You promised to build cars, so why did you go into the military industry?

Chapter 88 A Gift from Heaven

In 2015, space was no longer as mysterious as it had been in the last century.

With the widespread use of the internet, new social hot topics are constantly emerging. The attention brought about by the successful construction and commissioning of the space station at the beginning of the year lasted only a little over ten days.

The three astronauts floated quietly in the sky. In the first two months, even though the official "Tiangong Daily Life" vlog was released frequently, it was difficult to attract the attention of the audience.

After all, life in space can seem rather dull and boring to viewers.

Every day is either a new experiment or a repetition of yesterday's experiment.

Due to confidentiality requirements, many experimental details were blurred out.

At first, some people made programs trying to speculate on what experiments were conducted, but these programs were often more about hype than substance, so they didn't get many views.

The frequent release of "Tiangong Daily Life" vlogs also conflicts with the official concept of "making a fortune quietly".

Gradually, the "Tiangong Daily Life" vlog stopped being updated.

Finally, the only updates will be sporadic snippets during extravehicular activity (EVA) operations.

In mid-August, the official launch time and crew composition of Shenzhou-8 were announced.

It was also announced that Shenzhou-9 would return to the Dongfeng Landing Site on September 7.

Immediately, a trending topic appeared at the top of the search rankings: "Oh no! There are still three people on a business trip in the sky!"

Public attention has once again focused on the sky.

On the night of August 30, amidst the intense anticipation of the world, the Shenzhou-8 crew successfully launched into space.

Six and a half hours later, in the early hours of the 31st, Shenzhou-12 successfully docked with the Tiangong-1 aft docking interface in rapid docking mode.

After about half an hour, the six astronauts successfully completed China's first space reunion in the core module of Tiangong-1.

In the following period, the six lived and ate together. With the help of the Shenzhou-11 crew, the three newcomers successfully passed the initial adaptation period.

Time flies. On September 7, after a brief but formal handover ceremony of the space station keys, the Shenzhou-9 crew entered their spacecraft and began to prepare their attire.

After putting on their intravehicular activity suits and securing themselves firmly to their seats, the three waved goodbye to the Shenzhou-12 crew who remained on the space station via camera.

After all checks were completed and everything was ready, the spacecraft and the Tiangong space station combination successfully separated.

At the spacecraft's current speed, it would take 90 minutes to orbit the Earth.

To verify the rapid return mode, Shenzhou-11 began its orbital maneuver after orbiting the Earth more than five times. As the orbital module and the return capsule separated, Shenzhou-11 was ready to re-enter the atmosphere.

Fifteen minutes later, the return capsule entered the blackout zone, and communication was lost.

Three minutes later, the return capsule successfully flew out of the blackout zone.

Immediately afterwards, the first thing the spaceflight control center heard was astronaut Kong Lingcheng's exclamation: "Riding in a spacecraft is so exciting!"

Three minutes later, the return capsule's guide parachute, drag parachute, and main parachute deployed in sequence, and the recovery team officially received the third forecast of the return capsule's landing point.

About two minutes later, at an altitude of about 6 kilometers above the ground, the return capsule jettisoned its heat shield.

Nine minutes later, the Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft's return capsule successfully landed, and the return capsule was in a horizontal position.

The return flight took a total of 9 hours and 08 minutes, breaking the domestic record.

The next second, medical monitoring and insurance personnel were already in place nearby, and soon a national flag was raised in front of the return capsule and fluttered in the wind.

About twenty minutes later, the three astronauts, numbered 03, 02, and 01 respectively, exited the cabin one by one with the assistance of rescue personnel and gave interviews.

Seeing the live broadcast of the astronauts' interview, Li Ran was somewhat moved and turned to Lin Yu to ask, "When will the manned spacecraft be designed? I can't wait."

"The new employees still need further training. We will only begin developing a large manned spacecraft based on the parameters of the Joint 2 rocket after its successful launch next year."

Hearing Lin Yu's explanation, Li Ran nodded and watched the live stream quietly, filled with envy.

On September 15, Lin Yu received a gift shipped by air from Kong Lingcheng.

"mine?"

Looking at the package in the soldier's hand, Lin Yu was completely confused, not understanding why Kong Lingcheng was recuperating.

How can you still have the mind to send yourself a gift?

After providing his ID number and undergoing an on-the-spot identity verification, Lin Yu signed the shipping document and successfully received the gift that had traveled over a thousand kilometers.

