A few days later, a report on Yang Yunhe was delivered to Huang He's desk from the water cooler.
Although the person who provided the report claimed it wasn't entirely comprehensive due to time constraints, it was actually a remarkably thorough investigation, covering Yang Yunhe's life from childhood to the present.
Yang Yunhe was born in the late 1970s, specifically in 1979, making him 33 years old this year, slightly younger than Huang He. He was at the prime age for being sharp and capable.
He grew up in a broken home, with his mother leaving when he was very young. He was raised by his father, which led to a somewhat stubborn personality.
Consequently, when he was a child, he did something that made national headlines: the airplane stowaway incident.
It was 1993, and Yang Yunhe was only 14 years old, but he already had a strong fascination with airplanes and a deep desire to fly one day. Unfortunately, his family's financial situation made this impossible.
However, young people are often bold. During that summer vacation, Yang Yunhe worked odd jobs for his relatives to earn money for a plane ticket.
When he went to the airport with his savings, he discovered that the wages his relatives had paid him were nowhere near enough for a ticket.
Logically, Yang Yunhe should have gone home then. But this airplane-obsessed kid stayed by the fence outside the airport, watching planes take off.
He spent an entire day there, and returned the next. It was then that he discovered a loophole at the airport.
On the northwest side of the airport, there was a small, hidden door, likely a service entrance for airport staff. It was so inconspicuous that it was easily overlooked. Although the door had a lock, the airport employees often left it unlocked for convenience, merely hanging the chain to make it appear locked.
Yang Yunhe, fearless at the time, used this discovery to sneak into the airport during a quiet moment. He then navigated the hidden areas beneath the airport and approached a plane parked at a boarding gate.
His initial intention was just to observe the plane up close. But after looking, he still wasn't satisfied. He then stealthily crept to the underside of the aircraft, aiming for an even closer look. That's when he saw the mechanical structure within the landing gear bay.
This only intensified Yang Yunhe's obsession. To get a clearer view of the machinery, the audacious youth actually climbed onto the landing gear and squeezed inside to examine it.
This decision proved to be his undoing. The plane was one that had already completed passenger boarding and was about to take off. By the time Yang Yunhe realized his situation, the aircraft had already begun taxiing.
Yang Yunhe desperately grabbed onto a metal rod of the landing gear and, remarkably, managed to hold on through the entire takeoff process, ascending to an altitude of 11,000 meters along with the plane.
While other passengers were inside the cabin, he was hidden within the landing gear.
He remained there for an hour and a half, a period of extreme danger. At an altitude of 11,000 meters, the temperature is typically below freezing, making it incredibly cold.
However, according to the report, Yang Yunhe himself stated that he felt no cold in the landing gear bay; in fact, he felt hot enough to remove his clothes.
This was actually a dangerous sign, indicating that Yang Yunhe was experiencing hypothermia and had lost the ability to perceive temperature. Later, as the engines roared continuously, the heat from the engines gradually permeated the landing gear bay, making it less cold.
The most perilous part, however, was during the plane's descent. The landing gear would be deployed, opening the bay doors once again. Coupled with the immense jolt of landing, Yang Yunhe could have easily been thrown from the bay and crushed on the tarmac.
Indeed, such a peril occurred. At the very moment of landing, Yang Yunhe was flung out of the landing gear bay by the violent tremor. Fortuitously, Yang Yunhe's luck held; he managed to climb back onto the landing gear and saved his life, though his clothes got caught on the tire.
It was these clothes that alerted the ground crew to the anomaly, leading them to rescue the terrified Yang Yunhe from the landing gear bay.
In fact, the ground crew were far more terrified than Yang Yunhe upon discovering him. They couldn't fathom that someone could actually hide in the landing gear bay and survive a high-altitude flight.
Throughout history, many have attempted to smuggle themselves by hiding in landing gear bays, particularly those aspiring to reach the United States.
