Chapter Twenty-Nine: Grandfather's Parcel

"Why did Grandpa send me a package?"
Zhang Mingyang glanced at the time—it was not yet eleven—but he reckoned Grandpa might already be asleep, so he decided not to call and ask. He would pick it up himself in the morning.
Scrolling down, there was nothing important left to read. He closed the communicator, climbed out of the bathtub, dried himself, changed into clean clothes, and lay down on the bed.
Days of exhaustion meant Zhang Mingyang fell asleep almost as soon as he lay down.
...
"Beep beep..."
The seven o'clock alarm woke Zhang Mingyang. It was the latest he'd slept since arriving at the base—today was a rest day, so he'd set the alarm later.
He got out of bed, stretched lazily, and looked out the window at the sunshine, confirming it was a good day. The recent spell of gloomy, rainy weather had left everyone at the base chilled to the bone and aching all over.
Entering the bathroom, Zhang Mingyang discovered he was out of toiletries. "Damn, how did I run out so quickly?" He searched his room but found no spares. It seemed he'd have to get some from the logistics department.
He dressed, stepped out of his dormitory, and was immediately assaulted by the cold wind. "Why is it still so cold even with the sun out?"
Pulling his clothes tighter, Zhang Mingyang jogged toward the base's logistics warehouse.
"Up early, Mingyang?"
"Ah, you're up early too."
On his way, Zhang Mingyang exchanged greetings with nearby colleagues.
At the logistics warehouse, only two people were on duty in the morning. After explaining his purpose, Zhang Mingyang was handed a large bag of toiletries—enough for a year.
Looking at the bag, Zhang Mingyang couldn't help but ask, "Won't this much go bad before I use it up?"
...
He rushed back to his dormitory and quickly entered the bathroom to make the most of his time. He’d promised his teacher they would go to the archives together today.
"Bang bang..."
There was a knock at the door. Zhang Mingyang, halfway through brushing his teeth, had no choice but to answer.
Opening the door, he found his teacher, Lin Guangming, standing there, looking at him with impatience. "Why aren't you finished yet? If we're late, there won't be any seats."
Zhang Mingyang, mouth full of toothpaste, replied, "I ran out of toiletries, just got them back now."
While speaking, Zhang Mingyang invited his teacher in and had him sit and wait a moment.
"Hurry up, we still need to eat, or we'll be out of time."

"Mm-hmm."
Zhang Mingyang nodded and returned to the bathroom.
Lin Guangming, seeing him go back, wandered around the dormitory, observing the room's layout.
When he reached the desk, a photo frame caught his attention. "Mingyang, are those your late parents?"
Hearing his teacher, Zhang Mingyang glanced back and nodded.
"I heard your father was once a student of Academician Wang at the base. Is that true?"
"Yes."
"Ah, what a pity. I heard your father was a key protégé of the Astronomical Institute, such a promising talent, lost so young!"
Finished washing up, Zhang Mingyang emerged from the bathroom, glanced at his parents' photo, and said, "Let's go, teacher. We should hurry."
Lin Guangming, sensing his student's unease, didn't press further.
"Come on, come on..."
The two made their way to the cafeteria. It was nearly eight o'clock; apart from the Energy Department, who had the day off, everyone else had already finished breakfast.
"Hey, Old Lin, you're up late today."
Lin Guangming patted Zhang Mingyang's shoulder and replied, "Blame him for that."
Zhang Mingyang nodded beside him. "Yes, I'm the one who made teacher late."
During breakfast, the teacher and student didn't chat with others as usual. They ate quickly, preparing to head to the archives.
Leaving the cafeteria, they walked toward the archive room. As they walked, Zhang Mingyang suddenly remembered he hadn't picked up Grandpa's package.
"Teacher, please wait a moment. I need to get a package."
Watching Zhang Mingyang dash off, Lin Guangming called, "You little rascal, can't you do everything at once?"
The mailroom was barely a hundred meters from the cafeteria; within half a minute, Zhang Mingyang arrived.
"Sir, can you check if there's a package for Zhang Mingyang?"
The staff, hearing the name, typed quickly on the computer. "Yes, please show your ID."
Zhang Mingyang hurriedly handed over the wrist ID. The machine scanned it, confirmed his identity, and triggered the conveyor belt to deliver a small box.
"Is this my package?" He looked at the shoebox-sized parcel, assuming Grandpa had sent him something to eat.

He picked up the package, weighed it in his hand—it was very light. Just as he was about to open it, his communicator buzzed on his wrist.
It was his teacher calling, definitely to hurry him up.
Forget it, he thought, I'll open it later. Zhang Mingyang handed the package back to the staff, asking them to place it in the mailbox at Building 15.
With that settled, Zhang Mingyang hurried back to his teacher, and together they rushed toward the archive room.
Arriving at the entrance, they found a crowd gathered outside. Squeezing their way in, they were stopped by staff. "Please wait a moment. The archive room has reached its capacity. You can scan the queue code at the machine nearby and wait for your turn."
Hearing this, Lin Guangming stared wide-eyed at Zhang Mingyang.
"Teacher, don't look at me like that. I had no idea the archive room started limiting visitors."
Lin Guangming covered his face and sighed, "You troublemaker, when will you fix your habit of procrastinating?"
There was nothing else to do but scan the queue code and wait in line.
So, the two queued up at the end of a long line. As time passed, the crowd gradually thinned, and finally it was their turn.
Presenting their queue code, they at last entered the archive room. Inside was just as crowded as outside, and they looked at each other in surprise. "This is nothing like the last time I came."
"Of course not. Last time, no one knew who Wang Huairen was. Now everyone’s heard the legend—they all want to see what he left behind."
"Let's hurry and search."
They squeezed through the crowd to Wang Huairen's bookshelf, only to find almost all the books were gone.
"Teacher, there’s nothing left."
Looking at the few scattered volumes on the shelf, Lin Guangming sighed. "We have no choice. Take what you can for now. If anyone puts one down, we'll nab it."
While they spoke, the remaining books were snatched up. Teacher Lin Guangming managed to grab one, but Zhang Mingyang was left empty-handed.
Lin Guangming, seeing his student’s empty hands, laughed. "Wait here a bit. I'll find a spot to read."
With that, Lin Guangming squeezed through the crowd and left.
Staring at the empty bookshelf, Zhang Mingyang had no option but to wander to another shelf and browse other books while he waited.