251: Chapter 251: Retired NASA Personnel Take Their Positions

At this moment, across the ocean, in the Fu Nation.

Every morning at this time, Professor Stephen thoroughly enjoyed the emails Ouyang Baili sent him.

Stephen enjoyed this kind of transoceanic academic exchange.

Ouyang Baili's emails had become his fixed morning anticipation.

But today, his inbox was completely empty.

He refreshed it once.

Still nothing.

"Hmm?" Stephen frowned and continued scrolling. The inbox only contained a few assignments from students, some requests for manuscripts from journals, and conference invitations, but nothing from Ouyang Baili.

"Could it be that J didn't give a lecture yesterday?"

This wasn't like the usual routine. Ever since J started his passive live-streamed tutoring, Ouyang Baili had sent detailed summaries and discussions almost every following morning. Like clockwork.

But today, what had happened?

"Professor Stephen." The voice of his other female assistant, Amy, came from the doorway.

Stephen turned his head and saw the young female assistant standing at the door, holding a tablet computer.

"Is something the matter, Amy?"

"Perhaps you should see this." She walked over and handed him the tablet. "A paper uploaded to arXiv early this morning, from China."

Stephen took the tablet, his gaze sweeping across the screen.

"Revisiting the Origin of the Asteroid Belt Based on Orbital Mechanics Simulations and Spectral Evidence: Verification of the tiamat Hypothesis"

Authors: J, Professor Zhang Qinian, Zhang Lin...

His gaze paused on the signature 'J' for a second, then he looked curiously at the National Research Institute.

"J, National Research Institute. No wonder Ouyang and the others aren't doing it; it turns out they were beaten to the punch. I don't know anyone at the National Astronomical Observatory."

Then, he began to read carefully.

Two minutes later, his expression grew serious.

Five minutes later, he looked astonished.

Ten minutes later, he looked up, his eyes full of amazement, and let out a hearty laugh, "Hahaha!"

"As expected of that madman." Stephen smiled and shook his head, though his eyes sparkled. "Crazy as always. Nice, I like it!"

Amy, standing to the side, asked curiously, "Professor, could this Solar Fission Hypothesis and the tiamat between Jupiter and Mars be true? That the planets of the Solar System split off? That Mars was once a moon of two planets?"

Stephen narrowed his eyes but shook his head slightly. "Whether it's true requires more evidence; but I can be certain of one thing—"

"This J, his method of proposing hypotheses is different from everyone else's. Others have evidence first and then draw conclusions; he has conclusions first and then finds evidence. And what he finds are all real, existing pieces of evidence that we have ignored for decades."

"Just you wait and see. In the coming months, astronomical telescopes around the world will be aimed at that region between Mars and Jupiter, and at that invisible planet on the edge of the Solar System."

"And then we will discover—"

He paused for 2.5 seconds, the corners of his mouth curling slightly. "Everything that madman said is, in all likelihood, probably true."

...

China, evening.

In the suburbs of Kyoto, at Qingfeng Temple.

The afterglow of the setting sun bathed the locust trees in the courtyard, casting scattered shadows on the bluestone path.

Inside the front living room, the scent of incense candles slowly rose.

Celestial Master Zhang was resting with his eyes closed, while Wang Chongyang sat opposite him, sipping tea and waiting.

Zheng Ming sat beside Celestial Master Zhang, a look of confidence on his face.

Beside him was a blond foreigner in his fifties, none other than the retired senior researcher from the NASA Lunar Geology Laboratory: Robert Anderson.

"Mr. Zheng," Robert said in fluent Chinese, "are you sure you aren't joking with me? Is there really someone who can explain where the Moon came from?"

Zheng Ming nodded slightly. "Although I don't want to admit it, that person has some ability, but he likes to talk nonsense, and his information is a mix of truth and lies. In any case, I hope you can pick out all his errors!"

Speaking of which, he turned his head to glance at Master Wang Chongyang. "After it's over, I will have my master give you a one-on-one lecture."

Upon hearing this, Wang Chongyang couldn't help but glance at Zheng Ming.

So, you, my second disciple, have been using my name to show off outside.

Robert, however, had already stood up, looking at Wang Chongyang with burning eyes.

"Master Wang! I read your 'Commentary on the Tao Te Ching' and 'Clarification of the Zhou Yi' published last month while I was in the USA. Your interpretation of the Tao is more profound than any Western philosopher I have ever met!"

Wang Chongyang looked indifferent and nodded slightly. "You flatter me."

Robert shook his head repeatedly. "No, no, not at all. I worked at NASA for thirty years, studying lunar rocks and the origin of the universe. But Western science can only answer how, not why. And your book gave me another perspective."

"If you are truly willing to lecture in person after tonight ends—then this trip was absolutely worth it."

Wang Chongyang glanced at him and finally nodded slightly.

Of course, he was too embarrassed to say that those were all new books written by his second disciple after inviting him to watch the live stream and absorbing Jiang Zhe's ideas...

...

After dinner, 6:55 PM.

At Huaqing University, in the physics professors' dormitory.

Ouyang Baili sat in front of the computer, with the live stream page open on the screen: [How was the Moon obtained?]

Guan Jingming was curled up in the single sofa beside him, wrapped in a blanket, with a cup of black tea in his hand.

