Chapter 13: A Renewed Hope!
Page 1 of 3
Wang Xin, stopped by the soldiers, hurriedly spoke up.
“Comrade, we are Professor Wu’s students. We’ve come to find Zhao Haikuan, one of Professor Zhang’s students. Could you please—”
“No one is permitted to enter.”
Wang Xin froze, then instinctively looked toward Guo Xueyun.
She remembered Guo Xueyun telling her earlier that she had conveyed Wang Xin’s message to Zhao Haikuan at the entrance.
Less than an hour had passed. How had they suddenly been forbidden even to enter?
Guo Xueyun was just as bewildered.
“These are our student IDs. We—”
“I know. But no one is permitted to enter.”
Taking a deep breath, Wang Xin tried another approach.
“Then could you please contact Zhao Haikuan and tell him that I—”
Before she could finish, the soldier bluntly refused and told her to leave at once.
Guo Xueyun pulled Wang Xin aside.
“Senior, something isn’t right. It really wasn’t like this when I came earlier.”
“It’s only an undergraduate thesis review. How could it cause such a commotion? It makes no sense!”
Wang Xin’s face was full of confusion.
She had come to see how things were going with Zhao Haikuan, never imagining that she would not even be allowed near the place.
“What do we do now?”
“Why don’t we wait here for a while? I expect they’ll be finished soon. Professor Zhou’s research group hasn’t even had its thesis review yet.”
After some thought, the two decided to wait at a greater distance.
However, they waited for quite some time without seeing the soldiers leave. Instead, a professor arrived.
“Isn’t that Professor Zhou? What is he doing here?”
“Perhaps his research group grew impatient waiting.”
While the two were still wondering, Professor Zhou was stopped some distance away by two fully armed soldiers.
Although they could not hear what was being said, it was obvious from the scene that Professor Zhou was not allowed in either. In the end, he could only leave empty-handed.
“Even Professor Zhou can’t get inside? What on earth is Professor Zhang doing in there?”
“How strange. There was nothing unusual before, but the moment the review began, the whole place was sealed off.”
The two exchanged a glance, their hearts filled with curiosity.
As time passed, quite a crowd gathered nearby, all watching with interest.
So long as they kept far enough away, the soldiers on guard did not come over to drive them off.
A moment later, Guo Xueyun suddenly pointed toward someone approaching in the distance.
“Senior, isn’t that Professor Zhang? Why is he coming from outside?”
Wang Xin narrowed her eyes and looked more closely. It really was Zhang Gongnong.
“Professor Zhang wasn’t even in the laboratory!”
Now she was even more confused.
Page 1 of 3
Page 2 of 3
Zhang Gongnong was just about to enter the laboratory when two soldiers stopped him.
“Comrades, I’m Zhang Gongnong, the person in charge of this laboratory. Here are my credentials.”
After taking a glance, one of the soldiers said, “Professor Zhang, please wait a moment. I’ll contact the major.”
Watching this, Wang Xin was utterly dumbfounded.
Even Professor Zhang had been stopped and required to be reported in. What exactly had happened inside the laboratory?
Soon, the soldier who had gone in to notify the others returned.
“Professor Zhang, please enter.”
After escorting Zhang Gongnong into the laboratory, the two soldiers resumed their posts at the entrance.
The moment Zhang Gongnong entered, Major Wan came out to meet him.
“Professor Zhang, this way.”
As they passed the lounge, Zhang Gongnong heard a stream of babbling voices. They sounded vaguely familiar.
Listening more carefully, he suddenly remembered.
They were reciting the confidentiality regulations, which he had long since memorized word for word.
Zhang Gongnong leaned forward and glanced inside, only to see Teacher Qian leading his own students in reciting them aloud.
“Major, what is this?”
“Reporting to you, Professor Zhang, this is Colonel Zhang’s order. We are implementing the highest level of security measures.”
Zhang Gongnong looked utterly perplexed.
“Major, what exactly happened? Why has everything suddenly become so serious?”
“I’m sorry, Professor Zhang. I don’t know either.”
