Chapter 10: Leading Li Xiaoman Astray

Outside the villa window, sleet tapped rhythmically against the third-floor glass. Lin Ran’s breath condensed into white mist between the heater and his cup, his mind entirely occupied by the Fabian Society badge embossed with a sheep and a turtle.

Before Li Xiaoman could process this, Lin Ran continued rapidly:

“Even though this entire plan sounds utterly unbelievable, it is exactly what I am going to do. And I am fully confident that I can pull it off. To begin this grand project, I only need a small favor from you.”

Li Xiaoman suddenly interrupted: “Want me to V you 50 for Crazy Thursday?”

It just so happened that January 2, 2020, was a Thursday. Having known Lin Ran for nearly two years, Li Xiaoman was well aware of this popular Chinese internet meme.

Seeing this, Lin Ran realized that at the very least, Li Xiaoman was not angry at being fooled, which was crucial.

“If you want to V me 50, that’s fine by me. But right now, I just need a small favor. I will prove that everything I’ve said is true as we go along. I need you to lend me the Fabian Society badge and your Corolla. I need to review some historical archives, and once I’ve formed a preliminary plan, I’m going to approach Blue Origin.”

Despite being exhausted, and despite the request being simple, Li Xiaoman’s rigorous nature demanded she get to the bottom of it. Her gaze sharpened as she looked at him.

“This makes no sense. The Fabian Society is a humanities and social sciences organization; I don’t see the connection. Restarting a moon landing requires rocket engineers, not the Frankfurt School’s critique of instrumental reason! Even if you could somehow find a way through historical data to help modern-day America complete an Apollo-style landing, you should be looking for NASA’s classified archives, not using a Fabian badge to seek out Frankfurt School scholars. Don’t tell me you’re planning to sell the badge to Moritz?”

Lin Ran rolled his eyes. “Think about it—if I sold your family heirloom to your cousin, would he even pay for it? Wouldn’t he just assume it belonged to him by divine right?”

Moritz, the son of Li Xiaoman’s uncle, worked at Citibank in New York. To those in the know, the Fabian Society badge held immense value; whether it served as a relic or a token of influence depended entirely on whose hands it was in.

When Lin Ran first found the badge, Li Xiaoman was delighted not just because it was a family relic, but because it could serve as a bridge to utilize the resources of the Frankfurt School. The most direct example would be obtaining a recommendation letter from a heavyweight in the field to secure an internship at a top-tier law firm, creating a clear career path. It was proof of being a descendant of a prestigious family—even a fallen one was still prestigious. America was far more obsessed with lineage than China.

By that same token, it held significant value for her cousin, Li Mozeng (English name: Moritz). Since they were both of the Li family, if he got his hands on it, he could just as easily leverage those same connections. That was why Li Xiaoman was suspicious.

Fortunately, Lin Ran knew her well and was prepared for her skepticism.

“Of course, the 60-year-old technical data is already public on NASA’s website. I’m not looking for technical specs; I need to scour university archives to see who participated in the project back then. I need to track down key individuals to ask them questions in person and confirm critical technical details. These are the missing pieces of the puzzle to relaunch the entire Apollo program. I just hope these pieces are still around so I can put the whole picture together.”

Li Xiaoman remained half-convinced after he finished.

Lin Ran continued, “Two months. I only need two months to put together a plan that will move Blue Origin!”

According to the 60-to-1 time-dilation ratio, two months in the present would be 120 months—ten years—in the 1960s. That was more than enough time; Lin Ran had left himself plenty of margin.

“Fine, I’ll take your word for it—barely. Even if you manage to convince Blue Origin that you can do it, there are other problems to solve. First, are you planning to return to China after graduation, or stay here?”

Lin Ran replied resolutely, “Return to China! I want to use Blue Origin to make my first pot of gold and then go back. You know I prefer aerospace over computer science. That’s what I want to do. Since I have a chance to secure the initial capital here in America, I naturally intend to return home to develop my career.”

Being of Chinese descent in America was still far too sensitive. If he tried to do aerospace work here, he’d spend all his time dealing with investigations instead of getting any real work done.

He had come to America to pursue a PhD in Computer Science to make money, but with his "golden finger" to the 1960s, he could achieve both wealth and his ideals. He saw no reason to stay. He had no interest in helping outsiders build up America.

Li Xiaoman lowered her eyes, looking somewhat disappointed; she wasn’t ready to go to China. She quickly pulled herself together, though.

“Alright, assuming you can actually pull this off, there are several hurdles to overcome. First, how to contact Blue Origin’s executives and get them to give us a chance. Given the current manufacturing costs in the U.S., we’d need to reach someone at the Vice President level or higher to get them to commit resources. Second, your identity. If a Chinese national leads a project to return to the moon, it might not be seen as an American triumph, but rather a humiliation. You’d face all sorts of accusations—the most typical being technical espionage—and you’d likely never have the chance to return to China. Finally, your visa. You’re on an F-1 visa, which doesn’t allow for off-campus employment. You cannot work for Blue Origin. While you could register a company, that’s limited to the planning phase, and you couldn’t actually operate it or draw a salary. This last issue is small but fatal. You need to realize how big of a cake you’re trying to slice. If Blue Origin succeeds in returning to the moon, what happens to NASA’s current plans? If they scrap them, that’s $26 billion down the drain. If they continue, and Blue Origin wins the contract, you’ve indirectly offended their competitors. Put it this way: a slip-up in any one of these links will land you in a desperate situation. At best, you won’t be able to return to China for a long time. At worst, you’ll be charged with illegal employment.”

Lin Ran said calmly, “That’s right. I know all of this, which is why this is a partnership. You handle these problems, and I’ll handle the technical ones. Xiaoman, you wouldn’t be setting a trap for me just to make sure I stay in America, would you?”