Gurbantunggut Desert.
This was a forbidden zone for life.
Many years ago, Academician Lu had drawn a circle here. Only after a six-lane highway and two rows of poplars planted along its sides reached this place, and an ostrich-egg-shaped enclosed biosphere was completed, did it gradually begin to show signs of human habitation.
The pen in his hand stopped. Liang Youcheng, dressed in work clothes, glanced at the cabin pressure gauge on the workbench beside him, then closed his diary.
It had been exactly four hundred days since the biosphere was last sealed.
Every day, Liang Youcheng had two things he always did. One was video chatting with his wife and child, while the other was writing in his diary, recording every detail of life inside the biosphere.
This had been the psychologist's advice when he was still undergoing training.
"...The environment on Mars will be harsher than here. Remaining in low gravity for extended periods will not only place strain on the bones and organs, but also create considerable psychological pressure. The former can now be managed with medication, but you will have to adjust to the latter yourselves. When you're bored, try keeping a diary. Even writing a few sentences will do."
And so, more than a year had passed. He felt that his diary had grown thick enough to be published as a book. Now that this kind of life was about to end, he actually felt a faint sense of reluctance.
"Come to think of it, today is the day the biosphere opens."
Letting out a long breath, he rose from the control console.
If he remembered correctly, he was on the final shift. Once the colleagues from the planting department harvested the last batch of potatoes and corn, they could pack their bags and wait