I ask you to design equipment, but you do science fiction for me?

The next day.

Su Chen was about to inquire where Old Li lived.

He had just opened the door when a loudspeaker suddenly blared from the entrance.

Immediately afterwards, a black sedan stopped in front of Su Chen.

Just as Su Chen was in a daze, the car door opened and Old Chen got out.

He smiled and nodded at Su Chen, and without waiting for Su Chen's consent, he went into Su Chen's room first.

Su Chen stood there stunned for a moment, shook his head helplessly, and followed him into the room.

At this moment, Old Chen was already sitting on the sofa, crossing his legs, and pouring himself a cup of tea, as if he were in his own home.

Su Chen sat down opposite him, thinking to himself: It seems he is very familiar with this place. Maybe he has lived here before, or maybe this is where he often entertains guests.

Just as Su Chen was lost in thought, Old Chen asked him what his schedule was for the day.

Su Chen made no attempt to hide anything, smiling as he said he was going to visit Old Li.

Old Chen's expression changed noticeably, though the change was very subtle.

You can't see it at all if you don't look closely.

He gently picked up the teacup, slowly sipped it, and nodded slightly.

"It seems that you two have a very good relationship."

Su Chen hummed in agreement, but didn't say anything more.

He and Li Le had a very deep relationship; he had been following Li Lao for many years.

I used to be Li Lao's subordinate, and I was very grateful for Li Lao's care.

Although the two are no longer in a superior-subordinate relationship, Old Li has always taken good care of him, and Su Chen is grateful to him from the bottom of his heart.

If it weren't for Mr. Li's protection and support over the years, he might not be where he is today.

At this moment, Old Chen put down his cup, and whether intentionally or unintentionally, the cup hit the table with a crisp sound.

He glanced at Su Chen, frowned, and said, "After you've finished reading, Mr. Li, come to my office. Quite a few people want to see you and have a chat with you."

Su Chen frowned immediately upon hearing that many people were involved.

What he hates most is dealing with certain people and chatting with them.

Because these individuals speak indirectly, and many of them are speaking from their own perspective without understanding the facts, they start smugly spouting self-righteous nonsense.

Including this Mr. Chen standing before us.

He's a bit better than others; at least he'll gather some information before talking to others.

However, many people are self-righteous and think they know a lot, but in reality they don't understand anything at all, yet they still point fingers and tell you what to do.

Su Chen least wanted to communicate with that group of people.

Upon seeing Su Chen, Old Chen frowned. Knowing his thoughts, he said calmly, "Go there. It won't take long. You don't have to say anything; no one is forcing you."

"Everyone just wants to chat with you, it's not about work."

Su Chen nodded helplessly. Now that he was back on Earth, he naturally had to follow Elder Chen's arrangements.

Although he wasn't afraid of anything, he didn't like the feeling of being bullied.

"I'll call you when I get back."

Su Chen said something and got up to walk outside.

After walking a few steps, he realized that Old Chen hadn't followed, so he stopped and turned back to look at him.

"Aren't you leaving?"

Old Chen paused for a moment, then nodded and glanced at the room, seemingly still a little reluctant to leave.

Su Chen shook his head, not understanding what he meant.

Could it be that he used to live in this room? But if he was so reluctant to part with it, why did he give it to me?
A car was waiting for Su Chen.

After Su Chen got into the car, Old Chen called the driver and bodyguard outside and whispered something to them.

The driver got into the car and silently drove to where Old Li was.

Mr. Li lives in a small apartment that has everything he needs, and there are people to take care of him.

However, Li Hao was not in a particularly good mood. When Su Chen arrived, he heard Li Hao arguing with a caregiver, accusing the caregiver of being too controlling and even reading his diary.

Su Chen frowned and pushed open the door.

The moment Li Su Chen saw Su Chen, her eyes lit up. She glared at the caregiver beside her and waved him away.

Su Chen sat down in front of Old Li, made him a cup of tea, and inquired about his health.

Old Li chuckled and shook his arms.

"I'm in good health, but living in a place like this is too stifling. I'd rather go home."

"My grandson can keep me company when I go home. It's really unbearable to be in this godforsaken place."

Su Chen nodded and said thoughtfully, "I'll talk to Old Chen later to see if we can find you a different place."

Why did they put you here? This place doesn't seem like a place for recuperation.

Old Li chuckled coldly and said indifferently, "What else could it be? They're just afraid that if I go out, I'll cause them more trouble."

At this point, he shook his head helplessly, opened the window, and asked Su Chen, "How have you been lately? Is Old Chen making things difficult for you? Why did you suddenly come back?"

"It's not good for you to come back now."

Su Chen briefly explained the current situation and then reported on the planetary base to Elder Li.

Hearing that Su Chen had already gone to the Andromeda Galaxy and was researching a super-large interstellar warship, Old Li nodded with satisfaction and sighed deeply.

He then frowned and said, "You shouldn't have come to see me. Once you leave, you don't need to worry about anything concerning me."

Su Chen shrugged indifferently: "What's there to be afraid of? You didn't do anything wrong."

He didn't want to dwell on the topic too much, and immediately asked what had happened before.

Although he didn't care about such things, he still wanted to know more.

Old Li briefly explained the situation to Su Chen. Originally, Old Li was in charge of everything, and everyone was working in an orderly manner.

Both Su Chen's side and the higher-ups are doing well, and everyone feels that maintaining this situation is the best course of action.

However, problems arose later. A group of people believed that this could not continue and that they should take the initiative to take control of most of the planet's incentives, researchers, and technology.

Otherwise, it will surely get out of control one day.

The reason they were asked to confirm this was because a similar incident had occurred at the Antarctic base some time ago, causing significant damage to the base and raising concerns among those in power.

That's why they took this action.

