Study Monster Cultivation System-Chapter 289 - 288 Recklessly

The restaurant at Aerospace First Institute was bustling at six in the evening, mainly occupied by those who seemed academically excellent, continuing to work after dinner had become the norm.

As for the food...

Let’s talk about work instead.

During the meal, Chen Wei gave a rough introduction of the situation.

The headquarters of the Aerospace First Institute acted more like a strategic hub, similar to a military command center.

Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.

Its department one was like the elite force focusing on tackling new project developments.

However, a war couldn’t rely solely on a small number of elites; it also needed logistical support, medical services, engineering, intelligence, and more.

Therefore, in addition to department one, the institute had over ten subordinate units such as the 10th, 12th, 14th institutes and Factory 211, covering everything from information technology to automation, materials research to mechanical production.

Furthermore, many crucial projects required collaboration with other brother institutes; for instance, the Yellow River-2 project received significant technical support from the Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Institutes.

Listening to these military-like designations, Li Zheng naturally felt a bit dizzy.

"Then managing them... must be incredibly troublesome?" Li Zheng asked, slightly stunned.

"Well, there’s no helping it..." Chen Wei replied, picking up a piece of winter melon from his soup and blowing on it, "The Eleventh Institute got it worse, their subordinate factories’ numbers have reached over 7000... But it’s not too bad, we usually deal with only a few units, and you get used to it in a couple of days."

"So, can I understand it like this..." Li Zheng gestured and said, "Our department one is responsible for overall design and systems engineering. The specific work mode involves integrating technologies from various institutes and stating requirements, to ultimately design and produce rockets that meet the standards. If the headquarters of the Aerospace First Institute is the command center, then department one is the staff office."

"That’s about right," Chen Wei replied, chewing on winter melon and meatballs and nodding, "Besides design and production, of course, we also have to handle testing. Countless large and small tests, who knew there would still be issues..."

"Hmm..." Li Zheng thought for a moment and asked, frowning, "The units involved in the development of Yellow 2, they must number at least ten or so, right?"

"Not just ten; it’s dozens at least, maybe even up to a hundred." Chen Wei said, taking a sip of his soup and wiping his mouth, "Yellow 2 alone involves 247 new technologies, so you can imagine how many units are participating."

Li Zheng swallowed, buried his head, and started eating earnestly.

Leaving other things aside, just printing out the technical documents of these 247 items could probably fill up several rooms.

Modern science is indeed terrifying, behind any minor segment of expertise, there’s a lifetime of effort.

Lin Yujing, on the other hand, had quietly finished her meal and asked casually, "Can we see these technical documents?"

"I’m not sure about that, I don’t have permission to view many of them myself," Chen Wei quickly stuffed two mouthfuls of rice and stood up grabbing his tray, "Alright, let’s hurry to the meeting. You were approved by Director Chen, and he decides how much authority you have, so we’ll ask after the meeting."

"Got it," Li Zheng filled his mouth quickly, "This time, there’s so much to learn... I’m kind of scared myself."

"Don’t be scared," Chen Wei laughed, "We just need to touch on the overall design, and maybe note down the parameters for the various components and stages. If you really try to learn all that technology, it would take a lifetime."

"But... how will we know if there are problems if we don’t learn?"

"We have a reset procedure, and each unit needs to perform a self-check," Chen Wei patted Li Zheng, "This isn’t a solo competition. It’s a massive project involving thousands of people collaborating. God Zheng, you need to shift your thinking."

Li Zheng pondered for a moment and finally nodded.

Indeed, let alone a hundred times, even with a thousandfold time and efficiency, he couldn’t manage a rocket on his own.

Collaboration.

This time, he had to understand how to collaborate.

...

At 6:25 PM, most of the engineers from department one were seated in a conference room on the third floor, and Li Zheng saw Zhou Chenglong again, who sat in a front position looking like a key member.

As for Chen Wei, he voluntarily led the two to a corner seat.

After all, Chen Wei was not officially an employee but a student of Shen Tinglan.

Five minutes later, the door opened, and Chen Hongbing respectfully led a standard, middle-aged technical leader into the room.

