"I knew you were interested, and I've got you covered." Liu Xiangyun seemed to know that Yang Shuoming would say this, and winked at him playfully, "They may not take much time to come over." ”

"Great." Yang Shuoming smiled slightly, "It's hard work." ”

"Don't just say verbal thanks, I want something practical." Liu Xiangyun said, the delicate and delicate worm in his hand suddenly moved, and clasped his fingers, "Say, how do you want to thank me?" ”

Yang Shuoming pulled her over and whispered something in her ear, she immediately blushed and gently bumped him with her arm.

"You're in such a hurry, isn't something happening again?" Liu Xiangyun asked with some concern.

"It's nothing, don't worry." Yang Shuoming shook his head and pulled her closer to his arms, "Tonight, let's go meet someone with me." ”

"Who is this man?" Liu Xiangyun tilted her head curiously and asked, "The people you want to meet are all monsters." ”

"This man is not a monster, but a great inventor, you will know when you see him." Yang Shuoming's gaze fell on the silver hairpin on her head and said.

At eight o'clock in the evening, an American man 60 miles away came to the "Heavenly Room" restaurant of the "Oriental World" hotel and took a seat at his usual table. He was slender and well-dressed, and immediately attracted the envious eyes of everyone present. However, most of the people who dined here understood that the famous and controversial inventor needed to be quiet at the moment, so everyone pretended not to look at him.

In his seat, as usual, stacked a stack of clean linen napkins, eighteen in all. Nikolai? Tesla himself couldn't tell why he liked to use numbers divisible by three, why he was so nervous about germs that he was so scared of germs, why he was tormented by a whole bunch of grotesque thoughts, and why he couldn't be at peace.

He picked up the linen napkin in one hand, and the already shiny silver knife and fork and crystal glass in the other, and wiped it nonchalantly. The napkin was wiped and changed, and soon on the cutlery table in front of him was a large pile of white and hard napkins. When it was time to serve the food, he always had to calculate the amount of each dish in advance before picking some and bringing them to his mouth. Otherwise, the meal would have made him feel uninterested.

Anyone who goes out of his way to the "Heavenly Room" restaurant to appreciate the richness of the great American inventor will see that he is not a la carte on the menu. The "Oriental World" restaurant has always prepared the dishes in advance according to his telephone instructions, and when eating, according to his requirements, there is no waiter to wait, but the hotel owner personally takes care of it.

Tesla was picking up something to eat when a wealthy French businessman named Ferrian came over in the air. He blamed the reclusive Serb, saying that he had booked a box at the opera house, but Tesla did not show up. As soon as Ferrian left, a man in the shape of a Chinese scholar with a small whisker on his chin and a pair of small, rimless nitriles on his nose walked up to Tesla's table and greeted him courteously. The person who came was the editor of a well-known magazine in Yanjing and a poet.

The editor bowed down with a smile and whispered to Tesla's ear that there was a rumor among the famous families in Yanjing recently that there was a gentle female student named Wu Yulan, who was obsessed with the inventor and pestered her uncle, General Wu Peifu, to match her.

Tesla smiled slightly, diverted the topic, and asked about General Wu Peifu's situation.

"The general wants me to invite you over for dinner on Saturday!" The other party said.

The two of them talked about another guest, a young pianist with a beautiful appearance. Tesla adores her, but many people know that it is nothing more than a platonic spiritual curtain of love. Tesla learned that she was also invited and would improvise for everyone to play during the dinner, so he gladly accepted.

The editor walked away, and Tesla took his mind back and began to calculate the sweetness of the sweet treat. He had just finished his calculations when a messenger came up to the table and handed him a note. As soon as he saw the smooth and beautiful handwriting in English on it, he immediately recognized that it was the handwriting of a great person.

It reads: "If you don't have anything more exciting to do in the evening, I'd like to take a friend to visit your lab." ”

Tesla smiled slightly, and replied, "If your friend is brave enough, come on." But if you can come to my lab at midnight, I'll give you a good time. ”

As usual, at ten o'clock, Tesla got up and left the table and disappeared into the brightly lit streets of Yanjing.

He staggered slowly in the direction of the laboratory, turning into a small park halfway through, and let out a brisk whistle from his mouth. At this moment, he only heard a fluttering sound of wings on the roof of a nearby building, and then a familiar white shadow fell leisurely on his shoulder. Tesla took a small packet of grains out of his pocket, poured a handful into the palm of his hand and pecked the pigeon, then put it back into the night and gave it a flying kiss.

