Across the ocean.
Inside the employee dormitory at LLNL Laboratory in Livermore, Bay Area.
Looking at the email sent from Great Xia, Lu Ze chose not to reply and shut off the light-screen projection over his eye.
"About 35 billion yuan in subsidies for primary and secondary school students... how many students are there in Northwest Province altogether?"
Lu Ze lay on his bed, staring at the white ceiling above him, his mind full of thoughts. "This should be enough. I believe the education problems back home will be greatly eased."
"But if we want to solve it nationwide, it's still nowhere near enough."
He did not feel any heartache about donating the money to his hometown. Not to mention that keeping such a sum in his hands would be like holding a hot potato; the day after he truly got it, those Wall Street Jews would probably come knocking.
More importantly, he himself had come from the mountains. Only through all kinds of help from his neighbors and hometown had he been able to attend an excellent university, earn a state-sponsored overseas study qualification, and pursue his master's degree at the globally renowned Ivy League school, Duke University.
In Lu Ze's eyes, wasn't every child in the mountains across the country a reflection of his former self?
Now that he had the ability to change all this, there was no reason not to offer a helping hand. Lu Ze had experienced being drenched by torrential rain, so he wanted to try shielding others from it. It had nothing to do with profit; he was saving his former self.
"If we want to completely solve this education problem, we still have a long way to go."
Lu Ze sighed. "There are poor places beyond Northwest Province... and the problems to solve aren't limited to schools and subsidies."
He also understood that this was not something that could be settled overnight. Solve one problem, and the next would come right after it.
In the mountains, never mind good schools and teachers—many people still ate sweet potatoes and other food with little nutrition every day.
If he could now ensure that students in Northwest Province had meat, eggs, and milk every day, then in the future, he would be able to solve every educational problem across Great Xia. Lu Ze believed that as long as he kept working with the Black Technology Copy System, that day would eventually come.
Northwest Province was only the beginning. After that would come poor regions like Sichuan, Shu, and Yunnan, where the same problems would also be resolved.
But when that day came, it would probably mark the arrival of a nightmare for the entire Western world.
Lost in these thoughts.
Suddenly, Lu Ze remembered something Lucy had asked him to do after lunch that afternoon.
"Lucy is still as gentle and kind-hearted as ever."
He muttered it twice.
When they had gone to that French restaurant at noon, Lu Ze had been prepared to bleed heavily. Only when they arrived did he learn that it was more like an affordable French restaurant. After eating a mountain of food, the most expensive thing had only been a serving of foie gras; everything else was ordinary bread, roasted meat, and the like.
So, although Lucy seemed carefree on the surface, she had a warm heart beneath her cool exterior.
Only...
"Where the hell am I supposed to buy this thing?"
Thinking of her request gave Lu Ze a headache. "If I'd known, I wouldn't have shown her that Little Fairy show."
Why had he shown her an animated series from Great Xia?
Well, now he had brought trouble on himself!
After watching the entire Little Fairy series, Lucy had actually asked him to buy her a Magic Wand—one that could say "Balala, transform!"
Where the hell was he supposed to find something like that?
There was no Yiwu Small Commodities Market in Eagle Sauce these days, and there was not even an app like Pinduoduo back home. Overseas shopping was a nightmare.
Maybe I should ask Quasanti. Their Mysterious Shop might have one? Lu Ze thought.
You might not trust the major supermarkets in Eagle Sauce, but Quasanti's Mysterious Shop was always worthy of trust.
No costs, all profit. The seller guaranteed 100% genuine goods, supported preorders, and even offered after-sales services such as arranging someone to "snatch it back" for you.
The only issue was that its supply was unstable. But if you named a specific product, it would be delivered to your door the next day.
Though it was not yet as rampant as it would become more than a decade later, the beginnings were already visible.
Elsewhere.
Outside the gates of the Great Xia Academy of Sciences, a middle-aged man hurriedly climbed out of a private car.
After receiving Zheng Lixing's call in the early morning, Duan Fei had taken the nearest flight to Yanjing. He had been thinking about it the entire way there.
What exactly had Zheng Lixing meant by those words? He could not figure it out no matter how much he thought.
He did not have many doubts about launching the H-20 project. At the latest, by the end of the year, the stealth strategic bomber program should officially begin.
If things continued like this, there would not be many English letters left for the H-6 Grandpa to choose from.
And Great Xia urgently needed a long-range strategic projection capability. They could not possibly solve everything with ballistic missiles, could they? Once a ballistic missile was launched, there was no turning back. But a strategic bomber could fly over your head and exert deterrence and pressure. Its strategic value was irreplaceable.
But what does this have to do with the B-2 bomber?
Thinking this, he did not even have time for a sip of water or breakfast. The moment he got out of the car, he rushed straight to the dean's conference room.
Duan Fei stood at the door, adjusted his appearance, and knocked. "Dean Zhang."
