Chapter Ninety-Two: Return to Earth

After a moment’s thought, Xu Yuqing realized Zhang Mingyang was right. “All right, I’ll give it to you.”

She got Pei Dongli’s contact number and sent him the full project plan.

After receiving the email, Pei Dongli immediately forwarded it to the company’s senior leadership and marked it as an urgent review item for a key project.

“All right, I’ve already sent it to the top brass.”

With the matter settled, Zhang Mingyang asked Xu Yuqing, “Sister Xu, where are you planning to go after we get down?”

Without hesitation, Xu Yuqing replied, “Of course I’m going home first. I’ve been on the Moon for eight months, so naturally I want to go back and see my family. And while I’m at it, I’ll deal with the man who abandoned my little sister.”

“Holy—”

The moment Zhang Mingyang heard that, he panicked. If I’d known, I never would have asked.

Pei Dongli, standing nearby, saw his reaction and prepared to deliver the finishing blow. “Hey, does your sister have a photo of that man?”

“Senior, you’re trying to get me killed!” Zhang Mingyang grabbed his sleeve and begged him to stop asking.

Xu Yuqing shook her head. “A photo? My silly little sister never sent me one, but I’ll find out sooner or later.”

As she spoke, she counted on her fingers, and Zhang Mingyang broke out in a sweat.

“Little brother, why are you sweating?”

Zhang Mingyang wiped his forehead and forced a bitter smile. “Am I? Maybe it’s just too warm in here.”

“Too warm?” Pei Dongli pointed at the temperature display. “Look, it’s only twenty-two degrees. How could it be hot?”

“Senior!”

Zhang Mingyang gritted his teeth at him. “Dinner’s on me tonight. Order whatever you want.”

“Really?”

Pei Dongli nodded. “Fine, then three days!”

“Deal.”

Seeing his goal achieved, Pei Dongli shut his mouth and stopped looking their way.

“Everyone check your safety gear. The rocket is preparing to land,” the commander reminded them that they had arrived.

The rocket had already reached the sky above the Mobei base. The commander pressed the landing button, and the rocket began to change its flight state. The nose opened its reverse thrust, and it slowly shifted upward until the engines faced downward, after which it began its gentle descent.

“Mobei, Mobei, East Seven is ready to land.”

“Mobei received. Launch Pad Fourteen has been cleared and is ready for landing.”

With guidance from the ground command center, the commander tapped Launch Pad Fourteen on the screen. The system began analyzing the external wind speed and humidity, adjusting itself and moving toward the target.

On the control display, the rocket aligned with the landing point at an altitude of fifteen hundred meters, then all reverse thrusters opened and it began descending at a speed of ten meters per second.

“One thousand meters.”

“Five hundred meters.”

“Three hundred meters.”

At a distance of one hundred meters, the rocket slowed again to two meters per second.

Fifty seconds later, the rocket aligned with the docking point and landed successfully at Pad Fourteen. The four clamps at the base of the rocket hooked onto the ground, while the nearby launch tower slowly closed in until it fully surrounded the vehicle.

“Shutdown.”

The commander pressed the shutdown key, and the flames at the rear gradually weakened until they vanished.

“Mobei, Mobei, East Seven has landed successfully. Personnel preparing to disembark.”

“Mobei received. The launch tower is in place. Tonight’s wind is force ten; take care when exiting the vehicle.”

After the report, the commander checked that all equipment was off and shut down the system. Turning back to the others, he called out, “We’ve reached Earth. Time to go home. The wind is strong outside, so be careful when you head out.”

“At last!”

Everyone removed their safety gear, stood up, and stretched, then checked their belongings and prepared to line up and leave the cabin.

Zhang Mingyang and his senior had not brought much to begin with, just a backpack each, so they were still fairly light on their feet.

“Open the hatch.”

The commander pressed the cabin-open button, and the heavy protective door slid open slowly.

As the hatch widened, a blast of icy wind rushed in, and the crew compartment instantly descended into chaos.

“Damn, what’s going on with the weather? It wasn’t this cold when we left!”

Pei Dongli shivered violently and held his backpack against his chest to shield himself from the wind.

Xu Yuqing was frozen nearly as badly. She had spent so long on the Moon that the sudden return to Earth’s temperature left her somewhat unaccustomed.

Zhang Mingyang shielded himself from the biting wind with one hand, shrank his shoulders, and stepped out of the crew cabin.

Once outside, they stood on the hundred-meter-high launch tower, where dark clouds had swallowed the stars and the howling gale scattered the crowd.

The base staff nearby hurried over and held them steady so everyone could keep their footing.

“Senior, this wind is huge!”

“What did you say?”

The gale tore their voices apart; nothing could be heard over the wind. Zhang Mingyang could only point at the stairs, signaling for them to get down quickly.

Behind him, Xu Yuqing was being buffeted so badly that she could barely stand. Seeing this, Pei Dongli hurried over and held her up, while Zhang Mingyang took the case from her hands. The three of them supported one another and made their way down little by little.

It took them nearly half an hour to descend the more than one hundred meters of steps before they finally reached the ground.

As the height decreased, the wind weakened somewhat. When they stepped off the last stair, the three of them hurried into a bus parked nearby.

The moment they got on, the gale vanished. They brushed the dust off themselves, found three seats, and sat down.

Seated, Zhang Mingyang shook the dust from his hair, spat out the grit in his mouth, and looked out the window at the sky-darkening scene of yellow sand surging across the land like the end of the world.

“Senior, we came back at the worst possible time. Why is the wind so fierce today?”

Pei Dongli glanced at the weather and replied, “It’s normal. This kind of sand-laden northwest weather lasts for a few days every year. We just happened to catch it.”

“Huh? Sister Xu?”

Zhang Mingyang looked around and saw her sitting in the front. He quickly went over to check on her. “Sister Xu, are you all right? Sister Xu, why is your face so red?”

Xu Yuqing covered her face and looked at him in surprise. “Really?” She turned to the window glass beside her and checked her own complexion.

“Sister Xu, are you feeling unwell? Did the wind just now get to you?”

Seeing her reflection in the glass, Xu Yuqing thought, How could this be because of the wind? It’s all that useless softie’s fault. It would have been enough if he’d just helped me down. Why did he have to hold me? The more she thought about it, the redder her face became.

Zhang Mingyang sensed something was wrong and hurried back to pull his senior over. “Senior, go look at Sister Xu. Her face is really red. It seems like the wind just now hurt her.”

“Hmm?”

Pei Dongli hurried over. Looking at Xu Yuqing’s flushed cheeks, he asked with concern, “Your face... are you all right?”

Xu Yuqing looked at the man before her, who was concerned for her, and her expression suddenly changed. Her large eyes turned tender and affectionate as she gazed at him.

“What’s with that expression?”

Pei Dongli stared into those sparkling eyes and shivered, goosebumps rising all over him. “Xu Yuqing, looking at me like that... is kind of frightening!”

With that, he fled back to the rear seat.

When Zhang Mingyang saw him return, he hurried to ask, “Senior, is Sister Xu okay?”

Pei Dongli trembled all over, brushing the gooseflesh from his arms. “She’s fine. She’ll be better in a little while.”

Hearing that Sister Xu was fine, Zhang Mingyang finally relaxed.

On the bus, all twenty-one of them, along with the commander, were now present. The driver counted the passengers again, started the vehicle, and drove toward the base building.