Break out of the courtyard

What are the different stages of fishing?
For a more casual approach, simply bait the hook, cast it, wait for the float to rise and fall, and then pull the rod to see the result.

More complex fishing involves selecting the right tackle, preparing the right bait, choosing the fishing location, the weather, and so on.

Zhang Heping started out fishing and selling fish, and with the help of cheat codes, he has mastered the essence of a true angler!

Therefore, he used fishing techniques when dealing with matters related to Americans, such as the "technology exchange" part!
After Zhang Heping returned to Hong Kong Island and publicly proposed the idea of ​​exchanging technology, he used shares of the listed company controlled by the Heping Group as bait.

His fishing tackle is a testament to the advanced technology he has mastered!
The fish he wants to catch, besides the advanced technologies mastered by the Americans, are also the talented people who possess those technologies!

The fact that countries like the US and Europe sent people to the Northwest Space Center to cooperate with lunar and Martian exploration and base research plans can only be considered as their initial response.

The various semiconductor technologies released by mainland Chinese universities are just enough to attract interest from countries like Europe and the United States.

If they were to be even bolder and release semiconductor technology using 100-nanometer process technology that is on the verge of being phased out, the US would certainly be even more aggressive in its pursuit.

If that's the case, Zhang Heping would have agreed on the spot last night when Hua suggested sending someone to the United States to study the hammer!

When Zhang Heping saw the Americans coming over this morning, besides needing to check the status of the regenerative brain server, there was also an intention to use it as a pretext for maneuvering.

Since we've been trolling the Americans for so long, spending a little more of their energy will only make reeling in the line and pulling the rod easier.

Because Professor Hua knew last night that the Americans were coming, he came to the library early this morning.

When Zhang Heping entered the library, he did not greet Hua Lao. Hua Lao also pretended to be nonchalant and sat down in the rest area to read a book.

After the six Americans lay down in the learning pod, Hua waited patiently for a while.

More than an hour passed, but the Americans still hadn't come out, so he started to get restless.

However, Zhang Heping went to the server room, and the bodyguards on the outside did not allow anyone to approach. Hua Lao had no choice but to lie down in the learning pod as well and check the situation in the virtual dream.

Although everyone appears as a scarecrow when they enter the virtual learning dream, it's still easy to tell who doesn't have a small flag on their head.

In particular, when Mr. Hua, wearing a small red flag with his name on it, stopped a teacher in the Dream Library to ask him a question, he quickly got the answer.

The three scarecrows without flags went up to the library; it's currently unknown which floor they're on.

The other three scarecrows, without their own flags, were wandering around the factory area.

Mr. Hua looked up at the library with some concern, staring at the rings of railings, lost in thought.

"Professor Hua, is there anything else?" the scarecrow teacher next to him said, "Our experimental group asked me to look up some information, and the time is a bit tight."

The library materials here weren't connected to the factory or laboratory network, which really surprised the teachers leading the group.

But when they realized that the perceived speed was different on each floor, they suppressed their doubts and obediently went to the library to look up information.

"It's alright, you go ahead and do your work!" Old Hua tried to smile, but the scarecrow had no mouth; only a few straws were slightly split open at the mouth.

I watched as the assistant teacher quickly left and climbed a ladder to the second-floor railing. He didn't climb over the railing, but instead moved a few steps to the right and climbed a ladder hanging on the third floor. He repeated this several times before finally climbing over the sixth-floor railing.

6楼是6倍迭加速，算上此间的10倍基础加速感知，6楼就是60倍加速感知，即外面1分钟，6楼1小时。

So, before Mr. Hua could decide whether to leave the virtual dream world and continue waiting outside, the assistant teacher slid down the fire escape from the 6th floor.

"Professor Hua, I'm going back to the lab now. If you need anything, you can go outside to find Professor Lin; he's on duty today." Teacher Scarecrow, carrying a notebook, called out to Professor Hua and then quickly ran towards the gate.

Outside the library, there was a long iron table, behind which sat a scarecrow hunched over writing and drawing. This was Professor Lin, the assistant teacher had mentioned earlier, and also the teacher in charge of Class Two.

His sitting here on duty is actually a bit of a meddlesome thing.

Zhang Heping ignored the students riding bicycles into the library. After the teachers came in, they set rules for everyone, requiring bicycles to be parked in designated areas outside the library and also requiring them to clean up.

After looking around the factory area for a while and not finding the three Americans, Hua Lao turned to the scarecrow next to the iron table and asked, "Professor Lin, what are you researching?"

Professor Lin seemed not to hear him, continuing to write something in his notebook, looking very focused.

