The rejuvenation of a great nation: from educated youth to national treasure scientist

Lee Sang-hyeok's home is located in the suburbs of Seoul.

After he got off the plane, he hesitated about whether he should go home to visit his family.

It's been too long since I've known what's going on at home.

More than six years ago, Lee Sang-hyeok contacted his older brother once.

On that occasion, his older brother said that their mother was critically ill and wanted to see him, hoping that he could come home.

At that time, Lee Sang-hyeok was at the most crucial moment of his life: one of his research projects was at a critical juncture.

He desperately needed that achievement.

Moreover, he was afraid of being arrested if he went back.

Because many people are spreading rumors that people like them will be arrested and imprisoned if they go back.

Lee Sang-hyeok was afraid to go back.

He changed his address and contact information, and has not contacted his family since.

Lee Sang-hyeok felt apprehensive about returning home, unsure of the current situation there.

As his parents' proudest son, he was not there for them when they needed him most.

That's incredibly unfilial.

I am so selfish.

He didn't know how to face his family.

My mother, perhaps she's no longer here?
Back then, even if I couldn't go back, I should have sent some money back to show my appreciation, right?
I hadn't done anything at all.

My appearance must be completely unrecognizable by then, right?

Lee Sang-hyeok was in some pain.

He thought: What a selfish and selfish guy I am!
Lee Sang-hyeok passed through security and customs at the airport.

Here, he saw long queues of people of all skin colors.

Everyone had a look of fervent pilgrimage in their eyes.

This kind of expression is not hard to find on the faces of those who went to the Giant Eagle back then.

Finally, it was Lee Sang-hyeok's turn to go through customs inspection.

He was very uneasy.

He was worried that he would be arrested immediately.

After all, he betrayed us back then.

However, to his surprise, the customs officials didn't say much at all.

I just glanced at his passport and visa, then waved him past.

Lee Sang-hyeok was surprised.

He also breathed a sigh of relief.

He came back this time with a do-or-die mentality.

He came with a tragic sense of desperation, ready to risk going to jail.

However, the other party clearly didn't pay much attention to him.

This is quite unexpected.

Didn't they say that all the people who came back before were arrested, and some were even executed?
really weird.

However, it's always good to be able to pass through customs safely.

After collecting his luggage at the airport, Lee Sang-hyeok left the airport terminal, having already made up his mind: to go home and visit his family!
No matter what, you have to go home and visit.

From now on, he will continue to develop within the dragon realm.

In this situation, it's natural to maintain good relationships with family members.

How can you get by without maintaining good relationships with your family and having a support system?
After all, the Dragon Kingdom is a society based on personal relationships.

You need to have your own network of relationships.

Lee Sang-hyeok believed that dragons lived in a society based on human relationships, but he did not think that eagles were the same.

He believes that Ying always handles things in a professional and business-like manner, no matter what the matter is.

Therefore, eagles are more friendly to truly talented people.

This shows that even after more than ten years with the Giant Eagle, Lee Sang-hyeok was still unable to integrate into the eagle community.

How could a society like Eagle City not be one of human relationships?

Look at those politicians, aren't they all desperately promoting their family members and relatives, cultivating their own cronies?

At Giant Eagle, a letter of recommendation is required to get into university.

If the father attended Harvard, his children can also attend as long as they are not too bad.

After the Eagle King is elected, he will thank his sponsors and reward his ministers handsomely.

You've done me a favor, so I have to repay you.

Retired politicians can set up lobbying firms to lobby officials on behalf of their employers.

Furthermore, today he's a bureaucrat, but tomorrow he can become a senior executive in a private company.

Isn't this a society based on personal connections?

All I can say is that the Giant Eagles have always treated Lee Sang-hyeok as nothing more than a tool.

He was so busy working in the lab every day that he had no chance to get involved with the eagle circle.

Therefore, he would think that the giant eagle is clean.

In short: Lee Sang-hyeok was still fooled by the hawk's self-promotional rhetoric.

Of course, he himself must also have problems.

Lee Sang-hyeok took a taxi from the airport straight to his hometown village.

The entire route consisted of fast lanes in excellent condition.

The green mountains and clear waters on both sides are picturesque.

The village nestled among them is full of beautiful little buildings.

Lee Sang-hyeok was very surprised.

This place wasn't like this when he left.

The road was very narrow and full of potholes.

The village was full of dilapidated houses.

Back then, even having enough to eat was a luxury.

But now, everything has changed.

It's an incredible transformation, like the changing of the seas and the transformation of the land.

