After dinner, Yu Tu accompanied his parents for a walk outside, constantly being asked by acquaintances along the way, "Your son is back?" That's how small cities are—neighbors know each other well, with little sense of distance.
After strolling around the nearby small park twice, Yu's father was called over by his card-playing friends. He glanced at his wife and son, about to refuse, but Yu's mother said, "Go ahead."
Yu's father happily went off. A few hours with his son were enough—the allure of playing cards was just greater.
Yu's mother shook her head with a smile. The two walked a bit longer before she suddenly asked, "Do you have something on your mind?"
Yu Tu wasn't surprised by her question. He had been noticeably distracted that afternoon, and his mother had always been perceptive. After a moment of silence, he said, "Before I came home last time, I submitted my resignation at work."
A flicker of surprise passed through Yu's mother's eyes, and she sighed after a while. "Mom has always felt that you're most like your uncle. When you were little, you admired him so much, often bragging to your friends, 'My uncle launches rockets.'"
"Among our siblings, your uncle was the smartest, but he also had the hardest life. He worked year-round in the remote northwest, barely able to take care of his family. Once, your grandfather fell seriously ill and almost didn't make it. We tried everything to contact him, but communication was nowhere near as developed as it is now. When your grandfather finally pulled through and we managed to reach him, we asked him to come back. But he hesitated for a long time and said he couldn't—since Dad was better, he'd wait until his mission was over. The task was too critical for him to leave."
"It was another month before he returned to see your grandfather. All his siblings were angry and gave him the cold shoulder. At the time, an aunt came to visit and scolded him for being unfilial. Your uncle just took the scolding without saying a word. You were still young then, but you suddenly asked her, 'Aunt, did my cousin go to work in America?'"
"Your aunt loved talking about that and immediately said yes, telling you to study hard so you could work abroad someday. But then you said, 'Then how come you never say my cousin is unfilial for working in America for years without coming back?'"
At this point, Yu's mother couldn't help but laugh.
Yu Tu also smiled. He remembered this incident and the awkward atmosphere that followed his question. But after that, everyone's attitude toward his uncle returned to normal.
Sometimes, it's not that family members don't understand—it's just that closeness often leads to harsh judgments.
Yu's mother said, "At that moment, I thought, 'That's right. People who go abroad and can't be with their parents are admired and praised, but someone like your uncle, who dedicates himself year after year in the remote northwest, is called unfilial and not worth it... What kind of logic is that?' We adults couldn't see it as clearly as a ten-year-old child."
Yu Tu joked, "I've been clever since I was little."
Yu's mother playfully swatted him.
"Many truths are easy to understand, but when it comes to ourselves, we still make mistakes. The thing I regret most is pushing you to major in finance during your college entrance exams. Back then, I thought, with such high scores, of course my son should apply for the most popular major with the highest requirements—otherwise, wouldn't those high scores go to waste? It wasn't until later, when I found out you were secretly studying two majors, that I regretted it. You wasted so much effort for nothing.""As I've gotten older these past few years, I've come to see things more clearly. Like they say in TV dramas, the most important thing is to be happy. If you love money, go make money. If money isn't that important to you, do what interests you. I know you can't bear to leave this profession yourself. Are you thinking of resigning because of that time I was sick?"
She stopped Yu Tu from answering. "You're definitely overthinking this. I don't know what made you change your mind and return, but I want to tell you—don't keep thinking about what you need to do for us. Just focus on taking care of yourself. We're not that old yet. If you still feel like you haven't done enough, just think about the son of your dad's colleague."
Yu Tu hesitated. "...You mean the one who lost several hundred thousand?"
Yu's mother actually nodded. "Yes."
Yu Tu: "Mom..."
Seeing the helpless look on his face, Yu's mother laughed again. "Okay, I was wrong—that's a bit extreme. But you understand what I mean. You're already good enough. Other people are incredibly envious of me and your dad. Don't always feel like you have to be the best."
It seemed like not long ago, someone had said something similar to him.
It took Yu Tu a long time before he finally responded with a quiet "Mm."
After chatting briefly with two acquaintances they passed by, Yu's mother suddenly said, "You should start thinking about your own future marriage. I keep getting asked why my son isn't married yet."
Yu Tu was taken aback—his parents rarely brought up marriage.
"Don't set your standards too high. She doesn't need to be particularly beautiful, but it'd be best if she can take care of people." Typical mother-in-law criteria.
Yu Tu remained silent as they walked. His mother, assuming he hadn't given it much thought, didn't press further. However, just as they reached their doorstep, Yu Tu suddenly called out, "Mom."
She looked at him.
Yu Tu said, "I think I prefer the opposite."
Yu Tu almost felt like he was making a escape. He hadn't expected his mother, who had always seemed unhurried about his marriage, to suddenly burst with such enthusiasm over his single comment, interrogating him endlessly.
But what could he say now?
After spending one night at home, Yu Tu flew directly from the nearest airport to Dunhuang. There, he met up with some members of the Experiment team and traveled by car to the Experiment site in the desert.
