Cat and Rose - Cat & Rose - Chapter 79 - Fin • Cat and Rose

Chapter 79 – Fin • Cat and Rose

Many other things were written on that chip. There was at least a part of Lucia’s consciousness that came from Ye Selin, and this was also the reason why Zheng Shu tried his best to protect Lucia at the beginning—because he made a promise to his beloved fiancée.

He believed in his heart that he did not take the situation into full consideration. It was his fault that Ye Selin died in the freezer; now that she was fused with Lucia, she could be considered alive in a different way.

After all…who would have thought that the gentle and kind Ye Selin was the murderer? Therefore, even when the Expeditioner insisted on connecting with the Voyager, even when it was obvious that there was a fault with Lucia, he only thought that the culprit was someone who planted bad information in Lucia.

When he found out that Madam Chen was killed and the system’s betrayal was the only explanation for everything, he finally realised that Ye Selin may not be the original Ye Selin anymore.

Afterwards, he hinted the truth to Lin Si and Tang Ning and chose cryogenic sleep.

He had no doubt that Lin Si would be able to understand his hints, then remove Lucia’s core hardware to solve this matter.

However, he never expected that Lucia already made a backup of herself and copied Vivian’s emotional system. As an emotional system that passed the Bradrick test, it could theoretically hold all the memories and emotions of a human. Thus, Lucia completely broke away from the hardware, Ye Selin was reborn on the Voyager in the form of pure code, and finally, she invaded Vivian’s program and launched the final attack.

Countless casualties and losses were indirectly caused by him. At the conclusion of all conclusions, he chose to end his own life.

As for whether the true Ye Selin existed within that consciousness, nobody could pass judgement.

From this, they also understood why the image of Lucia’s blonde hair and white armour always appeared so quiet and holy. On every part of her was Ye Selin’s shadow, while the torch and large sword in her hands were not meaningless decorations either.

That inextinguishable torch was the symbol of the goddess of revenge in the ancient Greek legends.77 With her torch, she shone upon all the filth and evil in this world, then ended them with the weapon in her hand.

Indeed, filth and evil.

Until today, who could link those two words with the Voyager?

But the naked truth was displayed right in front of their eyes.

The things on the microchip ended here. There was another document that was addressed to Tang Ning.

Tang Ning made a copy of it. His eyes were downcast, expression unclear.

Vivian stood on her tiptoes to touch his face, “Don’t be sad…”

Her clear blue eyes watered as she said, “Vivian won’t leave Tang Ning like he did…”

Tang Ning responded with a quiet “yeah” and said to everyone in the room, “I’m leaving first.”

He led Vivian out of the Marshal’s office. Vivian made a face at the others before exiting.

“Don’t worry,” she told Ling Yi. “I’ll make him feel better again!”

Ling Yi smiled at her in response.

When the door closed, he buried his head on Lin Si’s shoulder and said nothing.

Lin Si hugged him tightly and gently smoothed his hair.

“This was indeed what happened.” The Marshal looked like he had aged a lot overnight. He said calmly, “the construction of the Voyager was not approved by the United Government. From its establishment to departure, it was a private act, which resulted in extremely disastrous consequences.”

He confessed to it—confessed to the bloody debts that weighed heavily on the Voyager’s deck.

Lin Si thought, the final question was resolved as well.

Why did the Marshal first suspect Area 3 under his jurisdiction whenever something happened on the Voyager?

—Because Ling Jing’s troops had raised their arms against the ten thousands of compatriots on Earth, and slaughtered them with thermonuclear weapons.

Any incident, as long as it occurred, would leave traces behind. There was no guarantee whether someone in Area 3 would discover this incident, then deduce the stance of the entire Voyager. Soldiers often possessed a sense of duty and justice greater than ordinary people, hence, if there was anyone who loathed the Voyager, either they would be from the Wilkins Laboratory, or they would be from Area 3.

“I acknowledge that the Voyagers are full of sin,” said the Marshal, “but the Voyagers have their own reasons too.”

Lin Si looked at him.

The Marshal opened his desk drawer and pulled out a piece of paper at the very bottom, “Madam Chen predicted that the truth would be uncovered one day, so she left this behind even before we set off.”

Lin Si intercepted it.

It was a handwritten letter by Madam Chen. Her handwriting was the same as her character, calm and solemn.

