50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 856 To Hop On a Flight

If Sun Zhiwei wants to leave by plane from the research town of Ny-Ålesund, he will need to take a flight from another country, provided that the other party allows it.

The Norwegian government does have a flight he can take, since he entered the country legally in Oslo.

The last flight to Oslo just departed yesterday, and the next one won't be available for another seven days.

Sun Zhiwei didn't want to stay in this freezing cold place for so long.

He didn't have his own house here, and there were no hotels in the town that provided accommodation. If he wanted to stay here for another seven days, he would have to find someone willing to take him in.

But this is not easy. Although the general atmosphere here is friendly, every scientist lives in a house built with government funds.

These houses are not private properties; in addition to living quarters, they also house various research equipment and scientific research materials.

If you take in a stranger, no one can take responsibility if something goes wrong. This is why Sun Zhiwei has been in the bar for several hours and has become familiar with everyone, but no one has invited him.

Even the first white-haired old man to speak.

The white-haired old man is Locke Gerald, a paleontology professor at Yale University.

In this small town where everyone is researching polar climates, auroras, environments, glaciers, and oceans, his paleontological research is truly unique.

It was precisely this sense of loneliness stemming from a lack of common ground that made him more receptive to strangers; that's why Professor Gerald was the first to greet him.

When Sun Zhiwei learned about his research project, he was a little surprised. What was the connection between the icy Arctic world and paleontology?

Professor Gerard chuckled and said, "Don't you know that there are many coal mines in Svalbard? And how are coal mines formed?"

"Ah, I see. So, in ancient times, this place was also a place where life flourished."

Although Sun Zhiwei only stayed here for a few hours, it was quite obvious that these scientists were divided into factions.

Although there were no major conflicts, the group was vaguely divided into two factions, the Soviet Union and the United States, with only a few scientists remaining neutral, including scientists from Sweden.

Science knows no borders, but scientists have their own homeland—this statement is vividly reflected in such a small society.

Sun Zhiwei doesn't care which country someone is from when they drink, so he hasn't been disliked by anyone yet.

The one who could drink the most was Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa from Moscow. I was very interested in his extravagant drinking capacity and kept challenging him to a drinking contest.

Seeing that it was almost midnight and no one had spoken up for him, Sun Zhiwei felt it was time to reveal his identity.

At this moment, Peter raised his glass to him again, and Sun Zhiwei could only pretend to be helpless and raise his glass in response, saying, "I say Peter, the wine here isn't very good, drink less, and I'll bring you my treasured wine next time."

Peter's eyes lit up when he heard about the good wine: "What kind of good wine is it? Tell me."

As a top scientist in the Russian family, Peter enjoys a very good life. While he may not have tasted every wine in the world, he has certainly tasted quite a lot of fine wines from around the globe.

So, in this desolate town, he was content with just having a tavern to drink at; as for the taste of the alcohol, as long as it was drinkable, that was enough.

As everyone knows, Russians, when resources are limited, will drink anything containing alcohol. However, after drinking such "cheap drinks" for so long, hearing about good wine only made Peter even more eager.

Gerald, who had overheard their conversation, asked with some confusion, "What? Is the wine here bad?"

Gerald wasn't a big wine connoisseur, but he didn't find the wine here particularly bad.

Seeing that the bartender next to him was about to lose his temper, Sun Zhiwei quickly interjected, "No, no, it's not that the wine is bad, it's just average."

But this still couldn't appease the bartender behind the counter: "Mr. James, our drinks are all shipped all the way from Oslo."

"Doesn't your boss get all his supplies from Longyearbyen?" a middle-aged man asked, somewhat puzzled, after overhearing the bartender's words.

Perhaps this touched a nerve with the bartender, for the bartender, his face flushed, insisted, "Kronenville wine also comes from Oslo."

Perhaps fearing that if they angered the bartender, no one would pour them drinks, so everyone spoke up to calm him down.

At this point, Sun Zhiwei explained, "Perhaps the bartender misunderstood me. I didn't mean to belittle the drinks here; I just wanted to invite Peter to drink with me sometime."

“I have a lot of rare wines in my cellar in New York. They come from all over the world and taste better than ordinary wines.”

At this point, Peter spoke up: "James, ignore him. The drinks here are only slightly better than antifreeze. Come on, let's talk about your drinks."

Others might try to appease the bartender, but Peter wouldn't tolerate it. The bartender, not daring to offend Peter, could only swallow his anger.

Sun Zhiwei then began to introduce the wines in his family's collection: "There are several that taste quite good. One of them is the Henri IV Grand Champagne Cognac, which is the finest of Cognacs and has a very unique flavor."

Before the first one could even be introduced, someone knowledgeable chimed in: "Wait a minute, Mr. James."

"You're not talking about King Henry IV's brandy, are you? Yes, the cognac with 6500 diamonds set in the bottle."

Sun Zhiwei thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "6500? I haven't counted. But that's not important, it's just a bottle of wine."

Peter was also a connoisseur of wine, and he had certainly heard of famous wines like Henry IV.

He said with some surprise, "James, I didn't expect you to be so rich. Henry IV isn't cheap; it costs $200 million a bottle."

"However, is it true that it has been aged for 100 years?" Although he has drunk many kinds of wine, he has never drunk a wine that costs $200 million, nor has he ever seen one.

"I don't know either. I only have two bottles, and I haven't had time to open and drink them yet. Next time you come to New York to see me, we'll open one and try it."

"Haha, it's a deal then. I'll try this $1 wine next time I have the chance."

"I'll welcome you to New York. I have plenty of good wine there, so we can drink to our hearts' content."

"That's great. By the way, besides 'Henry IV,' do you have any other good wines?"

“Yes.” Sun Zhiwei replied to Peter while using his spatial ability to scan everyone. At this moment, the way those who had figured things out looked at Sun Zhiwei changed.

(End of this chapter)