenly asked the question.

"Shutong, do you know anyone who does the technique of live fish farming without water?"

Suddenly, Hu Shutong's ears twitched, and he unconsciously put down his phone. "What's wrong? Why are you suddenly asking this?"

"Come and see, this guy's really something!"

On Luan Pingxin's computer was a proposal of more than ten pages, which revolved entirely around "waterless live fish transportation" and was filled with professional terms that even Hu Shutong only knew superficially and did not understand in detail.

However, what truly confused him was not the document itself, but rather the fact that his thoughts had returned to the time when he first heard the phrase "live fish without water," a long ten years ago. A computer, a few articles—the scene was so similar to the present!

Luan Pingxin sensed Hu Shutong's overwhelming emotions. It wasn't excitement or just shock; his blank expression was accompanied by rapid blinking, which looked quite strange.

"I do know a few people in this industry, but none of them could make something like this."

He's someone you know, right?

In other words,

Is this document highly technical?

"You still haven't answered me. Why didn't he send it directly to you, but instead sent it anonymously through me?"

"It happened several years ago, it's all in the past, there's no need to talk about it anymore, but it was a bit unpleasant."

Seeing this, Luan Pingxin stopped pressing the matter. "He sent it to me so he could send it to you. So tell me, what was his purpose?"

"Pingxin, what's the quality of this document?"

"His expertise is very solid. Although we can't see the whole picture, the wake-up mechanism alone is enough to be a standalone research paper. He has a lot of data on wake-up devices and must be someone who has been deeply involved in this field for many years."

Hu Shutong nodded. "Then we don't need to think about his motives. This is the culmination of years of hard work and research."

Ken showed it to me.

This means it will be provided to Tongxing's R&D center. (Ping Xin)

In other fields, we naturally need to consider whether he intends to exploit anything.

But these are live fish without water! Technicians across the country are working on this massive puzzle.

Luan Pingxin nodded in agreement with Hu Shutong's statement.

Yes, it is so different. "72-hour waterless live fish transportation" is the vision of countless industry technicians because it will bring about a qualitative change in our country's aquatic product transportation!

Fish from the East China Sea, after traveling thousands of kilometers, appear lively and energetic in the large fish tanks of the Southwest Seafood Market; fish from the Great Lakes, where only freshness ensures the best taste, splash and wriggle onto the cutting boards of city dwellers, becoming the target of countless cold chain technology professionals!

This technology also involves the professional breeding of many fish species, promoting high-quality fish species from one region to the whole country. It has groundbreaking significance for both increasing the income of fish farmers and enriching the dining table, making the three traditional fish species in many remote areas—carp, ribbonfish, and silver carp—a thing of the past.

However, it is so complex that, without exaggeration, it is the pinnacle of cold chain transportation technology.

The "live" in "live fish without water" doesn't mean they're jumping and wriggling during transport; that's impractical. What this technology aims to achieve can be summarized in one sentence—

The fish are put into hibernation first, and then awakened after reaching their destination.

However, in practice, it faces numerous technical challenges, requiring extremely high-precision mobile cold storage, with temperature fluctuations not exceeding 0.2 degrees Celsius, and also nanoscale controlled atmosphere storage bags.

It also involves low-temperature domestication in the place of origin, that is, how to induce fish to enter a dormant state by precisely controlling the water environment temperature, heating or cooling it, and also treating them differently according to the characteristics of the species. The challenges are everywhere.

Hu Shutong and Luan Pingxin were both familiar with the current state of technology in this field, which suddenly made the document seem rather heavy, and the two of them fell silent for a moment.

Tongxing cannot conduct the entire research and development of this technology, nor can Tongxing and Qingyan Refrigeration combined. Even if they gathered top talents in this field, there would be no room for research and development. Live fish farming without water requires a large number of experiments with fish, real-time follow-up with individual farmers, and seamless coordination among multiple major links.

Moreover, the current technology focuses primarily on the wake-up box, failing to present a complete picture of the entire technology. However, one thing is undeniable: it fully deserves to be considered a supplementary component.

Although the two remained silent, they were thinking the same thing.

Just because we can't do it doesn't mean there's no room for its application. This was never an individual project. If we can contribute our efforts and work together with everyone in the technical field to achieve this, pushing cold chain transportation to new heights, it would be the greatest honor for technical people.

While the process of taming and reviving live fish without water isn't Luan Pingxin's specialty, she has the authority to speak on the equipment required for this process, especially given her background in creating the ultimate constant-temperature storage system for the pharmaceutical industry.

"Regarding the cooler, I'll first work with them to achieve the first phase of results. You can keep an eye on the data from the subsequent experiments. I'll take this material with me later; I'm sure it will be helpful."

As Hu Shutong stared intently, Luan Pingxin laughed, "What's the big deal about making more trips? If this technology really succeeds, it will be a huge boost to the industry. The more the industry thrives, the more you can take off. It's like giving us a new business opportunity. Who knows, after this, we might even get the research center's attention. Then we'll have a new weapon, and we won't have to rely on your same old tricks anymore."

The "research center" that Luan Pingxin mentioned is the National Engineering Research Center for Modern Logistics of Agricultural Products. Established in 09, it is a large-scale research and development institution with not only an engineering center but also key laboratories, national planning research teams, and multiple research directions dedicated to cold chain logistics.

In the small study, Luan Pingxin tilted her head and looked at Hu Shutong. In a moment, all of Hu Shutong's inner thoughts, his inner turmoil, and even the deep recollections of the past disappeared.

Those eyes, as bright as the moon, seemed to say that having choices makes us relaxed and free.

I've loved cold chain logistics for twenty years.