First Day at Home: Can I Borrow Something from You?

Looking back, if someone had told him back when he failed the college entrance exams: *You can embark on a path that is unquestionably righteous. Through danger and relentless striving, you will spend many tempestuous, glorious years. You will meet the finest comrades, brothers, and mentors, encounter the unimaginable martial might of an alien civilization, and achieve miraculous victories more than once... but in the end, in all likelihood, you will die on the battlefield.* "Even if I had hesitated, I think I would have accepted in the end. Yes, I would have." Since that was the case, there was nothing left to brood over, let alone regret. At this point, Han Qingyu felt he was mentally prepared for the battle ahead—which was to say, prepared to bid his final farewell to this life. All that remained now was to spend a few more days by his parents' side. With his mind at ease, he picked up his old Gaokao score slip and studied it several times, tallying up the points. When he recalled how it was precisely because English had dragged his score down that he had failed the exam, met Lao Jian, and embarked on this path—only to end up fighting alongside so many foreigners, able to communicate with them smoothly in English—the irony felt absurd and amusing. He could not help chuckling to himself for a long time. As he set the score slip down, an inadvertent glance caught two blue booklets beneath it. After a moment's thought, he realized they were probably his graduation photo album and autograph book. "These..." He decided not to open them. Did he really need to look back so thoroughly? It was hard to say how awkward it would feel, but an inexplicable sense of discomfort was inevitable. Thinking back to how he had been in those days, and to the teachers and classmates he had spent so much time with... Over the years, they had probably all been struck with utter astonishment. Then, upon realizing that the ones making history were him and Plague Chicken, they had surely sighed with emotion and shared countless trivial anecdotes about them with anyone who would listen. *Thankfully, I don't have any scandalous gossip attached to my name—aside from catching snakes barehanded on campus to sell.* *Wait, come to think of it, shouldn't Plague Chicken have a ton?! In those years, even though he never got seriously involved or dated any of the girls, he was always swaggering around, running his mouth, and flirting. He definitely led quite a few people on.* *How come after all this time, not a single story has leaked out? Could he have quietly used some method early on to suppress them all?* *Yeah, that's very likely. It's totally something he'd do.* *What a shame. I wonder how those female classmates talk about him now? Do they secretly reminisce and sigh in their hearts, thinking that their youthful romance had missed by just a hair? And how do they mention him to their sons and daughters? 'You see that Stream Vanguard Second Lieutenant Wen? That's your Uncle Wen Jifei. He was almost your dad...'* That night, Han Qingyu looked back upon and reunited with his former, ordinary self, letting his thoughts wander endlessly through a host of completely inconsequential questions. Then he fell asleep. Like an uncoiling net, his nerves relaxed, releasing their tension. Even his body seemed to temporarily forget its pain. For the first time in an extraordinarily long time, Han Qingyu slept deeply, peacefully, and with a settled heart. He slept straight through until nearly noon the next day. *** His first day at home. After a hurried wash and a quick lunch, Han Qingyu headed out to the nearby Azure base. Approaching it with the casual mindset of getting checked for a mild cold, he went to Zhe Qiuhong for an examination and treatment. Zhe Qiuhong, however, deployed a vast array of advanced equipment and spent nearly three hours examining him. Throughout the entire process, her brows were knitted almost continuously. "What's with that look? Scowling like that, you make it feel like I'm on death's door," Han Qingyu complained as he pulled on his clothes and trousers, finally permitted to step down from the examination table. He felt no awkwardness whatsoever; he had long grown accustomed to being buck naked in front of Zhe Qiuhong. Not just him—He Tangtang and Wu Xu had long gotten used to it as well. Back when the group had fled to the City of Sin, their "humiliating" life had already begun. In He Tangtang's words: *Over time, whenever I'm around Doctor Zhe, it's become hard to even sense the existence of gender.* "Shut up. Don't make a racket." Zhe Qiuhong cut Major Qing off with a sharp reprimand. She offered no further reply and made no sound, merely leaning against the desk to write and sketch for over an hour. Finally, holding a notebook and carrying a massive medical tray, she walked over and said, "Why did you get dressed? Take them off." Han Qingyu had no choice but to strip down again and lie back on the table in the buff. "There are no definitive signs that you're dying. Your body itself is recovering, and at a fairly good pace. But just as you said, your Yanxiu was severely injured this time. And because you've already merged with it, the impact on you far exceeds anything before." As Zhe Qiuhong spoke, she began inserting crystalline tubes—each about the length of a finger knuckle and as thick as a Wahaha straw—one by one into Han Qingyu's back along the spaces between his spine and ribs. "What do you mean by that? Specifically, just how great is this impact you're talking about?" Han Qingyu asked, quietly enduring the pain. The crystalline