I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 158Book 2: : All You Can Do Is Pray

Vol 2 Chapter 158: All You Can Do Is Pray

“You’ve been flipping through those for two days straight, Director Yang—is it really necessary?”

The young man driving the car couldn’t help asking when he saw her puzzled expression.

The woman surnamed Yang set the documents down with a sigh. “You don’t understand.”

“Well, I really don’t. It’s just some random nursing home. Why do you have to come in person? You even stopped your overseas work…” the driver muttered.

“Look around you.”

Director Yang pointed out the car window.

Bathed in twilight, the mountain vegetation glowed a deep green, almost black.

“Tell me, in Jingcheng, at this time of year—have you ever seen anything like this?”

“Didn’t the experts say the climate’s acting up this year… early plant growth and all that… plus, that livestream had special effects, which makes it even more…”

“I’m the one who got those experts,” Director Yang said, lips curling. “Otherwise, who knows what kind of stir it might’ve caused.”

The young driver stared at the strange scene outside, his confusion only deepening.

“So this nursing home… what’s the deal with it?”

“Let me put it this way—I’ve consulted a few professors,” Director Yang explained. “With current technology… this effect just isn’t possible.”

“Then… what exactly is the origin of this nursing home?”

“How should I know? Maybe it’s some mysterious cult pulling tricks, or they got their hands on alien tech and want to play god in the modern world… it’s all possible.”

“……”

The driver winced—he knew this was serious. Mainly because… this nursing home seemed to have something real going on!

“So what’s your plan, Director Yang?”

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“You think I’ve done nothing these past two days?”

“Hmm?”

“Headquarters has already made several contingency plans. One, they’re aliens. Two, they’re immortals descended to the mortal world. Three, they’re just pretending to be mystics…” Director Yang explained. “I’m here to test the waters.”

“Test… test what exactly?”

The driver blinked, asking before he could stop himself.

Director Yang glanced at him and said nothing.

The driver seemed to realize something, his face turning to shock.

“If not for their sensitive identities—and the fact that we don’t know if they’re friend or foe, or what their goals are… those higher-ups might’ve come themselves.”

The driver heard this, pursed his lips, and didn’t dare ask any more: “No wonder they sent you, Director Yang…”

Director Yang shook her head, as if she too didn’t want to say more. She pulled out another few personnel files and said:

“There are five people in this nursing home, each with a background—not a single ordinary person. But two of them joined later. The original core seems to be these three…” She pointed to the files of Zheng Fa, Tang Lingwu, and Old Man Bai.

“Of them, this little girl—aside from being especially pretty—has nothing particularly noteworthy. Her family has some money, but that’s not unusual.”

“The strange ones are the other two.”

“This young Zheng Fa is an orphan. Not only does he come from the worst background among them, the changes after his parents’ death were the most dramatic. There’s very little info on him. Very mysterious…”

“So he’s the alien?”

“……” Director Yang hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. “I actually suspect this Professor Bai.”

“Hmm?”

“First, he has enough social standing. It would be difficult for Zheng Fa to gather such a group of intellectuals on his own. Relationship-wise, everyone except Zheng Fa is somehow connected to him—Professor Tian is an old acquaintance and now his wife. Tang Mu Dao knew him years ago. Tang Lingwu is a relative…”

“Second, this man studied qigong in his youth…”

“Third, not long ago, in a livestream, he showed unusual physical condition—almost like he was rejuvenating…”

“This man might be the mastermind behind everything. And Zheng Fa—probably because he’s an orphan—was placed out in the open…”

Hearing her analysis, the driver couldn’t help nodding in agreement.

...

As they spoke, the car arrived at the nursing home gate.

The gate slowly opened, as if they had known the two were coming.

Director Yang looked at the driver. The driver touched his waist and nodded at her.

Both took a deep breath as the car rolled into the courtyard.

When they reached the main building of the nursing home, a slightly chubby man came walking out. They both recognized him—it was Tang Mu Dao.

“This guy isn’t simple either. He has standing in the academic community abroad, and he’s stirred up the Daoist Association here pretty well.”

Tang Mu Dao quickly stepped forward, acting warmly: “Miss Yang, Mr. Chen, welcome!”

Director Yang and the driver exchanged a look, immediately on high alert again.

These people in the nursing home really seemed to have some extraordinary capabilities—and more importantly, this felt like a show of force.

Seeing their expressions, Tang Mu Dao seemed to understand what they were thinking. He smiled and said, “Don’t overthink it. I called you that just to let you know—we know who you are. That’s all. It’s just our style.”

“Style? What kind of style?”

“Knowing what we know, saying what we can say,” Tang Mu Dao said with a smile. “Honest and straightforward. No smoke and mirrors.”

Director Yang froze, her steps halting slightly.

Clearly, this wasn’t what she’d expected.

But she didn’t ask further.

The three of them walked past the main building toward the smaller building where Zheng Fa and the others lived.

“We’re not trying to snub you—it’s just that, besides me, everyone’s been extremely busy. Really racing against time.”

