Rebirth: Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Part 5：Scientific Research Review

Jiang Fan remained silent in the group chat, feeling that it was utterly pointless. He quietly exited the chat.

As soon as an observant classmate noticed Jiang Fan had left the group, they quickly spoke up.

Tian Xiaohua @everyone: "Hey! Why did the last person in our class leave the group?"

Liu Xiao: "He must have been too ashamed to stay."

Niu Feifei: "If I were him, I would have dropped out already. He single-handedly dragged down our class's average score in this exam, causing our old homeroom teacher to miss out on the bonus!"

Zhang Shaodong: "I thought after the last time he made a scene in class and then came back to study, he would at least aim for 400 points, but no, it's still 300. Sigh, IQ really is a hard limit!"

Li Lili: "He was almost driven crazy last time; this time, I think Jiang Fan might really lose it. Heh..."

Li Peng: "With 300 points, no college will even take him."

Wu Hua: @Li Lili "I heard you had a crush on Jiang Fan in sophomore year? Hehe..."

Li Lili: "I must have been blind back then to even notice him!"

...

Chu Ruoxi: "Everyone, we're all classmates. Is this really necessary?"

Seeing her classmates mocking Jiang Fan, Chu Ruoxi, in a fit of anger, directly exited the group. She muttered to herself:

"Humph, no sense of empathy. I won't be staying in contact with these classmates anymore!"

Her thoughts drifted to Jiang Fan, and she sighed helplessly. During this last stretch, he had tried so hard, yet still couldn't score better. He must be feeling incredibly upset. What if he couldn't handle it?

With this thought in mind, she decided to reach out to comfort him. But then she realized she hadn't even added him on WeChat.

"Forget it, I'll just visit him at his house tomorrow."

...

Kyoto Longke University, the Civilian Scientific Project Review Office.

After a long and tiring day, Wu Zhimin stretched lazily and was about to finish his work for the day. Suddenly, his inbox pinged with an email titled: "Partial Formulas and Data on Controlled Nuclear Fusion." His attention was immediately captured.

Wu Zhimin had once been a researcher in the field of controlled nuclear fusion. Due to his age and health issues, he had been reassigned from his previous position. Now, he worked as an examiner in the Scientific Project Review Office, where his main task was to review civilian scientific project submissions.

This job could be either relaxed or exhausting, depending on one's sense of responsibility.

It seemed that Jiang Fan was lucky, as his submission had reached the attention of Wu Zhimin.

He opened the email and downloaded the attached files to the designated folder.

"Hey, Wu, still here? Not heading home yet?" a colleague called out to him.

Wu Zhimin smiled, "Almost done. You go ahead."

"Don't take it too seriously, old Wu. You've been slogging through emails every day. Out of all the projects, how many have actually been approved in a year? Our office has only passed about two in total!"

Wu Zhimin smiled but didn't respond. He continued his work.

When the attachment finished downloading, he quickly extracted and opened the files.

Wu Zhimin had a deep understanding of the rapid development of Longguo (Dragon Country) and the weaknesses in its high-tech sectors. He knew that the future strength of a nation would depend on its scientific progress.

Though no longer conducting research himself, he still hoped to discover promising scientific projects and contribute in whatever way he could.

As he read through the first section of the document, which outlined the submitter's understanding of controlled nuclear fusion, he nodded in approval. The person clearly had a profound grasp of the subject, at least as well as he himself did.

He moved on to the second part, which detailed specific data and formulas. The more he read, the more engrossed he became. The precision of the data was extraordinary—almost like it had been gathered after a successful controlled nuclear fusion experiment.

Excited, he dug out his old research notebook from his time at the institute, where he had recorded countless experimental results over the past two decades.

He compared the data in the notebook with the submission, confirming that the figures matched perfectly.

Then he examined the uncertain data. Although there were a few discrepancies, he found the submitter's data to be remarkably reliable.

He continued reading eagerly, but some of the advanced formulas began to make little sense to him.

As a former researcher, Wu Zhimin had an intense drive to delve deeper into things. He started cross-referencing the formulas with other data sources.

He kept at it until his phone rang, snapping him back to reality. He looked at the screen—his 10:30 p.m. sleep alarm was going off.

He blinked and looked around the office, which was pitch dark except for the glaring light from his computer screen. Rubbing his sore eyes, he stood up and turned on the lights. The office was suddenly illuminated.

He sat back down, his eyes returning to the screen, feeling a wave of nervousness wash over him.

The importance of this document was becoming clearer by the second. If the data was indeed correct, it could mark a monumental breakthrough in Longguo's efforts to develop controlled nuclear fusion. He estimated it could save at least a decade's worth of research time. This was an astronomical concept.

For example, if the country invested 3 billion yuan annually in nuclear fusion research, that would total 30 billion yuan over ten years. And that's not even accounting for the priceless human resources—the top scientists required to carry out such a project.

Realizing this, Wu Zhimin quickly grabbed his phone and dialed the Director of the Scientific Project Review Office.

The phone rang, and it was soon answered.

"Hello, Wu, what's the matter?" The voice on the other end sounded loud and somewhat muffled.

"Director Ma, today I received a submission about controlled nuclear fusion, and the data and formulas described..." Wu Zhimin tried to explain.

Before he could finish, Director Ma interrupted, "Old Wu, we can talk about the project tomorrow. I'm out right now, and it's not convenient. Alright, let's leave it for now."

"But Director Ma, you have to listen to me..." Wu Zhimin tried to protest.

But the phone abruptly cut off, and the line went dead.

"Ridiculous!" Wu Zhimin slammed the phone onto the table and leaned back in his chair, breathing heavily in frustration.

He stared back at the document on the screen, feeling the weight of the situation pressing down on him like a thousand-pound burden.

If this file turned out to be genuine, Longguo could make a giant leap in its pursuit of controlled nuclear fusion. He estimated that the country could save at least ten years of research time, which would translate into untold financial and human resources saved.

Taking a deep breath, Wu Zhimin grabbed his phone again and dialed Director Ma's number.

"Director Ma, please listen to me, this file is extremely important!" he implored.

"Old Wu, do you know what time it is? Can't it wait until tomorrow?" Director Ma responded impatiently. He was out drinking with friends, and Wu Zhimin's repeated calls were ruining his mood.

"Director Ma, you can't wait until tomorrow!" Wu Zhimin insisted.

"You wait. I'm the director, not you!" Director Ma shouted, then abruptly hung up the phone.

4o