The Guidance Plan

London's streets were overcast, the sky a dreary gray, filled with horse-drawn carriages and automobiles. Pedestrians hurried along, the whole scene brimming with vitality.

At that time, the glory of the empire on which the sun never set still shone; this remained the center of the world.

London's population had surpassed two million—an absolute megacity for this era.

Li Qiwei slowed his pace, taking in his surroundings as if stepping into a black-and-white photograph.

He savored the sights as he made his way toward the train station.

He planned to take the train to Cambridgeshire and return to his lodgings.

Just then, a voice suddenly called out to him.

"Hello, Bruce Li. May I ask you to stop for a moment?"

Li Qiwei turned and sized up the speaker.

He was not tall, but his eyes were remarkably sharp, deep and profound, as if they contained the starry cosmos.

This man was no ordinary mortal!

So, out of politeness, he replied:

"Hello, and you are?"

The other said, "My name is Albert Einstein."

Upon hearing the name, Li Qiwei's mind could only muster one word: Holy shit.

What was going on?

Had Einstein also attended this conference?

Or had his own time-travel butterfly effect caused history to deviate?

Standing before him now was the legendary Einstein—the God of Love!

If one were to rank those who studied physics, they could roughly be divided into the following tiers:

T1, meaning "Gods of Physics." Only: Newton, Einstein, Maxwell.

T2, meaning "Genius Physicists." Very few in number. Representatives: Planck, Bohr, Schrödinger, Heisenberg, Dirac, de Broglie.

T3, meaning "Excellent Physicists." Relatively few. Representatives: Lorentz, Rutherford, Pauli, Lord Kelvin, Marie Curie.

T4, meaning "Famous Physicists." Quite a few. Representatives: Bragg, Compton, Debye.

T5, all kinds of physics researchers, including academicians, professors, lecturers, doctoral students—the largest group.

One should know that even the second-to-last T4 tier basically had a Nobel Prize per person.

From this, one could imagine how overwhelming it was for a science and engineering student to meet a living Einstein.

This had nothing to do with race; it was humanity's sublime tribute to wisdom and the universe.

Though Einstein was now unknown, still a green youth of only twenty-one.

He wouldn't graduate from ETH Zurich in Switzerland until August of this year.

Yet five years later, in 1905, he would publish the earth-shattering theory of relativity.

With his idol before him, Li Qiwei's expression was stirred. He grabbed Einstein's hand and said excitedly:

"Hello! Hello! Just call me Bruce. What can I do for you?"

Einstein paused slightly, then subtly withdrew his hand, his expression a bit awkward as he said:

"Bruce, at the conference just now, your words left a profound impression on me."

"I want to ask you: do you have a concrete view on the future of physics? What makes you say physics has only just begun?"

With that, Einstein looked at Li Qiwei expectantly, hoping for a clear answer.

No small talk, no beating around the bush—straight to the raw thirst for knowledge.

In his heart, he prayed that Li Qiwei was no charlatan seeking attention, but someone with genuine insight into physics.

Because Einstein loved physics too much. Since childhood, he had been bound to light, vowing to uncover the mysteries of light and spacetime.

But his classmates couldn't keep up with his thoughts, and the professors at school offered him no guidance.

It seemed, as Lord Kelvin had said, that physics was truly complete, and later generations could only do work like bricklayers.

This made Einstein feel deeply unwilling!

Yet his intuition told him that the world held more ultimate laws, that truth still lay shrouded in mist.

And the mysterious young Easterner before him seemed to offer Einstein a glimmer of hope.

Li Qiwei looked at the clear, yearning eyes before him, and a sudden stir of emotion rose in his heart, along with a trace of guilt.

The emotion came from seeing, through Einstein, the pursuit of truth by the finest minds of this era.

The guilt came from the fact that he had originally planned to return to Cambridge and start plagiarizing the theory of relativity.

But now, Li Qiwei changed his mind.

Having been fortunate enough to travel to this era, he didn't want to merely be a plagiarist, claiming others' theories as his own.

Li Qiwei had a clear sense of self-awareness. While he could crush everyone in this era in terms of sheer knowledge volume, when it came to true original brilliance, he couldn't hold a candle to those genius giants.

So, he would become a guide—steering the stars of humanity away from detours, pushing them to constantly scale the highest peaks of science, and unravel the mysteries of the universe.

He might even bring certain theories into the world ahead of their time, completely altering and accelerating the course of history.

At the same time, he would guide the future of Huaxia's science!

Having crossed into this world, Li Qiwei had no interest in dynastic upheavals, nor did he care who rose or fell. He only wanted Huaxia to stand at the pinnacle of science.

Because only he knew how terrifying a force science would unleash in the coming decades.

One forbidden weapon would completely reshape the global order. Whoever seized the first move could make their civilization stand proud and independent.

It wasn't just physics—life sciences, astronomy, chemistry. Countless fields held endless possibilities.

Having thought through this layer, Li Qiwei felt his mind become utterly clear.

So, smiling, he said to Einstein: "I believe Newton's classical mechanics doesn't govern the entire world—at least not within the atom and its interior."

Hearing this, Einstein felt even more admiration. Research papers on atomic structure had only just been published, and yet this man had already pondered so deeply.

Before he could dwell on it, Li Qiwei continued: "Also, the nature of light hasn't been explained yet. So physics is far from complete."

This struck a chord with Einstein.

He had finally met someone on the same wavelength. His young face couldn't hide his excitement.

It even made Li Qiwei a little embarrassed.

Forgetting his reserve, Einstein quickly asked: "Bruce, then what do you think the nature of light is?"

Li Qiwei didn't answer immediately. He paused for a moment.

In the end, he decided he couldn't reveal too much for now.

So, he smiled and said: "Einstein, I still need to get to Cambridge. I don't think I can explain my thoughts clearly in just a few words."

"How about this—give me your address, and I'll send you letters detailing my reflections."

Hearing this, Einstein said joyfully: "That would be wonderful!"

So the two exchanged addresses and parted ways.

Li Qiwei watched Einstein's figure slowly disappear, then smiled faintly and headed for Cambridge.