Eating melons

The simultaneous return of Hong Kong and Macao was like a loud clarion call, announcing the full return of China's power.

However, this force did not stop, but turned with even greater momentum to the grand blueprint of internally reshaping the country and achieving balanced development.

July 1, 1997, is not only a day of return, but also a day of declaration.

It announced to the world that the Eastern Dragon had fully awakened and had completely retracted its scales and claws that had once been seized. Next, it would be an era in which it would soar into the sky and redefine the world order.

Wei Wei and Xiao Xuemu will continue to contribute their unique strengths in this great journey.

The simultaneous return of Hong Kong and Macao was like a loud clarion call, announcing the full return of China's power.

And all this is just the beginning, and news of China's various technological breakthroughs is still being made public.

Looking at these achievements, everyone is a little numb. Are we still on the same planet? What is China doing quietly?

What’s the purpose of the agents sent out by our own country? Why is there no news at all?

With so many project results and such a large experiment, each one would cause quite a stir, not to mention so many projects being carried out at the same time. Why is there no news at all?

What those countries didn’t know was that as early as the year Wei Wei and Xiao Xuemu handed in the golden finger, China had conducted a thorough investigation and got to the bottom of it.

All people who can get close to the experimental project have their ancestors checked for eight generations, and the screening rate requirements are very strict.

As long as there is even the slightest uncertainty or certainty, no matter how capable one is, one will be marginalized and unable to access the core areas.

This is what is called "it is better to waste a thousand than to put in one."

And the only people who can wander around are Wei Wei, Xiao Xuemu and Li Shiyuan.

Others, including Mu Qing and Xiao Bai, can only come out once every few years, and every time they come out they are protected by layers of protection.

Those who entered Xiao Xuemu's space couldn't even leave Beijing.

The medical screening in Beijing and Shanghai is the most stringent.

With the advancement of science and technology, many more people were caught, and surveillance was everywhere. All research institutes had 360-degree surveillance without blind spots.

It can really be said that even a mosquito would find it difficult to fly out, let alone sneak into the room and pass on information.

Wei Wei and Jiang Qi couldn't help but sigh again during a small gathering.

"Think about it! When we first arrived, it was hard to even make a phone call. Now, we're about to watch the Olympics with a 5G-like network!"

Jiang Qi stirred the coffee, his tone dreamy and it was really hard to believe.

Wei Wei smiled and said with some emotion, "Yes, this is the future we hoped to see when we handed over the 'keys'.

It's just that it came faster and more rapidly than we imagined. I really didn't expect the country's potential to be so great.

I originally thought it would take several years. After all, the development of the industrial system does require talents, and these are hard conditions. I didn't expect that I still underestimated the country's capabilities and strength.

The Olympics is an opportunity for the world to get used to and accept that China has returned to the forefront of global science and technology."

She had not expected that the country could launch so many projects at one time.

"I heard that many foreign delegations and media have begun to inquire about our new technology through various channels."

Jiang Qi lowered his voice, "Especially the 'Huaxing' communications and magnetic levitation technology. There are a lot of people interested in it. The cooperation opportunities and orders it brings are probably astronomical."

It feels like the country is preparing to do something bigger this time, and the foreign orders are really overwhelming.

I just don’t know if they are busy enough to come here. It hasn’t been repaired in China yet, and now they have to go abroad to repair it.

"This is exactly what the country wants to see. After all, domestic infrastructure development requires money, education popularization requires money, and money is needed everywhere. Now the people at the top are almost obsessed with money, and the people at the Ministry of Finance are going crazy."

It’s not that we don’t want to develop the country, but that we don’t have enough money. We have to make money first before we have money to develop.

Wei Wei had a far-sighted vision. “However, the rules of the world have changed. Now it’s up to us to set the track and define ‘advanced’.

After the Olympics, the rules of the game in many areas may have to be rewritten."

Jiang Qi deeply agreed with this. God knows how surprised she was when she saw the news. For a moment, she felt like she had returned to the 21st century.

But now we are about to enter the 21st century.

