Scholar’s Advanced Technological System

An online video site.

Inside the comments area.

“This trailer is pretty interesting!”

“Interesting? It’s amazing!”

“The news some time ago is true! They actually plan on using holographic technology on National Day!”

“Surely not, the holographic projector in the video is only the size of a flashlight. How is it going to cover the entire stadium! I think it’s another illusion!”

“I’m an engineer in the holographic projection industry. I’m not going to say which company I work for. We all know that Japan’s NTT is the best in this field. They’re the only ones that have mastered the construction of holographic projection systems for large stadiums. Even though my company can also build a holographic projection system for stadiums, both the scale and the fidelity of the image is one whole generation behind. Technology doesn’t come from 30-second trailers, it comes from years of hard work…”

“But in the trailer video… The engineer from NTT Group was shocked?”

“They were just shocked, does that tell us anything? If I throw a punch on your face, aren’t you going to be shocked?”

“I wish National Day were already here, I’m so looking forward to it!”

The comments sections on large Chinese video sites weren’t the only places with heated discussions. The discussions on the Internet came in waves. After the trailer showing the holographic projector from Star Sky Technology was released, the west already began discussing whether this technology would appear at the National Day celebration.

It seemed like the Internet was right.

Judging by the information revealed by the trailer, it seemed like the Chinese Entertainment Department office planned on immersing the entire stadium in holographic images.

That meant that the entire stadium was the performance stage.

Everyone wondered how many holographic projectors they would need.

The engineers working in the holographic field, as well as normal citizens, couldn’t imagine the scale.

Because of this, the hype surrounding the show was heating up even beyond the imagination of the Entertainment Department office and Star Sky Technology.

The 10,000 tickets released in the first wave were bought out within a second of being posted on the official website.

Before the ticket release, Director Ou was still joking with Lu Zhou about whether the tickets would sell out in seconds. He didn’t expect it to actually happen.

Director Ou was baffled.

After all, the National Day celebration was mainly for the purpose of providing a fun experience for the people of the country. They were doing this at a loss; there was no way they could make a profit from the ticket sales.

The hardware investment was around 100 million yuan, plus a production cost of 20 million yuan. The Entertainment Department office spent around 120 million yuan on this show.

With an admission ticket of 200 yuan a piece, even if they added 30,000 temporary seats, selling 110,000 tickets total, they would only receive 22 million yuan.

They could probably receive 20 to 30 million yuan in sponsorships. The total would only be 50 million. Even for the most optimistic case, the Entertainment Department office would still lose 70 million yuan on this project.

This was not including the renting costs for the stadium.

On the other hand, if spending the 70 million yuan could make the people of the country satisfied and make the country more united and cohesive, then the money spent would be worth it.

However, the problem now was that the vast majority of people did not get a chance to buy any tickets. The vast majority of the tickets were taken by experienced scalpers and resellers.

Second-hand tickets started to appear on major ticket reselling platforms. The prices were around ten times the original price. Regular tickets were being sold at the price of VIP tickets. The most expensive ones were around five thousand yuan.

Director Ou was furious.

In order to combat the scalpers, the Entertainment Department office quickly modified the ticket sales method. The original strategy of issuing 10,000 tickets at midnight was changed to a name-verification system, with a random lottery component. The tickets sold were tied with ID cards. This was able to defeat the reselling market.

But at the same time, it seemed like it was more difficult for normal people to buy the tickets.

An hour after the new ticket selling method was implemented, the number of people who wanted to buy tickets with the name-verification system had surpassed 20 million, and it continued to grow. The probability of being selected from the lottery was less than 1%.

The entire population of Beijing was only 20 million.

It was obvious that the hype and enthusiasm surrounding the National Day celebration was huge…

…

On the high-speed rail.

Second class seats.

With the help from the train attendants, Lu Bangguo and Fang Mei put their luggage on the luggage rack and sat in their seats.

The train seats came with a table where people could eat. There were seats on both sides of the table that were facing each other.

Coincidentally, another pair of elderly couple was sitting across from them. They were about the same age as Lu Bangguo, and they even looked similar.

After the train started to move, Lu Bangguo took a look at the old man across from him and saw that the old man was staring at him as well.

The two of them accidentally made eye contact.

It would be awkward if he didn’t say anything, and Old Lu was the type of person that liked to chat. Thus, he took the initiative to speak.

After a while, the two old men clicked so well they began to talk like old friends.