Now it's time for him to think about where to go next. If he stayed in front of the building, he would have to walk back and forth around it three times. He let out a long sigh and turned around and walked towards the laboratory, in the direction of No. 27 Ping'an Hutong, not far from Chang'an Avenue.

He stepped into the familiar tower immersed in darkness and reached out to close the main switch. The tube lamps mounted on the four walls glow brightly, illuminating the great Hessian cavern, revealing all sorts of strange machines that are lined around. The tube light is so wonderful that it has no connection to the wires that are pulled around the ceiling. It is true that the tube lamp has no joints at all, and its electrical energy is completely supplied by the surrounding electric field. Tesla can hold a lamp in his hand without any connecting wires and shine wherever he goes on the lab floor.

In a corner was a strange and wonderful contraption that vibrated quietly at this moment. Tesla couldn't help but smile when he saw it. The device had a platform-like thing with a tiny oscillator underneath it, and it was currently running, and only he understood the terrifying power of such a device.

He poked his head out of the window and glanced thoughtfully at the dark shadows of the houses in the distance. His neighbors, all Chinese residents, seemed to be asleep after a hard day's work. An old Chinese policeman once kindly sued Tesla, and some people always went to him to report it, saying that after nightfall, he often saw blue lights shooting out of his window, which made the street always flash.

Tesla shrugged his shoulders, turned around and got to work, setting out to perform a series of delicate adjustments to a machine. He was so engrossed in arsenic that he didn't notice the passing of time until he heard heavy footsteps outside the door downstairs before he suddenly came to his senses.

Tesla rushed downstairs, opened the door, and welcomed a Chinese in a suit and leather shoes into the door.

"Mr. Hu Shi, I'm so glad you to come." Tesla said in Chinese, not very proficient.

"Mr. Tesla, I guess it's mostly thanks to the readers. In today's Yanjing, no one is talking about a new genius in the West, of course, they are not referring to Mr. Edison. ”

"Well, please go upstairs, let's see if I deserve this compliment."

They were just about to step up the stairs when a hearty laugh flew in from the street gate. Tesla knew who it was as soon as he heard the voice.

"Dear Yang! There you are! ”

"Of course, I said I was going to bring a friend."

"I have been looking forward to seeing you again, my dear friend, and as I read those letters you have sent me, I am constantly struck by your many suggestions. These suggestions of yours go beyond the current developments in radio technology. Whether it's power engineering or radio technology, I can trace the spark of thought from the inspiration you gave me by taking a step forward now. You know how happy it is to be able to see such a galloping imagination come to life in your lifetime. ”

"You are so gracious, you are a prolific inventor who solved the most significant problems in electrical engineering technology of the time, created multiphase motors and distribution systems for the world, revolutionized power technology and laid the foundation for the extraordinary development that followed. I have read your writings at Columbia University's historic high-frequency presentations and for some time to come, and you have been friends with you for a long time, and you have left an indelible impression on my mind, and the interest in gaseous conduction that has latent in my heart has developed into an unquenchable fire because of your incitement. I once said to a friend of ours that I both knew, that your book, which contains material from your early reports, will be a classic in a hundred years: I still don't change my story. ”

"But I still vividly remember how greedy and fanatical I was that day reading your treatise on high-pressure testing. These treatises are highly insightful and courageous, and they open up new avenues of thought and experimentation. In a practical sense, these achievements themselves are extremely important; Judging from the argumentation of the viewpoint and the derivation of the new results, the logic is clear, the thinking is clear, the future is far-sighted, full of inspiration, and it can even be said that it is full of courage to open up a new Yangguan road for mankind. ”

Tesla said, opened the door again, and Yang Shuoming walked in with Liu Xiangyun in his arms. Tesla noticed that the beautiful Chinese woman's eyes were shining and seemed to be full of anticipation.

"Xiangyun, this is Dr. Tesla. This is my friend Liu Xiangyun. ”

"I know you, ma'am, that you are the female physician who has saved countless lives." Tesla looked at Liu Xiangyun, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.

"Mr. Tesla, let's see how you perform." Liu Xiangyun said with a smile, "I can't wait." ”

"yes, I've always wanted to see for myself how lightning is made."

"I've heard that anyone who wants to go to Dr. Tesla's lab to see his performance without flinching must have an extraordinary strong will." Hu Shi said with a smile, "I'm also looking forward to seeing this scene of thunder and lightning." ”

"So, friends, let's have a blast tonight! Please follow me. Tesla said with a smile.

