The students standing on the ground all looked up at the sky.
"It's floating so high. Aren't you scared?" someone shouted.
The graduate student in the air laughed loudly.
"What's there to be afraid of? This is amazing. Absolutely incredible. Looking down from this height feels unreal. Hurry up and come up too!"
His excitement instantly ignited everyone's interest.
So the group grabbed the ropes and pulled with all their strength, dragging the hot air balloon back down. One student climbed into the basket, then everyone pulled again. Then another student climbed in. Over and over again.
After several rounds, the students finally got tired.
Dragging it down every time required so many people. It was exhausting.
"We're graduate students, aren't we?" someone complained. "Why are we solving problems in such a primitive way?"
A few sharp-minded students quickly found a winch. After some clever adjustments, they secured the balloon's rope to it.
Now going up and down became effortless.
Everyone was having a blast when the village chief of Gao Family Village slowly wandered over.
"What are you kids playing with?" he asked curiously.
The students all laughed.
"Grandpa Village Chief, we're playing with a reconnaissance hot air balloon."
The old man raised his head and stared at the balloon slowly ascending into the sky, where a graduate student was still shouting happily.
His eyes immediately lit up.
"I want to go up and play too."
The graduate students broke into cold sweat on the spot.
"No, no, no, absolutely not. This is an experimental model. Its safety and stability haven't been verified yet. The last test balloon leaked and crashed. It almost caused a serious accident."
The Village Chief snorted.
"How old do you think I am? Still afraid of accidents? Whether I die early or late, it'll be within the next few years anyway. Before I go, I want to experience everything I never got to."
The graduate students hesitated.
"But…"
The Village Chief reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of small silver coins, and snapped off tiny pieces, handing one to each student.
"Here. Grandpa's giving you some pocket money. Just let Grandpa ride it once."
The older he got, the more mischievous he became.
How could the graduate students argue with him?
After repeated pestering, they finally surrendered. The winch turned, and the balloon slowly descended.
The Village Chief happily climbed into the large wicker basket and floated upward.
The sensation of overlooking the land from the sky was completely unprecedented.
From above, the Gao Family Village stronghold shrank beneath his feet, surrounded by endless farmland. Nearby were the Gao Family Commercial District, the colorful Short-term Workers Village, and the Long-term Workers Village.
As he rose higher, the strange massive buildings of the Gao Family Village Ordnance Bureau came into view. Beyond them were the military camps beneath the distant cliffs. Even the Valley of Exiles farther away could be seen clearly.
Tears welled up in the Village Chief's eyes.
"Back then… our village only had forty or fifty people. And now… Gao Family Village has become this."
When he returned to the ground, the Village Chief was still overwhelmed with emotion. He grabbed the graduate students tightly.
"This thing is good. Truly good. Everyone in the village should go up and see how beautiful our home has become."
The graduate students smiled awkwardly.
"Everyone? Just letting you go up already broke several regulations. If more people ride it, Principal Wang will skin us alive."
The Village Chief snorted.
"Principal Wang? Tell him to come talk to me."
The graduate students exchanged glances.
Principal Wang would never dare speak in front of you.
The Village Chief suddenly remembered something.
"Oh right. All your research funding comes from Principal Wang, doesn't it?"
The graduate students nodded.
"Yes. And it burns money badly. This balloon alone cost hundreds of taels of silver. Principal Wang winces every time he hears about it."
The Village Chief waved his hand.
"That's where you kids are wrong. You need to learn how to make money with your inventions. Look at Laba. He learned about the new rice noodles and immediately opened a Laba Rice Noodle shop. He's making a fortune."
He continued confidently.
"You should also use scientific inventions to earn money, then use that money for research. That way, you can reduce Principal Wang's burden."
The graduate students froze.
"Huh?"
The Village Chief explained patiently.
"This hot air balloon is excellent. Charge people to ride it. Five taels of silver per person per ride. Hang a big banner under it. Once it goes up, won't everyone in the village see it? If a hundred people pay, wouldn't that cover your costs?"
The graduate students were stunned.
"You can make money like this?"
Their horizons were instantly broadened.
The wisdom of elders truly could not be underestimated.
The graduate students immediately took action. They found a long piece of white cloth and wrote large characters on it.
"Ascend to the Sky. Five Taels per Ride."
They hung the banner beneath the balloon.
Soon after, the hot air balloon rose into the sky once more.
The banner fluttered visibly.
In less than half an hour, everyone in Gao Family Village who had spare money rushed over.
The graduate students' silver reserves skyrocketed.
Ten days later.
In Xi'an Prefecture, a group of graduate students sat atop a newly manufactured truck and happily arrived at the center of the market square.
They unloaded a large pile of parts from the truck. After two hours of assembly, Hot Air Balloon Number Three stood proudly in the middle of Xi'an City.
Once inflated, it slowly lifted off.
A banner hung beneath it.
"Ascend to the Sky. Thirty Taels of Silver per Ride."
The price was six times that of Gao Family Village.
The graduate students joked that this price was deliberately set high so as not to exploit the poor.
The balloon had been airborne for less than half an hour when the gleaming Kulinan stopped directly beneath it.
Zhu Cunji, heir to the Prince of Qin, leaped out of the vehicle and shouted impatiently.
"Is it really only thirty taels? To fly that high?"
The graduate students nodded.
"Yes. Thirty taels."
Zhu Cunji waved his hand.
"Pay."
A guard immediately stepped forward and presented thirty taels of refined silver with both hands.
Zhu Cunji's face was full of excitement.
"Hurry up. Let this heir go up."
As the balloon descended, the Xi'an Prefect and a group of officials hurried over, staring with wide eyes.
Zhu Cunji glanced at them and suddenly burst into laughter.
"Why are you all staring? I am floating above Xi'an. That doesn't count as leaving Xi'an, does it? Hahahaha. Wahahaha. Wahahahahaha."
His laughter sounded like a villain straight out of a play.
The officials were speechless.
Zhu Cunji climbed into the wicker basket and rose higher and higher.
Soon, his voice drifted down faintly from the sky.
"The outside world is so damn beautiful. Wuwu. Let me out. I don't want to inherit the Prince of Qin's title anymore. I want to be a commoner. I want to go outside."
The officials and guards on the ground remained silent.
After some time, the Xi'an Prefect finally shouted upward.
"Heir. You didn't control your voice. We all heard you. Stop crying and come down."
"I wasn't crying," Zhu Cunji shouted back angrily. "How could I cry? What kind of person do you think I am? Crying? What a joke. You're talking nonsense. I don't like you."
At that moment, the large tablet computer in the market square suddenly began playing a song.
"If I were young and accomplished, without insecurity, having tasted regret and bitterness, fighting for wealth and status, yet now longing to retreat…"