Chapter 44 - 19: The Elephant in the Room

Chapter 44: Chapter 19: The Elephant in the Room

Cafeteria Number Two was a drab gray building, its form just a blurry silhouette through the curtain of rain.

Even before he reached the entrance, he could see a red sign in the distance, standing in a puddle at the bottom of the steps.

It was like a smear of red paint on a gray-and-white canvas.

As he got closer, he saw that it was a large red display board. Though weighted down by several sandbags, it still swayed precariously in the wind.

The printed banner on it was soaked, and several large, stylized words glinted with reflected light:

"Singles’ Day Survival Mission! Buy one, get the second half-price!"

His steps faltered. Feeling a little dazed, he pulled out his phone and glanced at the date: November 11th.

’So today is Singles’ Day.’

No wonder Shi Zuozhou had asked him if he had any plans for the day right after he woke up, complaining about being so lonely.

At the time, he had just been annoyed by the construction noise downstairs and hadn’t thought anything of it.

His gaze lingered on the soaked display board for a few seconds. He remembered this time last year, he had been with Xia Li, trying to figure out all those complicated promotional rules.

A 300 yuan deposit during the pre-sale counts as 450, spend 500 across different stores for 100 off, red packets are stackable but have minimum spending requirements, store-specific coupons are only valid for certain product categories...

Xia Li had muttered the rules over and over like an incantation until Yu Xian’s head swam.

For the better part of the following month, he became a regular at the Lijing Garden courier station, hauling boxes of all sizes up those brutal nine flights of stairs.

Following behind the other two, he pushed through the heavy windbreak curtain of Cafeteria Number Two.

A wave of clamor and the aroma of food washed over him.

A long line had formed at the mini hot pot window. No wonder Shi Zuozhou had mentioned a special "yuanyang pot" today; it was the cafeteria’s Singles’ Day special.

Before they arrived, Yu Xian had been wondering, ’How do they make a "yuanyang" pot out of those individual, alcohol-fueled mini hot pots they have in the cafeteria?’

When he got closer, he finally understood the true meaning of the "yuanyang pot":

It turned out the "yuanyang pot" simply meant that the hot pot bases were buy-one-get-one-free. Buy a spicy pot, and you’d get a clear broth pot for free.

You needed an even number of people to get the discount. As the three of them stood before the window, the atmosphere grew a little awkward.

"Um..." Yu Xian started to say, about to suggest the other two take the deal while he paid full price for his own.

"I’m not eating this." Yang Yiyi pointed to the next window, where steam was also billowing up.

"I want to get the spicy dry pot from over there. I saw they have fried lotus root pockets today. You two go ahead."

With that, she took her meal card and headed over.

Leaving Yu Xian and Shi Zuozhou, two grown men, to stare at each other under the "Special Yuanyang Pot" sign.

"Ahem. So, you and me... we make a pair?" Shi Zuozhou said, rubbing his hands together.

"...I guess so." Yu Xian sighed and swiped his card.

Trays in hand, they finally managed to find an empty table in a corner.

The spot was next to a window and a little drafty, but at least it was quiet.

Rain fell outside the window. The blue flame of the alcohol lamp flickered, and the clear broth and red chili oil bubbled and simmered.

Yang Yiyi sat down across from them with a large bowl of spicy dry pot, while Shi Zuozhou swished a piece of frozen tofu in his broth and scrolled through his phone.

"No way!" Shi Zuozhou exclaimed.

"What is it? You’re so jumpy," Yang Yiyi said, glancing at him.

"No... this is way too fast, isn’t it?" Shi Zuozhou’s eyes widened.

"Didn’t the collider project just get approved on Wednesday when we had dinner? How many days has it been? Four? Five?"

"What’s too fast?"

"The site selection! For the collider!"

Shi Zuozhou handed his phone to Yu Xian.

"The news just broke. They’ve already decided on the site for the super-large circular hadron collider project."

The chopsticks in Yu Xian’s hand, holding a piece of food, froze mid-air.

"It’s confirmed? You mean... the *final* site selection?"

"Yeah! They even put out an official announcement. It says the geological survey is complete, the feasibility study was approved, and it’s being submitted for final review starting today."

He took Shi Zuozhou’s phone. On the screen was a joint announcement from the National Science Academy and the High Energy Institute.

"Qinghai? Leng Lake?"

Yu Xian frowned. "Weren’t they always talking about Qinhuangdao or Huzhou? I remember the geological survey reports for those two places were completed years ago. Utilities, transportation, and talent relocation would all be much easier there, wouldn’t they?"

"Yeah, I’m baffled too."

Shi Zuozhou picked up a slice of lamb and swished it in the broth.

"Qinghai is in the western region, shouldn’t tectonic activity be pretty high there? The precision requirements for a collider are insane, down to the nanometer. Won’t that be a problem?"

"Exactly. And just think about transporting all that precision equipment over there. The cost of infrastructure and road construction alone must be astronomical. What’s the point of choosing that location?" Yu Xian was just as confused.

Yang Yiyi bit into a piece of fried lotus root pocket.

"Maybe for secrecy? Or because they’re worried about radiation? Do colliders even produce radiation?"

"You get more radiation from a single plane flight than from a collider. That explanation doesn’t hold up," Yu Xian said, handing the phone back to Shi Zuozhou as he thought.

The whole thing felt inexplicably strange. Choosing a site in just five days, and a site that defied all common sense and previous plans at that.

As a physics student, he had some understanding of the procedures for a super-project like this.

After thorough research, the National Science Academy and the High Energy Institute would submit a proposal for review. Key government departments would then evaluate and ratify it. Only after passing that stage could construction begin.

For a project of this magnitude, most of the time was spent on preliminary preparations. Conventionally, it took several years just to complete the steps required before the final submission for review.

He remembered reading about the planning for the European Organization for Nuclear Research’s (CERN) circular collider. The feasibility study for the site selection alone had been tied up in bureaucratic wrangling for years.

Geological structure, groundwater distribution, resident relocation, environmental impact assessments... Didn’t every single one of those require repeated studies and multiple layers of approval?