You promised to build cars, so why did you go into the military industry?

Chapter 66 Complete Success

"Master Lian?" Lu Xiangwen asked, somewhat puzzled. "Which Master Lian?"

"Academician Lu, shouldn't you be concerned about the launch time?" Li Ran seemed bewildered by Lu Xiangwen's question.

"It's only at the end of next month? No problem. The lab mice I ordered will arrive on November 13th. I'll make a cage and send them up together."

After giving a brief explanation, Lu Xiangwen reached out and pulled Li Ran aside, asking, "I'm quite curious about this Master Lian. Mr. Li, won't you introduce him?"

"Hey, it's an old blind man from the village. We invited him a while ago to choose an auspicious date and perform a ritual for our project."

"practice?"

"Just take a rooster, cut it open, and let the blood splatter all over the truck. Master Lian said our project will definitely go smoothly."

"Oh, where's the chicken?"

"Release them!"

Noticing that Lu Xiangwen seemed to be having some existential doubts, as if his conscience was bothering him, Lin Yu quickly explained, "Academician Lu, President Li is just teasing you to cheer you up."

Do you know Chef Wei from the canteen at the Qilianshan Satellite Launch Center?

Master Lian is his apprentice; President Li specially invited him back to make steamed buns.

"Oh, so he's Master Wei's apprentice. That explains why the braised pork buns I had the other day tasted so familiar. It was him!" Lu Xiangwen nodded. "So, what about that chicken?"

"On my first day at work, Master Lian showed off his skills by making an authentic plate of braised chicken," Li Ran quickly explained, seemingly realizing that the old man was easily amused.

"Show me your skills, and you make braised chicken with potatoes?" Lu Xiangwen looked at him with a "you're asking me if I believe you" expression, and then fell silent.

Li Ran, standing to the side, felt somewhat embarrassed. He couldn't very well tell the truth, that he had accidentally run over several roosters that had run onto the national highway on his way to invite this Master Lian and had to pay compensation, that would be too shameful.

At that time, Master Lian, who was in the car, saw the chicken blood splattered everywhere and was heartbroken, exclaiming that it was a waste and sighing with distress.

Unable to bear seeing food go to waste, he picked some wild vegetables from the roadside and cooked them together with the roosters in one pot, making a big plate of chicken.

Well, to put it simply, Li Ran could only say that Master Lian truly lived up to his reputation; his skills were impeccable, and this braised chicken was far superior to anything he'd had elsewhere.

It's definitely not because he's worried about the money spent on the chicken.

As Li Ran was leaving get off work, Lu Xiangwen pulled her aside and whispered cautiously, "Those self-proclaimed masters outside are all unreliable. Don't be fooled."

I know a senior researcher who's on secondment at the Purple Mountain Observatory. He's absolutely reliable. Do you want me to invite him over for you?

"Are you referring to the Purple Mountain National Astronomical Observatory?"

Lu Xiangwen nodded: "I still have some influence, how about that?"

"please!"

Having reached a consensus, the father and son walked out in tacit agreement.

As they parted at the door, Li Ran seemed to realize something, a suspicious look on his face: "Academician Lu, aren't you the one on secondment at the Purple Mountain Observatory? That 'master' wouldn't happen to be you, would he?!"

Faced with Li Ran's exposure, Lu Xiangwen put on a serious face: "Ahem, from now on, please call me Master Lu when we meet."

Seeing Li Ran's strange expression, her face contorted in a miserable grimace, Lu Xiangwen laughed and walked away.

October 28th was a clear and crisp autumn day, perfect for launching a rocket.

At 9:30 a.m., the live stream began, and Li Ran appeared in front of the camera.

But unlike the employees around him who were wearing custom-made work clothes, Li Ran was wearing short sleeves and carrying a basin of water as she swayed in front of the camera.

This scene instantly brought the previously chaotic live stream chat to a neat and orderly state.

No one expected that Li Ran, the de facto leader in China's aerospace industry, would be so uninhibited and carefree.

To pass the time before the rocket launch, Li Ran lay down on a recliner and opened a private live chat room.

With the participation of many netizens, the popularity of the live stream called "Upside-down Hair Washing" soared and it soon appeared on the homepage of the live streaming platform.

Li Ran, who was chatting with netizens in the live stream room, was currently reading the live stream comments on her tablet.

"Why does the live stream feel so weird? Hey friend, maybe it's just a matter of shared aesthetic tastes."

"What do you think of SpaceX's announcement at the beginning of the month that they will launch a Falcon 9 every month? That's great, so everyone can see a big firework every month."

"Why only one? Of course, it's because we're sure to succeed this time, and then no one will be there to play with them anymore."

A highlighted comment suddenly appeared, and Li Ran subconsciously read it aloud: "Originally, I hoped the rocket would be successfully recovered, but sorry, I'd rather see President Li doing a handstand while washing his hair."