Mr. Hua waited for more than ten seconds, but when he did not see a response, he did not disturb the other party further.

Just as Mr. Hua was about to leave the dream and wait outside, seven or eight bicycles suddenly sprang out from the left, drove straight across the lawn, and arrived at the library entrance.

"Professor Lin, we've verified it with the computer!" A scarecrow parked his bicycle in front of the iron table and quickly took out a stack of A4 papers from the bicycle basket. "Look, this verification process is the same as what's described in that book on the 8th floor."

Professor Lin put down his pen, placed the stack of calculation papers on the table, and a few strands of hair between his brows were tangled together. "This is a virtual dream world. The content in the book and the calculations on the computer may be interconnected. Have you carefully verified them?"

"Yes!" Another scarecrow stepped forward, placed a black abacus on the iron table, and said in a relaxed tone, "We've checked the calculations using the abacus!"

"Just to be on the safe side, we'd like to go back to reality and double-check the calculations using a computer, calculator, and abacus."

Old Hua was pushed aside by these later scarecrows. Although he could hear their words, he didn't know what they were talking about, so he had no choice but to leave and return to reality.

The library in reality was very quiet. Apart from the guard Xiao Qin and the bodyguards and medical staff, there were only three teachers eating and replenishing their nutrition in the rest area.

After leaving the learning pod, Hua Lao asked a nearby bodyguard, "Is your boss still in the server room?"

"Hmm!" the bodyguard responded, his eyes continuing to scan the surroundings.

Even if there is nothing suspicious inside the building, there are other bodyguards and security guards outside, and these bodyguards on duty inside the building still diligently guard every corner.

The reason for this is that their shifts are relatively short, and they take turns resting every hour.

Secondly, they were killed more than once for being careless during virtual dream training in the basement of the villa on the mountaintop.

A seemingly insignificant oversight could lead to total annihilation.

The key point is that they even fought against each other in groups in a virtual dream!

The attacking side knows the defending side's defensive habits and exploits their weaknesses accordingly.

To allow the defender to conserve energy and wait for the enemy to tire themselves out, they often need to devise at least two different but complementary defensive strategies.

After these repeated drills, the quality of the bodyguards from Umbrella Security Company has improved significantly.

When it was lunchtime, Zhang Heping finally left the computer room.

As he emerged, the hatches of six learning pods were rising. Following the sound, Hua looked over and saw only three Americans emerging from the learning pods. Bodyguards and medical personnel were already rushing to the other three pods, indicating that something had gone wrong.

Not long after, the three unconscious Americans were given IV drips and carried out of the library on stretchers.

"Mr. Zhang!" Alex, the curator from the United States, pressed his hands to his head, looking extremely uncomfortable, and asked, "I feel like my head is about to explode!"

“Who told you to stay inside for so long!” Zhang Heping pointed expressionlessly at the medical staff next to him and said in English, “Drink the glucose they gave you; it will relieve your discomfort.”

When Hua Lao walked over and saw Zhang Heping's serious expression, he couldn't help but guess that the kid was doing it on purpose, and was probably secretly mocking the American for being too eager for quick success and wanting to figure out the reality of the Virtual Dream Library in one go.

After Director Alex and the other two Americans finished a vial of glucose, Zhang Heping casually pointed to one of the accompanying staff members and said, "Go and pay the hospital fees for these three."

"If you want to transfer to another hospital, go outside and talk to the medical staff now."

The blond middle-aged man, who appeared to be an intelligence agent, looked at Curator Alex. Seeing the latter nod slightly, he helplessly pounded his head and walked towards the door.

“There’s milk and cake over there, let’s go over and talk!” Zhang Heping said, walking towards the rest area and grabbing a bottle of energy drink along the way.

Just as Curator Alex was about to follow, he saw a somewhat familiar old man smiling at him.

Because of his headache, the American curator was a beat slow to react. It wasn't until the old man walked towards Zhang Heping that Curator Alex remembered who the other person was, thanks to a reminder from his blonde secretary.

Director Alex quickly stepped forward, forced a smile, shook hands with Elder Hua, and exchanged a few polite words in broken Chinese.

"The curator's Chinese still needs improvement!" Zhang Heping put down his drink, which he had just taken a sip from, leaned back in his plastic chair, and casually said in Chinese:
"Although we don't know how much longer you can stay on Hong Kong Island, as long as you continue to work, you will inevitably have to deal with us in the future."

Although the blonde female secretary who came along was also dizzy, her professionalism prevailed, and she quickly and quietly translated Zhang Heping's words to their curator.

