Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 178 Where is the professor?! (6K)

No one can resist the allure of going to the moon, even knowing that they may never return.

Especially Gagarin at this moment.

"Are you really ready?" his wife asked. "After all, you've been away from frontline space training for more than three years."

Without a moment's pause, Gagarin responded with his signature smile: "I'm ready."

After Gagarin successfully completed his manned space mission, the Soviet Union, in order to avoid losing their hero in an accident, kept Gagarin away from all risky sports.

To avoid risks, Kamanis didn't even want Gagarin to drink alcohol, saying, "Gagalin is too precious for humanity to risk his life for a regular spaceflight."

This mission was clearly not an ordinary spaceflight, but the first time in human history that a person had set foot on the moon.

If Korolev didn't tell Gagarin the truth, Gagarin would become suspicious, but Korolev told him frankly that the chances of returning were less than 10%.

Korolev knew in his heart that this was the most optimistic estimate, and Gagarin, as an engineer who had been designing reusable spacecraft for the past few years, knew the same thing.

At this time, in addition to serving as the deputy training director of the cosmonaut training facility, Gagarin was also privately designing spacecraft.

He was far more pessimistic than he appeared, and was prepared to request from Moscow before carrying out his mission to be equipped with the suicide capsules required for high-risk missions.

During World War II and the Cold War, people carrying out high-risk missions were equipped with suicide capsules like L-pills to avoid being tortured and having their secrets leaked.

L-pills are typically glass bottles containing a potassium cyanide solution. When people bite into them, the poison is released, which can quickly lead to cardiac arrest and brain death.

During the Cold War, America was also provided to pilots of the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, but many pilots refused to carry it.

Gagarin had already considered the risks of the mission. Rather than starving to death alone on the moon, he would rather dig a hole and bury himself in it after completing the mission, ending his life with something like an L-pill.

Despite such pessimistic expectations, his determination to carry out the moon landing program remained unwavering.

Gagarin knew very well that if he missed this moon landing, as he moved further and further away from front-line training, the window of opportunity for him to carry out a moon landing in the future would only become smaller and smaller.

The reason we considered him this time was largely because he is a hero. In times like these, shouldn't heroes sacrifice themselves?
At the Star City Space Training Center outside Moscow, Yuri Gagarin, who was about to embark on another lunar mission, was filled with emotion. He knew that the remaining six months might very well be the last six months of his life.

As the first human to enter space, he knew that the significance of this mission lay not only in personal honor, but also in national dignity and the progress of human exploration.

Returning to the training ground felt both familiar and strange to him, as if he had returned to the feeling five years ago before carrying out a manned space mission.

The training program was arduous and rigorous. In a water tank simulating weightlessness, they practiced extravehicular activities, requiring precision in every movement, with their fingers deftly manipulating equipment inside their bulky spacesuits.

During the emergency escape drill, the alarm sounded piercingly, and they had to unlock the hatch and exit the simulator within seconds.

The psychological stress test was even more brutal, with prolonged loneliness and uncertainty testing their willpower, but Gagarin remained calm and was in no way inferior to the astronauts around him who had been his mentors and were now his competitors.

During training breaks, he also gave up his drinking habit and often sat alone in a corner of the library, reading the works of Pushkin, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy, trying to bring peace and motivation to his heart.

With such a purpose in mind, Gogol and Pasternak could not be viewed, and of course, Pasternak could not be viewed in Soviet Russia either.

On a cold November morning in 1964, the top brass of the Soviet Space Agency summoned all cosmonauts to announce the final selection.

The atmosphere in the conference room was heavy, and a cold draft seeped in through the window cracks, bringing a biting chill.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the result.

Korolev slowly began, "After comprehensive evaluation and rigorous selection, we have decided that Yuri Gagarin will carry out the lunar landing mission."

Almost simultaneously, America's Washington, D.C., was shrouded in night, and an atmosphere of tension and anticipation permeated the streets and alleys.

The White House and the Capitol were brightly lit, and journalists bustled about in the chilly autumn night.

People gathered in front of televisions or in public places, holding their breath as they awaited the announcement of the presidential election results.

This election is a contest between incumbent President Lyndon Johnson and Elephant Party candidate Fred T., and the outcome will determine the future direction of the United States.

This is Washington, not the Southern states. Only the country bumpkins of the South would like Fred! That's what the people of Washington thought.

Lyndon Johnson was notorious in Southern states such as Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana for pushing for civil rights legislation, but Fred was equally notorious in Northern states.

