339: Chapter 339: Big Shots Gather!

Jingan Manor, Gusu, on the day of Lunar New Year's Eve.

Six in the morning; the sky was not yet fully bright.

The red lanterns at the villa entrance illuminated the stone path, and the light rain from last night left the air filled with the damp, chilly scent of vegetation.

The first car arrived at 6:30 AM, a black Audi A8 with a Beijing A license plate.

Professor Chen Runzhi stepped out, wearing a black Zhongshan suit, his hair neatly combed.

He looked up at the Chinese-style villa and took a deep breath.

"What are you nervous about?" Qian Mingyi stepped out from the other side, rubbing his hands together. "It's not like we're meeting a leader."

"It's more nerve-wracking than meeting a leader. I've met leaders before; I haven't met J."

Professor Liu Guangyi and Professor Wang Shouren got out of the car behind them.

The four of them stood at the entrance, none daring to go in first, so they smoked by the flower bed to the side.

The second car arrived at 6:40 AM.

Guan Jingming stepped out, followed by Li Mo, Ouyang Baili, and Professor Wu Ming.

He shook hands with Professor Chen Runzhi, and the two exchanged a look and smiled.

Both were from the academic world and knew each other's names, but today, they weren't here for an academic conference.

The third car, a black Mercedes-Benz with a Beijing A license plate, arrived at 6:50 AM.

Celestial Master Zhang stepped out, wearing a grey-green Daoist robe, his hair fastened with a wooden hairpin.

He stood at the entrance, observed the sky and the orientation of the villa, pinched his fingers, and nodded slightly.

"Celestial Master Zhang, what are you looking at?" Zheng Ming stepped out from the passenger seat, carrying two gift boxes.

"Feng Shui," Celestial Master Zhang said, looking surprised. "I didn't expect him to understand Feng Shui. He chose this place well."

Zheng Ming nodded slightly.

He had been debating Jiang Zhe online for over a month, inviting many professors to the livestream to vet him, from Xu Mu and Zhou Ming to his own teacher.

Regardless of who it was, though they originally came with the intention of debunking him, in the end, they were all willingly convinced and impressed.

But today, he had come, carrying gift boxes, standing at the entrance, his heart racing.

"Nervous?"

"Yeah, very nervous. It feels like the online world and reality are two different worlds."

"Haha, Jiang Zhe doesn't care who you are."

"Jiang Zhe?"

"Yes, that's his name."

"How do you know that?"

"My channels; don't ask."

As time passed, more cars arrived one after another.

A man in his fifties stepped out of a black Mercedes-Benz, wearing a black jacket and silver-rimmed glasses—a middle-aged man with a typical scholarly air.

When Professor Chen Runzhi saw him, his expression changed instantly, and he walked over quickly. "Academician Zhang? Why are you here?"

Academician Zhang waved his hand. "Don't call me Academician; today I'm just an audience member. I'm also on the list. Number 16."

Professor Chen Runzhi gasped.

Academician Zhang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a researcher at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, was a genuine national treasure-level scholar.

His research papers were among the top ten most cited in the country, and the doctoral students he mentored were now spread across major universities and research institutes nationwide.

Even such a person was on the list.

Guan Jingming also saw him and walked over to greet him. "Academician Zhang, you've come too. This is quite a surprise!"

Academician Zhang smiled. "I listened to the episode where J talked about geological time three times. Some of the viewpoints are things I've never thought of in my entire career. I've come today to learn."

Coming from the mouth of an academician, the weight of these words silenced everyone present.

Especially Zheng Ming, who felt even more awkward!

By around nine in the morning, one person was absent, and Zheng Ming, who was off the list, happened to take their place.

In the end, all twenty people were present, not one missing.

A uniform line of Beijing license plates—black, dark grey, dark blue—understated, luxurious, and steady, parked at the entrance, more imposing than any car show.

A middle-aged man passing by for his morning exercise stopped and stood among the crowd of residents gathered on the roadside, muttering, "What kind of meeting is this? Why are they all Beijing license plates?"

A young wealthy second-generation heir at the scene took out his phone, opened Weibo, searched for J, and then handed the screen to the man.

"Do you know J? He's the one who lectures online, the really popular one."

"Today seems to be his offline meet-and-greet, and everyone who came is a bigwig in academia."

The man glanced at the phone, then at the group of people at the entrance, and shook his head. "Academics? I thought some big shot from the capital had arrived."

The young man laughed. "Sir, you don't understand. These people are the big shots. The one in the black Zhongshan suit is Professor Chen Runzhi from the Kyoto University of History, a leading authority in the history field."

"The one in the Daoist robe is Celestial Master Zhang, twenty-nine years old and already the number one person in metaphysics."

"The one with the silver-rimmed glasses is Academician Zhang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a national treasure-level geologist."

"Look again. This isn't just a meet-and-greet; it's practically half of the Kyoto academic circle moved here!"

The man was stunned and gasped. "That powerful?"

The young man nodded. "J is just that powerful."

Soon, J's neighbor, Teacher Li, also walked out, peeked at the line of cars with Beijing plates, and whispered, "I've lived in the same villa area as him for over half a year and never knew he was J."

"I only knew there was a young man at home tutoring his sister, occasionally reading in the yard in the sun. I never expected that even big professors from Kyoto would travel all the way here just to see him."

Soon, this group of businessmen and wealthy heirs gathered around the villa, clicking their tongues in amazement.

"I thought I was high-class out there; I didn't expect someone to be even higher-class than me!"

"It seems that in the face of power, money is truly not worth mentioning."

"Yeah, I have assets of over a billion, but in front of these big shots, I still feel inadequate."