His appearance was unremarkable, not nearly as sharp as Chen Hongbing’s, resembling a kind, ordinary professor in a university.

Yet, no one dared to take him lightly. Shen Tinglan and other members of department one’s team also closely followed him.

"My god..." Chen Wei looked up in surprise, "Why is Secretary Zhao here...?"

Before Li Zheng could ask, he explained, "The top leader of the Aerospace First Institute... the biggest BOSS we could come across..."

"So, it’s like... a corps commander?" Li Zheng pointed at Chen Wei and gestured, "We are sappers... Zhou Chenglong is a platoon leader, Aunt Shen is... a brigade commander... Director Chen is a division commander, something like that?"

"Like that, my foot!" Chen Wei laughed and scolded, "You’ve been playing too much military chess. I’d say you guys are more like a bomb and a landmine."

As the leaders took their seats, everyone quickly quieted down.

After consulting with Secretary Zhao, Chen Hongbing excitedly grabbed the microphone.

"Comrades, I believe everyone has also felt it—this time, the Reset deadline is tight, the task is significant, involves many units, and is of great importance. However, during the advancement process, especially in the communication with brother units, there are still many issues such as low efficiency and difficulty in handling matters."

Therefore, after thorough discussion by the institute leaders, in order to facilitate smoother progress, it has been decided to establish a position of the first commander-in-chief above the general commander, with Secretary Zhao Zhenhua personally taking the role."

Needless to say, the department already delivered a round of enthusiastic applause.

Chen Hongbing also timely handed the microphone to Zhao Zhenhua.

After the applause subsided, Zhao Zhenhua gazed at the audience and began to speak gravely.

"I know that since August 8th, many of you have not been home."

"But I still have to criticize you."

"24 days have passed."

"The Reset plan has just been completed."

"But I also understand you."

"You are working, but you can only work blindly."

"Especially you, Chen Hongbing."

He said, turning his head and mercilessly addressing Chen Hongbing.

"You, as a director of part one, running to other institute directors’ offices, banging on desks, rushing progress, does that work?"

"From now on, you just stay in part one and keep a close watch on part one’s operations for me."

"Running around, offending people, that’s for me to handle."

Having said that, he turned to look at the members of part one and raised his hand, saying.

"And you all as well."

"From now on, from your backbone to your spirit."

"All must toughen up."

"Just now, I heard Zhou Chenglong making a phone call, still begging leisurely."

"What the hell is the time for this?"

Zhao Zhenhua paused and swept his gaze over everyone tremblingly.

"Now I’m taking on the role of the first commander-in-chief."

"It is to send a signal internally, externally, to everyone."

"If Yellow 2 faces another issue, don’t just speak of Chen Hongbing, I’ll be the first to get lost."

"Understood?"

"If people from other units talk nonsense, waste time."

"To hell with communication, give direct orders!"

"Just say I, Zhao Zhenhua, have your back."

"Tell them, from the top leaders of our institute, we are all prepared to risk everything!"

"Whoever dares delay our work, when I’m forced to leave, I’ll drag them along with me."

"It’s time to tell them, we’ve risked everything, so what do we have to fear in offending others?"

The room fell silent; some people were bowing their heads, others were staring at Zhao Zhenhua.

Nearly every eye was swirling with tears.

This period had indeed been full of grievances.

Not to mention the societal criticisms and work pressures which were deserved,

The most distressing part was indeed the shirking from brother units.

Although most units were very cooperative, even a slight delay at one point could drag the overall progress backward.

Sometimes this side would have a hundred people working overtime till late at night, only to waste a whole morning due to the poor efficiency of some distant institute.

But were they wrong? Was there something wrong with them leaving on time? Why should they be dragged into someone else’s workload?

Therefore, you either had to, like Zhou Chenglong, lower your stance and ask for help,

or, like Chen Hongbing, skip levels and fight your way to the director’s office.

Now, with Zhao Zhenhua, the head, personally leading the charge, there was no doubt that it gave everyone a strong boost of confidence.

Even Li Zheng was moved by his vigor.

Who would have thought that this seemingly worldly leader could explode with such force?