As a New York native, Fred's approval rating in New York was less than half that of Lyndon Johnson, even considering that many Chinese Americans voted for Fred, which shows how low his approval rating was.

People across the United States are waiting for the results.

Lin Ran and Jenny are also waiting for the results.

“Professor, didn’t President Lyndon Johnson invite you to the White House?” Jenny asked.

Lin Ran nodded and said, "Of course, he said he hoped I would come to witness his victory. I said that rather than witnessing his victory, I would rather seize this moment of vacation and stay with you."

He said he completely understood.

Jenny laughed and said, "Professor, when did you start making such witty remarks?"

Lin Ran smelled the burning wood from the fireplace and said, "I've always been good at making excuses."

Jenny said, "I'm a White House press reporter, I can go to the White House too. Your excuse is really bad."

Lin Ran shook his head and said, "No, no, no, my reason is just right. If I were in the White House, I would have to stay in the Oval Office, while you would be in the press office. We would just be in the same place, but we would actually never see each other."

"Where else can I find the comfort of being nestled in a warm room, waiting for the television to tell us the results?"

Taking a sip of his whiskey, Lin Ran continued, "Fred is also my friend, and Johnson is also my friend. I don't want to put either of them in a difficult position."

Jenny frowned upon hearing Fred's name: "Professor, I'm sorry, I don't want to call your friend Fred a racist from the 18th century, but there's no doubt he's scum."

Lin Ran spends most of his time working at the Redstone Base and rarely has time to have in-depth communication with Jenny. He thought for a moment and said, "Jenny, I don't deny Fred's character; he does have a lot of problems."

His deliberate condoning of supporters humiliating Black people at rallies is a moral issue.

But if you just treat him as a regular friend, that's fine.

Your friends have created the environment around you, just like the environment in your real life, which is made up of all kinds of animals. If you can accept lions and tigers as part of the ecosystem, you should naturally tolerate hyenas and vultures as part of the ecosystem as well.

If you choose your friends solely based on your moral compass, your social circle will gradually become more singular and 'clean,' but similarly, your understanding will also become more singular.

An individual's moral character is not entirely determined by their own choices, but is deeply influenced by social structure, class status, cultural norms, and historical background.

A person's moral depravity may be the result of social injustice, oppression, or unequal distribution of resources, rather than simply a personal fault.

Poverty, discrimination, or lack of education can lead to certain behaviors being labeled as morally corrupt.

Therefore, refusing to associate with such people may overlook the shaping influence of the social environment on their behavior and fail to grasp the root cause of the problem at a deeper level.

Jenny explained, "Professor, I understand what you mean, but Fred comes from a very different background; he comes from a wealthy family."

Lin Ran said, "So befriending Fred is also an observational sample of human diversity."

Who says Fred is bad? Fred is absolutely wonderful! Lin Ran compared Fred and Old T, and the amusement was endless.

This year, Old T is also going to participate in the election. Lin Ran even wanted to send Old T the soundtrack of "Nigger in the White House," which was sung by white people at Fred's campaign rally, to see if it could resonate with his soul and encourage the rednecks to sing the song, despite the great injustice of political correctness.

“Alright, Professor, I understand what you mean,” Jenny said reluctantly, then followed up with interest, “Professor, so do you want Fred or Lyndon Johnson to be elected?”

Lin Ran said, "It's fine, they're all my friends!"

Jenny then asked, "Professor, please be honest!"

Lin Ran whispered in Jenny's ear, "Okay, I still prefer Fred to be president. Johnson is a bit too boring."

However, from a presidential perspective, Johnson would undoubtedly have been a better president.

Jenny wailed, "No! If Fred is elected president, I'm going to run away to Toronto!"

Lin Ran asked, "Are you going to abandon me and go to Toronto alone?"

Jenny said, "Professor, I will go back to New York when you go back to New York."

Okay, if Fred does get elected, I definitely won't be covering the White House anymore.

I switched careers and went into the book publishing business.

The good news is, Fred definitely can't win.

Just like Lin Ran taught, Robert came out and implied that he and his brother had a dirty secret with Lyndon Johnson, and that Lyndon Johnson had the motive, ability, and possibility to cooperate with Hoover in the crime.

Robert and Johnson did indeed have a strained relationship, with serious conflicts between them.

Even without Lin Ran and V, Robert would have resigned as Attorney General this year.

