Two days later, Xu Qiang and Liu Siying attended the National Science and Technology Commendation Conference held in the Great Hall of the People together.

This was also the first time that Xu Qiang and Liu Siying had the opportunity to step into the Great Hall of the People.

Both of them were very excited at this moment. In order to attend today's meeting, Xu Qiang specially customized a Zhongshan suit, and Liu Siying also changed into a white shirt. Her long hair was carefully trimmed and neatly tied behind her head.

This year, more than 6,000 people attended the National Science and Technology Commendation Conference, half of whom were from BJ City and surrounding scientific research institutes, and the rest were basically from Northeast China, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places.

It can be said that this conference was a grand gathering of the country's top experts and scholars. Before entering the auditorium, many participants had already gathered outside to have enthusiastic exchanges, and everyone's face was filled with joy and excitement.

While waiting outside the venue, Xu Qiang and Liu Siying gathered together with the people from Institute 201, and team leader Chen Zhitao and Xu Qiang also started chatting together.

Speaking of which, Chen Zhitao is actually a frequent guest at various national science and technology award conferences. He won two awards in 1975 and 1979 for his space rocket liquid fuel project. At that time, this conference was called the National Science Conference, and the name was changed later.

One of the two awards was the first prize. It was these two awards that established Chen Zhitao's status as a top expert in rocket fuel in China and a leading figure in this field.

During the conversation, Chen Zhitao still hoped that Xu Qiang could come to work at BJ. In his opinion, Xu Qiang was a genius at such a young age to win such a national award. Moreover, with the aramid paper project that was just accepted this month, he has basically reserved an award spot for next year, and there is a high probability that he can win the first prize or even the special prize!
In fact, there are many award winners at the National Science and Technology Awards Conference every year, but there are only a few who can win the award multiple times, and they are mainly concentrated in BJ's scientific research institutes.

The reason for this situation is that, on the one hand, BJ is the capital after all, and it gathers the best institutions and top technical talents in the country; on the other hand, most of the expert jury of the conference are also from BJ, so they will naturally be more or less inclined to the contestants from BJ.

It is precisely because of this that both Zhang Zhen and Chen Zhitao strongly recommended Xu Qiang to come to BJ to work.

"Xiao Xu, I heard that you want to take over the 8702 project? You must be cautious about this matter..." Chen Zhitao said to Xu Qiang.

"Did you hear that from Minister Zhang?"

"Who else but him?" Chen Zhitao glanced at Xu Qiang and said, "This project is quite dangerous. Old Xu has been researching the application of explosives for so many years, but in the end, such a big thing happened... You are still young, don't be blinded by the pursuit of honor. Some things need to be done step by step..."

"Director Chen, how many years have you been researching rocket fuel?" Xu Qiang asked.

"It's been twenty years, about that." Chen Zhitao said after a moment of hesitation.

"In fact, rocket fuel is highly toxic, highly explosive and flammable. So why did you want to engage in such a dangerous project?" Xu Qiang asked.

"There's no comparison between our time and now. At that time, I was only thinking about dedicating myself to the country and didn't think about so many things..." "So do you think that young people of our generation are not patriotic enough or are not as courageous as your generation?"

"That was not what I meant……"

"Let me put it this way. Since I have chosen the chemical industry, I must be mentally prepared to take risks. Your generation is not afraid of sacrifice, but don't underestimate our generation. I know you mean well, but I hope you don't underestimate our courage and ability," said Xu Qiang.

"That's right!" Chen Zhitao nodded, looked at Xu Qiang approvingly, and said, "In fact, the day before yesterday, Minister Zhang asked me about the 8702 project. He also mentioned that you were interested in taking over the project. To put it bluntly, Minister Zhang still values ​​talent..."

"Minister Zhang is very good to me, but if he really values ​​me, he should let me take over this project. Good steel should be used on the blade, especially for a project like high explosives, which is very dangerous and requires very meticulous experiments. I don't think this accident is due to Professor Xu's lack of experience and technology. It may also be that he is old, and his energy and memory are definitely not as good as when he was young, so a small mistake caused such a tragedy..." Xu Qiang paused, then said: "But my advantage is that I am young and energetic, and I can stay focused for a long time, so I am very suitable for this kind of delicate and dangerous scientific research work. If you let me take over this project in a dozen years, I will also find ways to shirk it..."

"Hahaha!" Chen Zhitao laughed and said, "What you said does make some sense. When I do experiments now, I also have problems with lack of concentration, and my memory is worse than before. Fortunately, I have the help of assistants, otherwise, I would definitely make a fool of myself... Since you are so determined, I have nothing to say."

"Ah."

"Minister Zhang asked you to do theoretical research on high-energy explosives first, and then he will decide whether to let you take over the project based on the substantive content of your paper, so you must take this matter seriously..." Chen Zhitao pondered for a moment, then said: "If there is no problem with the paper, I can suggest that Minister Zhang let you take over the project."

"Thank you so much!" Xu Qiang hurriedly expressed his gratitude.

"It's time. We can go in." Seeing that the crowd on the steps had started to enter, Chen Zhitao waved his hand, signaling Xu Qiang and Liu Siying to follow.

Xu Qiang had worked and lived in BJ for many years in his previous life, but this was his first time entering the auditorium.

At this time, the Great Hall of the People was brightly lit and extremely magnificent.

After everyone sat down, not long after, as the music started, everyone stood up and applauded to welcome the leaders.

Both Xu Qiang and Liu Siying were very excited at this moment.

As the project leader, Xu Qiang went on stage to receive a medal and a certificate of honor. Looking at the gold-plated certificate of honor in his hand, Xu Qiang was extremely excited at the moment.

And in the audience, watching Xu Qiang receiving the award on the stage, Liu Siying's palms turned red from clapping, and the corners of her eyes quickly became moist... (End of this chapter)