Li Mo sat on another single sofa, while Professor Wu was lying on his side on the floor. Of course, the floor heating was on in Kyoto's winter, so it was very warm!

"Old Guan!" Ouyang Baili suddenly asked without turning his head. "Did you read that paper yesterday?"

Guan Jingming looked up. "I read Professor Zhang Qinian's paper."

"What's your feeling?"

"I feel like we missed out on a hundred million."

Li Mo chimed in, "Who told us to fall asleep yesterday? I woke up in the middle of the night, saw the trending search, and almost choked myself to death."

Ouyang Baili sighed. "That old guy, Professor Zhang Qinian, is really fast. When I saw the paper this morning, my first reaction was: It's over, we've been scooped."

Guan Jingming consoled him. "You can't say it was scooped; the idea was Jiang Zhe's, they just did the verification. And the first author listed is still J, so it's fine."

"I know." Ouyang Baili nodded. "It's just that I feel our Huaqing University Physics Department reacted half a beat too slowly."

Professor Wu, who was lying on his side, patted his belly and asked lazily, "What about tonight? Are we still going to write?"

Ouyang Baili looked determined. "Write. Why wouldn't we? He's talking about the Moon tonight. If we miss it again, it won't just be a matter of being half a beat slow."

"Professor Zhang Qinian and his team can run simulations, and we can too. Besides, when it comes to the topic of the Moon, we aren't any worse than them."

Guan Jingming nodded. "Alright. Let's pull an all-nighter tonight."

Ouyang Baili raised his hand to check his wristwatch. It was almost seven o'clock; it was soon.

...

Gusu High School, Principal Fu's office.

Principal Fu sat behind his desk, having already turned on the projector.

"Xiao Ren!" Principal Fu looked at Ren Xiaoyao, who was drinking coffee. "You're not sleepy today, are you?"

Ren Xiaoyao shook his head slightly. "Not sleepy. I went back and slept early last night, just waiting for tonight."

Old Wang leaned over and asked curiously, "In today's astronomy class, did any students ask you questions?"

"They did. Several students brought that paper to me and asked if it was true. I told them I was also waiting for tonight's live stream."

Xiao Wang, who was beside them, laughed. "You're quite the teacher, waiting right along with the students."

"Can't help it. The things Jiang Zhe talks about are truly not in the textbooks."

...

Kyoto, History Staff Quarters, the living room was already filled with smoke.

Professor Chen Runzhi sat on the sofa with a cigarette in his hand, his eyes fixed on the projection screen.

Professor Liu Guangyi, Professor Wang Shouren, and Qian Mingyi were squeezed onto the sofa next to him, cracking melon seeds while waiting.

They had just finished discussing the paper that had been released earlier that day, which had exploded across the national academic circle; even those outside the astronomical field knew the news, from professional institutions down to ordinary citizens.

Professor Wang Shouren cracked a peanut. "I wonder what Jiang Zhe will talk about tonight? How did the Moon come to be?"

Qian Mingyi took over the conversation. "How the Moon came to be? Aren't there only a few mainstream theories? The Big Impact, capture, co-formation. What new tricks could he possibly come up with?"

Old Chen smiled slightly. "Before you listened to the Mars lecture the night before last, didn't you also think he couldn't come up with any new tricks?"

Qian Mingyi thought for a moment, then rolled his eyes at Old Chen.

Professor Liu Guangyi patted Old Qian's broad shoulder. "Just sit and listen honestly. Jiang Zhe's mouth can make stones bloom."

...

Kyoto, National Astronomical Observatory.

In the small meeting room, seven or eight people were sitting around.

Director Wang, Professor Zhang Qinian, Zhang Lin, and the others were ready.

After the paper was released during the day, Professor Zhang Qinian's phone had been blown up with calls, all attributing it to J's ideas and the real-world simulations endorsed by the National Astronomical Observatory!

When Director Wang learned about this, he immediately held a small meeting and awarded Professor Zhang Qinian 200,000 yuan on the spot!!!

"Tonight, no matter what, as long as Jiang Zhe's topic is even slightly reasonable, we must fight Huaqing University for the paper qualification tonight, understand?" Director Wang narrowed his eyes and nodded slightly.

Professor Zhang Qinian didn't say a word, just pointed his thumb at Zhang Lin and the others behind him who were eager and waiting.

Zhang Lin and the others immediately stood up. "Don't worry, Director. Today, besides you and Professor Zhang Qinian, I've brought two more 'wizards' who have been single for 30 years. The paper qualification is ours."

Director Wang looked at the six young researchers with anticipation and nodded with satisfaction.

7:00 PM.

The live stream screen suddenly lit up.

...

Villa living room, on the sofa.

The pinhole camera swayed. Xiaoyu was still wearing a beige hoodie today, her hair tied loosely in a single ponytail; it looked like she had just finished cleaning up the dining table.

Sitting on the sofa, Xiaoyu couldn't help but ask, "Brother, tell me, how did the Moon come to be?"

Jiang Zhe rested his face on one hand, facing Xiaoyu, and said casually, "If you want to know how the Moon came to be, you must first know the magical aspects of the Moon."

"First, let's talk about what the mainstream formation hypotheses for the Moon are."