Chapter 31 Sample Delivery
Provincial Capital Institute of Applied Physics, nine o'clock sharp in the morning.
An inconspicuous off-road vehicle slowly drove into the institute's gate. The doors opened, and two security personnel in plain clothes got out first, scanning their surroundings with vigilant eyes. After confirming it was safe, a person holding a specially made transport case walked quickly into the laboratory building.
In the corridor, several experts from the laboratory had been waiting for a long time.
Leading them was an elderly man with graying hair—Zhou Jianguo, the director of the Institute of Applied Physics and an authority in the field of domestic superconducting applications. Seeing the newcomers, he hurried forward to meet them.
"Thank you for your hard work." He took the transport case, his gaze falling on the inconspicuous metal box inside, "Is this…"
"Yes." The escort nodded, "Room-Temperature Superconductivity material, the first batch of mass-produced samples. Lin Mo handed them to us personally and insisted that we deliver them directly to you."
Zhou Jianguo held the transport case, his hands trembling slightly.
He had spent his whole life researching superconducting applications, from the high-temperature superconductivity of the eighties to the Room-Temperature Superconductivity of today, waiting for a full forty years.
"Open it," he said.
The technician beside him carefully opened the transport case. Inside lay five metal boxes side by side, each labeled: Superconducting Motor Test Sample, Superconducting Cable Test Sample, Superconducting Current Limiter Test Sample...
Zhou Jianguo picked up one of the boxes and examined it for a long time.
"Let's begin," he said.
Ten o'clock in the morning, the first test: superconducting motor.
In the test room, a specially made motor was ready. This motor used conventional copper wire windings, but its design had reserved spaces for replacing them with superconducting materials. Now, those reserved spaces had been filled with Room-Temperature Superconductivity material.
"Power on," Zhou Jianguo ordered.
The current slowly increased. The numbers on the screen flickered.
100 amperes, 200 amperes, 500 amperes, 1000 amperes...
"The resistance is zero!" The operator's voice trembled, "Sustained zero resistance! The current density has reached more than ten times that of a conventional motor!"
Zhou Jianguo stared at the screen, saying nothing.
But his eyes were already red.
Two o'clock in the afternoon, the second test: superconducting cable.
A ten-meter-long cable with a core made of Room-Temperature Superconductivity material. Both ends were connected to a power source and a load, and the current was gradually increased.
1000 amperes, 5000 amperes, 10000 amperes...
The temperature of the cable remained completely unchanged. There was no heat, no loss, and the power transmission efficiency was close to one hundred percent.
"The theoretical limit of transmission capacity," the operator looked up, "is more than fifty times that of current conventional cables."
The test room was deathly silent.
Fifty times.
What did this mean? It meant that if the current power grid were completely replaced with these cables, it would only require one-fiftieth of the current lines to transmit the same amount of power. Or, using the same lines, it could transmit fifty times the power.
It meant that the West-to-East Power Transmission project would no longer be a difficult problem.
It meant that electric vehicles could charge for five minutes and have a range of one thousand kilometers.
It meant...
Zhou Jianguo waved his hand, signaling to continue.
Five o'clock in the afternoon, the third test: superconducting current limiter.
This was the most complex test. The function of a current limiter is to instantly restrict current and protect equipment when a short circuit occurs in the power grid. The principle of a superconducting current limiter is to utilize the characteristics of a superconductor—under normal conditions, the resistance is zero, but once the current exceeds a critical value, it instantly becomes high resistance.
The test began.
The current rose steadily, reaching the designed value. Then, the operator simulated a short-circuit fault, and the current soared instantly.
In that very instant, the resistance of the current limiter jumped from zero to several hundred ohms. The current was tightly restricted within a safe range, and the entire process took less than one-thousandth of a second.
"Perfect," the operator said, "The response speed is more than one hundred times faster than existing equipment."
Zhou Jianguo leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
Forty years.
From the high spirits of thirty to the gray hair of seventy. He had seen too many failures, too many disappointments, and too many predictions of "another fifty years."
Now, the dream had come true.
Seven o'clock in the evening, all tests were completed.
Three tests, three successes. The data was perfect, the performance was stable, and it far exceeded expectations.
