Chapter 5

"Are we about to have dinner? Why did you pull me back here!" Hao Shuai was inexplicably pushed onto the bed, hugging his body in great fear.

"My head is a bit dizzy, help me think about a few things." After Zhang Yifu calmed him down, he sat beside him and asked kindly, "Shuai Shuai... we are in a socialist country now, right?"

"..." Hao Shuai looked at Zhang Yifu like a monster and began to answer his various strange questions.

After more than an hour, Zhang Yifu, combining his own memories with Hao Shuai's account, had a rough understanding of this world. Although many things seemed familiar, this was still a fictional world, not history. The major era was not much different from the 1990s he knew, but the names of the leaders were all unknown to him, whether it was the U.S. President or the Japanese Prime Minister. However, the companies still existed, and even the films and TV shows were there, just with different actors and directors. It seemed unlikely that he could rely on the big brother of the future.

As for Zhang Yifu himself, his situation was similar to his previous life. His parents were both employees in the power industry, with his mother being a meter reader and his father responsible for installing and maintaining meters. The only difference was that his father had experienced a major accident, leading to a significant rise and fall.

As they chatted, Zhang Yifu suddenly remembered something and asked hurriedly, "Shuai Shuai, it's 1990, right? There's a World Cup, isn't there?"

"Yes, but it's still half a month before it starts."

"1990 World Cup..." Zhang Yifu tried hard to recall, but unfortunately, his "electric" brain couldn't access this information. From a modern perspective, if he knew who would win in advance, he could bet all his money. Unfortunately, in 1990, Zhang Yifu was still in diapers and had no idea what the World Cup was.

Hao Shuai sighed, "Yes, Japan has the hosting rights this time, so we don't have to stay up late to watch it!"

"???" Zhang Yifu was shocked, "Japan?"

"Yes, the World Cup in Japan."

"Shouldn't Japan be in a financial crisis with people struggling to survive?"

"What financial crisis? Japan's economy is almost on par with the U.S. now."

Zhang Yifu suddenly felt a headache. Although he couldn't remember where the 1990 World Cup was held, it definitely wasn't Japan. He quickly followed up, "What about the Soviet Union, has it dissolved?"

"Dissolved? It dissolved a few years ago, about three or four years."

Although Zhang Yifu's knowledge was limited, he remembered that the Soviet Union dissolved in the 1990s. It seemed that many of his past experiences were not applicable, such as making a fortune in the stock market or betting on sports.

Fortunately, the macro development of the era had not changed. Although there were some discrepancies in time and details, the overall direction was still correct. In his previous life, Zhang Yifu often thought—could you create QQ if you were reborn in Shenzhen decades ago? Could you create Taobao if you were reborn in Hangzhou decades ago? Could you create Windows if you were reborn in Silicon Valley decades ago?

He believed the answer was no, because even if he were transported to the end of the Yuan Dynasty, he couldn't become Zhu Yuanzhang. When QQ was born, at least five companies were developing similar software; before Microsoft, Gates was already a super expert in the field. Only the most outstanding and lucky person could succeed, while those with grand ambitions and mere ideas would ultimately only serve as inspiration for others.

Ability, personality, and opportunity—these were the eternal truths.

Zhang Yifu knew he had many things he could do, but for himself, for the high-voltage electricity in his head, the only right path was to continue on the professional route. After all, this path was not inferior to IT and finance, it was just that few people knew this yet.

In the empty lecture hall, the counselor and the department head were still accompanying Liu Jianwang in grading the exams.

"Our college's overall quality is still very high." Liu Jianwang picked up a paper full of formulas and smiled, "I really can't understand this one, Professor Chen, could you please evaluate it?"

The old professor took the paper, squinted, and smiled contentedly, "Not a single mistake. All the thermodynamics and electromagnetism formulas used in power generation facilities are listed, and there's even a rough sketch of the generator circuit design. To write all this in such a short time, I believe this student has a good chance of getting into graduate school."

Liu Jianwang, seeing the old professor's approving look, was afraid to upset him and held back his intended teasing. Indeed, the student had filled the paper with formulas and diagrams, but there wasn't a single sentence he could understand. In fact, the student had gone off-topic, not explaining the principles of a thermal power plant but rather the entire fields of thermodynamics and electromagnetism.

"Director Liu, what about this one?" The counselor handed over another paper, "The handwriting is neat, and the writing is good, although there are no formulas, it's easy for anyone to understand."

"Is that so?" Liu Jianwang took the paper with some expectation, but after a quick glance, he shook his head.

Indeed, the paper was concise and easy to understand, but it avoided all the key issues. For example, the boiler, steam turbine, and generator are the three fundamental facilities of a thermal power plant, but the student seemed to have no idea, using vague and flowery language to cover it up, only talking about coal heating and the generation of electricity through the cutting of magnetic field lines. It was broad and empty, easy to understand but lacking any practical content.

"Oh, it's Zhang Yifu's turn." The old professor smiled and shook a paper, "The handwriting is quite nice, but the answers are too few. Let me take a look first."

Neither the old professor nor Liu Jianwang had any real expectations for Zhang Yifu, just curiosity. They wanted to see how a smart but carefree student would handle this exam.

"Hmm... the concepts are all correct." The old professor squinted, pursing his lips, "After all, he is smart, and he understands the basics... the measures to deal with power shortages are quite comprehensive, this question suits him... as for the third question, China's power situation in twenty years..."

The old professor read line by line, becoming more and more surprised.

"This... this is too absurd..." The old professor's eyes widened, "1 million kilowatt power plants becoming widespread... 500 billion kilowatt-hours of power generation? Absurd! Too absurd! The development over the past forty years since the founding of the country hasn't even reached one-tenth of this number! Nuclear power... wind power... sustainable development, where did these ideas come from! Too abstract! Power transmission to Europe? How is that possible! Do they need our power? Besides, the transmission lines would have to be so long and high, and by the time it gets there, most of the power would be lost!"

The old professor became angrier as he read, pushing the paper aside, "Creative thinking can't be this chaotic. How can our students be so impractical!"

On the contrary, after hearing the old professor's comments, Liu Jianwang's eyes sparkled with a different light. He didn't say much, quickly picking up the paper and carefully reading it.

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