Chapter 119: Hope

Wu Tong immediately stood up and respectfully confirmed the master-disciple relationship.

“Congratulations to Master Cheng on gaining such an outstanding disciple, and congratulations to Wu Tong for encountering a renowned teacher!” Lu Xiao and Zheng Hongming applauded with smiles.

Cheng Huanan, known as Master Cheng, is among the top experts in the domestic materials field. Wu Tong was already exceptionally talented, and studying under such a distinguished mentor meant an unbeatable future awaited her.

Zheng Hongming joked, “Master Cheng, today you’ve truly hit the jackpot!”

Anyone who received an extraordinarily gifted student like Wu Tong would surely celebrate with great joy.

“I'm deeply honored, truly honored. Since Wu Tong is willing, I will guide you on the path of materials science!” Master Cheng’s usual stern expression was gone; now his face was genuinely radiant with joy.

Having such a remarkable disciple, he could live without regrets. His normally serious face now bore a broad, joyful smile that looked somewhat comical at first glance—but who cared?

“I invite you both to witness this moment: I have finally accepted my final disciple!”

He had said before that his final disciple would inherit all he had. He had devoted his entire life to the nation; only his knowledge remained to be passed on, hoping his students would surpass him.

He treated every student seriously, but he could usually gauge their potential limits. As a teacher, who wouldn’t hope to encounter a top-tier student?

Now that he had Wu Tong, he had no regrets left.

No longer feeling his age weigh him down, he rubbed his hands together, already planning the learning trajectory he would arrange for Wu Tong.

From what he knew, Wu Tong learned quickly. Given her young age and achievements, this was no exaggeration. Ordinary lessons would not suit her. Special arrangements were needed, and he would carefully plan her studies, adjusting according to her progress and needs.

“Master Cheng, may I borrow Wu Tong for a moment? I have some questions about the F-22 mathematical model that I want to discuss with her,” Lu Xiao reported to Cheng Huanan.

Now that Wu Tong had a formal, rightful mentor, it was no comparison to having a nominal teacher with barely any connection.

“Go ahead, discuss here. I’ll check the lab’s repeated data and ask Cheng Xu to organize it for you shortly,” Cheng Huanan waved his hand and stood, stepping out to give them a quiet space—some of the topics probably involved confidentiality, so he wisely excused himself.

Zheng Hongming followed, “I’ll check on how others are doing with their confidentiality agreements.”

“Teacher Lu, what specific issues are you dealing with? Let’s discuss them together!” Wu Tong asked.

After signing the various confidentiality agreements, she learned about Lu Xiao’s current responsibilities and was genuinely surprised. The J-20 Mighty Dragon, which made countless Chinese people proud and excited, was actually led in development by this teacher. Truly remarkable!

The success of the J-20 symbolized that China now possessed a fourth-generation fighter of international standard, capable of reclaiming air superiority and wielding a stronger voice on the global stage.

She deeply admired these researchers who propelled the nation forward. China’s peace was silently guarded by them. Willing to remain anonymous and silent, ready to sacrifice passionately—this is why she could remember the flourishing era of China so vividly.

“Just call me Lu Xiao. This nominal teacher title embarrasses me,” Lu Xiao said as he opened his laptop and exported the model he had derived last night, turning the screen toward Wu Tong.

“Here, the aerodynamic uncertainties at high angles of attack. Using a slender-body analysis, the aircraft’s aerodynamic and flow characteristics at transonic speeds and large angles of attack exhibit three key points: the asymmetric separation vortices on the forebody above 30 degrees angle of attack, the lateral aerodynamic forces normal to the surface, and the stochastic nature of the leading vortices... I want to find a special compensation mechanism through mathematical and dynamic logic where the larger the angle of attack, the worse the randomness of the phenomena.”

The problem of high-angle-of-attack flow separation has long plagued fighter jets and remains a cutting-edge topic today.

Initially, he had hoped to balance this probabilistic occurrence through some shape design—such as asymmetric or flattened leading-edge wing layouts. Most designs, however, failed to reach ideal parameters until Wu Tong’s derivation logic revealed a new solution direction.

Previously, domestic aviation either avoided flying at high angles of attack to sidestep this problem or compromised by widening the wing area to improve stability. But this brought a series of other issues. On a fighter jet, any change is a matter of great significance, as it affects the entire system.

Wu Tong stared at the data on the screen, quietly pondering. After a while, she gathered some scratch paper and a pen and began to rapidly work through calculations.

duj/dt = ρg_j + x_i T_ij,
T_ij = pδ_ij + τ_ij = pδ_ij + 2μ(S_ij - 1/3 S_mm δ_ij) + μν S_mm δ_ij (3)(3) ρ du_j/dt = ρ g_j + x_i T_ij,
T_ij = pδ_ij + τ_ij = pδ_ij +...

After some time, Wu Tong pushed the filled sheets of calculations toward Lu Xiao.

“Momentum conservation for viscous incompressible fluid flow, the Navier-Stokes equations?” At first glance, Lu Xiao immediately understood her principle. As a dynamics expert working on fighter design, he was well acquainted with fluid mechanics.

Wu Tong nodded. “Yes, my logic starts from the Navier-Stokes equations. Let P be the air fluid density, V the velocity vector, U, V, W the velocity components of the fluid at point Z at time T... We assume... from the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations... directional inference yields the optimal auxiliary wing length and width...”

“To use wing surface vortices to counteract multiple parts of the asymmetric separation forebody vortices!” Lu Xiao’s eyes lit up, his direction fully illuminated. He turned to his laptop, his slender, powerful fingers flying over the keyboard with such silky smoothness that Wu Tong was amazed.

She confirmed this was a godly level beyond her reach.

The model on the screen gradually stabilized and took shape under Lu Xiao’s input, tending toward the version of the steel eagle J-20 soaring with pride over the square in parade footage, much improved from the earlier data that had disappointed many enthusiasts.

Wu Tong’s eyes grew moist, shimmering with emotion.

This version of the eagle felt like a rebirth, shedding the unnecessary aging claws and feathers, donning new full wings, possessing a powerful heart with lighter, stronger propulsion, soon to shine before the world as one of the strongest combat jets, safeguarding China's airspace indefinitely.

To contribute even a small part of her strength toward this better future filled her with an irrepressible joy and excitement. She sighed regretfully, “If only the Navier-Stokes equations could be fully proven and solved generally, our aircraft would be even more perfect!” For now, this was a near-perfect form based on current conditions.

“I look forward to you creating that miracle,” Lu Xiao encouraged, turning his head.

Wu Tong’s achievements gave him hope. If she could prove the Navier-Stokes equations in her lifetime, he would design the world’s finest fighter jet in celebration.

All data and issues mentioned are purely fictional; please do not apply them literally to reality! Here’s to your happiness, and thank you all for your continued support!

(End of chapter)