Traveling Back to the 1960s: The Entire Internet Teaches Me How to Build Missiles

Chapter 77 Visiting Qiu Xiaomei

The truck screeched to a halt at the door, and Xu Qianxue jumped out first, carrying a suitcase.

Then Zhou Yunxiao and Mu Chunsheng jumped down and helped the older Li Difeng, the engineer, out.

The seven members of Squad 501 lined up and saluted Yan Baoguo, who had come to greet them. Then Staff Officer Xu stepped forward, shook his hand tightly, and said with deep emotion, "It's truly not easy! From 1958 until now, the two major bases of Dongfeng and Jinyintan have been advancing side by side, striving to be the best. I've only heard of them but never met them. I've admired them for a long time!"

"Now, finally, after all the storms and rains, the clouds have parted and the moon shines through." Our two sides have each crossed the snow-capped mountains and achieved a grand rendezvous. This is a major victory for Project 596!

Yan Baoguo burst into laughter after hearing this.

He had a broad, square face, his features tanned and rough from the sun and wind. He was of medium to tall stature and spoke in a deep, gruff voice.

"How come you're spouting all that nonsense? You're really good at using fancy words. Anyway, it's all about victory! There's an even bigger victory waiting for us. Come on in, I had the cooks slaughter two sheep, and they're already being cooked in the kitchen."

Later, I'll make some skewers and a soup. Add some vinegar, a sprinkle of pepper, and then some chopped green onions and cilantro. It'll smell amazing, haha!

After saying that, he greeted the six comrades behind him and told them to go to the canteen for lunch. Then he put his arm around Staff Officer Xu's shoulder.

They chatted casually, like old acquaintances, "How's that old guy Ye Guoquan doing lately—"

The others were immediately tempted when they heard there was mutton and dumplings to eat.

Zhou Yunxiao, carrying his suitcase, looked around curiously at everything at the Jinyintan base.

The viewers in the live stream were even more excited, vying to speak up:

[Golden and Silver Beach! It's actually Golden and Silver Beach! Brothers, all stand up! This is the cradle of the first mushroom cloud in the East. Let's pay tribute to Yan Ling and Dean Lu!]

[About the story of how I worked near my hometown but thought I had been exiled to the frontier!]

I had only ever seen this wilderness in documentaries before, but now, stepping into it through the anchor's first-person perspective, seeing those rows of figures standing guard in the cold winds of the plateau, I almost couldn't hold back my tears.

[Attention everyone! All you aerodynamicists and structural mechanics guys can go home now. Hand over the comments to the big shots in high-energy physics and nuclear physics. Don't just sit there doing nothing!]

After putting their suitcases in their rooms at the base's guesthouse, everyone went to the canteen to gather.

The cooks brought out the lambs that had been poached long ago. Some people skewered them, some cooked soup, and there were also pots of steaming hot lamb dumplings.

After catching up with Staff Officer Xu, Yan Ling led him into the mess hall. The research and development comrades from the base were also invited for the meal. He boomed, "Today is a joyous day as the two bases have successfully joined forces! I've had the cooks prepare mutton and dumplings for everyone. Eat as much as you like! The dumplings are stuffed to the brim; I guarantee they'll all have thin wrappers and plenty of filling. If anyone finds a dumpling without filling, don't ask any questions, just whack the cook on the head with your spoon! Haha!"

The comrades applauded and cheered.

Zhou Yunxiao was eating a box of dumplings and a bowl of mutton soup when a dark shadow appeared in front of him.

Looking up, I saw a man wearing black-rimmed glasses sitting down opposite me with a smile, carrying an aluminum lunchbox.

The other person was wearing a faded blue-gray Zhongshan suit, with his hair parted to the side. A chipped fountain pen was clipped to his breast pocket. His slightly thin face wore a simple and humble expression, and his eyes were bright and piercing as he carefully examined me.

When Zhou Yunxiao saw the two pairs of eyes fixed on him, he couldn't help but shudder. Under the light, those eyes were like they had been coated with lacquer, shining brightly, even brighter than the light itself!

He had only ever seen that kind of gaze on Dean Qian.

He immediately blurted out, "Old Master Lu?!"

Dean Lu Guangda, later known as the Prometheus of the East, an unparalleled patriot, and the father of the atom, looked at himself with some surprise. "Heh, am I that old?"

