7 Someone Else’s Child

A ten-minute walk towards the East from the subway station would lead to his Aunt's house.

"…You're truly leaving Earth? You're the only child in your family for goodness sake! If you were my son, I would definitely scold you to death!"

Expectedly, his Aunt was brimming with tears and could not bear to part with him. She came up with all different sorts of methods to persuade him to stay.

When faced with relatives who cared for him, Zhang Yuan could only awkwardly smile as he had no idea what to say. Trying to get out of the awkward atmosphere, he turned his line of sight outside of the window.

His Aunt lived on the 192nd story so he could see the scenery from high above when he looked outside.

Donghua City was rather well planned. The agricultural and industrial area was situated in the outermost ring, while the urban area was in the middle. Each residential building was spaced far apart, ensuring every household could see and enjoy the sunlight.

"Everything has already been confirmed. I would be labeled as a deserter if I go back on the contract and will be severely punished. This is also my dad's wish. If he was still alive, he would definitely support my decision…"

When he recalled those days and nights of struggle, how could he possibly give up at this crucial point in time?

"You won't be coming back?

"Yes, I won't be returning…"

His Aunt's eyes were red. She opened her mouth but could not find any words to say.

To conceal her sad emotions, she hastily ran into the kitchen to prepare some dishes. However, she could be seen wiping her eyes with her sleeves from time to time.

On the other hand, his Uncle was munching on melon seeds on the side while watching television with his legs folded on the soda.

He said rather open-mindedly, "A man should have lofty aspirations, and it's a good thing to go up in space. Plus, it is not like you are dying. Jeez, I wonder what your Aunt is feeling sad for!"

"Look at the news. If it weren't for my old age and insufficient knowledge level, I would have wanted to sign up!"

The sound of the television was very loud as a documentary about the spaceship, 'Earth Age', was airing. All sorts of grandiloquent phrases such as 'witness the history', 'new civilization' and 'human's first' caused his Uncle to feel hot-blooded and wished that he could go on a journey up the starry skies.

"Sigh, I'm too old now. If only I were as young as you."

After half an hour, the dishes were prepared, but the atmosphere on the dining table was somewhat silent. Zhang Yuan's Aunt kept urging him to eat more as she said strange words like: It's better to go on a full stomach; You won't get to eat chicken, duck, or fish when you're in space.

To reduce the worries of his relatives, Zhang Yuan initiated a talk about some of his future plans.

"Other than some routine maintenance work, there is tons of personal time on the spaceship. Therefore, I plan to gain more knowledge before we go into hibernation. It would be best if I can complete my masters' and PhD before arriving at the destination…"

"There are teachers on board?" Zhang Yuan's Aunt asked.

"Of course, there are half a million people on board! The vast majority of them are all skilled in some kind of word and their education level is much higher than mine. Moreover, there are also many outstanding people on board. For example, university professors, senior engineers in enterprises, and so on. All these experts are very skilled… there are even some national scholars!"

His Uncle nodded and sighed. "It is a good plan; we should live and learn as long as we can. Qing'er, did you hear that? If you don't study, you can't get a foothold in this society. Knowledge is essential no matter what you do! We are no longer in the olden days…"

The girl sitting next to Zhang Yuan was his Aunt's daughter, Ye Qingqing. When she was suddenly mentioned and lectured, she could not help but click her tongue.

Even though Zhang Yuan was not a genius, he was the prime example of a hardworking student. He was a good student from his relatives' point of view. So, obviously, Ye Qingqing would be unhappy when she was always compared to a 'good student'.

Ye Qingqing softly retorted in a voice only audible to herself, "I won't need to know trigonometric functions to sell a dish…"

In fact, she did not dare to loudly retort for the fear that her father would hear her which she would then be reprimanded.

With the development of times, the statement 'learning is useless' had long been cast aside by the populace.

A simple comparison would be, the average annual income of workers in major space cities and lunar bases was around 600k, while the average annual income of citizens in Xia Country was 60k.

The average annual income of the two was a difference of ten times!

Furthermore, Xia Country was considered a very wealthy country on Earth.

If one does not study, then apologies, they are unable to go up to space and it was highly likely for them to be one of the people with low-incomes.

In the eyes of ordinary people, working in space cities or lunar bases was an extremely respected job.

"That's right, when will you enter hibernation? I saw from the television that the majority of the journey would be spent in hibernation, and on average, a person would not be awake for more than 10 years…"

Zhang Yuan thought for a moment and said, "That would… depend on one's ability. If we are fit enough, we can apply to enter hibernation at a later time. Ordinary people would most likely enter hibernation after replenishing supplies on Jupiter and sleep for a few centuries before waking up and staying awake for a few years. The process would then repeat itself. Everyone would take turns to work so that we can all tide through the difficult period.

"After all, it would at least take us 3000 years before we reach our destination."

"3000 years…"

His Aunt's eyes started to turn red once again. They would have already passed away by then, not even their bones would remain.

No one knew what would happen in the future, nor would they think about stuff that happens 3000 years later.

His Uncle also sighed. "Aish, enough talking about that, let's eat, let's eat first."

Zhang Yuan was filled with emotions.

Every astronaut would face such a decision. They had to abandon their mother plant and everything they owned.

Time waited for no man, with the past becoming increasingly difficult to recall. The half a million people would witness the history of Earth and personally see the course of Earth in the next 3000 years.

Even though it sounded cool, it was in fact, an extremely cruel thing.

They were people who would be abandoned by the whole era.

Perhaps some would wonder why half a million people were willing to undergo this process. It sounded strange and in reality, it was also very strange.

The reason was… a short-lived cicada does not know the seasons.1

If they never walked out of the Earth, they would never know how huge space was.

If Earth were observed based on the cosmic scale, people would realize that the home of humans was in fact, extremely insignificant. It was so insignificant as if you could just flick it off like the dust on your finger.

Similar to how the founder of Deep Space Foundation, the father of nuclear fusion energy, Professor Qi Yuanshan had said a century ago, that even roused those apathetic people: What do astronautics and aeronautics have to do with interests!

The atmosphere turned increasingly silent and only sounds of eating could be heard. His Uncle suddenly asked, "Erm, Qing'er will be taking her university entrance examinations next year. Do you have any good majors to recommend her? Those that have good employment prospects."

Zhang Yuan was admitted into Z University—it was basically the best school that an ordinary person could enroll in. Moreover, he had interned before in space cities so he knew the general situation up there.

Ye Qingqing raised her head. She was already a sophomore in high school. As she had a more outgoing personality, she rather disliked studying. From her usual results, she knew her standards and so, she did not expect herself to enter a good university.

In her point of view, not studying was the greatest liberation. As long as she did not have to study, she would have a relaxed and happy life.

Even selling vegetables at the market was better than studying.

Zhang Yuan gave it a thought and said, "She should choose a major depending on her interest."

His Aunt embarrassingly said, "She doesn't have any special interest or hobbies…"

In fact, it was very common to be unsure. The majority of the sophomores did not know their future path, nor did they have a complete layout plan of their future.

In any case, if the teachers and their parents wanted them to study, they would only follow suit. It was only when they had to fill up their aspiration form would they hastily spend a few days planning their future.