My whole family is involved in diplomacy, so you dare to flex your muscles?

"Chinese?"

Scott paused for a moment, seemingly not realizing the destructive power of this spot.

"Yes, in Chinese." Gu Yun looked at him with a smile. "Mr. Scott, you just said that the International Space Station is a model of human cooperation."

"Then I'd like to ask, if one day your wrecked ship sinks completely or is decommissioned, where will your astronauts go if they want to go to space?"

Scott's expression changed.

This is a very real problem. The International Space Station has reached the end of its lifespan and will crash in a few years.

Currently, the only space station in the world under construction and expected to be operational long-term is China's "Tiangong".

"We...we have SpaceX! We have the Orion spacecraft! We can build it ourselves!" Scott argued.

"Build it? Of course we can." Gu Yun nodded. "But, a distant solution can't quench an immediate thirst."

Furthermore, during this transition period, if you want to conduct long-term space experiments and have a place on this only space station, won't you have to cooperate with us?

"Cooperation is welcome," Gu Yun said, spreading his hands as if he were very easy to talk to. "We Chinese are the most hospitable people."

But now that you're in our house, shouldn't you follow our rules?

"Our space station's operating system is entirely in Chinese, and the instrument panels are in Chinese as well."

The emergency manual was in Chinese, and even the flush button on the toilet was labeled with the words "flush".

Gu Yun took a step forward, and the smile on her face became somewhat "malicious".

"Mr. Scott, imagine this. If your astronauts are on our space station and suddenly encounter an emergency, the alarm goes off."

A message popped up on the screen: "WARNING! Abnormal air pressure. Please close valve number three immediately!"

"As a result, your astronauts can't understand Chinese."

He stared at the words, completely bewildered.

Then all he could do was shout into the microphone...

"By the time the ground command center finishes looking it up in the dictionary and tells him which valve it is..."

Gu Yun made an explosion gesture.

"Boom!"

"We're all doomed together."

A burst of laughter erupted in the studio.

The imagery is so vivid; it's as if everyone can already see the blond, blue-eyed astronaut scratching his head in front of the Chinese interface.

Scott's face turned a deep shade of liver: "This...this is a technological barrier! This is discrimination!"

Science should be borderless! You should provide an English interface!

"Why should we?" Gu Yun retorted, his smile instantly vanishing. "Back when you were building the International Space Station, you wouldn't even let us see the data for a single screw, just to keep us away from you."

Why didn't you say science knows no borders back then?

"Back then, you formulated the Wolf Clause, which prohibited NASA from engaging in any form of communication with us, and even refused to grant visas to our scientists to attend academic conferences."

Why didn't you talk about discrimination back then?

"Now, the tables have turned."

"It's our turn to set the rules."

Gu Yun took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and slowly unfolded it.

"Therefore, for the safety of all astronauts and for the safety of our space station's equipment, we must take precautions."

On behalf of the China National Space Administration, I am here to announce a new standard for entry into space.

The entire audience held their breath, everyone wanting to know what kind of trouble Gu Yun was up to this time.

"All foreign astronauts applying to enter the Tiangong space station must pass the HSK Level 6 test."

"Furthermore, a hearing test must be included."

"Hearing?" Scott had a bad feeling.

"Yes." Gu Yun turned to look at the big screen. "To test the learning ability of our Western elites and see if you are qualified to board our ship."

I specifically prepared a beginner-level listening comprehension question.

"Please listen to the question."

There was no picture on the big screen, only sound.

A standard female announcer's voice rang out:

"Xiaoming, give me your... you know..."

"Which one?"

"It's that one, that one!"

"Oh, that one, here you go."

The sound ended.

The entire venue was deathly silent.

All the Western athletes, including Scott, Pierre, and Hamilton, gaped, their eyes wide with disbelief.

What is this?

Is this human language?

They seemed to hear "Na Ge" for each word, but what did it mean when put together?

"Excuse me," Gu Yun said, looking at the stunned Scott, "what exactly was that last thing Xiao Ming gave me?"

Scott: "..."

He felt his cerebral cortex twitching. He even began to question the meaning of life.

"This...this makes no sense at all!" Scott cried out in despair. "It's all repeating syllables! There's no way I can understand it!"

"Don't understand?" Gu Yun shrugged. "That's a shame. It seems your astronauts can't even get us to hand them a screwdriver."

How can someone with this kind of quality possibly reach the heavens?

"You should go back and study properly."

"After all, in the future, you'll find it impossible to get around in space without speaking Chinese."

In the live stream in China, netizens were laughing hysterically.

[Hahaha! That's amazing! This question is brilliant! This is the first time I've ever felt that the Chinese language is so profound and complex!]

Seeing Scott's utterly bewildered expression, I felt so good! This is what you call cultural export!

[We used to be the ones taking the TOEFL and IELTS, memorizing vocabulary until we were sick of it. Now it's their turn to take the Chinese exam! Who can escape the wrath of heaven?!]

[Brother Gu's move was too ruthless; he cut off the bottleneck at its root. You want to fly to the heavens? Fine, first memorize 300 Tang poems!]

[From now on, astronauts won't greet each other with "Hello," but rather "Have you eaten?"]

Scott gritted his teeth; he knew he had lost again at this point.

Gu Yun seized upon the pain point that "Tiangong" was the only option, turning language into the biggest barrier.

But he was not willing to give up.

"Fine! Even if the space station belongs to you!" Scott took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure.

"But the space station is only in low Earth orbit! The real future lies on the moon! In deep space!"

"We have the Artemis Accords! We've already designated areas for lunar development! According to international law, whoever develops first has priority!"

"We planted our flag on the moon! That's our territory!"

Scott pointed at the Stars and Stripes planted on the lunar surface on the big screen and roared.

"Gu Yun! Facing that flag, do you still dare to say that the moon belongs to you?"

Gu Yun followed his finger and glanced at the flag.

Then, he sighed softly.

"Mr. Scott, you've made another common-sense mistake."

"A flag? In the high-radiation, high-ultraviolet environment of the moon, that thing would have faded to a white flag long ago."

"and……"

Gu Yun turned around, his eyes becoming incredibly deep.

"Who told you that just planting a flag makes it yours?"

"On this issue, we Chinese have 'property ownership certificates'."