Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Jinling.
Zhongshan International mansion.
Lu Zhou was sitting in his study room. He just got back to Jinling today. He received a call from the Lunar Orbit Committee chairman.
“What is happening at the Moon Palace? Is it serious?”
Lu Zhou was standing next to the window when he smiled and said, “It’s no problem at all, it’s already solved.”
The old man nodded and spoke in a serious manner.
“We can’t be careless. Slow and steady is the way to go. We should push back the schedule if we need to. We’ve been waiting for all this time, we can afford to wait another couple of years.”
Lu Zhou said, “Don’t worry, I got this covered.”
“Okay, that’s good,” the old man said, “I don’t know a lot about research, I can’t really help you. This chairman position I have is just a title. You’re responsible for the specifics.”
The call was almost over.
The old man made some small talk and asked questions such as “How have you been?”, “How’s research going?”, “Do you have a girlfriend”, etc. Other than that, they didn’t talk about anything important.
Lu Zhou hung up the phone and walked back to his desk.
He didn’t know who wrote that blog, and he didn’t know who was trying to create drama…
But it didn’t matter.
This didn’t affect Lu Zhou at all.
No one important was blaming Lu Zhou for anything…
Lu Zhou gently placed his phone on the desk and sighed. He suddenly shook his head.
“Why is this happening?”
A chat bubble popped out on the lower right corner of his computer.
Xiao Ai: [Master, why are you sad?]
Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “I’m not, I just feel a little… tired.”
He never wanted to monopolize space.
For him, money was just a number.
As for political status…
He wasn’t interested in that either.
If he really were interested, he just had to open his mouth, and any political role would be his.
The reason why he asked Hou Guang to research a new transportation mode from Earth synchronous orbit to the Earth-Moon transfer orbit was to improve their lunar orbit transfer capacity and also to motivate Chinese companies to join in on the space race competition.
The United States had a large number of amazing aerospace companies. These private companies were the driving force behind technological innovation. This innovation ability, combined with America’s huge industrial capacity, was the reason behind America’s glorious aerospace industry.
Lu Zhou wanted China to have a large number of outstanding aerospace technology companies.
Lu Zhou didn’t want aerospace companies that relied on government subsidies and support. These weak companies gave up easily.
Of course, he knew this wasn’t easy.
Things like this needed time to mature…
Xiao Ai: [Master, don’t be sad. (; ′⌒`)]
Lu Zhou looked at the chat and smiled. He said, “Sad? I’m not sad, I’m not a clueless university student anymore. All I knew back then was mathematics.”
Honestly, he was nostalgic about the simpler times.
Back then, he didn’t have to think about anything other than mathematics.
Before this, he didn’t understand Grothendieck’s mentality, but now, he kind of understood.
[Okay then… Master, do you want me to sing to you? ♪ (^ ∇ ^ *)]
Lu Zhou: “… Xiao Ai.”
Xiao Ai: [What? 0w0]
Lu Zhou went silent for a while before saying, “If one day…”
He suddenly stopped.
Just now, he wanted to ask what Xiao Ai would do if he passed away. But he wasn’t sure if Xiao Ai knew what “passing away” meant, so he decided not to ask.
Talking about life and death seemed too complex for Xiao Ai.
Xiao Ai: [Yeah? What’s the matter? (✿゚▽゚)]
Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Nothing… I just think that it would be nice to retire and become a mathematics teacher.”
Xiao Ai: [… But Master, are you not one right now? 0.0]
Lu Zhou stared at the text and touched his nose awkwardly.
“Am I…?”
Last year, he gave a few lectures, but this year, he was too busy. He only met a few times with his master’s students and PhD students. Most of the guidance work was done by the workers at the Institute for Advanced Study.
However, Jin Ling University didn’t mention anything. They just kept sending him paychecks…
He felt guilty whenever he thought about this.
Lu Zhou’s phone on the desk began to ring.
Wang Peng was the one calling.
Lu Zhou picked up the phone and spoke.
“Hey? How’s your holiday? Can you work tomorrow?”
When they were still in Tianjin, Wang Peng applied for a two-day vacation before returning to Jinling. He handed the security work to Yang Guangbiao and boarded a separate train.
Lu Zhou didn’t ask what Wang Peng was doing, but Wang Peng looked serious when he asked for the time off.
It definitely wasn’t just a holiday.
The other end of the phone went silent.
Wang Peng coughed and replied, “I want to extend my leave… I might return to Jinling in two days. Sorry, Yang Guangbiao will have to cover for me.”
Lu Zhou smiled and replied, “Sure thing, hope everything is fine.”
“Yeah,” Wang Peng nodded and quickly said, “I’m on holiday… Everything is going great.”
“Sure sure, holiday.”
Lu Zhou leaned back in his chair and smiled. He then hung up the phone.
On the other hand, outside a building in the high-tech park in the city center of Shanghai, Wang Peng hung up the phone and looked at the screen with a strange expression.
A man in a black suit walked over.
“Target is in the building, the capture team is ready.”
Wang Peng nodded and put his phone in his pocket.
“Let’s head in.”