They’re all reborn, what’s wrong with being a little more almighty?

Chapter 241 Prophecy from God
Spring is a season full of vitality. The revival of all things not only awakens the sleeping earth, but also inspires the enthusiasm and desire for exploration of scientific researchers.

The laboratories of various departments of Tsinghua University are also running at full capacity. After a short break during the Spring Festival, each researcher seems to be fully recharged. They sit in front of the test bench full of energy and devote themselves to their work, like a blazing fire.

However, at this time, Zhang Wei stayed away from the laboratory, like a useless dog, and stayed obediently in the Economics Department. Even if Meng Heming called him frantically and asked him to go to the Biology Department, he would find excuses to refuse.

Staying in the lab is boring and brain-intensive. It's not as comfortable as lying down in the Economics Department.

Moreover, Zhang Wei's level is indeed not enough to cope with the current stage of scientific research. Apart from copying papers, his theoretical knowledge is nothing. When he arrives at the laboratory, he knows nothing about anything. How embarrassing!

The Department of Biology at Tsinghua University did not give Zhang Wei a Sam so that Zhang Wei could ask, "Sam, what do you think?"

In order to avoid being exposed, Zhang Wei simply stopped going to the Biology Department. He would show up occasionally, reveal a few research directions, and then quickly slip away.

At this time, Zhang Wei was reading an English book called "Macroeconomics" written by economist Mankiw.

"Principles of Economics" written by Mankiw has always been regarded as a relatively important textbook in economics, especially the versions after 2000, which corrected previous omissions and deficiencies and replaced many statistical data, making it very suitable for study.

But his book Macroeconomics had not been published in China in 2006, so there was only an American English version. The English version in Zhang Wei's hand was given to him by Professor Bai Qian.

Zhang Wei was so engrossed in watching the show when his cell phone suddenly rang. The caller ID showed it was Meng Heming.

Zhang Wei hesitated for five seconds, but still answered the phone with a helpless look on his face: "Professor Meng, I really don't have time to spend time in the lab recently. Didn't I tell you last time that I missed a lot of courses last semester and I'm busy catching up now!"

"Okay, I haven't said anything yet, and you have eight hundred excuses waiting for me!" Meng Heming complained, and then said: "This time I'm not asking you to come to the laboratory, I'm asking you to give a report at Peking University!"

"What report should we give at Peking University?" Zhang Wei asked.

"We have always cooperated with Peking University, as you know. The Department of Biology at Peking University has always been very interested in the IPS cells you have created. Their professors have also come to study, and you have met them! This time, Peking University has invited you to give a lecture to introduce IPS cells."

"Can I not go?" Zhang Wei asked immediately.

"We are all brother schools, so we should give them some face! After all, we are so close to Peking University that we can run into each other whenever we go out."

Zhang Wei thought about it and decided that this kind of report would not discuss very profound content anyway. At most, it would just talk about the future application prospects of IPS cells. To put it bluntly, it was just bragging.

Zhang Wei was not afraid of bragging, so he asked, "Since you said so, I'll go. When exactly?"

"Next Sunday, from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m., for an hour and a half. The first hour is for the speech, and the second half hour is for questions. You have more than a week to prepare the speech, which should be enough, right?"

"That's enough. Will you go too?" Zhang Wei asked again.

"I definitely have to show up, but I don't have time to accompany you the whole time. There are still a lot of things waiting for me to deal with in the department. I'll find a teaching assistant to accompany you when the time comes!"

After ending the call with Meng Heming, Zhang Wei was just about to continue reading "Macroeconomics" when a text message appeared on his mobile phone. It was sent by Editor-in-Chief Chen of the Twenty-First Century Publishing House.

"Teacher Zhang Wei, are you free next weekend?"

After seeing this text message, Zhang Wei called Editor-in-Chief Chen back directly.

"Editor-in-Chief Chen, do you have something to talk to me about?" Zhang Wei asked.

"Teacher Zhang Wei, you will be in Beijing this month. You shouldn't go anywhere else, right?" Editor-in-Chief Chen asked.

"I don't have any plans to travel far at the moment. What's wrong?"

"April 4 is World Book Day, did you know that? Every year on World Book Day, departments such as the Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television, and the General Administration of Press and Publication hold activities related to World Book Day.

Our publishing house will also respond to the call and organize and participate in activities related to World Book Day, mainly promoting some popular books and inviting some authors to sign and sell books at the event. We would like to invite you to participate in this year's event."

"Then you have to go back to your place, which is quite far." Zhang Wei said with some concern.

"You don't have to come here, it's in Beijing! The World Book Day series of activities organized by our publishing house is also in Beijing!" Editor-in-Chief Chen said immediately.

"Come to Beijing? Even if you don't want to hold activities locally, it's closer to Shanghai or Guangzhou than Beijing, right? Why did you come all the way to Beijing?"

"Isn't this the Emperor's feet? It's very close to every part of the body." Editor-in-Chief Chen laughed and continued, "This way, when we hold an event, the leader can also see it."

"I see." Zhang Wei sighed. For activities like this, the key is to let the leaders see it.

