[The Wandering Earth] Short Story Collection: The Age of Roses

When I was 17, I went to watch a sunset.

That was the last sunset of the "Braking Era".The planet that has been rotating in the universe for hundreds of millions of years has stopped due to human wisdom, and the sunlight is no longer evenly sprinkled on all corners of the earth. The teacher said that since then, half of the earth has only daytime and the other half has only night.When he said this, my deskmate touched my elbow. She leaned over and asked me in a low voice: "Wang Lei, can we never see the sun again?"

"Well, when the escape plan starts, we'll leave it."

I still remember my answer back then.At that time, I was still in the second grade of elementary school, and the "brake project" had been carried out for 39 years out of 28 years, and the earth was hovering between perihelion and aphelion.People are panicked, and this mentality will only get better when the earth reaches the aphelion point, and there will be more people on the street.

The sunset lasted three 24 hours.For the last two hours, I have been standing on the balcony of my house. I don't know if it is a psychological effect. I feel that the wind blowing over me has become colder.

As the last gleam of red light was left behind by the horizon, I heard the balcony door open and a hand rest on my shoulder.

"It's sunset," Mom said.

"Yes, Mom," I turned around and held her cold hand, "Why are you up? Let's go back."

"Okay," she said, "are you graduating soon?"

"Well, I'll be doing an internship soon."

"That's great." She sat on the sofa and smiled at me, "Xiao Lei, study hard, work hard, live well, and live well for my mother."

"You can live to be a hundred years old." I knelt on the edge of the sofa and held her hand.

She shook her head, "Mom can't, I went to the hospital for an examination today, and the doctor said I still have three months at most."

I pressed her hand to my face and shook my head, feeling a hand on top of mine.

"Xiao Lei, promise mom." Mom's voice was very gentle, and my tears flowed down, "Live a good life, mom is going to find dad."

"Wang Lei, a new member of the CN171-11 unit, requests to join the team!"

I hugged the helmet, saluted a standard military salute with my right hand, and straightened my back.

The man next to him stood up from his chair.He patted his trousers and gave me a military salute back.The whole process of saluting lasted less than a second. If I hadn't seen him before, I would doubt his professionalism as a soldier.

"Yang Zhao, the captain of the CN171-11 unit, agrees to return to the team!"

A sloppy captain.

"Wang Lei, Wang Lei..." After introducing himself, he said my name silently, his eyes met mine, "Are you from Beijing? Have I met you before?...Don't be so stiff."

He reached out and patted my back.Noticing that all the muscles on my back were tensed together, he smiled, "What, nervous?"

"It's okay." I took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes, "Report to Captain Yang, I'm from Beijing, I've seen you before, when I went on an outing in elementary school, the school bus had an accident, you saved our class people."

"Captain Yang is really born." He shook his head with a gentle expression, "Are you 20 years old this year? I'm older than you, you can call him Captain or Brother Zhao."

"Captain." I pursed my lips.

"The child is so good!" He blinked happily, and I tried to put my face on my face to prove that I was an adult, "We met once, by fate. When you marry a wife and have a child, I will Give you something nice."

Some team members shouted from a distance: "Brother Zhao——sister-in-law is here—!"

He replied: "I know—" He patted the clothes on his body and put his arms around my shoulders.

"My daughter-in-law came to see me," he laughed, "Go, kid, I'll show you."

Seeing my sister-in-law again is four years later.

In order to register my marriage with Xiaorou, I took half a day off.Team Yang laughed so hard when he learned that I had asked for leave to get married and lifted me up with a few brothers.At this time, we had already moved to live in the underground city, but from their laughter, I seemed to see the wedding scene of the ground age with the singing of birds and flowers.

"Register with peace of mind, brother," Dui Yang blinked at me with one eye, "I'll treat you to a drink when you come back tonight."

I didn't wait for him, I waited for the communications officer of the coalition government.He saluted and brought me two messages.

The first news is that Yang Zhao, the captain of the CN171-11 unit, fell from the ice to his death in order to save two people during his mission that afternoon.

The second news is that Wang Lei, the deputy captain of CN171-11, was appointed as the captain of the CN171-11 unit.

My sister-in-law was still wearing protective clothing when she came to my house. She hugged Xiao Rou, who had grown up, and handed me a big box.

"This is Lao Yang's wedding gift to you." Her eyes turned red, and she quickly lowered her head. "I always said, I'll bring it to you for him."

"Are you going to the ground?" Xiaorou asked softly.

"Well," she nodded, "Go to the transformation engine on the equator, the dispatch order has come down."

"You have a safe journey," I said.

"Accept your auspicious words." She raised her head and smiled, bowed slightly, "Then I'll leave, Xiaorou can take care of her baby at ease, Xiaolei will take care of Xiaorou, don't be like your brother who is always busy with work I don't have time to spend at home."

Before my son was born, Xiaorou asked me what my child's name was. Is it still Wang Yuran as I decided when I first got married?

