Chapter 22: The Bewildered Meteorological Bureau

"I've watched his livestreams. There are some netizens in his chat who worship him, and they are often persuaded to go and worship the statues in Taoist temples. For those in the livestream asking for rain, Lin Nan would simply recommend they contact the Meteorological Bureau; he has never claimed to have any ability to predict the weather himself."

"Although this child has been livestreaming to make money, he is down-to-earth and doesn't use it to peddle superstition or metaphysics. He is truly quite remarkable."

"That is why I didn't expect him to actually predict the hail during this morning's assembly."

Zheng Zhian and the other school leaders nodded.

These qualities indeed made them feel that the boy was quite good.

Furthermore, the fact that he risked being reprimanded by his teachers to warn others of the danger before the hail struck was something not everyone could do.

It was just that regarding the matter of drawing arrays to pray for rain, even Zheng Zhian, who had listened to Lin Nan's advice, did not believe it.

Besides, Lin Nan himself had said to trust science.

So, it was possible that Lin Nan truly could read the celestial signs.

Thus, Zheng Zhian spoke up

"Teacher Luo, please call Lin Nan over. I have a few things I want to ask him personally."

"Alright, I'll have him come over right away."

Teacher Luo made a phone call to Lin Nan, telling him to come directly to the large conference room in the office building.

"Stay safe, and get here quickly."

"Yes, teacher."

...

*Knock, knock, knock.*

"Come in."

Lin Nan pushed open the doors to the large conference room, but to his surprise, all the school leaders, including the principal and the department head, were waiting for him in the room!

As soon as Lin Nan had decided to go on stage and report the situation, he had already prepared himself for the possibility of being summoned by a teacher.

However, he hadn't expected that the person calling him wouldn't be Teacher Luo or the Department Head Wang Mingxiang, but the Principal, Zheng Zhian!

Watching the group of school leaders scrutinizing him intently, Lin Nan couldn't help but murmur inwardly.

*Do the school leaders actually believe what I said about drawing arrays to pray for rain?*

*That wouldn't be good at all.*

Unable to figure out the principal's intentions, Lin Nan spoke first to offer his greetings.

"Hello, teachers."

Seeing Lin Nan's polite and well-behaved demeanor, and recalling Teacher Luo's introduction as well as Lin Nan's risk-taking behavior to warn about the hail during the assembly, the principal had a very good impression of him. He nodded gently and said

"Don't be nervous. I just want to ask you a few questions. Come and sit down."

Once Lin Nan sat down, Zheng Zhian asked

"Student Lin Nan, why did you know there was going to be hail during the assembly?"

*As expected, it's about this!*

Of course, Lin Nan would never reveal the existence of the System.

If his abilities were exposed, he might even be taken away by state agencies for questioning, and his future life would certainly not be peaceful.

Lin Nan had long prepared a strategy for this question.

"Teacher, I only said that because I was in a hurry this morning. Actually, discovering the impending hail was just an accident."

"When I first arrived at the playground this morning, I felt the temperature was quite comfortable. But as the meeting progressed, the outdoor temperature became increasingly cold. Such a situation occurring after rain is abnormal, so I began to pay attention to the sky."

"I noticed the cloud layers in the distance were very thick and didn't look like they were going to stop raining. When cumulonimbus clouds collide with cold air and freeze rapidly, hail is formed. The weather at that time was the precursor to the hail."

Lin Nan's words were logical and well-reasoned, leaving the school leaders present with no way to find fault.

This caused the leaders, who had previously thought Lin Nan was talking nonsense, to drop their objections.

It seemed this student had only spoken those outrageous words because the situation was urgent and he had acted impulsively.

However, he was just a freshman, and not even a meteorology major—how could he know such things?

Thus, Director Liu, who had previously speculated about Lin Nan's situation, couldn't help but ask

"Lin Nan, what you said is indeed reasonable, but how do you know this knowledge?"

Lin Nan answered calmly

"I have read popular science materials regarding meteorology before; I simply remembered this knowledge from those science communications."

"Today, it was because the continuous drop in temperature reminded me of this, which allowed me to notice the anomaly in the sky and guess that hail was coming."

With this, everything had a reasonable explanation.

Lin Nan's answer also allowed Zheng Zhian to realize that this student not only possessed strong observational skills but also strong learning abilities. Moreover, he could clearly retain knowledge from different disciplines in his mind, making him a studious and excellent student.

Zheng Zhian said with gratification

"Being able to apply what you have learned to real life is the most difficult part. Your learning and application abilities are both quite good."

"We have a general understanding of the situation you described. The reason we were able to minimize injuries this time was all thanks to your brave suggestion. On behalf of all the freshmen, I express my gratitude to you."

Then, Zheng Zhian stood up and bowed to Lin Nan.

Lin Nan stood up as well.

"Principal, it was just a small thing I did. There is no need for this."

Zheng Zhian smiled.

"You deserve this thanks."

"Alright, child, you may head back."

"Yes, sir."

Lin Nan then walked out of the conference room with Teacher Luo.

On the way back to the dormitory, Teacher Luo kept looking at Lin Nan with a smile, his eyes filled with admiration.

"I didn't know you had some research into meteorology as well."

Lin Nan gave an awkward smile. He did indeed have a lot of research into meteorology—the kind of research that allowed him to manipulate the weather.

"Haha, I just read some things randomly in my spare time. This time was just a stroke of luck."

"Don't belittle yourself. If it can be put to use, it doesn't count as 'random reading'."

Through this incident, Teacher Luo also took note of this student who didn't like to show off and had a very distinctive appearance.

Furthermore, he had a very good impression of Lin Nan; Lin Nan had brought honor to him as a mentor right at the start of the semester.

Teacher Luo continued

"Your brave speech this time might even earn you a reward from the school. However, the principal and the others are busy with the aftermath right now, so the reward will likely be issued later."

This actually came as a bit of a surprise to Lin Nan.

He hadn't expected that a simple act of kindness would result in a reward.

After chatting for a while, Lin Nan parted ways with Teacher Luo and returned to the boys' dormitory.

...

Meanwhile, at the Yanhai City Meteorological Bureau.

The sudden localized hail had thrown the Meteorological Bureau's office into a state of chaos.

The rainfall itself was easy to explain, as sudden rainfall is common during this season, and the radar had indeed detected it afterward. But this hail was somewhat incomprehensible.

Moreover, the meteorological radar had failed to detect it beforehand, which was causing a massive headache for the Bureau. Calls from city leaders were coming in incessantly, and even without answering, they knew they were calls of reprimand and criticism.

"Hello, leader, it's really not our fault. I suspect... I suspect the Americans are using weather weapons against us!"

(End of Chapter)