Chapter 261: Chinese New Year

The perfect super tokamak device required high-displacement metal because the energy generated by fusion needed to be absorbed by an inner wall called a “cladding”.

The “cladding”, also known as the “first wall of the fusion reactor”, was the inner wall directly exposed to the fusion reaction. What it had to face was plasma with a high temperature of tens of millions of degrees or even hundreds of millions of degrees, and a large amount of neutron radiation. The strength of the material depended on the arrangement of atoms. Under such extreme conditions, after the atoms were continuously bombarded, the performance of the material would soon deteriorate.

Therefore, this kind of inner wall would be manufactured in an extremely complicated manner. For example, in the “International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor” project, the thickness of the tokamak device’s cladding was between 80 to 100 centimeters, but faced with high-energy neutrons, this thickness was still not enough.

Therefore, the emergence of outlandish materials such as high-displacement metals was necessary.

Nonetheless, now Chen Chen did not have the capability to make high-displacement metals, so he could only go for the next best thing and come up with a way to build an inertial fusion reactor instead.

Inertial confinement fusion was also called laser fusion. It required very high laser power as well as high-precision optical instruments to control the lasers’ aim. The requirements for the symmetry of implosion were very demanding. In the entire world, only the NIF project in the North American Continent could operate 193 laser devices simultaneously.

In Elysium’s dimension, this could be done with just 48 lasers, but on the condition that the laser transmitters were in a supersymmetric state.

Of course, Chen Chen would not count on locating the components for these laser transmitters in Namibia. He asked Little X to look around and directly customized a large number of optical components and control chips from various high-tech companies in North America. Then, he ordered a large number of lenses and optical components from Europe.

Some of these suppliers even served ASML Holding in the Netherlands. The components of the EUV lithography machines were produced by these suppliers.

As for other parts that he could not acquire, Chen Chen would have to rely on those financial groups.

Thus, at the beginning of the new year, 2024, Chen Chen returned to Handu and spent the Chinese New Year with his parents.

According to the tradition of Mainland China, Chinese New Year was a time to visit one’s elders and the first day, in particular, was spent visiting one’s paternal elders.

Chen Chen’s father had two brothers and one sister. Among them, Chen Chen’s father was the youngest, which meant that Chen Chen had two uncles and one aunt, who also had a few kids of their own.

The eldest of these cousins was the son of Chen Chen’s first uncle. He had turned 30 this year and was thus independent, having established his own family. Chen Chen heard that he worked in a bank. The youngest of the cousins was the youngest daughter of Chen Chen’s second uncle. She was the same age as Chen Chen and was in her senior year, about to graduate in half a year.

In truth, Chen Chen was not used to this kind of annual family gathering. When he was young, Chen Chen’s father was assigned to the frontier area because he was admitted into the military academy. Chen Chen grew up in the frontier from birth, up until he was eight or nine years old.

Chen Chen’s father was not promoted in the army even after a long time. Thus, after nearly ten years as a battalion commander, he chose to transfer to his hometown of Handu and worked as an ordinary civil servant on a basic level.

However, who could have imagined that he would work this job for the rest of his life?

After his father moved them back to Handu, only then did Chen Chen begin to meet his parents’ relatives. Chen Chen’s life was not bad, namely, it was the life of an ordinary working family. Every annual family gathering was rather socially conventional.

Chen Chen’s two paternal uncles were pretty much the same. Only Chen Chen’s paternal aunt rose above the pack and became deputy chief of the Electric Power Bureau. She had always been the core of the annual family gatherings.

However, over the past two years, as more news about Blacklight Biotechnology reached them, the relatives gradually understood what was happening.

Perhaps they did not know much else, but at the very least, they knew that Blacklight Biotechnology was a giant multinational corporation and what multinational corporation would not be worth hundreds of millions?

Following that, as Chen Chen’s parents purchased a villa in an upscale area, the other members became increasingly friendlier to Chen Chen’s family. Maybe Chen Chen’s parents could now hold their heads up higher.

“Little Chen is 22 this year, right? He’s truly growing up.”

At the dinner table, Chen Chen’s paternal aunt sighed. “I still remember when Little Chen was this tiny thing a few years ago. To think that he had grown so much in the blink of an eye...”

“Oh right, surely it’s time to talk about finding a partner. Little Chen, have you taken a liking to any girl over here?”

The wife of his second uncle quickly clarified, “Although foreign women aren’t too bad, with genes you can never tell how they’ll mutate. For instance, our neighbor married a large, foreign woman, who ended up giving birth to a little black baby. Our people’s genes are still more stable...”