I thought about it and said, let's call it Wang Zhao.

Zhaozhe is clear, conspicuous, bright and beautiful.

——I hope he, like that person, becomes a light in the darkness.

One year after Xiao Rou passed away, a 171-year-old girl joined Unit 17.

I frowned when I heard her age.Scar said: "Boss, why are you upset that a newcomer is here?"

I am so happy that even minors use it.

"Zhou Qian, a new member of the CN171-11 unit, requests to join the team!"

The little girl was wearing a riot suit.She ran up to me and raised her hand as a military salute.The eyes were shining, the kind of light that is often seen in the eyes of children who have just graduated from school.

I straightened my back and stood at attention.

"Wang Lei, the captain of the CN171-11 unit, agrees to return to the team!"

As if she had some permission, the little girl with ponytails smiled childishly.

"Protect yourself, Zhou Qian," I suddenly thought of something, and said in a deep voice, Zhou Qian's eyes immediately became serious, "You must complete the task, and at the same time protect yourself."

Wang Zhao said, "Dad, look, I built Lego."

As a soldier, after Xiaorou passed away, I could only temporarily send Wang Zhao to the government's foster care center, trying to see him once a month.The teacher in the parenting center often praises him for being smart. She said that few children can build Lego worth more than 1 yuan at the age of three, and there are no blueprints. .

Team Yang's gift to Xiao Zhao was a box of Lego blocks, which are priceless things in this era.Because the sole purpose of existence is to stay alive, and entertainment and recreation are compressed to a minimum, children's building block toys have been discontinued for a long time.

"Father!" Xiao Zhao patted my knee.

"Zhao Zhao?" I raised my head.

He pulled out the Lego he was hiding behind his back and showed it to me, "Look!"

He dismantled the Millennium Falcon, probably with the help of a teacher who fixed the main body of the building blocks to the base.Lego bricks were put together by him into a record-shaped object, which extends from the central rotating shaft and is divided into different functional areas.A pointer starts from the rotating shaft and rides on the disc surface of the record.

"This is..." I murmured.

"Pilot!" The little guy's voice was crisp and sweet, "Dad, I'm amazing!"

"Zhao Zhao is awesome." I hugged him, put my hands under his armpits, and lifted him up like an airplane to take off and land. He giggled and waved his hands and feet.

"Dad, I'm going to be an astronaut in the future! Go to the 'navigator' to perform missions!"

When I put him down, he suddenly said this to me.

"Why do you want to be an astronaut?" I couldn't help slowing down.

"Because then Dad can see me every day," my son stood in front of me and said very seriously, his eyes seemed to have light, "Now Dad can only see me once a month, he will definitely miss me."

Xiao Zhao hugged my neck and kissed my face.

"Okay," I said, my voice choked up, "When Xiao Zhao becomes an astronaut like Grandpa, Dad will look up at you every day. Dad will always be watching you on the earth."

After a mission was over, Zhou Qian asked me a question.At that time, Gangzi and Wang Ming were distributing a piece of chocolate among the team members, and the transport truck was rumbling on the snow field.

Zhou Qian said: "Captain, tell me, will we win?"

I looked back at her, but saw the eyes of other team members in the car.Scar sat against the wall, wrapped in a blanket.We looked at each other and I knew he looked the same as me.

I once asked Yang Zhao this question, and Scar was there at that time.We got a distress call and pulled a runaway kid from a crevice in the ice.After returning him safely to the dungeon, the three of us walked through the crowded and noisy marketplace.I asked that question.

"Yes," Team Yang replied firmly, "Xiao Lei, we must trust the coalition government. We will win, even if we cannot see it."

"Yes," I replied Zhou Qian, "we will win, even if our generation can't see it."

She smiled as if she had been affirmed.I suddenly remembered a text I learned in junior high school, the author was a famous writer.

He wrote: No matter how long the night is, the day will come.

Hope, it's the best stuff.

I once saw an article written by a colleague.There he said: We have been chasing hope, although for a long time it has brought us nothing but endless pain and death.

Zhou Qian said: "Captain, you are much more serious now than when I first joined the team."

I know some people call our creed 'utilitarianism'.In fact, after many years in the military, everyone is somewhat utilitarian - we are coalition soldiers, we live for hope and to bring hope.Anyone can be sacrificed and anything can be backed off in order to get the job done.You believe in what you believe in, you believe in hope.

Believe in something that is actually illusory.

The photo of Xiao Zhao and Xiao Rou is now lying in my wallet, sometimes when I am tired, I will take out the photos and look at them again.The two people I love the most in this world have turned into urns on the bedside table.One of them died in the earthquake at the breeding center, and the other was buried in the planetary engine during repairs.

People say: Faith has power.Sometimes I doubt it, but almost all the time I rely on it to give myself a shot.I cling to an ideal that I don't know where the future will go, and at the same time water it with my own life.I'm more of a see-off than a soldier.Since I was a child, I have been seeing people off: father, mother, Dui Yang, Xiao Rou, Zhao Zhao... Maybe one day, the person being seen off will become myself.

