Chapter 326: Huaqing Dao Discussion

He Yuzhu was very satisfied with Secretary's arrangements; he could feel that such arrangements were made purely for the sake of his future.

"Although I have strong self-study abilities, my foundation is still a bit thin. I am thinking that after arriving at Huaqing University, I will study while also teaching classes."

Secretary nodded, revealing an approving look, "Your attitude is very good. I have studied the various majors in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Huaqing University, and it is most appropriate for you to teach in the Radio Engineering major. You can study while also starting computer courses there."

A sense of warmth welled up in He Yuzhu's heart, and he said excitedly, "Thank you, Secretary. I will certainly not let down your cultivation."

"We are brothers," Secretary patted his shoulder, "there is no need to say such formal words."

Early the next morning, the car drove into Huaqing University.

The morning light of spring shone through the sycamore branches and leaves, casting dappled light spots on the mottled outer wall of the Department of Electrical Engineering.

Professor Zhang wore thick glasses, slowly flipping through He Yuzhu's resume, and said, "Little He was able to build a computer by himself. I have heard that the United States only just built computers not long ago, and they are as big as several rooms."

He Yuzhu smiled modestly and explained, "Actually, what I made cannot be considered a computer in the true sense; it is just a specific application of a computer in one aspect."

Professor Zhang narrowed his eyes and said, "Since you understand computers, tell me, what will the future development of computers be like?"

He Yuzhu could detect the distrust in Professor Zhang's eyes; he took a vacuum tube out of his bag and said, "This thing, in my view, will soon be replaced by something called a transistor. We have been researching transistors at our Military Factory for almost two years, and there will soon be a breakthrough... Future computers will use integrated circuits... The entire machine might only weigh a dozen kilograms, or even a few kilograms, and computing will enter thousands of households... Computers can be connected to each other through wires; I call it the 'Internet', and by that time..."

Before he finished speaking, Professor Zhang hurriedly waved his hand, "Fine, fine, fine, it sounds too much like science fiction. Let's talk about something practical... What can you teach?"

He Yuzhu smiled, "I can teach computer working principles, as well as simple computer language programming... I can also lead students to build relatively simple computer equipment together..."

Professor Zhang pushed up his glasses, his gaze behind the lenses sharp: "I heard you have no academic credentials and rely entirely on self-study?"

He Yuzhu nodded calmly, his back held straight.

"Then I must test you," Professor Zhang said.

"No problem."

On this day, he was face-to-face with several old professors in the Laboratory.

Professor Gu tapped his fingers on the table and asked first: "Comrade He Yuzhu, although the computer you envision sounds very good, vacuum tubes are very fragile and expensive, consume a lot of power, and have a short lifespan. In your opinion, how can we achieve a breakthrough?"

He Yuzhu stood up, walked to the blackboard, and skillfully drew a crystal structure diagram with chalk: "We are currently seeking a way out using high-purity germanium and silicon crystals... We use the principle of the crystal amplifier to control a powerful current in the crystal with a weak input signal to achieve amplification... Once this experiment is successful, we will obtain a solid-state, tiny, sturdy, and extremely low-power-consuming component. Using it to replace vacuum tubes, we call it a transistor... This is the path I want to take to move computers from the laboratory to thousands of households."

Professor Ma rubbed the teacup in his hand and continued to ask: "Even if the transistors you speak of replace vacuum tubes, the information we face is complex and varied—text, images, sounds, etc., are all vastly different. Could it be that we must design a computer for every type of information?"

He Yuzhu turned and wrote "0" and "1" on the blackboard, the chalk rubbing against the blackboard making a crisp sound: "Actually, inside a computer, only two states are needed: on or off. We define them as 0 and 1. Any information can be encoded and ultimately converted into a long string composed of 0s and 1s... Therefore, what a computer processes internally is never images, but the origin of information—data streams composed of 0s and 1s."

After hearing this, Professor Ma slapped his thigh hard and shouted in approval: "Clever! Hearing your words is better than reading books for ten years."

Professor Zhao raised his hand, and He Yuzhu bowed modestly: "Professor, please ask your question."

"Even if you build this computer, how can it remember massive amounts of data and retrieve it at any time?"

He Yuzhu explained slowly: "This requires designing an operating system for the computer. You can understand the computer's operating system as a butler; it does not participate in calculations, but it manages all hardware resources and allocates time, memory, and storage space for every computing task... With this butler, we know where every piece of data is placed..."

He Yuzhu patiently answered every professor's question, all with clear logic, as if he had previewed them in advance. This also reassured the professors that this He Yuzhu was not a fraud and truly understood computers.

By evening, the professors' eyes toward He Yuzhu had changed from suspicion to admiration.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone through the window, gilding him with a golden edge.

When walking out of the teaching building, the evening breeze was slightly cool, and the tree shadows swayed gently under the newly lit street lamps.

Secretary had accompanied him for the whole day; his footsteps were a bit tired, but he still maintained a smile.

"Zhuzi, I really didn't come in vain today. It was you who helped me open a door to science," Secretary said.

"What I said was also just armchair strategy; it is still a long way from being fully realized... Let's go, let's go to my Siqiang's restaurant, and I will cook a few dishes for you myself."

The two drove to He Ji Restaurant by Shichahai.

As soon as He Yuzhu entered the door, Chen Daya greeted him. She raised an eyebrow, leaned into his ear, and whispered: "Zhuzi, Liu Rusi brought a man to eat. I see their relationship is very close; you should be careful!"

He Yuzhu's footsteps paused; it felt as if something was stuck in his chest, and his heart beat much faster.

However, he quickly calmed down, forced a smile, and said: "She is my cousin; she will get married sooner or later, just like you. I can't watch you not find a boyfriend. Today, I have an important guest and must cook myself. Tell the kitchen."

Chen Daya curled her lip and poked his shoulder with her finger: "You little brat, can't you tell the difference between good and bad advice? Be careful, don't let the cooked duck fly away."

He Yuzhu glared at her, turned around, and walked into the kitchen, tying his apron tightly to suppress the slight sting in his heart.

He earnestly chopped vegetables and started the wok; the fragrance of oil rose over the stove fire, the red oil of the Boiled Fish rolled, and the Twice Cooked Pork sizzled. The entire kitchen was filled with his focus.

The dishes were brought to the table one by one, the heat rising in curls under the lights.

"Thank you for accompanying me all day," He Yuzhu picked up a glass of wine and said.

Secretary raised his glass, the rim clinking lightly against He Yuzhu's: "After eating this meal you cooked yourself, we are even."

An hour later, the two were full of food and drink and walked out of the shop.

Just as the two were about to get into the car, they saw Liu Rusi and a man around thirty years old walking out of the restaurant, with Pingping following behind.