Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 302 I’m back!

Fred's voice came through, making Lin Ran feel as if he were in another world.

He lived in seclusion on a remote island in Hawaii, a place that appeared to outsiders as truly isolated. There was no television or radio, only books, paper, pens, and some basic necessities. His only entertainment was a fishing rod and a newspaper delivered daily by America's Navy.

It may seem that he only went into seclusion for a month, but in reality, he had not heard Fred's voice for more than a thousand days.

"Fred, speak slowly." Lin Ran said calmly and deliberately.

He was still wondering if Fred was being sarcastic.

Did Fred realize he had done something wrong and say that on purpose to test his attitude?

The phone number at the Hawaii military base was left by him for outsiders to contact him in case of an emergency.

Fred knew this, of course.

1960 and 2020 are completely different. In 2020, if you can't reach someone by phone, people will suspect that something has happened to you. But in the timeline of 1960, it is normal for most ordinary people to be unreachable for ten days, half a month or even longer.

"The troops on the Baiyue front conducted Operation Cedar Falls between the 8th and 26th of this month, Professor, were you aware of that?" Fred said.

"Did something happen to Big T?" Lin Ran asked, with Big T referring to Fred's eldest son.

"No, Professor, it is precisely because you insisted on him undergoing training that he was not harmed in any way, not even in the slightest."

(Illustration of Operation Cedar Falls, January 1967)
"As the old Chinese saying goes, this is called 'good people are always blessed by heaven.' I didn't actually help much; it's all because he's so outstanding. Fred, congratulations on having such an excellent son!" Lin Ran said.

The objective of Operation Cedar Waterfall was to conduct a large-scale search and destruction of the Iron Triangle region in northwestern Saigon, a major stronghold of the Baiyue-Northern Vietnam.

This was America's largest ground operation in the Vietnam War, involving a total of two army divisions, an infantry brigade, a paratrooper brigade, and an armored cavalry regiment.

It involved a total of 30,000 American soldiers and Baiyue-South Vietnamese troops.

This special operation was brutal. In order to prevent the Baiyue-Northern Vietnam forces from making a comeback here, they even involved civilians, expelling them all from here to villages under the control of Baiyue-Southern Vietnam.

After the civilians were expelled, the area was declared a free-fire zone, meaning that any Baiyue people who appeared there could be shot and killed at will, regardless of whether they were soldiers or not, they would be considered soldiers.

In America's official narrative, the relocation of civilians was described as peaceful, but in reality, it was forced and brutal.

The operation resulted in the deaths of 72 American soldiers and injuries to hundreds. It took a bit of luck, or perhaps skill, for Big T to emerge unscathed.

After listening, Lin Ran recalled the photo of Big T he had seen in the newspaper, and he became even more curious about how far Big T could go in this time and space.

After all, Big T's father is no longer a nouveau riche or a wealthy tycoon in New York, but has transformed into a congressman. In the future, it is not impossible for him to be elected as a senator with more power, or even the president.

As someone who had mastered the art of public opinion in advance and possessed groundbreaking public opinion skills, Lin Ran was very optimistic about Fred's potential for development in American politics.

Big T himself also amassed experience in the Vietnam War, which is a genuine resume. As an army soldier who participated in frontline warfare, he is undoubtedly a capable second-generation leader.

Lin Ran felt that even back in 2008, the other party might not have been able to defeat Obama in an election.

Lin Ran smiled slightly, thinking to himself, "I want to see whether Obama will humiliate T-shirts or T-shirts will humiliate Obama at this New York celebrity gathering in this time and space."

Fred said, "No, Professor, you've already done your best to help me. After all, I've offended Lyndon Johnson, and he'll definitely target my son and try to kill him in the Baiyue jungle. If it weren't for you delaying his deployment to the battlefield and giving him more time to train, I can hardly imagine what would have happened to Big T now."

But Professor, I have another request. I hope that after you return to Washington, you could act as an intermediary and introduce me to McNamara. Please forgive a father's concern for his son.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Ran agreed, "Okay, wait for my notification."

Lin Ran was on the phone with Fred, while Humphrey was also on his way to Oahu chatting with Jenny.

He complained, "Miss Hearst, you've gone a bit too far."

