Chapter 225: Immortals As Numerous As Hemp
“Do you want to know the meaning of life? Do you want to truly live?”
But this time, besides this sentence, there was also a telephone call:
“***”
And another passage:
“Let us restart the moon landing 60 years later.”
“Hello, this is Aldrin, who the hell are you?”
Without the slightest hesitation, he dialed a phone call.
“I’m Randolph, Randolph Lin. If you don’t know who I am, you can Google it later and you’ll know.
Let’s cut to the chase. Come to China. We will restart the moon landing program. You can become the first person to land on the Moon in the 21st century, and also the only person to have landed on the Moon in two centuries.
Make up for the regrets of this life. Compared to living in a daze like now, don’t you want to truly live!
Dr. Rendezvous, it’s time to set off.”
How could he say he would pay as soon as he arrived.
Wait until he comes to China, then slowly explode gold coins.
Lin Ran was confident, as long as Aldrin took this step.
The gold coins on him would sooner or later be exploded by him.
After hearing the last call of Dr. Rendezvous, which carried kindness, sternness, and command, Aldrin felt his soul had been cleansed.
Because no one had called him that for many years.
Back when he was still at NASA, the astronauts liked to call him that. He felt that this title was both respectful and sarcastic at the time.
And after so many years without hearing it, suddenly hearing it again had a special flavor in his heart.
Aldrin took a deep breath: “So who the hell are you? What do you want to do?”
“Randolph Lin, restart the Apollo Program. The Moon is there, we have to go there.” Lin Ran said, inwardly chanting that compared to Randolph Lin, he preferred being called professor. “After you come to China, the doubts in your heart will be answered.”
To be honest, making such a decision required great determination.
But fortunately, Aldrin was already 90 years old. The three wives he successively married had all fallen out with him, and divorce had sliced up his property time and time again. His children all had their own lives.
Making such a decision wasn’t that difficult.
After only hesitating for a moment, he murmured: “Where in China?”
Lin Ran said: “Meet at the Chinese consulate in Houston. Someone will arrange your subsequent work.”
Aldrin asked in confusion: “Work for China?”
He didn’t reject working for China.
On the contrary, if it could let him return to the Moon in his lifetime, he wished the backing was Chinese official.
After all, this meant greater support and greater possibility.
“We’ll talk about everything after you come to China.”
“No, what does he want to do? Really going to do a moon landing?” Lin Zhongqing looked at the list and felt numb.
Lin Ran’s request had already been submitted.
Hoping that Shanghai side would help these people get visas, a total of 27 people, all American white people, the youngest was also 81 years old, the oldest already 90.
It was precisely because there was a familiar name on this list, Buzz Aldrin.
So Lin Zhongqing specifically asked the secretary to check each one when he saw the list.
Good grief, every single one that could be found on the external network by name was former NASA employee.
And not ordinary employees, all were employees deeply involved in the Apollo Program.
From Ebeneezer Haines who manually calculated Earth’s oblateness for spaceship orbital inclination correction value to the second man on the Moon, Buzz Aldrin.
Only five people inside couldn’t be found, but from the public information of the other 22.
Was there any doubt?
All were NASA employees from the golden age of Cold War aerospace, and the most elite batch.
No.
At first, Li Congming told him that Lin Ran wanted to do a moon landing.
Lin Zhongqing thought it was a joke.
Young people, after just making big achievements, always feel like they can fly to the sky and escape the earth, omnipotent.
Very normal. He himself felt like he could change the world when he was young.
Later, constantly educated by reality, then accept reality and remake some achievements to change a little reality. Life advances in such cycles.
Anyway, as long as Lin Ran didn’t ask the school to invest money, just resources, help connect with suppliers and such, no problem.
The school still had plenty of such resources.
If you pay out of your own pocket, let alone moon landing, even if you want to go to Mars, the school won’t stop you.
Musk can go to Mars, if you can swindle investors’ money, the school won’t stop you from going to Mars.
It would only strongly support.
