UAAG CH33

“That’s it for the theoretical calculations.”

With a crisp click, the pen cap was snapped back on. With a flick of Zhuo Huan’s wrist, the black marker traced a long arc in the air and landed precisely in the pen holder on the desk. He raised an eyebrow, seemingly pleased, and his tone became lighter: “Next is the experimental verification part. Go contact Teichi Tsunai.” As he spoke, he looked up at Su Fei.

Su Fei’s eyes widened as he pointed at himself: “Huh? Me?”

Zhuo Huan: “Yes, you.”

Su Fei: “Are you mistaken? Why me? Did you call the wrong person, RIP? Shouldn’t Lina handle this kind of thing? What does it have to do with me?”

Zhuo Huan crossed his arms: “This time it’s your turn. Teichi Tsunai has a good impression of you. He was quite interested in the virus you sent him last time.”

Su Fei: “…”

“Do you think I’m stupid? I sent him a virus, and he has a good impression of me? Is he a masochist? Even that gives him a good impression? I suspect you are insulting my intelligence.”

Zhuo Huan looked Su Fei up and down in surprise, muttered something like “Oh right, IMO gold medal,” and then said calmly without blinking: “I’ve known him for quite a while. In my opinion, he really does have a good impression of you. Do you understand what mutual appreciation means?”

Su Fei was stunned: “What?”

“After your virus was sent, he definitely asked a computer science professor from the University of Tokyo to crack it, but found it couldn’t be cracked. Or perhaps the time required to crack it was too long, not as fast as replying to emails one by one. Geniuses are always lonely.” Great Master Zhuo’s voice was slow and lazy, “You are a genius, and he discovered your uniqueness, so he appreciates you and has a good impression of you… What, is it hard to understand?”

Su Fei: “No…”

Zhuo Huan: “Oh, or you don’t understand the mutual appreciation between geniuses?”

Su Fei: “Of course I understand! Fine, I’ll contact him and see. Anyway, his email address probably hasn’t changed. I can operate directly from the backend and connect to his computer.”

Zhuo Huan: “Whoa.” Turning his head, his gaze landed on Fu Cheng.

Fu Cheng was looking at Su Fei like he was looking at a fool.

When God opens a window for you, he will inevitably close a door. Originally, he thought Zhuo Huan’s EQ was already low enough, but unexpectedly, there is always someone stronger. As high as Su Fei’s IQ is, his EQ is just as low.

Probably geniuses’ brain circuits are always so… unique.

Looking up, his gaze suddenly met Zhuo Huan’s. Fu Cheng was stunned for a moment, then said: “Teacher Zhuo, if the experiment really confirms that the plane rushed into the ocean with maximum acceleration, then what should be done?”

Zhuo Huan: “What do you think?”

Fu Cheng fell silent.

Zhuo Huan pulled the corner of his mouth into a smile.

In fact, the answer to everything was already there. If the plane really rushed into the sea with maximum acceleration, then the most likely cause of the AA4012 air crash was human action.

23 hours later, 9:03 AM.

Teichi Tsunai sent a video call request. After Lina pressed the answer button, Professor Tsuna’s indifferent and cold face immediately appeared on the computer projection screen. This genius scholar, renowned in the world of physics, did not speak the moment the video connected. His calm and indifferent gaze circled around, scanning the whole room, and finally stopped on the minor sitting next to Fu Cheng.

After a while, he turned his head to look at Zhuo Huan and said coldly: “Zhuo-kun.”

Zhuo Huan: “Tsuna.”

Teichi Tsunai: “I have finished downloading the data you calculated and the data measured from the aircraft wreckage and sent it to my laboratory. But right now I am in Shencheng, China, not Tokyo, so I cannot personally conduct this experiment for you.”

This answer was unexpected for everyone. But Teichi Tsunai continued: “However, in my laboratory, I have arranged for teaching assistants and students to conduct this experiment for you. Given that the data has already been calculated and a conclusion direction has been reached, as long as we follow the result of ‘accelerated water entry’ and conduct a prerequisite experiment in reverse, the difficulty is not high. Even in my absence, my teaching assistant can lead the students to complete it.”