Jenny raised an eyebrow: "Uncle Humphrey, where did I go too far? Isn't that what the White House, especially Johnson, is thinking? They want to take all the credit for the moon landing in order to salvage his precarious approval ratings and the fact that he still has no achievements in the third year of his four-year term."

The moon landing was a great gift from the professor, yet it created a rift between him and the professor. "Even if the professor could tolerate it, I couldn't!"

Jenny said righteously.

Humphrey gave a wry smile: "Jenny, I don't think it's wrong for you to criticize the White House. I mean, your criticism needs to be based on facts."

Humphrey casually picked up a newspaper from the table on the private jet and read aloud: "Look, like this sentence, 'A professor's talent is indispensable, but his history is a footnote that needs to be folded up and put into a filing cabinet.' Please, even if President Roosevelt were in the White House, let alone President Johnson, he couldn't possibly put a professor's history into a filing cabinet!"
The White House press secretary will definitely focus heavily on this point during the White House press conference tomorrow morning.

Your description is too exaggerated, to the point that it's somewhat detached from reality. This isn't a good thing for achieving your intended purpose.

Humphrey's staff all looked at him with disapproval. Were you speaking for the White House or advising Jenny Hearst and the professor?

Tell them how to write news reports that will deal the biggest blow to Lyndon Johnson.

But on second thought, it makes sense. Was Humphrey really content to be vice president? They were all Humphrey's confidants, and they knew that the good man nicknamed "Happy Warrior" was actually quite ambitious in private.

Anyone who can establish themselves in Washington and climb the ranks step by step is ambitious.

As for Humphrey's advice to Jenny, would they tell Lyndon Johnson? Of course not. They are Humphrey's staff, not Lyndon Johnson's. If Humphrey were to become president, would they still be worried about not getting paid?
In the American election system, the relationship between staff and bosses is very close, and their loyalty is also very high.

They are a group with highly intertwined interests.

It is extremely difficult for an advisor to switch sides.

Moreover, Lyndon Johnson is now clearly a sinking ship.

“Isn’t it because I’ve recently been reading Robert Stevens’s ‘Historical Footnotes: Eight Years of Turmoil in Samoa,’ and there just happened to be a passage that I felt was very similar to the professor’s situation, so I adapted it?” Jenny explained.

Samoa's Eight Years of Turmoil is a historical fiction novel, somewhat similar in subject matter to "The Lychee of Chang'an." It fictionalizes a story based on real historical events, finding creative space within the gaps of history. This book also serves as the setting for Steven's later works, "Fales Beach" and "Ebb Tide."

“Jenny, I absolutely didn’t mean to criticize you. I meant you could do better,” Humphrey added.

Jenny laughed and said, "Uncle Humphrey, I know you long for the Oval Office in the White House, but I think the professor is not ready to break with Lyndon Johnson, much less to switch sides and support you."

Humphrey shook his head: "Jenny, you don't understand. I don't necessarily need his support. I just need him not to support my competitors."

"Having the professor's support would be best, but if not, I hope the professor remains neutral. I'm confident I can defeat any opponent, whether it's Johnson, Nixon, or that damned Fred."

Humphrey also disliked Fred. Because he was the vice president, he was caught in the crossfire and Fred insulted him, calling him stupid and a "happy soldier"—or rather, someone who had no brains but had to pretend to be happy.

These words deeply offended Humphrey.

During the days when the White House flattered Lyndon Johnson, most of the time it was insincere, except for the occasion when everyone was criticizing Fred, which was somewhat genuine.

If he could, Humphrey would be more than happy for Fred to get out of there and stop clinging to Washington circles, trying to seize the presidency. Does he even deserve it?
Even Humphrey and Lyndon Johnson ridiculed Nixon quite a bit in the White House because Nixon had brought in a powerful rival within the party.

“Uncle Humphrey, I can’t give you an answer on behalf of the professor, but I can say that the professor isn’t interested in Fred,” Jenny said.

This was something Humphrey found both expected and unexpected. Fred had repeatedly publicized his relationship with the professor in the newspapers, but then he thought, how could the professor, a Chinese man, possibly like a former KKK member?

