The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master.

the next day.

Paris France.

Ian Vesta, technical director of Snecma, is working with his assistant Arthur Mondoc on some administrative documents related to the company's operations.

It was already Friday afternoon, and the two of them couldn't help feeling a little lazy.

Before today, in order to understand and grasp the technical data of the M88-2 engine from China, Vesta had worked non-stop with his entire team for three weeks.

The miscellaneous tasks they have on hand now are also accumulated because of this.

You know, it is not an easy task to make the old European Zhengbai Banner work overtime.

What’s more, it has been extended for three consecutive weeks.

Not to mention his subordinates, even Vesta himself felt that he could not hold on any longer.

Fortunately, the process was tortuous, but the result was okay.

They had finally mastered most of the technical information that the Chinese had shoved at them.

In particular, many faults or defects that had no clues before now have relatively complete ideas -

From the phenomena in the test, to the causes, and then to the solutions.

Only a few tough bones remain, but it seems to be just a matter of time.

"Dr. Vesta."

Perhaps to resist fatigue, Mondok was the first to break the silence:

"Once we have finished studying the materials on M88-2, I hope to bring a group of key personnel to China to participate in the next step of the M88-3 upgrade plan."

Hearing the assistant's request, Vesta raised his head with a look of approval, but did not respond immediately.

Instead, he asked:

"Tell me what you think?"

Mondok was not acting on impulse, so he gave his reasons without hesitation:

"At present, the personnel we have stationed in China are insufficient in both quantity and level. They are simply unable to effectively participate in the engine improvement project. In essence, they are only responsible for sending the technical information provided by the Chinese to our data clerks."

"If we continue in this state, it will be difficult for us to keep up with the Chinese."

"Now, we have basically fully understood the key design ideas of the M88-2 engine, and I speculate that the Chinese are still in a relatively early stage of upgrading the M88-3 engine."

"So, if I'm efficient enough, I should be able to catch up with them in time!"

Apparently, the work of the past few weeks had made Mondoc feel that he was ready.

After hearing his explanation, Vesta, who was sitting opposite him, smiled:

"Actually... that's exactly what I meant."

"What you just said is right. We can't just be satisfied with following the Chinese."

He took off his glasses and rubbed the sides of his nose gently.

"My plan is to try to keep up with the Chinese in the M88-3 project. When it comes to the next step, M88-4, even if we can't complete it entirely by ourselves, we should come up with a complete upgrade technology plan before the Chinese!"

Apparently, Vesta also felt that he had done enough.

The two of them smiled at each other after reaching a consensus on this matter.

It seems that they have already thought about the day when France will regain its strength in the field of jet engines.

However, I want to think back.

Vesta was an old man and felt that he could not hold on any longer.

So he stood up, stretched his muscles, and then looked at the time.

However, there are still about three hours until the end of the get off work day.

"How about... leaving get off work early?"

Vesta looked at Mondoc, who was busy again with his head down, and his mind had already flown to his small estate in the south of France.

Due to work reasons, he hasn't been there for almost a month.

"Arthur, we..."

He wanted to say that we should go home right away and do the rest of the work next week.

As soon as he said this, the phone on the table rang.

To be honest, Vesta hated these kinds of calls coming on Friday afternoons.

Especially now.

He was already extremely tired.

And a new phone call most likely means a new job...

But no matter what, it's still working time now.

Vesta had no choice but to pick up the phone and put the receiver to her ear:

"Hello, Ian Vista from Snecma."

"Dr. Vista, my name is Bernard Shore."

After the person on the other end of the phone introduced himself, Vesta, who had been looking lazy, finally became a little more serious:

"Long time no see, Bernard."

He said as he sat back in his office chair, then leaned his upper body back on the backrest:

"I think... it should be almost midnight in China now. Is there something urgent?"

Bernard Shore, Snecma's communications director in China.

He is the boss of the "data clerks" that Mondok mentioned just now.

"That's right, Dr. Vista."

The voice on the other end of the phone was quite serious:

"Liu Yongquan, the project leader here at Huaxia, told me today that they have fully upgraded the air film cooling system at the hot end of the M88-3 engine and have successfully completed the component-level performance test. So we hope to hand over the work to you as soon as possible and start the installation test of the new components..."

"boom!"

When Shore was halfway through his words, Vesta, who had just leaned back in his office chair, suddenly jumped up. His movements were so agile that he didn't look like a man in his sixties at all.

"The hot end has been...has the upgrade been completed?"

At this moment, he felt that his entire brain was filled with question marks.

On the one hand, Vesta was pretty sure she hadn't just heard anything wrong.

But on the other hand, he didn't quite believe what he heard.

The overall plan for upgrading the M88-3 engine was only proposed in early September.

It's only been less than three months?

The hot end components...shouldn't they be the most critical and core part of an engine?

For a moment, Vesta even began to waver in his decades of professional experience.

"Well... that's what the Chinese side informed me."

Shore replied:

"Moreover, I also watched their entire testing process and checked the test results, which are indeed in full compliance with the design requirements."

"..."

Vesta opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

As a result, both ends of the phone fell into an awkward silence.

After more than ten long seconds, it was Shaw who lost his patience first and called out tentatively:

"Dr. Vista?"

This finally woke Vesta up from her blank mind.

"Uh...what time is the handover?"

He asked almost instinctively.

"It would be best if it were next Monday. They said the time for upgrading the hot end is tight, so we hope to complete the actual machine test as soon as possible."

"Next Monday……"

Vesta glanced at the calendar next to her:

"Okay, I'll be there on time..."

"..."

"Ugh--"

After a long sigh, Vesta put the receiver back on the phone with a somewhat stiff movement.

Mondoc didn't hear what was said on the other end of the phone, and Vesta's distraught look really confused him, so he still couldn't figure it out:

"Doctor, this is... a call from China?"

"Correct."

Vesta nodded, but it was obvious that she was in a low mood:

"I'm afraid we'll have to postpone catching up with the Chinese..."

"what?"

Mondok was stunned after hearing this.

He didn't even understand what the other person meant at first.

But soon, a possibility came into his mind:

"You mean...they..."

Mondok had actually guessed what had actually happened, but due to extreme shock, he couldn't even organize words quickly, so he had to use gestures instead.

Fortunately, Vesta was not prepared to understand what the other party meant, but explained directly:

"They have completed the design improvements for the hot end components of the M88-3 engine and asked us to prepare for actual machine testing immediately to see if it meets the requirements!"

Mondok's eyes went dark when his guess was confirmed:

"But……"

At this moment, he just felt a little tingling on his scalp.

I originally thought that after understanding the situation of M88-2, I could use the existing foundation to more quickly understand the new technologies applied by China in M88-3, and eventually catch up with or even surpass China in progress.

But now it seems...

My own learning speed... seems to be a bit behind the speed at which new knowledge is generated?

……

This is undoubtedly a huge blow to Mondok, which has always been successful.

After a long while, he finally recovered a little:

"Then Dr. Vista...should I...still go to China?"

According to the previous plan, he went to China to track in real time and even participate in the research and development of the M88-3 engine.

But now it has become a data study...

"Go! Of course!"

Vesta took a deep breath:

"Besides, this time we're going together!"

He said categorically:

"I want to see how those Chinese people designed a completely new air film cooling system in just three months..."