However, after careful discussion, they decided not to let the relationship become too strained, so the matter ultimately ended in a way that satisfied everyone.

Su Chen nodded silently, looked at Old Li with a meaningful gaze, and asked with a smile, "Do you have any other thoughts?" "If so, please feel free to mention them."

"I will do my best to help you this time I'm back."

Old Li waved his hand, his eyes showing not only disappointment but also indifference.

He had seen through some things completely and didn't want to care anymore.

He's getting old, and it's really time for him to step down.

Seeing that Old Li truly had no further thoughts, Su Chen looked out the window with a sense of感慨 (gan3kai3, a feeling of deep emotion, often mixed with regret or unease).

Outside the window, lush green trees provide shade, and several small birds perch on the branches, chirping as if they were telling a story.

For some reason, a little bird flew to the window and crashed into it with a bang, then flapped its wings and flew away.

Su Chen thought this was a good idea; very few people could see through such things like Old Li.

This is also a good thing for him, after all, he is getting old and should enjoy his retirement instead of continuing to worry about many things.

Most importantly, it's exhausting to have so many people who are outwardly friendly but inwardly hostile. It would be better to stay at home.

Three hours passed in the blink of an eye.

Su Chen and Old Li talked for a long time, and the two had dinner together that evening.

Around 8 o'clock, the driver suddenly came to find Su Chen, saying that Old Chen wanted to see him and that he should hurry back.

Su Chen nodded, dismissed the driver, shrugged, and took a leisurely sip of red wine.

"I'll head back now. You can think about it some more."

Watching Su Chen's departing figure, Old Li smiled.

He then fell into deep thought.

He wasn't thinking about himself, but rather whether Su Chen could return safely this time.

The driver from earlier seemed to be Old Chen's personal driver, but now he's being used specifically for Su Chen. It seems Old Chen doesn't really trust him.

I don't know what Old Chen wanted to see him about; I hope it doesn't go too far.

As he was thinking, Su Chen had already gotten into the car and closed his eyes to rest.

The driver wanted to chat with Su Chen for a bit more, but Su Chen never said anything to him that had nothing to do with the driver.

At most, I'll tell him the destination, or ask him to drive faster or slower. He won't say anything else, as if he's driving a robot.

The time came to nine o'clock in the evening.

Inside a banquet hall, Mr. Chen and others had been waiting for a long time.

They started waiting at 6 p.m. and waited until 9 p.m.

Upon seeing Su Chen arrive, everyone immediately smiled and walked towards him.

Su Chen exchanged pleasantries with everyone for a while, then apologized, saying that he had been delayed by something.

Everyone laughed and said it was nothing, but who knows what they were really thinking?

Several people were very dissatisfied with Su Chen and said to his face, "You are a remarkable person now, it's so difficult to even see you."

Su Chen remained silent, nodding and smiling no matter what anyone said.

At first, no one noticed because there were just too many people talking.

After fewer people started talking, everyone realized that Su Chen seemed to have remained silent the whole time.

Whether they criticized or praised Su Chen, he remained unmoved.

After everyone sat down, Su Chen didn't touch his chopsticks.

Old Chen pointed to one of the dishes and said, "Try this, I had the chef make it especially for you."

Su Chen glanced at the dish in front of him, unable to discern its name, but it was carved to resemble a dragon.

Although I don't know its name or what ingredients it's made of, the carving alone must have taken a lot of effort.

Su Chen still didn't pick up his chopsticks. He patted his stomach and said with a smile, "I've almost finished eating with Elder Li, so I won't eat anymore. You can tell me directly if you need anything."

Old Chen coughed and silently looked at the others.

One of them said to Su Chen, "I heard that you have developed space jump technology."

"This technology is amazing, and we should make use of it so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of technology. What do you think?"

Su Chen said "Oh," and the smile on her face suddenly disappeared.

"So, what do you think we should do?"

"It's not according to my wishes, but for the sake of all humanity. Could you share the technology so that we can develop and research it, and strive to bring space jump technology to Earth as well?"

Su Chen stroked his chin and said very bluntly, "The current space jump technology is not mature yet."

"Besides me, the others probably only know the technology, but don't know how to do it."

"As for using space jump technology, that's even more impossible."

Several people were unconvinced when they heard Su Chen say that.

The person who had just spoken grinned.

"Is that so? In that case, hand it over and let everyone study it. Who knows, they might be able to figure it out."

Su Chen fell silent once again.

After a long while, he suddenly looked around at everyone present and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Following that, the others made various requests and demands of Su Chen.

Many people asked Su Chen for some technology, and some even demanded control of the Nine Heavens Starship, believing that the starship should belong to him and not be Su Chen's private property.

Some people even asked Su Chen for a base on a certain planet.

Some people wanted to arrange for others to work on Earth 2, and these people came to him for various reasons.

The only thing they have in common is that all their demands today seem to be for the sake of the development of all humanity, albeit in a seemingly noble and respectable way.

In reality, their ultimate goal is always to prioritize themselves.

Su Chen yawned, stood up and said, "I have too many things to do. Let me go back and think about it."

"I've been very busy lately, so please don't bother me unless it's something else."

The crowd tried to persuade him to stay, and some even blocked his way, as if to say, "If you don't agree, I won't let you leave."

However, Su Chen rudely pushed the people aside and slowly walked away from them.

As soon as Su Chen left, the group of people came up to Old Chen and accused Su Chen of being arrogant and disrespectful to them.

“Old Chen, look at him. It’s one thing that he’s rude to us, but he’s even rude to you. He left without saying goodbye. I don’t think he’ll ever work wholeheartedly for all of humanity. We should be on the safe side.”

Others added fuel to the fire, accusing Su Chen, and the smile on Old Chen's face gradually faded. (End of Chapter)