It was Nie Guozhu, her cousin.

When she saw the quilt on his back, the basin hanging on his arm, and the toothbrush kit in his hand, she realized he was here to stay.

No wonder Nie Weimin was so suspicious.

“Cousin, I just went around and checked things out. Your life here seems pretty well-off, and you even have a horse next door. Life on the frontier isn’t so bad,” Nie Guozhu said excitedly, feeling a little awkward.

“Cousin, this base doesn’t allow outsiders to stay overnight. My parents have a separate house on the farm. Whether you’re on a mission or just visiting relatives, I’ll cook you a meal and send you there, alright?”

“Is this dried eggplant?” Nie Guozhu followed Chen Lina into the kitchen, watching as she first washed and dried eggplant and beans, then steamed them.

After they softened, she mixed them with minced meat, and the aroma made his mouth water.

The rice was cooking, with dried vegetables on top.

After a while, the pot started to make bubbling sounds.

Chen Lina didn’t speak to him, so Nie Guozhu turned around.

Well, the three children were staring at him like they were watching a spy.

“Did Lina plant these vegetables?”

“That’s my mom.” Erdan said, and to show off his strength, he started swinging his fists with a laugh.

Nie Guozhu shook his head: this kid sure looked tough.

“Did Lina build this grapevine?” The bamboo trellis, although just beginning to sprout leaves, was clearly going to be full of grapes by autumn.

This was the look of a typical countryside garden.

“That’s my mom’s work.” Sandan crossed his arms and legs, blocking the tall Nie Guozhu, looking quite unfriendly. “Anyone who dares steal the grapes, I won’t let them off.”

“But there are no grapes yet.”

“Leaves aren’t allowed either.”

Well, Nie Guozhu thought, these kids were too rude and too fierce.

He shook his head in frustration.

Chen Lina called out, “Weimin, have you peeled the onions? What about the garlic?”

“Coming, coming, here’s the clean onions and garlic for you.” Yes, the small spring onions grown using plastic film were just right in March, fresh and fragrant, with a crisp snap when cut.

When the rice was done, the dried vegetables had softened.

Then, they put the oil residue back into the pan, stir-fried it with garlic and onions, and poured it directly over the dried eggplant and green beans, adding soy sauce and vinegar to mix.

Erdan was already holding his bowl, ready to race, confident as if no one could beat him.

The rice, steamed with dried vegetables, was something the three kids hadn’t had in a while.

As for Nie Guozhu, being from the military, he ate with more vigor than Erdan, his head down, chewing loudly.

It wasn’t long before Sandan managed to grab a piece of fried residue and fed it to his mom, but when he looked down, the vegetables were all gone, and only a few green onion bits were left in the dish.

Chen Lina picked up the onions and scraped them into Sandaner’s bowl. “Weimin, brush your teeth and go sleep with Erdan. After that, you’ll go to school.”

“Well, what about him? He should sleep with us too.”

“No, he’s a relative. I have to take him to the farm.”

“Lina, the chief engineer Wang from your base knows about this. We have to stay at your place. As for the farm, Chief Engineer Wang says the conditions are tough—people live underground, like in tombs—so we’ll skip staying there,” Nie Guozhu said.

Erdan immediately slammed the table. “The underground huts are great, they’re not like tombs at all. This uncle’s not nice.”

Nie Weimin, however, said, “If you don’t want to go to the farm, fine. You probably didn’t finish much schooling, did you? Come with us to school this afternoon.”

“Little friend, I didn’t attend school, but I understand basic knowledge. No need for me to go to school. I have other work to do, so I’ll be heading to the base office this afternoon. I’ll be back in the evening and stay at your place.”

Nie Weimin immediately became angry. “Then let me ask you, is there water on Mercury?”

“Mercury? Of course, there’s water.”

“Ha! You don’t know anything. There’s no water on Mercury. It’s the closest planet to the sun, and the hottest in the solar system. The sun has already boiled away any water on it.”

“Lina, do your elementary school students really learn this?”

“In our country, we’ve already launched several satellites into space, so of course we study this. You’re even less informed than an elementary school student,” Nie Weimin said loudly, with an impulse to outdo Nie Guozhu.

“Then, Comrade Nie Weimin, let me ask you, what does knowing whether there’s water on Mercury have to do with our revolutionary life? Our 400 million people rely on large steamed buns to avoid hunger. Whether there’s water on Mercury has nothing to do with that.” Hmm, after three years, Nie Guozhu’s rhetoric had improved a lot.

“This child knows more than I do. Don’t argue with him. But cousin, were you really transferred to the mining district just for work? And by the way, I don’t have time to entertain you. I have to go back to the farm this afternoon. Things are complicated at home, and Nie Gong’s work is a state secret. Unless we have special permission, you can’t stay at my place.”

Nie Guozhu didn’t say anything else.

He wiped his mouth, said goodbye, and headed back to the base office building.

After sending the older kids to school, Nie Weimin was worried. “Comrade Chen, your cousin isn’t here with good intentions.”

