Chapter 229: Why Are You So Annoying?

After being cornered and beaten by Li Xian, Xu Maohe was extremely aggrieved.

"Xianzi, what are you doing?! Why are you going crazy over a meal?"

"You're the one going crazy!" Li Xian was so enraged his hair was standing on end. "Do you actually believe water can turn into oil?"

"Why wouldn't I believe it? I've seen it with my own eyes!" Xu Maohe wiped his nose, sitting up from the floor. "You haven't seen it, but Dr. Wang took a piece of molecular base, threw it into water, and the water caught fire!"

Li Xian was heartbroken. "That's calcium carbide! I know who Dr. Wang is; isn't it Wang Hongcheng? He's a fraud!"

Xu Maohe was taken aback, a flash of confusion crossing his face before he regained his resolve. "Impossible, impossible! Dr. Wang's results have been recognized by experts from Harbin Institute of Technology. Even Old Qian said he's just a student in front of Dr. Wang. I've been following this news for a long time!"

"If it weren't for a friend from the police helping me out, Dr. Wang wouldn't even meet me. Our ten million is like a mosquito bite to him; how could it be a scam?"

"Xianzi, Dr. Wang said water is just... just a combination of oxygen and hydrogen. His reagent, yes, reagent, can separate the oxygen and hydrogen in the water, making them burn. This isn't a theory, it's a result! I saw him put the reagent in water, stir with chopsticks, and then light it with a match! It burned without leaving a drop, really! If I'm lying, let a car run me over right now!"

"That's even simpler! All surfactants can make oil and water mix. Gasoline burns and evaporates the water."

Li Xian wished he had the power to travel through time and space to show Xu Maohe what this so-called Dr. Wang would face twenty years from now.

Seeing Xu Maohe, bruised and resolute, Li Xian closed his eyes and stomped his foot.

You can't wake someone who is pretending to be asleep.

Clearly, Xu Maohe was now trapped in the beautiful dream woven by the so-called Dr. Wang and a bunch of experts and scholars. He didn't want to wake up.

Li Xian knew all too well that water turning into oil was a scam. His college was at Harbin Institute of Technology, and he was well aware of this dark history of his alma mater.

Since 1983, Dr. Wang, an illiterate amateur scientist whose primary school diploma was exchanged for five pounds of pork, began using various "scientific experiments" to promote the so-called "fifth great invention of China" as "technological achievements" to scam people in the Longjiang area.

Perhaps due to his superb acting skills, or because his actions aligned with China's urgent desire to overturn the global political, economic, and military landscape, or due to China's own deep cultural soil of opportunism and opaque national decision-making systems, this clumsy scam surprisingly received support from many genuine scientists. It developed into a grand farce that shamed the entire Chinese scientific community.

Looking at Xu Maohe sitting on the floor, staring at him with hope, Li Xian felt truly helpless.

He couldn't explain to someone who hadn't even finished middle school that hydrogen and oxygen in water are in a compound state and cannot be burned as hydrogen gas. Nor could he explain that Old Qian was a great scientist who made unparalleled contributions to the country but had become muddled in his later years.

Just like most scientists, who devote their lives to science but increasingly see its end as theology in old age—like Newton's final obsession with God—Old Qian... now studies qigong!

As he was in deep distress, planning to pull Xu Maohe aside to reclaim the investment before Dr. Wang got out of control, the restaurant door opened.

A person scanned the room, noticing a trembling waitress hiding behind the counter. He asked, "Excuse me, miss, are there two gentlemen dining here? One of them, particularly… um, particularly handsome?"

The waitress stood up and pointed toward the kitchen corridor.

Li Xian frowned at the voice.

Turning around, he saw a girl in a black dress, her arms and thighs as white as cream, running towards him.

In the next second, he felt a small bundle of sweetness cling to him, with two long legs tightly gripping his waist.

"Li! Surprised?"

"Kaja?! What are you doing here?"

Li Xian steadied himself against the wall, using one hand to hold the small face that was kissing him all over, looking bewildered.

On the floor, Xu Maohe chuckled, "She insisted on coming. I couldn't stop her. It's your own mess to clean up."

"Damn you!"

This was just adding to the chaos.

Li Xian kicked out in frustration.

…

After the waitress cleaned up the broken wine bottles, the three of them returned to the table.

"Xu Ge, I don't care who invested in this project or which expert or authority supports it. If you trust me, go see Dr. Wang this afternoon and get the money back! Even if we lose a bit, recovering five million from ten million is fine, but this project absolutely cannot be touched!"

Xu Maohe was furious. "Why are you so irritating? This is such a great project!"

"Great my ass!" Li Xian slammed the table.

Wang Hongcheng's foamed fuel was nothing more than a variant of the "fuel-water mixture" used during the *** period. The regions where this "fuel-water mixture" was used were mainly Longjiang and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Therefore, the sensational "water turns to oil" scam originated from Longjiang, which was not coincidental.

The Longjiang and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps mixed water into diesel and added emulsifiers like soap, creating a short-lived oil-saving satellite. Wang Hongcheng didn't even change the formula, just copied it. Later, the corps realized it didn't save oil and that soap and similar alkaline products severely corroded engine parts, making it unworthy. They immediately stopped using "fuel-water mixture," but the "technology" spread widely.

These matters can actually be found in historical records. Old newspapers had reports on them, but in the 1980s and 1990s, the enthusiasm for scientific technology to promote national development led countless ordinary people, leaders, and even scientists to, like Xu Maohe, fall asleep in their dreams.

Li Xian, usually mild-mannered, accidentally frightened Kaja with his anger. Seeing the little girl scared, he sighed and pointed at Xu Maohe. "Go back and check the February 1959 issue of Longjiang Construction Daily for news on diesel-water mixture satellites and see if it looks like your water turns to oil. Then look up the water-oil scams from World War II and Japan's oil shortages before the war. After you've seen all this, check out the National Material Department and Public Security Ministry's restrictions on Wang Hongcheng earlier this year, and think it over yourself! If you still don't get it, find a dry well and jump in. Just don't let me see you again."

Xu Maohe knew Li Xian wasn't someone who joked around. Hearing him say so much, he became anxious. He decided to take these things seriously and check them out thoroughly when he got back.

After dealing with Xu Maohe, Li Xian turned to Kaja.

"What's going on? Why did you suddenly come to China?"

"I missed you." Kaja, not seeing the surprise she had hoped for from Li Xian, was somewhat disappointed. Now, being scolded, she felt extremely aggrieved, pouting and almost crying.

"Tell me the truth!" Li Xian ignored her act.

"I missed you!"

"Tell, the, truth!"

"Our family couldn't live in Russia anymore! My dad brought us back to our country. Just when Xu was leaving, I came back with him! And, I, missed, you!"

Kaja squinted her big eyes, wiped her tears, and said in a single breath, not caring about Li Xian anymore. She got up, tossed her golden ponytail, and ran out of the restaurant, crying.

"Well," Xu Maohe raised his hand weakly, "She really missed you. When I went, the little girl said that no matter if the passport could be processed or not, even if it was just a tourist visa for a few days, she had to come see you first. So, I brought her along…"

"Why are you so annoying?"

Li Xian rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.