Several days later...
Inside the warehouse of the Mo Electric Fan Factory in Gao Family Village, a gigantic hot air balloon suddenly began to rise.
Hot air balloons were nothing unusual here.
The villagers of Gao Family Village had long grown used to them. People saw them often. Some had even spent money to ride one and look down over the entire village from the sky. For a while it had been very popular. Later, after everyone had tried it and lost interest, the novelty gradually faded.
But today's balloon was rising from a rather strange place.
It was coming from the electric fan factory.
Shouldn't balloons normally launch from the research building in front of No. 32 Middle School?
While people watched with puzzled expressions, the balloon continued to inflate, growing larger and larger. Soon it became an enormous balloon, far bigger than anyone had imagined. It was more than twice the size of the ones the researchers had previously built.
Below the balloon hung an even larger basket.
This time there were actually two people inside the basket.
One of them was Mo Li, the rarely seen director of the electric fan factory. According to rumors, he had lost control of the factory to his wife and had been kicked out of management, leaving him on the verge of losing both wealth and status.
The other person was his wife, Hou Lan.
The balloon slowly floated higher into the sky. A thick rope still connected it to the ground. Below, the voices of top technicians such as Li Da shouted upward.
"Be careful with safety!"
Mo Li burst into laughter.
"Back then, when I first served as the test pilot of a hot air balloon, I ended up crashing straight into Hou Lan's house. That accident gave me a wonderful marriage. What do I have to fear now? Teacher Li, you can release the rope."
Li Da shouted toward the sky.
"Once the rope is released, the balloon will be completely free. I feel a bit nervous about this."
Mo Li laughed loudly.
"My wife is up here with me. If the test fails and the balloon is destroyed, I will go to the underworld with her beside me. I have no regrets."
Hou Lan also laughed.
"Release it. As long as I'm with my husband, I'm not afraid of anything."
Li Da took a deep breath.
Although he had led the team that built the balloon and was confident in its quality, he still felt anxious. Releasing it felt frightening.
Just then, the Tianzun embroidery on Li Da's chest suddenly spoke with a chuckle.
"Release it. I'm watching."
Li Da was instantly overjoyed.
"Dao Xuan Tianzun has arrived! Then we can release it."
All hesitation vanished.
"Let go! Everyone release the rope!"
A large group of people on the ground released the ropes at the same time.
The hot air balloon soared upward.
The enormous balloon rose high into the sky.
Hou Lan felt slightly nervous. This was the first time she had flown this high.
Mo Li, however, had experience. He remained completely calm.
He had carefully chosen the weather for today's test flight. There were no turbulent air currents in the sky, and the balloon was extremely stable.
He took a deep breath.
"Wife, I'm going to start testing the air release system and control the direction of flight."
Hou Lan smiled.
"Alright."
Mo Li reached out and pulled a small switch.
On the eastern side of the balloon, several panels opened, revealing small vents.
The hot air trapped inside immediately rushed out through the vents.
The massive balloon slowly drifted westward.
"Hahaha! It works! It really works!"
Mo Li excitedly closed the eastern vents and opened the southern ones.
The balloon shifted again and began drifting northward.
"It worked! This definitely worked! Hahahaha!"
Mo Li laughed loudly toward the sky.
"Good. Now let's test flying directly above the textile factory and then hovering there steadily."
Hou Lan nodded.
"Alright! I think I understand how to control it now."
She took over the controls from her husband and pulled a switch. The balloon slowly drifted in the direction she wanted.
"Husband, this thing can only be used when there is no strong wind, right? The air it releases doesn't provide enough power to fight against strong winds."
"That's correct," Mo Li replied. "This is something we still need to test. Step by step we must determine how strong a wind it can withstand and identify the climate limits for safe use."
"This is also a form of science."
Hou Lan looked up at the sky.
"Wow, we're so close to the clouds. If lightning strikes, we would die, right?"
"Of course. Using a hot air balloon during thunderstorms is absolutely forbidden."
"Wow. That means the limitations are quite large."
"The progress of technology always requires breaking through various limits."
While the couple chatted, they arrived above the textile factory.
Hou Lan leaned out of the basket and waved enthusiastically toward the ground.
"Workers of the textile factory! Do you still remember me? It's Hou Lan! I've come to see you!"
The female workers in the factory looked up in shock.
The very Hou Lan they had just been gossiping about was now floating directly above them with her scientist husband.
Their mouths hung open in disbelief.
Hou Lan waved excitedly.
"This is my husband's newest invention! My husband is amazing! I like my husband the most!"
This sudden aerial publicity stunt instantly allowed everyone in the factory to hear her declaration.
The happiness and satisfaction on her face shattered every rumor in an instant.
"What the hell? So her husband has been secretly working on a new invention?"
"No wonder he hasn't shown his face for so long."
"That's why he handed the factory operations over to Hou Lan."
"The money she transferred must have been used for this research."
"This is incredible!"
"I don't fully understand it, but I know something that can fly wherever you want is definitely extraordinary."
"Their family is going to become rich again."
"Why does she have such good fortune? Why can't I marry a husband like that?"
"Because you're not kind enough."
Before long, the Flying Balloon received the highest level Scientific Invention Award from Dao Xuan Tianzun.
A gigantic silver sphere prize fully reimbursed all of Mo Li's research expenses.
But it was far more than simple reimbursement.
The Gao Family Village Council purchased the complete blueprints and core technology of the Flying Balloon from Mo Li at a very high price. They even built a specialized military factory to mass-produce the balloon.
Once the village council took action, a large number of technicians naturally joined the project.
Various ideas for improving the Flying Balloon quickly emerged. Continuous improvements and optimizations began to push the technology forward.
However, no matter how much future engineers improved the design, Mo Li's name would forever remain in history as the inventor of the Flying Balloon.
Meanwhile...
Hou Lan looked at her husband.
"Husband, our family has earned so much money. We have more than we could ever spend. What should we do with it?"
Mo Li smiled.
"How about using it to gain fifty pounds?"
Hou Lan burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Husband, you're so bad. I refuse to get fat!"