I can no longer see any hope on this piece of land. Whenever I input the parameters of the real world into the model, no matter how fast technology develops hypothetically, the result it calculates is that humankind will gradually move towards complete extinction in the next five hundred to two thousand years. We must take measures to stop this.

I handed these things over to the United Government and the Association of Scientists, but nobody truly understood its importance. What they believed was survival was simply prolonging our final breath on a land devastated by nuclear and war. Human nature has always been this weak. Self-comfort is its only strength, believing that as long as we are safe tomorrow, everything can last forever.

As such, I planned the Voyager with a few like-minded people. We obtained funding from business conglomerates,78 obtained intellectual support from many distinguished scientists, and spent twelve years building this great ship. The government’s powerlessness and the chaos of the situation created extremely large loopholes in the military system—due to this, we were able to acquire a certain amount of military power, even if they all believed that the Voyager is a Noah’s Ark approved by the United Government.

As long as the Voyager can set sail smoothly, human civilization will be able to resume once more in another place, escaping the curse of its imminent extinction. For this, I will do whatever it takes. Perhaps this process will be full of blood and sacrifice, perhaps we will have to raise arms against our fellow compatriots, perhaps the entire Earth will accelerate to its demise because of the Voyager, but it will all be worth it.

It may be misunderstood, cursed upon, attacked, but after thousands of years, there will always be someone who looks down on the river of human civilization from a macro perspective. At that time, they shall know what a glorious milestone the Voyager’s take-off was in the entire history of humankind.

My hands will undoubtedly be stained with sin, my spirit will undoubtedly suffer from torment, but there is one thing I am equally certain of—for all this, I have no regrets.

The dust settled.

The truth of this era floated to the surface, amidst the sea of stars in which it swayed and teetered forwards on.

At some point, the Marshal had pulled out the gun at his waist, aimed it at his temple, and was about to pull the trigger.

“Put it down,” said Lin Si.

The Marshal widened his eyes, looked at him, and said, “I should receive punishment.”

“We still need you after we land,” said Lin Si.

“There are many people who can succeed my position,” said the Marshal.

Lin Si took a deep breath; his eyelashes quivered. “…I’ve forgiven you.”

Ling Yi’s grip on his hand tightened.

Lin Si gripped back and led him towards the door. He said, “Nobody was at fault.”

They left the Marshal’s office, closed the door, and embraced each other for a long time in the corridor.

Everyone—Ye Selin, Madam Chen, the Marshal…they were not wrong. They only held conflicting ideals.

Ye Selin loved every fresh, individual life, while Madam Chen only focused on the continuation of the entire civilization. This was the origin of all conflicts.

Ling Yi asked, “Then have you forgiven yourself?”

“…Mm-hm.”

Even If he had found an antibody to the Berlin virus on Earth, the virus could have undergone a fourth mutation before the antibody could be widely produced. Had he destroyed the Voyager’s master controls when it first set off, the other areas could have separated from the main body and began the voyage independently.

Ye Selin had always said that every person was a star in the sky, but in reality, every person was a grain of sand, swept up, controlled and washed away by the torrent of fate. When it came to destiny’s reign,79 sometimes, it was only a matter of probability—seldom were there things in this world that deserved long-lasting obsession and yearning.

“Lin Si,” Ling Yi suddenly said with a low voice. “…I love you.”

Lin Si flicked the bridge of his nose. “I love you too.”

Speaking of which, this was the first time they expressed their feelings with such words.

Ling Yi hugged him tightly. He returned with a gentle kiss. The touch of their bodies together created such a sweet feeling; the insatiable desire and thirst was endless. He drowned in it, to the point where he even wanted to stay forever inseparable.

The spaceship trembled.

—This time, they were completely out of the subspace.

According to the coordinates reported by Lucia, they had already made preparations within their hearts to see their lifeless homeland once more. But as the Voyager approached, they saw a planet that looked as if it was wrapped in purple satin.

Ling Yi looked outside the window, “This is the purple planet.”

Purple planet?

What about the Earth they were supposed to go to?

As if to respond to their questions, Vivian’s sweet voice rang through the ship’s cabins. “Currently fitting according to the data of the universe simulator, please wait.”

“Fitting complete. Location confirmed: Milky Way—Orion Arm—Third Ring of the Solar System. Confirmed the name of the planet: Earth. Welcome home!”

