Did the world end today?

Chapter 321 Children
The last day of the Lunar New Year, inside the Yiran Villa in Tailai.

A little girl with a ponytail was sitting on the floor in front of the sofa, carefully examining the things she was going to put into the small backpack.

Water bottle, tissues, medal, tablet, camera, jungle hat, magic wand.
She was like someone going on a long hike or adventure, wanting to pack everything she had.

However, the backpack only had so much space, so she had to make a choice.

You definitely need to bring a camera, right? If you don't bring one, how will you take pictures?
Dad's phone couldn't capture the spaceship taking off; it would be such a shame to miss the most exciting moment.

You don't need to wear a jungle hat; the temperature isn't high now, so it shouldn't be too hot.

If it's sunny, I'll have my mom apply some sunscreen beforehand.

The magic wand is a must-have; it protects me every night by my bedside, and I must take it with me wherever I go.
After much deliberation, the girl's backpack was already full, but she still felt that something was missing.

"father!"

She shouted, and a man in a suit and tie poked his head out from the second floor of the villa.

It was Ren Jian.

"what happened?"

"Please bring me my binoculars! And when are we leaving?"

"immediately!"

Ren Jian answered casually. Behind him, a woman with a face that wasn't exactly gentle but was still quite amiable straightened his suit collar and whispered a few words of advice:
"Watch your words when you get there. These are all important people attending the ceremony."

Ren Jian waved his hand to interrupt the woman, and then said:

"We can't see them, we can only look at them from the outside."

"Who knows? Anyway, you need to be careful. Our company has worked so hard to grow this big; what if you say something wrong?"

"First of all, this is not our company."

Ren Jian interrupted again:
"Secondly, the reason this company has grown so big has nothing to do with you or me; we've just been lucky."

"It's just good luck, but isn't it also because you have good judgment?"

A hint of admiration flickered in the woman's eyes.

"If you hadn't realized that Lin Xu wasn't an ordinary person..."

"All right."

Ren Jian's tone suddenly became more serious.

"Don't tell everyone. Don't you know what level of secrecy this is? Was all that security training you received for nothing?"

The woman froze awkwardly, then wisely shut her mouth and turned to the girl at the bottom of the stairs, saying:

"Xiaoxiao, hurry up and pack your things."

"Daddy will take you to see the spaceship in a little while. Be a good boy/girl when we get there!"

"I know, Mom."

The girl named Xiaoxiao immediately stood up, skipped over, took the binoculars from Ren Jian, and stuffed them into her backpack.

After a final check, she zipped up the backpack with satisfaction.

"Let's go!"

Xiaoxiao rushed out the door without looking back, where a car with white license plates that had arrived earlier was already waiting.

She struggled to open the car door, and a security guard beside her reached out and helped her under the armpits to get into the car. The girl turned back and smiled, saying:
"Thank you uncle!"

"You're welcome."

The guard nodded to Ren Jian, who was following behind, and the car door closed with a soft click.

As the wheels started turning, Ren Xiaoxiao took out her tablet, swung her legs, and scrolled through short videos for minors. The content creators in the videos were talking about topics like the universe, stars, and aliens, which Ren Xiaoxiao found very interesting.

"Dad, are there really no aliens in this universe?"

"I do not know either."

Ren Jian shrugged and replied:
"Maybe the answer to this question will be available when you grow up."

"Why do we have to wait for me to grow up? Isn't this spaceship, this Star Traveler 2, supposed to be going to find aliens?"

"no."

Ren Jian shook his head.

"It's going to create a star."

"Create a star?"

Ren Xiaoxiao nodded thoughtfully.

If you were to create a star, it would probably involve something like nuclear fusion or time fragments, right?

But those things were just too complicated for her; no matter how many science bloggers she read, she still couldn't fully understand what they meant.

Seeing that she didn't ask any more questions, Ren Jian turned back around.

Then, he asked the staff member sitting opposite him:
How many people were involved in this launch experiment?

"Quite a lot."

The staff member nodded and replied:
"This launch mission is still very important, after all, it involves the first uncontrolled fusion experiment. It also has a certain publicity and demonstration effect, and some external personnel were invited to participate and watch."

"But you don't need to worry too much. There shouldn't be any major problems with the Sky Dome Technology part or the launch part."

"If there are any problems, they will be in the subsequent fusion experiments."

"clear."

Ren Jian nodded.

Fusion experiment?

The term was not unfamiliar to him, but every time he heard it in the news or saw it at a conference that Sky Dome Technology participated in, he always felt that it was a bit unreal.

How could it be so fast?
How could a small fusion reactor be sent into space by spacecraft in less than a year?

