In the midst of the lively atmosphere as everyone welcomed the Asian Games, something strange occurred in the microcomputer room of the Department of Aeronautical Engineering.

The first oddity was the appearance of a small program on the computers in the microcomputer room. No one knew who had written it, but this program forcefully terminated any attempts by students to play *Super Mario* or *Contra* on the computers during class hours.

The strange thing about this was that the author of the program never came forward.

Another strange occurrence also took place on the computers in the microcomputer room: someone had modified the Pinyin input method. The formerly unpopular full Pinyin input method had been transformed, now allowing users to type entire words or even short phrases, with accurate word selection prompts.

These two small programs had very different impacts: one caused students to suffer, making it impossible for them to slack off and play games, while the other greatly benefited those who hadn't mastered Wubi typing, enabling them to easily create electronic documents on the computer.

The first program wasn’t much of a big deal.

But the improved full Pinyin input method was significant.

It allowed even beginners to easily type on a computer.

Despite the value of such a great software, no one stepped forward to claim it as their work.

Naturally, Department Head Zheng Jingzhi heard about this.

He even tried out the improved full Pinyin input method himself.

Zheng Jingzhi, now in his fifties, had hardly used a computer before. After trying the improved input method, he found it remarkably easy to use.

"Hongtao, you're recognized as a computer expert by everyone. Besides you, are there any other programming experts in our department?" Zheng Jingzhi asked Tian Hongtao.

Tian Hongtao shook his head and said, "Professor, I haven't heard of any other students who can program."

"Ms. Zhao Min often teaches in the microcomputer room. She's a top graduate from Xidian University, so writing a small program shouldn't be difficult for her."

"But she has repeatedly stated that she didn’t create the small programs on the computers in our microcomputer room."

Zheng Jingzhi lightly shook his head and said, "This is really mysterious."

"Could it be that these two programs were generated by the computers themselves?"

Tian Hongtao laughed, "How could that be possible?!"

Frowning, Zheng Jingzhi said, "Then why is no one willing to admit it? This is so strange."

Tian Hongtao said, "The microcomputer room is managed by Zhang Zhipeng."

"Maybe we could ask him if any computer experts from outside our department have been using the room during their free time."

Zheng Jingzhi nodded, "Let's call him over and ask."

Soon, Zhang Zhipeng was brought before Zheng Jingzhi.

As soon as Zhang Zhipeng entered Zheng Jingzhi’s office, he knew why he had been summoned.

It seemed like the truth was about to come out.

The two small programs he had written had shocked many people, and now even the department head had found out?

He had heard people speculating about who the author of the two small programs might be.

He hadn’t come forward to admit it.

That was because he found it troublesome to explain, and he didn’t want to face the skeptical looks.

Until he could truly master programming skills, it was better to keep quiet and let his work speak for itself.

He hadn’t admitted it because no one had asked him directly.

And no one believed that someone like Zhang Zhipeng, a mere microcomputer room administrator, could write software.

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"Director Zheng, you wanted to see me?"

Zheng Jingzhi nodded, "Have a seat. I need to ask you something."

Zhang Zhipeng sat down in the chair in front of Zheng Jingzhi’s desk.

Meanwhile, Tian Hongtao was helping Zheng Jingzhi organize some documents.

Zheng Jingzhi asked, "Xiao Zhang, let me ask you, have you ever allowed anyone from outside the department into the microcomputer room during off-hours?"

Zhang Zhipeng shook his head, "No, Director Zheng! The computers in our department are expensive. I wouldn't dare let others use them without permission."

"If something were to go wrong, wouldn't that be my responsibility?"

Zhang Zhipeng thought to himself, Director Zheng suspects that an outside programming expert has been using the microcomputer room.

Frowning, Zheng Jingzhi said, "Then this is really strange."

"You’re aware that someone wrote two small programs on the computers in our microcomputer room, right?"

