Industry: Cthulhu

Chapter 35 Rashid's Fury

In the following days, Xiaobei would come to the garden at the stern of the Rose on time every day. The long voyage happened to make Fang Yan feel bored, so he did not refuse and accompanied Xiaobei to study every day.

The teacher assigned Xiaobei a large number of learning tasks, covering almost every subject in the galaxy, from quantum physics, to interstellar engineering, to biotechnology, space science, and even planetary politics about the cosmic social system.

Although Fang Yan felt very surprised that his academic workload was so complicated, he never expressed his doubts directly. He just observed silently and provided help to the best of his ability.

Gradually, Fang Yan discovered that Xiaobei studied very hard and diligently, but Xiaobei seemed to lack the ability to apply knowledge flexibly.

He always studied mechanically according to the teacher's instructions and absorbed knowledge by rote memorization. He lacked the ability to understand fundamentally and apply what he learned to other situations.

Xiaobei's learning content was too broad, spanning too many subject areas, resulting in him only being able to grasp the surface of each field and unable to truly delve deeper.

What's more, Beckham's talent is not outstanding.

That day, when Xiaobei was once again stuck in the complicated dark matter detection formula, Fang Yan walked over, stood quietly behind him, watched Xiaobei trying hard to calculate, and then patted him on the shoulder gently.

Xiao Bei looked up, his eyes filled with confusion and frustration. "I still don't understand...why are the results of this formula always different from what I expected?"

Fang Yan did not answer the question directly. Instead, he gently pointed at a detail on the screen with his finger, slowly explained the relationship between the variables, and mentioned a more basic law of conservation of energy.

Xiaobei was stunned for a moment, and a glimmer of sudden enlightenment appeared in his eyes.

Being too preoccupied with details, he neglected the most basic laws of physics, but Fang Yan's guidance was like a ray of hope, instantly clearing up his confusion.

"Take a break." Fang Yan said calmly, "I know you work very hard, many times harder than anyone I know.

"But have you ever thought that in life, choice is more important than hard work?"

"From our conversation, I can guess that you really want to become the kind of person that others want you to be through your own efforts."

"But does this really make sense?"

“Is becoming someone really what we should be striving for?”

“Shouldn’t our goal be to be ourselves?”

As an heir from a mysterious civilization, Fang Yan has a vast database of knowledge in his mind. His deep understanding of science has long surpassed the current level of the Milky Way, so learning has never been a problem for him.

However, Xiaobei is different. His teacher obviously has high hopes for him and tries to make Xiaobei an interdisciplinary genius, master as much knowledge as possible, and take on some very important responsibilities in the future.

But the teacher seemed to have ignored Xiaobei's talent and ability to understand. The rote-learning education made Xiaobei lose his way in the huge torrent of knowledge.

Every time he finished studying, Xiaobei always looked exhausted, with his shoulders slightly drooping, but there was still a look of unwillingness and determination in his eyes.

Fang Yan often felt pity for the boy, thinking that he should not have to bear pressure and expectations far beyond that of an ordinary person, and struggle forward under excessive study load every day.

Without entertainment and a life of his own, studying never brought Xiaobei joy. Instead, it only brought him pain, endless pain.

Xiao Bei was stunned by Fang Yan’s words.

Choice is more important than effort.

The purpose of life is not to become someone else, but to be yourself.

In his short life, no one had ever said such outrageous words to him. Fang Yan was the first.

At this time, the Rose completed another round of jumps, and starlight poured down through the garden dome. Xiao Bei was silent for a moment, and suddenly said, "Do you think I can succeed?"

Fang Yan did not answer immediately, but looked at the handsome boy in front of him with a smile.

"What is success?" Fang Yan asked back.

"This..." Xiao Bei shook his head in confusion, "I don't know. I just want to become the heir of the family and gain the recognition of the elders."

Fang Yan took a light puff of his e-cigarette and asked, "Is the affirmation of others important?"

In his office, Rashid gnashed his teeth in anger and slammed his hands on the table, almost breaking the holographic screen.

The next second, he stood up suddenly, paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, beads of sweat on his forehead, and his eyes were full of anger.

"That bastard Fang Yan! He is a complete hooligan and scum! He completely messed up my plans!" Rashid roared hysterically at all the screens.

Aliat was sitting on the other side of the screen and heard Rashid's roar, but he didn't care at all, with a playful smile on his face.

"Oh? What happened? As far as I know, Isabella has always been your most obedient student." Ariat joked.

"obedient?"

Rashid was practically mad with rage. "Ever since Isabella started studying with Fang Yan, she's completely changed! She started asking all sorts of inexplicable questions and stopped completing the study tasks I assigned her. Instead, she's pondering ridiculous philosophical questions!"

“Who am I and who do I live for?”

"In life, is choice more important, or is hard work more important?"

"These questions make absolutely no sense at all!"

"She used to obey every one of my instructions without hesitation, but now she's actually starting to doubt her own worth. Why would she want to learn something she doesn't even like? This is sheer nonsense!"

Aliat laughed heartily after hearing this. "It seems Fang Yan has really caused you a lot of trouble. But, apart from this, how is Fang Yan's teaching?"

Rashid was stunned, and the anger on his face subsided a little. "It is undeniable that Fang Yan is a genius, and a rare genius who knows everything."

"Before this, I've never seen such a being. Not only is he proficient in quantum physics and space folding, he also has profound attainments in biochemistry, dark matter research, and even interstellar engineering."

"In just two weeks with him, Beckham has already learned more than I planned to learn in several years."

"Can you imagine? Fang Yan helped Xiao Bei solve an advanced quantum entanglement problem in just a few minutes, while it took me several months to come to the conclusion of this problem!"

Aliat still had a smile on her face, and it was clear that she was not surprised by Rashid's comment.

"do you know?"

Rashid continued, "Fang Yan even pointed out that one of the algorithms we use for the stellar energy harvester is outdated! The optimization solution my team and I painstakingly researched for five years seemed like child's play to him!"

"It's unimaginable that in a field where we experts are still exploring, he already has a mature theoretical framework and real model data!"

Rashid took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

Even though he was always strict, he had to admit that although Fang Yan was a heinous person who loved to sleep, smoke, and teach children bad things, he was indeed impeccable in terms of academics.

"Although Fang Yan disrupted my plans and caused Xiao Bei to start having wild thoughts, I have to admit that he is an extraordinary person with extraordinary abilities and an extremely good teacher."

"Isabella has made rapid progress with him, and it even gave me extravagant hopes that I never dared to think of before. With Fang Yan's help, Isabella might be able to compete for a position in the family."

"But now..." Rashid covered his face with his hands, his loss evident in his words.

Aliat didn't care about his old friend's loss at all. He laughed heartlessly again, "Rashid, I told you a long time ago that Fang Yan is a person who can never be judged by common sense."

"Whether you admire his abilities or despise them, you should support him with all your might."

Rashid was immediately displeased. "Support? This guy has completely disrupted my plans. Why should I support him?"

Aliat's expression suddenly grew serious, and he said in a tone that left no room for doubt: "Because he was chosen by our teacher."

(End of this chapter)