A familiar voice came from inside. "Duan Fei? Come in."
When he entered the office, he indeed saw the two familiar faces from his memories.
This was not his first visit to the Great Xia Academy of Sciences, so he was no stranger to either of them. Ever since entering scientific research, he had practically grown up hearing legends about Zheng Lixing and the others.
"Take a seat. The journey must have been tiring, right? I only have ordinary pu'er tea here, so I hope you won't mind the poor hospitality." Zhang Yuli picked up a cup of water and handed it to him.
Duan Fei drained it in one gulp, a hint of confusion between his brows. "Dean Zhang, Elder Zheng, did you call me here because of the H-20 project?"
"That's right." Zheng Lixing nodded with a smile.
"But what does the B-2 bomber mean?" Duan Fei asked the most crucial question on his mind.
Other than both being stealth strategic bombers, what connection could they possibly have?
"We know you have some doubts."
Zhang Yuli smiled and picked up a small stack of blueprints. "Take a look at this first. You'll understand afterward."
"I'll understand after looking at it?" Duan Fei took the draft blueprints, which appeared to contain at least several dozen pages, his mind full of questions.
[Technical Analysis of a New High-Thrust Low-Bypass Turbofan Engine.] [Detailed Parameters.] [Maximum thrust without afterburner: 8.4 tons. Compressor: 9-stage axial-flow. Fan: 3-stage axial-flow. Diameter: 970 mm. Pressure ratio: 3.2.] [Uses a non-afterburning engine and a lobed mixer to effectively and stably mix airflow from the inner and outer bypass ducts. [90% of the air in the inner-bypass airflow is fully combusted before fuel is injected into the outer bypass duct, significantly improving operational efficiency while suppressing temperature. [The segmented high-pressure turbine casing uses cooling air for blade-tip clearance control, greatly improving efficiency.] [Analysis of stealth materials and technical characteristics: Uses Carbon Fiber Honeycomb Core Composite Material. The density of this structure increases from the outside inward, with an average density of 0.032 g/cm. In the 6–18 GHz band, the reflected signal is -20 dB.] [.]
"This technology? A high-thrust low-bypass engine?"
Duan Fei first looked at the engine technology at the top, and his eyes widened.
Then he assumed the following pages would contain the detailed development procedures for that engine technology. Instead, the second page presented an entirely new technology.
"Carbon Fiber Honeycomb Core Composite Material structure?" Duan Fei repeated the name, the shock in his eyes intensifying.
He was stunned by the terrifying performance described for both technologies, but what was even more unbelievable was—
You've got to be kidding me. Isn't this the technology used on the B-2 bomber? The only way to describe Duan Fei's feelings was: holy shit.
No wonder they had told him beforehand that this matter was related to the B-2 bomber. So that was what this meant?
How did the Great Xia Academy of Sciences get its hands on this?
Even though the draft blueprints called them a new high-thrust low-bypass aviation engine and a new stealth composite material technology.
As someone who had spent nearly twenty years researching bombers, Duan Fei could tell at a glance that this was the General Electric F118-GE-100 engine used on the B-2 bomber. It was even the non-afterburning version, matching perfectly.
After a long while, he finished reading the brief technical summary in his hands, only a few dozen pages long.
"Dean Zhang, Elder Zheng, which Great Xia 'research institute' did this bomber technology come from?" Duan Fei placed particular emphasis on the words "research institute."
Just which deity had brought this thing back from Eagle Sauce?
Even Sun Wukong probably could not manage that. They would need the Buddha himself to make a move.
"This technology is pretty good, isn't it?"
Zheng Lixing narrowed his eyes and smiled. "If we launch the H-20 project now, how soon could you develop it?"
His meaning was clear: do not ask where the technology came from. Just tell him whether it would greatly help the H-20's development.
"Based solely on these technical summaries, if all of it is real and feasible..." Duan Fei pondered for a moment before giving a number. "Give me five years. In five years, I can develop Great Xia's H-20."
"And its performance will absolutely be no worse than Eagle Sauce's B-2 Spirit bomber!"
Five years was already the most ideal and extreme timeframe Duan Fei could imagine.
The J-20 had progressed quickly because the project itself was already far along. Unlike their H-20, which had not even been formally launched yet.
After all, even with complete technology, it did not mean they could build it directly. A huge number of challenges still had to be overcome, including basic manufacturing, material precision, and more. Even production and assembly took time. How could it be that fast?
"No. The H-20 we intend to launch will not merely be something that matches the B-2 bomber."
Zhang Yuli stared at Duan Fei and spoke slowly. "Our H-20 must be a supersonic stealth strategic bomber!"
Upon hearing that, Duan Fei immediately stood up.
A supersonic stealth strategic bomber?
Could such a thing even be built now? Were they planning to leap an entire dimension ahead of the world?
(PS: I'll try to update the next chapter at 6 PM, so I can give all you reader dads a little side dish with dinner.)
Before you continue