Chapter Twenty-One: The Oath-Taking Rally

Zhang Mingyang curled his lips and said, “Then we can only hope for the best. Ten times the speed of light—it's hard enough for us to even reach light speed.” After finishing one portion of food, Zhang Mingyang went to get another, yet he still felt unsatisfied. Could it be that the books here contain some kind of magic—the more you read, the more you eat?

It wasn’t until eight in the evening that Zhang Mingyang finally left the cafeteria, patting his swollen belly as he contentedly wandered through the residential area.

“The moon is a bit of a crescent tonight,” he remarked, gazing up at the night sky, feeling the chill of the mountain wind seep into him. “Forget it, I’d better get back to the dorm.” Pulling his jacket tighter, Zhang Mingyang broke into a jog toward his dormitory.

Outside the dormitory door, his teacher, Lin Guangming, was waiting for him.

“Teacher, what are you doing standing out here?”

When Lin Guangming saw him, he pulled Zhang Mingyang into his own room. After closing the door, he gestured for him to sit down.

“Teacher, is something wrong?” Zhang Mingyang asked, noticing Lin Guangming’s uncharacteristic behavior.

“Mingyang, I've been so caught up with the project lately that I forgot to ask—how did you end up here?”

Hearing the question, Zhang Mingyang could only offer a wry smile. “Don’t get me started, Teacher. I was completely set up by Grandpa Wang. It all started with a letter, then a visit to the space agency—one thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was trapped!”

Lin Guangming listened to Zhang Mingyang’s account and sighed. “My story isn’t much different. That day, I was at the factory looking at materials when Wang Bowen caught up with me. He said there were materials here that I’d be interested in. I got so excited—I just came!”

The two exchanged stories, each sympathizing with the other. How had they both been tricked by that old man?

“Oh, by the way!” Zhang Mingyang asked, “Teacher, have you ever heard of ‘Beihe San’?”

“I have!”

At the mention of ‘Beihe San,’ Wang Bowen broke out in a cold sweat. “Mingyang, do you think it’s real?”

Zhang Mingyang shook his head. “I don’t know either. Grandpa Wang showed me a photo, but I can’t make heads or tails of it. What’s even more mysterious is this Wang Huairen!”

Lin Guangming grew animated at the mention of Wang Huairen. “You don’t know this, but ever since I arrived at the base, everyone’s been talking about him. Quantum mechanics, nanotechnology, antimatter, even dark matter—he’s dabbled in it all. Sometimes I wonder if he’s an alien.”

Lin Guangming waved it off. “He can’t be an alien—but he’s definitely a genius. I went to the archives today and looked over his books. They’re both wondrous and bizarre.”

“Bizarre?” Zhang Mingyang was surprised to hear someone describe Wang Huairen that way. “What do you mean?”

Zhang Mingyang continued, “Teacher, you haven’t seen it. There’s not a single scientific treatise you’ve ever heard of in the archives. They’re all blueprints and analyses of future weapons. Isn’t that strange? Isn’t that bizarre?”

“There’s really such a thing?”

Lin Guangming had never heard of this before. “I’ll have to go take a look someday.”

And so, the two of them talked late into the night. It wasn’t until after eleven that Zhang Mingyang finally decided to return to his room. If not for the rally tomorrow, they might have talked all night.

Back in his room, Zhang Mingyang took a hot shower, changed into clean clothes, and climbed into bed to sleep.

The next morning, everyone at the base rose early. After breakfast, the cafeteria buzzed with discussion about the day’s rally—everyone was waiting for the assignments to be handed down.

At Zhang Mingyang’s table, the members of the antimatter group were chatting about the upcoming quotas.

“With so little data, it’s going to be tough.”

“You’re telling me. I heard the spaceship design blueprints have long been issued. Our Energy Department has the hardest job—ten times the speed of light!”

“Don’t even mention ten times the speed of light. Before I came to the base, our research institute hadn’t even succeeded in nuclear fusion, and now we’re supposed to jump straight to antimatter!”

“Alright, enough,” Qian Zhongshu rapped the table, cutting everyone off. “When our country was building nuclear weapons decades ago, it was even tougher than now. At least we have some technological foundation—back then, people didn’t even know what a nuclear weapon looked like.”

“Old Qian, easy for you to say when you’re well-fed,” Lin Su retorted. “Your group’s working on the propulsion structure—that’s way simpler than synthesizing antimatter. Most of my team don’t even know how to operate the hadron collider, and here you are talking big.”

“You—”

Zhang Mingyang remained silent, watching their argument. Truth be told, he had no confidence himself.

*Clap clap...*

Outside the door, a guard signaled for quiet.

“Leaders, the rally is about to begin. Please head to the auditorium.”

At the guard’s words, everyone stood up in turn and headed outside.

“Let’s go,” said Qian Zhongshu, signaling everyone to move out.

On the way, Zhang Mingyang’s antimatter group assembled under the direction of their leader, Lin Su.

“Let’s all sit together. After the rally, there’ll be a Q&A session. If anyone has ideas, let’s discuss them and ask our questions on the spot.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Entering the auditorium, Zhang Mingyang and his team took seats near the front. Once the hall was full and no more people entered, the guards outside sealed all the exits, forbidding anyone from leaving.

Gradually, the five seats at the head of the auditorium filled, with Wang Bowen among them.

“Everyone, quiet please.”

Wang Bowen was the first to speak. “Is everyone here?”

“All present.”

“Alright, let’s begin the rally. First, let’s have Comrade Sun Shuyue say a few words.”

*Clap clap...*

Amidst applause, a rotund man in the center stood up. “Comrades…” (Here, five thousand words of official rhetoric are omitted!)

“My speech is complete.”

*Clap clap...*

The applause rang out once more.

Wang Bowen tapped the microphone. “Comrades, the earlier speech made things clear. This project is heavy in tasks, tight on time, and demands high quality—you all know this well. I won’t waste words.

Pass out the project documents.”

Wang Bowen signaled the staff to distribute the files.

“In these documents you’ll find the specific goals and tasks for each department. There’s also a copy in your communicators. Review them after you leave; if you have any questions or needs, raise them promptly. The party committee of the base will do its best to meet your requirements.”

At the mention of goals, everyone opened their communicators to check.

“This…how can this be?”

“These standards are impossible to achieve!”

People began discussing the assignments in a flurry of disbelief.

“If you have concerns, please speak up.”

“Academician Wang, I’m from the shipyard. I just looked at our material requirements—4,500 tons of ‘carbon acetylene.’ Never mind how difficult synthesis is—the raw materials alone for that much ‘carbon acetylene’ are hard enough to come by!”