Zhuo Huan: “Thank you. When can the experiment start, and when can I get the results?”

Teichi Tsunai: “Please wait a moment.”

Teichi Tsunai lowered his head, and soon, the crisp sound of keyboard typing came from the speakers. Not long after, the computer screen split in half. Teichi Tsunai’s image shrank by half and was projected on the left side of the screen. On the right side, there was surprisingly a vast outdoor playground.

On the right screen, as soon as the video feed connected, a young teaching assistant wearing glasses first let out a surprised “Ah”, then bowed slightly and said: “Professor, the experimental equipment is ready. According to your instructions, we borrowed a nitrogen acceleration device from Professor Maeda’s laboratory. Student Yamaguchi calculated the water depth that would not penetrate the glass cover. In addition, we took seawater from Tokyo Bay, but the solution concentration of seawater in Tokyo Bay and Boston Bay is definitely different, which might cause errors in the experimental results.”

Teichi Tsunai: “As long as the error is within the permissible range.”

The teaching assistant nodded: “Yes.”

Teichi Tsunai: “Start the experiment.”

Teichi Tsunai operated the computer, cutting off his own video feed entirely, and projecting the live video of the teaching assistant and students’ experiment onto the full screen.

Boston, AA4012 Air Crash Investigation Headquarters.

Through modern technology, across half the globe, people sitting in the conference room watched the screen intently, waiting for the top students of the University of Tokyo in faraway Tokyo to conduct the experiment.

Three students stood next to a huge, dark, cannon-like machine. They wore noise-canceling headphones and goggles, and were fully dressed in rigorous lab coats. About five meters away was a fish tank-like, huge rectangular glass container. The glass vessel contained seawater from Tokyo Bay.

After the teaching assistant confirmed the safety of the experiment for the last time, he walked to the camera, nodded to the air crash investigators far away in Boston and Teichi Tsunai in Shencheng, then raised his hand and shouted: “Experiment on metal cracks caused by high-carbon fiber and glass fiber reinforced materials impacting in seawater with acceleration, first attempt. Start!”

As soon as the voice fell, a bang was heard.

A female student pressed the switch of the nitrogen acceleration device. A streak of silvery-white light flashed across the screen. The next moment, the seawater in the glass tank on the right side of the screen oscillated violently. The silver aluminum alloy material was shot into the water, diving down at an almost unstoppable speed, but just as it was about to penetrate the bottom of the glass tank, it decelerated rapidly and finally stopped. Following the continuously oscillating water flow, it slowly settled at the bottom.

The students immediately ran up and carefully used experimental clamps to pick up the aluminum alloy material from the bottom of the water and put it into a box.

This was just the first experiment.

Everyone quickly cleaned up the experimental props and stood back in their original positions.

The teaching assistant looked at the camera and raised his hand again: “Second experiment, start!”

The huge nitrogen acceleration device shot the metal material of the same Airbus A390 wing into the seawater time and time again. A total of ten experiments were conducted, and the University of Tokyo students collected ten pieces of aluminum alloy material. After the tenth experiment, the teaching assistant finally announced the end of the experiment. At the same time, Teichi Tsunai also cut off the live video feed from the University of Tokyo laboratory.

His face appeared on the screen again, his voice still steady and cold: “The experiment is finished. Next is the collection of crack data. By this time tomorrow, it should be sent to your email.”

Zhuo Huan nodded lightly and said: “Thank you, sorry to trouble you.”

“You’re welcome, Zhuo-kun. It’s just a simple little experiment. You have already completed the hardest part, which is calculating the specific acceleration, water entry speed, and angle. This is not my field of research. Even for me, calculating its plastic deformation mode from metal cracks would take a long time.”

Zhuo Huan: “Lina will settle the specific costs with your laboratory.”

Teichi Tsunai: “Okay, I will notify my teaching assistant.”

The two exchanged a few polite words. As the video was about to hang up, Teichi Tsunai suddenly said: “By the way, if there are such experiments in the future, I am very willing to help. Exploring the truth for innocent victims and advancing the aviation industry is also my wish. In my opinion, physics serves humanity. Whether it is theoretical physics or high-energy physics, the direction they point to is the truth and bright future that humanity seeks.”

