Chapter 55 Come Inside and Discuss Something

The Real Reason?

Bai Mo looked at Lin Xu from across the table, her gaze searching. For a moment, she seemed unable to make out his intentions.

A trace of anxiety crept over her.

In truth, anything she couldn’t assess or predict through reason and logic made her anxious. Fortunately, most situations in daily life had little impact on her.

After a brief pause, she answered.

“There’s really only one main reason.”

“I’ve always been fascinated by space. I want to become an astronaut.”

“But I can’t pass the official selection process. And it’s unlikely I could make it to the top of the field on my own and become a private astronaut on a space mission.”

“My major simply doesn’t meet the criteria for private astronaut candidates.”

“So the most sensible choice for me is to join a commercial space company, help advance the commercial space industry, and look for opportunities along the way.”

When she finished, Lin Xu gave a slight nod.

“You’ve already given the head of HR that reason, haven’t you?”

“I have.”

“Did they make you any promises?” Lin Xu continued.

“Promises from HR aren’t worth much, so I didn’t take them seriously.”

“But even without their promises, I wouldn’t change my own assessment.”

“As I said, this is the most sensible choice—the most rational one.”

“Understood.”

Lin Xu nodded thoughtfully.

A natural fascination with space?

Given her background, that made sense. She had studied aerospace engineering, and her goal seemed to have been aerospace all along.

But there was still a problem.

If she had always dreamed of going into space, why hadn’t she pursued a military academy or a defense university, paths that would have taken her closer to that goal?

Wouldn’t becoming a pilot and then an astronaut have been much easier than designing aircraft and trying to move from behind the scenes to the spotlight?

She was such a rational person. Lin Xu couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen the difference between those two paths.

He spoke up.

“But there’s a problem with what you’ve said.”

“You probably weren’t ‘always’ interested in the universe and space.”

“You only developed that interest after you started university—in other words, after 2018, right?”

“Otherwise, you wouldn’t have gone to Western Flight to study aerospace engineering. That path doesn’t fit your ultimate goal.”

As he spoke, Lin Xu clearly saw Bai Mo’s eyes flicker.

Got it!

He’d guessed right!

Something had influenced her!

And sure enough, after a brief silence, Bai Mo nodded.

“Yes.”

“To be precise, it was in 2021 that I decided I wanted to go into space myself and see it with my own eyes.”

“But as for the specific reason… could I ask not to explain it?”

“It’s personal, and I’m not comfortable making it public.”

“…All right.”

Lin Xu obviously couldn’t force her to talk as if he were interrogating her.

Still, even if she wasn’t willing to tell him, the meeting had been worthwhile.

At the very least, he’d confirmed that she was highly rational, exceptionally capable of getting things done, and bluntly straightforward.

Those aspects of her personality were unlikely to change.

Knowing that would make communication far more efficient once she entered the Bracelet World.

Just then, Jiang Xingye’s voice sounded outside the office. She seemed not to know where her new office was and was asking people in the corridor for directions.

Lin Xu stood and went to open the door. As he did, he casually asked Bai Mo,

“You’re not thinking of going to Mars too, are you?”

In that instant, Bai Mo’s face changed dramatically.

Lin Xu froze.

He stared at her for a moment, then quickly asked,

“Why Mars?”

“What for?”

“Planetary cycles, the apocalypse, the Zhurong rover, the annular eclipse, the oracle, or a transdimensional experience?”

He rattled off every key clue he knew.

Bai Mo’s expression had become worse than anything he could describe.

Anxiety, fear, panic, helplessness…

All traces of her usual composure had vanished.

The muscles in her face twitched so violently that her features seemed to contort.

“I… I…”

“You…”

Bai Mo could barely speak.

Lin Xu promptly pulled out his phone.

“Remember my number.”

“You probably don’t want to talk about this in front of anyone else.”

“But I know most of what you know.”

“Calm down first.”

“We’ll find another time to talk.”

“Understood… understood…”

Trembling, Bai Mo took out her phone. It took several tries before she managed to enter Lin Xu’s number correctly.

The way she looked at him had changed completely.

Lin Xu couldn’t put a name to that look.

But instinctively, it seemed to him like the expression of someone who had wandered through an endless desert and finally found a real oasis.

By then, Jiang Xingye had finally found Lin Xu’s office. She knocked, and Lin Xu called for her to come in.

Jiang Xingye opened the door.

“Mr. Lin, sorry I’m late.”

“I didn’t—”

“I’ll be going.”

Head bowed, Bai Mo walked toward the door. She struggled to control her movements and hide the expression on her face, which had nearly slipped beyond her control.

Jiang Xingye was stunned.

Only after the office door had closed again did she turn to Lin Xu.

“Wait. What did you do?!”

From the accusatory tone in her voice, it seemed less as though she were worried Lin Xu had ruined an interview and more as though she feared something unspeakable had happened between him and Bai Mo.

“I…”

“Oh, this is hard to explain!”

Lin Xu knew it wasn’t time to come clean to Jiang Xingye, so he gave her a vague answer.

“We talked about some things from her university days, like why she chose her major and why she wanted to join Skyvault Technologies.”

“I think I pushed a little too far. She seemed to crack.”

“That’s it?”

Jiang Xingye stepped closer.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“That really is all that happened.”

Lin Xu met her eyes without flinching. He wasn’t lying. He just wasn’t telling her everything.

Jiang Xingye saw the sincerity in his eyes and relaxed a little.

“Good. As long as you’re not lying to me… If she decides not to come, I’ll find someone else for you.”

“Don’t report this up the chain just yet, or HR will use it against you.”

“You’ve only just been promoted. You can’t afford to have even the slightest blemish on your record.”

“Just say there was a miscommunication between her and me earlier, and that we weren’t on the same page. I’ll explain it.”

“No need.”

Lin Xu waved a hand.

“She only had a breakdown. It didn’t change anything about the job.”

“She’ll come.”

“And I think she’s actually quite suited to the position.”

“Good.”

Jiang Xingye let out a long breath, then asked curiously,

“So what did you talk to her about, exactly?”

“I was just…”

“Riiing, riiing, riiing—”

Lin Xu was about to answer when his phone suddenly rang.

He picked it up and saw an unfamiliar number.

A spam call?

He answered without much thought. A man’s voice came from the other end.

“Mr. Lin Xu, this is the Integrated Intelligence Division of the Jinling Municipal State Security Department.”

“Our address is the Jinling Public Security Bureau on Six Dynasties Road, Jinling.”

“Please come over now.”

“When you arrive, come straight inside. We need to… talk to you about something.”