Earth Era

It felt like he had turned into a fish, swimming in the vast, boundless night sky. Zhao Huasheng was swimming in thoughts, his far-reaching thoughts drifting away in the silent night near the tranquil depths of Lake Baikal.

"Huasheng, is something wrong?" Li Wei asked after a moment of silence.

"Oh," Zhao Huasheng replied before falling into silence again. Li Wei didn't say anything more, just silently pulling Zhao Huasheng's arm into her embrace and resting her head on his shoulder.

Non-astronomers or physicists may find it difficult to appreciate the vastness of the cosmos and their own insignificance. Zhao Huasheng opened his mouth and said, "They may have heard many words such as 'vast' and 'insignificant' from books, movies and the Internet, but they will never have a real understanding of the vastness of the universe and the smallness of mankind."

Li Wei remained silent, only listening quietly.

"Our human civilization began in the far distant past and developed a glorious civilization on this land of nothing. You may not be able to imagine how big a step it was when the first primitive humans started to use stone knives and stone axes made by grinding stones. Afterwards, fire, bows and arrows, fishing nets, bronze wares, and later on the Industrial Revolution, the invention of steam engine, the discovery and utilization of electricity, the invention of computers, and the discovery of atomic energy, etc. Every tool or principle discovered has brought about earth-shattering changes to human society. We have created art, medicine, and all sorts of things that have never existed on Earth or perhaps even in the universe. We certainly have a reason to be proud of our own greatness."

Zhao Huasheng sighed, "The universe is like an endless sea, and we are only scooping up a ladle of water from it." He continued, "Any star in the night sky is far enough away that it would take a lifetime to pursue, and every darkness in the sky hides mysteries that may never be fully uncovered until the end of our civilization. We are so small—truly so small. Before my brother passed away he said something to me that I only fully realized until now. Like now, stars are born, live a lifetime, then explode—something that happens constantly in the universe. Now, with the sun's radiation level having only decreased by fifteen percent, our civilization is almost at the brink of apocalypse."

Astronomers and physicists are the two most crisis-aware people in the world. Knowing our own insignificance, we are willing to spend our lives in pursuit of endless mysteries. Your brother is like this, and so am I. In our civilization, there are many more people like this.

It seemed that Zhao Huasheng had a lot of emotion in his heart, or maybe, in this period of time, Zhao Huasheng had accumulated too many words to tell someone.

"But sometimes I feel so powerless, very powerless. Because we are too small, and this universe is too vast. " Zhao Huasheng sighed, "What does the life span of a person or a civilization count for compared to the whole universe? Even for geniuses like Newton and Einstein, their work only solved some problems and, incidentally brought more unknowns to mankind. "Human civilization has developed for hundreds of thousands of years, and we still can't figure out the cause of the sun darkening. "

Li Wei nestled in Zhao Huasheng's embrace and said softly, "It is only through geniuses like you that human civilization can keep progressing."

Zhao Huasheng was silent and then shook his head, "No, I'm not a genius, it's your brother who is the genius."

"Your brother is a true genius. If it weren't for Li Qi's expertise, it would take us at least ten years to gain the current level of understanding about the sun."

"Some people in the scientific community call your brother the 'Son of the Sun'. Do you know why?" Zhao Huasheng asked.

"Are there such titles? I didn't know that." Li Wei said.

"Because... if it wasn't for being born under the sun, how could we understand the sun so well? Your brother is like a person living on the sun, with the solar fusion model, the solar atmosphere model, convection, radiation, the corona, and the magnetic field. Your brother is the type of person who sees everything personally and can easily solve difficult problems.Including me, none of us researchers in the institute can imagine what kind of brain exists in Director Li's head. To put it bluntly, in the field of stellar physics, your brother is like Einstein in the field of physics."

"I've heard something like that too, but it seems like... all of my brother's research results have only appeared in the past two years. Before that, my brother was already an outstanding stellar physicist, but he wasn't as outstanding as you said yet."

"Who knows why. Maybe there really is an alien around your brother." Zhao Huasheng said, "But I'd rather believe that all of this is your brother's contribution."

Everything Li Wei said is true. It's true that two years ago, Li Qi wasn't as outstanding as he is now. It's because of his contributions in the past two years that Li Qi has earned the glorious title of "the son of the sun".

"I admire your brother a lot. Even when I was in college, I had already made him my idol," Zhao Huasheng said.

"So ... now that you are chatting with your idol's little sister under the silent night sky, how do you feel?" Li Wei joked, perhaps because the conversation was too dull and obscure.

But Zhao Huasheng is a dull person, so he simply ignored Li Wei's joke.

"I'm under a lot of pressure," Zhao Huasheng said. "A lot of pressure."

Li Wei's tone was slightly dull: "Is it too much pressure being with me?"

"No, I didn't say that," Zhao Huasheng's words contained no emotional fluctuations, still maintaining a steady tone. "It's your brother. Your brother is too outstanding, compared to him, I am just an ordinary person. Right now, your brother wants me to solve the puzzles he set and complete the task of saving human civilization...I am under a lot of pressure. I have used up all my knowledge and experiences and even had help from the government machines, yet I still have not made any progress. I'm thinking, did your brother make a mistake entrusting this task to me?"

I tried my best to even out my thoughts, viewing the most beautiful scenery I can imagine, enjoying the best life imaginable, being with the best people—I tried my hardest to put aside this mystery, but I can't do it, I really can't. Your brother's last words are like a bone worm, constantly clinging to me and not allowing me a moment of liberation. I want to solve it but I can't. I want to put it aside but it's always there.

Zhao Huasheng's voice was slightly downcast.

Li Wei tightened her grip on Zhao Huasheng's arm, as if to transmit some unseen energy.

"I'm here with you," Li Wei said softly. "I'm here to bear it with you."

"Thank you. If you weren't here, I wouldn't be able to take it." Zhao Huasheng said.

The night was still quiet. The faint sound of waves continued incessantly.The sky was like a pure black curtain, and the stars were like jewels. The night was beautiful, and Zhao Huasheng and Li Wei were both silent. Under the night sky, Zhao Huasheng's thoughts drifted to the distance again.

"The enjoyment should be over now," Zhao Huasheng said after a pause. "From tomorrow, I will resume work. I have the unique key to unlock the puzzle, and you are the person closest to your brother. Let's solve the puzzle left by your brother together."

"Okay," Li Wei said.

Meng Zhuo stood still at a distance of no more than twenty meters from here. This distance ensured that he could arrive at Zhao Huasheng's side within a second in case of an emergency, and that he would not interfere with Zhao Huasheng's thoughts because of his presence.

Meng Zhuo's headphones were transmitting a speech into Meng Zhuo's ears. "According to the evaluation of our psychology experts group, we believe that dating will not only not affect Zhao Huasheng's work efficiency but will actually bring many benefits. This can make Zhao Huasheng's mind more resilient and increase his ability to endure. Under positive emotions, Zhao Huasheng's thinking will be more keen, which will be of great help to Zhao Huasheng in solving the puzzles. Especially because Li Wei is Li Qi's sister, she is the person who is most familiar with Li Qi, and her presence will bring many conveniences to Zhao Huasheng's work. So this is a good thing. You should not only not interfere with them but instead create as many opportunities for them as possible."

"I understand," Meng Zhuo said indifferently, his voice just loud enough not to be heard by Zhao Huasheng, but still picked up by the headphones, "The latest development is that under Li Wei's encouragement, Zhao Huasheng has decided to resume work from tomorrow."

"See, this is the advantage of being in a relationship," said a psychologist in the headphones.