Chapter 1 The door opened by heaven
April, Guangzhou, Baiyun Airport.
Ning Qi dragged her suitcase to the exit and saw Tao Donglai in the crowd, raising his hands high and waving to him with excitement. A smile appeared on Ning Qi's lips, and he raised his hand to signal to the other party.
"Old classmate, I've been waiting for you!" Tao Donglai held Ning Qi's hand, and his enthusiasm made Ning Qi feel like he was back in college ten years ago.
Ning Qi and Tao Donglai were classmates in college and roommates in the same dormitory. During the four years of college, their relationship was so strong that they could wear a pair of pants. But after graduating from college, Tao Donglai actually joined the army and served as a soldier for three years, and then went south to start a business in real estate and became his own boss. Ning Qi chose the path of cultivation as a high-level intellectual who stayed in school to become a teacher while studying for a postgraduate degree. The chances of the two meeting each other are much less. However, in recent years, Tao Donglai's business has grown bigger and bigger, and his pockets have also bulged, so he took the initiative to host a class reunion in Guangzhou every two years, with all-inclusive food, drinks and entertainment. As a good friend, Ning Qi naturally did his part every time. They all flew in from Wuhan to support us.
The relationship between the two is good, but Tao Donglai, a busy man, would personally go to the airport to pick him up today. This is something Ning Qi did not expect. I remember that when he came to Guangzhou several times before, Tao Donglai was unable to do so due to work reasons. He got away and only arranged for a secretary and other clerks to pick him up at the airport. This small detail did not attract Ning Qi's attention at first. When he got out of the airport and got into the car, Tao Donglai did not bring a full-time driver as usual, but sat in the driver's seat himself. Ning Qi realized that something seemed really strange today. Ordinary.
"Did your driver and secretary agree to go on strike together today?" Ning Qi asked jokingly while fastening his seat belt.
"That's not true, it's because there are some things I want to talk to you alone, and I don't want outsiders to be present." There was no joking look on Tao Donglai's face.
Ning Qi nodded and did not ask any further questions. As a friend for many years, he knew Tao Donglai's character very well. If Tao Donglai said something "needs to be talked about", it meant that the matter was by no means a trivial matter.
After a long silence, Ning Qi finally said: "So the reason why you called me here this time is probably not what you said on the phone. It was to prepare for this year's class reunion, right?"
"There is no time for the class reunion this year. I have too many things to do in the second half of the year." Tao Donglai did not deny the little tricks he was playing. He looked sideways at Ning Qi, whose face showed no displeasure, and then added: "Perhaps you will also be busy with me in the second half of the year."
"Are you planning to poach me to work in your company?" Ning Qi said with a dumb smile: "Although we majored in business administration in college, you should know that my interests are different from yours. I really don't know anything about business. .”
"Of course I know that you are not interested in doing business. You are a pseudo-famous person. All your interest is in studying history! Don't worry, I asked you to fly all the way to Guangzhou and I won't force you to do something you are not interested in. ”
Ning Qi's eyes lit up: "Did you buy something good at the auction? Or did your real estate company dig up ancient tombs while repairing the house?"
This time, Tao Donglai was too secretive to avoid answering, and instead asked about Ning Qi's current situation. Although Ning Qi was a little helpless, he then thought that Tao Donglai should be asking for something from him anyway, and he couldn't hide it forever.
Tao Donglai had already booked a room for Ning Qi at the Four Seasons Hotel in Guangzhou. After the two arrived, they completed the formalities and entered the room. Ning Qi sat down on the sofa and said impatiently: "Okay, what is going on? You Let’s get started quickly!”
Tao Donglai did not speak in a hurry. He took out the cigarette case from his bag, smoked one and handed it to Ning Qi. Ning Qi shook his hand and said, "Quit."
"You're not married yet, so why are you quitting smoking so well..." Tao Donglai muttered, took it back and lit it himself. After taking two puffs, he continued: "Ning Qi, I asked you to come to Guangzhou because I have something in mind. Let you see it with your own eyes. But I hope you can give me a promise, that is, no matter what you think after seeing it, you will never tell anyone what you saw and heard."
"To be so serious, you haven't done anything illegal, right?" Ning Qi asked suspiciously.
"Look at your courage. You're still the same as when you were in school. You haven't made any progress in all these years!" Tao Dong came to see Ning Qi and didn't talk to him, so he could only respond: "Don't worry, it's not illegal. But it's true. It’s not appropriate to make it public. You’ll understand after you read it.”
"Then when will we watch?" Ning Qi's curiosity was aroused even more when she saw Tao Donglai being so secretive.
"Don't worry, I'll take you there tonight." Tao Donglai stood up and said, "Okay, you rest for a while. I'll pick you up for dinner later and introduce you to some friends by the way."
"You are planning to form a team to play the dungeon!" Ning Qi couldn't help but joke.
Tao Dong, who had already reached the door, turned around and smiled: "You are right, just go download the dungeon."
