Did the world end today?

Chapter 200 The Child Who Learned to Walk

A month passes quickly, and the world changes rapidly.

July's heat fades, September brings the distribution of clothing.

As Antares began to appear in the twilight west, the autumn winds of Nanjing had already been blowing silently through the city for several days.

In the flower and bird market near Dog Ear Alley, in the crowded jewelry workshops, young children sit at small tables doing their homework.

On his brand-new workbook, a reading comprehension question about "how many layers are there in outer space" made him scratch his head. He looked up and saw that Channel 13 was broadcasting a news report on TV.

"Good afternoon, viewers. Today is September 6, 2025. Welcome to the evening news broadcast simultaneously on CCTV News Channel and CCTV-9."

"Let's look at the details."

"The General Administration of Customs released detailed data today showing that imports and exports in August totaled 4.68 trillion yuan, an increase of 25.7%."

The Chinese Academy of Sciences announced the latest achievements in the field of quantum computing, with the new generation quantum computer "Jiuzhang-2" successfully solving the "1+1" general problem for the first time.

"Good news came from the Southwestern Institute of Physics of the China National Nuclear Corporation: the Tokamak 3 nuclear fusion device has officially entered the shutdown and upgrade phase. At the same time, my country's compact fusion energy experimental device has started its first fusion power generation experiment, opening a new chapter in the progress of my country's nuclear fusion technology."

"The Star Travel-1 cargo and manned dual-purpose spacecraft, jointly developed and manufactured by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and Tianqiong Technology, has completed pre-launch inspections and will be officially launched in the early hours of today."

"This type of spacecraft is my country's first and the world's first ultra-large, long-range, reusable manned and cargo dual-purpose spacecraft."

"During this launch, the StarTravel-1 spacecraft will undertake a key mission, providing strong support for the Lunar Surge and Chang'e lunar missions."

Tata couldn't understand much of what was being said in the news, but compared to the tedious reading comprehension questions, the news was clearly more appealing.

He was lost in thought for a moment, and his father gently slapped the back of his neck and said:

"Tata, if you're not going to do your homework, go deliver a package for me!"

"Here, take this pendant to the delivery point for the rider."

"Be careful not to drop it and break it. Make sure they pack it properly before delivering it!"

The child named Tata pushed aside the table, took the small pendant from his father's hand, and ran quickly outside.

Compared to his tedious homework, he found this kind of errand-running work much more interesting.

He darted through the narrow path like a fish.

The aroma of barbecue wafted from the stall, and the sign read "Beef heavily discounted, only 30 yuan for 30 skewers." He was thinking that when he came back, his dad would take him to eat skewers. He was so distracted that he accidentally bumped into a customer who was buying flowers in front of him.

The customer lowered his head and said "Be careful," then continued to haggle with the shop owner.

They were going to buy a large number of flower baskets to send to the newly opened metal factory.

Tata heard the shop owner say, "You metal business people are so successful now, you have so many new materials, you don't need to skimp on my money, don't try to bargain me down."

The customer insisted on a 10% discount, saying that the price of greenhouse flowers in Kunming had plummeted, which must have reduced the shop owner's costs as well.

The two shrewd men chattered on and on, but Tata couldn't be bothered to look at them any longer. She walked past them and ran toward the shipping station at the market entrance.

A crowd of college students, who looked like recent graduates who had just arrived in Nanjing to study at Nanjing University, gathered in front of the stall selling turtles and fighting fish.

They talked about their majors, and how they didn't know why, despite being an unpopular major in previous years, astrophysics was now so difficult to get into.

A middle-aged woman wearing glasses said she was glad she got in, and that she wanted to buy a turtle to celebrate.

she says:

"I hope my career prospects will be as long as this tortoise's."

The companion next to him chuckled twice.

"I hope it's not just about career prospects, I hope we can all live as long as tortoises."

Tata rolled her eyes.

He thought to himself, "These people don't even know how to make a wish."

Most of the red-eared sliders sold in the market have some kind of problem; they're lucky if they live for two or three years.

The longest they live is only one or two decades.

They are not the kind of sea turtles that can live for hundreds of years.

Who would want to live only twenty years?

Tata squeezed past them, the outer packaging of the pendant he was holding slightly damp with sweat. He quickly opened his hand and wiped it with his clothes.

