Fate's Cruel Trick

A heavy rain had fallen on Great Capital City the night before. By morning, the clouds still had not cleared, and a fine drizzle veiled the streets.

On Central Avenue, Chen Cheng walked beneath an umbrella.

Most of the shops along the street had opened. Inside, shopkeepers and early customers watched the morning news and discussed the latest Nobel Prize winner—Chen Cheng.

He turned a corner onto New China Road, where Huaxia's foremost research institutes were gathered. The people who worked there preferred to call it Science Road.

The first light of dawn filtered through the gray sky in scattered patches. Cars came and went along the avenue beside him.

It was such a familiar scene.

Chen Cheng stopped beneath a shop's eaves and closed his umbrella. He held out his hand, but the fine rain seemed to have no weight as it touched his skin.

"So it was a rainy day. I'd forgotten."

"What are you talking about, young man? It's so cold, and you're dressed so lightly. You'll catch a chill."

The woman who ran the fruit shop had noticed that Chen Cheng wore only a thin shirt and called out to warn him.

"I'm fine, ma'am. I was just thinking that now Academician Chen has developed Controllable Nuclear Fusion, life will keep getting better for us."

Chen Cheng smiled as he spoke.

The woman smiled too.

"I didn't get much schooling, but my grandson goes to Great Capital University, just like Academician Chen.

"When he came home for the holidays, he told me that Controllable Nuclear Fusion would keep bringing down the cost of living. Maybe one day, taking a plane will be as easy as taking a bus.

"Wouldn't that be nice? I could tend this fruit stall and still go back to my hometown to