Lyndon Johnson then brought out Jacqueline, who, like Jenny, simply couldn't accept a candidate like Fred to follow in her husband's footsteps.

In Jacqueline’s view, if Fred were elected, America would be set back a hundred years, returning to an era when Black people were not allowed to eat at the table.

As a result, Lyndon Johnson was able to win more voter support, while Fred could only retain his own conservative voters.

At 8 p.m. Eastern Time, polling stations close and vote counting begins. Voting resumes rapidly nationwide at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

In the Oval Office of the White House, Lyndon Johnson sat at his desk, surrounded by his staff, with the phone ringing incessantly.

On television screens, CBS and NBC news anchors are analyzing preliminary data.

Johnson's gaze swept across the room, and he said firmly, "We've done our best; now it's time to see the results."

A faint smile played on his face, revealing his confidence in victory.

The staff were busy recording the vote count progress in each state, the atmosphere tense yet full of anticipation.

“Bill, where is the professor now?” Lyndon Johnson asked suddenly, as if he had just remembered something.

Bill Moyes, who was engrossed in reviewing the data, looked up and said, "It must be in Washington. I heard from McNamara that he had lunch with the professor today."

Lyndon Johnson thought to himself, "The fact that the professor is in Washington, not New York, already shows that he supports me." "Okay, I understand. You can continue with the statistics."

Meanwhile, in New York, at Fred's campaign headquarters, the atmosphere was even more somber.

As the constantly updated numbers on the television screen showed Johnson's lead widening.

Fred stood in the middle of the team, hands in his pockets, his gaze heavy.

He whispered to his supporters beside him, "We can win! The media knows we can win; they're just creating a false impression!"

He thought to himself, "No matter the outcome, my voice has spread throughout the country. Whether I go back to business or continue in politics, I am no longer the Fred I used to be."

The Hearst family rose from a small publishing house to the Hearst Empire through just two terms in Congress. I, T, as a de facto president with the potential to become president, why can't I make T a force to be reckoned with like the Hearst family?

Lin Ran had completely ignited Fred's ambition.

Although his tone was calm, he couldn't hide a hint of disappointment.

Supporters surrounded him, offering quiet encouragement in an attempt to ease the tension.

By 10 p.m., major television networks began predicting a landslide victory for Lyndon Johnson.

On the streets of Washington, supporters of Johnson erupted in cheers.

People held up signs that read "Johnson's Victory" and "Great Society".

Fireworks burst in the night sky, illuminating the cold streets.

In the bar, supporters raised their glasses in celebration, and the news broadcast on television made their laughter even louder.

This is Washington, and there are hardly any supporters of Fred here.

Even if they did, Fred's supporters dared not gather in even a single bar, for fear that the Black people of Washington, D.C. would come knocking on their door.

At the White House, Johnson nodded slightly after hearing the media's predictions.

He told his staff, "This is not only my victory, but also the victory of the people of America. This is the victory of civilization over barbarism!"

His voice was deep and powerful, and his staff applauded, gradually easing the atmosphere in the office.

At 11 a.m. Eastern Time, Johnson stood on the White House podium and delivered his victory speech to the nation.

He was wearing a dark suit, smiling, and speaking with a powerful tone:

"Tonight, we have chosen a path of unity for the future of a 'great society'."

Television cameras captured his determined gaze and slightly upturned lips, while cheers from the crowd echoed through the streets of Washington.

Nixon and Robert Finch were at Fred's campaign headquarters when the election results came out; they left without waiting for Fred to give a speech.

Back at Nixon's law firm in New York, the whiskey and martinis already prepared there suggested that they had long anticipated Fred's defeat.

Robert Finch drank whiskey, while Nixon preferred gin martinis. His biographer once mentioned that Nixon would occasionally drink martinis with Kissinger while in the White House.

"The professor is a genius! How did he find Fred?" Nixon's voice was filled with excitement.

However, the voice was still kept very low to avoid being heard by others.

After all, in the latter half of the campaign, he attended almost every one of Fred's campaign speeches to support him.

It is widely believed that Nixon was a staunch supporter of Fred and spared no effort in his campaign.

Apart from a handful of people, no one knew that Nixon would have preferred Fred to lose, and that he wouldn't know what to do if Fred won.

"I thought I was already disliked by the media enough. How did the professor find such an exceptional person as Fred? He has only been in the media for a year, and he is already disliked by most media outlets far more than I am!"