Here's another one: "One firework isn't enough, two are just right."

Li Ran's lips twitched: "Friend, your idea is dangerous. It's expensive to fry them once."

Time passed by amidst Li Ran's joking and nonsensical remarks.

Soon, the launch window arrived, and at 10:47 AM, the Joint Long March 1 Y7 carrier rocket was successfully launched.

However, sending the satellite into its intended orbit is not the focus of our attention today.

As the first and second stages separated, the live broadcast screen split in two, and the controlled reentry attempt of the rocket began.

After the screen froze, the left side of the screen showed the engine at the tail of the separated first-stage rocket and most of the Earth.

On the right side of the screen, you can also see the first-stage arrow rapidly moving away and adjusting its attitude.

It seems they knew that the audience's attention was more focused on the left side of the screen.

Li Ran zoomed in on the left side of the screen to full screen, while the right side of the screen shrunk and hovered in the upper right corner.

The grid rudder swung rapidly, and the RCS periodically sprayed nitrogen in all directions. With the cooperation of both, the attitude adjustment was successfully completed.

On the live stream UI, the numbers displaying speed and altitude are changing rapidly.

The altitude first increased and then decreased, quickly surpassing the highest point of the ballistic trajectory at 105 km. As the altitude rapidly decreased, the speed also increased.

When the speed is about to reach a critical value, an icon representing the engine's operating status appears, replacing the original speed icon.

The three large and one small black circles inside the icon represent three ZK-131F units and one ZK-33F unit, respectively.

The four black circles turning white means that the four engines have successfully ignited and begun to decelerate.

The frequency of changes in the numbers on the height icon began to slow down.

The speed was brought under control, and at this point, the first-stage rocket was 50 km above sea level.

As time went on, the three slightly larger icons representing ZK-131F turned black, leaving only the slightly smaller icon representing ZK-33F still lit.

During the subsequent descent, the ZK-33F began adjusting its attitude and speed.

The remaining three ZK-131F engines will ignite and decelerate when the speed exceeds a certain threshold.

Soon, when the altitude was displayed as 8KM, the mountains and terrain could be clearly seen in the picture.

When the altitude dropped to 2 km, the right-hand view switched to the rocket recovery and landing site.

When the altitude is displayed as 0.1KM, the three landing legs can be clearly seen to have deployed smoothly on the left side of the screen.

Just as everyone was watching the live stream with great tension, anticipating the landing leg making intimate contact with the ground, the live stream suddenly froze.

Three seconds later, the pause ended, and the first-stage rocket body stood quietly in the very center of the rocket recovery and landing site.

The beautiful icon that Li Ran had painted on the ground in the middle of the landing site now looked charred black from the rocket's exhaust flames.

"It's fake, right? The final stuttering was because the recording was switched?"

"Don't do what happened last time, you ended up with a pile of scrap metal."

"Mr. Li, wash your hair upside down!"

Faced with the chaotic live stream, Li Ran gestured to the viewers to remain calm, stating that he would not shut down the live stream and that the results of the flaw detection would be announced tonight.

He also launched a no-prize guessing game, asking viewers in the live stream to guess the timing of the next rocket launch.

First, choosing this option on November 4th, which is one week later, means that the first stage of the rocket has passed the flaw detection and has the ability to quickly re-enter space, indicating that the rocket recovery was a complete success.

Second, on November 28, one month later, this option means that the recovery has failed and United Industries will need to build a new rocket to carry out the subsequent launch mission.

In the live stream room with a large number of viewers, 70% of the votes were for option two.

At 7:13 PM, Li Ran appeared in the live stream room and didn't say much.

"See you in the live stream on November 4th."

Then Li Ran walked out of the frame carrying a basin of water.

The live stream left the viewers bewildered.

Could it be that the rocket recovery was successful?

At 7:15 p.m., the evening news broadcast a breaking news segment, officially announcing the good news to the public in an official tone.

Everything happened so suddenly that many people didn't believe it, especially the lag in the crucial landing footage, which made them think it was a scam.

This is why there's been a huge online uproar.

Public opinion was thrown into a state of flux and uncertainty.

A week later, on November 4th, when the somewhat blackened first-level arrow body and the brand-new second-level arrow body appeared before everyone, the storm of public opinion instantly subsided.

Countless people flocked to the live stream, with rocket industry professionals practically burying their heads in the screen, intently watching the launch footage to try and find any flaws.

At 2:38 p.m., the three scientific research satellites successfully entered orbit.

The first-stage rocket body has already been recovered and stands quietly in the middle of the recovery landing site.

It wasn't until this point that most people were truly willing to believe that rocket recovery had actually been achieved.

On November 16, the "Guiding Opinions on Innovating Investment and Financing Mechanisms in Key Areas and Encouraging Social Investment" was issued and implemented.

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