Editor-in-Chief Chen continued, "Teacher Zhang, don't you want to win the Galaxy Prize? On World Book Day, we will find a few reporters to interview you. This can also be considered as a way to build momentum. If the news report can appear in the weighty media, then you should be able to win the Galaxy Prize this year!"

"Just for the Galaxy Award, I have to participate in this World Book Day event! Okay, what is the specific date of the event? Where will it be held?" Zhang Wei asked.

"This year's World Book Day happens to be on Sunday next week, so we plan to hold activities on Saturday and Sunday next week, mainly to go to several major universities in Beijing to sign and sell books. Universities are so classy!
As for the specific time, we will go to Renmin University next Saturday morning, Beijing Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon, Tsinghua University on Sunday morning, and Peking University on Sunday afternoon.

"Next Sunday? Going to Peking University? Wouldn't that conflict with my lecture?" Zhang Wei frowned and asked, "I have no problem with the other three places, but my schedule might conflict with Peking University."

"Don't you have time for the whole afternoon?" asked Editor-in-Chief Chen.

"There's no time after 3:30," Zhang Wei replied.

"That shouldn't be a big problem. Our book signing event starts at 2pm. If you have something to do at 3:30pm, then you can leave early. We have several other writers who will also be attending the event, so it won't be a dull occasion."

Zhang Wei thought about it and decided that the Peking University campus was not too large, and since all the activities were held within Peking University, he should have enough time to travel back and forth.

"Editor-in-Chief Chen, then we'll meet next week!" Zhang Wei agreed.

……

After studying macroeconomics for an entire afternoon, Zhang Wei returned to his dormitory, turned on his computer, logged into QQ, and saw if anyone had left a message for him.

Sure enough, a message from sky Li Xiaofeng, “Are you there?”, appeared in QQ.

"Brother Gai, do you have something to talk to me about?" Zhang Wei replied immediately.

After a moment, Li Xiaofeng replied: "Is it convenient for you to answer the phone now?"

Seeing this, Zhang Wei simply took the initiative to call.

"Brother Gai, what's the matter?" Zhang Wei asked directly.

"You have been in Beijing recently, right?" Li Xiaofeng asked.

"Yes! Are you coming to the capital to play in the competition?"

"I'm not going to play a game, I'm going to participate in an event. The organizer hopes that you can also participate, but they don't have your contact information, so they found me. Don't worry, I'll give you an appearance fee."

"What activity?" Zhang Wei asked curiously.

"The product promotion is scheduled for next weekend."

"It's next weekend again!" Zhang Wei thought to himself how come all the things happened on the same day, and then said helplessly: "Next Saturday and Sunday, I don't have time. Next Sunday happens to be World Book Day, and I have already decided to participate in the activities of World Book Day."

"That's such a pity..." Li Xiaofeng sighed, but still didn't give up, and continued: "Why don't you think about it again? Our event this time is at Peking University!"

"Peking University? Why Peking University again!" Zhang Wei muttered to himself, and then asked, "When did e-sports become so big that I can go to Peking University?"

"It's not e-sports that has a reputation, it's the organizers that have a reputation. This time the organizer is Lenovo, which just launched a laptop this year and has organized a series of campus promotion activities.

The main purpose of inviting e-sports players is to show the gaming performance of laptops. After all, the requirements for games are higher than those for office work, and being able to play games smoothly also highlights the high performance of the laptop. "Li Xiaofeng said.

"Why not just ask your WE team to advertise for you instead of wasting time and effort?"

"We do want to, but they don't think highly of us. We'll be thankful if we can sign a sponsorship contract with them." Li Xiaofeng paused, then continued, "That's why I asked for your help. If you can help Lenovo run this event, maybe we can sign this sponsorship contract!"

The e-sports environment at that time was indeed not very good. There was no boss supporting the club. They were all powered by love and survived one day at a time. A club that could pay salaries to e-sports players was already considered high-end.

Many e-sports clubs can only provide food and accommodation, and provide a stable training environment for players, and may not even reimburse travel expenses for competitions. Even so, only talented players can enter.

As for e-sports players, there is no such thing as live streaming to make money, and they mainly rely on the club's salary and competition bonuses. Salaries can only be obtained by well-known players, and as for competition bonuses, it is common for them to be delayed, and some simply do not pay them.

It is not easy for e-sports clubs to win sponsors, and it is even more difficult to win a sponsor of Lenovo's level. Even for WE, the Real Madrid of Chinese e-sports clubs, the same is true.

Thinking of this, Zhang Wei felt a little sorry, so he asked, "When does this promotional event you mentioned start and end? I'll try to arrange the time."

"12 noon to 2 pm." Li Xiaofeng replied.

"Why choose this time? Twelve o'clock, no lunch?"

"There's nothing I can do. Selling computers is a business activity. Being able to get into Peking University is already pretty good. I can only choose a time slot when others don't want to work and squeeze in a gap."

Li Xiaofeng continued, "I heard from the manager in charge of the event that a biologist will be giving a lecture after 3pm, so the venue has to be vacated, so we can only go during the lunch hour."