Why has it developed so quickly?
When Lee Sang-hyeok was with Giant Eagle, he was initially influenced by the local Eagle media, and all he saw was the negative side of Dragon.

At that moment, he was relieved, relieved that he had finally climbed out of the fire pit.

But then, the internet came along.

There is a lot of news about dragons on the internet.

They mostly said good things about dragons.

There are photos and videos of dragons from all over the world.

However, Lee Sang-hyeok thought it was just a publicity stunt.

Do you think I don't know what a dragon looks like?
That's where I came from!
Lee Sang-hyeok believed that all the information on the internet was fake.

The purpose is to deceive naive and innocent people.

But now, Lee Sang-hyeok has witnessed the dramatic changes firsthand.

"How's your income, sir?" Lee Sang-hyeok couldn't help but strike up a conversation with the taxi driver.

The master said, "I don't earn much, just a net income of about 5 yuan per month."

Lee Sang-hyeok was very surprised.

Holy crap, no way? Taxi drivers are making a net income of 5 now?

Lee Sang-hyeok had a general idea of ​​what this income would be like after exchanging RMB on the black market. A net income of 5 was roughly equivalent to 2.5 RMB in Giant Eagle.

He's much taller than Lee Sang-hyeok.

"How would your income be compared to that of an average person?" Lee Sang-hyeok asked, barely suppressing the shock he was feeling.

The driver smiled and said, "Lower-middle income, I guess."

"I didn't earn a lot, but I didn't earn a lot either, haha!"

Lee Sang-hyeok asked, "What about the price level? What are your average monthly expenses?"

The driver glanced at Lee Sang-hyeok with a hint of curiosity and said, "Why don't you go to the market and check it out?"

"However, I can also tell you that if you include all the meat, eggs, milk, fruit and other necessities for a family of four, it will only cost a little over a thousand yuan per month."

"I am very satisfied."

"Thinking back to just a few years ago, we were dirt poor. It all feels like a dream. I'm afraid that one day I'll wake up from this dream and go back to the way things were."

The driver spoke while looking at Lee Sang-hyeok with curiosity.

What are you going to Shali Village for? Are you visiting relatives?

Lee Sang-hyeok said, "Oh, I am from Sa-ri Village."

"I went abroad many years ago and just came back."

Lee Sang-hyeok felt that the driver looked somewhat familiar.

The driver glanced at Lee Sang-hyeok again and said with a smile, "Do I look familiar to you?"

Lee Sang-hyeok scratched his head and said, "He looks kind of familiar."

"It seems like we should have met before."

The driver laughed loudly and said, "Li Xianghe, the great talent Li!"

"I'm Zhang Bo!"

“We were classmates at Miaoli Middle School, do you remember me?” Lee Sang-hyeok thought for a moment and immediately remembered that there was indeed such a classmate in junior high school.

However, Zhang Bo was a very poor student at that time.

He later dropped out of junior high school to work on the farm.

I never expected to run into him during this trip back to China.

"Oh! I remember now, it's Zhang Bo. It's been over twenty years since we last met. I almost didn't recognize him."

Zhang Bo laughed and said, "Li, the great talent, has changed even more! Haha!"

"You seem much more sophisticated now. No wonder you've studied abroad."

Lee Sang-hyeok waved his hand sheepishly and said, "I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed. It's better not to have studied foreign ink at all."

"The dragon has changed so much now. It's like the world has been turned upside down."

Zhang Bo laughed and said, "I've heard that things are really bad for you Giant Eagles, and many ordinary people are going hungry. Is that true?"

Lee Sang-hyeok quickly said, "I'm not one of the Giant Eagles. Deep down, I'm still a Dragonman. No matter what, my heart will never change."

Zhang Bo said, "I heard you've already become a citizen, right?"

"Then you must be a giant eagle."

"Are you back this time to visit relatives?"

Lee Sang-hyeok nodded: "Yes, it's for visiting relatives."

"Of course, if I can find opportunities for development, I will stay."

"In the end, no matter how good foreign countries are, they are still other people's homes. There is no place like your own doghouse."

Zhang Bo nodded: "That's right."

"However, foreign countries are not necessarily a golden nest."

"I think our home is much better than those abroad."

"I went to Japan once a couple of years ago."

"They claim to be a developed country, but I really don't know where they've gone."

"Things are too expensive there."

"Moreover, I felt it was chaotic, and the people on the street seemed listless, like walking corpses."

"Judging from their complexions, they don't look well; their faces are pale and they're extremely thin."

"It's obvious they're not getting enough to eat!"

