It's not even December yet, but Tulane College has already had two snowfalls.
Xia Zhiyang ran hurriedly past the square with a nutrient supplement in his mouth. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a snowman standing next to the statue of the three professors. He didn't know who made it, but the snowman was wearing a hat and holding a flower in his hand.
Xia Zhiyang slowed down his pace, his breath turning into a puff of white air. He stood on the snow for a while, then bent down to pick up the snow, carefully molded a palm-sized snowman, and placed it next to the big snowman - there were already dozens of small snowmen lined up in a row.
A thin layer of snow covered the statue. Xia Zhiyang thought that the three professors now had gray hair.
He entered the classroom where the class was held on time. It was noisy and basically full. The holographic projector was already turned on. Xia Zhiyang took two steps inside and saw Ye Pei waving at him.
Sitting down in the seat reserved for him, Xia Zhiyang complained while opening the recording board: "The homework assigned by Professor Fu yesterday was too difficult. The processing model of the architecture was beyond my knowledge, and I finished it after four in the morning. My personal terminal didn't wake me up in the morning, and my mother went out to buy flowers with her friends and didn't wake me up either. I almost overslept."
Ye Pei turned the metal pen in his hand and suggested: "Next time, you can set your personal terminal as an alarm clock with electricity, and you will definitely wake up!"
Xia Zhiyang was shocked: "So cruel?"
"It's definitely useful! You only need to electrify it once, and your biological clock will be very, very accurate in the future! This is the experience that Mondrian and I have accumulated in the Expeditionary Force's Technical Department." Ye Pei asked Xia Zhiyang again, "Where did you get stuck last night? Let's discuss it after class?"
The holographic projection of the professor on the podium had solidified, and the class was about to begin. Xia Zhiyang quickly agreed: "Okay, okay, wait for me after class!"
After school, Xia Zhiyang did not go home immediately, but followed the address to a restaurant near Sky Diamond Plaza.
"Table 1173..." After he found the seat as instructed, he stood a few meters away and did not go directly over.
A young man was already sitting at the table opposite them. His hair was shaped with hair wax, and he was wearing a well-fitting suit and a tie. He was sitting upright, as if he was expecting something and was very nervous. He drank water several times in a row and there was a bouquet of flowers at his hand.
Xia Zhiyang hesitated for a long time before walking over: "Hello."
The young man looked up when he heard the voice, and said with an apologetic smile: "Sorry, the seat opposite me is taken." After that, he subconsciously looked at the time.
Xia Zhiyang tightened his fingers and asked, "Excuse me, are you waiting for Emily?"
The young man paused for a moment, then politely replied, "Yes, I made an appointment with her at 6:30 p.m., November 27, 217, Star Calendar, 6:30 p.m. She said she would be there on time."
As if realizing something, he emphasized again: "She said she would be on time for the appointment."
Meeting the other person's eyes, Xia Zhiyang's throat was slightly dry: "She... couldn't come, so she asked me to go to the appointment on her behalf."
The young man's smile gradually faded and turned pale. He stared at the bouquet unconsciously for a long time, and his lips trembled: "She clearly said that she would be on time..."
This was not the first time Xia Zhiyang had faced such a situation, but he still didn't know what to say or do.
"Actually, actually I guessed it." The young man was incoherent, "I couldn't get in touch with him... Leto is in isolation, so it's normal that I can't get in touch with him... I still can't get in touch with him. I sent a lot of messages, but no one replied. Obviously Leto is already well..."
Xia Zhiyang turned his head away, not knowing where to look.
He suddenly wondered, at this moment, how many people are crying because of promises that can never be fulfilled and people who will never come back
A few minutes later, Xia Zhiyang sat on the empty chair. He did not touch the tableware in front of him, but just listened quietly to the person opposite him.
"Emily and I met at a salon. We drank coffee together in a virtual coffee shop and talked for a long time... It was very fun. We have the same interests and read many of the same books. I understand everything she says, and she knows the source of every sentence I say. Isn't it amazing?"
There was still a glimmer in his eyes. "Also, we wrote a melody together, a melody that came together without any intention! But she was in Leto, and I was working in a space station in the Kepler region, so we made an appointment to meet. Later, Leto fell and before the communication was cut off, she sent a message and changed the time to today."
However.
Xia Zhiyang told everything he knew.
"I have met Emily twice. She is a member of the Leto Underground Academy of Sciences."
The young man leaned forward slightly, not wanting to miss a single word.
Hearing the term "Underground Academy of Sciences", he smiled and said, "Yes, Emily is very talented in electronic mechanics. She can make a metal bird that can flap its wings by itself using only very simple things!"
"Yes, she has done a lot of things and helped and protected many people." Xia Zhiyang reluctantly avoided the young man's gaze and stared at the restaurant light reflected on the empty wine glass. "I went out to buy something and saw her lying in a corner on the road. After recognizing her, I thought she was not feeling well. When I got closer, I found that she had... a gunshot wound in her abdomen."
During that time, he would often avoid the rebels patrolling the streets and walk along some side roads to get a brief moment of relaxation and respite.
The young man said softly: "She must be in pain, the gunshot wound in the abdomen—"
There was already sob in his voice.
"Leto was very... strict at that time. Emily might have been exposed and targeted by the rebels. In order to avoid being discovered by the light storage device disguised as a bracelet on her wrist, she must have run a long way after being injured. Finally, she ran out of strength and hid."
The young man asked, "Is there something important in the light storage?"
"Yes, there are many important drawings stored in it. Emily had a teacher at the underground science academy. They went out together once and encountered an explosion. The teacher died and gave all his unfinished drawings to Emily for safekeeping. Since then, Emily has converted the light storage device into a bracelet and wears it on her body."
"When I saw her, she was almost unconscious. After she stuffed the light storage device into my hand, she only had time to tell me the time and place you agreed on, and asked me to say 'sorry' to you, and that she loved you."
After leaving the restaurant, Xia Zhiyang habitually pulled up the hood of his hoodie and put it on, then walked a few steps and put it back down.
He thought of the young man sobbing and crying in his seat and the bouquet of flowers next to him when he left. His chest felt stuffy, as if it was blocked by a ball of wet cotton.
I walked aimlessly to the fountain in the Sky Diamond Plaza, where many people were laughing and taking photos.
A continuous reminder tone sounded on the personal terminal.
One was a travel advertisement pushed to him, and the other was a message from Professor Fu, praising him for his great progress and saying that he would definitely get an A in the final exam.
After replying to the message, Xia Zhiyang looked to the other side according to his memory—the memorial hall was already under construction.
It is said that every sacrifice will be recorded.
Xia Zhiyang remembered what Wen Shiqing said.
"For me, this ending is not terrible. You should understand what I mean."
He thought, I understand.
But it will still be sad.
Fortunately, dawn finally broke.