The psychologist assigned by the government said: You are just worn out.He waved his hands to explain the word "wear" to me. It means that your mind is not injured or sick, but it has been tense for too long and needs a certain amount of rest.

I thanked him and walked out.

After Zhou Qian fired a dozen shots at Flint, I felt that this wear and tear had reached its peak.The red light on the flint crackled and dimmed, as if my heart and hope were also extinguished.

When the gun was aimed at Zhou Qian's helmet, I saw the little girl tightly closed her eyes with tears streaming down her face.When she joined the team, she is now 28 years old.

"...Captain, no one can die anymore."

I know, Zhou Qian, I know, I know.

——If anyone says that if Wang Lei is killed now, Huoshi can immediately fly to Hangzhou by himself and fly into the engine to let it continue to work. Boom off.

Nobody wants to see someone else die.

"Unit CN171-11, let's all disband."

I give orders with my back to them.

Then a horn was heard.

"There is flint in the car, and it is going to be sent to Sulawesi. We request the assistance of CN171-11 troops." The boy's voice came from the loudspeaker.

His name is Liu Qi, and he just parted ways with us not long ago.

"Wang Lei," he looked at me, "my grandpa's account will be settled with you later!"

The car was still running fast on the snow field.The wind blew large flakes of snow and beat the glass fiercely.The pale blue sky gradually had a faint yellow shadow, like a curtain being unfolded.

The little driver was still driving with a straight face, his shoulders were tight, his hands were on the steering wheel, and his eyes were fixed on the road.

Less than 24 hours later, I always feel that this boy is completely different from the one I saw at first.

"What do you see me doing?"

Suddenly he threw out such a sentence.When I raised my eyes, I met the other party's wolf-like eyes.

"I see you drive well."

I answered without thinking, and the effect was immediate.He immediately turned his head to the side, ignoring this side.I changed my posture and looked at the boy's side face, and found that the corners of his mouth were slightly curved.

That is the transformation that can only be produced by soaking in blood...

At this point in my thoughts, I couldn't help but let out a long breath, and saw my smile on the glass disappear.I remembered the expression on the white-haired old man when he yelled at me, "What about my two children?" The elevator fell from above, and the two lives disappeared in the elevator shaft.

"I promise……"

"What are you talking about?" Liu Qi turned to me when he heard the voice.

"Nothing." I replied.

Mr. Han, please rest assured, I will guarantee the safety of Liu Qi and Han Duoduo.

If there is any danger, I guarantee that they will die after me.

When the slab fell, I had only time to jump forward, and then I saw the girl fell in front of me.

"Dodo! Dodo!" I yelled at her, but the little girl just lay there quietly, her hair falling into the helmet.

All the strength of the whole body is put on the arms and shoulders.Fortunately, my reaction was timely, and fortunately she sat not too far away from me.

——No trauma, just knocked out.

"Liu Qi, I can't go out." I tried my best to prop up my upper body and help him lift the little girl out, "Duoduo is fine, you take her away quickly."

--how about you?

I looked at him and heard what he couldn't ask.

The tears on the boy's face were still dry.His eyes were red, and he bit his lip tightly.

"Run." I ordered softly.

The protective clothing was smashed through, and the wristband was beeping for warning.I can't feel my lower body, and the pain in my back makes my fingers tremble—the spine may be broken, and a few ribs should be broken, and there may be internal bleeding, but at this moment these are nothing to do.

Run, Liu Qi, run.

I heard the sound of the transport truck starting.It kicked up a cloud of dust and shot up the trestle below the engine like an arrow from the string.

There are less than 1 minutes left.

When we were in junior high school, the Chinese teacher once asked us to read the text in unison.

——Looking forward, looking forward, the east wind is coming, and the footsteps of spring are approaching...

The countdown dialed itself quickly.The moment before reaching "0", I seemed to see a steel bar standing ten meters away being squashed like a clay sculpture.

——Everything is like just waking up.Xinxinran opened her eyes.Shan Lang Run has gotten up, the high tide has gotten up, the sun blushed.

Xiao Zhao asked me: "Father, when can we go to the ground?"

Soon baby, when we find a new home...

Dad will definitely take you to the ground and let you see what your favorite trees, flowers, mountains, rivers... all look like.

——The grass secretly drilled out of the soil, tender and green.In the garden, in the field, look around, a large area is full of it.Sitting, lying down, rolling twice, kicking a few balls, running a few times, catching and hiding a few times.The wind is quiet and the grass is soft.

That's the future I imagined.

Liu Qi, run quickly.run.

Hide and survive.

——Look for me.

【End】

The author has something to say:

Note:

1. The words in bold at the end are from Zhu Ziqing's prose "Spring"

2. The world view is jointly built by the film version and the book version of "The Wandering Earth"