At dinner time, Tao Dong came to the room to pick up Ning Qi, and took the elevator directly to Yuyue Xuan on the 71st floor of the hotel. After entering the private room, Ning Qi found that three men had already taken their seats. Tao Donglai asked Ning Qi to sit next to him and introduced his identities to several people.
The muscular man with flat hair and dark skin sitting on the right side of Tao Donglai is called Yan Chujie. He is from Inner Mongolia. When Tao Donglai was a soldier, he was a comrade in the same class. He changed his job and returned to the local area the year before last. Now he is the security officer of a large state-owned factory. He is long, doesn’t talk much and looks very steady.
Next to Yan Chujie is a man named Bai Kesi who wears black-rimmed glasses and looks like an artistic young man. At first glance, he sounds a bit like a foreigner. Bai Kesi and Tao Donglai are said to have had business cooperation for many years. They run a small metal processing factory and a furniture factory, and are also engaged in foreign trade import and export agency business. Ning Qi was slightly surprised that this guy also had an identity as an online writer. He really didn't understand how he could find the energy to write novels to entertain the public besides taking care of business.
The last man sitting between Bai Kesi and Ning Qi looked younger. Ning Qi had seen this man before. He was Gu Kai, Tao Donglai's cousin. Ning Qi visited Tao Donglai's hometown when he was in college. At that time, Gu Kai was still in junior high school, and in a blink of an eye, he was already in his thirties. Tao Donglai introduced that Gu Kai went to the United States to study at university and stayed there to develop his career after graduation. He is currently working as a lawyer in San Francisco.
"Everyone is here, let's serve the food!" Tao Donglai waved his hand and signaled the waiter to start the meal.
Several people were chatting while eating. Ning Qi noticed that Tao Donglai didn't order wine, and the other people didn't seem to have any objection to this. It can be seen from the conversation that these people have met more than once before, but the topic they talked about did not mention what Tao Donglai said in the afternoon.
After finishing the five dishes, Bai Kesi asked Ning Qi: "Mr. Ning, I heard from Boss Tao that you like to study history in your spare time. In your opinion, if a person traveled to ancient times hundreds of years ago, what is most needed What kind of skills can make you stand out?" Ning Qi felt a little strange at first, and then he felt relieved when he thought about the other party's identity as an online writer. He must be thinking about such unbelievable things because he writes time travel novels on the Internet. Out of politeness, Ning Qi still answered seriously: "With all due respect, if a modern person travels back hundreds of years, the chance of being successful is very small. The professional skills and knowledge that modern people have are actually in the world. In ancient times, there were not many that could be used. It was more likely that people would treat them as crazy because of their weird thoughts, or they would be slowly assimilated by the society at that time. I think if you don't have more practical survival skills, go to the world. At that time, it was very likely that we wouldn’t be able to survive even a month.”
"That's not necessarily the case!" The person who objected was not Bai Kesi, but Yan Chujie, who had never spoken much: "I have been in the army for more than ten years, and I have personally led thousands of soldiers. Every day, in addition to When it comes to eating and sleeping, I study military affairs. In terms of my ability to lead troops to fight, I am better than the ancients who had limited experience a few hundred years ago, right? If I went hundreds of years ago, I would definitely be able to be a general or even a general. When the time comes, I will build a strong army and conquer the world just by lining up and shooting.”
"Mr. Yan, I believe in your military qualities, but if you were placed hundreds of years ago, it would not be so easy to build a strong army. Let's not talk about anything else. Let's just say that people at that time only had If you can eat two meals, your body will not be able to adapt to heavy exercise. To solve the problem of eating, you must first solve the logistics supply. The consequence of forcing troops to train without enough food is likely to be mutiny. In addition, the provision of ordnance is also possible. A big problem is that to gain an overwhelming advantage over an army using cold weapons, we all know that firearms must be used. I believe you are familiar with firearms, but can you make firearms yourself? Even if you understand the principles of firearm manufacturing, metallurgy is also required. The supporting industries of metal processing and chemical technology are very complete. The strength of the army is a reflection of national strength. It is impossible to support a modern army based on the level of productivity a few hundred years ago." Ning Qi said. , couldn't help but launched a crackling rebuttal to Yan Chujie.
Yan Chujie wanted to argue a few words after hearing this, but Bai Kesi was ahead of him: "What do you think Mr. Ning should do to ensure that modern people can have a relatively safe development foundation when they return to ancient times, and then use their own knowledge to change The society at that time? ”
"At least... a modern industrial system must be established in the shortest possible time. Only the revolution of productivity can change society." This time Ning Qi pondered for a while before answering, but then shook his head in denial. My own statement: "This hypothesis is unlikely to be true. One person's knowledge is limited, and it is impossible to build an industrial system alone. Moreover, modern industry must have the guarantee of electricity. It is possible for time travelers to master the technology that transcends the times on their own. Knowledge became the Faraday of that time and space, but even as great as Faraday, it took forty-four years from the discovery of electromagnetic induction to the construction of the world's first power plant. Even if we can shorten this time to half, That’s equally hard to accept. Of course, if you really believe that you can drill gun bores and even mass-produce munitions with simple hydraulic machinery, then I have nothing to say.”