Many years later, Liu Xiangyun can still recall the magical scene she saw in Tesla's laboratory that day:

“…… Imagine sitting in a spacious, brightly lit house filled with all sorts of weird-shaped machines. The slender Dr. Tesla walked up to you, only to see him twist his fingers, only to hear a soft 'crackle' sound, and suddenly a glittering red fireball appeared, and he held the fireball in his hand, calmly. The more you look at it, the more amazed you become, how could this fire not burn his fingers? He taps the fireball to his clothes, rests it in his hair, stuffs it into your arms, and finally simply puts it in a wooden box. It's unbelievable! No matter where the fire burned, it left no trace. You can't help but rub your eyes and see if you're dreaming......"

Liu Xiangyun was puzzled by the fireball created by Tesla. In fact, not only her, but also her contemporaries, no one has figured out why Tesla has caused this effect again and again.

Tesla reached out and turned off the light, and this magical flame mysteriously appeared and magically extinguished. The house was plunged into the abyss of darkness as before.

"Alright, friends, I'll show you the sunny daylight now!"

As soon as Tesla's words fell, the entire laboratory was filled with a strange and beautiful light. Yang Shuoming, Liu Xiangyun and Hu Shi looked around the room, but they could not find the slightest sign of the source of light. Hu Shi remembered in a trance that this scary trick may have something to do with a Tesla debriefing performance in Paris that year. On that occasion, Tesla erected a large board on each side of the stage, and although there was no light source between the west board, it was shining brightly.

However, it is clear that such a performance is only to induce the guests invited by the inventor, and the main event is put on the back burner. At this time, Tesla's thin face showed severe wrinkles, revealing his nervousness about the next "performance".

He took out a teddy bear made of cloth from a drawer, tied it to a platform, and scorched it in one fell swoop. The pointer on the voltmeter clearly indicates that it is 1000 volts. The charred teddy bear was removed, and then Tesla put one hand in his pocket and jumped onto the platform with a slight leap. I saw that the needle of the voltmeter began to slowly rise ....... In the end, a full 2 million volts of high-voltage electricity "passed" through the tall inventor's body, but he stood there without moving. Countless tongues of fire erupted all over his body, forming a corona that set off his figure extraordinarily.

Tesla saw that Hu Shi's face turned pale from excessive fright, so he stretched out a hand to him. The Chinese university scholar later described his peculiar feelings at the time: "...... I snapped back, and it was like someone grabbing the plates of a high-power battery. This inventor, Mr. Tesla, is simply a human 'living wire'! ”

The inventor jumped off the platform and cut off the current to end the show, and the whole process of his performance was as clean as a little trick, and it was only then that the stones in the hearts of the three spectators were really put down.

Tesla just stood on the high-voltage platform to test the taste, and no customer wanted to taste it. They really didn't dare. At this time, Hu Shi was like a child who had never seen the world, shouting for Tesla to tell him why he would not be electrocuted.

Tesla told everyone that as long as the frequency is high, the high-voltage alternating current only passes through the outer surface of the skin in large quantities and does not cause damage. But he cautioned those who are not good at it not to be a child's play. A few amperes of electric current flow through the skin can be tolerated for a short time without danger, but a few milliamperes of electric current into the human nerve tissue can cause death. If there is a very low current under the skin, whether it is alternating current or direct current, it can immediately electrocute a person.

"You are a great inventor." Liu Xiangyun's eyes were full of admiration, "The inventor of electricity." ”

"Electricity has injected my tired and weakened body with the most precious thing of all—the vitality of life and the vitality of the spirit." Tesla said with a smile.

"I think you're a real genius." Hu Shi sighed.

"Things are always created by the mind of a genius, not by nature. That is, genius always forms a clear picture of things in his mind before they actually exist. "And man is a substance driven by a force, so the general laws that govern motion in the field of mechanics also apply to man." I am nothing more than a 'cosmic force machine' endowed with movement, emotion, and thought. ”

"But how did you come up with this?" Liu Xiangyun asked.

"I often try to break free from the little world I know and instinctively start my mind to travel and see new sights that I have never seen before. At first, I could only see vague, unrecognizable images, which flashed by as I tried to focus on them. But, gradually, I was able to fix the images, and they became legible and finally showed the details of the real thing. It didn't take long for me to find myself most comfortable when I was following my imagination. So I started traveling, of course, in my head. Every night – sometimes even during the day, when I was alone, I started my own journey, seeing different places, cities, countries, sometimes settling down, meeting different people, getting to know each other and making friends. However, it was unbelievable that they were genuine and friendly to me, just like in real life. All of them live a leisurely life and have no quarrel with the world. Tesla replied, "I was like this when I was a kid and continued until I was seventeen, and that's when I started to devote myself to invention." ”

(To be continued)