Headache

Lu Fan looked at the old man silently and knew that the main subject was coming.

He took a sip of tea calmly and waited for Zhou Zilin to take the initiative to tell him.

Seeing this, Zhou Zilin could not help but curse at him for being so sly.

"Sigh, the government wants to have a secret lab in that building. Meaning that even if you have the money, they are the ones who will build it, and depending on what they'll put inside, you might not even get the chance to claim it."

Lu Fan pondered for a bit and did not see what was the problem. This move would even help him keep a low profile and even get him a connection to the government. But he knew that this was not that simple.

"If it was only this, a phone call would be enough, no?"

"Sigh, if it was only this, I would not even tell you."

He looked at Aria deeply but decided to just say it.

"They want you to own this project. You understand what this means, right?"

This time, even Lu Fan's expression became solemn.

Owning a government secret lab meant many things, but the most important point was that if things went to shit, he'd have to go down as the scapegoat.

And the most troublesome thing was that he could not unhear this.

One could indeed refuse this kind of offer, but things were not that simple for Lu Fan.

He did not have a stable background to use. If you wanted to reject such an offer, you needed some kind of backbone. Lu Fan did not have one. His identity and all other details were straight, but if one wanted to find something, they still could.

The last thing he wanted was so much attention.

This would also mean that when he refused, he would earn himself some tails and shadows that would monitor him for a period of time. If whatever they were doing was too sensitive, he did not doubt that he might have a tail for most of his life.

The system was top secret for him. There was no way he'd risk letting it be exposed.

The other thing was that he was still being hunted. While the people from the government did not hunt him, they did not help him either. If he refused them now, who knew what sleeping lion he'd awaken?

There were other reasons, but it was already clear that he could not refuse.

Since he could not refuse, he wanted to milk them of all the benefits he could.

"First tell me what they want to do. You at least know the rough situation, right?"

"They want to open a cybercafé and play online games overseas."

Lu Fan almost lost his cool.

"Please tell me they want to play a Barbie game."

"Call of Duty. And they want to binge the whole series."

"…"

A cold sweat formed on his back. This was getting out of hand.

"It seems like, I need to own the whole building. Fuck."

Aria dutifully filled his cup as he gulped the whole thing.

"President Zhou, I will own the café, but there are some things that must be arranged. And you need to look for another place to build your lab."

"Eh? Why?"

"Those guys might not have told you the whole story. They might be doing more than what we think. It is best to leave the whole building to them. Of course, I'll have to stay there with them. But no students or teachers should access that place casually."

After thinking for a while, Zhou Zilin understood what Lu Fan was trying to say.

They already told him that it was top secret. What made him believe the things they told him?

"And don't you think it's strange?"

"…"

"Your funding was pulled and the project was put on hold. Then, the moment you get funding from somewhere else, they do this? Their plan must have been brewing for a while now, no?"

"…"

"Now, we have to rethink the whole thing. For starters, I will have to rent the whole building. 1 billion per year should be enough. We also have to equip it with all kinds of advanced equipment and turn it into a real cyber café."

"Mr. Lu, is that really necessary?"

"Sigh, you should make arrangements and let them meet me. How about you give them this address? They can come to my home at any time."

The room became silent for a while before Zhou Zilin agreed, he might have missed something, but moving his lab was not an issue. The problem now was, would Lu Fan still fund them?

That lab had been his dream for a very long time. He had spent years studying chips, and if that lab was built, they might be able to catch up with the world in a decade or two.

He had been working for many years for this, he did not want to see it swept under the rug.

As if knowing his worries, Lu Fan spoke up, changing the terms.

"How about this, I will still give you the money, but I want to get every test result coming out of your lab. I won't meddle in your research. But in exchange, you will have to buy me every single piece of equipment I will ask for later. Of course, I will fund everything."

"Everything?"

"Yes. You will understand in the future. But I will fund everything. Don't take money from anyone else and the result of your research will be considered my property. Of course, you won't lose out."

"…"

Things were getting more complicated now.

"No need to answer now. I want to meet the people from above, and we will decide after that. For now, just sign my admission papers."

Indeed, he did not have the power to decide half of the things they had just talked about. It was better for him to wait for the higher-ups to decide.

He took a pen and signed the document in front of him and put a stamp on it.

"How about the other procedures, when will you complete them?"

"What procedures? Go back and check your systems. I should be in class right now."

"…"

Zhou Zilin left the place feeling surreal. How old was he? Why did he feel like this young man had seen more of the world than him?

Lu Fan did not care about the old man. Right now he was still digesting what had just happened while waiting to meet another difficult person.

"Sigh, I miss my bed already."