Chapter 173

Zhao Jianguo folded the lesson plan that read "Gear Set diagrams are in the Third Archive Room, don't trust the clerk" and slipped it into the bag's interlayer. He glanced at the sleeping Shuang Baotai, then glanced at the pocket watch placed beside the bed, turned and pulled open the dormitory door.

At dawn, someone walked down the corridor carrying a kettle; in the distance came the sound of a broom scraping concrete. He went downstairs, fetched a basin of water, washed his face, and when he returned to the room Chen Xiao Jian was already awake, bowing his head to sort out his enrollment documents.

"Today's first class is economics." Chen Xiao Jian looked up and said, "Professor Li, whose surname is Li, is quite stern; I heard he has been teaching since the 1960s."

Zhao Jianguo nodded, "Perfect, I also want to hear how they lecture on planned economy."

The two went together to the teaching building. The classroom was on the second floor, long wooden tables joined into desks arranged neatly; above the blackboard hung a hand-drawn National Economic Flow Diagram. Students came in one after another, sat down and quietly flipped through their books, no one speaking.

The class bell rang, Professor Li entered. He wore a faded Zhongshan suit, collar buttoned tight, holding a stack of lecture notes. After stepping onto the podium, he cleared his throat, opened his notebook and began to read: "The state's unified allocation of resources is the fundamental guarantee of the socialist economy. What to produce, how much to produce, and how to distribute are all decided by superior orders. This model eliminates waste, avoids disorderly competition, and is the most efficient and fairest way."

Below, all was silent except for the scratching of pens on paper.

Zhao Jianguo sat in the middle seat by the window, listening, his lips twitching slightly. After the professor finished a segment, he raised his hand.

"Anything?" the professor pushed his glasses up.

"I have a question." Zhao Jianguo stood up, "If there were a way to increase the circulation speed of materials by thirty percent, reducing backlog and shortage, would you consider it worthwhile?"

The professor frowned, "What method?"

"Refer to market demand to adjust." Zhao Jianguo said, "For example, if a place lacks coal but the plan hasn't yet allocated it, could we ship it early? Or if a factory produced extra cloth, could we reallocate it to areas that need it more?"

As soon as he finished speaking, several gazes shot over. Some shook their heads, others muttered quietly.

The professor's face darkened, "Are you advocating that free-market nonsense? That's capitalist stuff, long proven unworkable."

"I'm not saying who's right or wrong." Zhao Jianguo said calmly, "I'm just asking whether it's possible to combine the strengths of both approaches."

"Impossible!" the professor raised his voice, "Planned economy is the sole correct path proven by practice! Your kind of thinking easily sways the stance of young students!"

Zhao Jianguo did not retreat, "Then let me ask from another angle. If data showed that in some years delays in orders caused factories to halt and fields to lack fertilizer, is there truly no room for improvement?"

The professor sneered, "Data? Do you even have any data?"

Zhao Jianguo took out a palm-sized black box from his bag, pressed a button, and instantly several lines appeared on the wall: 1978 Q3, national average steel allocation delay rate 47%, grain transport delayed over seven days accounting for 31%.

The whole class erupted in an uproar.

Someone stood up to see better, students in the back craned their necks. Even Chen Xiao Jian widened his eyes.

Professor Li snapped his lecture notes shut, "Where did you get this? Who allowed you to bring such equipment into the classroom?"

"An internal unpublished statistical report from the system." Zhao Jianguo looked at him, "If you don't believe me, you can check the original records in the Third Archive Room."

The professor's hand trembled, his motion to adjust his glasses freezing mid-air.

Zhao Jianguo noticed, and continued, "I recall last year an engineer who reported a similar issue had his project halted and himself punished. Have you heard of this?"

"Nonsense!" the professor slammed the desk and stood up, "You're just making excuses! Spreading wrong ideas! Class monitor! Take down his name and write a self-criticism to turn in after class!"

Zhao Jianguo calmly turned off the projection, about to speak, when the classroom door was pushed open from outside.

The Special Forces Captain stood in the doorway, a silver-gray device hanging at his waist; behind him two team members wore dark uniforms, with ring-shaped devices on their arms.

His gaze fell directly on Zhao Jianguo, "Just now, what is the source of the data you used?"

