I almost touched the moon

Wen Song leaned against the window, thinking for a long time, and did not even react when Cheng Che entered the room.

It was already dark, and looking out the French window, Lake Ashi became exceptionally quiet, with only a few street lamps casting dim yellow lights. The moon tonight was very round and bright, emitting a cool white glow in the darkness, and even the stars beside it became dim.

Seeing her leaning against the window in a daze, Cheng Che walked over to her, gently put his arm around her shoulders, and asked curiously, "What are you thinking about? You were so absent-minded that you didn't even hear me calling you to eat."

"Nothing, the scenery is beautiful, and I accidentally started daydreaming again." Wen Song smiled faintly. Before she made up her mind, she didn't know how to tell Cheng Che.

She also held Cheng Che's hand, looked at him and asked, "What are we having for dinner?"

"My wife wanted to eat spicy food, so I made pickled fish, stir-fried pork with peppers, and dry-pot squid. But eating too much spicy food can easily cause internal heat, so I also made a chicken soup with matsutake mushrooms and blanched Chinese cabbage. Let's go eat, it won't taste good if it gets cold."

As Cheng Che spoke, he gently picked her up from the sofa, held her hand and walked downstairs. Seeing that Wen Song still looked worried, although he was worried, he did not ask any more questions.

During dinner, Wen Song had no appetite because he was thinking about what had just happened. He only drank a bowl of soup and ate some vegetables, and didn't even eat a few bites of rice.

"Song Song..." Cheng Che picked up a chicken wing for her, and then some Chinese cabbage and said, "Baby, I've been cooking for a long time, but you didn't eat much. I'll be sad."

"I ate a lot. I'm trying to lose weight. I can't eat too much at night. Look, I've gained weight." Wen Song smiled and took a few more bites of rice.

"Why are you losing weight?" Cheng Che said unhappily, "You don't have any fat to lose. You're losing water and muscle. You're not allowed to skip meals."

After that, he picked up some more food for her, sat next to her and said, "Eat quickly. If you don't eat, I will have to feed you like I feed Astrid. You are so old, but you still don't want to eat properly. Mom is right. I really am like raising two daughters. You are much harder to raise than Astrid."

Wen Song also smiled, feeling a little relieved. He scooped some pickled fish soup and mixed it with rice and ate it, praising, "It's delicious. It's really delicious. How can your cooking be so delicious? I like your cooking the most. Honey, you've worked hard."

Cheng Che turned around and kissed Wen Song on the cheek, then smiled and said to her, "If you knew how hard I was working, you would have finished your meal. Also, what happened? You've been absent-minded since you talked to Felix on the phone. Is there something wrong with the detector?"

"No!!" Wen Song denied it immediately, and then grabbed Cheng Che's hand and slapped the table three times, saying to him, "Don't say such unlucky words, say bah bah bah quickly."

Cheng Che could only smile and do as he was told, and then asked her, "So what is it? Sister, don't hide it from me."

Wen Song smiled calmly and said to Cheng Che, "Nothing, just some work stuff. I'm not sure yet. I'll tell you when it's confirmed."

Before going to bed at night, Wen Song received another message from Felix. He told Wen Song that although this project was dangerous, based on past experience, it would not endanger life, and ESA was only informing him of all possible risks in accordance with regulations.

He is also on the invitation list. He hopes to work with Wen Song. He believes that no one is more qualified than her for this project. Eirlys will also provide assistance and guidance on the ground. This is another cooperative project between the three of them after the Aether probe. He hopes that they can achieve new research results together and even win the Nobel Prize.

Wen Song looked at the email and had a preliminary answer in her mind. She didn't have a dream, but this was indeed her biggest regret in the past ten years. Now, in less than a minute, she could make up for it. Should she give up? How could she give up?

She returned to the bed. Cheng Che had already finished his shower and was lying down. He was leaning against the head of the bed holding his cell phone with a smile on his face. It was obvious that he was chatting with Astrid.

Sure enough, Cheng Che said to her, "Astrid said she missed us and asked when we would go home. I said we would go back on Sunday. She was very happy and wanted to pick us up at the airport with Cece and Addie. Addie is the little Samoyed that her mother gave to Astrid. She is very cute and gets along well with Cece. They don't fight."

"Okay." Wen Song lay down beside Cheng Che, hugged him sideways, raised his head and kissed his chin and lips, looked at him and asked, "A Che, you love me the most, right? Am I the one you love the most?"

"Of course, baby." Cheng Che also lowered his head and kissed her, "Of course I love you the most. You must be the one I love the most. What's wrong? Why are you asking this suddenly?"

Wen Song moved closer to him, almost lying on top of Cheng Che, and asked again: "So, no matter what I do, you will support me, right?"

"Of course." Cheng Che rarely saw Wen Song acting like a spoiled child, and he was very happy. He rubbed her head and said, "No matter what my wife wants to do, I support you. No, if you want to commit suicide or get a divorce, I absolutely don't agree. And I will ask my mother and Director Ling to help me with the lawsuit, and I will never divorce you."

Wen Song smiled, and lay on Cheng Che like a cat, looking at him and saying, "Don't worry, it's none of them."