This is the first time I've ever met someone like this.

The professor is amazing.

Nixon had only one feeling at that moment: the professor's calculations were flawless.

The phrase "calculated without fail" here refers not only to the effectiveness of the strategies devised for him, but also to the fact that when he confided in Lin Ran, he mentioned that he was disliked by the media, who liked to attack him and smear him with stigmatizing reports.

The Fred that Lin Ran found for him not only completed the task perfectly, winning big within the party and suffering a crushing defeat in the official election outside the party, but also absorbed all the media's hatred.

Even if Nixon himself endorsed Fred, the hatred remained firmly attached to Fred, while media coverage of Nixon himself was much more neutral.

For Nixon, this solved two problems at the same time: he went from repeated defeats to repeated victories, the media's hatred level dropped to zero, and even journalists who originally disliked him privately told him that it would be great if he were the Elephant Party candidate compared to Fred, at least he was a normal person.

After this election, Nixon could be said to have been impressed by Lin Ran.

After downing a glass of whiskey, Finch felt lightheaded, thinking that if Nixon could become president, he could rise to power along with him.

He exclaimed, "That's right, Professor Fred is indeed a master. He made the perfect choice."

Looking back now, I realize that no one else could have achieved the same results as Fred!

Nixon's voice echoed in the quiet office that night: "For the professor!"

Their glasses clinked together in mid-air, and Lin Ran, nestled in Jenny's arms, sneezed: "Who's talking about me? Johnson?"

If Fred knew, he would definitely think, "Isn't this all thanks to me?"
Meanwhile, at Fred's campaign headquarters, Johnson's speech was playing on a television screen.

Fred stood in front of the crowd, arms crossed, listening quietly.

Some of his supporters behind him bowed their heads in silence, while others had tears in their eyes.

Sigh, capitalism; sigh, Black people.

Capital and Black people combined to cause our king to lose.

Fred turned around, patted one of his assistants on the shoulder, and said in a low voice, "We did our best, that's enough."

“No, Mr. President, we haven’t lost yet!” the aide shouted.

Fred paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's right! We haven't lost yet. We'll come back in four years!"

At 1 a.m., Fred went up to the podium and formally conceded defeat.

Dressed in a black suit, his voice was steady and deep: "I congratulate President Johnson and thank everyone who has supported me. We have not won, but the spirit of the Conservatives will continue."

"Niggers in the White House!" a shout rang out from the audience.

His supporters responded with enthusiastic applause and racist shouts, seemingly foreseeing the future fate of being swept across the United States by Black people.

Now considered heretical, sixty years later, this precious footage went viral on social media, with some white people almost hailing Fred as a martyr, a sentiment that then transferred to his son.

Despite the slightly bitter atmosphere, after his speech, Fred turned and left, raising his hands high to show he hadn't lost!
The figure appeared lonely yet dignified under the lamplight.

Throughout election night, Washington, D.C., was filled with mixed emotions. Supporters of Johnson sang and danced in the streets, amidst fireworks and cheers.

"Thank goodness Fred didn't win," thought the people of Washington, D.C.

Martin Luther King Jr. and his aides were also following the election closely, and cheers erupted in the black bars after the results were announced.

“Although it wasn’t a Black president elected, the worst outcome didn’t happen!” Martin Luther King Jr.’s aide said. “But I still don’t understand why the professor would have a friend like Fred.”

After a moment's thought, Martin Luther King Jr. said, "That is precisely the greatness of the professor! In his view, all beings are equal, which is a concept in Chinese philosophy."

Near the White House, reporters were busy documenting this historic moment, their flashes going off in the night.

In a remote corner of the city, the small groups of people supporting Fred gradually dispersed. Lyndon Johnson's voice still echoed on the radio. Suddenly, the radio was switched off, leaving only a few low sighs in the air.

"Gentlemen, the Soviet Union's lunar program has entered its final stage, and their landing window is this month." Smith's voice was low and urgent, his fingers tapping on the report as he tried to suppress his tension. "We must act immediately, or America will lose its leading position in the space race."

Lyndon Johnson was already getting a headache as he sat in the head seat of the Oval Office. He had only just become president when the IA told him that the Soviets were going to land on the moon.
"Where's the professor? Where is the professor?!"

　Starting tomorrow, we have double monthly votes! If you have any monthly votes, please vote for Crow tomorrow, please! I'm begging you! Please give me a monthly vote, considering how many 10,000 words I write every day!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)