Reborn as Zhao Ruilong of Handong, I will defy fate.

Chapter 555 A Peerless Hero! How could I, Zhao Ruilong, possibly fail?

At dawn.

With the final check passed.

Qiu Lingzhi finally breathed a sigh of relief and nodded at Zhao Ruilong with satisfaction.

"Now you can rest assured, boss, right?"

"I'm relieved, I'm relieved."

"Now that you're relieved, quickly issue the order for everyone to go home and sleep!"

Zhao Ruilong raised his hand and pointed to the time displayed on the big screen.

"There are still about nine hours until the maiden flight this afternoon. We can't just sit here and wait until the afternoon, can we?"

"Of course we can't just sit and wait until the afternoon; we still have a lot of preparations to do!"

"Any more?"

"Of course, with so many special guests and media representatives coming to witness the ceremony, we should at least make some arrangements, right?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ruilong nearly fainted.

"No, Mr. Qiu, you don't need to worry about these things, do you?"

"Come on, let's go outside for a smoke and relax!"

Qiu Lingzhi paused for a moment, then nodded and smiled:

"Okay, after a tense and busy night, it's time to relax and rest!"

Zhao Ruilong quickly got up.

"Everyone, stop what you're doing and let's relax and rest for twenty minutes!"

"Drink some water, eat something, and if you should go to the toilet soon, go now. Holding in your urine is really bad for your health!"

"Any colleagues who want a smoke, come with me outside the hangar for a smoke, but we'll need a lighter first, otherwise, what's the point of smoking if there's no light?"

Everyone laughed.

The tension was relieved considerably.

Stepping out of the hangar, the night breeze brushed my face, and I suddenly felt wide awake.

The Mid-Autumn Festival has been over for half a month, and National Day is just around the corner.

So the weather was already a little chilly at dawn.

"The moon is bright and the stars are few; what a beautiful day!"

With a sigh, Zhao Ruilong quickly handed Qiu Lingzhi a cigarette.

Do you have a lighter?

"What? Smoking is strictly prohibited in the hangar! What about you?"

“I flew back from Xiping last night, and I handed in the lighter at the airport.”

Zhao Ruilong went to offer cigarettes to the researchers who were coming out one after another, but none of them had a lighter.

Just as everyone was looking at each other, anxiously waiting for a cigarette but no fire to start a fire.

The guards rushed over.

"Mr. Zhao, I've found a lighter!"

"This is amazing! Where did you find it?"

“Last night, in the car that picked us up from the airport, I noticed a lighter in the groove in front of the gear shift lever.”

"..."

Zhao Ruilong was taken aback.

I never expected that the guards I was assigned to protect me would have such keen observation skills.

They noticed even such small details, and they haven't forgotten them even now.

As expected of a 'royal bodyguard' who has been carefully selected and rigorously trained!

"Excellent, excellent! You've put a lot of thought into this! Your observations are very meticulous!"

"But this driver is really something, how could he leave a lighter in the car?"

"Don't you know that exposure to high temperatures and direct sunlight can easily cause an explosion and start a fire? As punishment, I confiscated it!"

After saying that, Zhao Ruilong turned around and busied himself lighting cigarettes for everyone.

Everyone was used to Zhao Ruilong, who had a powerful background and was incredibly wealthy, being approachable, so they weren't embarrassed.

While lighting a cigarette, we chatted for a bit.

After confirming that everyone had lit their cigarettes, Zhao Ruilong lit his own last.

He took a deep drag on his cigarette and exhaled a long puff of smoke.

In an instant, all the excitement and restlessness vanished into thin air along with the smoke.

Looking at the crowd of people puffing out clouds of smoke in front of him.

Zhao Ruilong suddenly understood why the military could quit drinking but not smoking.

Cigarettes play an irreplaceable role in relieving tension and releasing psychological stress.

China's domestically produced large passenger aircraft is about to make its maiden flight.

For these scientific and technical personnel, it was like being on the front lines, with a major battle imminent.

They have worked tirelessly, day and night, for this day, for hundreds of days and nights.

Even with thorough preparation, it's still inevitable to feel nervous, anxious, and worried.

Let them smoke a cigarette now, and the natural relaxation effect will be maximized!

Suddenly looking back.

When Zhao Ruilong saw Academician Qiu Lingzhi, who was facing away from everyone, he frowned slightly and stared straight ahead.

Ahead lies the fourth runway of Tianjin Tianhai International Airport!

It is also a dedicated runway for Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC)!

In a few more hours.

The first domestically produced large passenger aircraft will use this runway for its first test flight.

Under the bright moonlight, Zhao Ruilong carefully examined Academician Qiu Lingzhi.

He looked much older than when we first met.

Time has etched deeper wrinkles onto his face.

He also dyed his hair completely silver-white.

"Mr. Qiu, how long has it been since you went home?"

"what?"

Qiu Lingzhi glanced at Zhao Ruilong.

He then gave an awkward laugh and took a drag on his cigarette.

"It seems like it's been more than half a year since I've been home. What's wrong?"

Zhao Ruilong's heart skipped a beat.

What does it mean to be a peerless hero?

What are the backbone of a nation?

Academician Qiu Lingzhi has long made tremendous contributions to the country and the people, and holds a lofty position in the aviation industry.

Logically speaking, he could have retired early, received a very high pension, and lived a leisurely and comfortable retirement life.

