A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Upon hearing Old Wang read this passage, Jiang Xia paused slightly in his pencil as he drew the picture.

Yes, in a meeting far from home, one's comrades faced such deliberate harassment, surrounded by all sorts of gazes. The isolation and pressure they felt, even across words and time, were palpable and made one feel suffocated.

But wait, keep reading!

Jiang Xia glanced at Old Wang and moved a few fruits from the table closer to her. She couldn't let that guy waste them all; she hadn't had enough yet.

"Foreigners are all good!"

Old Wang couldn't help but curse, but then he continued reading with great enthusiasm, his voice unconsciously rising, filled with a proud and excited tone:

"Fortunately, the deputy commander was experienced and remained calm in the face of danger. He did not engage in any pointless arguments with the foreign officer, but instead ordered me to take out a copy of the IEC Charter and the official diplomatic note from our government, which clearly stated that our government was the only legitimate representative and the five-star red flag was the only legitimate national flag."

Although the deputy head of delegation was a woman, she held the documents and, though her voice was not loud, spoke clearly and fluently in French, reading out the relevant clauses. She solemnly pointed out that if the IEC Secretariat continued to use the incorrect labeling, it would seriously violate the spirit of the charter and damage the impartiality and seriousness of the IEC. Our side reserves the right to formally protest to the Executive Committee and reconsider our eligibility to participate!

Upon reading this, Old Wang indeed wanted to squeeze the fruit again, but then he saw Jiang Xia looking at him like a protective servant guarding his food.

The slap eventually landed on his own thigh.

"Snapped!"

"Good! Well-reasoned, neither humble nor arrogant! Hit him right where it hurts! That's how we should do it!"

Jiang Xia wholeheartedly agreed, finding the response brilliant. It elevated the other party's individual obstructive behavior to the level of violating the charter of international organizations and damaging the reputation of the conference, forcing the other party to comply.

He felt a surge of respect for the deputy head of the delegation he had never met, though he was slightly regretful that he hadn't paid much attention to which woman had taken on this role when the delegation set off.

Jiang Xia thought for a moment, could it be the oldest one?

It should be. I heard that the old man, who used to be the English secretary of that gentle old man, specially put this top-notch translator into this delegation.

Eh?

That's not right, this is an English translator, but the document says the deputy commander refuted it in French...

Before Jiang Xia could even sort out this small question, Old Wang had already continued reading with great enthusiasm:

"The foreign officer did not expect that my deputy commander would be so quick-witted and decisive, fluent in French, and holding the original of the regulations, directly pointing out its errors. His confusion about the forgery vanished instantly, and he looked bewildered, frequently glancing at the person in charge beside him."

Seeing this, the person in charge knew the matter could not be concealed, so he stepped forward, took the document, glanced at it briefly, then bowed to the deputy commander and said in broken English, "It's a misunderstanding. This is an oversight in the archives over the years. It will be corrected immediately. Please don't take it to heart."

Although his demeanor was initially arrogant but later became obsequious, a subtle gloom flashed in his eyes.

The deputy head of the delegation remained expressionless, calmly switching to English to reply: "I hope you will strictly adhere to the regulations and avoid any further oversights." He then ordered them to immediately correct all documents, nameplates, and the flag designs for tomorrow's meeting, requiring the supervisor's signature as proof. The other party had no choice but to comply.

Only when the design of the five-star red flag was finally solemnly inscribed under our name did the pent-up frustration in our hearts finally ease. However, this incident revealed the undercurrents of unrest. Back at our lodgings, everyone remained silent, yet their brows furrowed with even greater vigor.

"Well done! That was satisfying!" After reading this, Old Wang excitedly slapped Jiang Xia on the shoulder again, with considerable force.

"Hey! Your family is really something!" He gave a thumbs up, his face full of admiration.

"Our family?" Jiang Xia was startled by the slap and paused for a moment.

Then, thinking about how my family members behaved later in the story, I realized I deserved a compliment like "Well done." But...

How come Lao Wang read so fast? He's only read up to the part where the rebuttal was successful? Did he skip around?