Zhou Jianguo picked up the phone and dialed the number he had saved for a long time but had never dialed before.
"Director Fang," his voice was a bit hoarse, "The samples have been received. All tests have been passed."
There was silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds, and then Fang Lin's voice came through, calm, but one could hear a slight tremor: "Old Zhou, thank you for your hard work."
Zhou Jianguo smiled: "It is not hard work. I have waited for this day for forty years."
Eight o'clock in the evening, Beijing.
In an unmarked conference room, several people were sitting around a table. A huge screen hung on the wall, displaying the test data sent from the provincial capital laboratory.
Sitting at the head of the table was an elderly man in his sixties with a dignified face and deep eyes. He looked at the data and did not speak for a long time.
"Has it been confirmed?" he asked.
The person beside him nodded: "Triple-checked, the data is correct. The Room-Temperature Superconductivity material has officially passed the application tests."
The elderly man stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the night scene outside.
Changan Avenue was bustling with traffic and brightly lit.
He remembered thirty years ago, when he was still young, attending a feasibility meeting for a superconducting project. At that time, some people said that Room-Temperature Superconductivity was "always fifty years away." Others said that if this thing were really developed, it could win ten Nobel Prizes.
Now, it had really arrived.
"That young man," he turned around, "what is his name?"
"Lin Mo. Twenty-six years old, a Ph.D. Student in physics. He discovered the material three months ago."
The elderly man nodded and returned to his seat.
"The tiangong project," he said, "from now on, it will be elevated to a national-level special project. Resources first, talent first, security first."
He looked at the people present: "Tell Fang Lin, tell those people under her—go ahead and do it without hesitation. The country is your backing."
Nine o'clock in the evening, the base.
Lin Mo sat in the laboratory, staring blankly at the screen. From morning until now, he hadn't done anything; he was just waiting.
Waiting for a call, a message, a result.
His phone suddenly vibrated.
He glanced at the caller ID—Fang Lin.
His finger slid across the screen, his voice somewhat tight: "Director Fang?"
Fang Lin's voice came from the other end of the line, calm but with a smile: "Lin Mo, the tests have passed."
Lin Mo froze.
"Three tests, three successes. The data is perfect, far exceeding expectations," Fang Lin said, "Zhou Jianguo called personally, and he said that after waiting for forty years, he finally lived to see it."
The hand holding the phone trembled slightly.
He wanted to say something, but his throat felt like it was blocked, and he couldn't say anything.
"Lin Mo?" Fang Lin asked.
"I'm here," his voice was hoarse, "Director Fang, I…"
"No need to say anything," Fang Lin interrupted him, "Get some good rest. Starting tomorrow, we are going to do even bigger things."
The call ended.
Lin Mo sat there for a long time without moving.
Outside the window, the night was deep.
He remembered his father's words before he passed away: "Son, go and see for me, the places I cannot see."
He looked up at the starry sky outside the window.
Dad, I have seen them.
The next morning, in the cafeteria.
Li Xiao ran over with her tray and sat down opposite Lin Mo, her eyes shining like two stars.
"Teacher Lin, Teacher Lin! I heard! The tests passed!"
Lin Mo nodded and took a bite of his steamed bun.
Li Xiao looked at him and suddenly asked: "Why aren't you excited?"
Lin Mo paused for a moment, then smiled.
"I was excited," he said, "I was excited all night last night."
Li Xiao blinked, then smiled too.
"Then what about today?"
"Today?" Lin Mo looked at the sunlight outside the window, "Today, we start working."
In the afternoon, Lin Mo went to the security control room to see Zhao Gang.
Zhao Gang had already been discharged from the hospital, his arm still wrapped in bandages, but he was already back on duty. Seeing Lin Mo enter, he nodded.
"I heard the tests passed?"
Lin Mo nodded.
Zhao Gang looked at him, a trace of a smile appearing on the corner of his mouth: "Congratulations."
Lin Mo also smiled: "Congratulations to you too."
The two looked at each other and said nothing more.
But that tacit understanding no longer needed words.
Outside the window, the sunlight was just right.
The mountains stretched out, lush and green.
A new journey had just begun.