In the remote desert, far from civilization, the pace of life slowed down. Yu Tu immersed himself in his work every day—both fully engaged and somewhat detached.
A few days before the mission ended, Yu Tu received a phone call from Guan Zai, who was thousands of miles away.
"Everything going smoothly over there?"
"Yeah, we finished a few days ahead of schedule. We'll do the second round in a few months."
Guan Zai made an acknowledging sound. "No wonder Director Sun had time to complain to me."
The Director Sun he mentioned was the overall lead for this experiment. Yu Tu frowned slightly. "Is there a problem?"
Guan Zai sighed. "You don't know this, but our Director Sun is quite the character—serious yet lively. He manages everything big and small at work, and he even worries about the personal lives of the younger staff. Originally, he wanted to set up one of the young men from our institute with a girl from Tianjin—pretty convenient since Beijing and Tianjin are close, right? But apparently, you've been acting all melancholic and profound every day, often gazing at the stars alone instead of joining group activities after work. You've charmed a bunch of inexperienced young women, completely dashing the hopes of other bachelors."Guan Zai finished his tirade in one breath and criticized, "Old Yu, you never used to have this pretentious habit before."
Yu Tu: "...I won five days straight at the beginning, and they revoked my card playing eligibility."
"Talking like that makes you even more pretentious. Restrain yourself. Being handsome and still acting like this—are you leaving any room for others to breathe?" Guan Zai said seriously. "The purpose of my call is to warn you..."
"You must continue being this pretentious, hahaha!" He burst into laughter on the other end of the line. "Don't give the guys from other institutes even a glimmer of hope. I'll crown you the Pride of our institute!"
Yu Tu: "...Is your wife next to you? Pass the phone to her."
Yu Tu directly expressed his unwillingness to continue the conversation.
Shen Jing took the phone.
Yu Tu immediately inquired about Guan Zai's condition. Shen Jing's voice sounded much more relaxed than before, and without avoiding Guan Zai, she shared the treatment progress, saying it was much better than expected.
"What do you know, asking so many questions?" Guan Zai snatched the phone back. "Director Sun called to ask if you have a girlfriend. How should I respond?"
He chuckled. "Should I tell him you like your high school classmate Qiao Jingjing?"
Yu Tu was taken aback, then quickly realized that Guan Zai had probably seen the video circulating in their unit's WeChat group. Some time ago, the video of him participating in the KPL competition had finally made its way to their institute's work group, attracting much attention. Guan Zai, being clever, must have connected it to what Yu Tu had said in Xi'an.
"Weren't you boasting about how she liked you? Watching the video, I think the girl really does have feelings for you. So why are you still single?"
Yu Tu smiled wryly and sat down on the sandy ground, phone in hand. "I've always wondered, what can I offer her? It's not just about having no money—I might not even be able to accompany her often."
She's delicate, loves to act spoiled, needs to be coaxed, and lives every moment with refinement and comfort.
He had been full of joy. But one day, he looked down and realized how rough his palms were—too rough to reach out and hold such a pearl.
There was a long silence on Guan Zai's end. Yu Tu didn't speak either, just kept the line open. After a while, Guan Zai said, "Yu Tu, your sister-in-law says that's not how you should calculate it."
Then he scolded, "Are you an idiot?"
For the first time in his life being cursed at like that, Yu Tu actually laughed. He looked up at the purer stars overhead and sincerely admitted, "You're right."
When he returned to Shanghai, there were still about ten days left before the Spring Festival. Yu Tu went to see Guan Zai first and was mocked by him for a long time.
After a few days back at work, while eating in the cafeteria one day, Da Meng suddenly said, "Who did you pick up that new catchphrase from during your business trip?"
Yu Tu was startled. "What?"
"Haven't you noticed? You keep saying 'Let's all put in a little more effort.'" Da Meng complained. "It's the same catchphrase my high school homeroom teacher had. Just hearing it gives me chills."
After saying this, he went back to eating, but Yu Tu sat there frozen with his chopsticks for a long time. When he finally looked down to pick up some food, there was a smile in his eyes.
Yu Tu's routine life gained a new daily activity—writing letters.
Every late night when he returned home, no matter how late, before going to bed, he would unfold a piece of stationery and write a letter.The first letter was about the first cosmic velocity—a relatively simple topic, yet it involved principles and formulas not commonly understood. Yu Tu did his best to explain it clearly in simple terms.
The second letter compared China's aerospace technology level with that of other countries.
Under the lamplight, on pristine letter paper, Yu Tu wrote methodically—
This question is too broad; I might need many letters to answer it fully. In this one, let's start with the history of modern space exploration...
He finished the letter before bed and dropped it into the mailbox at his workplace entrance the next day. By the time the Spring Festival holiday began, he had sent out ten letters in total.
As he dropped the final pre-holiday letter into the mailbox, Yu Tu thought, if nothing came up during the Spring Festival break...
Then upon returning, he'd have to start discussing Mars colonization.
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