Chapter 468: Family Mobilization! Let

After dinner that day, after seeing the rest of the family off, Lu Qingshan called his elder brother Lu Qingyuan and his younger sister Lu Xiaoyu alone into the study.

The study's lighting was soft, and the rice paper Lu Hua had used for calligraphy during the day was still spread on the desk, its ink fragrance lingering.

"Elder brother, please sit," Lu Qingshan said, pouring a cup of hot tea for Lu Qingyuan himself; the steaming tea rose in a wisp of white vapor.

Lu Qingyuan sat in the high‑backed chair; even at home, facing this increasingly unfathomable second brother, he instinctively straightened his back, his hands restrained on his knees like a soldier about to receive orders. He knew the daytime talk was only a broad direction; now was the real foundation the second brother intended to hand over.

"The Xinghan Group's domestic portfolio will be yours to run," Lu Qingshan said bluntly, pulling out a fountain pen and, on a clean sheet of paper, drawing a clear schematic. "The three factories in Shanwan are the foundation; we must create our own brand. The hotels and specialty market in Capital City are the showcase, the face. Next, food, beverage, hotels, and retail—these four lines must be rolled out nationwide simultaneously."

Lu Qingshan pressed the pen tip firmly onto the paper, producing a light "thud" sound.

"Money and personnel, Ye Ning's side will fully support you. On policy matters, Minister Wang and Old Chen will give the green light, ensuring smooth passage. But the specifics—how to act, how to manage, how to turn the troops we raise in Shanwan into a tiger‑wolf force capable of national hard battles—are up to you, elder brother."

Lu Qingyuan's gaze fixed on the boxes on the paper; each rectangle felt like a heavy mountain pressing on his heart. They were no longer mere words but billions of funds, thousands of livelihoods, the entire Lu Family's domestic future. He felt his breathing grow labored; the thin sheet was heavier by hundreds of times than the heaviest log he once hauled alone while pioneering in Heilongjiang.

He lifted the teacup, intending to sip water to calm the storm in his chest, but his hand trembled involuntarily, a few drops of tea splashing onto the back of his hand, yet he felt nothing. He drained the scalding tea in one gulp; the heat surged down his throat into his stomach, as if igniting a long‑suppressed fire in his chest.

"Second brother, rest assured," Lu Qingyuan set down his cup, his voice unusually steady from forced restraint. "Your elder brother hasn't read many books, but I understand the principle of scraping a living from the black soil—step by step, solid work! If the sky falls, I'll hold it up for you! I'll definitely keep this family safe!"

Lu Qingshan gave a heavy nod; what he sought was his elder brother's unshakable composure, like a mountain that collapses before it yet remains unchanged.

He then looked at Lu Xiaoyu, who had been holding her breath since entering, her palms sweating with tension.

"Xiaoyu."

"Second brother, I'm here!" Lu Xiaoyu, like a called‑on student, stood up straight at once.

"Dad told you about the laboratory, didn't he?"

"He did…" Lu Xiaoyu's cheeks flushed instantly, a mix of excitement and great nervousness. "Second brother, I… I'm afraid I won't do it well; these are the nation's top‑tier strategic projects, and I'm just someone who graduated not long ago…"

"It's not a solo task," Lu Qingshan smiled, cutting off her modesty. He pulled a pre‑prepared blueprint from the drawer and spread it on the table with a 'whoosh.' It wasn't an architectural plan but a tangle of complex physical models and formulas that looked like celestial script to outsiders, with various cutting‑edge equipment parameters annotated in English beside them.

Lu Qingshan pointed at the blueprint: "Look, this is the Phase‑One framework I've planned for your laboratory, divided into three directions: materials physics, high‑energy physics, and information physics. I give you three months; you need do nothing else but take this list, go to the world's top universities and institutes, and recruit every person on it without exception."

Lu Xiaoyu's gaze fell on the list beneath the blueprint; after a single glance, she felt as if struck by lightning, her breath halted. The first name on the list was her mentor's mentor, a towering figure in physics—like the North Star of the field—who had been nominated for the Nobel Physics Prize three consecutive years! The names that followed were all legendary figures whose papers she had to consider repeatedly before citing in top international journals.

"How could they… possibly come?" Lu Xiaoyu's voice trembled; she felt she wasn't looking at a list but at the Hall of Fame of physics.

"They will come." Lu Qingshan rolled up the blueprint that bore Huaxia's technological future and solemnly placed it in her hand; the trust in his eyes was stronger than any words. "Tell them that here they will have limitless funding, the world's most advanced—some still in conceptual stages—equipment, and most importantly, absolute freedom to pursue any research they wish without worrying about metrics or project reports. I will build them the scientific sanctuary they desire!"

"Second brother…" Lu Xiaoyu clutched the rolled blueprint, her palm scorching as if holding a burning sun. In her perpetually scholarly clear eyes burst an unprecedented radiance. She fully understood: the second brother wasn't merely building a laboratory; he was forging, for Huaxia, a future scientific sanctuary, a sword capable of cleaving all technological blockades for the nation.