Xiao Xuemu and Li Shiyuan are now getting busier and busier. Many projects that were originally in the "preliminary research" or "technical reserve" stage have accelerated the pace of engineering and practical application due to the pull of the Olympics.

They often spend days in the laboratory or fly to cooperative units in various places to ensure that the technologies that are about to be launched are foolproof.

With the simultaneous return of Hong Kong and Macao, and with the deepening of Olympic preparations, an unprecedented sense of national self-confidence has coalesced in the hearts of the people across the country.

This confidence is not blind arrogance, but comes from the real leapfrog development of national strength and from seeing scenes that were once only imagined in science fiction films becoming reality one by one on our own land.

Soon it was the autumn of 1998, and good news from the vast western region was delivered to Wei Wei's desk.

Her department is conducting a mid-term review of the "Western Development" strategy.

The data in the report made even her, a time traveler who knew the "trump card", feel excited.

This is thanks to the breakthroughs in materials science and engineering machinery technology that is ahead of its time brought about by Gold Finger, as well as the precise industrial planning that was laid out in advance based on the information provided by Wei Wei.

The development of the western region is no longer a slow process of poverty alleviation, but a leap forward in modernization from a high starting point.

Many high-standard railways and highways that cross mountains and hills and originally took more than ten years to build have been fully opened or made decisive progress in just a few years with the help of new tunnel boring machines, high-strength building materials and intelligent construction management.

The key technical difficulties of the Golmud to Lhasa section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway have been overcome ahead of schedule, and its opening to traffic is in sight.

One after another, the "New Silk Road" closely connects the vast western region with the coastal economic belt.

Relying on the rich wind, solar and hydropower resources in the west, as well as high-efficiency photovoltaic/solar thermal technology and ultra-large capacity UHV transmission technology.

A large number of clean energy bases were built and connected to the grid ahead of schedule. Powerful electric currents were sent to eastern load centers thousands of miles away with unprecedented efficiency and stability, completely changing China's energy landscape.

The western region did not simply take over the backward production capacity eliminated in the eastern region, but directly laid out emerging industries such as big data centers, advanced materials manufacturing, and biomedicine.

Stable energy, cool climate, low land costs, coupled with national policy support and advanced infrastructure, have attracted a large number of high-tech companies to settle down, forming a number of internationally competitive industrial clusters.

Xiao Xuemu and Li Shiyuan said this to Wei Wei with emotion after returning from an inspection of a new material base in the west.

"You haven't seen the modern factories standing on the Gobi Desert, and the light in the eyes of those young technicians.

The 'seeds' we gave have truly taken root and sprouted in the West, growing into towering trees."

Hearing this, Wei Wei was very interested. "Why don't we go to the northwest during the holidays to see what we have achieved over the years and experience the local customs and practices."

Li Shiyuan and Xiao Xuemu had no objection to this and agreed very readily.

Both of them had seen the Northwest before. Xiao Xuemu went there to visit relatives, and Li Shiyuan was working there. Now seeing such changes, they were really shocked.

Almost in sync with the development of the western region, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, which can be called "rebuilding China's water veins", has also entered the fast lane.

This mega project, which would have taken more than ten years in the original historical time and space, has been completed much earlier in this time and space due to the huge difference in technological capabilities.

Thanks to Wei Wei's technical support, this project was carried out more than ten years ahead of schedule, and significant results can now be seen.

Wei Wei was filled with relief when she saw the internal briefing predicting that the water crisis in many water-scarce cities in the north had been fundamentally alleviated.

This is not only a water conservancy project, but also a solid guarantee for the balanced development of the national land space.

The West-East Gas Pipeline Project also achieved a decisive breakthrough in 2000.

The exploration and development of natural gas fields in western China, such as the Tarim Basin and the Qaidam Basin, have achieved proven reserves and extraction efficiency far exceeding expectations due to the use of high-precision exploration technology and onshore application of deep-sea drilling technology.

The international community was once again at a loss as to what to do after China's move, and was amazed at China's current industry, which is completely at the forefront of the world.