Lin Zhongqing originally thought, when Lin Ran comes, if he still has similar ideas, the school could help in the middle to make connections, let Lin Ran connect with miHoYo side. Anyway, miHoYo had a lot of unused money lying in the account.
Or maybe Bilibili.
Sponsor the moon landing project of our Shanghai Jiaotong University Fields Medalist.
Musk can launch Falcon, Lin Ran replicate Apollo Moon Landing, not too outrageous.
As for how to convince these entrepreneurs, that’s Lin Ran’s own business.
The school has already paved the road for you, if you can’t even convince them, then don’t talk about moon landing, just come back obediently and do your academic research.
Lin Zhongqing thought very well.
It’s just that Lin Zhongqing didn’t expect the resources Lin Ran wanted to be this kind of resources.
The first time Lin Ran asked the school side was to handle work visas to China for these 27 people.
No, the youngest are all 81-year-old old men, coming to China to work.
Lin Zhongqing felt like he was suffocating when he saw this list.
Couldn’t not suffocate.
What time is it now, during a virus outbreak, letting this group of 80-year-old old men come to China, what if they get sick and then people are gone?
Aldrin **dying in China, what a huge public opinion pressure.
Unimaginable.
And not just Aldrin, there’s a wave of former NASA employees.
What would foreign media say?
Shanghai Jiaotong University collectively tricks people over, then deliberately murders them?
Lin Zhongqing just thinking about possible events made him suffocate.
Because it’s a special period now, foreigners have some difficulty applying to come to China through normal channels.
Lin Ran couldn’t wait.
Lin Zhongqing originally wanted to refuse, but the first request from a potential Fields Medalist was really hard to refuse.
Moreover, these 27 people all had big backgrounds.
If people want to come, should he block it here?
The contract hasn’t been signed yet, what if Lin Ran turns to Yenching University and lets them handle it?
Still want the Fields Medalist?
Words had already been put out.
The signing ceremony invitation letters to media had already been sent.
Lin Zhongqing was in a dilemma.
Also, Lin Zhongqing really couldn’t figure it out, what exactly did Lin Ran want to do.
Simply from the list, it really looked like he wanted to replicate the Apollo Program.
Another bigger doubt arose in Lin Zhongqing’s heart: why?
Why did all these people listen to Lin Ran and run to China? Did he cast some spell?
All over 80 or 90, half in the grave, still traveling thousands of miles to China to work?
Who at 80 still has such high work enthusiasm.
This isn’t a joke.
Among these 27 people, Lin Zhongqing had met one in real life, that was Buzz Aldrin.
That was in 2017, when the world aerospace conference was held in Yanjing.
He attended as vice president of Shanghai Jiaotong University and chatted with him a few words.
He also learned that the other had completely fallen to seeing money, even coming to the aerospace conference required squeezing a sum from the organizer.
Including opening and closing mouth reminiscing glorious past years with sorrow.
In Lin Zhongqing’s view, just a ghost living in the past.
Just waiting for the summons from another world.
But in other words, Lin Ran could call Aldrin with money, after all, many Hong Kong movies paid to invite him as special guest.
What about the others?
Could it be the other 26 were all invited with big money?
So old, still want to earn extra money?
Lin Zhongqing couldn’t figure it out.
But Shanghai Jiaotong University still had some influence in Shanghai, could mobilize certain resources.
He first reported to the higher-ups, then the higher-ups reported to Yanjing, then Yanjing approved letting them come, as long as these old men were willing to stay full 14 days in the hotel.
Xiao Liu was an ordinary administrative staff at the Houston consulate general.
Called Xiao Liu, but actually not young, transferred to Houston five years after university graduation, already worked here nearly ten years.
It was his first time receiving such a strange request.
Handle work visas for a group of people, and this group the youngest were also post-40s.
80-year-old Americans still going to China to work.
What kind of work spirit is this.
Who says Americans are lazy!
But one name on this list caught his attention: “Buzz Aldrin”
Houston, city of aerospace, not now, but in the past the entire city’s industry was closely related to aerospace.