However, out of 100 individuals, 80 fell out during takeoff, and 15 froze to death in the landing gear bay. Of the remaining five, 4.5 were dislodged during landing. The success rate of such stowaway attempts was less than one in a hundred.
Years later, in another country, a similar feat was witnessed. An Arab man, abandoned by his handlers, hid in the landing gear bay of a plane attempting to reach the "lighthouse" nation. In full view of tens of thousands, at an altitude of thousands of meters, he fell directly from the landing gear bay, his image captured by reporters and becoming a poignant memory of an era.
Across China, Yang Yunhe remains the only documented individual to have successfully achieved this.
Upon reading this incredible account in the report, Mr. Huang was utterly impressed with Yang Yunhe.
Moreover, this incident was verified as true, as it was widely reported by national media at the time, making fabrication impossible. Yang Yunhe had, for a period, become one of the nation's most famous teenagers.
However, such fame is fleeting. Yang Yunhe eventually returned to his studies. Tragically, his father passed away due to overwork, leaving Yang Yunhe to be raised by his elderly grandparents.
He successfully completed high school and was admitted to Xi'an Aeronautical Vocational College. Originally affiliated with Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation (XAC), it later became independent, but still retained significant quotas for direct employment at XAC. Yang Yunhe seemed intent on entering the aviation field through this path.
But as he himself stated, XAC did not select him.
The water cooler had also obtained Yang Yunhe's academic records from his time at college. While not outstanding, his performance was in the top ten percent. Many students with lower scores were successfully hired by XAC, but Yang Yunhe was denied.
The water cooler report offered its own speculation for this.
They believed there were no back-channel dealings or impropriety involved. Instead, XAC was aware of Yang Yunhe's sensational "feat" and likely feared that he would be a troublemaker, posing a significant risk to the company.
After all, someone who dared to stow away on a plane might very well cause dangerous incidents within the company. To avoid such unnecessary risks, XAC's refusal of Yang Yunhe was deemed understandable.
However, during this examination, Yang Yunhe's teacher, the same elder who had infiltrated Huang's bid and secured the aircraft order, eventually establishing a company, discovered Yang Yunhe's talent. He nurtured this talent, took him under his wing as a disciple, and Yang Yunhe eventually entered the aviation industry through another route.
He joined Jiangnan Aviation with his mentor and participated in the entire aircraft design and manufacturing process. After his mentor's passing, Yang Yunhe, leveraging his own skills and reputation, was unanimously elected as the company's new General Manager.
Under Yang Yunhe's leadership, the pace of the company's aircraft development accelerated significantly compared to when his mentor was in charge.
Perhaps freed from his mentor's constraints, Yang Yunhe unleashed immense potential and R&D enthusiasm. He personally oversaw the entire development process, resolving numerous technical challenges.
Most crucially, regarding the anti-gravity engine technology, Yang Yunhe faced unanimous opposition from everyone in the company when he proposed its development. This was understandable, as Huang He himself considered it a fantastical notion.
However, Yang Yunhe declared he had a viable approach and forcefully pushed the entire company to advance the research and development. He personally led the charge, dedicating himself to the frontline of R&D, guiding all employees through countless technical hurdles, and ultimately succeeded in producing the astonishing anti-gravity engine technology.
The initial tests were highly successful, an achievement that even Huang He marveled at.
Finally, the report touched upon Yang Yunhe's personal relationships. Yang Yunhe's personal connections were quite straightforward, limited to family and work.
His work relationships encompassed all employees of his company, with virtually no contact with outsiders.
His family relationships were slightly more complex, primarily consisting of hardworking farmers. The only notable point of complexity was Yang Yunhe's birth mother.
This woman, after abandoning her husband and son, followed a wealthy businessman to Taiwan and later moved to Europe, where she currently resides in Edinburgh. She has had no contact with her son and likely has no idea of the great achievements he has made.
"Here is another super genius. It seems the next industrial revolution is about to dawn in our era!" Huang He exclaimed, then ordered no further investigations into Yang Yunhe, as excessive inquiry could be detrimental.