“My…language talent is…a bit…bad!” Curator Alex said haltingly in Chinese, “But I will…try hard to learn…Chinese, so that communication will be easier!”

"I'm very interested in the materials you sent last night, but I haven't had time to study them lately!" Zhang Heping said calmly in Chinese.

"Do you want to provide relevant technical information and exchange technology with me in the future, or do you want to exchange researchers with me to participate in each other's research?"

Upon hearing this, the blonde secretary immediately perked up, her previous unpleasant expression vanishing, and she quietly and hurriedly translated Zhang Heping's words.

Curator Alex reacted similarly, putting down his hand that had been pounding his head, and carefully pondering what Zhang Heping had just expressed.

Hua Lao didn't stay in the virtual dream for long, so he immediately understood Zhang Heping's meaning: either the Americans would offer their mature technology in exchange, or they would send experts to participate in each other's research.

There's no doubt that the Americans want to exchange technology with Zhang Heping.

However, the Americans have consistently refused to exchange technology.

Firstly, they felt that there weren't many technologies that were currently ahead of the mainland, and even fewer that would interest Zhang Heping.

Secondly, these guys want to get something for nothing. They don't want to give away the technology, but they want to get Zhang Heping's technology for free. Ideally, they could also trick Zhang Heping into going to the United States, which would be even more perfect!

But Zhang Heping just said that he doesn't have time to study those things, and he wants to put an end to the Americans' delusions first.

“Mr. Zhang!” Curator Alex spoke in English, and his blonde secretary quickly translated into Chinese, “Could we send someone to participate in your longevity potion research?”

"Research into the Longevity Elixir has been suspended for some reasons that cannot be disclosed. I presume your people have already gathered intelligence on this!" Zhang Heping said calmly.

"Furthermore, you don't need to participate in this research. In a few years, once the production of Lifespan 120 in mainland China increases, the price will naturally decrease."

"By the time you two need the Lifespan Serum, the price of Lifespan 120 Serum may have already dropped to the price of a regular vaccine, so you don't need to waste your time on this."

Hua turned his head to look elsewhere, not wanting the Americans to see the smile on his lips.

In a few years, when the longevity 120 medicine from the mainland is finally available for sale abroad, other countries may have to wait even longer if they don't open up trade channels.

Thinking of this, Mr. Hua couldn't help but think of the large and small factories that the Heping Group had invested in on the mainland.

Considering the scenario I just thought of where countries open trade channels in exchange for the Lifespan 120 drug, once the factories in mainland China controlled by the Peace Group start to exert their efforts, they will most likely generate a lot of wealth for the Peace Group, just like Tingmei Daily Chemicals, Tingmei Luggage, and Peace Health Products factories!

Thinking about it this way, Zhang Heping's continued free trials of the Lifespan 120 drug were actually preparations for opening up trade channels with various countries later on.

As for how much was lost and how much will be made back later, according to Zhang Heping, it's just a series of fluctuating numbers!

Director Alex looked at the learning pods and asked, "Mr. Zhang, can we send someone to participate in your brain-computer interface research?"

"Sure!" Zhang Heping answered decisively this time.

But it was precisely because of his straightforwardness that Hua Lao turned around abruptly, and the two Americans were stunned, never expecting Zhang Heping to answer like that.

"In the field of brain-computer interfaces, which involves emerging disciplines such as mental power, brain-computer hardware, and dream construction, you can send young people to learn, just like the mainland does."

"As for whether they can participate in my brain-computer interface research, it depends on their learning ability."

Zhang Heping glanced at Elder Hua, who seemed hesitant to speak, and continued, "I can open up this technology, but what will you offer me in exchange?"

"Peace Group's brain-computer interface technology is nearing maturity and can be put into the market for testing at any time!" Old Hua said with a frown beside him.

"The most significant feature of this technology is that it can help people make the most of their sleep time!"

"If we calculate based on each person sleeping 8 hours a day, people who use brain-computer interfaces will effectively live one-third longer."

"If we add the time difference technology you just perceived in the virtual dream, users will be able to stay in the virtual dream for even longer, and it's not impossible that it will become a second world for humanity in the future!"

"Does the magnesium country possess comparable and systematic technology? Would you like to exchange it?"

After a moment of silence, Director Alex said, "I need to report back to my home country before I can answer you both on this issue."

Zhang Heping said noncommittally, "I don't want to see any Japanese people or Nissan cars lately!"

The topic shifted rather abruptly, and although Curator Alex didn't fully understand, he knew it was time to take his leave.

“Yes, Mr. Zhang!” Curator Alex stood up with a smile. “I will pass on your words to Lord K.”

...(End of chapter)