“?”

Chen Chen raised his head as if he just heard them talking.

“Little Chen is still young, right?”

Chen Chen’s father felt rather awkward. “Now he still has to focus on his career. We can afford to wait three to five years.”

“Hey, Fourth Brother, well-said!”

Chen Chen’s uncle gave a thumbs up. “After all, a man must be ambitious in all aspects. Wonderful, wonderful!”

Everyone roared with laughter.

“By the way, Little Chen, now that you’ve started a company, there should be a lot of socializing involved, huh?”

Chen Chen’s uncle raised a glass. “And you’re not a kid anymore. Don’t leave me hanging — have a drink with me?”

“I’m not a drinker.” Chen Chen waved his hand.

“Hey, Little Chen, you’re being rather prim and proper.”

Chen Chen’s uncle wore a stiff expression as he said unhappily, “If you don’t want to drink, just say that. You’re a big boss now. Who would believe that you don’t drink?”

“Uncle, I’m really not a drinker.”

Chen Chen smiled softly. He was not putting on airs. This was the truth.

The movie had already shown that, after taking NZT-48, the male protagonist went to the bar to fool around while the drug was still in effect. As a result, after drinking a few alcoholic drinks, he fell into a fragmented state of mind and had no memory of anything that happened in the next ten hours.

To someone like Chen Chen who tried to control everything, this kind of situation where he was out of control was completely unacceptable. Thus, since the day he obtained NZT-48, he had never taken a drop of alcohol.

“Little Chen, today’s a holiday anyway. Why don’t you have a drink or two with your uncle?”

On one side, Chen Chen’s father tried to smooth things over while subtly hinting at Chen Chen.

Chen Chen’s father had always been a traditional person who adhered to conventions. He did not wish to see Chen Chen disobeying his elders.

Seeing this, Chen Chen smiled slightly, poured all of his Pepsi into an empty glass, then said to his uncle, “Uncle, a toast to you.”

With that, he downed the soda in one big gulp.

At this, Chen Chen’s uncle did not say much, only drank his own wine resentfully before sitting down. The atmosphere around the table was a little gloomy for a while.

After the meal, Chen Chen sat on the sofa and played with his phone out of boredom. This was how Chen Chen had always acted — an introverted person of few words. If no one took the initiative to strike up a conversation, Chen Chen could go a whole day without uttering a word.

However, if in the past, Chen Chen was merely a little low-key in gatherings with such a personality. Now, this was no longer the case. Although everyone seemed to be talking animatedly on the surface, in fact, everyone’s attention was focused, intentionally or unconsciously, on Chen Chen.

After just sitting on the sofa for a while, Chen Chen felt everyone was watching him secretly. His cousin Chen Zheng, the son of his first uncle, was also rather fidgety as he repeatedly glanced over at Chen Chen.

After hesitating for a long time, Chen Zheng finally plucked up the courage, walked wordlessly to Chen Chen, and tapped Chen Chen on the shoulder.

“Little Chen, come here for a moment. I have something to tell you!”

Chen Zheng said in a low voice.

Chen Chen nodded, put away his phone, stood up, and followed Chen Zheng out of the living room.

When Chen Chen stood up, since he was the center of the gathering, almost everyone looked over subconsciously. Upon noticing everyone’s reaction, Chen Zheng, who was walking in front, blushed even more and pretended to have seen nothing.

Chen Chen’s second aunt even secretly pinched his second uncle on the arm.

Chen Zheng only breathed a sigh of relief after he reached the yard, away from everyone. He took out a pack of cigarettes, drew out two cigarettes, and handed one to Chen Chen.

Chen Chen waved his hand to indicate that he did not smoke.

Seeing this, Chen Zheng was a little embarrassed. “You’ve founded a company, but you don’t even smoke?”

“Carbon monoxide kills human brain cells.” Chen Chen pointed to his head, then said, “Cousin, please say what you want to say.”

“Cough. In that case, I’ll be frank.”

Chen Zheng coughed softly. “Here’s the thing, Cousin. I’ve become tired of working in the bank recently. Seeing that you’ve done so well now, I also thought of starting a company and investing in a project. Over the years I’ve saved about 200,000. I just need a little more, so I was wondering if you could lend me a little...”

By this point, Chen Zheng’s face was thoroughly flushed red.

Chen Chen did not agree immediately, but asked, “What project is this? Does your wife know?”

“I want to start an advertising company. My wife disagrees with it, so I came to you.”

Chen Zheng shook his head and smiled bitterly. “In her opinion, starting a company isn’t as stable as working in a bank, after all. But I know that if I continue to work there, that’ll be it for the rest of my life. I really don’t want to end up that way...”

