Chapter 24: A Little Touching
## Corrected Full English Text (Numbered Lines – NO CHINESE CHARACTERS):
“On the surface, from beginning to end, you never show up, only I show up.
And how you can openly participate in this requires Blue Origin to take action, with Blue Origin providing funds to Stony Brook University to initiate a joint research project, similar to a NASA sponsored project, and then you use this as a reason to work at Blue Origin regularly.
This means from the start of the project to its end, on the surface you have no relation to me, and your relationship with Blue Origin is limited to the Blue Origin-Stony Brook University joint research and development project, to bypass ITAR Section 126.1 and EAR Section 744.”
Lin Ran listened thoughtfully.
“The whole plan still has a problem, which is how to ensure that Blue Origin won’t sell us out.”
This was also what Lin Ran was most worried about. Once sold out and unable to return to China, locked up for a few years or even decades, it would really be pitch black, utter despair.
In prison, no matter what, he wouldn’t dare activate the gate to disappear.
“Don’t worry about this, Blue Origin won’t sell us out.
During this time, I’ve compiled all the public information available on the marketplace, and as you said, NASA does indeed have the idea of subcontracting the return to the Moon plan to companies.
Currently, some NASA officials and the Vice President have started dropping hints in some non-public settings. Including in 2014 when NASA once tried to hand the return to the Moon order to Boeing.
Considering the bad relationship between Bezos and Musk, from Bezos himself, he must really want to win one back in the field of aerospace.
If Blue Origin could snatch NASA’s order from over SpaceX’s head, this would not only be a huge commercial success, with Amazon having even greater potential, but it would also mean getting one over on Musk.
And they will definitely do everything possible to keep it secret for you.
Because once NASA’s order is given to Blue Origin, would they actively admit that we had help from a Chinese person? Then re-audit and re-bid the order?
They won’t expose you.
But there are still many risk points in this.
First, you have to convince Blue Origin. This isn’t like a traditional transaction where I have very advanced patent technology in hand, and I can get quotes one by one to find a suitable buyer.
For this, you can only have one target, like Blue Origin. From beginning to end, you can only talk to them. If they don’t agree, and you go to others, like Orbital Atk, then they will sell you out.
So from the start, you need to bring out sufficiently convincing evidence that can directly convince Bezos.
I’ll help you with the contact. With the Fabian Society badge, I can find a Donkey Party senator to help arrange a fifteen-minute private dialogue opportunity for you and Bezos at the campaign funding gala he holds for the President.
I checked, and the campaign gala is in three months, meaning your preparation time is only three months, one more month than the two months you mentioned then.
Is there enough time?”
Lin Ran was very grateful inside. If someone else told him he could return to the Moon, he absolutely wouldn’t believe it. But when he told Sister Xiao Man, she actually started preparing as if he really could convince Bezos.
“Sister Xiao Man, if this requires using up your connections, then forget it.” Lin Ran looked at Li Xiaoman’s delicate profile, his voice somewhat dry.
Having stayed in 1960 for about half a year, he deeply knew the influence of the Frankfurt School. Now, 60 years had passed since 1960, and who knew how many times that influence had multiplied, becoming a big tree deeply rooted in America.
And the Jewish Group behind it was one of America’s actual controllers.
Even if Li Junnan was just a passerby in history, the connections left behind could still strive a one-on-one dialogue with the world’s richest man for 15 minutes, but such connection resources are ultimately limited; they are consumables.
The Li Family isn’t some prestigious family; once this resource is used, it’s gone.
It could clearly have been saved for her to find a top law firm after graduation, or a top job in finance.
Although Lin Ran had full confidence in himself, becoming a real big character in both spacetimes would be effortless, what truly moved him was this unconditional trust.
He made such an outrageous request, and she kept preparing as if he really had this ability.
While he was working hard in 1960, she wasn’t idle either.
Finding a Donkey Party senator is very difficult, and arranging it perfectly in three months is even harder.
“Randolph, this is a gamble, but the price of this gamble is far less than you think.” Li Xiaoman naturally knew what Lin Ran was thinking.
She continued: “Admittedly, this consumes the connections I’ve built up over the past, making it much harder to ask others for help in the future.
But connections are something that will eventually be used up. Even if you fail this time, I can become a famous lawyer in the future, and connections can still be rebuilt.
In America, connections themselves are a process of constant consumption and re-establishment; they aren’t some one-time consumable.
You don’t need to have too much psychological pressure.
And if you really can convince Bezos, then it’s not me consuming connections; instead, they become even deeper, and next time I can ask him for even harder things.
So the chips I pay for this gamble are just a tiny bit of negligible connection.
And whether you can convince Bezos in one go is the key.”
Lin Ran nodded silently: “Okay, don’t worry, I will definitely convince Bezos.”
Li Xiaoman said: “Then there’s the last thing I need to warn you about.
As you said earlier, you’re going to replicate the Apollo Moon Landing. From today’s perspective, the Apollo Moon Landing was just a fluke, possibly with only a 30-40% success rate, but America succeeded.
This works perfectly. Have you thought about it—if you help Blue Origin achieve return to the Moon, will the White House still have the motivation to push this project? Can Blue Origin get a big order from NASA besides gaining reputation? Can it carve out its cake from the congressional budget?
Obviously not, so you need to use the Apollo Moon Landing as the reason, have robots return to the Moon, and it’s best to fail a few times during it, like 10 launches, succeeding 6 times, failing 4 times.
When successful, the lunar module should also have robots, not real people, which perfectly advertises Bezos’s robot company.”
After hearing this, Lin Ran asked:
“I still have a doubt: Blue Origin has had many cooperation projects with NASA in the past. As a Chinese person, can I really participate through their joint research project with Stony Brook University?
Even if this project is unrelated to restricted sensitive fields.
Also, if I participate, will someone with ulterior motives discover the relationship between me and Blue Origin’s Lunar Project? And cause unnecessary trouble?”