Xiao Liu had been here ten years, how could he not know who Aldrin was?
Ordinary Chinese people might not know, but here, in all kinds of aerospace-related museums and exhibitions, you could see Aldrin’s figure.
“Aldrin applying for work visa to China?” Xiao Liu waited for the next day with such doubt.
The next day, as arranged from above.
A group of elderly white men arrived one after another, barely able to count as still nimble on their feet.
Being able to come meant no senile dementia yet.
By the way, Aldrin’s ex-wife and children accused him in court of having senile dementia, purely to get more in property division, claiming Aldrin lacked financial self-management ability.
“Hello, help me apply for a work visa to China.”
It really was Aldrin, Xiao Liu was surprised inwardly.
After going back in the evening, he checked each of these people one by one, found all were former NASA employees, collectively going to China to work.
This bizarre scene left Xiao Liu with endless doubts, unanswered for a long time.
And similarly, the group boarding the special plane to China also started chatting in twos and threes on the special plane.
“Haines, how did Randolph that guy persuade you?” Aldrin asked with full vigor.
Haines smiled bitterly: “He sent me letters for a week straight, all filled with my own past manuscripts.
Don’t know how that guy got them.
And my manuscript from back then on the derivation of orbital calibration formulas. In 1960 I had just become a mid-level NASA engineer, helping Von Braun’s side calculate the gravitational perturbation correction formula.
Even on the blank spaces of the manuscript, my cursing Rudolf as a damned executioner, pretending to be a good person here, all remained intact.
Oh my god, I admit this trick really worked.
Randolph, well, this name sounds so similar to Rudolf, anyway he persuaded me.
I also want to know how he got those manuscripts, and what his purpose is.
And most importantly, if possible, I really want to complete a moon landing again.”
After Aldrin heard this, he hurriedly asked: “Are there any strange places in your manuscripts?”
Haines thought for a moment and said: “Don’t mention it, there really are.
Inside, a inexplicable professor keeps appearing.
I have no impression of such a professor existing.
But in my manuscripts, the past me seemed to particularly admire this professor I have no memory of.
Saying the professor could actually help him complete the fourth and fifth terms of the gravitational perturbation correction formula.
That the professor’s calculations were even more precise than computers.
Then in other manuscripts, the professor also appeared from time to time.
Anyway very strange, the past me depicted the professor as omnipotent.
But I really don’t remember such a person existing.
The gravitational perturbation correction formula was clearly something I slowly calculated myself over time.
There were more than once arguments with Von Braun’s side in between.
I really don’t remember any professor.”
From the moment Haines mentioned professor, Aldrin stopped listening to the rest.
He was single-mindedly thinking, what did this strange professor mean?
He took a deep breath, his voice slightly trembling: “What is he called?”
Haines asked in confusion: “What do you mean what is called?”
Aldrin said: “Not what called what, the professor.
Didn’t you mention there’s also a professor in the letter to you?
What I want to ask is, what is the professor called.”
Haines suddenly realized: “No, just professor.
No surname no name.”
Aldrin told Haines the content of his own letter.
Both confirmed, the professor was the same professor.
Then they separately went to confirm with every former NASA employee on the plane.
Confirmed they all received letters, and the letters all had the professor appearing.
Finally the two returned to their seats, exchanged a glance, and said in unison:
“So, who exactly is the professor?”
Not just them puzzled, all the former NASA elite employees on the plane started to be puzzled.
Rewind time a bit.
Lin Ran took the special plane arranged by Chinese side to return to China. Shanghai city side, Shanghai Jiaotong University, and local Shanghai media welcomed at the airport.
Lin Ran walked off the plane, someone offered flowers and handshake welcome, then a short speech:
“Very happy to return to the homeland, to the embrace of the motherland.
These days I’ve been eager to return home. On the eve of returning, after seeing my interview with Baihua Society broadcast, the internet said the country would create a good environment for me, let me do research without distractions, otherwise I would choose a better tree to perch on.”
