Deep Space Wandering Fleet-Chapter 49 - Goodbye, Hometown.

Chapter 49: Chapter 49 Goodbye, Hometown.

The next morning, at four o’clock,

Zhang Yuan woke up from his sleep, having surprisingly slept quite well last night.

He couldn’t quite figure out whether he had experienced a time of joy or a time of pain.

He stroked the girl’s smooth hair, ready to leave.

This feeling was strange, not very comfortable.

After getting dressed, Zhang Yuan wrote a line on a note by the bedside table, “I’ve left, goodbye.”

...

“Wishing you a happy life, may you live to two hundred years old.”

He turned to take one last look at the girl still deep in sleep, then turned and left the room.

In fact, Han Ziyue had woken up a while ago, she just buried her head in the pillow, secretly crying, unable to stop at all.

Some things are known all along, yet when they truly happen, they are still hard to bear.

Is it the feeling of a moth darting into the flame?

Irresistibly drawn to it, burning oneself to ashes…

It was still early, the sun had not yet risen from the east, and the streets were empty.

Interestingly, there was a yellow-furred puppy that kept following behind Zhang Yuan, matching his pace. Judging from its fur and body shape, it was likely a stray dog, quite thin and not living well.

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Zhang Yuan thought for a moment, bought two sausages from a nearby vending machine, and fed the pitiful little dog.

To his surprise, after eating, the dog trotted along and continued to follow Zhang Yuan, seemingly knowing which people were good to it and which were not.

It took 20 minutes for Zhang Yuan to return to his dormitory, he picked up all his luggage and earnestly cleaned the room he had lived in for 19 days.

Many stories had happened here, hard to forget, it was his last time on Earth.

The little dog just lay at the door, watching.

Zhang Yuan said with a smile, “I’ll help you take a quick bath. If your fur gets cleaned up, even if you’re caught by the city management, you might not get killed. You might look good enough for some beautiful woman to take in. The girls here are all very compassionate…”

The puppy was very obedient, its tail wagging non-stop during the bath.

Zhang Yuan figured that the dog had probably been abandoned here; otherwise, it wouldn’t be so well-behaved.

After that, once bathed, Zhang Yuan couldn’t do much more to help it.

He closed the dormitory door, picked up all his bags ready to leave, and the dog continued to follow.

He offered the last of the sausages to it, but it wouldn’t eat, just quietly following along.

Finally, he was about to leave the school gate.

Zhang Yuan said, “Running into the city will be more dangerous for you, it’s better to stay at the school. Here you can find food, and you won’t get killed.”

The persuasion was ineffective.

Zhang Yuan squatted down, picked up a stone as if to throw it at the dog.

The dog finally stopped. It just crouched on the ground, looking stupefied, its simple brain unable to comprehend how the person who was feeding it a moment ago could be about to hit it the next.

Zhang Yuan turned back, a slight apology in his heart – maybe the dog had once put its hopes on him, but it was impossible. The things that cannot be promised, simply cannot be.

Whether it’s human life or the life of a dog, this is the way it is, you must get used to disappointment, loneliness, exile, wandering, abandonment.

This is a human’s lifetime.

Watching it walk back into the campus, Zhang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and sent a text message: “Li Zhendong, are you up? Where do you live?”

“I’m at the canteen having breakfast. You think I’m like you, randomly hooking up? Enjoying your last night on Earth too much with such a beautiful girl… Wow!” Li Zhendong rattled off a long speech.

“Bring me two buns.”

When the two met, Li Zhendong’s face was full of gossip.

“How does it feel? Pretty exhilarating, huh!”

“Not like you say it is, let’s go!” Zhang Yuan was in a bad mood and couldn’t be bothered to say more.

Dragging his suitcase, he came to the check-in point and passed through one security checkpoint after another.

The security checks for the Space Elevator were very strict, somewhat similar to those for planes in the past—liquids, flammables, explosives, and sharp objects were not allowed. Additionally, there were several medical exams, and those with certain severe contagious diseases were not allowed on spaceships.

After passing the medical examination, the staff quickly arranged their batch for the Space Elevator.

[Identity number 330841244… Zhang Yuan, your seat is 17-3-D, Elevator batch 2264-8-3-1246…]

Zhang Yuan turned and asked, “Didn’t any family members come to see you off?”

Li Zhendong smiled cheerfully, “No… my mom would cry again if she saw me off. Better not to let her come.”

“That’s true.”

His phone had already received many messages.

“Zhang Yuan, have a safe journey!”

“Let’s meet again on the spaceship!”

“Wishing you all the best!”

Zhang Yuan received condolences from various friends and relatives, only Han Ziyue’s was missing. Perhaps she was still sleeping; or maybe, as she said last night, there really wasn’t a future anyway, so there was no need for further contact—let last night become the deepest memory.

“Ding-dong—Passengers of batch 1246G, please note that your Space Elevator is about to launch…”

Time ticked away by the second, and he dared not dawdle, joining the queue.

All the astronauts were very quiet. Li Zhendong behind him hung his head low, apparently lost in thoughts.

Zhang Yuan looked up at the boundless sky, which was grey and showing a glimmer of light.

“…The Space Elevator is 36,000 kilometers long, more than 4,000 times the height of Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak… The main material is Carbon Nanotube, with a tensile strength of 62,000 MPa, which, under Earth’s gravity, can withstand a breaking length of 46,000 kilometers, perfectly meeting the demands of the Space Elevator…”

“…Humankind is insignificant, yet humankind is also great, technology changes the world, and science and technology create the future!”

The documentary on the big screen was playing in a loop, entertaining the crowd in the queue.

In stark contrast was the queue of tourists about to travel into space. Men and women screamed and cheered. For them, this was a very memorable and proud journey in their lives. The tourists chatted and discussed noisily, praising this greatest architectural feat in human history.

“…We will ultimately usher in an unprecedented—Interstellar era.”

Zhang Yuan had watched this documentary countless times, practically memorizing all the lines.

Yet, he watched it from beginning to end with full attention once more, probably for the last time in his life.

So many memories, every detail filled with reminiscence.

This was Mother Earth, forever the Mother Star.

“Beep”—he passed through the gate.

“Bon voyage.”

The electronic voice was still that cold tone, not so pleasant to the ear.

When he reached that corner, Zhang Yuan couldn’t help but wipe his eyes with his sleeve.

Then, he wiped them a second time with his sleeve.

This motion was identical to what Ye Kaifu had done before.

A tear welled up from his eyes and fell to the ground, tracing a path down his cheek.

With this step forward, they would no longer belong to Earth.

Farewell,

my homeland.