Chapter 637 - 365: Are You Trying to Ascend to the Heavens?

Chapter 637: Chapter 365: Are You Trying to Ascend to the Heavens?

However, regarding "this particular field," if Lin Chu was truly desperate, "going up" wasn’t out of the question.

"I understand."

"I’ll contact them as soon as possible. Starship has already started commercial flights. If we can really pay to cut in line, it’s an option for us."

"I’m starting to think Musk was really ten years ahead of his time. Sigh... Brother Chu, if you have a chance now, you should definitely meet him."

"I was looking into new technologies a while back. Apparently, their next step is to research space hotels. They’d just expand the space station and charge a few million for a spot. It’s not that difficult to achieve technically. If you’re willing to spend the money and take the risk, you could even stay there long-term. Of course, stay too long and it might start to feel like you’re paying to be in prison."

"But just imagine... if you took a woman up there with you, could you have a baby in space? Holy shit, that would be the first true space-born human."

Gao Haitao’s thoughts were spiraling into wild territory, making logical deductions based on what current technology could achieve, even if his focus was a little strange.

Uh.

Lin Chu shot him a look, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, but he had to admit the idea was interesting.

"Great idea. Why don’t you go up and give it a try first?"

"You’d go down in history. The first one in the entire world, ever."

After the joke, Gao Haitao quickly laughed and waved his hands dismissively.

It was just talk.

’How bold would you have to be to actually do something like that?’

’Over on the other side of the ocean, there’s fertile ground for that kind of craziness. A lot of the top billionaires are a crazy bunch.’

’Then again, knowing Lin Chu’s personality, it wasn’t entirely impossible he’d do something like that.’

After that, the two chatted about this and that for a while longer before finishing their conversation and breakfast, then went their separate ways.

...

For Lin Chu, life on the island continued on, same as always.

Working out.

Reading.

Practicing martial arts.

Target practice.

The feeling of sweating buckets under the hot sun was exhilarating.

Sometimes, Lin Chu would reflect that it was hardly surprising for someone like Liszt to have such a way of thinking.

’Goddamn, the lives of the ultra-rich really are this bland, boring, and unpretentious.’

’Success is often a long-term game. You maintain a disciplined, routine life, running your body and mind at the lowest possible cost, so you can focus all your thoughts on your life’s mission.’

’Like Buffett, who holed up in that small town his whole life, just making trades.’

’Like Liszt, researching those endlessly profound, fundamental questions.’

’Like Musk, who might genuinely care about the future and destiny of humanity, and even wants to change it with his own two hands.’

’And so on, and so forth... ’

’As for personal pleasure, that’s just a side benefit.’

’Food?’

’You can have gourmet delicacies for every meal, but how much can you really eat?’

’Housing?’

’You could own mansions all over the world, but you still sleep in one king-sized bed at night.’

’Women?’

’Unless you’ve got a back of steel, it’s just a matter of scratching an itch, keeping restless desires from clouding your mind.’

’Beyond these things, further pursuits—more money, power, status—are either basically impossible due to objective laws or one’s own lineage, or their marginal utility is almost zero.’

At this point, Lin Chu felt himself slipping into a kind of nihilistic mindset. He kept coming back to the same conclusion: the pursuits of the real world didn’t really have much meaning anymore.

But, because external threats still existed, the things that needed to be done still had to be done.

So it wasn’t a state of complete emptiness, at least.

This state of mind reminded Lin Chu of the old saying, "Be prepared for danger in times of peace." As the classic text goes, "If a state has no principled officials and worthy scholars at home, and no external enemies and threats abroad, it is doomed to perish."

’If you don’t have any adversaries in life—whether they’re actual people or struggles like ’not enough money’ or ’not enough status’—it all seems pretty dull.’

"Xiaoli, what is Mr. Liszt doing right now? I’d like to speak with him. Please let him know."

That afternoon, while soaking lazily in a natural hot spring, Lin Chu casually picked up his phone and sent an email to Li Jingxian.

’Nothing else to do today. Might as well skip the usual diversions and go tease that old man.’

Li Jingxian replied quickly: "Mr. Li is in Capital City, meeting with an important guest. I will pass on your message as soon as he is finished."

"Alright. Make it quick."