I always hear experts say that "the technology is not difficult," especially with the advent of room-temperature superconductors and strong magnetic materials, nuclear fusion has become even simpler.

But something so simple had stumped humanity for decades. —Lin Xu
He remembered the name he had seen in the news before.

That must be the Lin Xu I know.

I wonder if I'll have a chance to see him this time I participate in the experiment.
The scenery outside the car window kept receding. After passing several checkpoints, the group got off the car outside the launch site and stood at the designated viewing area.

In the distance, Star Travel 2, standing on the launch pad, was ready to launch. Ren Xiaoxiao excitedly took out her camera from her backpack to take pictures, while Ren Jian walked back and forth in the field, greeting acquaintances everywhere.

Quite a few acquaintances were invited to attend the ceremony, including some of his old rivals.

In the past, people in the business world would often fight over trivial matters, sometimes even to the point of resorting to violence.

Looking back now, that kind of thing seems as childish as playing house.

Faced with the grand theme of "universe," former adversaries who used to ignite a fierce argument even with a mere glance, and who were eager to physically confront each other, eventually let bygones be bygones and simply said, "You've come too."

Which area are you responsible for?

Ren Jian asked:
"Still using fly-by-wire control?"

The familiar face across the street replied:

“Magnetic control; the magnetic control program for this small tokamak was written by us.”

“That’s pretty impressive.”

"You're more capable than me. You guys were the ones who built Star Traveler II, weren't you?"

"It's just participation; the authorities are still in control."

"That's still much better than us. By the way, Lao Liu will be here soon; they mainly work on the superconducting part."

"They've certainly made rapid progress in the field of superconductivity—did they also make superconducting batteries?"

"No, the capacitors were made by a company in the south, and I don't know the person in charge."

"We can get to know each other and exchange contact information later if we have the chance."

"Many of the country's major projects are now subcontracted. If we can develop our own system and create a standardized solution, it will be much simpler to participate in projects or bid for them in the future."

"Yes, everyone should make money."

Ren Jian chatted casually with acquaintances, and he keenly realized that the reason why the authorities invited him and his group of "entrepreneurs" to the event was indeed to "integrate resources".

After all, there are so many technologies that need to be developed now. If they were all kept in the hands of the government, it would take who knows how many years it would take to develop them all.

As our old rivals have said, if private capital can form a new synergy, it might also be able to grab a significant share of the pie.
More and more people arrived, and the scene became increasingly lively.

Ren Jian glanced back in her daughter's direction and noticed that a little girl of the same age had appeared beside her sometime during the night.

The two stood together fiddling with the camera. Xiaoxiao waved her arms to show the girl how to pose, then pressed the shutter. The flash went off, and the girl squinted slightly.

Ren Jian always felt that her expression was a little strange.

I wanted to go over and ask, but I felt I shouldn't disturb the two children who had just become acquainted.

So he simply took a few steps closer and stood next to a couple who were clearly the girl's parents.

"Brother, is that your child?"

Ren Jian offered him a cigarette.

"Take a puff?"

"thanks, thanks."

The man took the cigarette, and as Ren Jian lit the lighter, he immediately cupped his hand around it.

Taking a deep breath, the man gently patted Ren Jian's hand in greeting, then replied:
"It's my child. He said he wanted to see a rocket; he'd never seen one before. I just asked casually, but I never expected it would actually be arranged for him to come."

"Your connections must be pretty strong."

Ren Jian said jokingly:

"The venue here is narrow, and there weren't many spots available for the inner area to begin with. 80% of them were taken by lottery, and the rest..."

"No no"

The man waved his hands repeatedly and said:

"We asked the doctor how the lottery worked, but the doctor didn't have time to come and gave us the spot instead."

"doctor?"

Ren Jian was stunned for a moment.

"I didn't see anything wrong with your daughter!"

"She just had surgery for a glioma."

The man let out a long sigh.

"We thought there was no hope, but we didn't expect that they would actually save him after he was sent to the Institute of Physics."

"He's missing an eye."

"But it's okay, I heard that stem cell technology will be available soon."

"Her eyes might be cured before she turns 18."

Glioma.
Ren Jian nodded thoughtfully.

This thing can be cured??
It seems that in many fields, earth-shattering waves that I am unaware of are quietly rising.

"What's her name? My daughter's name is Xiaoxiao."

"Call her Ruoruo."

The man waved and called out to his daughter, who was not far away:

"Ruoruo, come here and call him Uncle!"

The girl turned around and ran back, calling out "Uncle" shyly before turning away again.

She and Ren Xiaoxiao had become completely inseparable. The two children sat in chairs, their heads close together, watching a video on a tablet. Ren Jian vaguely heard Xiaoxiao say something:
There are no aliens in this world.

(End of this chapter)