A Clash of Gods - Chapter 188
Chapter 188 The Betting Agreement
“Among the three major stars, the sun is a star, only be able to revolve on its axis, not rotate around other stars. That’s why the earth we are located on rotates around the sun, because the earth has been revolving on its axis, so when the place we are located in faces the sun and the sun shines on the earth, the day comes. As the earth turns to the other side, where the sun can’t shine, the night comes.” Yang Ning simply wouldn’t look at the baffled Jiang Suiyun at the side but glanced at Xiaoyao sitting at the corner. Seeing Xiaoyao was looking at himself, listening intently, he put on a slight smile, and continued to explain, “The sun has always existed, always emitting light. It’s just we only have half a chance to see it every day.
“Of course the moon is also always revolving around the earth, so we also only have half a chance to see it every day,” Yang Ning said aloud, “So there is only one moon, whose shape is round and spherical. As for the square moon Mr. Jiang mentioned, I don’t doubt its existence. Perhaps Mr. Jiang’s boat somewhat went out of the earth to the universe and saw other stars.”
There was a silence in the book hall. Jiang Suiyun’s frowned and looked embarrassed. But most of the girls, although not fully capable of understanding it, clearly showed a very interested expression.
Although Yang Ning explained it quite clearly, people had never been exposed to this area before, most of whom were bewildered and confused, only feeling that what Yang Ning said was extremely profound.
“Qi Ning, you mean there are other astral bodies in the universe?” Zhuo Qingyang, who had not spoken, suddenly asked.
Yang Ning laughed, “We all live on Earth. There has long been the theory of round sky and square earth. You can’t possibly think that there is only earth in the universe, right?” Turning to Zhuo Qingyang, the old master, Yang Ning still showed respect as much as possible, arched his hands, before saying, “Sir, naturally you should know that the universe is vast, in which the earth isn’t the only existence. In fact, the earth where we are is just like tiny dust in the universe. These three stars I mentioned only make up a small solar system, which are contained in the galaxy. Looking at the whole universe, there are countless stars like ants. So the earth is very small, and we on the earth are even smaller.”
Yang Ning’s words had already made everyone present dizzy, completely overturned many people’s perception.
Blonde hair, blue eyes, black skin, there was such kind of people in the world? Aeschylus, Aristotle? Theology, philosophy? Solar system, galaxy…
Many people at this time just feel befuddled, simply unable to digest such a huge and novel amount of information.
“Qi Ning, the ancients already informed us long ago of round sky and square earth. How could it be a round ball?” Jiang Suiyun finally sneered, “What Aristotle, what theology, right, and what galaxy. I’m eager to ask, how do you prove the existence of all these you say? You said there is only one moon, and how can you prove it?”
Yang Ning dropped his teaching stick and laughed lightly, “I came on stage today, not to argue anything with you, nor to change anything. With all due respect, you shot your mouth off and I was worried that what you said about the square moon would really convince them, thus forming a rumor, which may be laughed at by future generations.” Looking at the female students present, he slowly said, “I believe that none of you have heard what I said today. Some people will even doubt that I was also talking out of my mouth. In fact, I don’t care what you think.” He looked through the audience before saying, “It’s not easy for you to enter the academy, you have to learn something, or at least learn how to see things. There is a saying, seeing is believing, hearing is not believing. But in fact, sometimes what the eyes see is not always true. Holding doubts about anything that fails to be certain, and then going discover the truth, I think this is what you really have to learn.”
In fact, Yang Ning came forward completely because he was irritated by Jiang Suiyun’s nonsense.
He knew that it was really not easy for these girls to have the opportunity to enter the academy. And Jiang Suiyun was actually talking out of his mouth in the academy to show his talent, which was something Yang Ning really couldn’t stand.
He didn’t want the girls to be convinced by these absurd sayings, and even to spread these evil sayings that are completely against the truth as a result.
Having said all this, in fact, he himself could not be sure whether ancient Greece really existed in this space world, and whether the people he was talking about would appear in this space.
But there was one thing he firmly believed that human beings were the most creative species in the world. Even if there was no Aristotle, no Thucydides, not even ancient Greece, he believed that in the distant lands, there must be their own culture. Numerous civilizations were marching forward and shining like the stars like the civilization of the Central Plains on earth.
He was well aware that he said some theories that should not exist in this era. He might get a little out of control and was afraid most of the girls offstage were deeply skeptical of his words.
But as he said, he didn’t care.
There was a good silence within the book hall, and Jiang Suiyun finally uttered, “I don’t know where these remarks of yours come from. If they are hearsay, I would like you to go out and have a good look at the world yourself.”
“Don’t worry, when it’s time to go out, I’ll definitely go farther than you.” Yang Ning laughed, “Of course, I won’t drift on the sea on a boat like you. Maybe one day, I will fly in the air and see the whole world.”
