Chapter 757: The U.S. Is Showing Off Its Muscles

Xu Qingzhou still couldn’t resist Song Yao’s persistent nagging and accompanied her to watch TV.

He knew well that this girl was worried he’d overwork—he’d been working overtime for days straight, and today was the first time he’d left on time.

“Just watch TV, okay?”

Xu Qingzhou emphasized.

Song Yao chuckled twice, shoving her legs into his lap. “What else did you think you’d do?”

She truly wanted him to rest—scientific research required balance, not constant tension.

“What’s on?”

“You pick.” Song Yao loved being beside Xu Qingzhou, feeling nothing to think about.

“The Crazy Race.”

On the LCD screen, the story unfolded gradually, its multiple plotlines beginning to merge.

Outside, rain began to fall; the scent of damp earth seeped through the window gaps.

Xu Qingzhou fully relaxed, temporarily forgetting the experiment—on rainy days, nothing felt better than doing nothing, becoming a useless layabout.

The movie ended; dusk had deepened.

Xu Qingzhou leaned back on the sofa, unwilling to move. Outside, wind howled, pelting rain against the glass with a patter.

Song Yao was scrolling through photos Ding Jiahui had sent—scenic views.

Over the past few days, Guo Zi and Ding Jiahui had been traveling, sightseeing, and frequently sharing views with Song Yao.

Xu Qingzhou switched to a sports match to pass the time; since he’d decided to stay with Song Yao in the living room, he no longer bothered with experiment problems.

Before he knew it, it was 11 p.m.

Song Yao finished chatting with her friend and saw Xu Qingzhou sitting on the sofa, lost in thought. She pinched his shirt hem with her toes and tugged. “Thinking about what?”

“I’m just… hungry.”

Xu Qingzhou snapped back to reality.

In such a peaceful moment, a bowl of noodles would be perfect.

Song Yao’s toes stiffened; she eyed him warily, suspecting he might do something perverted like lick her feet.

“I meant boiling noodles.”

Xu Qingzhou felt offended, rising toward the kitchen. “Isn’t slurping noodles more relaxing than slurping your feet?”

“Are you a pig? We ate at seven,” Song Yao said, sprawled on the sofa, watching the young man head to the kitchen.

“You eating?”

“No.”

“Sure?”

“Make a little.”

On July 6, the U.S. National Ignition Facility (NIF) completed a 10-second net energy gain experiment.

Ten seconds was enough to cause major ripples in the field of controlled nuclear fusion.

Previously, NIF had been criticized for its short duration—it had achieved net energy gain four times, but only as instantaneous spikes; even one extra second meant failure.

This 10-second net energy gain experiment was nearly the closest humanity had ever come to crossing the threshold of controlled nuclear fusion engineering.

All that remains is iterative improvement—turning “seconds” into “minutes,” then eventually “hours”—a natural progression.

The next day, the U.S. DIII-D tokamak announced it had achieved 1000 seconds of steady-state operation.