He also reconfirmed that the birth of Yellow 2 was not just because of a Shen Tinglan, a Chen Hongbing.

It was more about those willing to take risks and break through boundaries, forming a continuous line.

At this moment, Li Zheng, who was at the end of this line, resonated with the entire line.

...

Back in the office area, after a painful wait until eight o’clock, he finally received a summons from Chen Hongbing.

The location was still that same meeting room, and as soon as he entered, Chen Hongbing stood up, took Li Zheng’s hand, and personally helped him to a seat.

"Sorry, I was just reporting to Secretary Zhao and didn’t manage to attend to you all..."

"It’s okay, we were also getting familiar with our work," Li Zheng respectfully replied.

At this point, besides Li Zheng and Lin Yujing, the meeting room only contained Chen Hongbing, Shen Tinglan, and Zhou Chenglong.

The few of them sat together, and Chen Hongbing first looked at Shen Tinglan, "These two... I can’t bear to use them, will you arrange them?"

"Hmm..." Shen Tinglan thought for a moment, then said to the two,

"There are three directions suitable for you now."

"First, as test engineers, primarily working at the Western Suburb Test Site, where at least a few hundred tests will need to be carried out."

"Second, the Reset Technology team, the current task being to categorize all possible fault causes and find ways to reproduce them."

"Second!" Li Zheng excitedly raised his hand.

Shen Tinglan was startled, then held his head and sighed.

"Hahaha, hahaha!" Chen Hongbing laughed triumphantly, "Look at this, this kid really doesn’t consider himself an outsider, hahaha!"

"How many times have I said, don’t bring these up during work..." After a bitter sigh, Shen Tinglan explained to Li Zheng, "This technology team is led by Zhou Chenglong, where the most technically demanding part of all the work lies, and usually requires over ten years of experience to be effective, and you, in just one year, wouldn’t be able to help much, let alone learn much."

Li Zheng nodded, "But you still mentioned it, why bring it up if you were certain we couldn’t handle it?"

"Oh dear oh dear." Chen Hongbing pressed his lips tightly, "Being so aggressive right off the bat isn’t good..."

"No problem." Shen Tinglan didn’t mind, and explained word by word to Li Zheng, "If you choose this direction, we wouldn’t expect you to contribute much to the work, but instead, provide you with a learning opportunity to cultivate talent for the country."

While speaking, Shen Tinglan also turned to Chen Hongbing, "Director, please be informed of this too."

"Ah." Chen Hongbing was startled, his previously cheerful face gradually became conflicted, "Then... what about the third option?"

"The third is the System Design team, preparing in advance for improvements, or even a complete redesign of Yellow 2," Shen Tinglan said, nodding, "I’m in charge of this team."

"I... I’d like to join the System Design team..." Lin Yujing timidly raised her hand.

Li Zheng had a lot to say, but considering that the people in front of him were senior leaders, he held back.

However, Shen Tinglan seemed to sense his questions and immediately explained.

"Don’t think that fault troubleshooting is the only immediate issue."

"We haven’t found the wreckage of Yellow 2."

"That means we may never know the exact cause of the accident."

"All we can do is theoretical checking and experimental troubleshooting, striving to reproduce faults with similar symptoms."

"The results might not be the exact cause of the failure, and may ultimately be inconclusive."

"At such a time, it becomes necessary to redesign the rocket, at least its critical parts."

"Even if the problem is identified, there will likely still be a need for partial redesign."

"This is actually the work we are supposed to do in the future; we are just preparing in advance."

Having heard all this, Li Zheng dared not act casually as if he were with his own family, and immediately nodded, "Thank you, Teacher Shen, I understand."

"Hmm, this... Jingjing going to the design team, I agree, but as for Li Zheng..." Chen Hongbing looked at Li Zheng and asked, "How about you start by getting familiar with the testing group?"

"..." Li Zheng did not speak, just felt wronged.

Clearly wronged.

"Oh dear...I mean..." Chen Hongbing scratched his head, "You say if you’re going to work together in the future, then it doesn’t matter where you go now, but... it’s just one year, going to the technical team doesn’t even leave you enough time to learn... If it were normal times, then go... but now we really are short of people..."