“He’s eating up my food. I only got two bites of vegetables,” Er Dan lamented.

“Alright, I can roughly guess what he’s here for. I just want to tell you, things are much more optimistic than your dad and I had expected. Now go to school. Also, Nie Weimin, I need to tell you something. Although feeding the 400 million people is important right now, knowing whether there’s water on Mercury will be more important in the future. Go on now.”

Base 1 Office Building

Nie Bozhao had just returned from the oil wells on a Jiefang truck.

As soon as he got out of the truck, he ran into Chief Engineer Wang.

“The work team from Hongyan has arrived. Actually, it’s a couple. The man is Nie Guozhu, 25 years old, the leader of a mechanical infantry division in the military. The woman is Gong Hongxing, 28 years old, unemployed, but according to the letter of introduction, she is a very outstanding revolutionary female soldier. She is now going to directly enter the mining area to oversee our work. Nie Guozhu has already reported in and has gone to your house, while Gong Hongxing is still at the mining area. Nie Guozhu requested to inspect your laboratory. How about it? He’s waiting for you in my office.”

Nie Gong quickly took three minutes to process this information.

Well, after more than two months since the New Year, the work team sent by Hongyan had finally arrived. What surprised him, however, was that the person was none other than Chen Lina’s cousin, Nie Guozhu, along with his wife.

An unemployed young woman holding a “special decree,” it seemed like they were here to dig up the mining area’s secrets.

“Chief Engineer Wang, have him call the central government and ask for permission from the Premier. If the Premier allows him in, then I will let him in.”

Actually, Nie Guozhu, young as he was and inexperienced in anything, even if he entered the laboratory, it wouldn’t make much of a difference.

However, Nie Bozhao was still very angry.

In the face of a great tide of change, while one may not be able to save the world, they can still choose to maintain their integrity. How could a good young man be so foolish as to indulge in revolution, acting in such an ignorant manner, disrespecting knowledge? Should he really despise someone just because they don’t understand it?

“Engineer Nie, no, Brother-in-law, I think you should let me into the lab. If my husband comes, it might be harder for you to explain things,” Nie Guozhu said, standing in front of the iron door on the sixth floor. Seeing Nie Bozhao coming upstairs, he snapped to attention and saluted.

Well, he had a muscular build, quite handsome and manly, the former fiancé of Xiao Chen.

As soon as Engineer Nie saw him, his stomach acid dropped from a pH of 7 to 2. Right at that moment, Chief Engineer Wang said, “Considering he’s a relative of yours, while they’re working here, we’ll have them stay at your place. What do you think?”

No way, Engineer Nie’s stomach acid rapidly plummeted further.

“Then call the red phone now. Tell the comrades in the Armed Forces Department that unless specifically authorized by the red phone, no one is to be let in,” Engineer Nie said, yanking open the iron door. When Nie Guozhu tried to enter, the door slammed shut with a clang.

That evening, as Engineer Nie came out of the lab, Nie Guozhu, standing rigidly in military posture, was right next to the Armed Forces comrade, still standing guard.

No choice but to go downstairs together.

Now, back at school.

The bell hadn’t even rung yet, but Nie Weimin had already made a paper pellet and threw it in front of Liu Xiaohong, trying to hit her.

“Xiaohong, Xiaohong,” Liu Xiaohong and Chen Tiantian, sitting together, were focused on listening and ignored him. It was Chen Tiantian who turned around and said, “Dadan, after school, let’s go pick vegetables to feed the little sister, okay?”

“Chen Tiantian, if you don’t pay attention to the class, you and Nie Weiguo will have to stand in the corner,” the teacher said.

Tiantian’s grades were just a bit better than Erdan’s. Worse than Erdan, however, was that Erdan made progress, at least improving a little each time, but Tiantian didn’t care about studying at all.

Chen Tiantian stuck out her tongue, and Nie Weimin, sitting behind her, kicked her chair and pulled on her hair. Tiantian, holding her chubby little hands behind her back, poked him with a pencil.

When a top student does such small tricks, the teacher’s eyes are too distracted to notice. She didn’t see anything and continued teaching.

After class, Nie Weimin turned around and sat at the desk of Tiantian and Liu Xiaohong. Swinging his butt, he said, “Cousin, I’m inviting you to my house today.” The young boy smiled, mischievous and playful, looking both handsome and charming.

“No, my mom is pregnant with a little brother. I need to go home and cook for her.”

“Come on, I’m inviting you to stay at my house today. I won’t chase you away.”

“Goodbye, Weimin, I really won’t go. Also, thank you for teaching me English. Goodbye.”

With her two braids swinging, Liu Xiaohong, wearing a flowered coat, said this and ran out of the schoolyard, jumping onto her father Wang Hongbing’s bicycle and riding away.

“Brother, why do you want Xiaohong to come to our house?” Erdan looked confused.

“I don’t want that Nie Guozhu,” Nie Weimin wanted to say, realizing he was once his mother’s fiancé. But then he thought better of it—Erdan wouldn’t understand something like that.

But today, their mom came home especially early and was waiting for them at the school gate.