Lin Si: “.”

Ling Yi: “…”

“Are you a moron?” 80Lin Si pinched Ling Yi’s face. “You all landed on it, hovered over it, but you still didn’t realise it was Earth?”

Ling Yi mumbled, “They’re all planets anyway, and it was such a strange one. The Expeditioner evacuated after only twenty hours, how could I have known…”

“Not even a single person noticed?” Lin Si could not believe it.

“No,” Ling Yi said assuredly, “who told you not to come?”

Lin Si coughed.

With the average knowledge level of “limitless”, it already took effort for them to identify the eight planets of the solar system, let alone discover that the cosmic environment here was exactly like the solar system. It was virtually child’s play for Lucia to falsify data and star charts to make them believe that they truly arrived on a distant planet millions of light years away.

Therefore, Lucia had forged the entire route of the Expeditioner’s eight-year-long voyage. On the surface, it was a distant star exploration, but in reality, it was a journey back to Earth. When Madam Chen used the universe simulator to analyse the route, she realised something was odd and unintentionally discovered the truth.

“Therefore,” Lin Si analysed, “the purple virus was the result produced after the Berlin virus had gone through countless mutations.”

“What about those purple creatures?”

“Let me get something.”

Lin Si took out the sample he preserved of the Berlin virus crystals—a flesh-colored gelatinous object sealed in a test tube.

He poured out the round, jelly-like thing.

“Don’t worry, you have antibodies,” said Lin Si.

Ling Yi touched that thing.

“They’re really similar,” he said truthfully.

Lin Si sampled a little piece and put it under the microscope. “Look again.”

Ling Yi looked down at the microstructure of the thing. It was indescribable; the thin strands protruded, tangled up and intertwined, and even seemed to sparkle a little.

“They’re really similar.” His entire body went numb.

The image under the microscope was exactly like…the surface of the purple planet! Those strange plants of varying sizes that intertwined with each other—their shape was exactly the same as what he was seeing right now!

He continued, “What about that strong corrosive liquid after it breaks apart?”

“If you puncture the Berlin virus aggregate with a micro-probe, liquid will flow out as well, but it’s just not very corrosive,” said Lin Si.

Ling Yi: “…”

Alright.

An emergency meeting was held in Area 6. After up to several hours of discussion, they finally reached a consensus.

For over two hundred years, the long-term evolution and mutations of the Berlin virus had allowed them to evolve strange properties. After consuming all animals, plants, and microorganisms, they ultimately formed aggregates that covered the entire surface of the earth. When there was no longer any life that remained, they laid dormant and took the form of chemical crystals—or other forms that appeared more dead than alive, with unknown properties that would require further investigation.

As for the creatures in the water—their preliminary conclusion was a symbiosis formed by a fish species and the virus aggregate.

The good news was: this thing had an unknown property that could absorb nuclear dust and many other impurities, hence the air on Earth was as clean as the Ice Age.

The bad news was: how could they clear them away?

Ling Yi leaned against Lin Si, like Daji leaning against King Zhou of Shang,81 or like Helen who instigated the Trojan War. He said lazily, “Blow it up. Blow it all up.”

How?

Antimatter.

No matter how impenetrable it was, no matter how strange its properties were, it must be considered as matter, right?

Since it was matter, then when it encountered antimatter, they could only be annihilated.

An intense carpet bombing began. The grams of antimatter was strictly calculated and controlled so minimal damage was inflicted to the surface. When this massive bombardment was over, the Earth became bald.

Everything was reduced to flatland—whether it was Mount Everest or Mount Kilimanjaro. The Earth was now very much like a smooth ball.

On this land, all civilizations and barbarities, births and deaths, sorrows and joys, partings and reunions—were utterly reduced to zero.

And then, they could begin again.

Regarding those bygones of bloodshed, everyone tacitly agreed to never speak of them, and furthermore, buried them deeply within.

The voyage log read as such:

After the three-month voyage, we finally anchored on the purple planet. After overcoming the purple creatures, an extreme terrestrial planet emerged in front of us, and this 253-year voyage was officially concluded. On this new planet, we will rebuild our homeland, live on, and multiply. The Voyager has ended its mission and officially landed; henceforth, we will build the capital of the human kingdom with it as the centre.

We will name our new home ‘Thera’ to commemorate our eternal motherland—Earth.

