Chapter 45 Heavenly Wave Blessing

"Cheers!"

Gao Yuan and Xiang Weiguo lifted their glasses of white liquor, and Luo Xingyu did the same before all three of them downed their drinks.

Now there was no shortage of alcohol because they had an entire village's supply to drink from. Whether in the countryside or the city, which household wouldn't have a bottle or two of liquor?

On New Year's Eve, it began to snow heavily.

The alcohol was halfway to its full effect, and midnight had already passed.

There was no gala, no fireworks, but there were dumplings, dishes, and liquor.

"Uncle Xiang, I wish you a Happy New Year, I'm going to kneel for you."

Gao Yuan was slightly tipsy and, buoyed by the alcohol, he was earnest as he stood up, left his seat, and firmly knelt in front of Xiang Weiguo to kowtow.

According to tradition, kneeling for the elders was part of the New Year's customs, but very few people followed this tradition anymore.

In fact, Gao Yuan had never followed this tradition, but today was different, because this New Year was different, and the world was different.

In a post-apocalyptic world, you have to cherish what's in front of you.

"Oh my, I don't have any red envelopes here."

Xiang Weiguo readily accepted Gao Yuan's gesture. Whether by age, seniority, or status, he certainly deserved Gao Yuan's respect.

Luo Xingyu said with a giggle, "Being so formal, huh? Then I'll kneel too. Uncle Xiang, I wish you good health and all the best, Happy New Year to you."

Xiang Weiguo laughed until tears came out, and he helped the two of them up with one hand each. Then, his tears really fell.

"I'm happy today, truly happy. Let's see what I can give as New Year's money... Ah..."

Xiang Weiguo fished around in his clothing, but unfortunately, he really had nothing to give.

"That's enough, Uncle Xiang, don't search anymore. I know what you have better than you do. What need is there for New Year's money now? Drink a few more glasses, and everything will be there."

Gao Yuan returned to his seat and lifted his glass, but Xiang Weiguo did not raise his, instead saying resolutely, "That won't do. You've given me New Year's greetings; I've got to show some gratitude. If there's no New Year's money, I'll give you gifts instead. Wait here for a second!"

Xiang Weiguo grabbed the flashlight from the table and stood up quickly, leaving. Luo Xingyu smiled at Gao Yuan, "Look at you, making Uncle Xiang dig deep into his chest. Come on, let's drink another."

Luo Xingyu raised her glass, and Gao Yuan looked at her, "You should drink less, your face is already red."

After clinking glasses with Gao Yuan, Luo Xingyu downed her drink in one gulp, then looked at Gao Yuan and said, "Xiang Weiguo said to take the initiative, and I think he's right."

"Happy New Year, I wish you become more and more beautiful, stay healthy, and may all your wishes come true, I'm drinking to that."

"Now that you've had this drink, you're mine. If you dare to dump me, I'll shoot you in the back!"

Gao Yuan, who had just drunk his liquor, choked on it. He coughed violently a few times and said to Luo Xingyu, "Have you drunk too much? Talking about shooting people in the back."

Luo Xingyu said seriously, "If you marry me, I'll make sure you're the happiest man in the world. If you dare to run off with another woman, I guarantee I'll shoot you in the back. I won't kill you, I'll just break your legs so I can keep a good eye on you."

"During the New Year, can't you say something nice..."

Luo Xingyu smiled sweetly, "Alright, something nice. Brother Yuan, I love you. Marry me soon. It doesn't matter if we can't have a wedding, because you're already mine. Oh no, I mean I'm already yours. You'll take care of it."

"Is this also something Uncle Xiang taught you? Can't he teach you something good?"

Luo Xingyu was really a bit drunk. She stared at Gao Yuan and said, "Will you marry me? Look how beautiful I am, how sensible, how good, and how cute, and also a sharpshooter. Wouldn't you want to marry someone like me?"

"You've drunk too much."

"I haven't drunk too much, and so what if I have? Just answer me, will you marry me or not?"

"The order is reversed, and besides, I should be the one to say this. This isn't right."

"If you don't take the initiative, then I must. Answer me first, do you like me, do you love me? Will you marry me? Is the order okay now?"

What was Gao Yuan afraid of?

Actually, he wasn't really afraid of anything; he just had a slight psychological barrier. He liked Luo Xingyu, but he wasn't in love—not the love between a man and a woman, not yet, anyway.

"I like you, but, let's wait until I fall in love with you, then I'll tell you, and then marry you, how about that?"

Luo Xingyu thought for a moment and said, "Okay, let's agree on that. Remember, a promise made must be kept."

"A man's word is his bond, Happy New Year."

"Brother Yuan, Happy New Year to you too. I wish you good health, long life, and that all your dreams come true, and also… may you have many sons soon."

Luo Xingyu had just finished speaking when Xiang Weiguo came in, smiling, "Very good, very good, isn't this nice? Here, Happy New Year, I have something good for each of you."

Xiang Weiguo had two small boxes in his hand; he handed one to Gao Yuan and the other to Luo Xingyu.

With a face full of emotion, Xiang Weiguo said loudly, "I'm giving these to you, take good care of them, and don't lose them."

Gao Yuan opened his box to find a Second-Class Medal of Honor inside, and Luo Xingyu opened hers to find the same.

Gao Yuan was taken aback, then he said in surprise, "How can I accept this?"

