Chapter 228

"Director...it's on the phone! Professor Lu is calling from Beijing via a private line!"

Liu Guangqi slowly put down the tweezers, took off his latex gloves, and dipped his hands in disinfectant. He walked unhurriedly through the long corridor and pushed open the wooden door to his office.

The black bakelite stethoscope lay on the table, and he felt its heavy weight when he picked it up.

"Old Lu, I am Guangqi."

"Guangqi—" The voice on the other end of the line was so loud it was almost explosive, with waves of cheers faintly audible in the background. "It's done! It's all done! The good news from all the research institutes is almost overwhelming the academic committee's table! Your courses... your courses are equivalent to what they've been doing for three to five years!"

Liu Guangqi listened quietly, the rustling of papers coming from the other end of the receiver, mixed with the excited chatter of a crowd in the distance. He could imagine the lively scene on the other end of the phone.

After the noise subsided slightly, he spoke softly into the microphone:

"This is the result of everyone's joint efforts."

A brief silence fell over the phone. After a moment, Professor Lu's voice, a mixture of amusement and exasperation, rang out again:

"That's...that's it? Guangqi, this is a historic breakthrough that will be written into textbooks! The way you're saying this...it sounds like you're discussing whether or not the cafeteria will add more dishes tomorrow!"

A sycamore leaf twirled in the autumn wind outside the window and gently landed on the windowsill. Liu Guangqi gazed at the gradually yellowing leaf, a very faint smile appearing on his lips.

Only with a solid foundation can one build a towering structure.

A faint smile flickered across Liu Guangqi's lips, his voice revealing little emotion: "It's just my duty."

This was an expected result, so he was naturally not surprised.

After exchanging a few more words, Liu Guangqi, as usual, told the elderly gentlemen to take care of their health and not to overwork themselves, and then ended the call.

He turned around without the slightest hesitation and went straight back to the integrated circuit CNC workshop filled with precision instruments, immersing himself once again in the seemingly monotonous but extremely focused research and development work.

The technical researcher who had rushed over to report the news followed silently behind him.

He heard his own director gloss over the momentous news with just a few unremarkable words, and then, looking at Liu Guangqi's back as if nothing had happened and he was completely absorbed in his work, he couldn't help but be lost in thought.

Who could have imagined that?

This revolutionary wave of computer innovation, which swept across the national academic community and stirred the hearts of countless researchers, boasted remarkable achievements worthy of being recorded in history. However, in the mouth of their own institute director, it was merely...

A casual "it's my job"?

The researcher's gaze inadvertently fell upon the orderly arrangement of integrated components on Liu Guangqi's workbench.

Suddenly, a realization dawned on him.

Perhaps, in the director's eyes, this second-generation transistor computer, which was enough to make him go down in history, was really just a...

A very insignificant starting point.

Liu Guangqi no longer devotes much energy to the second-generation computer.

the reason is simple.

Once all the research institutes with "Hua" in their names had fully mastered the essence of second-generation transistor technology, this matter was considered complete for him.

The key now is no longer technological breakthroughs, but how to turn the second-generation computer from blueprints into reality and achieve mass production.

This tests how research institutes can successfully transfer their laboratory findings to the roaring production line.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences acted the fastest.

While continuing to advance independent research and development and improve technical details, they have begun to proactively contact major domestic communication equipment manufacturers to pave the way for large-scale mass production.

Five entities, including the state-owned Factory 738, located in Beijing and possessing the deepest technological foundation, were the first to come into their view.

Of course, at present, it is only the initial establishment of a cooperative relationship.

For these factories, which are accustomed to producing radios and telephones, to immediately switch to the mass production of precision computers, a great deal of adjustment and production line modification is still needed.

Currently, the core task of these five factories remains to produce qualified parts and components according to the standards provided by the calculation.

As for the most crucial stages of system assembly and final debugging, these remain firmly in the hands of the researchers at the Institute of Computing Technology.

However, according to Liu Guangqi's prediction, with the experience of successfully producing six computers before the new year as a foundation, the plan is to establish a dedicated mass production line with several factories, led by State-owned Factory 738, after the new year...