"I'll do it!" she nodded heavily, her voice crisp and resolute. All the tension and insecurity vanished at that moment, leaving only a blazing fire called "Sense of Mission" raging fiercely in her chest.

Late at night, Lu Qingshan returned to the bedroom; Lin Yue'e had not yet slept, sitting on the bedside, carefully mending a small garment that Xiao Xue had torn while playing, under the dim lamp's glow. The light traced her gentle profile, a picture of tranquil years.

"Not asleep yet?" Lu Qingshan walked over, gently wrapping his arms around her soft waist from behind.

"I've been waiting for you." Lin Yue'e set down her needle and thread, leaning securely into his broad embrace, whispering, "After hearing you talk with elder brother for so long—about the whole nation and the whole world, the venture is so massive, my heart… feels a bit uneasy."

"I'm here, don't be afraid," Lu Qingshan grasped her hand that was stitching, pulling her, needle and thread, into his arms. "You don't need to worry about business matters. You and Xiao Xue being well is more important than me conquering the whole world."

He was silent for a moment, inhaling the fresh scent from her hair, then said, "Xiao Xue's summer vacation is almost halfway through, right?"

"Yeah, not at all—she's playing wildly every day."

"That's perfect—let's go out for a few days; I'll take you and Mom to a place."

"Where to?" Lin Yue'e raised her head curiously, her gentle eyes under the lamp like a clear spring.

"Hong Kong Island," Lu Qingshan said, looking at her, his gaze full of tenderness. "Let's go see our home over there. Haven't you always wanted to see how bright Victoria Harbour's night view really is?"

Lin Yue'e's eyes lit up instantly, a dazzling mix of surprise, yearning, and a hint of disbelief. Going to Hong Kong Island—a place she had only seen in magazines and on TV, a dream‑like bustling locale—she had never imagined she could actually go.

"Really? Just… just our whole family going?" her voice carried a barely perceptible tremor.

"No," Lu Qingshan shook his head, "the whole extended family is going."

Early the next morning, the news of the Hong Kong Island trip detonated like a bomb at the breakfast table of Courtyard 23.

Lu Xiao Xue was the happiest; she wore the newly bought floral dress, chased Jin Hu wildly around the yard, shouting as she ran, "Jin Hu, Jin Hu, Daddy's taking our whole family to Hong Kong Island! To see the big ships! To eat pineapple buns!"

Jin Hu, spun dizzy by her, could only bark, his tail whirling like a high‑speed windmill.

In the dining hall, the Lu family's brothers and sisters, together with Lin Yueqiang, who had just rushed from the specialty market to snag breakfast, were all gathered.

"Hong Kong Island? With so many of us?" eldest sister Lu Hong was the first to react, her face full of hesitation, "How much will this cost? The family business also can't do without people…"

"Exactly, second brother, if we all leave, what about Capital City?" Lu Fang echoed with a worried face.

"I've already arranged all business matters; nothing will go awry in the short term," Lu Qingshan said, seated at the head, lifting a bowl of millet porridge, his tone leaving no room for debate. "This trip isn't just tourism; it's for you to see with your own eyes what the Xinghan Group looks like abroad. The elder brother must oversee the domestic side and must know where our financial foundation lies. Elder sisters, you who manage nationwide business must broaden your horizons and see how world‑class hotels and malls operate."

His gaze finally rested on Lu Qingjun, who was rubbing his hands together in excitement.

"Qingjun, you'll go with us to Hong Kong Island. When you get there, you won't need to come back; you'll set off from Hong Kong Island and begin your Europe, America, and Australia journey."

Lu Qingjun's eyes lit up with a 'whoosh,' like two little suns, so excited he nearly jumped out of his chair.

With the matter said, no one objected any longer. Indeed, why wouldn't one want to see one's own industry with their own eyes? In an instant, everyone's faces were filled with uncontainable excitement and anticipation for the future.

"So… how much will this cost?" Lin Yueqiang murmured softly, still a bit uneasy; in his view, a whole extended family's trip to Hong Kong Island would be an astronomical expense.

The table fell silent instantly, everyone looking at Lu Qingshan—the very question they cared most about.

Lu Qingshan smiled, leisurely sipping his porridge, then wiped his mouth with a napkin before raising his eyes and scanning the crowd, speaking in a breezy, nonchalant tone:

"Don't worry, that amount of money is nothing."

He paused, looking at his family's hopeful yet anxious eyes, a smile tugging his mouth, and added:

"Moreover, every expense for this whole‑family outing will be covered by people crying out, scrambling to sponsor us."

In his mind, a clear image of Jonathan Rothschild in Geneva Castle appeared, his face filled with humiliation and despair.

He thought that, as a newly appointed Partner of the Global Stability and Development Fund, paying a trivial amount for the boss's family trip, they should be… willingly so.