"Director..." Zhou Chenglong, who had dared not to speak, suddenly spoke up. He looked at Li Zheng and silently shook his head, "You might not fully understand the weight of a double champion in material and chemical studies. Apart from learning ability, who could achieve that without a tenacious character?"

"..." Chen Hongbing’s face contorted, turning to look at Shen Tinglan, "What do you think?"

"I don’t care, I’m not the Director." Shen Tinglan looked out the window, appearing completely indifferent.

Chen Hongbing thought hard for a moment then looked again at the pitiful Li Zheng and finally slammed his thigh.

"Hey! Who let you be the son-in-law, even I as an uncle can’t stop it..."

Before he could finish speaking, the door suddenly swung open.

Zhao Zhenhua returned, waving hurriedly, "Hongbing, quickly, come with me to the Eighth Institute to corner someone."

"Okay." Chen Hongbing immediately got up to pack his things while making a gesture to Li Zheng to leave quickly.

Li Zheng then nudged Lin Yujing and quickly got up to nod to Zhao Zhenhua and headed outside.

Zhao Zhenhua watched the two go and felt it was very strange; their image didn’t fit the usual temper of their division at all, like two flowers sprouting from a bald oil pan.

Zhao Zhenhua then turned to Chen Hongbing, "Is this the intern you wanted me to approve specially?"

"Yes, yes, yes, a young talent, competition champion, really can be of help," Chen Hongbing reluctantly waved his hand, "Come on, you two introduce yourselves."

"No need, I’ve seen their files, good stuff," Zhao Zhenhua patted Li Zheng and smiled, "You’ll get accustomed to it as you work."

As he spoke, he turned to Chen Hongbing, "Our interns usually start by training in the testing group, right?"

"Ah, generally they do..." Chen Hongbing tensed and said, "But they, this this... have rather outstanding technical skills, let them get familiar with jobs here first."

"Isn’t that messing things up?" Zhao Zhenhua glared and scolded, "The comrades at the Western Suburb Test Site have been hanging by a thread, wasn’t it said that you’d send them over to help?"

Chen Hongbing hurriedly explained, "Secretary Zhao... their technical skills are really outstanding, they will be of more use staying here."

Zhao Zhenhua looked at Chen Hongbing, his brows furrowing in misunderstanding, "I remember from their files, aren’t they high school students? What kind of technical skills are you talking about?"

What’s happening, something feels off about Chen Hongbing.

"Secretary, it was my arrangement," Shen Tinglan sighed and stepped forward to nod, "Lin Yujing is my daughter."

"......" Zhao Zhenhua swallowed hard, then looked at Chen Hongbing.

Why wasn’t this reported?

Chen Hongbing was at a loss, he just didn’t want to complicate things.

"Fine," Shen Tinglan turned to Li Zheng and Lin Yujing, "You two go to the testing group first, get familiar, and then come back here to learn."

Li Zheng immediately nodded, "Okay, Teacher Shen, I’ll follow the arrangements."

"Hmm..." Lin Yujing could only listen to her mother’s words.

As for Zhao Zhenhua, he felt somewhat remiss.

"Fellow students, I’m really not trying to make things difficult for you," Zhao Zhenhua sighed, "People at the testing side are really overwhelmed. You’re only helping to put out a fire. Once this busy period is over, you’re welcome to come back to the main office to learn."

"Understood, Secretary." Li Zheng was about to nod and leave, but he paused mid-step and turned back, "Could we, perhaps, help with the testing while still doing our studies?"

"Hahaha." Zhao Zhenhua laughed when he heard this, "You’re really a newbie unafraid of tigers. Once, an intern was sent to the hospital for an IV just two days after arriving."

"Hey, Secretary, just give him a chance," Chen Hongbing quickly stepped forward and spoke to Li Zheng, "I’ll write a report tomorrow, asking the Secretary to approve your internal accounts. When you rest from testing, you can browse technical materials anytime through the internal network computers there, how’s that?"

"That works, of course."

Li Zheng rubbed his hands together.

It was more than okay.

It was perfect.