[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-technology-invades-the-modern-world":3,"chapter-technology-invades-the-modern-world-technology-invades-the-modern-world-chapter-63":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Technology Invades the Modern World",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2269547,4430,"Chapter 63","technology-invades-the-modern-world-chapter-63",63,"\u003Cp>Lin Ran was interested in Fred, and accepted his invitation to spend Christmas at his home—not merely because of his 14-year-old son.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meeting Fred’s son was merely a token visit, driven by the desire to witness history.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, the storm he had stirred in this era might or might not produce a future power capable of reshaping American politics by the time his son grew up—it was entirely uncertain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, this could also serve as one observational sample for testing whether historical convergence exists.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What truly interested him was Fred’s younger brother, John George Qu Runpu, the physicist mentioned in the memoirs of the Chinese Academy of Sciences academicians.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was called Qu Runpu because, in Zhao Zhongyao’s 2009 September 23 autobiography published on the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of High Energy Physics website, “My Memories,” he was referred to as Qu Runpu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fred’s villa was extremely luxurious, located in the affluent district of Queens; besides the black-and-white diamond-patterned marble inlaid with gold leaf fragments signaling opulence, the gilded telephone left Lin Ran stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Randolph, I’ve seen your name in the news for years—finally meeting you today. All Chinese are as brilliant as you,” said John Qu Runpu, who welcomed Lin Ran with exceptional courtesy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be precise, had he not known Lin Ran would attend tonight’s Christmas dinner, he would never have spent Christmas with his money-grubbing brother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had once co-founded a real estate development business with Fred, but eventually quit in disgust and went to New York University, later becoming a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ha, the gold plating is fake, and the gold leaf fragments? Fred picked them up from demolition waste of other buildings,” John bluntly exposed, as if reading Lin Ran’s astonishment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Ran said nothing, pretending not to hear, and praised instead: “The overall style reminds me of the Palace of Versailles in France.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>John still showed no mercy to Fred: “A cheap knockoff of Versailles?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Lin Ran could reply, Fred’s voice came from the end of the hallway: “John, you bastard, can’t you spare me some dignity in front of my best friend?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is frugality—you know, our family’s wealth today is entirely thanks to my thrift!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come, this is your Uncle Randolph.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Ran looked at Fred’s family; now that he knew who they were, he wasn’t surprised at all when Fred called him his best friend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who was Fred? A German-born individual who, despite being from Germany, claimed to be Swedish solely to rent apartments to Jews, and was praised by New York investigators as “possessing the talent to extract every ounce of profit from his housing projects.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone like that, spinning tall tales, was perfectly normal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Being called “Uncle” by Fred’s many children felt quite pleasant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Randolph, I’ve considered your suggestion—I think it’s a good idea. You promised me you’d let me use your likeness. I’ve decided to acquire more land in Flushing to build affordable housing specifically for Chinese people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’ll give you two units free of charge; you just endorse it for me. What do you say?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fred’s wife and maid prepared dinner in the kitchen, while the children sat on the living room sofa listening to the adults converse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People like Fred, who seized every opportunity without hesitation, spoke only of business.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet Lin Ran genuinely hoped to make this deal with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before arriving, he had prepared meticulously in 2020, knowing this was a rare chance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rarity lay not in Fred, but in his younger brother, John.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It could help Chinese Americans today and indirectly aid the Chinese people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Ran nodded: “Of course—if your rent is lower than current rates, I’m willing to endorse you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I don’t want apartments—I want cash. I want a percentage of the tenants’ rent.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Ran thought no wonder his business never grew—he had to go to Evergrande for partnerships. Chinese businessmen give a promise, then deliver a whole building; you give only two units—how could this business ever expand?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You still have much to learn from Chinese commercial wisdom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Ran recalled the distinctive demeanor of business mentors on TikTok, combined with his years of consulting experience, and began his “lecture”:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve distilled the secret of business into five words.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Immediately, Fred and his children’s interest was piqued—the great mathematician’s business wisdom was highly compelling, even though Fred was still calculating how many points to give Lin Ran.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What?” they asked in unison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Ran said: “Buy, buy, buy; merge, merge, merge; circle, circle, circle; grow, grow, grow; excel, excel, excel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Buy, buy, buy means acquiring companies to achieve monopoly and thus super-profits. High-quality assets are like fire hydrants in Manhattan: the first purchase secures water access, the second builds a water network, the third controls the entire city’s fire department dispatch.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Merge, merge, merge means uniting every individual who might influence you into a collective force. Mr. Fred donates to both Democratic mayoral candidates and Republican presidential candidates—that’s the perfect example. True alliances aren’t chains—they make every participant a guardian of your interests...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fred didn’t find Randolph’s theory novel, but his children were utterly captivated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When “Buy, buy, buy; merge, merge, merge; circle, circle, circle; grow, grow, grow; excel, excel, excel” first echoed in the White House, the Chinese media reporters stationed there exchanged glances, thinking they’d stumbled into an Evergrande press conference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the banquet, during the private moment, Lin Ran approached John: “Professor Qu Runpu, I have a favor to ask—I hope you can help me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>John George looked at Lin Ran in confusion; since 1936, he had been a professor at MIT, and as a senior academic, he knew well Lin Ran’s stature in mathematics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His authority in mathematics was no less than that of a Nobel laureate, and he was also Hawking’s student—he simply couldn’t imagine what Lin Ran might possibly need from him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Randolph, you mean you want me to keep an eye on Fred and ensure his new apartments rent below previous prices?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Ran shook his head: “No. Mr. Fred’s payment to me will be collected by you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I want you to use it all to purchase academic journals and related books in physics, chemistry, and mathematics, then find a way to send them back to China.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Any surplus can be your compensation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Ran stared directly at him; to John, the man before him now was no longer the same person who had just been expounding on business at the dinner table.\u003C\u002Fp>",1082,"2026-06-19T21:37:46.551Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","6be6e0ab150007b087c9aa946785cd84b18cd48ac3db701596bec3c924b04fa2","technology-invades-the-modern-world-chapter-64","technology-invades-the-modern-world-chapter-62",162,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Ftechnology-invades-the-modern-world-cover.jpg"]