231: Chapter 231: Teacher, something's not quite right in the solar system.

Evening, Gusu High School, Class 8.

This was the last astronomy elective class.

On the podium, a young teacher with black-rimmed glasses and a somewhat student-like demeanor was using a laser pointer to point at a diagram of the Solar System on the projection screen, nearing the end of the lecture.

"..."

"So, according to the current mainstream nebular hypothesis, about 4.6 billion years ago, a huge molecular cloud collapsed under its own gravity, and then most of the material gathered to form the Sun; the remaining material collided and accreted on the disk, gradually forming planets, satellites, asteroids, and other celestial bodies."

"For example, the terrestrial planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are mainly composed of rock and metal; while gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn are mainly composed of hydrogen and helium..."

The class proceeded according to plan. The teacher was teaching very earnestly, and most students were listening very attentively.

When the laser landed on the small, orange-red dot of Mars, the teacher was preparing to elaborate on its geological features and exploration history.

Just then, in the seat by the window in the middle of the classroom, Jiang Xiaoyu raised her hand.

"Student Jiang Xiaoyu, do you have any questions?"

The teacher remembered Jiang Xiaoyu; her studies used to be very poor, but recently they had improved by leaps and bounds, as if she had turned on a cheat code.

Jiang Xiaoyu blinked and couldn't help asking: "Teacher, you just said that the planets of the Solar System were formed through accretion. I understand that; but it doesn't feel like they were formed by accretion. Of course, that's not my question."

"Oh? Go ahead."

"If they were all formed by natural accretion and random collisions, then why do the planets in the Solar System appear to appear in pairs?"

"In pairs?" The young teacher was clearly stunned, having not quite followed Jiang Xiaoyu's train of thought.

Many students also looked up at Jiang Xiaoyu, including her best friend Chen Yue sitting next to her, who cast a curious and confused look.

"Yes!"

Jiang Xiaoyu thought for a moment and said: "Look, Earth has a twin brother called Venus; their size, mass, and density are very close, even though their environments are worlds apart. And Jupiter and Saturn are both gas giants, the behemoth brothers in the Solar System. Uranus and Neptune are both ice giant brothers."

"Then, according to this twin brother pattern, shouldn't Mars also have a twin brother?"

"But it looks all alone!"

As she finished speaking, the students in the classroom looked at each other, all seeing novelty on each other's faces.

"That seems to make some sense!"

"Venus and Earth are indeed quite similar!"

"Jupiter and Saturn are both big guys with rings."

"Now that you mention it, Mars does seem a bit lonely..."

"Jiang Xiaoyu knows so much. This is a question I would never think of in my lifetime."

Her deskmate, Chen Yue, nudged Jiang Xiaoyu with her arm, looking incredulous: "Damn, Jiang Xiaoyu, when did you secretly cram so much astronomy knowledge? You're improving secretly without taking me with you, right?"

Jiang Xiaoyu didn't respond to Chen Yue, but her gaze fell on the teacher.

"Teacher, I have checked some information privately and found that the unnatural coincidences in our Solar System don't seem to stop there."

"For example, it is said that Jupiter is Earth's guardian deity; it used its huge gravity to clean up many dangerous small celestial bodies in the early Solar System and even took a bullet for Earth."

"Also, the Kuiper Belt is like a meteorite boundary, seemingly restricting some things from coming in. Even Earth itself—the conditions for the birth of life are so harsh that it's as if it was carefully designed."

"So, Teacher, whether it's from the twin symmetry of the planets or these arrangements that seem to protect Earth, I always feel that our Solar System, its formation and current state, is it really completely natural and random?"

"Is it really natural?"

Following this series of remarks, the students were stirred up like startled cats, and the discussion grew louder and louder.

"Wow, thinking about it is terrifying!"

"Could it really be designed by aliens?"

"No way, talking about this in science class? Jiang Xiaoyu, how did you get so smart?"

"But what Jiang Xiaoyu said seems impossible to refute!"

"Are we living in a design?"

"..."

The students were discussing, their curiosity piqued, and the somewhat dull class suddenly became much more active.

The teacher on the podium looked blank: Who am I, what am I doing, what is happening?

At this moment, by the corridor outside the window, Old Wang, who had just finished using the restroom and was holding a cigarette, happened to pass by the back door and clearly heard the voices coming from inside.

Old Wang stopped and peeked inside through the glass window...

Seeing the young astronomy teacher on the podium with fine sweat on his forehead and a look of being overwhelmed and at a loss, he felt amused: "Oh ho? This child, Jiang Xiaoyu, really inherited her brother's true skills. This angle of thinking is tricky. This new young teacher is probably not going to be able to handle it, haha!"

He listened with great interest: "Twin planets—when this child puts it that way, Earth and Venus, Jupiter and Saturn, it really does seem like a thing. Anyway, the astronomical community hasn't detected a galaxy exactly like the Solar System so far; it's very rare!"

"Mars?"

"Mars doesn't seem to have any obvious brothers, but there is such a large asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Could it be that Mars's twin brother existed billions of years ago and then exploded for some unknown reason?"

"That's why so many fragments were left behind?"

Old Wang found it more and more interesting as he thought about it, almost laughing out loud, and quickly covered his mouth.

Inside, on the podium.

