Siheyuan (traditional courtyard house): Starting with the Korean War, returning home to take charge

He Yuzhu placed the registration form on the table, pressed his fingers against the corner of the paper, and did not look up.

"Did you fill in this word yourself?"

Yang Xiaobing stood ramrod straight. "Yes."

"Who told you to fill this out?"

"Myself."

He Yuzhu looked up. Yang Xiaobing's scars gleamed dark red under the fluorescent light, his chin was taut, and his eyes were like those of a bull.

"Yang Xiaobing, do you know what this watch is?"

"Astronaut Candidate Application Form"

"Why are you getting involved?"

Yang Xiaobing took a step forward. "Director He, I have 1,200 hours of flight time, I'm a top-class pilot, I have no health problems, no history of surgery, and no chronic illnesses. Why won't you let me claim it?"

He Yuzhu stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to him. "Pu Zheng is dead, Chen Zhiyuan has been arrested, and the old man's safe hasn't been found yet. If you leave now, who will clean up the mess?"

"Is Old Lu not good enough?"

"Old Lu doesn't recognize Lao Geda's handwriting. The bank broke into the safe, and the contents were handed over to the Harbin Public Security Bureau. Old Lu spent three days there searching through the files, but he couldn't even find a trace of that package." He Yuzhu turned around. "If you went there, would you be able to recognize it?"

Yang Xiaobing clutched the application form, the paper crumpled into a ball. "Pu Zheng is dead, Chen Zhiyuan is imprisoned, and the old man has turned to ashes. What's left is just cleaning up. Can't you find someone else?"

"Who else could we replace? Old Sun's men have never seen Lao Geda, never seen Pu Zheng, never seen that package. You've been following me since 1969, almost ten years. If something goes wrong while you're gone, who's going to cover for you?"

Yang Xiaobing fell silent. He unfolded the registration form, smoothed it out, folded it neatly, and stuffed it into his pocket.

He Yuzhu watched him insert the form, then paused for two seconds. "Xiao Bing, I'm not stopping you. It's just that I can't let you go now. Once we've cleaned up the mess, I'll personally accompany you to register."

Yang Xiaobing raised his head and stared at He Yuzhu's face. The scar on his cheekbone twitched. "You said it."

"I said it."

Yang Xiaobing turned and left. His leather shoes thumped on the terrazzo floor, each step carrying a greater distance than the last.

The selection launch meeting was held in the multi-functional hall of Chengshan Research Institute. He Yuzhu stood on the podium, and a hundred people sat below. Several pilots in the front row sat upright with their hands on their knees; several researchers in Zhongshan suits in the back row leaned back in their chairs, some flipping through notebooks.

He Yuzhu opened the folder. "I won't lecture you. Being an astronaut isn't an honor; it's a tough job. Once in space, you'll face weightlessness, radiation, confined spaces, psychological stress, and physical deterioration. If you fail training, you're eliminated; if you fail the physical exam, you're eliminated; if you fail the psychological test, you're eliminated. If ten out of a hundred people are left, that's considered a success."

No one spoke. A pilot in his early thirties in the front row raised his hand. He Yuzhu gestured with his chin toward him. "Speak."

"Reporting, my name is Tan Wei, a pilot from the 24th Air Division. I'd like to ask, what are the specific contents of the training?"

"Centrifuge G-force training, parabolic flight in zero gravity aircraft, hypoxia tolerance test in a low-pressure chamber, closed-cell survival experiment in an isolation chamber, underwater zero-gravity simulation operation, wilderness survival training, spacecraft simulator operation, basic medical courses, and aerospace engineering courses. Each item has a passing grade, and each item can be retaken once. Failure to retake the exam results in immediate elimination."

Tan Wei lowered his hand, his lips moved slightly, but no sound came out. The person next to him nudged his arm, and he shook his head.

A young man wearing glasses in the second row raised his hand. He Yuzhu recognized that he was wearing the Chinese Academy of Sciences badge on his chest.

"Zhao Mingyuan, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Director He, I specialize in radiation biology and have no flight experience. Is it fair to put someone with no flight experience under the same standard as a pilot?"

"That's unfair," He Yuzhu said. "So we don't put them under the same standard. Pilots and astronauts and payload specialists are on two separate tracks, competing for their respective spots, with separate quotas."

Zhao Mingyuan adjusted his glasses and sat down. He looked down and wrote a line in his notebook, then crossed it out.

As the meeting adjourned, the crowd began to leave. Tan Wei reached the door, glanced back at He Yuzhu on the podium, and his lips moved slightly, though this time no one around him noticed. He ultimately said nothing and turned to leave.

He Yuzhu was tidying up documents on the podium. A female doctor in a white coat walked in, holding a stack of lab reports, her face ashen.

"Director He, the physical examination results are in. Out of one hundred people, seventeen have low bone density."

