It was the perfect weekend.

Aside from Nie Bozhao needing to rush back to the laboratory, everyone else stayed at the farm for the night.

Chen Lina tried her best to persuade Factory Director He to stay with her in the mud hut for the night so they could have a good chat.

But Factory Director He just couldn’t stay any longer. “No, I have to go. If I don’t go to the refinery to supervise tomorrow, He Min will stir up trouble and mobilize a few people to depose you.”

She had to continue suppressing everything herself, even though it pained her to do so.

“Alright, since you’re leaving, go ahead and leave early. After all, you’re traveling with a child, and it’s not safe to travel at night. What if there are bandits?”

“I’ve heard that the bandits in our border area have been causing a lot of trouble recently, but I trust the security here in the mining district. The armed forces are patrolling regularly, so they won’t get through,” He Lanshan said as he got into the car.

“Nie Weimin, weren’t you supposed to watch the stars with Reporter Guo tonight?” Gao Xiaobing asked impatiently in front of the mud hut.

Nie Weimin was feeding Sandan, who was very spoiled for a four-year-old. He would often demand to be fed, and today he was upset because he didn’t have any underwear to wear and refused to eat.

“Yeah, so what? Aren’t you leaving? Goodbye, Gao sister.”

Gao Xiaobing didn’t reply.

Nie Weimin, without lifting his head, pointed at Sandan’s nose and said, “You should make your mom have another baby. Then you won’t be the baby anymore, and we’ll see who will feed you then.”

“I’m little Dandan, no one is smaller than me.”

“When mom has another baby, you won’t be the youngest anymore.” It was so annoying how he used being the youngest as an excuse to act spoiled.

“Nie Weimin, I’ll ask you, do you want to see the book in my backpack?” Gao Xiaobing lifted her backpack a little to show him.

“If you want to give it to me, of course I’ll take it. But didn’t you say you don’t want to give it to me?”

“You could ask me for it. Did you ask me for it?”

“Alright then, Gao sister, can I borrow your book to read?”

Nie Weimin said seriously, wiping Sandan’s mouth as he spoke. Today, it was supposed to be Liu Xiaohong’s turn to feed Sandan, but Liu Xiaohong had disappeared, and now Sandan was throwing a tantrum, asking to be held and fed while even spitting at his face. Nie Weimin was losing his mind.

But this little rascal was usually very well-behaved at home, only at the farm did he get so troublesome.

Chen Lina had said that kids are like this because they know they won’t be scolded when they’re outside, so they act out as much as they can.

Gao Xiaobing, who was the same height as Nie Weimin, looked at him angrily for a long time before saying furiously, “Forget it, I won’t lend it.”

With that, she turned and got into the car without even looking at Nie Weimin.

“Brother, Gao sister is angry,” Sandan said.

Nie Weimin replied, “Yeah, who knows why? If she doesn’t want to lend it, fine. Is she showing off how many books her family has?”

“By the way, Erdan, where did Xiaohong go? Why isn’t she here to take care of Dandan?” Nie Weimin, at his wit’s end with Sandan, went to find Erdan, who was busy digging through his food.

“She left early in the morning. She said she was taking Uncle Jin to a good place. Didn’t you see her?”

Nie Weimin slapped his forehead, realizing that while he was busy here, Liu Xiaohong had already gone with Reporter Guo and the photographer.

However, when he tried to leave, Sandan wasn’t happy about it.

“Brother, take me with you. I want to go too.”

Erdan also said, “Take me too, I want to see the telescope.”

“Alright, you two go into the mud hut and tell mom. I’ll wait for you here.” Nie Weimin said seriously, taking out a small handkerchief to wipe Sandan’s mouth. “Remember to let mom put on another layer of clothes for you. It’ll be cold when we go up the mountain at night. Take your time, no need to hurry.”

Erdan and Sandan happily went inside to find their mother.

When Chen Lina heard that the two children wanted to go up the mountain to see the stars, she immediately knew it must be because Reporter Guo had gone to see the stars.

The geography and terrain of the frontier, along with the celestial phenomena, made it the perfect spot for stargazing.

“Can we skip it? The wind will be strong at night. What if you catch a cold? It’s no big deal to get a shot and take medicine, but you might not be able to handle it,” Chen Lina said.