After he heard this, Chen Chen thought for a while. “Why don’t I invest one million RMB, all as shares, and occupy 70% of the company’s shares. Cousin, you’ll be responsible for managing the company and you’ll own 30% of the shares. As for your funds, don’t use them. I hear that your wife’s pregnant, so it’s better to keep that money for emergencies.”

“Really?”

Chen Zheng was overjoyed upon hearing this. “Thank you, Cousin, I didn’t expect you to be this generous!”

Chen Chen waved his hand. “It’s fine. I’ll be staying in Handu for the time being these few days. Hit me up after you’ve found a lawyer and drawn up a contract.”

With that said, Chen Chen returned to the room.

When Chen Chen reached the sofa again, he sighed inwardly.

He knew in his heart that after he made his fortune, this kind of thing was indeed inevitable. As early as one or two years ago, various relatives had taken a fair sum of money from Chen Chen’s parents under the pretext of borrowing money.

Although Chen Chen would not feel distressed even if the “borrowed” money was a thousand times more than it was, this sort of thing was still pretty uncomfortable.

Even so, Chen Zheng was different. Like the old Chen Chen, Chen Zheng belonged to that breed of honest, quiet men who rarely asked for help. As far as Chen Chen knew, among all his relatives, it was only his first uncle’s family that had not borrowed money from Chen Chen’s parents.

Now that Chen Zheng had made a request, Chen Chen was naturally willing to give him a chance.

However, even though Chen Zheng had described it as “borrowing”, in reality, he had no ability to repay Chen Chen. If this ended up as a loss, surely Chen Chen could not make his cousin put up his home as collateral. In any case, Chen Chen’s parents would not allow Chen Chen to do so.

Therefore, Chen Chen simply joined Chen Zheng’s entrepreneurship in the form of a shareholding system. Whether they ended up making a profit or losing money, Chen Chen would barely feel it.

Furthermore, if they ended up making a loss, their partnership would naturally end there. Even if Chen Zheng wanted to borrow more money, Chen Chen would have a reason to turn him down and shut him up.

After Chen Chen had sat back down on the sofa for a while, his second uncle, urged impatiently by his wife, finally came over with an apologetic smile on his face. “Little Chen, come with me. I have something to tell you...”

Chen Chen did not look up, only swiping his phone as he said, “Second Uncle, I’m a little tired today. Just say what you need to say.”

Chen Chen had learned from the bodyguard assigned to his parents that his second uncle had already “borrowed” more than 800,000 RMB from Chen Chen’s father, to the point that even a people-pleaser like Chen Chen’s father was unwilling to lend him any more money...

“Er...”

His second uncle looked embarrassed instantly, turning to glance at his wife before he steeled his nerves with a grin. “Here’s the thing — money’s rather tight for me these days. Is it possible for you to lend me some?”

“Second Uncle, I recall that you’ve borrowed quite a sum from my father. You’re still borrowing more?”

Chen Chen pretended to be puzzled. “You know, it’s not easy for me out there, working all alone. At first, I wanted to save up to get married, but I didn’t expect all my money to be loaned to everyone. I’ve not even seen an IOU at this point. I’m in a difficult position too.”

“Little Chen, we won’t believe that you have no money!”

Finally, Chen Chen’s second aunt who had been secretly commandeering her husband could not help speaking up. “Who doesn’t know that Blacklight Biotechnology is a multinational corporation? Everyone on the Internet knows that the boss of Blacklight Biotechnology is worth tens of billions. Plus, your family lives in a villa worth millions and drives a luxury car worth over a million. We just want to borrow such a small sum and we’re close relatives, after all. Do you need to be so stingy?”

The moment she opened her mouth, out spewed a torrent of vitriol.

The atmosphere swiftly turned cold and silent for a while. There was a touch of embarrassment on everyone’s faces.

Chen Chen simply ignored her and stood up promptly. “Dad, Mom, let’s go.”

“Oh, okay, okay...”

Chen Chen’s father sighed as if waking up from a dream, then bade farewell to everyone. He dragged Chen Chen’s mother with him and they walked out.

“You guys...”

The second aunt was stupefied. She could only stare blankly but ultimately did not know what to say.

After leaving his grandmother’s place, Chen Chen drove his parents back. Chen Chen’s father sighed frequently along the way as if he still did not understand.

“Why is Second Brother, who was such a good man, suddenly acting in this manner?” Chen Chen’s father could not help blurting out this question.

“Perhaps that’s just life...”

Chen Chen answered quietly.

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