I live in the Martian wilderness!

Gu Yu opened the pot lid, and a long-lost, rich aroma of wheat, accompanied by a wave of heat, wafted out.

He carefully poured the noodles and golden broth into a dark gray "titanium black composite bowl".

This bowl is made of a single piece of titanium alloy frame and aerospace-grade PEEK (polyetheretherketone) material, making it lightweight, sturdy, and perfectly insulated, making it the most practical tableware on Mars.

Then, with great care, place those few slices of the awakened spicy beef jerky on top.

Red meat, white noodles, golden soup, and bright green dehydrated scallions.

On this red planet, 60 million kilometers away from Earth, Gu Yu prepared his first steaming bowl of beef noodles.

He didn't start eating immediately. Instead, he took the bowl and walked to the control panel. "Xuan, switch the external camera feed to face the Earth."

The holographic screen flickered, and the scene changed.

On the screen is the eternally desolate, lifeless starry sky of Mars.

Without the obstruction of the atmosphere, the stars here are dazzlingly bright and chillingly cold.

In that endless, deep, dark sky, there is a star that is neither red nor white.

It emits a gentle, unique azure light.

That is Earth.

The home of billions of people, a place where hot pot, barbecue, evening breeze, and ocean waves exist.

Just as Gu Yu was staring at the blue star in a daze, a very gentle notification sound suddenly rang out in the cockpit.

"bite--"

A crisp notification sound suddenly rang out.

This sound was unlike any alarm or operation prompt before; it carried a cheerful musical melody, much like a music box.

The lights in the cockpit suddenly changed, gradually transitioning from the original cool white light to a warm yellow light similar to candlelight.

"Captain," Xuanjian's voice rang out, "It's Sol 3 now, 19:33 PM."

"According to the star calendar, Earth is currently in the 'greatest eastern elongation' phase, which is the brightest evening star in the night sky."

「地球北京时间刚好处在2047年10月24日，凌晨00点00分。」

Gu Yu paused for a moment, his chopsticks momentarily still.

"According to your personnel file, today is your 24th birthday."

"Although our time flows differently than Earth's, in that blue world, a new day has just begun, and today is your day."

Xuanjian paused for a moment, then said, "There is an encrypted audio file that is set to be automatically decrypted at this second."

[Playback authorization has been confirmed. Source: Earth - China Astronaut Center - All Staff.]

Gu Yu's pupils suddenly contracted.

The next second, a familiar voice that made his soul tremble echoed in his ears, traversing sixty million kilometers of void.

"Feed? Hey! Gu Yu! Can you hear me? By the time you hear this recording, you'll probably be on Mars already!"

Her voice was clear and bright, full of youthful energy, as if she were standing right behind him.

Suddenly, the background noise in the recording disappeared, and Qin Nuannuan's voice was slightly raised, as if she were gesturing to the entire command hall.

"Gu Yu, listen carefully." Her gentle voice rang out again, "This is what all the ground staff want to say to you—"

The next second, a grand, unified, and powerful chorus resounded across sixty million kilometers of space, booming loudly inside the cramped Martian cockpit!

Happy Birthday, Captain Gu Yu!!!

"I wish you success in completing Project Spark!!!"

That's Qin Nuannuan, that's Director Li, that's Chief Engineer Zhang, the dispatcher in the control center, the engineer in charge of communications...

Those were the shouts of people who had stayed up all night for hundreds of days and nights, giving it their all.

"Sizzle—"

Qin Nuannuan's voice became mysterious: "Hehe, they're all busy now. I have good news for you! My 'Special Care Plan' has been approved!"

"I wrote a ten-thousand-word application report just to get that thing onto Tissot's payload list!"

"It's in the bottom level of the cargo hold of the Tiansuo II, in that spare sealed container numbered 'QN-1024'!"

"Go open your presents! They're... they're a birthday surprise all of us prepared for you! Make sure you're dressed warmly before you go, it's cold outside!"

Finally, happy birthday again...

"Sizzle—"

The recording abruptly ended amidst laughter.

Silence returned to the cockpit, but the deathly loneliness had been completely shattered by those few dozen seconds of sound.

Gu Yu stood there, staring blankly at the audio waveform on the holographic screen that had already finished playing. He couldn't help but smile wildly, but his eyes were burning.

He glanced down at the fragrant bowl of beef noodles in his hand and took a deep breath.

Since it's longevity noodles, there's no reason for any leftovers.

He picked up a mouthful of noodles with his chopsticks and popped it into his mouth.

"Slurp—"

The moment the noodles touch your tongue, you experience a long-lost smoothness and chewiness, followed by a few slices of beef, where the Sichuan peppercorns and capsaicin explode on your tongue!

This scent instantly dispelled the fatigue and chill of the entire day, causing him to pause slightly.

This tastes almost exactly the same as the braised beef noodles in the No. 2 canteen.

This was also Qin Nuannuan's most frequent lunch choice... Every time, she would pick out the vegetables from her bowl and give them to him, then smugly snatch the biggest piece of beef from his bowl.

Gu Yu muttered to himself, "...I wonder if my friends on Earth... will think I'm dead?"

He ate very seriously and devoutly.

Finally, he raised the dark gray titanium bowl, tilted his head back, and drank the rich bone broth in one gulp.

A surge of scalding heat slid down his esophagus into his stomach, making him feel warm all over, as if he had been embraced from a distance by a group of people 60 million kilometers away.

"call……"

Gu Yu put down the clean bowl and let out a satisfied sigh.

Then, he fell into deep thought, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

Although my stomach was full, my heart was warm.

But the heart that longs for Earth is also beginning to warm...

We've been out of contact with Earth for three days.

Three days is enough to turn a grand celebration into a mournful remembrance.

A long silence fell over the shelter, with only the faint hum of the air circulation system adding to the boundless solitude.

Gu Yu finally raised his head, his gaze sharpening again as he stared directly at the central sensor on the control panel, as if he were talking to a living person.

"And what exactly is this surprise codenamed QN-1024?"

"Was it really worth Qin Nuannuan writing a 10,000-word report and mobilizing the entire department's resources to cram it into such an extremely valuable payload?"

"Xuan, is there any way to contact Earth? Any way."

We are currently searching for all possible communication solutions for you based on existing resources and environmental conditions.

Xuanjian responded immediately with a clear voice, which gave people a feeling of absolute reliability.

A few seconds later, several streams of data were projected onto the screen in front of Gu Yu.

Option 1: High-gain directional antenna array

Principle: Using the shell of the P&W module as a base, disassemble the communication antenna and other metal structures on the Zhulong-1 wreckage to build a large parabolic antenna with a diameter of no less than 20 meters.

Theoretically, by transmitting high-power signals using the nuclear power source of the Tiansuo, it is possible to directly send an extremely weak narrowband signal, which could be captured by the Deep Space Network (DSN), towards Earth.

Estimated success rate: 1.7%

The project is massive: it is estimated that it will take more than 200 Martian days to complete the hoisting and assembly of such a large-scale precision structure with only one person and one TianSuo engineering vehicle.

Material shortage: The available materials on the Zhulong-1 wreckage may not be enough to build an antenna with the required precision and size.

The positioning challenge: Without an Earth beacon, aiming a signal beam with an accuracy of a few tenths of a degree at a constantly moving planet 60 million kilometers away is like trying to puncture a balloon with a flying needle from 100 meters away while blindfolded.