The young teacher was a bit panicked. It was his first day of formal teaching, and he wanted to follow the textbook content.

Who would have thought there would be students questioning such sci-fi conjectures?

Textbooks and university course materials didn't teach him how to answer questions like 'Is the Solar System natural, do planets have twin brothers'!

He wiped the non-existent cold sweat off his face with a look of "please don't ask anymore": "Student Jiang Xiaoyu, the questions you raised are very interesting, and the perspective is also very unique!"

"To be honest, this is already beyond the scope of the high school astronomy elective course, and it is also beyond the scope of what I can answer at the moment."

"I admit that I cannot give you a definitive answer for the time being."

"Because this question is an unsolved mystery even in the astronomical community!"

Seeing Jiang Xiaoyu wanting to say more, he quickly interrupted: "However, it is great that you can have this kind of independent thinking. It reminds me of the teaching environment in foreign universities; they also have students whose thinking is not rigid like you."

"We can continue to discuss after class, or you can check more professional thesis materials!"

Seeing that the new teacher really didn't know, Jiang Xiaoyu didn't want to continue testing the new teacher's depth, so she nodded: "Okay, Teacher, then I'll ask my brother when I get home."

Upon hearing this, the teacher finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked back with a smile: "If even the teacher doesn't know, how would your brother know? These questions are debated even by top experts, and there is no definitive answer!"

Jiang Xiaoyu suddenly said with a mischievous smile: "My brother, he is the Student J who spent all day yesterday live-streaming, taking exams all the way from high school knowledge to a postdoctoral degree in theoretical physics. He should know!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the whole class went quiet, and you could hear a pin drop!

The expression on the young astronomy teacher's face changed crazily within three seconds, from blank, to dull, to shocked, and finally couldn't help muttering: "WTF?"

"Sorry, that legendary Student J is her brother?"

"Even the legendary thesis J, could it be her brother too?"

Thinking of this, the teacher asked in shock: "Student J, that one-day postdoctoral degree, you, your brother???"

Jiang Xiaoyu chuckled: "Yes!"

As the words fell, the whole class boiled over!

"What? Jiang Xiaoyu's brother is Student J?"

"Holy crap, that big shot who was incredibly handsome in the live stream and even stumped the professor?"

"My god, Jiang Xiaoyu, you hid it so well!"

"Jiang Xiaoyu, is it because you are graduating soon that you are not planning to hide it? It turns out the live stream room with tens of millions of fans is your brother, damn it!!!"

"No wonder Jiang Xiaoyu's questions were so sharp today; it turns out she got the true teachings from [Our Brother]!"

"Damn, Jiang Xiaoyu, you bad girl, Brother is right by my side, why didn't you say so earlier? I want to have his babies!"

"Jiang Xiaoyu, please introduce me, please give me an autograph; no, even a draft paper of his is fine!"

"..."

The students instantly forgot about twin planets and whether it was natural or not, all casting looks of amazement, worship, and envy.

Chen Yue on the side had her lips slightly parted, using all her strength to shake Jiang Xiaoyu's arm: "You, you, you, your brother is Student J, your brother is Brother; why didn't you say so earlier? Am I still your best friend?"

"Anyway, we are graduating soon!" Jiang Xiaoyu smiled mischievously, "Now you know. My brother's intelligence cannot be wasted. He definitely knows the answer to this question. I will ask him this question when I get home today."

Old Wang, who was peeking from outside the window, grinned.

"It seems that since Jiang Xiaoyu is graduating soon, she is not planning to hide it anymore; anyway, everyone will go their separate ways."

"In the past, when your brother dropped out of high school, you didn't mention it at all; now it's good, your brother is a postdoctoral fellow and has become a national big shot, you wish the whole world knew your brother Jiang Zhe, right?"

"Hehe, what a simple little girl's mind!!"

He looked up at the sky that was about to darken: "It seems that Jiang Zhe's topic tonight might not be the cosmic brain; maybe it will be about the unnaturalness of the Solar System and Mars's missing brother or something; interesting, interesting, I must watch the live stream on time tonight!"

The young teacher said shyly: "Jiang Xiaoyu, can I have an autograph from our Brother?"

Jiang Xiaoyu was stunned. It turns out my whole class and the teacher are all fans of my brother!!

...

In the evening, in the Chinese-style villa in Jing'an.

The sunset glow penetrated through the carved wooden windows, casting warm spots of light on the brown wooden dining table.

A table full of fragrant dishes had already been set—three dishes and one soup: potato stewed with beef, Chinese cabbage stewed with beef slices, stewed winter melon with pork ribs, and a big bowl of mushroom and tofu soup.

Jiang Xiaoyu, who had just returned, pushed open the door and saw a hard-shell certificate with a golden national emblem on the table, in addition to the food.

The cover of the certificate: The words "Postdoctoral" were written on it.

"Wow!"

"Brother, your graduation certificate is here!"

Jiang Xiaoyu excitedly stepped forward, grabbed the postdoctoral certificate, and examined it carefully like a treasure.

"Take a good look. In the future, a postdoctoral degree won't be your end point; your goal is—to become the Xia Country version of Marx in this world; no, to be even more powerful!!!"

"Brother, I'm only seventeen, it's still early!"

"..."

Ps: Good night!