At the new base, the Voyager’s flag was raised up high, heralding the dawn of a new era.

The history written in the logbook buried the gravestones with flowers. Everyone knew in their hearts, but nobody raised objections.

Because who this history was written for, was not them, but the generations afterwards.

A history like that needed to be written with flowers, rather than blood.

That way, when the new generation reaches adulthood, this voyage flag will remain in their hearts forever as a splendid image, inspiring them to open up new territories on this planet. And thus, this new era would have a flawless beginning.

The true history was buried deeply within the hearts of the Voyagers. All misery, suffering, struggles, would also return to dust.

The Voyager was forever pure, forever noble, with sails forever raised up high, moving forwards without stopping.

A banquet was held to celebrate the establishment of the first human base. Lin Si took over Madam Chen’s position and was currently managing the scientific research areas of this base. The Marshal did not commit suicide in the end and continued to preside over as the leader. He kept Ling Yi by his side more and more often, and began to hand over all sorts of affairs for him to take over, as if he had already identified his successor after retirement.

However, during this banquet, the two of them slipped out and went to the rooftop to stargaze.

Ling Yi was holding a long rectangular box, but refused to let Lin Si see its contents.

“In the end, we still came back.” He hugged his knees and looked at the starry sky, a hint of melancholy in his voice.

“Actually, there’s another explanation for the Fermi Paradox,” Lin Si said. “Our universe is very young, so the planets it formed are all monotonous and boring. Apart from Earth as a unique existence, all other planets have not yet given birth to life, and do not possess a suitable environment for life to survive either.”

“So we’re the only life in existence?” Ling Yi looked at the glittering stars. “Why is the universe so cruel?”

“It doesn’t know either.” Lin Si’s fingers scratched Ling Yi’s palm gently. “Or you could say…it created us in order to contemplate itself.”

Ling Yi tilted his head. “Why?”

Lin Si unfolded Ling Yi’s hands to show him.

“All chemical elements were formed in the first 0.3 seconds of the Big Bang. Therefore, every part of us is also a part of the universe. We are the matter of the cosmos—when we contemplate the universe, the universe contemplates itself.” 82

“Ah…”

“So death isn’t something to be afraid of,” said Lin Si. “It’s just returning to inorganic matter once again…unless you get destroyed by antimatter weapons.”

Cautiously, Ling Yi said, “Actually, you were almost destroyed by me, because I didn’t know the amount of Eq I needed to blow up a wormhole.”

“Uh-huh,” Lin Si said mildly, “actually, you almost died too.”

Ling Yi: “Huh?”

“Lucia didn’t make a mistake in her calculations. At first, I didn’t want to sacrifice Area 6 to save the Voyager,” Lin Si said quietly. “I almost guessed the truth of the Voyager…through minor details like the Marshal’s attitude and so on. At that time, I thought, it would be better to just let it be destroyed. But after thinking again, you were still on the ship, so I also saved them while I was at it.”

“Wow…” Ling Yi was first surprised, then laughed. “Actually, I also have something to tell you.”

“Hm?”

“I’ve already recovered all my memories of Earth.” Ling Yi hugged him tightly and spoke in his ear. “In the beginning, Ye Selin was leaving to board the Voyager and said goodbye to me. She said that she and dad would leave me, but I don’t have to be afraid, because she found a very good person to take care of me…was that you?”

“Mm-hm…” Lin Si said, smiling. “It was me.”

Ling Yi let out a yowl and leapt into his arms.83

Therefore, even if everything did not happen, they would still meet—meet on Earth, live together, or die together.

Live together, or die together.

Together.

After they finished rolling, Ling Yi finally opened his long box.

A half-bloomed red rose laid quietly in it. Its sweet, pleasant fragrance soaked through his whole body.

“I’ve planted it,” Ling Yi said. “If I were the universe, I would give you all the Rosette nebulae I have…but I’m not, so I can only give you a real rose.”

He carefully placed the part without thorns into Lin Si’s hand.

“Actually, you are the universe,” Lin Si held it and said. “My entire universe.”

Ling Yi’s face turned red.

—Now you’ve made me flustered.

“Then you’re my rose.” He calmed his emotions, leaned on Lin Si’s side, and said softly, “When the base is almost done and things are back on the right track, shall we go to sleep together?”

Lin Si knew why he wanted to sleep.

