Hello, Peg (Part 1)

The journalists on the scene, particularly those from the general civilian media, were finally satisfied. Although they had failed to obtain any thoughts or statements from Major Qing and the others regarding the Mars expedition, they had caught Second Lieutenant Wen Jifei's girlfriend. Moreover, the young woman was actually a reporter herself. Because they were in the same line of work, several journalists present were even well acquainted with her, having shared meals and conversations at the same table. "Damn it, running around all day like paparazzi chasing Stream Blades scoops, never imagining the biggest news was right beside us the whole time." "Yeah, haha! What's her name?" "Yao Yue." "Yao Yue? Is she the one from the old rumor, where Second Lieutenant Wen led an airborne unit thousands of li to rescue her from Yuejiang University in Huaxia?" "...Probably. A gag order was slapped on that incident back then. When we heard about it later, we all assumed she'd been hidden away in a golden bower for safety. Who would've thought she'd become one of our peers, running around out in the field all day?" "Yeah, but now that it's out in the open like this..." The reporter who spoke up raised the camera in his hands, which held photographs of Second Lieutenant Wen and Yao Yue. He wanted to ask whether they could still publish them, and whether the girl might be in danger going forward. "Relax. Since Second Lieutenant Wen decided to go public like this in front of everyone, he must have his own plans and considerations. Don't forget that he usually handles every single detail of Stream Blades' massive operation with his own hands. We don't need to fret over a minor thing like this for him." The reporter thought about it, lowered his camera, and said, "True enough." On the other side, after greeting Han Qingyu and the others, Wen Jifei and Yao Yue quickly vanished around a street corner outside the square. Afterward, Major Qing and his entourage took their leave as well, talking and laughing along the way. The atmosphere seemed considerably more cheerful, though they still refused to answer a single question. Caught between disappointment and delight, the reporters scattered, likely rushing to break the news. While the matter of Second Lieutenant Wen and his reporter girlfriend certainly couldn't displace the Mars expedition itself from today's front-page headlines, it was bound to be one of the biggest selling points. Aside from that earlier rumor of a hero rescuing a beauty, the world had known nothing about Second Lieutenant Wen Jifei having a girlfriend. Moreover, this particular moment happened to be just hours before Second Lieutenant Wen Jifei, serving as deputy commander-in-chief, departed on the Mars expedition. Going public at this very juncture, starting their romance, going on a date... how romantic it was—a romanticism born of the battlefield that stirred the heart even more profoundly. "Stop staring, stop staring." Yang Qingbai, who had just caught up with them, waved his hand twice in front of Rusty Sister as he walked. "If you're really that envious, why don't you and Qingzi go off too? It's not like you two..." *Thump!* Rusty Sister turned around and kicked him flying with a single foot, though because he was Yang Qingbai—whose combat ability was basically zero aside from barely using source energy to foster a sturdy constitution—she didn't dare use too much force. She dreaded this sort of thing nowadays. If she were still Yang Tieyu, merely Yang Tieyu, there would naturally be no problem. Had Yang Qingbai said that back then, she might have chimed in herself to tease that block of dead iron. Yet as things stood, everyone knew the truth in their hearts, and knew that the others knew it as well, didn't they? The most she could do was stubbornly hold out, deceiving herself and acting like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water by refusing to openly admit it under any circumstances. But acting as cocky as before was out of the question... If that block of dead iron was pushed too far and roared out "Iron Chick" or "Rusty Sister" right to her face, wouldn't she detonate on the spot from pure embarrassment? "You talk too much." Liaison Officer Yang dusted off her hands and glared at Yang Qingbai, her expression practically saying that whoever blabbed first was a dog. Immediately afterward, her heart tightened, and her anxious gaze darted toward He Tangtang. Compared to Yang Qingbai, He Tangtang was undeniably far more dangerous and lethal in matters like this. If he opened his mouth... He Tangtang did not chime in. He did not even look over. Under Rusty Sister's watchful eyes, he simply walked on alone with his head hung low. *What happened to him?* Seeing Tangtang looking so dejected for once, Rusty Sister felt a flicker of worry and confusion before quickly understanding. *Could Tangtang be stirred up by the scene...? That makes sense. Come to think of it, between Tangtang and his first love, they'd only met once or twice from the moment they crossed paths to the very end, and after that, he attended her funeral. In Antarctica, he hadn't even eaten a single bite of the grilled fish she gave him, let alone experienced romance or dates.