Just like that, another week flew by.
The days were much the same as usual: library, dorm, cafeteria, three points in a line. They were fulfilling—or rather, he'd never been this fulfilled before.
Ye Kaifu always followed close behind. He acted defiant, but deep down, he enjoyed being put through the wringer.
This kind of life was incredibly exciting. He'd never imagined that in the last few days of vacation, he'd meet a lunatic like this. And somehow, he'd gone crazy himself and let the guy lead him around.
What was going on here?!
But this day brought their farewell.
The space elevator had a limited carrying capacity each day. It was impossible to send all 500,000 astronauts up at once, so they would be sent into space in many different batches.
The two of them weren't in the same launch batch. Ye Kaifu's vacation was already over, so he'd be heading into space ahead of Zhang Yuan.
"...You know about the economic policies and work-grade system aboard the ship, right? They haven't been fully made public yet, but I expect you'll study them systematically once you're aboard. It's good to prepare early, like writing papers and getting ready for the graduate school entrance exams."
"I know, I know. You don't need to worry about me."
Ye Kaifu grinned. "I'm a Grade Eight fitter, so I'll start out at Grade Eight. My work grade is much higher than yours. A little nobody at Grade Two can only clean the ship and won't be able to do anything else."
Zhang Yuan replied irritably, "That's true. You're a hell of a lot more impressive than me... Well, see you then."
Ye Kaifu suddenly widened his eyes and shouted, "Zhang Yuan, being with you is exhausting, but it's also been so fulfilling. If I'd met you sooner, I'd definitely be more..."
Every hair on Zhang Yuan's body stood on end!
The people around them cast curious looks their way.
"Get lost! Go on, get lost! You're leaving and you still have to gross me out!" Zhang Yuan yelled.
"Hahaha, idiot! Look at yourself! I'm a straight guy, through and through. Who the hell wants to be with you?"
Ye Kaifu was delighted. That had felt so good.
Did they see the girls nearby looking like they were about to throw up? Hahaha!
Zhang Yuan checked the calendar on his phone. Days of vacation remaining: 5.
As that deadline drew closer, a strange sense of urgency grew stronger and stronger inside him.
It was hard to put into words, like the final moment of life was approaching—nervousness, dread, and unease all mingled together, creating a complicated, fragmented feeling.
"I'm off. Bye!"
Ye Kaifu left with a suitcase. With his back to Zhang Yuan, he waved over his shoulder, thinking he looked very cool.
He left alone, abandoning his mechanical harem, his fantasies about the fleet, everything. He traveled light.
Among the orderly lines of astronauts, his figure looked tiny.
Perhaps everyone looked tiny in front of the enormous space elevator—unbelievably tiny.
"Bye."
The sun slowly rose in the east. This would probably be the last sunrise these astronauts saw on Earth.
It was Zhang Yuan's fifth-to-last, too.
Zhang Yuan watched as Ye Kaifu passed the security check and entered the space elevator. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve.
No—he wiped them twice, maybe even three times...
Many of the astronauts made the same gesture. Once they went up, they would never again set foot on the solid ground of their home planet.
Never again.
Zhang Yuan couldn't help sighing. "What an idiot."
No, a whole bunch of idiots.
He turned and headed back to campus.
Now he was alone again.
Living alone in the dorm inevitably made him feel lonely. His paper was nearly done; all that remained were a few details of wording and phrasing. He could probably finish revising it in one evening...
Zhang Yuan thought he could give himself a day off and get some real rest.
He lay down, planning to doze for a few minutes, but realized he had so much on his mind that he couldn't fall asleep.
He opened a social app he hadn't used in ages. It was full of notifications.
"Li Zhendong, how did things go with that girl you had a date with?"
Li Zhendong still had that smug, cocky tone. "We broke it off ages ago. Her photos were misleading. Her face was covered in pimples—I couldn't bring myself to touch her. By the way, what happened to your fitter roommate?"
"He went up into space."
"So soon?"
"Yeah, different batches."
After chatting casually with Li Zhendong for a bit, Zhang Yuan could tell that with the deadline approaching, even this show-off wasn't in a very good mood. He was speaking seriously for once, without his usual antics.
"...I'm traveling with my family right now. I'm trying to talk Mom and Dad into having another kid."
"My mom keeps sneaking off to cry. I don't know how to comfort her. She just wants to cry, really. Women are like that, and my mom's no exception..."
Zhang Yuan let out a sigh. "Ah, these last few days—spend more time with them. And don't come over early."
After ending the call, Zhang Yuan suddenly remembered the long-forgotten "memo."
He'd been working on his paper nonstop for the past half month and had nearly forgotten all about it.
There really should be more good memories. Many more.
He went into a supermarket and bought a 38-yuan ice cream bar, holding the cream-flavored treat in his mouth.
It tasted pretty ordinary. He had no idea why it was so expensive.
Then he checked off an item in his "memo": "Eat an ice cream bar expensive enough to make me wince..."
"Completed!"
Once he was aboard the ship, he probably wouldn't even be able to eat ice cream. Where would there be room to set up an ice cream factory on a spaceship?
"No wonder Ye Kaifu kept eating ice cream before he left... He was working through his memo."
What should he do next?
He didn't know.
Zhang Yuan felt a little lost. Now that he suddenly had free time, he didn't know what to do with himself.
Maybe he should go back and study? After all, there was no end to learning.
No, today was his day off.
"...I want one of those BQ ice cream bars," a girl nearby said.
Her boyfriend spoke with great affection. "Those are really expensive. I'll give you two choices: one BQ ice cream bar, or two cups of milk tea, so I can have one too."
"Then let's get two milk teas... See how nice I am to you?"
Watching couples pass through the supermarket, Zhang Yuan thought of his ex-girlfriend again for some reason.
How many years ago had that been?
Zhang Yuan thought carefully, then suddenly realized he could barely remember what she looked like. It took him several seconds just to remember her name.
All he could recall was that she'd been cute, a little temperamental, and an average student. Under the pressure of studying, she needed to be coaxed every day before she'd buckle down and study.
Back then, they'd been high school students with no money, and they weren't allowed to use phones. When they went out, they could only use those very old-fashioned paper bills.
Whenever they went on a date, the girl would give Zhang Yuan the money she had on her, saying it was too much trouble to take it out herself.
So Zhang Yuan would hold a little under two hundred Federal Credits in his left hand and a soft, fragrant beauty in his right. At that age, when he had nothing, he'd still been perfectly content, as if he owned the whole world.
"...Dating did make me lose some brain cells, but I was pretty happy back then." Zhang Yuan sat on the steps, reminiscing.
That girl who'd thought spending money was too much trouble must have grown up by now, too.
Should he give her a call?
After thinking it over, he shook his head.
Forget it. They hadn't been in touch for so long; there was no affection left. All that remained were memories, like works of art, blurred and softened by time.
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