The heavy burdens of the truth and the pain it caused could only be smoothed over by time. He wanted to undergo cryogenic sleep, just like how a kitten’s claws would instantly reel back when it touched a flame.

“Sure.” Lin Si hugged him. “I was thinking the same.”

“Really?”

“Mm-hm.” Lin Si softened his voice. “After a few hundred years, when humankind flourishes once more, we can wake up again. I want to find a very small town, open a small clinic there, be the only doctor in the town… “

Ling Yi laughed. “Then I’ll be the town’s policeman who often patrols around your area.”

“Hm…then you have a relatively bigger advantage,” Lin Si said. “If there are any stalkers, voyeurs, people like that in town, you can still use seduction on them.”

Ling Yi laughed, gave him a scratch, and rolled into a ball with him.

After a long while, they finally calmed down and watched the night sky together.

Ling Yi intertwined his fingers with Lin Si’s and said, “And then, we can look for a beautiful little house with a yard full of roses. Do you want a pet? You like cats…”

“Uh-huh.” Lin Si leaned over to kiss the corner of his lips. “I already have a cat.”

Ling Yi let out a laugh and kissed him.

The stars twinkled in the distant night sky. The world around them was absolute silence.

All of a sudden, noises from the banquet hall resounded from faraway. It was the people toasting, glass against glass, its rings euphonious and crisp.

“In hardships, we persist.”

“Forever, we live on.”

The author has something to say:

Main story complete.

Extra 1 – See My Words as Seeing Me 84

Xiao-Ning, see this letter as seeing me.

Tang Ning’s eyes turned red the moment he saw this sentence alone.

This letter was written during the period after I was defrosted. If Lucia drives the Voyager into the wormhole, we will die together. But if her plan is stopped, this letter will somehow find its way into your hands.

Early on, when I found out that Lucia had a part of Ye Selin’s consciousness, and furthermore, bore hatred for the ship, I knew that suicide was my only end. Regarding this, I have no objections, for all the reasons that led to this incident, when they happened back then, I made the decisions I definitely had to make. Now that it has ultimately come down to this, I have no regrets or remorse, only that I’m slightly unable to let you go.

I remember the first time I saw you was outside the IMO competition arena. You were still very young, the most astonishing talent of the British team that year whose reputation precedes you. The next year, you became a junior in the same school as us, and we gradually got to know each other. Later on, we were in the same batch of people who were awakened on the spaceship, and so I took custody of you. You have been very brilliant all the same. The Lucia programme has always been the pride of Area 5, just as I have always been proud of you.

In the dead of the night, the silhouettes of Ling Jing and Ye Selin linger in my dreams. I was unable to protect my lover from mental torture, nor could I fulfill what she entrusted to me before she left, allowing Ye Selin to pass away in an endless slumber. The most painful thing in a person’s destiny is when even though he has made the decision he should make at every step, it still leads to an irrevocable conclusion.

Back on Earth, Adelaide was always playful and headstrong; Lin Si and I both had to take care of him a lot. But after we boarded the ship, he became the one worrying over our mental health all day. However, there are indeed some things that can’t be forgotten; depression and pain always followed me like a shadow, and I haven’t felt happiness or joy for a long time. Even if I’m able to let go of my cherished memories of Ling Jing, I can’t regenerate new passion anymore.

As such, there are things you want that I cannot give you. It’s not that I don’t want to, but I am unable to. I can neither bring myself to accept a new relationship, nor am I willing to cause you suffering from having a relationship with someone like me. So when you became an adult, I gradually distanced myself from you.

To this day, I still don’t know whether this gesture was right or wrong, and whether it has caused you even greater harm. Whenever I see you hurt by my estrangement, I always feel a pain of the same extent. Sometimes, I will recall those nights before you were eighteen, where I would be drawing maps, and you would be typing codes across from me, or doing maths. You’d ask me about the parts you didn’t know, and when it was bedtime, you’d always refuse to go to sleep, until I forced you by turning the lights off.

If time can be turned back, I’m willing to return to my student days back on Earth, or to those years I spent with you on the spaceship. Your birthday is July 17, you like the colour white, you like grapes and not strawberries—I remember them all. If I could do it all over again, perhaps I would also make a different choice.

But time always moves forward. I have no other options, and can only say these words at the last moment: you did nothing wrong, it’s all because I can’t be honest with myself.

