Chapter 215 Lin Mo's Pressure
On the third day after returning to the base, Li Xiao noticed that Lin Mo was not himself.
He attended meetings as usual, reviewed documents as usual, and discussed technical details with the experts as usual.
But when eating, he would always take a few bites and put down his chopsticks; when sleeping, the lights in his office would stay on until three or four in the morning; when speaking, he would often drift off, his gaze wandering off to who knows where.
On the third night, Li Xiao could finally take it no longer.
She knocked on the door of Lin Mo's office, holding two cups of hot milk in her hands.
"Senior brother, let's go for a walk."
Lin Mo looked up, glanced at her, then at the documents on the desk: "I still have work to do—"
"The work can wait until tomorrow." Li Xiao placed the milk in front of him, "Drink this, then come out for a walk."
Lin Mo was stunned for a moment, then looked at Li Xiao's rare, firm expression and suddenly smiled.
"Okay."
Ten minutes later, the two were walking on a small path at the base.
In December, the Gobi Desert was bone-chillingly cold at night. Li Xiao wrapped her down jacket tightly around herself, while Lin Mo wore only a thin jacket, yet he seemed not to feel the cold at all.
"Senior brother," Li Xiao began, "you haven't been yourself these past two days."
Lin Mo did not speak.
Li Xiao continued, "The project has been approved; you should be happy. But you look even more tired than you did before it was approved."
Lin Mo was silent for a few seconds, then said:
"Approval is just the real beginning."
Li Xiao looked at him.
Lin Mo stopped and looked up at the night sky:
"The space elevator is the grandest project in human history. 36,000 kilometers, a payload of 100 tons, an investment of 1.3 trillion. If any part goes wrong, it will be catastrophic."
He turned his head and looked at Li Xiao:
"Do you know what I fear most?"
Li Xiao shook her head.
Lin Mo said, "What I fear most is not technical failure. If the technology fails, it can be redone. What I fear most is—that someone might get hurt, or even die, because of it."
Li Xiao was stunned.
Lin Mo continued, "The Carbon Nanotubes cable has a strength of 80 GPa and a safety factor of 2.0. But that is the theoretical value. In actual use, there will be fatigue, wear and tear, and collisions with space debris. What if one day, a cable snaps—"
He did not continue.
Li Xiao was silent for a while, then said:
"Senior brother, have you considered that others have thought about these risks too?"
Lin Mo looked at her.
Li Xiao said, "Elder Guo thought about it, Academician Zhou thought about it, and Director Wang thought about it too. Why did they vote in favor in the end? Because they know that not doing it also carries risks."
She took a step forward and stood in front of Lin Mo:
"If we don't do it, we will be trapped on Earth forever. If we don't do it, the next generation will still face the same problems. If we don't do it, that signal—"
She paused and lowered her voice:
"That signal—we will never know who sent it, or why."
Lin Mo looked at her, some complex emotions in his eyes.
Li Xiao continued, "Senior brother, you have already done very well. The Carbon Nanotubes has been broken through, Nuclear Fusion has succeeded, and the space elevator has been approved. If anyone else were to do these things, it would be impossible for them to do better than you."
She reached out and gently patted Lin Mo's arm:
"Don't push yourself too hard."
Lin Mo was silent for a long time.
Then he smiled, a very light but genuine smile:
"Li Xiao, when did you learn to say these things?"
Li Xiao also smiled: "I learned it from you."
The two continued walking forward.
The wind on the Gobi Desert was still very cold. But Lin Mo felt a little warmer inside.
After walking for a long time, Li Xiao suddenly asked:
"Senior brother, do you think the space elevator can really succeed?"
Lin Mo thought for a moment and said:
"It can."
"Why are you so sure?"
Lin Mo said, "Because it must."
Li Xiao was stunned for a moment.
Lin Mo looked at the distant tokamak-3 device and said slowly:
"Four years ago, when I received the blueprints for Room-Temperature Superconductivity, I asked myself the same question—can it succeed? I didn't know the answer then. But I knew that if I didn't try, there would never be an answer."
He turned his head and looked at Li Xiao:
"Later, it succeeded. The Lithium-Sulfur Battery succeeded. Lithium Extraction from Seawater succeeded. Nuclear Fusion succeeded. The Carbon Nanotubes succeeded."
He paused:
"It's not because I'm so amazing. It's because after every failure, we got back up and kept going."
Li Xiao nodded.
Lin Mo said, "The space elevator is the same. There will be failures, there will be setbacks, and there will be times when we want to give up. But as long as we keep walking, one day, we will get there."
He looked at the night sky with a firm gaze:
"Twenty years from now, I will be fifty-three. At that time, I want to stand on the space elevator and see what the Earth looks like."
Li Xiao's eyes felt a bit warm:
"Senior brother, I will accompany you then."
Lin Mo smiled:
"Okay."
The two walked back to the dormitory area; it was almost ten o'clock.
Lin Mo stood at the door and said to Li Xiao:
"Go back and sleep. We have a meeting tomorrow."
Li Xiao nodded, turned to leave, then stopped:
"Senior brother."
"Hm?"
"Don't stay up too late in the future. Master Liu said you haven't been eating properly again."
Lin Mo was stunned for a moment, then smiled:
"Got it."
Li Xiao nodded with satisfaction and left.
Lin Mo stood at the door, watching her back disappear into the night.
Then he pushed the door open and walked into his dormitory.
On the desk, the documents were still spread out. He walked over, sat down, and picked up his pen.
But this time, he didn't look at the documents.
He took out his phone and sent a message to Wang Zhenguo:
"Teacher, someone advised me today. They said I shouldn't push myself too hard."
Wang Zhenguo replied quickly: "Who?"
"Li Xiao."
Wang Zhenguo sent a smiley face: "This girl, she's grown up."
Lin Mo also smiled.
Wang Zhenguo sent another message: "Lin Mo, remember one thing."
"Please go ahead."
"Pressure is not a bad thing. But don't let it crush you. You are the leader; if you collapse, what will the people behind you do?"
Lin Mo looked at this message and was silent for a long time.
Then he replied:
"I will remember that, Teacher."
The next morning, Lin Mo appeared in the meeting room on time.
Li Xiao saw him and was stunned for a moment—he was in much better spirits today, and there was a light in his eyes.
The meeting began. Lin Mo presided over the meeting, discussing the roadmap for key technology verification. His speech was clear, his logic was rigorous, and he was a completely different person from the absent-minded individual of three days ago.
Li Xiao sat in the corner and smiled secretly.
During the lunch break, she walked over:
"Senior brother, you're in good shape today."
Lin Mo glanced at her and smiled:
"Thanks to you."
Li Xiao was stunned for a moment, then blushed.
Lin Mo patted her shoulder:
"Keep working hard. In the future, when I'm not myself, remember to remind me again."
Li Xiao nodded vigorously:
"No problem!"
In the evening, Lin Mo stood in front of the window, looking at the starry sky outside.
In the low sky to the southeast, that dim star was still flickering.
He thought of that signal, thought of HD 107146, 12 light-years away, and thought of that star map.
The pressure was still there.
But he knew he was not alone.
There was his teacher, Li Xiao, Chen Xueming, Zhao Gang, and thousands upon thousands of people walking this path with him.
He took a deep breath, turned around, and returned to the desk to continue reviewing documents.
Outside the window, the wind on the Gobi Desert was still blowing.
But this time, he felt it wasn't that cold anymore.