Back in the top-floor office, I opened the foam insulation box.

In addition to numerous ice packs, they discovered several fresh, unidentified tree seeds inside.

After Lin Yu personally received the package, Kong Lingcheng seemed to have been notified.

Before Lin Yu could even guess, he received a message from Kong Lingcheng.

"The persimmon, jujube, pear, apple and other tree species inside were specially brought back from the Tiangong space station by our Shenzhou-11 crew."

These are seeds that remained viable after undergoing extravehicular exposure experiments. You can find a place to plant them and see; you might be pleasantly surprised.

The message on his phone explained the origin of the seeds and made Lin Yu realize how precious they were.

"Thank you, we will definitely nurture them well."

May you recover soon and return to the Heavenly Palace.

After replying, Lin Yu put away his phone and stared at the seeds in his hand, beginning to think about how to cultivate them.

After thinking it over, he realized that most of his employees came from engineering machinery backgrounds and none of them had planting experience, so they were not capable of shouldering this important task.

After thinking it over, I picked up my phone and called Professor Zhao Feng.

"External exposure? Tree species?"

Zhao Feng was somewhat surprised and envious upon receiving the news. He was also a member of the space biosphere team, so why hadn't he received such a unique gift?

However, considering the tasks I have to accomplish in the next five years, I'm afraid that even if I were given these seeds, I wouldn't have the energy to cultivate these plants.

Perhaps this is the factor?

No, some of Academician Lu's laboratory mice were also on this return list, and they were sent over immediately. Maybe it's because they already had laboratory mice, which is why they didn't have tree seeds?

Dispelling the jumbled thoughts in his mind, Zhao Feng said into the phone, "Manager Lin, I have a major national mission that has been ongoing for many years, and I really can't leave."

I recommend Professor Song Ting, a colleague of mine. She is one of the few senior researchers in our school who has been deeply involved in plant research for many years.

Lin Yu dialed Professor Song Ting's number immediately after receiving it. After answering the call, Professor Song Ting confirmed with Zhao Feng.

Upon hearing that Lin Yu possessed several tree seeds from the Heavenly Palace, Professor Song Ting, whose voice had been cold and polite on the phone, instantly became extremely enthusiastic.

The next day at noon, Lin Yu and Li Ran successfully picked up Professor Song Ting at the high-speed rail station in Jiangyang City.

Looking at Professor Song Ting, who had short hair, wore glasses, and looked no more than 40 years old, Li Ran was quite surprised.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the group returned to the United Industrial Base in a special vehicle.

"To be honest, I can't tell anything from its appearance yet."

Professor Song Ting stared at the seeds in the box for a long time, and then felt somewhat disappointed.

The current environment is somewhat rudimentary, lacking the necessary experimental facilities, and it is not yet possible to obtain samples from these precious seeds.

"I need to do some initial seedling work on them, trying to grow them all. The conditions here are a bit basic; would it be convenient for me to take them back to school?"

"Isn't it enough to just bury the seeds in the ground?" Li Ran asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Artificial germination and seedling cultivation in the laboratory has a much higher survival rate than direct soil burial."

These seeds are few in number, of various varieties, and have different requirements for suitable environments.

Just in case, it's better to be more meticulous in your operations.

Li Ran nodded, called over Xiao Liu, and asked him to take people to escort Professor Song Ting and the seeds back to the school safely.

Without even having a meal, at Professor Song Ting's urging, Captain Liu and his teammates boarded the high-speed train back home.

At the same time, Zhao Feng, who was monitoring the data in the laboratory, saw Lu Xiangwen, whose eyes were red, walk in carrying a foam box.

His heart skipped a beat, and an intuition struck him; he was certain that there must be a seed inside.

As expected, Lu Xiangwen walked up to Zhao Feng. Although he was a little tired, he looked energetic and opened the box with a mysterious expression to show it off.

"Do you have some free time? Want to cultivate those tree seeds we brought back from the sky?"

Do you think I have time?

Zhao Feng pointed to the machine that couldn't be left alone and smiled helplessly.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiangwen rubbed his temples, let out a long sigh, and spoke with a hint of weariness: "You're right. In that case, let your students cultivate it when you have some free time, and then plant it in the school's experimental field."

"Those clumsy young men? Forget about it!"

"Let's give them to Professor Song Ting. United Industries also received these seeds and wanted me to cultivate them, but I didn't have time, so I passed them on to Professor Song."

"No wonder you're not surprised. Okay, I'll go over there myself later."