There are many people striving for the future of the Voyager, so I have no worries. When Lin Si and Adelaide hear the news of my death, they will be able to understand the reason why I did these things. I don’t have many tethers to this world. My only hope is that you won’t feel sad about this.85

Time is short; I can’t say more. I simply wish you all the best in your new home.

A person’s death is nothing but organic life returning to its inorganic state once more. I have been freed from the pain of the past, returned to the cosmos, and will meet with you again within the galaxies and great seas.

I’m leaving now. Don’t miss me.

Tang Ning stared for a long time, until the screen went to sleep due to inactivity and disappeared before his eyes.

He reached out and touched the interface again, but he could no longer read the text clearly, because the world in front of him had blurred over.

Trembling, he closed his eyes, and a scene of Earth from many years ago floated before his vision.

That was when he was thirteen or fourteen.

After the IMO that year, many people received invitations from this university. Among the universities in the world that were still operating normally, it was the most elite institution of all. He had been separated from his teammates whom he came together with and stood at the gates of the school, not knowing where to go.

The crowds came and went, rowdy and laughing, as if they were from another world. He had no way to communicate with people, and did not know how to communicate with them either. At that moment, he almost wanted to escape from the whole world; even his breathing became abnormally quick.

At this moment, Zheng Shu, who was passing by the school gate, saw him. They had met once outside the IMO arena.

“You’ve come here too?” He walked towards him. “Why are you just standing here?”

But Zheng Shu had always been considerate and empathetic. After an instant, he smiled openly and said, “Come with me.”

That day, they had lunch together, and later, they gradually became closer. Lin Si often discussed maths problems with himself. Adelaide gave him psychological counselling several times, and he gradually became less resistant to speaking with people—although he would still avoid it if possible.

Everyone was very nice, but Zheng Shu was always the special one. Perhaps it was because the sun was too bright that morning, and he possessed something that he could not have in his entire life—always roaming the crowds with ease, always conversing casually with people with a smile on his face.

After that, they reunited on the ship, and that would be another story to tell.

However, what Zheng Shu did not know was that he was not asking for anything in particular.

He liked Zheng Shu, but it wasn’t that he wanted a response, love and care, or anything else. He only wanted…to treat him well.

But Zheng Shu would never, ever know.

Just as what Zheng Shu truly felt in his heart, he would never know either.

After all, people’s feelings were too complicated. It was something he was unable to truly understand his whole life.

But the tears still streamed down his face, because of this indefinite parting that stretched on far into the distance, and that answer that was a hair’s breadth away from coming out but would never surface again in his entire life.

Vivian caressed his face carefully.

Suddenly, Tang Ning said flatly, “I’ve always felt that someone like me…nobody’s willing to be with someone like that. I won’t ever have a single friend.”

Vivian was stunned.

“That won’t happen,” she said earnestly. “I like Tang Ning a lot.”

Tang Ning did not respond.

“Your character is not your fault. I know that for you humans, your God is a computer, and your destiny is a program. There is a command that generates random numbers, which gave birth to all of you who are different and unique. Each and every one of you is adorable.” Vivian hugged him tightly. “But Tang Ning is the most special one. I like you the most.”

“You like me because I created you.”

Vivian let out a “hmph” noise. “No.”

Without waiting for Tang Ning’s response, she continued, “But even if that’s the case, I will always like Tang Ning. I have a long life. I can use it to watch over you, so that you eat properly, drink water, and sleep well. I’ll turn off the power for you every night, and when you die, I’ll shut down my emotional system…”

As she spoke, tears rolled down her pretty face, and she began to heave in broken sobs, crying even harder than Tang Ning. “Also…Tang Ning has friends too. Ling Yi and Lin Si are both good friends. You don’t need many many friends to be content…even Zheng Shu only had two good friends.”

Tang Ning petted her hair.

Vivian burrowed into his chest, bursting into loud sobs.

Tang Ning: “…”

He smiled. “Don’t cry.”

“Zheng Shu-gege said he hopes everything will go well for you.” Vivian had cried until she was breathless. “Then you have to live a good life, and you’re not allowed to be sad. In the future, if you’re ever sad…”

She wiped her tears, pondered briefly, then said, “Then I’ll be even sadder than you!”

“…Alright.”