Oh? Words within words?

Zhuo Huan smiled: “I have a member who admires you very much.”

Teichi Tsunai: “…Zhuo-kun?”

Zhuo Huan pointed his chin in Su Fei’s direction. The punk boy’s eyes widened instantly: “Huh?”

Zhuo Huan: “You are both geniuses, so he appreciates you and really wants to exchange his professional insights with you.”

Teichi Tsunai: “…”

Su Fei was about to refute “When did I admire this whoever”, but suddenly hearing Zhuo Huan’s words, he was rightfully fooled again: “Haha, yes, mutual appreciation. Sigh, geniuses are all like this. Thank you for doing the experiment for us. When you have time to come to Shencheng, I’ll treat you to dinner. RIP is rich, he’s paying!”

Teichi Tsunai was silent for a long time, whispered “Contact you later, everyone”, and hung up the video call.

After the video call ended, Teichi Tsunai wouldn’t be able to send the experimental results until the next day, so the investigators all went back downstairs.

—Without the black box and new clues, what they had to do was recover the aircraft wreckage as much as possible and find clues from the wreckage.

Fu Cheng arranged his schedule for the afternoon. He planned to meet the pilot’s family. Just walking out of the conference room door, he bumped into a certain punk boy with extremely low EQ.

Fu Cheng raised his eyebrows and smiled: “How did you contact Professor Tsuna?”

Su Fei took a bottle of Coke from the refrigerator. Hearing this, he immediately became interested. He didn’t drink the Coke, but described his great achievements to Fu Cheng with flying eyebrows: “That must be super awesome. You know those Japanese people, they all like to use email. Especially that Teichi Tsunai, last time I sent him a virus, he didn’t even change his email address, and he didn’t even change his computer password! For such a person who disrespects hackers, I must educate him well… cough no, guide him well. While he was writing his thesis, I remotely controlled his computer and talked to him for a while…”

Fu Cheng nodded repeatedly as he listened.

Su Fei talked until his mouth was dry, and took a big gulp of Coke: “How was it? He quickly agreed to help us with the experiment. I’m really a little genius.”

Fu Cheng smiled slightly and patted his shoulder: “Be confident, remove the ‘little’. Aren’t you mutually appreciating geniuses?”

Su Fei: “Alright, then I won’t be humble.”

After saying goodbye to the fool Su Fei, Fu Cheng went downstairs and saw a certain man standing next to the left wing wreckage, discussing something with Lawrence.

Looking at Zhuo Huan from a distance, Fu Cheng couldn’t help thinking: With Great Master Zhuo’s EQ, how on earth did he fool Su Fei into being like this?

Truly unbelievable.

Leaving the investigation headquarters, the car arranged by Lina had been waiting by the roadside for a long time. But Fu Cheng didn’t get in the car immediately, but found Old Joseph.

“I didn’t expect you to actually invite me along?” Old Joseph laughed loudly, “What do you plan to do? Oh right, I heard the salvage company is conducting the last round of carpet search on the seabed. Maybe they can find the black box. Do you want to go to the salvage site to take a look? We can offer some professional opinions and tell them which direction the black box might have drifted.”

Fu Cheng smiled: “I probably can’t offer that professional opinion.” Ocean currents are unpredictable. It’s been four months; it could have gone in any direction. “Old Joseph, I wanted to invite you to come with me to meet the victim’s family.”

The smile on Old Joseph’s face froze.

Fu Cheng sighed in his heart, but he still said it: “Actually, I heard about it. Don’t be angry, I only found out by coincidence. The co-pilot of AA4012… has that kind of history with you. Captain Kyle’s family is currently in New York and didn’t come over. But the co-pilot’s family arrived in Boston long ago. I plan to meet her now to learn a bit about the situation from her. Do you want to go with me?”