Jiang Suiyun was stunned, and then laughed, “Could it be that you want to fly into the sky?” With a sneer, he said, “If you can make a pair of wings, perhaps you can really accomplish this dream.”
If it weren’t because they were in the academy, Yang Ning believed he wouldn’t help but slap Jiang Suiyun’s handsome-looking face dozens of times, but since they were in the academy, he had to show some respect to Zhuo Qingyang and said with a smirk, “Couldn’t I fly into the sky without wings?”
Jiang Suiyun laughed, “Forgive my limited imagination. I don’t know what other ways I can go up to the sky, I wonder if I can be taught?”
“Sorry, it’s a secret. Of course I can’t tell it to random some guy.” Yang Ning wore a half smile, “Mr. Jiang can continue to lecture. They’re still waiting to hear the story of your travels.”
Su Zixuan just couldn’t control her mouth, coldly snorted and said, “Pretend to be mysterious. How can you go to the sky without wings?”
“Oh?” Yang Ning laughed, “It seems Miss Su is very unconvinced. How about we make a bet?”
“What kind of bet?”
“If one day I can really go up to the sky, how about you polish my boots?” Yang Ning glanced at Jiang Suiyun, “Of course, it was Mr. Jiang who raised the question, so how about you also help polish my boots then?”
Jiang Suiyun didn’t hesitate and said, “I would really like to see it. If there is really such a strange thing, why not?”
Su Zixuan immediately said, “Good, if Mr. Jiang is willing, I am too. If you can really fly, me and Mr. Jiang will surely polish your boots.”
“But since it’s a bet, it can’t go on indefinitely.” Jiang Suiyun’s gaze was sharp, “If you never made it to the sky in your lifetime, wouldn’t our bet be unattainable for the rest of your life? And since it’s a bet, both sides should put bets, so that it’s fair. Don’t you think so?”
He never addressed Yang Ning as “Marquis” from the beginning to the end and showed no respect. Yang Ning knew very well in his heart that this man was so arrogant, certainly not by virtue of the Jiang family’s wealth. Essentially, it was only because this man had a deep friendship with the Prince of Huainan, and with the Duke of Huainan as his backer, this man dared to be so rude in front of himself.
“What you say seems to make sense,” Yang Ning asked, “I wonder what bets you want me to take out?”
At this time, the girls in the study hall were all in high spirits. Many people had been quite excited about listening to Jiang Suiyun’s lecture today. Nobody would expect Yang Ning to come out halfway and talk about some eye-opening theories. Although many people wouldn’t be fully convinced, they still felt excited.
Seeing that the two even wanted to make a bet now, the girls were even more excited.
Among the three old masters, two of them had already frowned, but Zhuo Qingyang remained calm and relaxed, looking on.
Since Zhuo Qingyang didn’t say anything, the old masters couldn’t speak.
“It’s not polite not to reciprocate,” Jiang Suiyun said, “Since you asked me to polish your boots, of course I can’t ask for anything else. How about this, let’s simply raise the bets a bit more. If I lose, in addition to polishing your boots, I’ll give you 10,000 taels of silver, but if you lose, not only do you have to polish my boots, but also give me that debt note, what do you think?”
The girls looked at each other, not knowing what Jiang Suiyun was talking about.
Yang Ning instantly understood, the debt note Jiang Suiyun mentioned naturally referred to the one Dou Lianzhong made. With this debt note in his hands, he could always collect debts from Dou Lianzhong, which was of high importance. Yang Ning believed Dou Lianzhong must have sleepless nights for this debt note.
That night on the Qinhuai River, Jiang Suiyun witnessed it and knew about the debt. Naturally he was clear of the importance of this debt note to Dou Lianzhong.
His proposal of adding the debt note to the bet at this time, of course, was to take this opportunity to claim back the note. The note had nothing to do with Jiang Suiyun. The only reason he did this was, of course, to claim credit from Dou Lianzhong.
“The note is worth much more than 10,000 taels of silver.” Yang Ning said, “But I’m not a spoilsport. Since the bet is set, I’ll take it as a donation. Good, let’s make this bet in front of everyone. I wonder how long of a time limit you grant me?”
Jiang Suiyun looked at Zhuo Qingyang and asked, “Master, it seems that there are still two months until the academy competition. I wonder if I remember it correctly?”
Zhuo Qingyang only nodded slightly but did not speak.
“Two months later, there is going to be the academy competition. Why don’t we take two months as the time limit? What do you think?” Jiang Suiyun smiled and spoke.
Many people instantly felt hat Jiang Suiyun had proposed harsh conditions.
Flying was no comparison to diving. It’s whimsical for a person without wings to fly up to the sky. Even if there was really a way, it’s impossible to come up with a groundbreaking idea in two months.
Yet Yang Ning had nodded and said, “Two months is enough and spare. We’ll see then.”