“What are you guys going to Beijing for?”

“To watch the military parade!”

“Military parade? Ah, that’s not something most people can watch. Most people watching the military parade are in first-class seats.”

Lu Bangguo smiled and was about to say that they were actually watching the parade in special seats. However, his wife elbowed him and rolled her eyes.

“Don’t embarrass our son!”

“I’m just…”

“Just what? Everyone has a phone these days, what if someone films you? Everyone’s going to see the academician’s arrogant father.”

Lu Bangguo was baffled. He knew that no one would film such a boring conversation.

However, he didn’t want to argue with his wife, so he quietly muttered, “I wasn’t being arrogant…”

“How are you not! I know exactly what you were about to say!”

The old couple sitting across from them smiled. The old man had an envious look in his eyes.

How nice.

Such a loving couple after so many years.

Look at my wife; she’s been asleep this whole time, totally ignoring me.

While Lu Bangguo was arguing with his wife, he realized he had forgotten that there was someone sitting across from him. Lu Bangguo quickly coughed and ended the conversation with his wife.

He asked, “What about you guys?”

“To watch the show!”

“The show?”

Seeing how confused Lu Bangguo was, the old man had a proud look on his face. However, he sighed pretentiously and spoke as he shook his head.

“Sigh, my son is too nice! The National Day celebration show is happening at the Bird’s Nest, right? He’s making us come, even bought two tickets for us. Apparently, the VIP tickets cost two thousand each!”

“Two thousand? Which seats do you guys have?”

“The two hundred yuan ones.”

“…”

Lu Bangguo looked at Fang Mei, who was sitting next to him, and quietly asked, “The Bird’s Nest show? What show? I haven’t heard anything.”

Fang Mei rolled her eyes and said, “Don’t you watch the news every day? Even I know!”

Lu Bangguo smiled awkwardly.

He only paid attention to the news when his son was involved. He probably read about the Bird’s Nest show and forgot about it.

He wasn’t interested in the show, but when he heard that it was going to be held at the Bird’s Nest, which he had never been to before, and that the other couple was looking forward to going, he couldn’t help but feel a little curious. He quietly spoke to his wife.

“… We’ve already seen the military parade a few times, we’ve never been to the Bird’s Nest… How about we go watch the celebration show this time?”

Fang Mei was a little curious, but she still hesitated.

“Wouldn’t that be troublesome for our son?”

Lu Bangguo waved his hand and said, “Not troublesome at all. It’s only two hundred yuan. If the ticket sales weren’t online, I would buy them myself.”

“Oh… then let’s call them after we get off the train. He should be on the plane right now.”

The old man sitting across from the two chuckled. He had a blank expression on his face.

Are you guys drunk?

Watching the military parade, special tickets…

Enough with the lies!

…

On the other hand, Lu Zhou, who was on the plane, had also arrived at the Beijing airport safely.

After he and Chen Yushan were greeted by the airport concierge and passed through the VIP channel, they walked up to a black government car at the airport entrance. A staff member in a suit opened the car door for him. After he got in the car, he saw the man sitting in the passenger seat…

Looked a bit familiar?

“Chen Baohua?”

“Dad?”

The two people in the car were stunned.

Chen Baohua looked at Lu Zhou, the man who made his precious daughter work all year, through the rearview mirror. He went silent for a while, then sighed.

“Hello, Academician Lu.”

Lu Zhou felt like there was a meaning behind the sigh, but he couldn’t care to decipher it. He smiled and said, “Hello, Chen Baohua, I hope you’re doing well.”

“I’m always doing well.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Seeing how the attention wasn’t focused on her, Chen Yushan looked at her dad unhappily and said, “Dad, why aren’t you saying hi to me?”

“I’m your father, you should greet me first!”

“Pfft!”

Seeing the daughter and father bicker with each other, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smirk.

Speaking of which, Chen Yushan hasn’t been home for a while now.

She’s been working hard all these years.

Even though she seems to be doing fine, I’m sure she still misses home…

Lu Zhou realized that his parents were still on the way here. Thus, he looked at Chen Baohua and spoke.

“Um, Chen Baohua, can you… arrange a car to pick up my parents? They’re—”

Chen Baohua: “I know, they’re on the high-speed rail, the G565 train, and they’re arriving in 25 minutes. My colleague is picking them up. Don’t worry.”

Lu Zhou: “… How phenomenal.”

Chen Baohua smiled arrogantly.

“Of course.”