With the funds secured and the printing and distribution arrangements made, after more than two months in Victorian-era London, Lu Shi could finally engage in some "serious" work.
He requested an office from Shaw, then summoned Nikolaich and Solomon.
Both students were a bit bewildered, feeling a bit uneasy inside.
As they walked towards the office, Nikolaich whispered, "I wonder what Professor Lu wants from us? Could it be...hiss...is it because of what you did before?"
Solomon was puzzled, "What did I do?"
Nikolaich hinted, "It's about 'The Answer.'"
During that time, the female students from those girls' schools were crowding the doors every day. If you didn't know, you'd think they were going to abduct Professor Lu.
Solomon gave a knowing smile, "Heh heh, what do you know!"
Nikolaich rolled his eyes, "My roommate is French, what don't I know?"
The conservative atmosphere in Britain meant universities temporarily didn't admit female students, and LSE was like a monastery. It was refreshing to see the girls from the girls' schools.
Solomon said, "Don't worry, Professor Lu won't blame me for that. He might even thank me. It's more likely that you, with the nineteen questions you asked during Professor Lu's lectures, annoyed him."
Nikolaich shook his head, "Professor Lu is rigorous in his scholarship, and even encourages us to question him. How could he be so petty?"
That wasn't wrong.
It was a badge of honor for LSE students to question Lu Shi. If Lu Shi held grudges for that, he'd have too many targets.
The two couldn't figure out the purpose of this visit, arriving at the door of the office in a daze, knocking.
Lu Shi's voice came from inside, "The door's not locked, come on in."
They pushed the door open and entered.
The office was obviously temporarily assigned to Lu Shi, likely previously used as a storage room. Several sets of tables and chairs were stacked against the east wall.
On the west wall hung a "whiteboard," assembled from wooden boards, tanned leather, and white paper, much more convenient for writing and drawing than the usual blackboard.
The accumulated dust in the corners of the room hadn't been fully cleaned, and tiny fibers floated conspicuously in the sunlight, drifting in the air.
"Achoo!"
Solomon couldn't help but sneeze, then embarrassedly covered his mouth and nose, saying, "Sorry, Professor Lu."
Lu Shi, who was currently writing something on the whiteboard, turned around.
"You can sit anywhere."
Nikolaich and Solomon stood still, not daring to move.
Lu Shi didn't mind and directly brought up the topic, "I heard you guys are very active at school, especially Solomon, who seems to be quite popular among other students..."
Nikolaich glared at Solomon.
Knew it was this guy!
Lu Shi chuckled, "Relax, calling you guys here is not a bad thing."
He patted the whiteboard behind him, saying, "I called you here for this, a public opinion survey."
The two students instinctively looked at the whiteboard.
They saw many terms on it that they didn't understand:
Survey,
Sampling,
Sample size,
...
Some words were understandable literally, while others weren't.
Lu Shi also knew it would be difficult to explain, so he pulled out a piece of paper and handed it over, saying at the same time, "Take a look at this. If you're willing, you can try to answer one by one. Of course, whether to answer or not doesn't matter."
Solomon took it and glanced at it in surprise, "Is this a test?"
Lu Shi shook his head, "It's not a test. Anyway, take a look."
The two students began to read carefully.
Have you ever received a conscription pamphlet?
Do you think military life is beneficial to young people?
Have you ever considered attending a military academy?
...
A series of questions,
And only at the end was the real question revealed: "Do you think the country should implement conscription?"
Solomon and Nikolaich looked at each other.
They already knew what Lu Shi wanted to do.
Lu Shi chuckled, "This should be easy for you guys to understand, right?"
Solomon replied, "Yes, students at LSE have generally done similar surveys. But usually, it's done through face-to-face questioning, not by distributing these questions."
Lu Shi said, "What you did is essentially a public opinion survey."
Solomon pondered for a moment, saying, "Another point is that the authenticity of the respondents should be ensured. However, since we're discussing conscription, it means it should be aimed at the entire population, so this isn't critical."
Lu Shi smiled, "Wrong, it should be aimed at all adult male citizens."
The meaning behind his words was obvious.
Because only adult male citizens had the right to vote.
As for those without the right to vote,
Sorry, even if they have opinions, they have to keep them to themselves.
Nicholas couldn't help but frown.
"Professor Lu, you just said that opinion polls themselves are a business, does that mean... um... I'm worried I can't handle it."
Upon hearing this, Solomon shook his head.
His friend was admirable in many ways, but too straightforward.
Anyone with common sense could see the influence of Professor Lu's opinion poll. Being deeply involved in this project, not to mention graduating smoothly, would likely lead to success in the media industry. Why couldn't Nicholas be a bit more flexible?
Nevertheless, since his friend made a decision, Solomon would stand by him.
He said, "Professor Lu, I agree with Nicholas."
Professor Lu didn't take offense.
"Don't worry, opinion polls are a public service. We can't engage in activities that involve taking money to do someone else's bidding. Persuasion through reason... no, it should be persuasion through data, right?"
"What a clever phrase - 'persuasion through data'!"
Nicholas and Solomon exchanged a glance and apologized to Professor Lu simultaneously, "Sorry, we misunderstood you, Professor Lu."
Professor Lu waved it off.
"No problem. In the future, I'll leave the opinion polls to you two to handle. But since you lack experience for now, I'll guide you through the first questionnaire. Do you have any specific topics you're interested in?"
Nicholas lowered his head in thought.
Suddenly, he looked up and said, "Professor Lu, you mentioned 'adult male citizens' just now. Could we perhaps explore this topic?"
Professor Lu chuckled.
"Interesting! You've chosen a challenging topic right off the bat."