* "What's so great about it anyway, hmph... Come on, Tangtang, the rest of us will find our own place to eat." Liaison Officer Yang Tieyu walked over, stood on tiptoe, and casually slung an arm around He Tangtang's shoulder, dragging him along as though she were still encased in that old suit of iron armor. In truth, unlike the reporters and the civilian public outside, the inner circle of Stream Blades had known and confirmed long ago that Wen Jifei had a girlfriend named Yao Yue. A few of them had even interacted with her. Even so, more than three years had passed, yet the actual time Wen Jifei and Yao Yue spent formally dating and being together was exceedingly scarce. *** "So, why did Second Lieutenant Wen suddenly throw caution to the wind today?" Beneath the Ferris wheel in the amusement park opened specially for the two of them, Yao Yue tilted her head back and took the initiative to ask. The young woman had wanted romance. Ever since the rooftop of Yuejiang University back then, she had longed for it for a very long time. It was just that Wen Jifei had never taken the initiative or shown much passion, and as a girl, there was only so much she could do. "In the past, I was afraid you'd lose your freedom and your own life, and afraid I'd die right after we got together." Wen Jifei tilted his head and smiled faintly. "Because, as you know, that Han Green Worm has to go everywhere no matter how dangerous it is... so I have to follow him wherever he goes. I truly never knew which day I'd suddenly drop dead. I might be on a date with you one moment, and die the next step outside." "You were afraid I wouldn't be able to bear it, weren't you?" Yao Yue's eyes went wide. After a moment's hesitation, she said, "But that doesn't matter. Even if we weren't together... it would still feel the same to me. As for work and freedom, I bet even if I stayed at the Stream Blades base the entire time, it would be plenty interesting. "Just think how many exclusive scoops I'd get, haha." To lighten the mood, Yao Yue deliberately made a joke. Wen Jifei understood what she meant. He let out an "mm" and nodded, then looked up with a smile. "Actually, I eventually came around to that too. It's just that I've been swamped lately. With that Mars business, isn't everyone saying that if we lose, it's all over? There was too much I had to do and think about. I didn't dare let myself get distracted, and even less did I dare slip into that kind of state... of being in love with you. I was afraid I wouldn't feel urgent enough, wouldn't worry or fret enough, wouldn't struggle and fight hard enough to survive." "I understand." Yao Yue nodded. "So that's why you suddenly did this today... Will you come back? Since you're a commander and will be staying on the ship, will that be a bit safer?" Wen Jifei desperately wanted to say yes, to tell her firmly that he would definitely return. That was how it was always portrayed on television and in the movies. But after a pause, he said, "I'll do my best." "'Do your best'—what does that mean?" Yao Yue said, a touch unhappy. "Doing my best means that so long as there's even a shred of hope and possibility... I will bring everyone back together with me," Wen Jifei said. Yao Yue understood the implicit meaning just as well. After a brief hesitation, she exhaled, looked up at the Ferris wheel, and said: "All right, then let's start our date. Starting with the Ferris wheel. We have to hurry—there are so many things I've thought about for a long time that I want you to do with me." With that, the young woman took the initiative to take Wen Jifei's hand and ran toward the Ferris wheel. *** The reserve expedition list prepared by Azure was ultimately not needed. It was just that when the old rascals returned, the liquor they carried back, the stacks upon stacks of adult magazines, and the full sacks of cigarettes left everyone a bit speechless and resigned. Local time in Mexico, October 28, 1996, 8:00 p.m. Located on the outskirts of Mexico City, the enormous grounds cleared specifically for this expedition had only been roughly leveled without any paving, surrounded still by wild weeds and brush. On this moonless night, the boundless sky was pitch-black, casting an oppressive gloom over everything. Hundreds of searchlights mounted in all directions beamed across, crisscrossing in the air close to the ground into a vast net. The light dispersed like mist, lending the red marker lights on the ground that demarcated the positions of the source energy warships an eerie aura thick with the scent of slaughter. Sixty-six dead iron warships of varied designs and chilling appearance lay silently across this land woven with light and shadow. Four motherships among them loomed immense like four black mountains; the rest resembled lakes, towers, reefs, edifices, and prehistoric beasts... The high-altitude aerial cameras of the Rejectors presented all of this before the entire world. Yet it was only a wide shot. And this time, from beginning to end, not a single line of introduction or commentary was added. Just like that, in a simple, quiet, unadorned manner, they presented humanity's Mars expedition fleet, along with their final hour before departing the Blue Star. In front of their television sets, people around the world watched silently and intently, gazing at this fixed, nearly motionless image. Under the high-altitude wide-angle lens, the vast staging grounds looked like an alien prehistoric wasteland, where the tiny silhouettes of a hundred thousand expeditionary warriors silently wove through the play of light and shadow, flickering indistinctly... "Then... I'll wait for you to come back." On the downslope of a small earthen mound at the edge of the grounds, this farewell was free of lingering instructions or parting pleas. Yao Yue stood behind him and spoke. Wen Jifei looked back. "All right. And one more thing..." "I don't want an 'and one more thing,'" Yao Yue interrupted, like a willful girl in love. Yet Wen Jifei still insisted on finishing: "And if bad news comes back, remember not to believe what they say about humanity being doomed if we lose on Mars. If that day really comes, the world might fall into chaos for a while. You and your family must stay in the base, and then... wait." Wait? Wait for what? Wait for him, or wait for hope to reignite in humanity's desperate hour? Wen Jifei did not say. He merely raised a hand to pat the breast pocket holding the photo they had taken today, then waved. "Mm." Yao Yue nodded and waved back. Beneath the dim aerial footage, in a scene no one could clearly see: the girl remained standing, watching, while the resolute silhouette of the warrior carrying a long rifle strode forward, soon vanishing among the crisscrossing shadows of the crowd.