"That's because you don't have power. If you have power—no, wait, even if you have power, you can't stand there. You need great power!"

"..."

Another taxi stopped at the intersection, and a young man in his early twenties got out, carrying a black backpack.

He was a student from a nearby university studying physics. Hearing that J was holding an offline meet-and-greet here today, he rushed over, wanting to catch a glimpse from afar.

He hadn't donated, wasn't on the list, and couldn't get in, but he just wanted to come and take a look.

He saw Guan Jingming standing at the entrance, saw Academician Zhang standing at the entrance, and saw Professor Chen Runzhi standing at the entrance.

These were people he had only seen in research papers, textbooks, and news reports.

Today, they were all standing at the entrance of a villa in Gusu, waiting to see one person.

Besides that, there were also people nearby who looked stern and clearly appeared to be plainclothes police officers, monitoring the scene.

He took out his phone, snapped a photo, and posted it on Weibo.

"I'm currently at J's door. Everyone who came is an academician, professor, or leading authority from Kyoto; there are also three foreign professors. They don't have luxury cars, bodyguards, or entourages."

"But this lineup is more shocking than any awards ceremony, because everyone standing here is the smartest brain in their respective fields. They came today not for money, not for fame, but just to see one person. A person who only goes by J!"

This Weibo post was reposted fifty thousand times within ten minutes.

"So envious!"

"Ah, I feel balanced now. A bunch of wealthy bigwigs didn't even get a chance to see J!"

"Plus one, plus one, balanced!"

"..."

Around ten o'clock, the villa gate opened.

Xiaoyu stood at the entrance, wearing a red sweater, her hair tied in a single ponytail, a polite smile on her face.

Her brother told her not to be awkward; they were the ones asking for help, so Xiaoyu just needed to act as the host.

"Happy New Year, everyone. Please come in; it's cold outside."

The twenty people filed in, their hearts filled with trepidation.

The living room was large, but with twenty people sitting inside, it felt packed.

Sofas, chairs, carpets, and the space by the coffee table were all filled with people.

Fortunately, there were enough chairs and sofas prepared.

Even the wooden chairs had soft cushions on them.

Xiaoyu greeted them, had them sit down, poured tea, served fruit, and busied herself.

Professor Chen Runzhi sat on the sofa and looked around the living room.

It was very ordinary, nothing special.

There were dozens of books on the bookshelf, a tablet on the coffee table—which was clearly the tablet Jiang Zhe often liked to use—and a pothos plant in the corner of the house.

This was where J lived, and it was not quite what he had imagined.

He thought he would see walls full of books or some inscrutable instruments.

As it turned out, there was nothing; it was just an ordinary home.

Guan Jingming sat next to Professor Chen Runzhi and was also looking around.

However, his gaze fell on the album "Hidden Dragon Base Group Photo" on the coffee table. He looked left and right, and finding that no one was paying attention to him, he picked up the collection and flipped through it casually.

He first saw a group of sharp-eyed, focused older, middle-aged, and young people, all wearing white lab coats. Jiang Zhe, who looked somewhat older than his 25 years and weathered, stood in the center, wearing silver-rimmed glasses, with a person who looked like an agent named Su Cheng beside him.

It was evident that these people seemed to have powerful backgrounds; it appeared to be a gathering of super-talented people from some secret national base!

Could Jiang be from some secret base?

He even saw one of his old classmates in the group photo.

"What is this?"

He nudged Professor Ouyang, who specialized in Quantum Mechanics, with his elbow, looking serious.

Professor Ouyang took the collection and looked at it.

Upon seeing the group photo, he was dumbfounded—the background base was clearly the building in the suburbs of Kyoto, looking like the Earth-Moon Research Institute.

Although it was identical to the Earth-Moon Research Institute building, the people working inside were completely different.

"Why does Jiang look a bit aged in this? And why are there many physics colleagues I know inside?"

"Wait!"

Professor Ouyang looked at the small line of text written in the bottom right corner of the photo album.

[Kyoto, Hidden Dragon Base, October 2025 Group Photo]

He continued to flip through it in disbelief, becoming more and more shocked as he looked—particle colliders... unseen holographic projection technology... unseen Mach 100 fighter jet test scenes...

Seeing this, Professor Ouyang's pupils shook, and he subconsciously covered his mouth. "Holy crap, I know. I finally know everything about him; the age that doesn't match his knowledge, the age that doesn't match common understanding, the age that doesn't match his experience..."

Professor Wang Shouren couldn't help but lean in, but to his surprise, Professor Ouyang directly closed the photo album and pressed it hard onto the table.

"What's wrong?"

"No, nothing!"

"You're acting all mysterious!"

At this moment, Professor Ouyang, as a professor of Quantum Mechanics, finally knew why Jiang Zhe was able to shine so brightly!

It was simply because of the Multiverse Parallel Theory!!!

...

Celestial Master Zhang sat by the window, eyes closed, fingers gently calculating.

He cast a divination, and the result surprised him.

He opened his eyes and glanced at the door on the second floor.

"Strange. Here, I actually cannot calculate his future, as if he does not exist in this world."

Zheng Ming, in his black suit, sat next to Celestial Master Zhang, holding a teacup, clearly feeling uneasy.

His heart was still racing. He didn't know why, but even though he was just here to meet someone, he was as nervous as if he were heading to the execution ground.

Academician Zhang sat on the sofa, chatting in a low voice with Professor Chen Runzhi; Researcher Zhou sat by the bookshelf, pulled out a book, and flipped through it, finding it to be Jiang Zhe's physics notes. Not interested in physics, he casually put it back.