As he looked around, he noticed that Su Dingping was nowhere to be seen.
“Major, have you seen my other student, Su Dingping?”
“I don’t know.”
Unable to get any answers, and recalling what Professor Li had said over the telephone, Zhang Gongnong found himself growing more and more confused.
Damn it. Could something have happened to Dingping?
Too anxious to think any further, he hurried deeper into the laboratory.
He eventually reached the door of a private office. Just as he was about to open it, he discovered that it was locked from within and had no choice but to knock.
“Old Li, what are you doing in there?”
The door opened, revealing Professor Li with a face full of delight.
“Old Zhang, you finally came! If you hadn’t shown up soon, the roast duck would have flown away!”
“What roast duck?”
“Never mind that. Come in first, and I’ll explain. Major, thank you for your trouble.”
After thanking Major Wan, Professor Li hurriedly pulled Zhang Gongnong into the room.
Zhang Gongnong was still bursting with questions when the enormous model inside caught his entire attention.
At a single glance, he recognized it.
“A 956E model! When did you make this? Why didn’t I know about it? And why is it in my office?”
Page 2 of 3
Page 3 of 3
“Old Li, what are you up to? Have you started treating my office like your home? And what was that business about someone trying to steal my student?”
As he spoke, he noticed the blueprints covering the entire room.
He looked around, and at last his gaze fell upon Su Dingping and the others.
“Dingping! I thought something had happened to you! Colonel Zhang, Professor Huang—you’re here too.”
Professor Huang and Colonel Zhang looked embarrassed and avoided meeting his eyes. Zhang Gongnong, utterly baffled, had no idea that the words he had just spoken were directed at those very two men.
“Is no one going to explain what exactly is going on?”
Su Dingping was just about to speak when Professor Li cut in first.
“Old Zhang, why do you look as though you’ve swallowed a mouthful of gunpowder? Take a look at this model before you start talking!”
“It’s nothing but—”
He had spoken only halfway when Zhang Gongnong, staring at the model, suddenly fell silent.
Until now, his thoughts had been focused entirely on Su Dingping, and he had not paid attention to the model’s details.
Now that he examined it carefully, he immediately noticed something extraordinary.
It was too similar—practically identical!
He hurried over and studied it inch by inch, uttering exclamations of amazement.
“Well, well, Old Li. You’ve been secretly making such a grand move behind my back! Tell me quickly—how did you figure out the internal structure of the 956E? Didn’t the order from above expressly forbid dismantling a 956E?”
Professor Li smiled.
“Take another look at those blueprints.”
“You old rascal, are you speaking in riddles?” he grumbled, though he reluctantly shifted his gaze to the surrounding blueprints.
In his view, even if Professor Li had conducted secret research behind his back, managing to unravel the internal structure of the 956E and reproduce it as a model was already an extraordinary achievement.
This progress had surpassed that of the entire research institute.
As for the design details on the blueprints, he assumed they would still be within the limits of what he could comprehend.
After all, his own five months of work had not been wasted.
Yet after casually flipping through a few sheets, his eyes suddenly became fixed upon them.
“This… This is the detailed design of the Cormorant-MA airborne-situation-awareness radar! Old Li, where did you get this? Did you bribe experts from the Bear Country?”
“Hm? And here are the design concepts for the MP-401 electronic warfare system. The design plans for the Baikal tactical command system… They even solved the problem of converting a warship’s internal direct current into alternating current?”
He had examined only a small portion when Zhang Gongnong was left completely rooted to the spot.
These were all core technological obstacles that the navy had to overcome in order to enter the modern era.
They were priceless treasures—worth more than gold, and not for sale at any price.
When they had purchased the 956E, they had not failed to consider buying the core technologies along with it. But the Bear Country had refused.
Even an additional nine hundred million dollars had not been enough to make them sell.
“Even if you bribed experts from the Bear Country, you couldn’t possibly have obtained all this! These are secrets punishable by execution!”
Professor Li pushed Su Dingping forward.
“Old Zhang, you’ve taken on an excellent student.”
Page 3 of 3