Love in the Courtyard: Starting with Engineers

The newly completed aircraft carrier-related R&D workshop at Longxing Shipyard was bustling with activity.

The members of the National Military Industry Working Group sat on the dais, with a thick list of key tasks laid out in front of them.

Li Yu stood at the front row: "Comrades! The aircraft carrier is our maritime shield. Today, the higher-ups have given us a military order."

"We will produce a usable miniaturized shipborne missile within six months, and overcome the challenge of welding rare-earth alloy decks within a year!"

"These two hurdles are crucial to whether the shields can be built and made sturdily! I'll handle the technical issues; everyone just need to follow me and charge forward!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the audience erupted in a commotion.

Old Wang pushed through the crowd to the front, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Factory manager, I've spent half my life welding, and I'll take the lead in tackling this rare earth alloy problem! If we can't crack it, I'll leave this old man in the workshop!"

Young technician Zhang shrank back, whispering to the person next to him, "I heard that even the foreigners haven't completely solved the problem of welding deformation... Can we handle it?"

Hearing this, Li Yu smiled and waved to him, then pointed to the brand-new equipment in the workshop: "Xiao Zhang, don't worry! We have the most advanced five-axis machine tools, so the machining precision of the missile body is not a problem at all! I also have a special welding solution here. Just follow the blueprints, and it's guaranteed to be successful!"

He then waved the booklet in his hand: "Over there are samples of deck steel and navigation technology data sent by our Soviet big brother. You can refer to them, but you can't copy them! What we're building is China's own aircraft carrier equipment!"

"good!"

"Work under the factory manager!"

A week later, Andrei arrived with a group of people in the remote technical exchange room of Longxing Factory.

Behind him stood a group of Soviet military experts, holding thick stacks of documents.

"Director Li, your country's rare earth alloy technology has solved a major problem for our aircraft carrier deck!"

Andrei gave Li Yu a thumbs up. "These are the operation manuals for our best vacuum welding equipment, as well as core technical data on the inertial navigation of shipborne missiles. It's a small token of our sincerity, and we hope to deepen our cooperation with you!"

Li Yu smiled and nodded: "Advisor Andrei, you're too kind. Technology knows no borders. Only by learning from each other can we make our equipment even stronger!"

Old Wang, who was standing nearby, chimed in, "Factory manager, this older brother really respects our technology. We used to be the ones learning from them!"

Andrei understood, laughed heartily, and immediately finalized the technology exchange agreement.

But this joy didn't last long before bad news arrived.

That afternoon, the purchasing manager rushed into the workshop, sweating profusely, clutching a telegram in his hand.

"Factory manager! The foreigners have turned their backs! High-precision photoresist and special wafers have been added to the embargo list. These are the core raw materials for missile guidance chips, and they won't sell us a single one!"

The workshop fell silent instantly; you could hear a pin drop.

Xiao Zhang's face turned pale, and his lips trembled as he said, "Without these materials, the chips can't be made, and the missiles will be blind. What are we going to do?"

Many workers also sighed, and the atmosphere became frighteningly heavy.

No matter how advanced a five-axis machine tool is, it can manufacture the missile body, but it cannot manufacture the guidance chip that lacks the core material.

Li Yu frowned and tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

The information he had redeemed from the system flashed through his mind: a complete technical solution for replacing domestically produced guidance chips.

After pondering for a moment, he slammed his hand on the table, his voice booming, "There's always a way out! If we can't import them, we'll find domestic alternatives! I have ready-made technical solutions here; follow along, and I guarantee it will succeed!"

As he spoke, he turned and strode quickly towards his office. When he returned, he had a stack of blueprints marked "Top Secret" in his hand, which he placed on the table: "Follow this. Use domestically produced materials, and the process can be achieved with our five-axis machine tool!"

The crowd gathered around to take a look, and the parameters on the drawing were clear and concise, with even the alternative materials clearly marked. Their eyes lit up, and their panicked emotions instantly calmed down.

When Li Yu got home that evening, he didn't even eat dinner. Instead, he sat at his desk and fine-tuned the chip processing parameters based on the system data.

When Bai Ling came home from get off work, she tiptoed over and draped a coat over him.

She said softly, "Working at the factory is busy, but you still need to take care of yourself. My daughter keeps saying that she hasn't gone to the park to fly kites with you in a long time."

At this time, the doorbell rang.

When Bai Ling opened the door, she saw that it was her parents' secretary, who was carrying a suitcase.

"Director Li, the commander asked me to send over some precision testing and measuring tools."

Days passed, and the lights in the workshop came on and went off, went off and came on again.

Three months later, the test results came out. Old Wang stared at the numbers on the report, his hands trembling. Suddenly, he covered his face, squatted down on the ground, and cried like a child.

"It's done! It's really done! The deformation is completely up to standard! To be able to work on an aircraft carrier in my lifetime is totally worth it!"

The surrounding technicians cheered as well.

Almost simultaneously, good news also came from the chip manufacturing plant.

The technical team strictly followed the system plan proposed by Li Yu, and successfully developed the guidance chip using domestically produced materials and a five-axis machine tool.

The first batch of miniaturized missiles was assembled and transported to the test range for live-fire testing. All ten missiles accurately hit the target ship 10 kilometers away, with an error of no more than half a meter.

After watching the test video, the naval representative gave a thumbs-up, shook Li Yu's hand excitedly, and said, "Engineer Li, you guys are amazing! The accuracy of this missile is even better than the foreigners'! With this, our aircraft carriers will have a real fist!"

Li Yu smiled and waved his hand: "This is the result of everyone's hard work. We just did our job of providing technical support."

Throughout the entire process, he only observed the data from the sidelines; the testing process was entirely led by military experts.

Li Yu's lips curled up, and a glint of shrewdness flashed in his eyes: "Welcome them, it's a good opportunity to learn from each other."

Meanwhile, in an intelligence agency in a distant Western country, a document marked "Top Secret" sat on the commander's desk. The document detailed the technological breakthroughs of the Longxing Factory, ending with a chilling line: "Initiate the spy infiltration plan. Target—rare earth alloy welding technology and the formula for domestically produced guided chip materials."

At the same time, a telegram from a metallurgical research institute in China was delivered to Li Yu's desk. It contained only one sentence: "Breakthrough has been achieved in the new rare earth purification technology, with significant performance improvement."