Chapter 150: Hooked_1

Jiang Yu and Ding Yi didn't catch many fish, but they smoked quite a few cigarettes and discussed some profound issues.

Jiang Yu had come across the "Farmers Hypothesis" and the "Marksman Hypothesis" a long time ago, which he still remembered vividly; however, he had never connected them with Yang Dong's suicide.

After being reminded by Ding Yi, he roughly understood Yang Dong's despair, but regretted that he was powerless to do anything about it now.

The only option was to let Yang Dong hibernate for now and awaken her once a deterrent against the Trisolarans was formed to see if she would be willing to continue her research in theoretical physics.

It wouldn't make sense to stop researching just because we cannot confirm if the current laws of the universe are the true laws, right?

That's like mountain climbing; you can't stop the climb simply because the trail markers seem to have been maliciously altered, can you?

Jiang Yu also learned from Ding Yi that humanity's theoretical reserves are almost depleted.

Ding Yi, being a theorist, had the most say in this matter.

However, Ding Yi said that under the ceiling set by Sophon, it was still possible to extract or extend some theories.

Discovering these theories wouldn't be like technological advancement where sufficient investment could ensure progress; instead, it would require a process of exploration and summarization.

Ding Yi predicted that in five years, human technological progress would slow down, and in twenty years, it could only be hoped that theory would take the lead for new technological breakthroughs to be possible.

The next day, while Jiang Yu and Ding Yi were packing up the fishing gear, they discussed how to make sour cabbage fish for dinner that night.

Before they set off, Jiang Yu received a call from Di Fengyi, "I just received an invitation from PDC, hoping you would attend the Wallfacers' hearing next week."

Jiang Yu smiled; the fish he had been waiting to catch had finally taken the bait, and his patience had not been in vain. "Tell PDC I can't make it because I'm busy.

"Phrase it modestly, don't give anyone an excuse to criticize."

Besides fishing, Jiang Yu's recent days had been spent reviewing information collected by Di Fengyi about various countries' lunar exploration efforts.

As expected, every country was far from reaching its projected goals, with some failing to find any decent resources at all.

India, in particular, launched so many probes only to find out that the range of these probes was a mere five kilometers.

What's more, after landing on the Moon, these probes had no underground exploration capability. At first, the Indians thought that their probes differed from the Lunar City Project's probes.

But after a careful comparison of the two types of probes, they found that their versions had actually been slightly upgraded compared to the Lunar City Project Team's.

This left the Indians baffled: was it just Jiang Yu's luck that he found those resources?

Now, countries were drooling over the "techniques for exploring Moon resources" mentioned by Jiang Yu, and Bil's place was besieged daily by visitors, all trying to coax or coerce him into revealing the "techniques for exploring Moon resources."

Bil was at a loss whether to laugh or cry; how would he know any "techniques"?

Even if there were any, only Jiang Yu would be privy to them!

When Jiang Yu heard about Bil's predicament, he immediately sent people to protect Bil and his family.

Yet, an engineer who operated lunar probes had been kidnapped, and after seven or eight days, they still hadn't found the engineer.

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Yu sighed and said to Ding Yi, who was rearranging the fishing equipment, "Sorry, Dr. Ding, please avoid going fishing for the next few days."

He did not want a pure scholar like Ding Yi to be tainted by those politicians.

Ding Yi paused for a moment, not asking why: "Okay, just make sure you share a bowl of sour cabbage fish with me tonight."

Jiang Yu replied with a laugh, "That's not a problem."

...

Two days later, a long convoy arrived near the obscure reservoir.

Numerous foreigners in suits and ties disembarked from the vehicles, and, led by Chinese diplomatic personnel, walked towards the opposite side of the reservoir.

The path was not easy to navigate, and since everyone was wearing leather shoes, several people sprained their ankles within a few steps.

But they had no complaints and continued forward with the help or support of their assistants or bodyguards.

Jiang Yu, who was fishing, acted as if he hadn't seen them, still staring intently at the float on the water.

The Chinese diplomat took a couple of quick steps forward, "Mr. Jiang, everyone is here to see you."

Jiang Yu smiled at the diplomat and said, "Do you feel the déjà vu of 'a willing bite' right now?

"Of course, unlike Jiang Ziya, I'm using a curved hook instead of a straight one, because the visitors aren't King Wen of Zhou.

"They are purely 'willing bites'."

The diplomat struggled to hold it in but managed not to laugh.

The translators relayed the conversation between the two men to their respective country's diplomats in their own languages, also having to succinctly explain the allusion to 'a willing bite'.

Everyone looked somewhat embarrassed, but they couldn't make a scene, after all, they were the ones in need of Jiang Yu.

It was the Swedish representative who unfortunately asked, "Why do I feel that Wallfacer Jiang Yu's 'a willing bite' doesn't quite match the original meaning of the idiom?"

His translator was somewhat speechless, thinking, Wow, you actually picked up on that?

Seeing his translator's face looking as if he had swallowed a fly, the Swedish representative realized what was going on; he coughed awkwardly a couple of times and his gaze drifted towards the lake, as if trying to divert everyone's attention.

Jiang Yu glanced at the somewhat disheveled diplomats and said to the armed police, "We should still observe the most basic hospitality. Bring some stools over."

A few armed police moved a batch of stools out from the grassy bank for the delegates of the various countries to sit on.

The delegates from various countries sat obediently on the stools, and once everyone was seated, they realized that there were just enough stools, one for each country's representative.

This...

To say that Jiang Yu hadn't prepared at all, no one would believe that.

Jiang Yu continued to fish in a calm and composed manner, showing no intention of communicating with everyone.

The UK representative was the first one who couldn't keep his composure and chatted with Jiang Yu about fishing.

Using this as a starting point, the American representative gradually brought up the topic of Moon exploration, and the representatives of the various countries all listened intently.

The American representative believed that Jiang Yu should make public the "techniques for exploring Moon resources."

Jiang Yu responded lightly, "If I were in need of someone, I wouldn't resort to threats of kidnapping to pressure them."

The American representative quickly said, "The person wasn't grabbed by us."

Jiang Yu scoffed, "Gentlemen, you've made a trip in vain. How could a humanities student like me possess techniques for lunar exploration? Better go back and continue with your Moon exploration plans."

The American representative hastily signaled to his junior, the Australian representative, with a glance, and the Australian representative understood:

"Mr. Jiang, Engineer Paul of the 'Lunar City Project Team' simply missed his hometown and returned to Australia for a visit.

"If the meeting here goes well, he will soon be able to return to work."

Jiang Yu laughed out of exasperation, "This is the first time I've heard of a kidnapping described in such a fresh and refined way.

"Gentlemen, since when did the PDC become a den of bandits?"

He took a deep breath, "As I see it, Australia and the Moon are unrelated...

"Oh, you might not quite understand that.

"Let me put it another way, some people must take responsibility for their folly, and I don't wish to see the Australian flag on the Moon."

The Australian representative was stunned. Were they not planning to allow his country to take part in this division?

He immediately looked at the American representative, seeking help through eye contact.

The American representative got the message, "Mr. Jiang is right, the Australian flag indeed should not appear on the Moon."

The Australian representative immediately became unsettled: Damn it! Why am I being thrown under the bus again? Can't you pick someone else to screw over?