This shows that Humphrey's vision is not broad enough; in the future, many American Chinese will become Trump supporters.

"What about Nixon?" Humphrey pressed.

Jenny shook her head and said, "I don't know, but the professor and Nixon didn't have much contact."

“Professor, it’s been a long time. As long as NASA doesn’t have you, President Johnson and I will feel uneasy.” Humphrey came up and gave him a hug.

As Lin Ran and Humphrey embraced, Lin Ran's gaze was fixed on Jenny in the distance.

During his seclusion in Hawaii, Jenny visited him once, and the two had not seen each other for over 400 days.

Lin Ran thought to himself, "It's been so long. I actually went to the moon during the time we were apart."

"President Humphrey, thank you for coming to pick me up and take me back to Washington," Lin Ran said with a smile.

Humphrey corrected, "It's the Vice President!"

He was secretly delighted. The way the professor addressed him as President Humphrey, without the prefix "Vice," sounded much better. Was the professor implying that he supported him in running for president next year?

Lin Ran never expected that a simple sentence he uttered according to Chinese custom would evoke so much speculation in the other party: "You really want to be president, don't you?"

They were currently at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, surrounded by staff and base officers. Humphrey dared not reveal his ambitions to outsiders.

What if Lyndon Johnson finds out and starts cracking down on him prematurely?
The administrative resources the president holds are enough to make him miserable.

This is similar to how the 2022 president effectively sidelined the vice president.

He couldn't even explain to his supporters that Humphrey had been sidelined.

The revolving door between politics and business refers not only to people, but also to resources. If you are sidelined and the revolving door that belongs to you stops turning, what kind of Commissioner Smith are you? Even Lin Ran has to cooperate with John Morgan to build his own revolving door.

"Jenny, long time no see." Lin Ran took the initiative to step forward, and his hug with Jenny was more sincere. The Patek Philippe mathematician on his wrist shone brightly in the sunlight. This was a Patek Philippe that had been to the moon.

Jenny didn't speak, she just smiled.

On the private jet, Humphrey then said, "Professor, President Johnson sent me to greet you and also wanted to communicate with you in advance to avoid any misunderstandings between us."

In other words, Lyndon Johnson didn't know. If he had known, he would have been dumbfounded. When did I ask you to be this middleman? When Lyndon Johnson was a member of parliament, he didn't like to communicate with his assistants or secretaries in advance. He would communicate with the members and then talk about some trivial matters among them. He called this method "avoiding direct conflicts between members of parliament."

Back then, he liked to launch surprise attacks, going to people's homes and directly confronting those who opposed his proposals, using the Johnson treatment to persuade them.

Similarly, he would never allow Humphrey to act as the middleman.

Lin Ran naturally knew that after seven years in the White House, how could he not understand Johnson? Humphrey also knew that Lin Ran knew he was lying.

This was a test, a test that both of them were fully aware of.

"President Humphrey, I know you're referring to the report written by Jenny. I read that report when I was waiting for you at the naval base. It's all from Jenny's perspective on what I experienced, but I don't believe it myself."

There is no animosity between me and President Johnson. We have worked together very well and together we have made America's footprints appear on the moon.

I hope President Johnson won't overthink it; I'll need President Humphrey to pass this on for me.

After Lin Ran finished speaking, Humphrey did not correct the other party's reference to President Humphrey. He understood Lin Ran's subtext and replied with satisfaction, "Okay, I will definitely convey it properly. I believe President Johnson is equally satisfied with you."

Upon returning to Washington, the first thing he did was not to meet Lyndon Johnson at the White House, but to give an exclusive interview to Cronkite at NBC's Washington studio: "For the past few days, the media has been discussing where the professor has been. Today, the professor is here. He is here at our NBC Washington studio. Let's give the professor a warm round of applause!"

Cronkite's booming voice was loud enough to pierce the ceiling, instantly igniting the atmosphere in the room.

Cronkite had by then moved from Columbia Television to NBC.

Lin Ran walked out of the studio from backstage, smiling and waving to the audience as she went, and the applause from the audience grew even more enthusiastic.

"Hello everyone, I'm Randolph Lin, and I'm back."

　Asking for a monthly pass isn't too much to ask, is it?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)