Zhao Jianguo turned around, "A hypothetical model for discussion."

"Hypothetical?" the Special Forces Captain stepped forward, voice cold, "You're talking about the 1978 Q3 steel allocation delay rate of 47%. This figure isn't even officially archived by the State Planning Commission. How do you know it?"

No one spoke. The entire classroom was so quiet you could hear breathing.

Zhao Jianguo looked at him, "Even if I knew, it's only to illustrate an efficiency issue. Are we not even allowed to mention it?"

"You may mention it," the Special Forces Captain said, "but you cannot use future information to influence current decisions. This is explicitly prohibited by Article 13 of the Provisional Regulations on Spacetime Management."

"Future information?" Zhao Jianguo laughed, "I thought we were discussing historical lessons."

"Your device has already recorded abnormal energy fluctuations." The Special Forces Captain gestured with his hand, "Come with us for a trip. The Management Bureau wants to conduct an ideological evaluation of you."

The students all froze. Someone shifted sideways, as if fearing implication.

Chen Xiao Jian sprang to his feet, "He was just speaking in class—on what grounds do you take him away?"

The Special Forces Captain glanced at him, "You don't know the regulations; you can go to the office to pick up some study materials."

Zhao Jianguo didn't look at him or at Chen Xiao Jian. He bent down, picked up his bag, walked to the blackboard, picked up chalk, and wrote two lines beneath the existing writing:

**Plan = Safety? **

**Market = Danger? **

Then he put down the chalk and walked toward the door.

The Special Forces Captain stepped aside, the two team members flanking him. The group walked down the corridor, their footsteps echoing in the empty stairwell.

Passing an office, Zhao Jianguo suddenly stopped.

The door was open; inside sat a clerk in a gray coat, flipping through a thick register. On the desk lay a brass key, beside it a sign reading "Third Archive Room."

That person looked up, saw him, his eyes flickered, and he quickly closed the register.

Zhao Jianguo said nothing, just smiled.

The team continued forward. Sunlight poured in from the window at the end of the corridor, landing on the floor in square patches.

As they neared the ground floor, the Special Forces Captain lowered his voice, "Do you know why the 1978 matters cannot be mentioned?"

Zhao Jianguo looked up, "Because someone doesn't want people to know the truth."

"Not just the truth," the Special Forces Captain said, "but fear that once the lid is opened, the whole system will loosen."

"But it's already loosening," Zhao Jianguo said, "Can you stop a single sentence, can you stop the thought that pops into everyone's mind?"

The Special Forces Captain did not answer.

Stepping out of the teaching building, a dark-green jeep was parked outside, its front bearing a number plate, its doors labeled "official vehicle."

Zhao Jianguo was about to get in when he suddenly turned back.

Chen Xiao Jian stood at the second-floor window, half his body leaning out, tightly gripping that lesson plan.

Zhao Jianguo gave him a nod.

The car door shut, the engine started.

As the car drove out of the school gate, Zhao Jianguo saw in the rearview mirror the economics professor standing before the building, still clutching that stack of lecture notes. He remained still, but his lips kept moving, as if repeating something.

The jeep turned a corner and drove toward the west side of the city.

Zhao Jianguo reached his hand into his backpack, his fingertips touching the black box. He still had a piece of data he hadn't released.

As long as there is one chance, more people can see it.

The car passed an old bridge; the river beneath flowed slowly. By the roadside, a few children were chasing a kite, one of whom fell, got up, and kept running.

Zhao Jianguo looked out the window and suddenly said, "Have you ever thought that sometimes the most dangerous thing isn't what was said, but what wasn't said at all?"

The Special Forces Captain sat in the passenger seat without turning his head, "We only carry out orders."

"Who issued the order?" Zhao Jianguo asked. "Isn't there also someone who, like me, spoke up, only to be silenced?"

"Silence?" the driver couldn't hear clearly.

"I mean, they were silenced." Zhao Jianguo leaned against the seat back, "Just because a person's voice is gone doesn't mean the problem is solved."

No one in the car responded.

Wind blew through the car window, messing up Zhao Jianguo's forehead hair. He closed his eyes and tapped twice on the edge of his backpack with his fingers.

That was the signal he and Chen Xiao Jian had agreed upon.

It means: wait for me to come back.