"Then do whatever you want." Cheng Che gently pinched her face and said, "Is it because of this that you are unhappy? What's there to be entangled about? I can't oppose you. So baby, what's the matter?"

Wen Song then told him the content of today's email, "ESA's new space station has been built. After debugging and inspection, engineers and astronauts will need to enter the space station to operate and maintain experimental equipment. This space station is mainly used to detect gravitational waves and dark matter, and the laser interferometer space antenna also needs to be maintained. I participated in the design of LISA and know how to operate it better."

"That's great. My wife was not selected for that weird reason before, and she couldn't participate in the research of space rays in the Columbus laboratory module. She must be very sad. This time we finally have the opportunity, and we must not miss it."

Cheng Che didn't think there was anything wrong with it, and asked again: "When are you going, and how long will you be gone?"

"October 10th, two years from now, for three months."

"Is that so..." Cheng Che thought for a moment and said, "It's a bit long, but it doesn't matter. Three months will pass quickly, and we can also video chat every day. But if so, I won't be able to celebrate my wife's birthday with her. I'll make it up to you when you come back."

Wen Song sighed and told Cheng Che the truth, "The best way to detect gravitational waves is in a completely vacuum environment, but the space station is not a vacuum environment, so we need to leave the cabin... which is more dangerous..."

Cheng Che was silent after hearing this. He originally thought that it was just like the last project, just to conduct some experiments in the space station and record data, at most to install and operate the equipment inside. He never thought that he would need to work outside the space station and even detect cosmic radiation. The dangers involved were imaginable.

After a moment of silence, he lowered his head and sighed softly, and kissed Wen Song's forehead softly, "Song Song, are you still unwilling to tell me the truth? Tell me the worst outcome."

"If you encounter space debris or a small celestial body, it may penetrate the space suit, and the human body will die instantly due to decompression and lack of oxygen..."

What she said was just a beautified result. The fact is, the human body will be reduced to ashes and turned into cosmic dust in an instant due to the huge pressure difference.

Wen Song was unwilling to hide it any longer, so he took out his phone and showed Cheng Che the complete project plan and potential risks. After Cheng Che read it, he put his phone aside, hugged Wen Song tightly, and couldn't say a word.

"Ache...will you oppose me?"

Wen Song could hear his heartbeat, which was a little too fast. He must be very worried and conflicted.

Cheng Che sighed heavily and hugged her tighter, even squeezing Wen Song a little painfully. "Is it useful to object? If I object, will you reject this project?"

"I don't know..." Wen Song couldn't help but sigh, "Over the years, I found that I am really different from before. I can't be like before and not care about the consequences. If it weren't for you and Astrid, I would definitely agree immediately. In fact, I also know that it's not that scary. ESA just has to list all the potential risks."

"I know..." Cheng Che also nodded and said, "But Songsong, I will really be worried about you. I have my own selfish desires, I can't live without you..."

"But I don't want to give up." Wen Song said truthfully, "I have everything. The only regret is that I worked so hard for so long, but in the end I was not selected. And... the Nobel Prize. If I can really make a breakthrough this time, at least I can be nominated for the Nobel Prize."

Cheng Che certainly understood her thoughts. Over the years, she had won the Gruber Prize, the Califf Prize, the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the Dirac Medal, and even the World Outstanding Women Scientist Award three years ago.

Although Wen Song has said more than once that with her ability and dedication, she is already very lucky to win all these awards, and the Nobel Prize is not something she can covet. But she also joked with Cheng Che, "Am I like Qi Zheng from your ski team, who won all the gold medals in aerials, except the Winter Olympics gold medal?"

At that time, Cheng Che saw a little regret in her joking words. There is no athlete who does not yearn for the Olympic gold medal, and naturally there is no physicist who does not regard the Nobel Prize as his ultimate goal.

He finally smiled and said to Wen Song, "Professor, I'm kindly reminding you that the deadline is in three days, so don't miss it. While you still remember it, fill out the confirmation form quickly, sign it, and submit it."

"You don't object to me?" Wen Song was a little surprised. "I thought you would be very opposed and worried that we would quarrel."

Cheng Che hugged her and kissed her, then said helplessly: "When you told me about this, you had already made up your mind. I know that if I really objected, you might give up, but I can't do that. When I was an athlete, no matter how worried or unwilling you were, you never opposed me. So how can I stop you from realizing your dream now?"

"It's not that dangerous..." Wen Song comforted him, "I promise you, I will protect myself. There are many similar projects. Everyone is safe, right?"

"Yes, I'm worried that you might see a very handsome alien and fall in love with someone else and stop loving me." Cheng Che joked, "Or what if you are so beautiful and so smart, and you are captured by aliens for research?"

"No." Wen Song also smiled, "Aliens are all ugly, and they can't beat me."

"Yes, you are the best." Cheng Che nodded and said, "Of course I hope you will always be by my side, but I know it is impossible. The person I love is the best. You are Prof. Postdoctor. Iseylia. I can only support you."

"Stop giving me so many titles!! It's so pretentious!"

Wen Song hit him lightly, then raised his head and kissed his lips, looking at Cheng Che affectionately, "A Che, don't worry, I will definitely return home safely."