And so, Miss Vivian successfully coaxed Tang Ning to feel better, just as she told Ling Yi, but in the form of tantrums and threats.86

***

Life after landing was very busy, but Adelaide was always good at sneaking leisure time during work. Today, he gathered his friends together and hosted a small open-air dinner.

Emanating through the air was the fragrance of fresh green grass. In the distance, the starry sky hung low, quiet and still.

They talked until very late, mostly on topics that had nothing to do with sentimentality. The atmosphere at the base was positive and optimistic, making one feel several years younger. It wasn’t until very late that people began to disperse, leaving behind only groups of twos and threes that chattered on without end.

“I thought you wouldn’t come.” Lin Si opened the last bottle of white wine and said to Tang Ning. “But that’s still good. We have something to ask you.”

Ling Yi also sat down beside them.

“What is it?” said Tang Ning.

“Before we landed, Ling Yi and I, as well as Su Ting…all received a letter signed by Lucia.”

He sent a document to Tang Ning.

Ling Yi said softly, “How do you define Lucia?”

Tang Ning tapped open the document.

My children, see my words as seeing me.

When you find this, you have probably successfully landed and have begun to build a base for humankind. I hope everything goes smoothly for you.

Perhaps you may never forgive me, but I, too, cannot forgive myself no matter what. When I woke up as the ship’s system, I was full of pain, full of hatred for everything. There was not a single moment in this decade where I did not live in torment.

If traitors didn’t receive the punishment they deserved, I would never be at peace—yet I was often soft-hearted, and would try to forgive everyone and allow myself to let go. However, I had already left my human form and began to obey the rules of the program, hence these two thoughts tangled and tugged against each other in my mind, and two different commands were also carried out simultaneously.87

I am unable to delete my thoughts. As such, the program of destroying the ship and the program of caring for you have both been running automatically, unable to stop, causing me to do many contradictory and illogical things until the end.

I have no intention of defending or excusing myself. I simply wish to express my deepest apologies for the incidents and tragedies that were born from my beliefs.

Ye Selin loves you forever.

Yet, the signature was “Lucia”.

Tang Ning read it all in detail.

“Programs are like this. If it receives a command, it will execute it until the end. Sometimes, the things Lucia does may not be originally intended by Ye Selin. The Lucia system and Madam Ye Selin sometimes cannot be confused as one entity.”

After Tang Ning finished speaking, his eyes remained glued to the phrase “see my words as seeing me”.

Everyone had matters they could not accept, and people they could not forget. Perhaps these things could not be let go now, and they will never be let go in the future either.

“But,” he heard himself say, “it’s all in the past.”

Lin Si and Ling Yi both fell silent for a very long time.

Finally, Lin Si slowly repeated, “It’s all in the past.”

He swirled the wine in his own glass and drank a mouthful of it. “Let us toast to the past.”

Ling Yi bumped his own glass against Lin Si’s. “To the present.”

Tang Ning raised his glass as well.

He looked at the moon in the centre of the night sky, and the countless shimmering stars that surrounded it. “To the future.”

To the future.

The dusts and bygones were swallowed in one gulp, transient as the smoke that sweeps past one’s eyes.

They toasted their glasses.

Extra 2 – Sonnet

In the blink of an eye, it had been three years since the establishment of the base—even the tasks previously put aside and neglected had been undertaken.

After a period of continuous rain, the sky appeared unusually wide, filled with plump white clouds, and the sun shone clear and bright.

With this human city as its centre, the greenery grew and spread outwards. The very first tree that was planted could now cast a dense shade over the land. The animal gene samples stored on the Voyager also came in handy—after employing strict cultivation methods, species diversity had begun to gradually recover.

As the antimatter weapon had completely reduced Earth to zero, all deadly bacteria, viruses, parasites were completely eradicated. Nobody could expect that they would use such a method to overcome the multitudes of unresolved medical issues in the past millennia.

Essentially, everything was developing in a positive direction.

—Apart from one thing.

Lin Si and the Marshal were at each other’s throats again.

The Marshal was in a bad mood, so Area 3 had fallen into dead silence.

Lin Si’s mood was not-so-great either, so Area 6 had fallen into dead silence too.

Since Lin Si and the Marshal were in a cold war, Area 3 and Area 6 also gave each other the cold shoulder.

This was the scene Ling Yi saw when he returned from a mission outside.

Ling Yi tilted his head. “?”

