Chapter 304 My Industrial Census: A Complete Failure?

Elder Qian looked at Old Zhang's incredibly sincere and fanatical gaze.

He really didn't have the heart to expose Old Zhang's logic, which was full of holes.

Claiming to have watched him do experiments since childhood, or being a ten-year fan...

Hearing this kind of 'fandom' rhetoric from a man in his sixties felt incredibly out of place no matter how one heard it.

Elder Qian shook his head, caught between laughter and tears.

He reached out and took a ballpoint pen with peeling paint that Old Zhang had produced from somewhere, along with a crumpled work log.

Without saying much, he signed his name on it in a flamboyant, flowing script.

Old Zhang held the notebook in both hands.

He was trembling all over with excitement.

"Thank you, Elder Qian!"

Old Zhang shouted loudly.

He carefully blew on the ink as if it were a peerless treasure, then tucked it into his breast pocket close to his chest.

Afterward,

He straightened his back and led the way with a spirited, heroic gait.

The group walked toward the office building.

Director Zhang and the others walking behind could only sigh inwardly as they watched this slightly comical scene.

They hadn't held much hope for this enterprise to begin with.

A toy manufacturer would, at most, make some plastic sticks for children to play with.

Now that even the security guard was so unreliable, it seemed this trip was another waste of time.

...

The group walked up the stairs and soon reached the second floor.

Old Zhang led them to Li Jiajun's current office with practiced ease.

The door wasn't fully closed, leaving a small crack.

Just as they entered—

To be precise, just as they reached the door and before they could even push it open—

Elder Qian heard a burst of heated arguing from inside.

Specifically, it was Li Jiajun's voice, full of aggrieved defense.

"...There must be some mistake!"

"How can the Air Force use it?"

Li Jiajun's voice was very loud, carrying a thick sense of frenzy as if he had been greatly wronged.

...

Hearing those words,

Elder Qian, who had just reached the door, couldn't help but pause in his tracks.

He stood there in a daze.

'Air Force?'

Elder Qian was also a bit dumbfounded upon hearing these two words.

He knew Li Jiajun had been making Fishing Rods lately.

He was aware of it because Liu Jianguo had mentioned it briefly during a video call before.

Furthermore,

In order to conduct this industrial census, Elder Qian had specifically sent people to look into the current state of the domestic fishing gear market over the past few days.

In the process, he naturally came across some slang from the fishing community.

He knew that in the mouths of anglers, 'Air Force' was a technical term meaning going fishing but catching absolutely nothing, returning home empty-handed.

On the other hand,

He himself was involved in military research and development.

In his dictionary, 'Air Force' represented the armed forces protecting the airspace, representing fighter jets, bombers, and those steel eagles soaring through the sky.

At this very moment,

In this newly opened toy factory,

Outside this office where Fishing Rods were made,

Elder Qian was a bit confused.

He wondered: was this 'Air Force' the kind that flies in the sky, or the 'zero catch' kind that anglers often talked about?

If it were the latter,

Could it be that this little Factory Director Li had developed some kind of sonic fish attractor that guaranteed a catch?

But even if that were the case, it would just be a clever little trick for a civilian product.

With this doubt in mind,

Elder Qian reached out and pushed open the ajar door.

...

The scene inside the office instantly came into view.

The first thing he saw was Li Jiajun standing in front of the desk with an innocent look on his face.

Immediately after,

His gaze shifted.

He saw Liu Jianguo standing opposite Li Jiajun, his face ashen with anger.

He even saw

The long black box placed in the middle of the table, and a section of a Fishing Rod reflecting a cold, eerie luster protruding from it.

When Elder Qian clearly saw Liu Jianguo's face, which looked as if he had just crawled out of a coal kiln,

The question in his mind was answered instantly.

He understood immediately—this was definitely the 'flying in the sky' kind!

Who was Liu Jianguo?

He was the head of a certain military industrial unit.

Something that could make him this angry and cause him to personally rush to Baishui City for a confrontation,

How could it possibly be some joke from an angler's mouth?

At this moment,

Elder Qian stood at the door, watching the scene before him.

A feeling of absolute absurdity welled up in his heart.

This sense of absurdity made him feel as if everything that had happened over the past few days was a dream.

'If it really is the Air Force that flies in the sky, does that mean this nationwide industrial census I organized with such fanfare has gone in a huge circle, only to end up back with little Factory Director Li?'

'Then haven't I been running around for nothing these past few days?'

'Why did I even take this detour!'

Elder Qian roared silently in his heart.

He felt so shocked his scalp went numb.

Thinking back on these past few days,

He had led a group of top domestic materials science Experts,

Riding in that Coaster minibus,

Traveling all over the country, covered in dust.

They had looked at countless chemical fiber plants,

Countless pipe factories,

Faced failed data time and time again,

And endured countless sleepless nights.

Everyone was exhausted, and morale was low.

And the result?

The final answer to the problem, the person who could create the carbon fiber material that met the requirements,

Was actually still Little Li!

Elder Qian's mouth twitched violently; he was utterly speechless.

He didn't even know whether to be angry or to laugh.

...

Meanwhile,

Inside the office,

During the confrontation between Li Jiajun and Liu Jianguo just now, neither had bothered to check the phone standing in the corner.

In the livestream room that hadn't been closed yet,

Tens of thousands of online Netizens clearly saw Elder Qian pushing the door open through the unobstructed lens.

After half a second of silence, the bullet chat exploded once again.

Densely packed text, like a violent storm, instantly covered the entire screen.

The Netizens also saw Elder Qian's appearance.

"Holy crap! Holy crap! Isn't that Elder Qian? Why is even this national treasure-level tech giant here!"

"It really is Elder Qian! I saw him before in a documentary on the National Science and Technology Channel!"

"Oh my god! It wasn't enough that Uncle Liu came; even Elder Qian has been alerted?"

"I just want to know, what kind of heaven-defying technological content does Factory Director Li's Fishing Rod actually have!"

The Netizens were completely boiling over with excitement.

All sorts of speculations emerged one after another.

Everyone knew Elder Qian was involved in aerospace and top-tier military materials.

His appearance in a Fishing Rod livestream for a toy factory was itself an extremely bizarre occurrence.

Just as everyone was debating,

A 'Big Smart One' Netizen began to perform a rigorous logical deduction based on the fragments of conversation that had leaked into the livestream just now.

This Netizen began to analyze with great solemnity:

"Although I can't hear clearly what they're saying, I heard a few keywords: Fishing Rod, Air Force usable! This is definitely a great invention! If the 'Air Force' can use it, it means 'Never Air Force'! From now on, I'll never have to worry about not catching fish and having to secretly go to the market to buy one!"

As soon as this analysis came out,

It instantly resonated with many fishing enthusiasts in the livestream room.

"Brother is right! This has solved an age-old problem!"

"To prevent anglers from being 'Air Force', the country has really gone to great lengths!"

"Even Elder Qian has come to do the technical appraisal; this Fishing Rod is definitely legit!"

They were immersed in this self-entertaining mental gymnastics, thinking the logic was flawless.

However,

This joyful atmosphere didn't last more than a few seconds.

Immediately, someone 'in the know' posted a bullet chat to refute:

"What the hell do you mean 'Never Air Force'! This 'Air Force' is definitely the one that flies in the sky! Didn't you see Elder Qian personally come here!"