Chapter 103: Looking for Someone_1
Jiang Yu had heard from Kong Xiang about this Gu Liang before, a highly regarded social scholar.
In his article, his predictions were correct—space construction was soon to exceed the limits of human society, which directly led to the Great Rift Valley half a century later.
The preparations for fighting the Trisolaran invasion were indeed the top priority, a cause that required the unity of all of humanity's strength, but this rate of development couldn't be without self-awareness.
Everything should be done according to our capabilities, as Jiang Yu had said, "Haste does not bring success."
But what made Jiang Yu helpless was that without experiencing such blind development, humanity would not be able to learn its lesson.
Therefore, Jiang Yu believed that we should let the Great Rift Valley sweep across the globe. The lower humanity fell, the stronger its rebound would be, and the more astonishing its future achievements.
However, Jiang Yu could not allow so many people to starve to death—at least his fellow countrymen needed to have food.
This was why he proposed the "Greenery Plan." Its first aim was to develop vegetation that could grow in deserts beforehand to alleviate Earth's desertification.
The land beneath humanity's feet had nurtured them, providing food and shelter from the hunter-gatherer era to the agricultural era.
It should not be abandoned after desertification in the future.
The second aim was to cultivate a batch of crops that could be grown in deserts to relieve the food crisis during the Great Rift Valley.
The third aim was to provide a cover for Plan Nine, leading the ETO's attention toward the plants.
Regarding the development that was a bit beyond our capacity, Jiang Yu had mentioned it to Chief Ji before, but it hadn't received much attention, and Jiang Yu had no intention of reiterating his point.
Because the current public opinion was full of vigor, determined to fight Trisolarans to the death, it simply refused to listen to different voices.
It was at this time that Gu Liang published such a sobering article, making Jiang Yu greatly admire his courage.
Jiang Yu sat up, straightened his clothes, and then called Di Fengyi in, handing him the magazine: "Go contact the author of this article, Gu Liang, and tell him I hope to exchange ideas with him."
Di Fengyi nodded and took the magazine to his desk to dial the contact number listed on it.
The line was busy.
After several unsuccessful attempts, Di Fengyi asked the local government department where the magazine was published for the editor-in-chief's mobile number.
Still, the line was busy.
Di Fengyi had no choice but to use the resources of Jiang Yu Cultural Company, asking Jiang Yu's supporters in the area to check out the magazine's office.
Soon, the supporters replied that many people were blocking the entrance to the magazine, berating the magazine as ETO spies, claiming their commentary was misleading the nation and its people.
Di Fengyi considered changing the approach and starting with Gu Liang, but the magazine only listed a name. There were too many people named Gu Liang in the country—if he started from there, it would be tough to find him by tomorrow.
Having no choice, Di Fengyi had to report back to Jiang Yu first.
There was no need to ask; the magazine's office was surrounded, most likely because of Gu Liang's article.
Jiang Yu leveraged his Wallfacer privileges, commanding the police officers maintaining order at the magazine's office to deliver a connected mobile phone to the editor-in-chief.
Jiang Yu started by saying, "This is Jiang Yu."
The editor-in-chief's side was noisy: "Which Jiang Yu?"
"Wallfacer Jiang Yu!"
"Mr. Jiang, please listen to me explain!" the editor-in-chief said loudly. "That article was based on solid arguments, it wasn't championing ETO…"
"I know!" Jiang Yu interrupted: "I was deeply touched by the article, and I really want to exchange ideas with Gu Liang. I'm calling you to get his contact information!"
After much effort, he finally got Gu Liang's mobile number and to be safe, also secured Gu Liang's WeChat.
Jiang Yu advised the editor-in-chief not to worry, saying the crowd would leave when they got tired of shouting, and it was okay to lie low for a while, then get back to work once people had calmed down in a couple of days.
He asked the police officers to work harder, ensuring the safety of the magazine staff.
Following Jiang Yu's directive, Di Fengyi called Gu Liang's number, confirming that it was indeed switched off.
He must have received quite a few harassment calls.
Thankfully, there was WeChat.
After a big detour, he finally got in touch with Gu Liang.
Di Fengyi asked, "Professor Gu lives right in Beijing, he offered to invite you over to his house for a meeting, he also asked when would you meet?"
Jiang Yu glanced at his watch, it was already past four o'clock, "Six o'clock this evening."
He picked up his jacket, "I'm leaving now."
Di Fengyi replied to the message while following him.
Jiang Yu took Di Fengyi to the supermarket first to buy some vegetables and rice, as well as some instant noodles, then picked up a few packs of beer and some snacks.
When they arrived at Gu Liang's door, it wasn't quite six o'clock yet.
Gu Liang cautiously peered through the peephole for a while, only after confirming it was Jiang Yu did he open the door, "Please come in, come in, what is this..."
He pointed to the two large bags on Jiang Yu and Di Fengyi's backs.
It was only after Jiang Yu entered that he said, "Put it in the fridge, try not to go out for the next few days."
Gu Liang hurriedly expressed his gratitude, then busied himself with pouring tea and offering cigarettes, taking some plates to serve the snacks that Jiang Yu had brought.
As he busied himself, he explained, "Sorry, I have sent my wife and child to her parents' house to stay for a few days."
Jiang Yu said, "It's better to be cautious."
Once the three of them were seated, Gu Liang said with a smile, "Teacher Kong has mentioned you to me. Ah, speaking of Teacher Kong, what a pity."
Jiang Yu said with a smile, "If you have something to say to Teacher Kong right now, I reckon he could hear you."
Gu Liang seemed to understand something, nodded as he looked around at the air.
Jiang Yu got back to the point at hand, discussing with Gu Liang over food and drink about some of the viewpoints mentioned in the article.
As they talked, the phrase "Holy shit" almost slipped out of Jiang Yu's mouth.
This guy had actually predicted the Great Rift Valley and had a vague prediction about that brief, shining moment of resurgence.
From God's View, Jiang Yu never even considered this perspective.
But a character like Gu Liang, solely through his expertise in social studies, deduced the direction humanity's society would take over the next two centuries!
Of course, this also had a lot to do with Sophon's technological blockade and the pressure from the Trisolarans.
These two conditions prevented human society from undergoing massive changes due to technology and wars among people.
With fewer variables, the outcome naturally becomes clearer.
After they finished discussing the main topic, the two chatted casually, with Jiang Yu mentioning that in the past two years, he had visited Kong Xiang's mother and son.
The mother and son were doing quite well, although Kong Xiang's son had been ostracized by classmates and had become somewhat reclusive.
Thanks to Jiang Yu, Kong Xiang was not wanted, and few people knew where Kong Xiang had gone.
But there's no wall on Earth that doesn't let some wind through, and some roughly knew that Kong Xiang was with ETO, which is why Kong Xiang's son was isolated by his classmates.
That was something Jiang Yu couldn't intervene with; he could only try his best to help him out of his reclusive world in the future.
Gu Liang expressed his admiration for Jiang Yu's loyalty and his emotions, and then started talking about the article he published on a whim, "I didn't expect such a big reaction from everyone.
"Ah, what a pity, I missed the last 'Future History School' gathering."
Jiang Yu suddenly felt sober.