"Seventeen?" He Yuzhu took the test report.

"The majority of them were pilots over 38 years old and a few intellectuals engaged in scientific research. Pilots fly at high altitudes for many years, and their radiation exposure is greater than that of ordinary people, resulting in significant bone loss. Scientific researchers already lack exercise, so their bone density is even worse."

He Yuzhu flipped to the last page, where the lowest number was circled in red. He stared at that number for three seconds. Next to it was a name: Tan Wei, with 2,300 flight hours, the most among the hundred people.

"Tan Wei's bone mineral density is 15 percent lower than normal."

The female doctor nodded. "By current standards, he can't fly. In the weightless environment of space, bone calcium loss is ten times faster than on Earth. He's already porous on Earth; a few months in space could cause a fracture. However, the Huayuan-2 satellite that Dean Hua sent has shown in animal experiments to enhance bone density. If we could use it on him…"

"Huayuan No. 2 has not yet completed human clinical trials," He Yuzhu interrupted her.

"I know. But the selection and training takes at least two years. Two years is enough to complete the clinical trials. We can keep these seventeen people for basic training and then administer the injections after the drug is approved. If we eliminate them now, they won't have a chance to be brought back in two years."

He Yuzhu was silent for a few seconds. He folded the lab report twice and stuffed it into his briefcase, his movements much heavier than usual. "Make a separate list of these seventeen people and arrange a comprehensive bone metabolism examination. Draw blood to check calcium and phosphorus metabolism hormones, vitamin D concentration, and bone turnover markers. Once the data is compiled, I'll give it to Dean Hua so he can design a targeted injection plan."

The female doctor nodded and jogged out.

He Yuzhu turned off the lights and walked out of the multi-functional hall. The corridor was empty; the sound of his leather shoes bounced off the wall. Turning the corner of the stairs, a series of orderly footsteps came from downstairs, sounding more like running than walking.

He walked to the window and looked down.

On the playground, the twenty-odd candidates who hadn't yet left spontaneously organized themselves for a run. Tan Wei was leading the group. He ran at the very front, swinging his arms widely, sweat dripping from his chin and leaving dark dots on the track. The people behind him followed his rhythm; no one shouted commands, but their steps were perfectly synchronized.

He Yuzhu watched for a while, then turned and went downstairs.

A person stood outside the iron fence at the edge of the playground. Wearing a schoolbag and a blue and white school uniform, he stood on tiptoe, peeking his head through the gaps in the fence.

He Yuzhu walked over. "Nianhua."

He Nianhua turned her head, a hint of embarrassment flashing across her face as if she'd been caught red-handed. "Dad, I was just passing by on my way home from school."

"Just passing by? From No. 4 Middle School to Chengshan, you need to change buses three times, and you're telling me you're just passing by?"

He Nianhua fell silent. He lifted his backpack slightly, rested his chin on the fence, and continued watching the runners. Tan Wei finished his last lap, bent over, hands on his knees, panting heavily. As he straightened up, he saw He Yuzhu and He Nianhua outside the iron fence, paused for a moment, and gave them a military salute from a distance.

He Yuzhu did not return the gift.

"Dad, what's that person's name?"

"Tan Wei. Pilot of the 24th Air Division."

"He runs so fast."

"He has flown 2,300 hours, the most among 100 people. His bone density is also the lowest."

He Nianhua turned her head. "Can he still fly?"

He Yuzhu didn't answer immediately. He looked in the direction Tan Wei had disappeared. The locker room light flickered on and off.

"There's a drug called Huayuan No. 2. It's specially designed for astronauts and can increase bone density. If he takes it, he might be able to fly."

"Then why don't you give it to him yet?"

"The drug hasn't been approved yet."

He Nianhua was silent for a moment. "What if it doesn't get approved?"

He Yuzhu looked at his son. The sixteen-year-old boy still had a youthful face, but his eyes didn't look like a child's. He had seen that kind of look before, on Yang Xiaobing's face, on Tan Wei's face, and behind the densely packed names in Pu Zheng's diary—those were people who, once they made up their minds, would never look back.

"Nianhua, the things you've handled are far more difficult than airplanes. You've touched books on aerospace medicine; I got a headache after flipping through that book for half an hour." He Yuzhu leaned against the fence. "If you really want to become an astronaut, the road is long. Tan Wei and the others trained for ten years to get to this point. You're starting from scratch."

He Nianhua pulled the book "Fundamentals of Aerospace Medicine" out of his schoolbag and hugged it to his chest. "Dad, I have to run faster than them."

He Yuzhu didn't reply. He turned and walked towards the parking lot. After a few steps, he heard footsteps catching up behind him.

It was already dark when the car drove out of the Chengshan Research Institute gate. He Nianhua sat in the passenger seat, opening the book, closing it, and opening it again.

"Dad, could Tan Wei be the first one?"