"Ah, no—" Zhou Yunxiao realized his slip of the tongue and quickly explained, "I meant 'big shot.' You're an authority and expert in atomic theory, so calling you 'big shot' isn't an exaggeration, is it?"

"It's not as mysterious as you make it out to be."

Lu Guangda waved his hand in an approachable manner, "You can call me Comrade Lu, Dean Lu, or even more affectionately, Brother Comrade. I can't possibly accept the title 'big boss'!"

"Then let's just call you Dean Lu." Zhou Yunxiao ate two dumplings dipped in vinegar. "You know me?"

"More than just acquaintances? Last year I asked General Manager Xun to give you a warm greeting, have you forgotten?"

Lu Guangda looked at him with a smile, "I've read those materials you translated over and over again, turning them over and over. You young comrade—you're quite the hidden talent!"

Zhou Yunxiao scratched his head nervously, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know about the other materials, but judging from the materials on nuclear physics, chain reactions, detonation calculations, and inorganic chemistry alone, they are undoubtedly the most cutting-edge knowledge in the world today. It's not easy that you were able to translate them from Russian to Chinese without missing a single word."

"You have to understand that even the most skilled translators find it difficult to accurately translate scientific terminology. And I can tell that you added a lot of your own interpretation to make the translation coherent; this isn't something just anyone can do."

"You did it, so you've been keeping your true abilities hidden!"

Hearing Lu Guangda say this, Zhou Yunxiao felt a little guilty, fearing that his background would be exposed.

After all, the materials he copied were written by people from the Eastern Kingdom in later generations, so they were naturally easy to read.

He said sheepishly, "Dean Lu, I did add a little bit of my own interpretation; after all, translation should also adhere to the principles of faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance."

"That's true, but what you wrote, if you don't have a deep understanding of nuclear physics and chain reactions, you can't translate the original meaning just by being faithful, expressive, and elegant."

Lu Guangda gave Zhou Yunxiao a deep look, then curled his lips into a smile. "So I suspect—you're a genius! And a genius in nuclear physics at that! If you hadn't studied missiles back then and had studied theoretical physics instead, maybe our Project 596 would have been a step ahead even earlier—"

Upon hearing this twist of fate, Zhou Yunxiao breathed a long sigh of relief, thinking to himself that Old Master Lu really knew how to beat around the bush and had given him a fright.

He seized the opportunity to say, "Studying missile engineering is also contributing to Project 596. Anyway, both the missile and nuclear weapons programs are in dire need of talent, so I won't lose out no matter what I study, hehe."

The two had a very pleasant conversation, and after the meal, they went to Lu Guangda's office to chat until late at night before reluctantly ending their conversation and going back to rest.

Mu Chunsheng asked him curiously what he had talked about with Dean Lu, and Zhou Yunxiao threatened him: "Leaking secrets will get you beheaded, do you dare to listen?"

Mu Chunsheng pulled the blanket over his head, "Then I'm not listening!"

'

The following day, led by Yan Baoguo and Lu Guangda, the members of Team 501 changed into simple white protective suits and entered a mysterious, huge, enclosed factory.

Four aluminum crates were piled up on an open space in the factory. Dean Lu walked over and had them opened one by one, introducing them to the team members: "This is Qiu Xiaomei, whom you'll be escorting next. It weighs about two tons in total. The first crate contains the ignition neutron source, which is the heart of the atomic bomb detonation—it's extremely sophisticated."

"The second box contains two hemispheres of highly enriched uranium-23X. Don't be fooled by their small size, about the size of two orange halves; they are the core fuel for nuclear fission."

"The third box contains the special tools and scientific instruments used to assemble Qiu Xiaomei. They are very precise and sensitive and cannot be subjected to severe bumps during transportation."

"The fourth box contains the high-energy explosive lens assembly for the main structure of 'Qiu Xiaomei'!"

The metal sphere in the fourth box was oddly shaped, its surface made up of multiple polygonal blocks, resembling an oversized soccer ball.

The outer shell of the sphere is covered with hundreds of detonating cables and fuse sockets, which are intricately intertwined like a girl's braids.

She really does look a bit like Qiu Xiaomei.

Everyone curiously gathered around, examining the components with amazement.

"So this is what an atomic bomb is?"

"A two-ton bomb, how powerful is that? It could probably flatten an entire mountain!"

"This thing looks pretty complicated, with so many detonator sockets. Dean Lu, you guys are really amazing, how did you design it?!"

>