It was then that he noticed the pendant inside the transparent packaging was a tiny baby figure.

It's probably someone's newborn child; the pure gold embellishments also bear the initials of someone's name.

“RL”.

Is your surname Ren?

do not know.

Anyway, this was the only surname he could guess.

Tata continued onward, and the shipping station was not far away.

"Give this to me!"

He skillfully placed the pendant on the table, and after the shop owner inspected it and took a picture, he casually asked:
"Will you wrap it yourself or should I help you?"

"I'll wrap it myself!"

After receiving his reply, the boss turned around and continued chatting with the delivery rider who was sitting and resting at the store entrance, smoking.

"I heard that your electric car batteries can now travel 500 kilometers, is that true?"

"It's fake, where did that 500 kilometers come from?"

The rider exhaled a smoke ring.

"The technologies reported in the news are all new, and it's uncertain when we'll be able to use them."

"But batteries have indeed become cheaper recently, and nobody steals them if you leave them on the ground."

The boss asked in surprise:

"Was someone stealing it before?"

The rider rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, boss? This is your first time opening a courier station? You don't even know this?"

“In the past, if we left our cars outside overnight, the batteries might die.”

"what about now?"

The boss kept pressing for answers.

"Now? I heard the recycling centers aren't accepting them anymore; the technology needs an upgrade."

Their conversation went unnoticed by Tata, who carefully wrapped the pendant in bubble wrap and put it in the cardboard box.

"address?"

The boss asked:

Do you remember the address?

"Remember!"

Tata took out the note his father had given him from another pocket and filled in the address stroke by stroke.

"Sky Dome Technology?"

The boss clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"That place is no ordinary place; I heard it's under control now."

"Control?"

The rider took the package and asked curiously:
Wasn't that an industrial park before?

"Yes, but not anymore—aren't we about to launch a rocket?"

"They used to send them out too!"

The rider hopped on the electric bike and stuffed the package into the cargo box.

"Be careful, this is very expensive! It's insured!"

Tata gave him some instructions, and the rider replied "I know," then turned on the throttle and sped away.

The electric car weaved through the streets and alleys, heading towards the science park nearly 40 kilometers away.

The city lights receded into the distance, and a slightly chilly autumn breeze brushed against the rider's face.

He actually didn't quite understand.

40 kilometers.

Calling a delivery service is really a bit expensive.

Why not use a courier service?
-
Wait a minute, if he uses express delivery, where am I going to earn this hundred-plus yuan?
Okay, let's not use express delivery, let's call it errand running!

The rider looked at the navigation with a happy smile.

I can rest after finishing this order today.

The order fee is 120, but I can still make a net profit of 95 yuan. My wife watched The Longest Day in Chang'an yesterday and said she wanted to eat fire crystal persimmons.

But this thing is still quite expensive since it just came out, so I didn't buy it when I went back at noon today.

When we go back later, I can bring her two pounds of it.

The further away from the city center you are, the sparser the surrounding lights become.

The stars in the sky were still obscured by the city's light sources and were not clearly visible.

But a few of them were exceptionally bright; those were artificial satellites.

The rider remembered seeing on the news that many countries had been launching satellites in the past month or so.

Is it supposed to be an outpost of some "Moon Surge Project"?

He didn't know exactly what the Moon Surge Project was, only remembering a few vague terms.

Gravity, high-energy particles, space particle collision experiments, and so on.

These words are too far removed from him.

He only remembered one thing.

When the Moonsurge Project is implemented, there may be aurora borealis in the sky.

It can be seen clearly in any region of the Earth at night.

aurora.

This word is actually quite distant from him.

Whenever he thinks of this word, he thinks of Iceland, the Arctic Circle, and so on.

Then, whenever I think of Iceland, I think of those female live streamers I added when I was young and naive; their profiles were all set in Iceland.

Wow, thinking about it, several years have passed.

I'm going to be a father myself, it's time to settle down.

In the distance, the lights of the industrial zone are already faintly visible.

Electric vehicles are not allowed on elevated roads, but he took a gamble.

Indeed, we didn't encounter any traffic police.

The view from the elevated bridge is even better.

He saw the spaceship called "Star Traveler One" in the industrial area.

Wow, it's huge!

Under the searchlights, it looked like a mech from Pacific Rim.

How magnificent!