The biggest challenge in laying a gas pipeline that spans thousands of kilometers and passes through complex terrain lies in the pipeline material itself and welding technology.

With the current welding technology in the West, the possibility of achieving this level is almost zero, but China has done it and achieved success.

They didn't know that this thing was completely copied by Li Shiyuan and Xiao Xuemu's team.

The high-strength, high-toughness, corrosion-resistant X80-grade pipeline steel and its automated welding process make pipeline construction faster, safer, and longer-lasting.

Although the technology is not as sophisticated as that of later generations and not as powerful as X100, it is fully up to standard.

When the clean natural gas from the west is continuously transported to the eastern regions such as the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta through this energy artery.

It not only eased the energy shortage, but also profoundly promoted the energy structure adjustment and environmental pollution control in eastern cities.

Replacing coal with gas will make the sky bluer and provide a better environmental foundation for the upcoming Olympic Games.

Autumn 2000, at home in Beijing.

Little Tuanzi, also known as Xiao Wei, is now sixteen years old and has grown into a tall and upright young man. He shows a strong interest in science and technology and national affairs.

During dinner, he excitedly discussed with his parents the report he had just seen in the news about the full connection of the West-East Gas Pipeline.

"Dad, I heard the new steel you developed is used in that critical section of the pipeline? It can withstand 1.5 times the pressure of similar foreign products."

Xiao Xuemu nodded with pride in his eyes: "Yes, it solved a big problem in the plateau and complex geological conditions."

Wei Wei looked at the twinkle in her son's eyes and smiled.

"These are all remarkable achievements. The development of the western region, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the West-to-East Natural Gas Transmission Project... Each one is rewriting the landscape and future of our country."

“It feels like our country is playing a giant construction simulation game.”

Xiao Wei used the metaphor of a young man, "And he turned on the accelerator."

Wei Wei and Xiao Xuemu smiled at each other. Isn't it just the accelerator that is turned on? Not only the accelerator, but also the cheat code.

They were the ones who handed over this accelerator and the golden finger without hesitation.

Now one person buys drawings and materials, and the other person grows and raises things for her to sell, and uses the money from the sales to buy things. It's a perfect closed loop.

Xiao Xuemu rarely moves out the things she grows in her space, and she also buys a lot of imported things for her system mall. The things she buys for it in a year can be measured in billions of tons, but it can still swallow it. Wei Wei was stunned.

Wei Wei originally thought that she had used up all the technology in 2023 and that would be it.

But when she sold 100 million tons of food to the system mall at one time, it was upgraded and contained a lot of good things, and it was moved back almost five years.

It has been upgraded twice in these years, and the technology in the system has been used for ten years.

But even so, many of the technologies and things inside have not been developed even before the upgrade, let alone after the upgrade.

The two have been busy over the years. Xiao Xuemu has to manage the entry and exit of people and resources in the space, especially after countless research institutes were built in it.

Wei Wei is also very busy, because it is not enough to just buy the information. It also needs to be organized and recorded. She needs to see which ones have been bought, which ones have not been bought, and which ones have been completed but should not be revealed.

Some things are better not to be revealed, such as a lot of virus research.

Don’t talk about vaccines or not. If some things are not researched out, there is no need for vaccines.

Although I have been very busy in the past few years, the sense of accomplishment I feel when I see that it has truly benefited the people of this land and changed the face of the earth is beyond words.

The rapid advancement of these mega projects has not only consolidated the foundation for domestic development, but also demonstrated terrifying engineering capabilities and technological strength, which has made the international community take notice of China.

The world is gradually realizing that this great Eastern country is not only leading in cutting-edge technology, but has also reached an incredible level in the grand scale and execution of transforming nature.

The country's body becomes healthier and more vibrant because of these strong "arteries" and balanced "limbs".

Wei Wei knew that all of this accumulation was for the upcoming glorious moment that would be showcased to the whole world.

This laid the most solid foundation for the 2004 Beijing Olympic Games.

The dragon not only retracted its scales and claws, but also carefully tempered its bones and blood, preparing to attract the attention of the world.