It will definitely be officially launched soon.

Only then will the development of second-generation computers on this land truly usher in a prosperous era of diverse schools of thought.

Time slips away quietly.

As the year draws to a close, various units are gradually entering the final stage of their work, and the crisp clinking of abacus beads echoes throughout the city.

Departmental summaries, production calculations... all sorts of heavy reports flew to various levels of management agencies like snowflakes.

The air was thick with a sense of anticipation, as everyone eagerly awaited the upcoming annual summary and commendation conference.

On this day, Wang Jianguo, holding a substantial and weighty report, strode into the ministry's office building.

The report presents the outstanding achievements of Hongxing Chuanghui Machinery Factory this year.

As expected, this factory once again topped the list of foreign exchange earners in Beijing, firmly holding its leading position.

The numbers on the report were dazzling.

Foreign exchange earnings have steadily climbed from just over 500 million last year to a new high of 670 million this year.

Having achieved such outstanding results for several consecutive years, Wang Jianguo, the deputy factory director, is undoubtedly the most outstanding among the heads of the department-level units directly under the ministries and commissions, and has become the top student in this "class".

"Comrade Jianguo!" The Minister of the First Ministry of Machine Building took the report, his tone brimming with undisguised admiration. "Your Red Star Factory has truly brought honor to our Ministry! Such a considerable amount of foreign exchange reserves—how much of the imported grain, fertilizer, and meat we desperately need can we exchange for? And what about those special materials and key technologies that can only be obtained from our northern neighbor!"

Faced with the minister's praise, Wang Jianguo stood up straight, his face beaming with uncontainable pride.

But he did not take credit for it; instead, he calmly responded:

"This is all thanks to the solid foundation laid by Director Liu back then!"

"The rice cookers and washing machines he initially designed are still best-selling products in overseas markets today and are the backbone of our foreign exchange earnings."

"This year, we further optimized several production lines according to his earlier blueprint. With the increase in production capacity, the amount of foreign exchange earned naturally increased as well."

No one present raised any objection after this statement was made.

Everyone knows that the reason why Hongxing Chuanghui Machinery Factory was able to create foreign exchange miracles from the very beginning is because of the solid foundation laid by Liu Guangqi in his early years.

Although Liu Guangqi has been away from the factory for a long time, his shadow still lingers in every corner.

That legendary achievement in foreign exchange earnings brought glory to the entire First Ministry of Machine Building. Every year at the institute's committee meetings, it was specifically commended and recognized as a model of excellence.

As soon as the report ended, Wang Jianguo walked out of the minister's office. Officials from various departments and bureaus passing by in the corridor, whether they knew him or not, all smiled and nodded in greeting.

"Congratulations, Factory Director Wang!"

"Old Wang, this year is another bumper harvest for your factory!"

Wang Jianguo walked steadily and responded with a smile to each person.

He knew in his heart that behind this honor lay the hard work of tens of thousands of employees at the Red Star Factory day and night, but even more so, it was the smooth road that young man had paved for them long ago.

Instead of leaving immediately, Wang Jianguo turned and strolled towards the newly inscribed "Industrial Research Institute of the First Ministry of Machine Building." The five characters "Industrial Research Institute" on the brand-new signboard carried a heavy weight.

Technicians hurried along the corridor, carrying bundles of blueprints and documents, the air thick with the unique smell of machine oil mixed with solder. Even Wang Jianguo, a man accustomed to such scenes, couldn't help but feel a ripple of emotion upon witnessing this bustling activity.

As the former technical team leader, most people in the research institute recognized him. He had only been out for a short time when someone spotted him and hurriedly informed the staff.

Not long after, Liu Guangqi came out from the integrated circuit workshop to greet them.

As the two shook hands, Wang Jianguo jokingly exclaimed, "Wow, Director Liu! I thought you'd only get promoted to deputy director at most... but this time, you've upgraded the research department to a research institute."

He clicked his tongue, his eyes filled with envy and genuine admiration.

