Chapter 65: The Twilight of Humanity_1

Seeing the video of Jiang Yu arguing with others, Yang Dong sighed, "What's the use of debating these things? We have no hope left."

Shi Qiang took his phone back, "As long as there are people like Jiang Yu around, we still have hope."

Yang Dong startled, glanced at Jiang Yu again, but eventually, his gaze drifted out the car window.

After a journey of over two hours, Shi Qiang brought three senior scholars to a wheat field.

The group first discussed the locust plague briefly.

Then Shi Qiang asked them, "I want the three of you to think about this, is the technology gap wider between Earthlings and Trisolarans or between locusts and us humans?"

Yang Dong and the other two felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over them as they stared blankly at the locusts.

Although Jiang Yu remembered this scene vividly, it was only being in the midst of it that she could feel the shock brought about by Shi Qiang's question.

She smiled at Shi Qiang, "Impressive!"

Shi Qiang gave a hearty laugh, "I've always said, sometimes you smart folks overthink things, getting stuck in the weeds."

Jiang Yu nodded, "Right, I've just realized why I've been feeling lost these past couple of days."

Shi Qiang, smoking a cigar, listened attentively.

Jiang Yu said, "I didn't present a clear viewpoint, and just kept opposing those seemingly ridiculous suggestions, which led to their confusion and my own.

"I can't continue like this. I need to put forth a viewpoint to address the current chaos first, while bringing some people together and criticizing others, paying attention to the way we struggle."

Shi Qiang squinted at Jiang Yu, "Brother, you're kind of going against the heavens. Even Chief Chang said yesterday that his head was a mess. But listening to you, it seems like you've got it all figured out."

Jiang Yu just smiled without saying anything; he was well aware of what the future held. If he was still floundering like a headless fly, then he would really have water on the brain.

What he had not anticipated before was that the blow dealt by the Trisolarans would be so massive, even causing Chang Weisi to waver at times.

The other person who was not lost in the miasma was Shi Qiang; Jiang Yu had talked about this with him over drinks to drown their sorrows.

Shi Qiang said his thoughts were simple: he was a doer, he would do whatever Chief Chang said, not worrying about what he shouldn't.

Jiang Yu described Shi Qiang as being wise but appearing simple!

By the wheat field, Wang Miao grasped Shi Qiang's hand, "Da Shi, thank you."

Ding Yi took Shi Qiang's other hand, "I thank you too."

Yang Dong said, "Let's head back soon, there's a lot of work to be done."

On the way back, the carriage was abuzz with excitement. Ding Yi planned to go to space to study high-energy particles in cosmic rays to see if he could bypass Sophon and continue experiments and observations on the particle level.

Wang Miao intended to optimize the manufacturing process for nanomaterials since they would definitely be needed in large amounts in future space endeavors.

Yang Dong decided to terminate his current research on superstring models and shift to theoretical studies at the atomic level, to see if more could be wrung from classical physics and quantum mechanics.

Jiang Yu said to Yang Dong, "Before you start work, take a few days to keep Teacher Ye company."

Yang Dong was perplexed, "Can she go home now?"

"Not quite," Jiang Yu said, "I submitted a report the other day, hoping to fulfill Teacher Ye's request to go to Radar Peak. I reckon it'll be approved in a day or two."

Chang Weisi had already revealed to Jiang Yu that the higher-ups had agreed to Ye Wenjie's request; the official document just hadn't been issued yet.

Yang Dong nodded, "Okay, I'll wait for your message."

...

Two days later, a convoy of two police cars left Beijing, heading at high speed toward the northeastern part of Inner Mongolia.

Yang Dong and Ye Wenjie sat in the back seat of a police car, with a policewoman seated next to Ye Wenjie, and an armed military police officer with a loaded gun sitting in the front passenger seat.

Jiang Yu sat in the car in front, casually chatting with Zhang Xiang, who was in charge of this mission.

Zhang Xiang was the same police officer they had seen earlier at the entrance of the detention center, a man in his twenties, bursting with youthful vigor.

He was an "apprentice" brought up by Shi Qiang; now that Shi Qiang had been promoted, he had transferred Zhang Xiang into the operations center, valuing him greatly.

Upon reaching Radar Peak, they encountered a serious landslide along the way and had to abandon their vehicles and climb.

Jiang Yu talked with Ye Wenjie for a bit and realized that the old lady's health was failing considerably.

However, the old lady insisted on walking by herself, not needing anyone's support.

When they reached the mountaintop, Ye Wenjie inspected the monument, and as she watched the setting sun, her strength finally gave out, and she started to fall backwards.

Prepared for this, Jiang Yu and Yang Dong quickly caught Ye Wenjie, letting her sit down slowly on the grass.

Seeming entranced, Ye Wenjie stared at the blood-red sun on the horizon and said, "This is the sunset of humanity..."

Jiang Yu said, "Teacher Ye, after a long darkness, one will always see the sunrise."

The breaths Ye Wenjie took grew weaker, "Can't the darkness swallow humanity?"

"At first, people feared the dark, but when they learned to use fire, the darkness was dispelled," Jiang Yu contended.

Ye Wenjie murmured, "Fire, fire!"

Jiang Yu continued, "Soon some will realize that in this age of darkness, only the spirit as fire and the body as fuel can light the way to the future.

"They will be the new kindling of humanity."

The mountain peak fell into silence, the sound of the wind blowing through the trees was the only thing to be heard.

Several minutes later, Ye Wenjie said weakly, "I still can't see hope. Xiaoyu, I hope you won't be stingy in burning yourself to light the way for humanity."

Jiang Yu said resolutely, "I will."

Ye Wenjie struggled to say, "You're right, we can never expect other civilizations to truly help us sincerely.

"Look at what I've done? I've left such a mess for you all."

Jiang Yu said, "Teacher Ye, do you remember our conversation about the dissolution of the Soviet Union?

"For the socialist camp, that was a tremendous disaster.

"Only a very few saw opportunity in the midst of disaster.

"Most of those few were the elites within our country, and indeed we took that opportunity to step further into the world system constructed by the West, gaining more opportunities for development."

Seeing that Ye Wenjie was listening attentively, he went on, "Behind every disaster lies opportunity; it's just a matter of whether we can seize it.

"I actually think that the appearance of the Trisolarans might briefly unite the world's forces in some ways, advancing into space.

"Throw those of us who linger in the comfort of the Cradle into space.

"Otherwise, relying just on ourselves, who knows how long it would take for us to reach this step."

Ye Wenjie took a deep breath and held Jiang Yu's hand with difficulty, "Xiaoyu, the future of humanity is in your hands now."

After speaking, Ye Wenjie's hand slowly slipped away, and she died under the sunset at Radar Peak.

Here lay her husband, Commissioner Lei who had drained her last shred of trust in humanity, and all her hopes for humanity.