Chapter 104: Methods and Prospects_1

Upon hearing the words "Future History School," Jiang Yu leaped to his feet, circling the dining table twice in excitement: "Pig brain! How could I have forgotten about this?"

Gu Liang was taken aback: "You've heard of our school?"

Jiang Yu: "I..."

Should he say he had heard of it, or that he hadn't?

This small school had only existed for a short time and had almost gone unnoticed; it was buried in history at the beginning of the Crisis Era.

Zhang Beihai was considered the only "successor" of this school.

Bypassing a direct answer, Jiang Yu countered Gu Liang: "Can I attend the meeting?"

Without pursuing further, Gu Liang replied, "I'll have to ask about that."

He used Jiang Yu's phone to make a call, and upon connection, Gu Liang immediately called out, "Lao Zhang!"

Jiang Yu took a couple of swigs of beer to suppress the excitement inside him—this must be Zhang Beihai's father!

After a few minutes on the phone, Gu Liang told Jiang Yu: "Lao Zhang agrees, the meeting is tomorrow morning, at the military hospital..."

Jiang Yu nodded at Di Fengyi: "Cancel all my appointments for tomorrow morning!"

Di Fengyi was initially startled, then hurriedly made calls to rearrange Jiang Yu's schedule for the next day.

Leaving Gu Liang's house, Jiang Yu returned to rest with a face full of joy; attending the Future History School meeting was certainly an unexpected delight!

The next morning, Jiang Yu arrived at the military hospital early, buying some fresh flowers and gifts at the entrance.

When he reached "Lao Zhang's" ward, it was only half-past seven.

Doctors were making their rounds inside the ward, and lying in the hospital bed was probably "Lao Zhang."

There was also a man in uniform, standing in front of the window and gazing at the view outside.

Jiang Yu paused—that was…

The man also noticed Jiang Yu's presence and turned around, locking eyes with him.

Those were deep, fathomless eyes; his features soft, not as stern as Jiang Yu had imagined.

The two locked eyes for about a second before Jiang Yu smiled and said to "Lao Zhang," "My name is Jiang Yu, I hope I'm not intruding."

The man accepted Jiang Yu's flowers and gifts: "On behalf of my father, I thank you for your visit."

This man was Zhang Beihai!

Jiang Yu suppressed the excitement in his heart, reminding himself he absolutely must not show anything out of the ordinary.

He could not let Zhang Beihai become the subject of Sophon's intensive surveillance—it was best for him to "steal the tower" quietly!

Zhang Beihai struck up a casual conversation with Jiang Yu. By this time, the Space Army had been established, and Zhang Beihai had proposed to oppose the wave of defeatism before the Wallfacer Project was announced, now being highly valued by Chang Weisi.

Zhang Beihai said, "Chief Chang often talks about you, speaks of your many feats, and is very keen to have you come and boost our morale at the Space Army."

Jiang Yu joked, "Well, for that I'd have to wait for Lao Chang to invite me personally—at least offer two Yellow Crane Towers or it's a no deal!"

"Right, Chief Chang has always smoked Yellow Crane Tower; he should be able to afford that 'price,'" Zhang Beihai said with a laugh.

As the doctor finished the rounds, "Lao Zhang" said, "This is the last meeting of the Future History School!"

Jiang Yu was about to say he wanted to keep organizing the meetings but then reflected and instead said, "The truth is in the hands of the few, and it only needs to be in the hands of the few!"

Engaging in discussions after conclusions had been drawn was merely courting Sophon's attention.

Everyone knew what was at stake; they just needed to do whatever they could according to their own ideas.

"Old Zhang" nodded in appreciation, "Impressive, the youth!"

Then the old man asked, "Are there any measures from the higher-ups?"

This was inquiring about any countermeasures that the domestic authorities had against the Trisolaran invasion.

Jiang Yu replied, "I can't say."

"Old Zhang" smiled again with satisfaction, "Understood."

At that moment, Jiang Yu knew that "Old Zhang" understood what the higher-ups were planning, rather than just accepting that there were some things Jiang Yu couldn't disclose.

In fact, the domestic elites had already reached a tacit agreement that there was only one path to follow in the future.

"Old Zhang" had long ago pointed Zhang Beihai to that path.

As it was nearing eight o'clock, several scholars arrived at the ward one after another.

"Old Zhang" said with a smile, "Everyone knows Jiang Yu. He's here to learn today. Don't be stingy, share your knowledge generously."

Everyone nodded with smiles, indicating their understanding.

A retired politician explained an enhanced methodology to Jiang Yu, "Although you now possess supreme power, power is not omnipotent.

"For instance, if you were to order someone to commit suicide, he would surely question that command.

"Therefore, you need to master a special way of doing things, don't be overly superstitious about power. When the method is right, it can be more effective than power.

"Everything has an underlying logic. Once you grasp that logic, you can find the crux of the matter and manage various relationships well.

"That way, your endeavors will proceed smoothly, with success assured."

A scientist said to Jiang Yu, "Under Sophon's blockade, only biology still holds some prospects for development.

"Although we cannot conduct microscopic observation, biological reactions can be directly observed.

"Progress can be made through trial and error and experience-based reasoning.

"In this regard, you could chat with a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner; their theories are based on experience.

"For example, 'spleen' in traditional Chinese medicine is related to digestion, while modern medicine has discovered that the spleen is actually an immune organ.

"Yet, adjusting the spleen in traditional Chinese medicine does indeed cure some gastrointestinal diseases, as if the 'spleen' in Chinese and Western medicine were not the same organ.

"Speaking of this, it reminds me of a joke a friend who practices Chinese medicine once told me about. A foreigner came to him because he 'had excessive internal heat' after eating a lot of oranges.

"My friend told the foreigner that oranges are warm-natured food and should be eaten in moderation to prevent 'excess heat.'

"But the foreigner insisted on buying more oranges and some bananas, and had a lengthy debate with my friend at the fruit stall, feeling many fruits and insisting that the oranges were the same temperature as the other fruits!"

Everyone laughed heartily, and Jiang Yu said with a laugh, "These things, you just can't explain them to foreigners!"

The discussion continued past ten o'clock. "Old Zhang"'s energy simply couldn't keep up, and everyone then started to take their leave.

Jiang Yu was in good spirits. This round of meetings had been greatly beneficial, especially the elderly gentleman's methodology, which had given him insight into many things.

Di Fengyi, taking advantage of Jiang Yu's good mood, asked for half an afternoon off—today was his daughter's birthday, and he wanted to get home early.

Speaking of which, his assistant role was quite tragic. Jiang Yu almost never had a concept of weekends, which meant he also had to work tirelessly.

Jiang Yu agreed to his leave, jokingly saying, "Celebrating a birthday is like making an investment. One day when your daughter gets married, it will be her turn to celebrate yours."

Di Fengyi chuckled and mused, "Whether she celebrates my birthday or not isn't important, but I need to make sure she marries someone close by. It doesn't matter to me whether her partner is good-looking or wealthy, but he must have a good personality."

Jiang Yu smiled, then suddenly stopped short, "Damn, I've hit the bull's nose!"