Yet he still leads by example and charges ahead on the front lines of scientific research!

His home is in Tianhai, and it's not too far from the headquarters of COMAC in China, but he has never been home for a long time.

He ate in the canteen, lived in the dormitory, and wore work clothes alongside ordinary researchers... truly a 'commoner academician'.

He doesn't even have time to go home, so how could he have the leisure to go to a barbershop?

This somewhat odd hairstyle was clearly something he had casually styled himself with an electric razor.

But this strange hairstyle didn't make Zhao Ruilong laugh; instead, he felt genuine admiration for it.

This reminded Zhao Ruilong of a few days ago when he traveled from Xiping City in Qinghai Province to a research base for advanced weapons and equipment located deep in the northwestern desert.

In that base, which had to be isolated from the world to facilitate various secret experiments, there were many researchers like Qiu Lingzhi who were 'unkempt'.

Although the conditions at the base are no longer so harsh that one would have to "live in the open and eat in the wind," they are still quite difficult.

Often exposed to the scorching sun and strong winds, their cheeks turned a deep red from the high altitude, and their lips were generally chapped.

However, it is thanks to many scientific and technical personnel like Academician Qiu Lingzhi who do not care about fame and fortune and dedicate themselves silently that China has been able to gradually grow from poverty to strength.

It is through their hard work, selfless dedication, countless days and nights of painstaking effort, and even their youth and health, that China's technology has continued to advance and its industry has continued to develop.

Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have something dirty on my face?

Qiu Lingzhi asked with a smile.

"No, your noodles aren't dirty at all."

Zhao Ruilong shook his head slightly, then looked straight ahead like Qiu Lingzhi.

"Are you nervous?" Qiu Lingzhi asked with a smile.

Zhao Ruilong glanced sideways and asked, "What's there to be nervous about? We've already done our best, what's there to be nervous about?"

I thought you would be very nervous and worried.

Qiu Lingzhi took a drag of his cigarette and said in a low voice:

"Since restarting the domestic large aircraft project, Huilong Group has already spent tens of billions of yuan. Aren't you worried at all about failure?"

Zhao Ruilong smiled faintly.

"To say I'm not worried would be a lie!"

"Having invested so much money and put in so much effort and time, who would want to fail?"

"Especially in the last century, our Dragon Country failed once in its attempt to develop a domestically produced large aircraft. If we fail again this time, the impact will be extremely negative!"

"I'm afraid the whole world will laugh at us, the Chinese, for being incompetent and unable to build a world-class civilian jet aircraft!"

"And those who already looked down on us, those who originally opposed independent research and development, will surely celebrate their success and ridicule us relentlessly, making us unable to hold our heads high again!"

Zhao Ruilong raised his hand, took a deep drag on his cigarette, and continued:

"But what I want to say is... fear is the instinct of life, courage is the hymn of humanity!"

"If you doubt yourself, deny yourself, and hold back because of fear, and dare not try, then success will never come!"

"All greatness stems from a courageous beginning! Just like decades ago, when we were poor and couldn't even get enough to eat, we did our best and tried bravely, and still managed to create nuclear weapons!"

"Think about it, if our predecessors had also been fearful and worried that failure would cause huge losses and invite ridicule, they wouldn't have dared to devote themselves to research. How could there have been the success of atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs, and intercontinental ballistic missiles?"

"If I lacked confidence in myself, our industrial base, and our talent pool, and worried that the technological products I invested heavily in developing wouldn't sell, then how could mobile phones, computers, and new energy vehicles be selling so well now?"

At this point, Zhao Ruilong turned to look at Qiu Lingzhi.

"Actually, when I made up my mind to invest in the research and development of new energy vehicles, I encountered the same situation as our domestic large aircraft project. Many people were worried that we would not be able to succeed and that we would not be able to sell as well as those international car companies with deep foundations and strong strength!"

"Faced with skepticism, I countered with a question: How will we know if we can't succeed if we don't try? Even if we do our best and the first car isn't a huge success, so what? At least we can learn from our failures and make it easier for the next car to succeed!"

"Later, it turned out that we Chinese are not stupid, and our country is not weak at all. Over the past few decades, our continuous industrial development and education have not been in vain. We have enough scientific and technological talents and industrial foundation to turn my car manufacturing idea into reality!"

Qiu Lingzhi smiled.

"Your attempt has led to the creation of a domestically produced luxury brand!"

"With this technologically advanced Land Rover, no one will laugh at our Dragon Country for not being able to manufacture cars!"

"Yes!"

Zhao Ruilong smiled and said, "So the success of Land Rover has strengthened my confidence. I believe that the efforts of hundreds of units and tens of thousands of scientific and technical personnel will definitely not be in vain!"

“We didn’t try to take shortcuts, cut corners, or do things half-heartedly. Instead, we did every task conscientiously and spared no effort. If we had failed, where would justice be?”

Qiu Lingzhi asked with a smile, "What if?"

"There's no chance of anything going wrong. Even if there is, I will never be discouraged. I will continue to invest, and even increase my investment. I refuse to believe that in the 21st century, we still can't build a civilian aircraft!"

Zhao Ruilong spoke with a firm and resounding tone.

His confidence stemmed from his solid foundation.

He is still bringing in money from abroad continuously, so he is not short of research funding.