Tao Donglai summed up Ning Qi's speech in a timely manner: "In other words, it is basically impossible to have the power to change society by traveling to ancient times alone. I understand this, right?"
Ning Qi nodded and said: "Unless you become an emperor directly, the whole world will have to revolve around your ass. Otherwise, you will have to bring a large-scale technical support team with you, and there will be enough to ensure smooth operation in the initial stage. ”
After Ning Qi finished speaking, he noticed that the other four people exchanged glances silently, seeming to have reached some kind of tacit understanding silently. Then the topic turned to their personal lives. Ning Qi was surprised to find that the five people present were all singles. Yan Chujie and Ning Qi themselves were middle-aged men who were not yet married, while Tao Donglai and Bai Kesi were divorced. After getting married once, Gu Kai did have an American girlfriend with a stable relationship, but the elders in the family seemed to disagree with his plan to find a Yangma as his wife. But why Tao Donglai called such people from all over the world to meet here, Ning Qi still has no clue so far.
After the meal, the other three people said goodbye and left, while Tao Donglai accompanied Ning Qi back to the room. Ning Qi found an extra travel bag on the bed.
"I sent it to you. The place we are going to is not very convenient. There are shoes and clothes in the bag. You need to change them first. I have some things to deal with. I will pick you up at twelve o'clock and set off." After Tao Dong finished speaking, he left without waiting for Ning Qi to ask any more questions.
Ning Qi opened the travel bag and saw a set of Columbia jackets and hiking boots. He couldn't help but wonder: "Are we going to go hiking in the middle of the night?"
Ning Qi waited until twelve o'clock with questions on her mind. Tao Donglai came on time and put on a full set of outdoor gear. Ning Qi only brought her mobile phone and room key card and followed Tao Donglai. When Ning Qi arrived at the parking lot, he found that the three guys who had dinner together today were already waiting in a Grand Cherokee. They also changed their outfits. It seemed that everything had been arranged in advance. Although there were some doubts in his heart, he was content with what he had come. Ning Qi would definitely not be able to back down and say no at this time, so he got on the bus without asking any more questions.
Ning Qi had been to Guangzhou many times, so he could still tell the direction in the dark. When he saw that the car had driven all the way to Yuexiu Mountain, it confirmed his previous guess. But there are only some cultural landscapes in Yuexiu Mountain. What is there to see when going up the mountain in the middle of the night?
The car stopped outside Yuexiu Mountain Stadium. After getting off the car, the tall Yan Chujie took out a bulging mountaineering bag from the trunk and carried it on his back, and then several people filed up the mountain.
When passing Zhenhai Tower, Tao Donglai asked: "Ning Qi, do you remember this place?"
Ning Qi responded: "Of course I remember. When I first came to Guangzhou, you knew that I liked Ming history, so you brought me here to see it."
Zhenhai Tower is one of the landmark buildings in Guangzhou. It was built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. It has been damaged and rebuilt many times in history. The current Zhenhai Tower was rebuilt in 1929. In addition to being one of the famous cultural landscapes, this five-story ancient building In addition, it is also the location of the Guangzhou Museum.
After bypassing the Zhenhai Tower and walking a few hundred meters, the team, led by Tao Donglai, actually entered a dense forest with no roads. Tao Donglai was already prepared. A strong flashlight shone on the ground. The group walked among the trees for another two minutes and were already far away from the mountain trail. Only then did Tao Donglai signal the team to stop. Yan Chujie opened the mountaineering bag and took out the contents and began to spread them out on the ground. Tao Donglai put the flashlight into Ning Qi's hand, and squatted down with Bai Kesi and Gu Kai to help. Ning Qi took a look with the light of the flashlight and found that... It's a big tent. Are these people still planning to camp on Yuexiu Mountain?
The tent was quickly set up, and under the leadership of Tao Donglai, all five people entered the tent. Yan Chujie took out an LED tent light from his bag and hung it up to connect to the power supply. Ning Qi found that the faces of the other people were all serious, and there was no relaxed atmosphere like camping in the wild.
Tao Donglai lowered his voice and said to Ning Qi: "From now on, no matter what you see, please stay calm, don't speak loudly, don't shine your flashlight everywhere, and follow my command in all actions. Is there any problem?"
Ning Qi no longer knew what to say, so he just nodded blankly.
Tao Donglai slowly took out a dark rectangular object from his pocket. At first glance, it looked like a mobile phone. It was slightly narrower than the iPhone 5s used by Ning Qi himself. Tao Donglai pressed it and found that the object had A green light lit up, then expanded at a rapid speed, covering all five people in the tent.
Ning Qi felt a sudden dizziness when the green light flashed past his eyes. He couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise: "What is this!"
"This is a door opened by God for us!"
This book has been signed with Chuangshi Chinese Network, please feel free to collect it.
(End of chapter)