Staring at the email on the computer screen, Cao Ge felt an indescribable surge of emotion welling up inside him.
"Yes! Yes!"
Cao Ge jumped up on the spot, clenching his fists and slamming his elbows down repeatedly to express his excitement.
When had he ever talked business with a tycoon like Steve Jobs? It was like the awe he felt when he met Chang Weisi before, but this time it was an adoration for money.
Power and money, these two things are definitely the most influential in the world. Whichever you possess, you then have the ability to influence the world.
In his past life, Cao Ge was nothing more than the leader of a research group. He had never talked business with such a big shot, and certainly not about such a big deal.
He had a price in mind for his smart voice assistant "Xiao An."
It was an amount so large that even if he didn't do anything else for the rest of his life, just idly wasting away, he could never spend it all.
Cao Ge paced frantically around the room several times before returning to the computer. Then he opened a blank email and began writing a reply to Jobs.
Dear Mr. Steve,
Hello, Mr. Steve. This is Cao Ge. I am thrilled to receive your reply and am looking forward to meeting you.
Sender: Cao Ge
July 15, 2007
Cao Ge wrote a simple greeting and then hit the enter key.
............
While Cao Ge was indescribably joyful in his room, a funeral was taking place in a cemetery on the outskirts of the city.
The deceased was a 27-year-old woman named Yang Dong, a particle physicist.
Wang Miao attended the funeral. The funeral concluded in solemnity, attended by Yang Dong's colleagues and classmates from her life.
The funeral didn't last long. Everyone observed a five-minute silence, and then they left one by one.
After everyone else had gone, Wang Miao approached Ye Wenjie, Yang Dong's mother.
Ye Wenjie stood with her hands folded across her belly, her expression solemn as she gazed at her daughter's gravestone, her emotions inscrutable.
"Ye Teacher, please accept my condolences," Wang Miao said with a downcast look at the gravestone.
"Is that you, Xiao Wang?" Ye Wenjie slowly turned her head and glanced at Wang Miao.
Wang Miao, looking at Teacher Ye in front of him, fell silent for a moment, then took out an envelope from his chest and turned out a photograph, saying, "Teacher Ye, this is a photo I took of Yang Dong at Liangxiang Base. I'd like to give it to you as a keepsake."
But before the photo reached Ye Wenjie's hands, Wang Miao noticed the numbers in the center of the photo, just like in the original story.
Wang Miao retracted his hand back and, after taking a closer look and confirming there were indeed numbers on the photo, he somewhat embarrassedly put it back into the envelope and addressed Ye Wenjie, "I apologize, Teacher Ye, there's a flaw in the photo, I didn't develop it properly. I'll take this one back and bring you a new, unspoiled one next time."
Ye Wenjie didn't seem to mind and just nodded her head, then responded, "All right."
With that, she turned her gaze back to the photograph on the gravestone.
Standing nearby, Wang Miao watched Teacher Ye in her state and felt the urge to say something comforting, but the words seemed to vanish before they could be spoken. In the end, all he could say was, "Teacher Ye, I'll be leaving now. Take care of yourself."
Ye Wenjie nodded, still maintaining her posture.
Seeing Teacher Ye's state and thinking she wanted to be alone, Wang Miao didn't speak further and slowly turned to leave.
He hadn't walked more than a few steps before he saw Da Shi standing behind a tree.
Then, Da Shi and he traded words back and forth, unable to convince each other to leave the place.
After they left, the cemetery sank into utter silence. Ye Wenjie maintained her posture without moving or speaking, just staring blankly at the tombstone, standing there for over half an hour.
By that time, it was approaching evening, and the sun in the west began to sink slowly, disappearing behind the mountains.
The sky grew dark.
At that moment, a handsome man dressed in black entered the cemetery, hurrying along until he reached the spot.
The man appeared to be around thirty, with a stylish middle part, and an excellent physique. Upon seeing the cemetery occupied only by Ye Wenjie, he realized he was late and approached her somewhat sheepishly.
"I'm sorry, Professor Ye, I'm late. The funeral has ended," said the man.
"Xiao Luo, you've come," Ye Wenjie glanced at the young man beside her.
"I was busy with something last night until dawn, so I took the day off to rest. Little did I know I'd sleep through to the afternoon and miss Yang Dong's funeral. I'm sorry, Professor Ye."
"It's okay, Xiao Dong won't blame you," Ye Wenjie said calmly, looking at the tombstone.
"Professor Ye, please accept my condolences. After all, life must go on," Logic said, not really knowing what else to say to comfort Ye Wenjie.
He and Yang Dong were high school classmates, but that was ten years ago. Although he had visited Yang Dong's home several times since then, his interactions with Ye Wenjie weren't frequent, so he was at a loss for words.
"Xiao Luo, Xiao Dong often mentioned you. You studied astronomy, didn't you?" Ye Wenjie was the first to break the silence.
"Yes, Professor Ye. I majored in astronomy in my undergraduate studies, but later I switched my field. For my graduate studies, I read sociology," Logic explained to Ye Wenjie.
"Oh!" Ye Wenjie looked at Logic, with a rare expression of surprise.
Facing her surprised gaze, Logic volunteered an explanation, "Indeed, it's quite a leap."
"Yang Dong also teased me about that, telling me I'm scatterbrained and all over the place," Logic replied.
"You don't have to be so hard on yourself. Xiao Dong told me you're very smart and pick up anything quickly."
Logic did not respond, seemingly in agreement. As a professor at Tsinghua University with dual degrees in astronomy and sociology before thirty, he had reason to be proud.
Ye Wenjie looked at Logic as if she was pondering something, and finally, it seemed as though she'd made an important decision.
"What are you working on now?" she asked.
"Are you asking about my job, Professor Ye?"
Ye Wenjie nodded, "Yes."
"I'm currently teaching sociology at Tsinghua," said Logic.
"Teaching is a good job."
"I wanted to make a mark in astronomy, but I feared hardship and couldn't stand the austere life at the observatory. So, I settled for teaching at the university to get by," Logic said self-deprecatingly.
"If you really want to achieve something, I could give you a suggestion," Ye Wenjie suddenly said.
"Oh?"
"Please do tell, Professor Ye," Logic said, all ears.
Then, Ye Wenjie lifted her head to look at the deepening dusk sky and revealed to Logic the two fundamental axioms of cosmic sociology and two important concepts, thus beginning the legendary life of the good-for-nothing Logic.