"This position is much more substantial than any deputy director position."

This is no exaggeration. There are many deputy directors under the General Machinery Department, but very few truly control core business operations. Liu Guangqi, however, is different—a deputy director-general level official in charge of key projects such as industrial automation and integrated circuits, all closely monitored by the ministry. Such power and status command respect even from ordinary deputy directors. Not to mention, at his age, climbing the ranks by seniority would have taken at least three to five years. Now, he's in charge of the research institute, and no one, above or below, objects to his appointment.

Liu Guangqi smiled and led him into the office, casually making him a cup of tea: "I was a little surprised too. But technical research and development is definitely more to my liking."

Wang Jianguo stroked the warm teacup, recalling the days when he guided Liu Guangqi in technical research at the Hongxing Factory, his eyes filled with emotion:

"Back then you were just a greenhorn, tinkering with me and improving electrical appliances. Now look at you, you're the director of the research institute and I'm the deputy director of the factory, we've both reached the deputy provincial level... life is truly unpredictable."

Liu Guangqi replied with a smile, "I owe it all to you for guiding me into this field back then; otherwise, I wouldn't be where I am today."

Although we hadn't seen each other for over a year, and were both so busy that they barely had time to breathe, the friendship forged from our shared struggles at the bottom hadn't faded with time. What flowed between us was still the tacit understanding of old friends reuniting and the satisfaction of witnessing each other's growth.

They chatted for a while about the latest developments and technological advancements at the Hongxing Factory. Wang Jianguo finished the last sip of tea, gently placed the cup on the table, and his expression softened slightly.

"By the way, Guangqi, there's something important I need to tell you."

He looked at me meaningfully: "The vacant land that the factory approved two years ago—the one planned to be used to build staff dormitories—is now completed and ready for occupancy."

Upon hearing this, Liu Guangqi simply smiled slightly, a hint of indifference flashing in his eyes as if he had already anticipated it.

"Oh, look at that expression... you already guessed it?" Wang Jianguo chuckled.

Liu Guangqi didn't mince words, saying frankly, "I've been waiting for your news ever since construction started on that land."

The staff dormitory buildings of Hongxing Factory—yes, the surrounding land was approved back when the factory was expanded. Now, as time goes by, those dormitory buildings, no matter how slowly they are completed, should eventually be finished.

Naturally, the factory's self-built dormitory building was ultimately different from the ministry compound where Liu Guangqi lived.

The residences of ministry officials are located in a courtyard of **, a quiet and secluded environment with guards on duty outside the gate, maintaining order.

The factory dormitory area presents a different picture – the dormitory buildings here are simple and unadorned, originally built simply to house the factory workers, with neither exquisite landscaping nor additional amenities.

Even so, given the current reputation of the Red Star Factory, any news of the construction of new dormitories will quickly attract attention.

Liu Guangqi was well aware of this.

He knew that as soon as the news of housing allocation leaked out, he would receive a barrage of inquiries by phone, and even cadres from other departments would ask around on his behalf—not necessarily because they needed it themselves, but because their relatives, friends, and colleagues were always hoping for a place to stay.

Sure enough, Wang Jianguo's subsequent casual conversation confirmed his prediction.

"The phone in my office hasn't stopped ringing since the news got out," Wang Jianguo said, waving his hand with a helpless expression. "You know, there are more and more people in the city, so our factory's dormitories are naturally in high demand. People from many departments are using their connections to inquire about reserving a unit."

These words were so true that Liu Guangqi couldn't help but smile upon hearing them.

In recent years, the population of Beijing has become increasingly dense, and people who left in the past are gradually returning, making future housing even more scarce.

In a highly profitable unit like Hongxing Factory, being allocated a room meant long-term stability, and everyone understood its significance.

Wang Jianguo finished his tea, sat up straight, and got to the point:

"I've checked. Your younger brother, Liu Guangtian, has been promoted and his rank has been determined. His wife, Zhou Juan, is also a cadre in the factory. Both of them meet the housing allocation requirements."