Tang Mu Dao spoke with an apologetic tone.

Director Yang paused again, then asked, “Weren’t you trying to attract our attention on purpose?”

“Of course!” Tang Mu Dao nodded crisply. “But our main business is still research—trying to draw your attention was just to further our research…”

Director Yang and the driver exchanged another glance, even more puzzled now.

A few more steps in, and they finally understood why Tang Mu Dao said that—

In the agricultural lab, Teacher Tian was wearing a white coat, busily inspecting various freshly harvested crops.

Even in the middle of winter, the lush crops growing in the fields made the two visitors do a double take.

Tang Lingwu was sitting at a computer, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

If you ignored the fact that she was cross-legged and floating in mid-air… the scene looked almost normal.

The person they considered the big boss, Old Man Bai, had a pencil in hand and was scribbling and sketching on paper, scratching his white hair as if in deep frustration.

He didn’t even notice they had arrived.

Seeing the two electric wires attached to the old man, both guests’ eyelids twitched slightly.

As for Zheng Fa...

In front of him was a large monitor, probably showing an e-book.

He was holding a remote, flipping pages rapidly, eyes fixed on the screen, muttering under his breath as if reciting something.

Indeed—Zheng Fa was the only normal person in this whole place!

Zheng Fa had actually known the two were coming for a while now. He wasn’t putting on airs—he really was busy.

He had gathered a large number of books and materials related to coding, computer architecture, and instruction sets, planning to memorize them all in one go and bring them back for Senior Sister Zhang to reference.

He didn’t really understand that field himself.

But then again, maybe one of the books could spark some inspiration for her?

So he had already made up his mind—not to waste a single minute. Memorize as much as he could—treat himself like a mobile hard drive.

Once the two stepped into the courtyard, Zheng Fa finally greeted them: “Welcome, both of you.”

He brought them to the first-floor living room of the small building. Tang Mu Dao quietly slipped away.

At that moment, Director Yang was surprised. She realized this young man was actually the one in charge of the nursing home.

She also seemed to pick up on some of Zheng Fa’s personality, and spoke directly: “Mr. Zheng, did you invite us here for something specific?”

“I know your title, but I’m not familiar with the scope of your authority. Now, please tell me—can you handle these two things?”

Zheng Fa had no interest in playing mind games. He simply handed over two experimental project proposals.

“‘A Study on Electromagnetic Signals During the Twenty-Four Solar Terms’?”

“‘A Type of Circuit Structure for Artificial Intelligence’?”

Director Yang lifted her head slightly, her expression growing even more confused. She just fell silent and looked over the documents.

“This… I’ll need to check with a few people. Also…” Director Yang gave a subtly meaningful smile. “What I’m able to do depends on who you all really are, and what your goals are.”

Zheng Fa sighed inwardly.

It was exactly this kind of vagueness that he disliked. That’s why he preferred to be upfront.

“You’ve seen it yourself—we’re doing research.”

“Research on what?”

“Cultivation.”

“I never imagined… those two words could be used like that…” Director Yang had mentally prepared herself, but hearing Zheng Fa say it still left her speechless. After a pause, she said, “But Mr. Zheng… that kind of explanation won’t convince anyone.”

Zheng Fa gave a slight smile—and suddenly vanished before their eyes.

Director Yang’s eyelids twitched, but her expression didn’t change: “Mr. Zheng, this kind of invisibility… there’s tech that can pull it off too.”

“I just don’t want anyone else to see us, that’s all.”

“‘Us’?”

Director Yang froze and looked down—only to realize she herself had seemingly vanished into thin air.

She looked again and saw that the driver had also disappeared.

“Miss Yang, you’re a native of Jingcheng, right?”

“Yes.”

Director Yang responded a bit dazedly.

“Then do me a favor—show me around Jingcheng.”

“Ah?”

The next moment, Director Yang and the driver felt a force wrap around them, propelling them rapidly toward the city.

It had taken them nearly three hours to drive here from Jingcheng.

But in less than twenty minutes, they were back where they had started.

Zheng Fa seemed quite interested in the city, flying over several spots—though it was all done from the air, and no one noticed them at all.

…

By the time the two of them left the nursing home, Director Yang still seemed a little dazed.

She clutched the project proposals tightly, her neck a bit stiff, like she didn’t dare look back.

“Director Yang?”

As the car reached the foot of the mountain, the driver finally spoke: “We’re… just going back like this?”

“What else?”

There was a trace of self-mockery in Director Yang’s voice.

“Then… we’re just going to follow their lead?”

“Didn’t Tang Mu Dao say it already? Their goal is cooperation. They just want us to demonstrate our capabilities first.”

“…And we just take his word for it?”

“You really think Zheng Fa was actually sightseeing with us?” Director Yang sighed. “With that kind of ability… who could stop him if he really wanted to do something?”

“……”

The driver’s expression changed, only to hear Director Yang say:

“All you can do is pray… that this group really does want to cooperate with us.”

“And besides…” Director Yang pulled out a glass vial. Inside were a few pea seeds. “Didn’t they already name their price?”