Chapter 709: Discharge

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

While Lu Zhou was hospitalized, a lot of people came to visit him.

There were people from the State Administration for National Defense, China National Space Administration, and the military equipment department.

As well as higher-ups from the Communist Party.

Honestly, he could have been discharged after two days. After all, there were a lot of matters he had to take care of. 301 Hospital did a comprehensive examination as fast as possible. However, when the president came to see how Lu Zhou was doing, he smiled and said, “Stay here and rest a bit longer, remember what happened last time?”

So…

Lu Zhou’s hospital stay was extended by a week.

Of course, Lu Zhou knew that the president had good intentions and only wanted him to rest instead of going back to doing research. However, staying in the hospital made him feel like his body was rotting.

Chen Yushan stayed with him in Beijing for a few days and made sure that his health was okay. She then went back to Jinling. In a sense, she was similar to Lu Zhou; she couldn’t stop working.

Lu Zhou was bored staying at 301 Hospital, so he ended up playing cards with Wang Peng and Yan Yan.

Unfortunately, playing cards didn’t help pass the time. Even though the two other people were pretty good, they were rookies when compared to Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou got sick of winning and let Yang Guangbiao take his spot.

At last, the week was over, and Lu Zhou only had one last round of inspections.

Coincidentally, the person who did his last examination was Academician Zhao Zhongji, the same person who led the international medical consultant team back when Lu Zhou was in a coma. The kind-hearted old man smiled at him.

“Professor Lu, we meet again.”

Lu Zhou didn’t know what to say, so he smiled and nodded.

“Yeah.”

Academician Zhao Zhongji smiled and said, “The examination went well. There are no problems. But I still have to say that you’re still young, you should take care of your body. Aerospace is suitable for people who already have kids. After all, there’s no magnetic field in space, and no one knows how those cosmic rays can affect your body.”

Lu Zhou: “I think science can solve those problems, but this is nothing important, there’s no need to worry.”

Actually, not all astronauts had kids. Astronaut Liu from China had a kid three years after her return to Earth. The claim that genetics could be altered by cosmic rays was debatable, not to mention that the current high-energy ray shielding technology was able to block most of the rays.

Zhao Zhongji had a helpless expression. He didn’t try to persuade anymore.

“Okay then, I don’t know as much as you, I’m just suggesting.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, fill out this form.” Academician Zhao Zhongji handed Lu Zhou a form and said, “Oh yeah, it’s almost the academician election season, are you ready?”

Lu Zhou, who was filling out the form, paused for a second before he said, “I… haven’t been paying attention.”

Academician Zhao Zhongji shook his head and said, “You’re probably the only Chinese scholar who doesn’t pay attention to this stuff.”

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and said, “I’m not the only one. It’s just that, this title doesn’t matter too much for me.”

Academician Zhao Zhongji: “Haha, you’re right. Regardless, congratulations in advance.”

Lu Zhou handed back the form and said, “You can congratulate me after I get elected… See you later.”

The old academician smiled and waved his hand.

“Goodbye, hope I don’t see you here again.”

…

Lu Zhou handed in a form to the reception, which was on the first floor of the hospital. After he went through the discharge procedures, he went back to his ward to pack his luggage. The other two astronauts were also discharged today, but he didn’t plan on going back with them.

Before going back to Jinling, he still had some things to take care of.

Lu Zhou opened the door of his ward and walked to his bed. He was surprised to see a person sitting on a chair near his bed.

“Director Li?” Lu Zhou looked at Director Li and smiled as he asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Coming to visit you before you leave the hospital, what, am I not welcome here?”

There was a tiny bit of resentment in Director Li’s eyes.

It seemed like Lu Zhou’s action of sneaking into Skyglow without telling anyone gave Director Li a lot of trouble.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “What do you mean? I was just about to visit you after leaving the hospital. The ward is pretty crappy, so just sit wherever.”

“This is crappy? This is the best room in the 301 Hospital!” Director Li sat down and said, “Do you plan on going back to Jinling after being discharged?”

Lu Zhou: “I’m staying in Beijing for a couple of days, why?”

Director Li: “Nothing, just wondering. Oh yeah, there’s something I have to tell you.”

Lu Zhou: “Aerospaceplane?”

Director Li: “Yeah.”

Lu Zhou: “Okay then, I’ll listen… Do you want anything to drink?”

“No, thanks. I’ll keep it short.” Director Li paused for a second before he said, “A week ago, after you boarded the spacecraft, the Communist Party of China had a meeting. The meeting was about placing aerospace engineering as a top national priority again. There are many specific policies. I’ll only tell you the relevant ones. The specific documents won’t be released for a while, so make sure you don’t tell anyone.”

Lu Zhou: “Go ahead.”

Director Li looked toward the door and lowered his voice. He said quietly, “We plan on establishing an aerospace science and technology park from Jinling and Xijiang.”

Lu Zhou looked strangely at this guy.

“Shouldn’t this be a local policy? Why is the central government taking the lead?”

Director Li coughed and said, “Do you think a small local government can handle something related to the aerospace field?”

Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully.

“You’re right.”

He didn’t know a lot about politics, so he decided to stay quiet.

However, there was something else he didn’t understand…

“What does the aerospace park have to do with me?”

“It has a lot to do with you.” Director Li sat upright in his chair and said, “When all of the supporting policies are approved, that place will be the largest aerospace incubation area in China, and a large number of aerospace and military enterprises will move in. High-level officials want to focus on researching the ion thruster propulsion system you developed, as well as a wide range of fields such as aerospace and national defense.”

He looked a little embarrassed as he smiled at Lu Zhou.

“We hope that you can provide technical support to the enterprises in the park. Of course, your profits will also be protected in the form of defense patents and research and development subsidies.”

“Sure thing.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Once the policies are approved, just call me. Is there anything else?”

Attracting a large number of aerospace companies was beneficial for Star Sky Technology. This meant that the space shuttle assembly center would no longer have to find parts from all over the country; they would have everything at their fingertips.

Lu Zhou had control of the core aerospace technology, but he didn’t need to have total control over the entire space shuttle production process as it was neither realistic nor economical. He only needed to manufacture the most important components, such as the ion thrusters.

“Okay then, that’s all.” Director Li patted his thighs and said, “There’s one thing people keep asking me. You’re quite old now, there are 25-year-old adults with toddlers already. Aren’t your parents worried?”

“Fate can’t be rushed.”

Director Li smiled and said, “Fate doesn’t wait for you? Do you want me to introduce you to someone?”

Lu Zhou said, “Let’s talk about it later.”

Research is so fun, why would I want to do anything else?

If I really end up having a family…

I probably won’t be able to spend as much time in the laboratory anymore.

He always tried to hide from this problem.

Director Li shook his head, but he didn’t say anything else.

He was about to stand up and leave when he suddenly patted his head as if he forgot about something.

“Oh wait, I nearly forgot something. This morning, the China Western Military Division called us. The troops stationed in the Junggar Basin area found the thing you were looking for. Do you want them to send it to Beijing or directly to the Jinling research institute?”

Lu Zhou immediately became energetic, and he responded quickly, “Where is it approximately?”

Director Li paused for a second before replying, “I think it’s on a hamada.”

Lu Zhou said, “Tell them to stay where they are! I’ll personally go there with some of my guys.”

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