“No, Mom, we also want to see what the telescope looks like,” San Dan’er said.

Boys, being naturally rough, were clumsy and bumped into everything.

The room was small, and the two of them were like a demolition team, causing a racket as they knocked things around.

“No, you can’t go. The wind is strong at night, and what if there are wolves? Li Na, hurry up and tell them to go to bed,” He Lan’er said, frowning. “Look how obedient Xiao Hong is, and then look at them. Li Na, don’t you get annoyed?”

“Alright, San Dan, come here and grab your grandma’s coat. I’ll take you to see the stars,” Chen Lina thought for a moment and then said.

“Li Na, you spoil them too much. I say, as long as they’re full and warm, what’s the point of looking at stars? They’re just full and idle,” her mother complained.

“Mom, you don’t understand. For us adults, making sure the kids are full and warm is our duty because kids are the future. But accompanying them to see the stars—that’s to broaden their minds and perspectives. I’m happy that my son wants to see the stars. It’s better than if, at such a young age, all they cared about was money and food,” Chen Lina said as she was about to head out.

“You really treat them like your own. Fine, but put on your dad’s big fur coat. I’m really worried you’ll catch a cold. Besides, you’ve been working all day. Can’t you just rest for once?” her mother said helplessly.

Taking the two children outside the room, there wasn’t a person in sight, not even a bird.

“Where’s your brother? Didn’t he say he was taking you to see the stars?” Chen Lina asked Er Dan.

“He said he would wait for us, and told us to dress warmly and take our time,” Er Dan replied.

San Dan’er, though younger, was quick to understand and burst into tears, saying, “Brother was just lying to us.”

On the other side, Nie Weimin was running at full speed.

“Ha, playing with the other kids at the base, whether it’s Qian Gaodan or Wang Fan, they’re always alone, but I have two little tails trailing behind me. I can’t run properly, can’t fight properly. This time, I’ve figured it out. I won’t bring them along, hmph.” Nie Weimin said.

Half an hour later, at the first vertical shaft of the Kanjing well, Nie Weimin found Reporter Guo and Engineer Jin.

As expected, Liu Xiaohong was standing behind them.

She was holding a large thermos cup, which was clearly Reporter Guo’s.

It seemed like Liu Xiaohong was handling the logistics for the two reporters while they stargazed.

“Weimin, how did you know we were here?” Liu Xiaohong asked in surprise.

“You just take a look around, can’t you? This whole farm, this is the highest spot with no obstructions on all sides, the best place for stargazing. How could I not know?” Nie Weimin said smugly.

But the spring wind in March was as sharp as scissors, and the wind was freezing cold.

Nie Weimin, dressed lightly, shivered with the cold.

“This is my dad’s sheepskin coat. I was going to give it to Reporter Guo, but he didn’t want to wear it because he said it was too old-fashioned. You’d better put it on,” Liu Xiaohong said as she poured some liquid from the thermos and secretly handed it to Nie Weimin. “Quick, take a sip and warm up.”

“This has red dates, goji berries, oh, and chrysanthemums. Who made this tea? It’s really sweet. There must be rock candy in it too.”

“Reporter Guo says that men need to take care of their health from the age of twenty-five. This is your dad’s health recipe, he drinks this every day.”

Nie Weimin thought for a moment and thought, “My dad never drinks this, he only drinks coffee.”

Well, whatever, the chrysanthemum and rock candy tea tasted great, so he drank almost half a cup in one go.

“Comrade Nie, I’ve adjusted the focus. Come over and take a look. See that? That’s Jupiter. Do you see the big red spot? That’s the Great Red Spot, a massive rotating dust storm. It’s been spinning since humans discovered it in the 18th century. Isn’t it beautiful?” Reporter Guo said, passing the camera to Nie Weimin with a sigh.

“The Americans always boast about landing on the moon several times, building space stations, and soon they’ll dominate the universe. Meanwhile, we’re still stuck doing the Agricultural Revolution, struggling to feed ourselves. It’s really frustrating when you think about it.”

Nie Weimin adjusted the aperture and looked through the lens at the dark brown star.

Having read so many books and looked up at the stars countless times, he was so excited he couldn’t speak.

And for the first time, he thought, one day, I’ll plant our red flag on the moon.