Jiang Xia glanced at the papers he had lazily left unbound, and it seemed reasonable to have taken a look beforehand.

Just as I was about to ask, and perhaps chat about the vice-commander who was fluent in French, suddenly—

"Jiang Gong! Is Jiang Gong here? Comrade Xiao Jiang!" A slightly urgent shout came from outside the building, getting closer and closer. It was the voice of Professor Zhonghua, who had been dismantling gas turbines for so long that he didn't know what day it was.

Jiang Xia and Lao Wang both peered downstairs.

Professor Zhonghua strode in, his sleeves rolled up, and his work clothes stained with oil, clearly indicating he had just come from the "disassembly site".

"Xiao Jiang! Got some free time? Come with me to take apart some machines and play with them!"

Seeing Jiang Xia say he'd be right there and hurry downstairs, Old Wang instinctively stood up and carefully gathered the stack of travelogues.

"Teacher Wu! Don't rush, tell me slowly, where are you stuck?"

Professor Zhonghua pulled Jiang Xia aside and quickly said, "The gas turbine has been disassembled! With your previous explanations, we can figure out most of the principles and structure. But the problem is the fine-tuning mechanism for the installation angle of the stator blades in the first few stages of the high-pressure compressor!"

Professor Zhonghua thought for a moment, then pulled Jiang Xia down to squat down. He scooped up two handfuls of sand from the flower bed and sprinkled them on the ground, then traced a rough shape with his fingers.

"Look, this is what it's like inside!"

"That's how it is inside. The structure isn't too complicated. There's a set of connecting rods and actuators that control the blades to rotate around the axis and change the installation angle. We understand this idea; it's to improve efficiency and prevent surge under different operating conditions."

However, after repeated calculations, we found that, based on the current geometry of the connecting rod and the stroke of the actuator, the actual adjustable angle range of the blades seems to be far smaller than the angle theoretically achievable to produce a significant optimization effect on the airflow!

In other words, despite all the effort put into creating such a sophisticated adjustable mechanism, the adjustable range seems to be 'insufficient'?

This doesn't make sense! Unless...

What key design points did we miss, or is its adjustment logic not what we expected at all?

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xia immediately understood.

This is indeed a very typical "pitfall" that can easily lead people into a blind spot in their thinking when they come into contact with early Western high-performance gas turbine designs in the early 60s.

Professor Zhonghua and his colleagues were right in their approach, but they were limited by the materials, technology and design concepts at the time, and subconsciously thought about it based on the premise of "rigid connection and linear adjustment".

The secret of this machine in later generations (and the more advanced design adopted by this "harvested" engine) lies precisely in that seemingly insignificant "flexible element" and "nonlinear compensation".

“I understand, Professor Wu.” Jiang Xia nodded, his expression knowing. “What you’re saying is indeed a key point, but you might be overcomplicating it. Its core issue isn’t the insufficient travel of the connecting rod itself, but rather the way the blade root is installed and the special ‘elastic design’ in the connector.”

"Come on, I'll go take a look. I should be able to explain it clearly."

This explanation involves a clever approach in materials mechanics and structural design; without being explicitly stated, it's easy to get bogged down in trivial details.

"Great! I knew you'd be the one to help!" Professor Zhonghua was overjoyed and pulled Jiang Xia away.

Jiang Xia turned around and glanced at Old Wang.

Old Wang looked upstairs with some reluctance, but seeing that Jiang Xia was about to leave, he immediately followed her up.

"Brother Wang, you can keep reading. I'll explain it to you properly when I get back. That half-classical and half-traditional language is giving me a headache!"

"But……"

"It's alright, Professor Zhonghua's dismantling workshop is heavily guarded..."

Old Wang thought for a moment. That place was indeed heavily guarded, and unauthorized personnel were not allowed to enter. Even if he went, he wouldn't be able to get into the core area. So he nodded and said, "Alright, then hurry back and be careful. I'll just finish reading this part. Hey, your family is really something!"

Old Wang couldn't help but praise it again.

Jiang Xia's lips twitched. He was indeed quite capable, but he would still get a spanking when he got back!

Even if you turn the world upside down, safety still matters!