Xiang Weiguo smiled and said, "This is my most precious possession. Although it's not worth much money, it's something I wanted to pass on to my family. But having no sons or daughters, I'm giving it to you today as a keepsake. Perhaps in the future, if you have children, you can pass it on and say you had an elder... who once received a military medal."

Gao Yuan was about to refuse, but Luo Xingyu sweetly said, "Thank you, Uncle Xiang."

Luo Xingyu gently kicked Gao Yuan with her foot, so after a moment of hesitation, he also accepted the medal, saying, "Thank you, Uncle Xiang, I will take good care of this medal."

Xiang Weiguo let out a sigh, then cheerful again, he said, "Let's drink, let's drink."

Just then, the shortwave radio that Gao Yuan had left on and hadn't turned off suddenly made a sound.

At three specific times, Gao Yuan would tune the frequency to a specific channel. But outside of those times, if Gao Yuan turned on the radio, he would adjust it to a public band, because this band would receive calls from more people. Most importantly, knowing that Pipe was still alive and could call at any time, Gao Yuan had to listen on the public band for Pipe's calls, as they had agreed.

"This is Shanghai City Second Shelter, on this festive New Year's occasion, we send our greetings to all compatriots who can hear us, and I want to tell everyone that we have already survived the most difficult times. Keep going and welcome the coming of spring!"

There are two ways that shortwave signals propagate: ground waves and sky waves. Ground waves are limited to short-range communications, but sky waves can travel very far though they are unstable. Therefore, a shortwave radio can sometimes receive signals from any corner of the world depending on clouds and various factors such as the Earth's rotation angle.

Receiving such a greeting on the most commonly used public channel in the early morning hours of New Year's Eve, although it did not serve any practical purpose, still brought warmth to the heart and was inspiring.

It wasn't Pipe calling, yet Gao Yuan was still very happy.

Luo Xingyu looked at Gao Yuan, surprised and said, "Someone is broadcasting."

Just then, the radio crackled again with an excited voice, "Anxi First Shelter extends New Year's greetings to all the people of the nation. Hold on to the end, that's victory!"

It's possible for a shortwave radio to receive signals from any corner of the globe, which also means that it's impossible to receive calls from all locations. However, on this first New Year's Eve following the disaster, calls began to come one after another.

But these were only calls from the major shelters because it was only the military, tasked with protecting the shelters, that could possibly have preserved usable radios post-electromagnetic pulse.

When more advanced communication equipment was destroyed, the outdated but never obsolete shortwave radios finally showed their role as a global communication facility.

In the radio, New Year greetings were exchanged in quick succession.

At that moment, Gao Yuan let out a sigh, sat next to the radio, and after waiting for the previous call to end, he pressed the transmitter and said, "This is survivor Camp One located in Taihang Mountain, representing the three members of our camp, I extend New Year greetings to all the people of the nation."

Gao Yuan looked at Xiang Weiguo and Luo Xingyu, smiling, "I couldn't resist joining in on the excitement."

Gao Yuan put down the microphone only to hear someone in the radio say, "There's another survivor station? That's great, that's really great. Guisui Shelter sends New Year greetings to all the survivors. The previous person, if you can, get to a large shelter. Happy New Year, over."

"Guisui Shelter, don't break the formation, Great Plains Fourth Shelter sends New Year greetings to all the people of the nation, and extends holiday greetings to all survivors. Please make sure you hold on to the end, a new year with a new outlook! Humanity will not be extinguished!"

The broadcasting paused, no one else called in. Perhaps on this channel, everyone capable of receiving the signal had already expressed their good wishes.

Was this humankind, no, the Shenzhou People reminiscing about the pleasant past, or were they looking forward to the future?

It was probably a bit of both. Even if hope was not visible for the moment, as long as one was still alive, maybe one could still see hope one day. In other words, to be alive was to have victory.

After more than a minute of silence in the radio, it finally came to life again, this time with a voice familiar to Gao Yuan.

"Individual survivor Pipe extends New Year greetings to all who are listening by the radio, and to that survivor from Camp One, over."

Gao Yuan was excited because Yu Shunzhou was calling him.

But Yu Shunzhou didn't dare to reveal his identity, which meant he had concerns.

Gao Yuan pressed the talk button and said, "Individual survivor Bladesmith at Camp One sends New Year greetings to Pipe. Being able to receive blessings from afar at our agreed moment feels really great."

This time, no one else responded to Gao Yuan; the calls in the public channel continued, but Yu Shunzhou's call was never heard again.

Xiang Weiguo looked serious and said, "You've made contact, haven't you?"

Gao Yuan's smile was broad; he nodded and said, "I told him I would be waiting for his call during our agreed time slots. He will definitely call me again! He definitely will!"

Luo Xingyu let out a sigh, her face glowing with happiness, and she said cheerfully, "This is so exciting, Uncle Xiang, Brother Yuan, happy New Year."

Gao Yuan handed the microphone to Luo Xingyu, earnestly saying, "Maybe someone will hear you. Take advantage of the many people listening now to make a call; you have nothing to hide, openly call for your father."

Luo Xingyu paused, then said, "Right, why not?"

Luo Xingyu walked over to the radio, took the microphone, thought for a moment, then finally pressed the transmit button, and announced loudly, "I am Luo Xingyu, I'm still alive, if anyone can hear me, I want to say... Dad, I miss you, Gao Yuan, I love you, over!"