"Moreover, there are many homeless people on the streets, and in some places, there are young girls selling themselves on the street, and the price is so cheap that it only costs about a meal, tsk tsk!"

"Japan, which was once considered advanced, has somehow become like that."

"When I was in Japan, I encountered thieves twice and was robbed once."

"However, I have some martial arts training, and I took him down in no time."

"The Japanese are finished!"

Lee Sang-hyeok was a little embarrassed.

He felt that the other party was making veiled criticisms of him.

Perhaps it was Zhang Bo's use of that proverb that had just made him a little unhappy.

"Oh, actually, I personally feel that the giant eagle is pretty much useless too."

"The streets are full of drug addicts who look like zombies."

"The streets were in such a dilapidated state that it was truly shocking to see."

"You could be robbed at any time while walking on the street."

"Even in your own home, you could be a victim of a home invasion robbery."

"terrible."

"There is almost nowhere safe anymore."

Lee Sang-hyeok could only try to find common ground.

Clearly, Zhang Bo looked down on Li Xianghe, who had returned from the Giant Eagle.

Zhang Bo laughed and said, "So, Li the Great Talent, you felt that the Giant Eagle wasn't doing so well, so you came back?"

"If the Giant Eagle is always better off than here, would you never bother to come back and visit?"

This sentence is very straightforward.

It's blatant sarcasm.

Lee Sang-hyeok had no choice but to say, "That's not how it is."

"The only reason I stayed there for so long was that I had a major research project that I had not been able to complete."

"I hope to come back after I've figured it out."

Zhang Bo smiled and said, "But everyone in the surrounding villages knows that after you went to Giant Eagle, you didn't even contact your family for many years."

"Your own mother is critically ill, and you haven't come back. What happened?"

Lee Sang-hyeok: "..."

The other party has absolutely no regard for their own reputation.

"Oh, back then, yes, it was the relevant agencies of Giant Eagle that used secrecy as an excuse to prevent me from contacting the country."

"They confiscated my passport and won't let me come back."

He had no choice but to lie like this.

What else to do?
He cannot be accused of being disloyal, unjust, or unfilial.

Zhang Bo said with a smile, "It seems that what you're researching is quite important."

"It seems that the giant eagle really has no humanity at all."

"Why did they let you come back this time?"

Lee Sang-hyeok could only continue to lie: "The project is finished."

"Moreover, they abandoned our project."

“They think our project has no value.”

Zhang Bo nodded and said, "So they were kidnapped."

"Your experience is exactly the same as Qian Lao's back then."

Lee Sang-hyeok said, "I dare not compare myself to Mr. Qian."

"I actually really wanted to come back and serve my country."

Zhang Bo said, "It's good that you can come back."

"But you'll never see your mother again."

"She has been dead for many years."

Upon hearing this, Lee Sang-hyeok was overcome with grief.

Only now did he remember all the good things his mother had done for him.

But he could never see her again.

Only now did Lee Sang-hyeok shed a few tears.

Yes, he cried.

It's unclear whether it was his mother crying or himself.

However, in short, he felt that his life had been full of twists and turns.

Zhang Bo sighed and said, "Li Xianghe, don't cry."

"Go back and burn some paper money for your mother, let's acknowledge her arrival, and start over."

"By the way, did you come back alone this time?"

"Where are your wife and children?"

Lee Sang-hyeok waved his hand and said, "I am all alone, I don't have a wife."

Zhang Bo was surprised: "Huh?! You're such a capable researcher, and you're still single?"

Lee Sang-hyeok smiled wryly: "Mainly because I've always been so focused on research and writing papers that I've never thought about this before."

Zhang Bo said, "That won't do."

"You're 35 this year, aren't you?"

Lee Sang-hyeok said, "Yes, I'm 35 years old."

Zhang Bo shook his head: "If we don't find someone soon, I guess we won't even be able to have children."

“I got married at 18 and I already have 3 children. My eldest is 16 this year and is in high school. He is doing very well in school.”

"Sigh! Who would have thought that the talented Li has never even found a wife."

Clearly, Zhang Bo had once again found a sense of superiority.

Lee Sang-hyeok could only manage a wry smile.

He has nothing now.

He has no wife, no children, no home, no friends, and no job.

Life is truly a mystery.

Back in the day, he was one of the best!

He is an exceptional person, one in a million.

But now?

He was abandoned by the whole world.

As they were talking, they arrived at Shali Village.

The car stopped directly in front of a three-story luxury villa.

Zhang Bo was clearly very familiar with every household in Shali Village.

“This is your eldest brother’s house, and your father lives here too,” Zhang Bo said. (End of Chapter)