He was a little distracted, but he held the handlebars firmly.

It was only then that he realized he wasn't the only one recklessly violating traffic rules on the overpass that day.

Many people leaned on the railings of the overpass, gazing at the spacecraft on the other side of the launch site.

Ok?
Is it going to launch today?

Aren't they afraid of being arrested?

No way! You're making such a big fuss about it, it could really get me into trouble!

A sense of foreboding crept into the rider's mind, and sure enough, before he even got off the overpass, he saw traffic police blocking the road in the distance.

It’s over.

Today was a wasted day.

Bad luck!

The rider slowed down, and the traffic policeman who had blocked the way frowned as he stepped forward and said:
"Don't you know how dangerous it is to drive your electric motorcycle on the elevated road? Don't do it next time!"

Huh? Next time?

"You're not going to punish me this time?"

The traffic policeman waved his hand.

"Do you think I can punish them all? The bridge is full of onlookers!"

"We'll be closing the road soon. This place has a good view, so we've temporarily turned it into a viewing platform."

"what?"

The rider was shocked.

"Road closure? That's serious?"

"any idea?"

The traffic police officer sighed helplessly.

"This is the first time in a thousand years that such a large-scale rocket launch has been seen in our city of Jinling. Who wouldn't want to come and watch the spectacle?"

"Go ahead and look. If you're free, come set up a stall here tonight and sell Mixue Ice Cream. You're guaranteed to make money." "Really?"

The rider became interested.

"Go, go, go do your work, forget I said anything!"

The traffic policeman coughed and cleared the way. The rider smiled sheepishly, turned on the throttle, and continued on his way.

After exiting the elevated road, the lights became even sparser and dimmer.

Have we entered the village?
Ok?
No, I'm home.

The rider thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile, wondering when he would finally be able to move into a real city, or at least rent a place.

However, I've heard that superconducting materials and nuclear fusion technology are going to be used, which will probably cause housing prices to plummet.

But what's the connection between these two?

He couldn't understand it, and could only secretly pray that what the experts said was true.

The navigation showed that he was getting closer and closer to his destination.

He was then shocked to find that although he was still in the “residential area”, there were armed security personnel in front of him.

He hesitated, wondering whether to continue.

But the navigation clearly showed that I was only 30 meters away from my destination.

He and the sentry looked at each other from a distance, and the sentry picked up the walkie-talkie to report.

He almost turned and ran, but then he was afraid that if he ran, he might get arrested.

The situation reached a stalemate for a time.

Fortunately, not long after, a man wearing a Zhongshan suit came out.

"Hey! Bro!"

"come over!"

It should be fine, right?
The rider turned the throttle and drove up in front of the man.

"Is this a delivery? Is it for Super Pig No. 1?"

The rider quickly checked the order.

"Yes! That's right, it's the super giant pig."

"That's right."

The man reached out his hand.

"give it to me."

"what?"

The rider hesitated for a moment.

"I need the recipient's signature for this package."

The man was both amused and exasperated.

"Brother, she's a staff member there. How could she possibly have time right now? Didn't you see the nickname the recipient used?"

"Give it to me, I'll take it in for you."

"Thank you then."

The rider's hands were shaking.

The man seemed to notice his nervousness and offered words of comfort:

"Don't panic, comrade, don't panic."

"This is just a temporary control measure; it's no different from you delivering something to the police station."

"If you had said that earlier, I wouldn't have been afraid."

He quickly handed over the items.

After making the record, the rider turned around and drove back.

The starry sky here is much clearer than the starry sky in Nanjing.

But for some reason, when he looked up, he always felt that the stars were lonely.

Behind him, the man who had picked up the goods turned and walked into the controlled area.

He made a few phone calls to confirm the recipient, and then sent the package to security for inspection.

The small pendant was exposed to X-rays and then carefully examined by gloved staff.

The two discussed whether to spray disinfectant, but ultimately felt that the residue from this structure was too large, and that physical disinfection was safer.

With repeated exposure to ultraviolet light, the interior was filled with inert gas, and several hours passed quickly.

The staff went back into the disinfection room and repackaged the pendant.

It was then moved into a spacious, bright, and rather cozy room.

"Comrade Liu Xiaoxiao! Your things have arrived!"