After a long while, Old Joseph smiled: “It doesn’t matter, my matter isn’t a secret. If you’re interested, you can find out about what happened back then just by searching on Wikipedia. Even ‘Air Crash Investigation’ made a documentary specifically for it. Harrison…” He paused, then continued: “Tim Harrison’s family is here? Who is it, his mother?”

Fu Cheng: “Lina said it’s his mother who came.”

Old Joseph’s voice was calm: “But I heard Tim’s body hasn’t been recovered.”

Fu Cheng: “Yes.”

Old Joseph: “Forget it, I won’t go. I know her. If I appear, she might think of her late husband again and be even more grief-stricken.”

Fu Cheng looked at Old Joseph quietly, frowning slightly. Before he could speak, he saw Old Joseph wave and call over a flower boy walking on the road nearby.

Old Joseph squatted down: “Hey, young man, how much for a lily?”

The blonde, blue-eyed little boy said excitedly: “Sir, do you want to buy my flowers? That’s great, lilies are two dollars each. I’m doing a holiday assignment. These are flowers I grew in my yard at home. I want to sell them all and donate the money to patients suffering from leukemia.”

Old Joseph: “You are really a kind child. I’ll take all these lilies.”

Old Joseph bought all ten lilies in one go.

The little boy took out a large sheet of colored paper from his bag. Old Joseph roughly wrapped the lilies in the colored paper and handed them to Fu Cheng. Thinking about it, he took them back, carefully folded the corners of the colored paper, and then solemnly handed them to Fu Cheng.

“Give them to Harrison’s mother for me. I hope she won’t indulge in the tragic grief and can come out of it soon.”

Fu Cheng looked at him and nodded: “Okay.”

Old Joseph turned and walked into the investigation headquarters. Fu Cheng held a large bouquet of lilies and walked towards the Bentley parked on the roadside. At this moment, a crisp and immature voice sounded from not far away: “Sir, do you also want to buy my flowers? That’s great, I grew these flowers myself. I want to donate the money from selling them to the leukemia organization.”

Fu Cheng looked up.

Under the bright and warm sunlight, the man bent down, closed his eyes, and lightly sniffed the large bouquet of flowers in the boy’s hands. The boy looked at him expectantly with sparkling eyes. He opened his eyes, took out a LV wallet from his coat pocket, and took out a stack of hundred-dollar bills.

“I’ll take them all.”

The boy was stunned and quickly grabbed Zhuo Huan’s sleeve: “No, sir, these only cost 78 dollars in total.”

Great Master Zhuo let out a laugh from his nose: “Did you just say you want to donate to the leukemia organization?”

Boy: “Yes.”

“Plus the 20 dollars from selling flowers just now, 98 dollars, you can’t even afford a tube of medicine. Would the leukemia organization care for your little money?”

“…Huh?”

Great Master Zhuo sneered, flipping through the only rose in the bouquet with disdain: “Grow more roses next time, I like roses.”

The blonde boy had probably never seen someone give him money so fiercely. He stood there dumbfounded, holding at least 5000 dollars in bills, at a loss.

Great Master Zhuo took the large bouquet of flowers and walked towards the gate of the investigation headquarters. Passing by Fu Cheng, he reached out and threw the large bouquet of flowers into Fu Cheng’s arms unceremoniously. “Dispose of them for me.”

Fu Cheng turned around: “Teacher Zhuo?”

Zhuo Huan: “Aren’t you going to give someone flowers? Deliver them together. Otherwise, find a trash can and throw them away.” After speaking, he turned and walked away without looking back, waving his hand behind him.

Fu Cheng smiled: “Okay.”

The black Bentley drove along the coast of Boston Bay towards the city center.

Boston is a coastal city with a high latitude. Once winter comes, it’s rare to see such brilliant sunny days. It’s always surrounded by blizzards. Bitter cold winter is synonymous with Boston.

Co-pilot Tim Harrison’s mother lived in a hotel in downtown Boston. Fu Cheng had called in advance. He knocked on the hotel room door. The door opened, and a brown-haired woman with a pale face and slightly red eyes opened the door for him.

Fu Cheng: “Hello, Mrs. Harrison. I am the investigator for this accident. I belong to the UAAG investigation team. My name is Fu Cheng.” He took out his work ID from his pocket.

