Chapter 881: I Don't Like You
The students on the ground looked up, "It's floating so high; aren't you scared?"
The graduate student in the air laughed, "What's there to be afraid of? It's amazing! Absolutely incredible! The feeling of looking down from such a height is truly exhilarating. Come on up, everyone!"
His enthusiasm immediately ignited the students' interest.
So, everyone pulled with all their might, bringing the hot air balloon down. One student climbed in, then they pulled it down again for another...
After several repetitions, the students grew tired of the hassle. Having to pull with so many people just to bring it down was too much effort. "We're graduate students, aren't we? How can we solve a problem in such a primitive way?" they grumbled.
A group of students quickly found a winch. With some clever rigging, the hot air balloon's rope was secured to the winch.
Now, going up and down became much more convenient.
Everyone was having a blast when the Village Chief from Gao Family Village ambled over. "What are you children playing?" he asked.
The students all chuckled, "Grandpa Village Chief, we're playing with the reconnaissance hot air balloon!"
The old man's eyes lit up. "I want to go up and play too."
The graduate students immediately broke into a sweat. "Oh, no, you can't, you can't. This is an experimental model; its safety and stability haven't been verified yet. The last test model leaked and fell, almost causing an accident."
The Village Chief retorted, "How old do you think I am? Still afraid of accidents? Whether I die sooner or later, it'll be in the next few years anyway. Before I go, I want to experience everything I missed out on."
The graduate students stammered, "But..."
The Village Chief pulled out a handful of small silver coins and distributed a tiny piece to each of them. "Here, here, Grandpa's giving you some pocket money. Just let Grandpa have a turn with this thing."
The older he got, the more mischievous the old man became. How could the graduate students argue with him? After the Village Chief's persistent badgering, they finally surrendered. They cranked the winch and brought the hot air balloon down.
The Village Chief gleefully climbed into the large wicker basket and slowly floated heavenward.
The sensation of looking down on the land was indeed unprecedented.
From the sky, the Village Chief saw the towering Gao Family Village stronghold shrink, surrounded by vast stretches of farmland. Not far away were the Gao Family Commercial District, the colorful Short-term Workers Village, and the Long-term Workers Village...
Floating a little higher, the peculiar large buildings of the Gao Family Village Ordnance Bureau became visible, as did the military camps beneath the distant cliffs. Even the Valley of Exiles further away came clearly into view.
Tears welled in the Village Chief's eyes. "Before... our village only had forty or fifty people. Now, Gao Family Village has become like this."
When he descended from the sky, the Village Chief was still deeply emotional. He grabbed the graduate students, saying, "This thing is good, so good! Everyone in the village should go up and see how beautiful our home is now."
The graduate students replied awkwardly, "Everyone? Just you going up was a serious violation of regulations for us. If we let more people go up, Principal Wang would have our heads."
The Village Chief snorted, "Principal Wang? Tell him to come speak with me."
The graduate students exchanged embarrassed glances, thinking: *Principal Wang wouldn't dare speak in your presence.*
The Village Chief suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right, all your scientific research, Principal Wang provides the funds for it, doesn't he?"
The graduate students nodded. "That's right, it's quite the money pit. This very hot air balloon cost us hundreds of taels of silver to make; Principal Wang winces every time."
The Village Chief declared, "That's where you children are mistaken! You should learn to use your new inventions to make money! Take Laba, for example; he learned about the new rice noodles and immediately opened a Laba Rice Noodle shop, making a fortune..."
The Village Chief continued, "You too should use scientific inventions to make money, and then use that money to fund your research. That way, you can also ease Principal Wang's burden."
The graduate students exclaimed, "Huh?"
The Village Chief explained, "I think this hot air balloon is excellent. Charge for rides into the sky! Five taels of silver per person, per ride! Hang a large banner from the balloon; once it's up there, won't everyone in the village see it? If a hundred or so people are willing to pay for a glimpse of the sky, wouldn't that cover your research costs?"
Upon hearing this, the graduate students were stunned. "You can make money like that?"
What an eye-opener!
The wisdom of the elders, indeed.
The graduate students quickly got to work, finding a long piece of white cloth and writing in large characters: "Ascend to the Sky, Five Taels a Ride." They then hung the banner beneath the hot air balloon.
A short while later, the balloon once again rose into the sky...
As the banner became visible!
In less than half an hour, everyone in Gao Family Village with some spare money had arrived.
The graduate students instantly filled their coffers—
Ten days later...
In Xi'an Prefecture, a group of graduate students sat on a newly manufactured truck, cheerfully arriving in the center of Xi'an Prefecture's Market Square.
Then, from the truck bed, they unloaded a large pile of parts. After two hours of assembly, Hot Air Balloon No. 3 was put together right in the middle of Xi'an City.
After being inflated, the hot air balloon slowly drifted upwards.
A banner proclaiming, "Ascend to the Sky, Thirty Taels of Silver Per Ride," hung in the Xi'an sky. The price was six times higher than in Gao Family Village.
The exorbitant price, they'd chuckle, was specifically designed *not* to exploit the poor.
The balloon had been airborne for less than half an hour when the gleaming Kulinan arrived directly beneath it. Zhu Cunji, the Prince of Qin's heir, leaped out of the car with a flourish, shouting impatiently, "Is it really just thirty taels? To fly to that height?"
The graduate students nodded. "Yes, just thirty taels."
Zhu Cunji commanded, "Pay up!"
A nearby guard quickly stepped forward, presenting thirty taels of fine silver with both hands.
Zhu Cunji's face was filled with eagerness. "Quick, quick, let this heir go up."
As the balloon slowly descended, the Xi'an Prefect and other officials also rushed over, their eyes wide with curiosity.
Zhu Cunji glanced at the cluster of officials, then suddenly burst into wild laughter. "Why are you all staring at me? I, this heir, am floating in the sky above Xi'an; that doesn't count as leaving Xi'an, does it? Hahahaha, wahahahaha, wahahahahaha, surely it doesn't?"
His laughter sounded like a cinematic supervillain.
The officials were momentarily speechless.
Zhu Cunji climbed into the large wicker basket, slowly ascending, rising higher and higher. Then, his faint cries drifted down from the sky: "The world outside is so damn beautiful! Wuwu... let me out... I don't want to inherit the Prince of Qin's title anymore, I want to be a commoner, I want to go outside..."
The officials and guards on the ground remained silently stoic.
After an unknown period, the Xi'an Prefect looked up and shouted loudly, "Heir! You didn't control your voice; we all heard you! Stop crying and come down!"
"I wasn't crying! How could I cry? What kind of person am I? Crying? Hmph! What a joke! You're talking nonsense! I don't like you."
Suddenly, the large tablet computer in the Market Square began playing a song: "If I were young and accomplished, not insecure, having tasted the bitterness of regret, fought for wealth and status, but now I long to retreat..."
Comments