The young woman holding the child immediately stood up, took the pendant from the staff member, and waved it above the sleeping child's head, as if casting a spell.

The staff member whispered a reminder:
"We'll arrange for the family members to have a meal with the astronaut in two hours. You can hand over the items to him then. Our testing work here is already finished."

"But you have to disinfect it again before boarding the ship—basically, you give it to him personally, to create a sense of ritual."

"thanks, thanks!"

Liu Xiaoxiao nodded repeatedly.

The staff member waved his hand.

"No need to thank us, we thank you, the country thanks you."

The pendant was placed in the baby's arms, where it absorbed his body heat.

Two hours later, the baby, less than three months old, woke up hungry from his sleep. His tears, which soaked the pendant, were handed to a man's rough hands.

He rubbed the engraved letters on the pendant and hung it around his neck.

The dinner table was filled with laughter and cheerful conversation; everyone seemed to be having a good time.

This isn't the first time a manned space mission has been carried out. There were still several people flying around the space station a few days ago, and they just returned yesterday.

This mission probably won't be too dangerous, right?

How long are you going to be gone?

Liu Xiaoxiao asked in a low voice.

The man held her hand and replied:

"If all goes well, we'll also spend a few months at the space station after we complete our mission."

"If things don't go well, I might be back soon."

soon?

Liu Xiaoxiao's eyes flickered slightly.

"Then come back slowly."

She sighed softly.

"By the time you come back, the children will have all grown up."

"Whether I go or not, the children will grow up."

He gently squeezed his wife's hand.

"Ren Zhen, you must come back."

Liu Xiaoxiao solemnly instructed.

"rest assured."

The man named Ren Zhen answered just as solemnly.

The pendant hanging on his chest, which was originally cool, has now become warmed by his body heat.

Swaying slightly, the pendant followed him through his meal and returned to the isolation pod.

This is the final preparation.

Four hours later, he appeared on television.

By the way, can my three-month-old son understand television?
Ren Zhen was a little surprised. Shouldn't she be nervous at a time like this?
But actually, right now my mind is full of somewhat "funny" thoughts.

For example, if Project Moonsurge succeeds, will the world become bizarre and fantastical?

For example, if it fails and time and space are disrupted, when you come back from space, you won't have to call your son "Dad," will you?

This absurd idea made him laugh out loud.

He heard a photographer nearby shout in surprise:
"That smile!"

"It seems our astronauts are very confident about this mission!"

confidence?

It wouldn't be fair to say I was completely confident.

Anyway, if things don't work out, I'm prepared to die there.

He didn't know how long the departure ceremony lasted; he seemed to have lost much of his senses.

All he knew was that he eventually sat inside this colossal starship.

"This environment is practically a presidential suite."

An astronaut who was already on his third spaceflight praised the event.

Ren Zhen methodically fastened her seatbelt and completed the lengthy, tedious, but absolutely necessary safety check.

"Report 01: Door sealing check begins."

"Door seal indicator is green, pressure value is normal, over."

"02 Conduct airtightness testing on the spacesuit."

"Main oxygen pressure 25 psi, backup oxygen pressure normal, glove joint flexibility test completed, over."

"The navigation system is stable on all three axes, and the gyroscope calibration is complete."

"The propellant pressure gauge is all green, and the fuel tank is pressurized normally."

"The oxygen concentration in the environmental control and life support system is 21%, and the CO2 absorption device is ready."

Two hours before launch, all astronauts completed their self-checks.

After 30 minutes of testing, the main systems of the launcher were tested, the hatch was closed, and the astronauts entered a state of silence, awaiting the final launch command.

The small pendant was placed in a special box and fixed in front of him.

Ren Zhen's heartbeat calmed down.

An instruction came through the radio.

"Star Traveler One, this is Huang Yuping, the mission commander-in-chief. I am now officially issuing the flight mission order. Target orbit parameters have been injected. I wish you a successful mission!"

He nodded subconsciously.

"Star Traveler One, compliant! Mission accomplished! Crew in good condition, requesting launch!"

"Star Travel One, launch permitted. Best of luck."

A few minutes later.

The ignition countdown began.

"10, 9, 8"

"ignition!"

A torrent of flames erupted.

Ren Zhen opened her eyes wide.

A sentence suddenly flashed through his mind.

If the starry sky doesn't come to humankind.

Then we must head towards the stars.