Mrs. Harrison nodded slightly, undid the security chain, and invited him in.

This hotel in Boston wasn’t particularly high-class; calling it a hotel, it was more like a small motel. In such a motel, if someone stays long-term, they won’t clean every day. Only when you call the front desk to ask the motel to arrange someone to clean the room will they send someone.

Mrs. Harrison had obviously lived in this room for a long time.

She familiarly moved a chair for Fu Cheng.

Fu Cheng: “I’ll do it myself, ma’am.”

Mrs. Harrison: “How old are you?”

Fu Cheng was stunned.

Mrs. Harrison showed a pale and weak smile: “Don’t misunderstand, I just see that you are very young. I know some people in airlines. My husband and son were both pilots. I met some NTSB investigators many years ago, and I’ve seen a few in recent days. But it’s rare to see someone as young as you. Are you 25?”

Fu Cheng: “I’m 26 this year.”

Mrs. Harrison was stunned: “You are the same age as Tim.”

A sobbing sound rang out softly. Fu Cheng silently handed over a tissue.

Fu Cheng: “Ma’am, then I’ll get straight to the point. Please accept my condolences, don’t be too sad and ruin your health. I think Tim wouldn’t want to see you washing your face with tears every day. I came today to learn from you what kind of person Tim usually was. What were his hobbies, what was his personality… These are all very useful for the investigation.”

Mrs. Harrison wiped away her tears and spoke in a hoarse voice: “I know, I will cooperate with you. Tim was a good boy. He was only nine when his father died. I was too sad at that time to go see his father’s body. I really couldn’t bear it. It was Tim who offered to bring Michael back…”

Optimistic, cheerful, very good at socializing.

Although his father died in an accident when he was nine, it didn’t affect Tim Harrison’s love for flying. When he grew up, he persuaded his mother, got into flight school, and became a pilot.

Mrs. Harrison narrated softly while sobbing. Listening to her words, Fu Cheng slowly wrote out the brief life of this young man who was the same age as him on his tablet.

It wasn’t that Mrs. Harrison hadn’t tried to stop her son. Even if he wanted to be a pilot, he shouldn’t go to American Airlines again. His father died on an American Airlines plane, and she never wanted to hear that name again. But Tim received an offer from American Airlines, and there were many of his father’s old friends there.

“Father’s mistake, I won’t make it again. Father was an excellent pilot, Mom, I’ve always thought so.”

From the first moment Fu Cheng saw her, Mrs. Harrison showed a genuine smile for the first time. She looked at her son’s photo with a gaze full of nostalgia and love, repeating what her son had once said.

It was a group photo. Young and smiling Tim Harrison stood on the lawn, his arm around his mother’s shoulder, laughing heartily.

Fu Cheng thought for a moment and said: “Seventeen years ago, the crash of American Airlines Flight 384 really couldn’t be said to be Mr. Harrison’s fault. Bad weather was the main reason. No one wanted to see such a tragedy.”

Mrs. Harrison looked at him: “Thank you.” She continued: “But I know, Michael didn’t make the best choice. He was responsible for that accident. But I believe this time it wasn’t Tim’s fault. He worked very hard, he was very serious. He was a smart boy, he definitely did his best to save this plane.”

Fu Cheng looked at her and didn’t tell her that the investigation team had already found out that the plane accelerated into the water.

The two talked for a long time, and Fu Cheng had already outlined the image of Tim Harrison in his mind.

The sky was getting dark. Fu Cheng stood up to say goodbye to her: “Thank you, I hope you restrain your grief.”

“I’ll see you out.”

The two walked towards the room door together. Fu Cheng picked up the lily bouquet he had placed in the entryway: “Mrs. Harrison, this is for you. I hope you can walk out of your sadness soon.” However, what he didn’t expect was that after seeing this bouquet of flowers, Mrs. Harrison’s expression changed drastically. Her eyes widened, staring fixedly at this bouquet of pure white lilies.

Hatred, grief, despair, and hysterical anger.