“So, do you want to go to the moon?” Liu Xiaohong asked with a mischievous smile in her voice.

“Little sister, how did you know?” Nie Weimin felt that calling Liu Xiaohong “little sister” was just right.

She wasn’t like Gao Xiaobing, who was so pretentious.

Liu Xiaohong just wanted to look at the stars, and she didn’t have to make him beg for it.

Nie Weimin, who could conquer even a stepmother, never begged anyone.

“I’m not telling you, I just know.” With that, Liu Xiaohong turned and grabbed the telescope from his hands. “Alright, you’ve had enough, let me have a look too.”

---

A few days later, when they returned to the base, Chen Lina said, “Just let Nie Guozhu go into your lab. Take him in secretly, without alerting anyone, alright?”

“Why should I? You know how important my lab is. What if he’s a Soviet spy or an American agent?”

“With my cousin’s brains, do you think he could be a spy? Spies have certain standards, you know.”

“You think all spies are incredibly clever? Let me tell you about Li Hongshu. The entire Ministry of Public Security was mobilized in Beijing to catch that Soviet spy. When I went to Beijing, the Premier personally invited me to attend his interrogation. I’ll tell you, he was just an ordinary guy, so ordinary that you wouldn’t even look twice at him in a crowd. But he was the one who carried our secrets and crossed the desert multiple times to the Soviet Union, causing immeasurable damage. Your cousin may not be a Soviet spy, but his partner… that person is highly suspicious.”

“Can’t you just let him in? Yesterday, I promised him that if he fixed all the abandoned tractors, I’d let him visit your lab,” Nie Guozhu said. Last night, in order to get a chance to enter the lab, he had stayed up all night, working for several days straight.

For example, changing the oil and patching tires—those were dirty and hard jobs. Nie Guozhu had been rolling around in the oil and mud for several days.

“You said before that we shouldn’t stick to those rigid rules. Well, let’s make an exception tonight. If you give me a satellite launch, I’d risk my life just to let him in,” Nie Bozhao said.

Ah, this enchanting woman, this fox spirit… They had only played once, but it had haunted Nie Guozhu’s mind, and now he wanted another round.

“Go away, you’re dreaming,” she replied, but even as she said that, she shot him a glare. “First, go take a shower. Also, no more yelling and making noise. Nie Guozhu is an idiot. If he hears you yelling, he’ll come running over, probably thinking I’m bullying you.”

“Mission accomplished,” Nie Guozhu said as he prepared to go take a shower.

“Um, Teacher, are you there?” The base was in a large courtyard, and the doors were not closed until bedtime. If someone wanted to enter, they usually couldn’t hear a knock, so they had to shout to make sure.

“I’m here. Xiao Zhu, what brings you here?” Nie Guozhu immediately stopped smiling and sat down with a serious expression.

He had to maintain authority in front of his students. He wasn’t sure if the kid had overheard his playful banter with his wife just now.

“It’s like this: You mentioned that Nie Guozhu would be coming to the lab. We’ve prepared everything we need, but we’re not sure if it’s tonight or tomorrow that he’ll be coming?”

“Who let Nie Guozhu into the lab?” Chen Lina retorted to Xiao Zhu.

“Wasn’t it the secretary himself who came to the base and requested it? He said it was a red phone call from the higher-ups, and Nie Guozhu had to go in?”

“Nie, Old Nie, so you’re really unable to withstand the pressure and had to let Nie Guozhu into your lab. But seriously, do you have any shame? You’re actually trying to scare me with this matter.” Chen Lina was furious. Seeing Xiao Zhu heading to boil water, she said, “Wash your hands. Even if you peel off a layer of skin, don’t think I’ll sleep with you tonight. Our sex life is canceled.”

“Mom, what are you canceling?” Er Dan, just back from school, bounced in. “Does this mean you’re not cooking tonight? Are we not having dinner?”

“Eat, eat, eat! Er Dan, you can’t always think about food. You should think about something else.” Chen Lina said.

“Is the drink canceled too, Dad? I see you boiling water. Does that mean tonight we’re only drinking plain water?” Er Dan replied.

“Does plain water taste good?” Nie Gong(Nei Bozhao) asked helplessly.

“It’s not good,” Er Dan replied.

Well, at least there was something Er Dan didn’t like to eat.