"After three o'clock? Biologist? Lecture session? Is it possible that the biologist is me?"

Zhang Wei complained in his heart and then calculated the time.

The World Book Day event is from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., which is just in time, but you have to eat lunch earlier.

"Brother Gai, if it's before two o'clock, I can make the time. But I have other activities at two o'clock in the afternoon, so I must leave before two o'clock." Zhang Wei agreed.

"It's great that you can come! Thank you so much! I'll treat you to a meal then."

"When we come to Beijing, how can I ask you to treat me to a meal? It must be me who treats you!"

……

Meanwhile, Americans are celebrating Easter.

Easter is an important holiday in the West, so of course there will be a holiday, and of course the U.S. stock market will also be closed because of the Easter holiday.

It was not even five o'clock in the afternoon when fund manager White walked out of the office. Since the U.S. stock market would be closed tomorrow, White planned to go home early and enjoy a few days of vacation with his family.

Passing by the bookstore, White suddenly remembered that his daughter wanted a novel that seemed to be related to games.

So White immediately went into the bookstore and planned to buy the book as a surprise for his daughter.

After entering the bookstore, White asked the clerk directly: "I want to find a book that is very popular recently. Many teenagers like to read it. It seems to be related to games."

"Is it related to games?" The clerk was stunned for a moment before reacting, and then said, "You are talking about "The Thirst Game"!"

White felt that he had an impression of the title of the book, so he nodded and said, "It seems to be called this name."

"The book is on the shelf in front, in the most conspicuous position. You can see it when you walk over."

White walked in the direction the clerk pointed, and sure enough, he saw "The Thirst Games" in the most conspicuous position.

After reading the introduction, White picked a new one and then looked around to see if there were any other books that interested him.

The next second, a book with a dark gray cover came into his sight. The cover was a fishhook with a stack of US dollars hooked on it, and the title of the book was "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine".

"The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine?" White frowned slightly.

As a fund manager on Wall Street, the phrase "The Big Short" immediately made him sensitive.

Looking at the slogan next to it: The latest masterpiece by the author of "The Thirst Game", White was even more stunned.

"Same author, this is also a young adult novel, right? Why does a young adult novel use a finance title?"

White thought about it and decided that since his daughter liked the author's "The Hunger Games", he might as well buy this "The Big Short" as a double surprise for his daughter.

Thinking of this, White picked up another copy of "The Big Short" without hesitation and went to check out.

……

After dinner, White watched TV in the living room while his daughter returned to her room with two new books.

Seeing his daughter couldn't put the new book down, White felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

However, not long after, the daughter came over with a sad face and the book "The Big Short" in her hand.

"Baby, what's wrong? Who made you angry?" White asked quickly.

"I don't understand this book!" The daughter pointed to "The Big Short" in her hand.

"How can I not understand it?" White took "The Big Short" and flipped through a page at random, and the three letters MBS caught his eye.

"MBS? Mortgage-backed securities? Why is that in a teen book?"

Flipping through a few more pages, White came across several other financial terms.

White immediately realized that he might have bought the wrong book! This was not a youth book at all, but a financial book!
"Sorry, baby, Dad made a mistake. This book is the one Dad wants to read." White quickly coaxed his daughter.

The little girl was easy to coax. After White promised to take her to the playground, she returned to her room with a smile on her face.

White continued to watch TV until the commercial break. He had no interest in the commercials, so he subconsciously picked up the book The Big Short and decided to read a few pages to kill time.

Within minutes, White was completely immersed in the plot of "The Big Short."

When he read the chapter "About the Subprime Mortgage Bet", White's expression became extremely solemn.

The next chapter, "Wall Street Gold Mine," has White shouting a word beginning with the letter F, which is probably equivalent to the Chinese shouting "Fuck!"

As a fund manager on Wall Street, the things described in this book are not only completely feasible, but also what Wall Street is doing!
"Recently, there have indeed been a lot of products that short mortgage credit default swaps. Is this author also a Wall Street manager? How does he know so much about Wall Street?"

White continued to read the following content, and the more he read, the more chilling he felt.

According to what is written in this book, the US subprime mortgage market is about to collapse?

Given the size of subprime loans, if they collapse, the entire mortgage market will collapse!

What followed was the collapse of the U.S. housing market, the collapse of the entire loan market, and ultimately the collapse of the entire financial system!
Finance is the largest pillar industry in the United States. If the entire financial system collapses, the United States will be finished!

If someone told White that the US financial system was going to collapse, White would definitely think that person was a psychopath.

But after reading this book, White no longer thinks so!

The content of the first half of "The Big Short" is exactly what is happening on Wall Street, and the various dark secrets about mortgage-backed bonds in it do exist.

Others may not know the unspoken rules, but how could White, a Wall Street fund manager, not know!
"Is this a prophecy from God?" White looked at "The Big Short" in his hand with shock.

For a financial practitioner, the weight of "The Big Short" is in no way inferior to that of "The Bible"!
The next second, White suddenly realized another problem. If he followed the instructions in "The Big Short" and quickly shorted the subprime mortgage market, would he still be able to get a share of the profits?

(End of this chapter)