It was hard to imagine such complex emotions appearing in the eyes of an overly sad woman. It almost suppressed all her sadness, leaving only intense hatred that was suffocating. Then soon, all hatred turned into tears, and she cried aloud.

Mrs. Harrison’s hand pressed on the lily bouquet: “No need, thank you, but I don’t want to accept it. Lilies were my husband’s favorite when he was alive, but I never want to see them again.”

Fu Cheng was surprised in his heart. He was silent for a while, then took the flowers back.

“Please accept my condolences.”

Back in the car, Fu Cheng looked at the lily bouquet in his hand and didn’t look away for a long time.

When he returned to the investigation headquarters, he gave this bouquet of lilies and the large bouquet Zhuo Huan bought to the driver: “Giving them to you, you can do whatever you want with them.”

The driver was stunned: “Okay, sir.”

Before getting out of the car, Fu Cheng paused. He turned around and picked the only rose from that large bouquet of flowers.

The bustling Boston Bay, the sharp cries of seagulls and the sound of waves hitting the shore day after day mixed with the laughter and chatter of tourists. Fu Cheng got out of the car and walked towards the investigation headquarters. Halfway there, he saw a familiar person by the beach and paused. Fu Cheng was stunned for a long time before walking over.

“Teacher Zhuo?”

Zhuo Huan turned around and saw it was Fu Cheng.

Biting the cigarette holder, his voice seemed a bit hoarser due to nicotine: “Back?”

Amidst the swirling smoke, the man’s handsome and elegant brows and eyes seemed very far away, hazy and indistinct. The only real thing was the smell of smoke forcefully pressed into the heart and lungs. Fu Cheng suddenly felt his mouth and tongue were a bit dry, Mrs. Harrison’s tearful and hateful voice ringing in his ears again, and his heart became irritable.

Standing by the beach, gazing at the sea surface illuminated by the glow from afar.

Fu Cheng’s voice became cold, losing the pretense of the day: “Got a cigarette?”

Seeing him like this, Zhuo Huan’s eyes flickered and he laughed: “No, just one. You want it?” Saying that, he held the cigarette between his fingers, took it out of his mouth very friendly, and handed it to Fu Cheng.

Fu Cheng: “…”

Don’t you think it’s dirty!

Fu Cheng had no interest in actively smoking the same cigarette as a man. He expressed his rejection with a cold attitude.

Zhuo Huan chuckled, glanced at him carelessly, and bit the cigarette holder again.

“For you.”

Zhuo Huan turned his head and saw Fu Cheng holding a rose, placing it in front of his eyes.

His breath suddenly paused, and he slowly raised his head.

Under the setting sun, in the salty sea breeze, the beautiful young man seemed to have never thought too much. He didn’t think giving a rose to a man was such an ambiguous act. Or perhaps, precisely because he was giving it to a man, he could be so casual.

The rich and bitter smell of smoke in his mouth seemed to be mixed with a trace of sweet candy flavor in a trance. Zhuo Huan slowly hooked the corner of his mouth, his cold and elegant eyes looking at the young man in front of him, waiting quietly for him to speak.

Fu Cheng: “Disposed of the rest. You said you liked roses, so I kept one.”

Zhuo Huan accepted the rose: “Thanks.”

Great Master Zhuo would say thank you to himself?

Fu Cheng quietly looked him over for a while, only to see Zhuo Huan keeping his head down looking at the rose in his hand, not noticing his gaze.

The bitter smell of smoke, the faint floral scent, and the fishy smell of the sea breeze coming towards them.

The irritability in the bottom of his heart was somehow smoothed out like wrinkles, and the difficult-to-suppress craving for smoking that suddenly surged between his mouth and tongue gradually disappeared. Without even noticing it himself, Fu Cheng stood a little closer to this man. Shoulder to shoulder, he opened his mouth and said: “There’s something I found very strange today, but I think it might be related to AA384 seventeen years ago, related to Old Joseph.”

Zhuo Huan’s gaze moved away from the rose.

Eyes meeting, Fu Cheng asked seriously: “Teacher Zhuo, regarding AA384 seventeen years ago, is there anything… that outsiders don’t know?”

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