’That old bastard. He’s about to fucking die and he’s still so enthusiastic about work, meeting with this person and that. He’s really not afraid of dropping dead in the middle of it all.’

’Lin Chu always had a feeling that Liszt’s desire to get involved in the country’s high-end medical industry wasn’t entirely about money or business strategy. For a man like him, those things weren’t that important anymore.’

’He’s about to die, so what’s the point of having so much money?’

’He was probably trying to get his hands on the latest medical research or some special privileges to extend his life as much as possible.’

’Even just getting into that circle and obtaining some information could be very useful to him.’

’It was almost "pitiful."’

’This even gave Lin Chu a sense of mental superiority. The old man still hasn’t figured out how to live... and besides, why the sudden rush? What was he doing all this time?’

As he was mulling this over and soaking a bit longer, a call came from Li Jingxian. "Mr. Lin, Mr. Li has finished his meeting. He can speak with you now. Is this a convenient time?"

"Good. Put him on."

Lin Chu said coolly. A moment later, he heard Liszt’s voice on the other end, tinged with exhaustion. "Chu. Go ahead."

"Nothing much. Just wanted to ask what you’re up to. Also, I was curious... how come you never had any kids all these years? Don’t be offended, just asking off the cuff."

Lin Chu’s tone was exceedingly light and teasing.

’Things have progressed to this point; there was no need to be polite anymore.’

Liszt on the other end of the line seemed to choke on the question. After a long silence, he said in a low voice, "That’s very rude... It was God’s will."

Lin Chu hadn’t expected him to answer the question directly. After all, for a man of his stature, to frankly discuss such a private and painful matter was rather undignified.

Lin Chu had even been prepared to infuriate him.

But the old man was surprisingly candid and didn’t seem angry. He just stated it as a fact.

’He didn’t have any, and that was that. Nothing to be done. It was up to fate.’

It was a strange thing. It was as if there really were some unseen rules at play. Forget Liszt; even his own father, Lin Haifu, believed in it to some extent. He’d mentioned it once while they were drinking—how many incredibly successful, wealthy, and powerful men often seemed "fated" to only have daughters, never sons. No one knew why... You could dismiss it as superstition, but there were countless examples.

"Technology is so advanced these days, have you really not tried anything? Or are your... essential organs... no longer functional? That shouldn’t be the case. Even if you were paralyzed, artificial methods are still an option."

"I was just chatting with a friend today about whether a man and a woman could go to space and have the first space-born human in history, and you suddenly came to mind."

"That suggestion I made last time, the ’body adrift in space’ plan, is a bit too bleak. How about launching a space station instead? A ’cryogenically frozen remains’ plan?"

"It’s technically very easy to do."

"Of course, you could also try my other suggestion—the ’procreation in space’ plan. Who knows, maybe the change in environment could make a difference?"

"If you’re not going to do it, I’m thinking of getting started on it myself."

Lin Chu subtly insinuated that Liszt was a eunuch, then immediately started arranging his "posthumous affairs" for him. His tone was flippant, his attitude mischievous, and a smile played on his lips. He was in a great mood.

’Compared to his own sore spots—the impending indictment and possible arrest warrant...’

’...what he was saying now was, naturally, hitting all of Liszt’s sore spots.’

’And if he could actually convince him, it would at least keep the old man busy with something, preventing him from causing all sorts of trouble for me.’

On the other end of the line.

Liszt was silent for a dozen seconds before pressing the disconnect button. He handed the phone back to Li Jingxian, his ancient face devoid of expression.

Hearing the BEEP-BEEP-BEEP of the busy signal, Lin Chu couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

’Looks like the old man really got triggered.’

’He didn’t even say goodbye... just hung up.’

"What’s going on? What’s wrong with him?"

Putting on a show of concern, Lin Chu sent another email to Li Jingxian.

He didn’t reply.

So Lin Chu didn’t bother with it any further.

After soaking for about an hour, and having finished the call, Lin Chu felt refreshed in both body and mind. He stepped out of the hot spring, got dressed, sat down at his computer, and began to write an email.

"Hello Elon Musk, my name is Lin Chu. I’m just an ordinary person, twenty-four years old, who happens to be worth tens of billions. If you have a moment, I’d like to chat."

"Also, my team is already on their way to your office to deliver a formal invitation."

...

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