Zhang Zhipeng nodded, "I’ve heard about it."

Zheng Jingzhi said, "We still haven't found the author. As the administrator of the computer room, you should have some impression of the classes and individuals who have been there, right?"

Zhang Zhipeng was waiting for Zheng Jingzhi to ask him whether he was the one behind those two small programs.

If asked, he would just admit it.

But Zheng Jingzhi didn't ask.

Zhang Zhipeng said, "Director Zheng, the classes that use the computer room follow the schedule."

"The ones who like to visit the computer room the most are people like Dr. Tian. I have records of them."

Zhang Zhipeng thought to himself, "If you don't ask, then I won't say anything."

Because if he spoke up, he would face a lot of scrutiny. He wasn't afraid of being questioned; proving his own abilities was easy.

But he still felt the timing wasn't right. His programming skills still had considerable room for improvement.

So he decided to wait.

When Tian Hongtao heard his name mentioned, he paused his work and said, "I've already told Mr. Zheng, I don't have the ability to write such good programs. We've asked everyone in our department, and from what I know, we don't have anyone that skilled."

Zheng Jingzhi couldn't extract any useful clues.

So he instructed Zhang Zhipeng to keep an eye out for any suspicious people entering the computer room in the future. After that, he let Zhang Zhipeng go.

After Zhang Zhipeng left, Zheng Jingzhi frowned and said, "Who could this person be?"

"Someone with such strong programming skills is exactly the kind of talent we need!"

Tian Hongtao laughed and said, "Teacher, why don't we get the students involved? Everyone can keep a close watch on the computer room."

"I've checked those two pieces of software, and they definitely weren't written in one go. They've been continuously modified and improved."

"That mysterious person will surely show up again in the next few days! When that happens, we'll catch them red-handed."

Zheng Jingzhi nodded and said, "Makes sense! I'll leave this to you to arrange!"

"Make sure you find that person! This guy is playing hide and seek with us! Such low awareness!"

The Department of Aeronautical Engineering had recently received a task to develop a program that could be better used in the avionics system of a new domestic fighter jet.

An aircraft's most important components are mainly divided into three parts: the engine, the avionics system, and the airframe. Among these, the aircraft engine is the most challenging. Next is the avionics system.

The avionics system includes subsystems like detection radar, fire control radar, flight control system, and thrust control system. It's the most complex part of the aircraft.

If the avionics system isn't handled properly, the aircraft's control could become very unstable.

By 1990, the world's major powers had all entered the era of beyond-visual-range combat, the era of third-generation fighter jets.

However, China's fighter jets were still in the second-generation, relying mainly on close-range combat.

This was a serious lag.

If war were to break out, their aircraft would be shot down before they even saw the enemy.

Therefore, achieving beyond-visual-range combat and upgrading domestic fighter jets to third-generation standards had become the most urgent task.

This mission had several difficult points, the most challenging being the development of airborne Doppler radar, followed by the optimization and integration of the avionics system.

For years, China had hoped to import advanced complete avionics systems from the West, but after more than a decade of efforts, they were ultimately played by multiple countries and failed to achieve this goal.

Now, they had no choice but to rely on themselves.

As a prestigious aeronautical institution, Northwestern Polytechnical University was entrusted with high expectations from the country.

But integrating the current domestic avionics system to efficiently achieve beyond-visual-range combat was no easy task.

Zheng Jingzhi had now assembled the best talents from across the school to form a research team that was tackling this project.

This avionics system was originally intended for use in the latest domestic fighter jet, the J-8II.

The radar initially planned for use was the EL/M-2021B Doppler pulse radar produced by Elta.

But since it was never delivered, the production of the J-8II was severely impacted.

In the late 1980s, the J-8II was forced to use the domestically produced 208 monopulse radar, which performed very poorly.

Now, Zheng Jingzhi was urgently hoping to find a true programming expert to join his team, as this would be immensely helpful in improving the performance of the avionics system.