Wu Dingrong stared hopelessly at the highway exit, and the breezing wind made his eyes hurt. Fortunately, it wasn’t snowing today; otherwise, his stubble would have been covered in snowflakes.
He couldn’t take it anymore and turned his stiff neck toward his assistant before asking, “Are you sure Professor Lu is coming back today?”
“The transportation department said he’s coming today. Surely he’s not still driving? It’s only 500 kilometers… Mayor, what if you wait at the toll booth? I’ll give you a call when the Highway Department notifies me.”
Assistant Sun Xiaofeng, who was standing next to Wu Dingrong, was also confused.
When he saw a glimpse of irritation on the mayor’s face, he started to become even more anxious.
He was the first person to hear that Lu Zhou was going back to Jiangling, and he immediately notified the major as soon as possible.
When the mayor heard that Academician Lu was coming back, the city council immediately held a conference and arranged the welcoming ceremony. They even set up a banner at the highway exit.
Normally speaking, an academician wasn’t worthy of being greeted by the city council leadership team. Even though academicians received special treatment, they didn’t have any political power.
But Academician Lu was different.
Not only was he involved in many national projects, but he was the winner of the Ling Yun medal award!
Forget about the local mayor, even the state department team had to bow down to him. Now that this big name was coming back home, Major Wu obviously put Lu Zhou on his highest priority.
However, there seemed to be a hiccup…
Logically speaking, after a seven-hour drive, Academician Lu should be arriving at the highway exit. But he was nowhere to be found.
“No…” Wu Dingrong shook his head and stared at the road as he said, “Academician Lu is a national hero, and he’s the pride of Jiangling. We have to let him feel warm and welcome. Do you think waiting in a toll booth is being warm and welcome?”
You came all the way out here just to greet him, is that not enough?
Assistant Sun stared at the stubborn Mayor Wu and tried to persuade him.
“But… you can’t just stand outside like this! It’s freezing out here; what if you catch a cold?! Academician Lu would feel horrible.”
In fact, Wu Dingrong wanted Lu Zhou to feel sorry.
Of course, with all the cameras and reporters surrounding him, he would never say that.
“I don’t care about some cold. Academician Lu went into a coma for our country. Who cares about a cold? I’m in great health!” said Wu Dingrong as he shook his head. He continued, “This conversation is over. If you’re cold, feel free to leave.”
Even though Assistant Sun wanted to leave, he didn’t dare to.
If he went home right now, he would be out of a job by tomorrow.
All he could do right now was to wait in the cold with the mayor and the city council leadership team.
Sun Xiaofeng looked at the mayor’s fur coat, then looked at his thin blazer.
All he wanted was for Academician Lu’s driver to drive faster.
The mayor might not get a cold, but he definitely would…
…
Unfortunately, Assistant Sun’s wishes didn’t come true.
The entire Jiangling city council didn’t expect Lu Zhou to go on a field trip before returning to his hometown.
After Wang Peng got off the Jiangcheng highway, he set his navigation destination to an unmarked area on the map. They soon arrived at the edge of the Jiangcheng high-tech zone.
This was where the newly established semiconductor park was.
The medieval tall concrete walls surrounded the entire park. There were only six checkpoints at the car lanes used for importing and exporting goods.
Wang Peng slowly drove the car to a checkpoint and rolled down the windows. He showed his ID to one of the soldiers and was soon let in.
Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng’s ID and curiously asked, “Can you go anywhere with that ID?”
“Of course not,” Wang Peng shook his head and said, “you have to apply for approval and write a report. You have to write what you did, who you met, how long you were there.”
What a hassle.
“But I didn’t see you apply for anything.”
Wang Peng smiled and said, “Someone applied for me. After all, I’m not the only one in your security team.”
“Oh, I see… Thanks so much.”
Lu Zhou realized that his security team couldn’t celebrate Chinese New Year and felt a little guilty.
However, Wang Peng didn’t seem to care.
“No problem, your safety is our first priority.”
Lu Zhou made a suggestion.
“Don’t you want to go home for the holidays? Shouldn’t you switch shifts with someone?”
Wang Peng smiled.
“As a soldier, the country is my home. Everywhere I go, I’m home.”
The car slowly drove into the industrial park.
The six-lane roads were lined with rectangular white factories, and occasionally, they could see logistics trucks going in and out of the factories.
This place wasn’t very lively, and the factories and research centers were like robots that quietly did their jobs.
Lu Zhou looked outside the window and felt shocked.
It’s been less than two months.
The research institutes and factories are nearly done with construction…
This is a miracle.
Wang Peng stared at Lu Zhou and asked, “Where are we going?”
Lu Zhou thought for a second before replying, “Let’s go to Huawei’s HiSilicon.”
Wang Peng nodded.
“Okay.”
The black sedan drove down the six-lane street toward the building located at the center of the park.
This was the newly established HiSilicon semiconductor research and development building, as well as a semiconductor processing base.
Of course, it was too early to label this as a semiconductor processing base. They were still focused on the research and development side. After they turned the carbon-based transistors into a viable product, then they could talk about production.
Because Star Sky Technology invested in HiSilicon, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study sent a team of carbon-based semiconductor researchers to help the engineers with industrialization problems.
The car drove into the parking lot as Lu Zhou called Chen Yushan. He told her that he was at the Jiangcheng semiconductor base. He then got out of the car and walked toward the factory.
However, when he was walking toward the entrance, a staff member wearing a hard hat walked over and stopped him.
“Stop! Which department are you from, why are you here… Oh sh*t, Lu Zhou?!”
When Lu Zhou saw the person, he was astounded.
“Guangming?!”
F*ck!
Huang Guangming?!
This was Lu Zhou’s roommate in college.
Why is he here…
This…
Is such a coincidence!
