Rebirth: Controlled Nuclear Fusion

Part 165：Follow Me

Everyone stared in a daze at the young man standing at the front of the room.

"Is he the one who designed the thousand-ton rocket engine, Jiang Fan?"
"No way, he looks so young!"
"How could this young man possibly be the Jiang Fan who designed the thousand-ton engine?"
"He doesn't seem like it at all."

The murmurs spread quickly as people began to doubt whether the young man had mistakenly entered the wrong place.

However, before their discussion could continue for long, Jiang Fan stood at the podium and addressed the nearly 300 researchers below.

"Hello everyone, I am Jiang Fan..."

A few seconds of silence passed, only for the room to erupt into noise once again.

"Wait, no way... could he really be the Jiang Fan, the one who designed the thousand-ton engine?"
"He's way too young! This makes me, a nearly forty-year-old researcher, feel utterly embarrassed!"
"How can they let a kid under twenty lead us? Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
"..."

Seeing the chaos below, Liu Tianhang calmly picked up an object and tapped it on the table.

"Silence!"

Jiang Fan, now able to continue his introduction, quickly completed it in a few brief sentences.

At that moment, one of the team leaders sitting beside Ge Zhicheng stood up and loudly proclaimed,
"When did our Northwest Base fall to such a low point, allowing a child to be our Chief Engineer?"

The moment those words left his mouth, especially from the older researchers, several voices joined in, murmuring their discontent.

"Indeed! Our Northwest Base is the birthplace of Long Country's space program, we have plenty of talent."
"How could a seventy-year-old aerospace base let a teenager take on such a role? It's laughable!"
"I support Chief Engineer Ge!"
"..."

Liu Tianhang, watching the commotion below, had anticipated that Ge Zhicheng would oppose him, but he hadn't expected such a widespread disapproval.

"Everyone, please quiet down. This Chief Engineer Jiang Fan is no ordinary young man. He is the one who developed..."

Liu Tianhang then shared the story of Jiang Fan's work on the chip technology, causing many to quiet down.

"Jiang Fan is also a student of Long Lao. You are all familiar with Long Lao, right? Just recently, he developed the 500-ton rocket engine..."

The mention of Long Lao brought immediate silence to the room.

Everyone knew of Long Lao's reputation in the space industry. Upon realizing that this young man was Long Lao's student, the way they looked at Jiang Fan completely changed.

Jiang Fan couldn't help but smile bitterly inside-once again, it was only through his teacher's name that he could garner respect from these people.

Liu Tianhang sighed inwardly. The Northwest Base was home to many senior researchers who had spent their entire lives here. They bore the weight of much honor, but that had also led to a shift in their mentality-some had grown proud and self-satisfied.

In truth, they weren't lazy in their research-on the contrary, they worked harder than some of the younger researchers. However, despite all their efforts, why hadn't there been any major breakthroughs in the past years?

To put it bluntly, it was because they were stuck in the past. With technology having advanced at a rapid pace, they were still relying on knowledge and techniques from twenty or even thirty years ago. It was a miracle that they could still produce any new technology at all.

But these senior aerospace veterans had contributed immensely to Long Country's space program. Liu Tianhang could never just cast them aside. They had deep emotional ties to this place, having worked here their entire lives. No one wanted to leave.

Some of them were aware of their situation and were actively trying to update their knowledge. But despite their efforts, their age and old thinking made it hard to change.

Whenever Liu Tianhang looked at them, he couldn't help but feel a pang of melancholy.

"Now that there are no further questions, let me introduce the detailed research plan for the thousand-ton rocket engine," Liu Tianhang said, just as Ge Zhicheng stood up.

"Commander Liu, I still think the thousand-ton engine is too unreliable. I suggest we start by researching the 700-ton engine!"

Liu Tianhang, glancing at the opposing Ge Zhicheng, was at a loss for how to convince him. The night before, he had spent the entire night thinking it through. Only in the morning did he come to a decision.

"Engineer Ge, the thousand-ton engine has already been approved by the Space Agency. None of us has the authority to deny or delay it. How about this: we divide the rocket engine project into two teams-one led by you to develop the 700-ton engine, and the other led by Jiang Fan to research the thousand-ton engine. How does that sound?"

Ge Zhicheng, without hesitation, agreed. In fact, he had already thought of this solution the day before. After all, the project was approved by the Space Agency, and he couldn't just abandon it. The best approach was to divide the project into two teams and tackle them simultaneously.

"All researchers from Warehouse One, come with me to work on the 700-ton engine. The team in Warehouse Two will be led by Jiang Fan to research the thousand-ton engine!"

"Agreed!"

Liu Tianhang nodded in approval.

Ge Zhicheng then turned to the researchers from Warehouse One.

"All researchers from Warehouse One, follow me!"