tubes seemed to house miniature source energy excitation devices. Though operating at low power, they had already begun working autonomously, emitting continuous pulses of energy like electric currents in a distinct, rhythmic cadence. "Great enough that if it dies, you'll likely die with it. If it's ruined, you might not even be able to beat me from now on." As she spoke, Zhe Qiuhong finished the first step of inserting the tubes. Wiping her hands, she brought over a set of complex external mini-devices, had Han Qingyu roll onto his back, and began attaching them to his chest and kidney areas. "In truth, though, I'm not entirely certain. Everything I just said is merely my deduction. Humanity has zero experience treating a Yanxiu, and I've never operated on one before. Therefore, the treatment plan I prepared for you can only be conservative. I hope that through energy stimulation and the cultivation of a source energy environment, it will wake up on its own, actively draw in energy, and attempt to repair itself. This process might take a very long time. You'll need to be patient." She continued speaking while working. Without waiting for Han Qingyu to respond, she added, "I know what you want to say right now. You probably don't have much time to wait, do you?" Han Qingyu nodded. "So, is there an aggressive method? Something faster—even if it's a bit risky, that's fine." "No." Zhe Qiuhong paused, then said, "Even if there were, it would only exist in theory, and I wouldn't choose to attempt it." "Why?" "I cannot take the risk of killing you. Do you understand? I cannot let the world believe you died at my hands. The moment that happens, I will inevitably fall under suspicion and face immense fury. Following that, I would very likely lose all support to carry out Project Fireseed." "Oh." Han Qingyu nodded, choosing not to press or force the matter. He too feared dying like that. Though he was mentally prepared this time, he wasn't afraid of dying in battle—he simply refused to die on a hospital bed or an operating table. "So, Project Fireseed has gained support and is preparing to launch?" Han Qingyu shifted the topic on his own initiative. "Speaker Kemore mentioned it to me once, saying he would do his best to push it forward, but there's no concrete plan or timeline yet." Having finished attaching the external devices, Zhe Qiuhong held her hands in midair and looked Han Qingyu up and down. "By the way, you won't oppose it anymore, will you?" she asked, maintaining her observational posture. She still remembered that Han Qingyu had once harbored deep aversion toward Project Fireseed, believing that a so-called quest for survival predicated on "losing our Blue Star homeland and the vast majority of humanity" was not only meaningless, but unfair and liable to shake morale. "Oppose it?" Han Qingyu pondered for a moment, then said, "Not anymore. I guess it doesn't matter much now. With the situation as it is, it's fine for you all to give it a shot. Regardless of the outcome, it won't have much to do with us." "Mm. We're already preparing, and we've been preparing all along," Zhe Qiuhong said. "I've decided to bring some ordinary people aboard the fleet—young ones, even children." "How ordinary?" "As ordinary as you and Plague Chicken once were, by your own description." "That's good." "Mm. I've realized that in the course of human history, not everything is accomplished by the existing elite. Some of the individuals who truly determine the final direction often come from the ordinary populace of a given era. They grow up in different environments and undergo different baptisms of reality, potentially blossoming into entirely different flowers. In the end, no one can predefine who is ordinary and who is extraordinary." "Tsk, tsk, Little Doctor Zhe has made progress, recognizing the mighty power of the masses." Han Qingyu joked, making a move to sit up while asking with his eyes whether he was finished. "Among them, I deliberately included several children who deeply admire and look up to you," Zhe Qiuhong said, ignoring his gesture and continuing. Han Qingyu asked, "What for?" Zhe Qiuhong replied, "I want your shadow and your influence to be in the fleet. What I mean is, among that potentially lonely, minuscule remnant of new humanity in the future, I hope there will be a portion of people who don't aspire to be like us, but instead hope to become someone like you." "Oh, understood. Agreed. I also think you guys can't just be a bunch of scientists," Han Qingyu said with a smile. "However, I suddenly want your influence and presence in the Voyage fleet to be even greater," Zhe Qiuhong said. "What do you mean? It's impossible for me to leave with you." "I know. Are you still fertile, Qingzi?" Her gaze dropped straight down, locking onto her target, revealing her intentions with utter directness and composure. "..." "Merging with a Yanxiu shouldn't affect reproductive capability, right? How about I check?" "What are you trying to do?!" "Don't worry, I have no interest in you personally. But if you don't mind, I'd like to borrow a little... extract some to cryopreserve and take along with Project Fireseed's expedition fleet." "..." *** "Report!" As Han Qingyu bolted out of the medical room bare-chested while hoisting up his trousers, an Azure officer hurried over, saluted, and reported in a low voice: "Reporting to Major Qing: Intelligence on the Martian fleet indicates they continue to wander aimlessly. Everything remains normal today. Intelligence from the lunar exploration fleet reports that the search radius continues to expand, but no trace of the remains has been found as of yet."