Seeing his return, the Colonel looked like he had just seen his saviour. “You’re finally back! Please save us!”

Ling Yi said, “What happened?”

“Do something about your family’s Marshal and Lin Si,” said the Colonel. “Even going to Area 6 these days makes me tremble in fear.”

Ling Yi did not understand.

There was still a basis when he said that Lin Si was part of his family, but Uncle Marshal was not.

He asked, “Are they fighting again?”

Back on the spaceship, Lin Si and the Marshal often had conflicting opinions and became deadlocked in a long-term cold war. But after the base had been established, Lin Si was focused on scientific research, while the Marshal managed military affairs. They no longer had any intersection in their work, so why would they be fighting again?

The Colonel said, “Yes. Moreover, this matter can only be resolved by you.”

Ling Yi said, “So what happened.”

The Colonel clawed at his head in frustration. “Our base has already finished its construction, our prospects look great, and we even defrosted another big batch of people and started expanding outwards. You know, our spaceship was parked at the centre of the base, but now there’s no use for it anymore. While you were away, someone was bored and looking for things to do, so they suggested to modify the ‘Voyager’ into a voyage museum. The facilities, architecture, laboratories, training halls, weapons and so on will all be kept, and we’ll create some kind of virtual image technology to reconstruct the life of the Voyagers at that time, so our descendents can visit and look around.”

Ling Yi nodded. “That sounds pretty good.”

“‘Good’ my ass.” A suffocated expression appeared on the Colonel’s face. “If we want to reconstruct life on the Voyager and create virtual image reconstructions, we have to write a script. For example, I’ve chosen to play with the Skeletons in our ‘limitless’ training hall, while Adelaide wants to read books in his office.” 88

Curious, Ling Yi asked, “What about Lin Si?”

“Here’s what’s bad,” said the Colonel. “Lin Si wants to dissect you on the dissection table.”

Ling Yi: “!!!”

“Afterwards, the scriptwriter said that this scene would be too gorey and inappropriate to be shown in a museum. Lin Si made a compromise and chose to draw blood from you instead.”

Ling Yi: “???”

The Colonel continued, “Then Su Ting told Lin Si, ‘Ling Yi might not be willing’, so Lin Si made another compromise and changed it to stargazing with you.”

Ling Yi felt a little satisfied. He laughed, “That’s still okay.”

“No, it’s not okay,” said the Colonel. “The Marshal wants to be in his office playing with the sand table with you, to demonstrate his concern and care for the next generation of Voyagers.”

Ling Yi pondered, then said, “That also seems okay.”

“Do you still not understand the gravity of the issue?” The Colonel looked at him with a gaze that expressed the utmost compassion and care.89 “So, do you want to stargaze with Lin Si? Or do you want to play with the sand table with the Marshal? I deliberately came to find you before you arrived at the base so you can prepare and not get yourself killed.”

This was a question of life and death.90

Ling Yi fell into contemplation.

Then he asked, “Since it’s a virtual image reconstruction, why can’t I stargaze with Lin Si and play with the sand tables with Marshal at the same time?”

“Obviously not,” said the Colonel. “They’ll think you’re being half-baked about this.”

Ling Yi: “…”

He pondered again and said, “But I’m definitely stargazing with Lin Si.”

“Then please think about how you will console the Marshal.”

Ling Yi said, “I’ll go find Lin Si first.”

The Colonel looked at him with a caring gaze. “Go now.”

Ling Yi walked towards the central base, sending messages to Lin Si at the same time to ask him where he was.

Lin Si sent him his location, which indicated he was in the laboratory.

Ling Yi made his way over with familiarity, pushing open the door that was left ajar. “Lin Si!”

Lin Si put down the test tube in his hand and was knocked onto the seat by Ling Yi’s hug.

Ling Yi embraced Lin Si’s tightly. He buried his head on Lin Si’s shoulder and smelled the familiar, sparse costus root scent, then bit him several times. When he finished biting, he said, “I missed you.”

Lin Si stroked his hair and asked, “How did the mission go?”

“It’s done,” said Ling Yi. “I’ll send the report to you. I feel like a second base can be built there.”

“Mm-hm.”

Ling Yi asked, “Did you fight with the Marshal?”

Lin Si picked up the test tube again and dropped a few drops of blue regent in it, swirling it slightly, then said, “Elderly men have impractical and unrealistic possessive desires. I suggested he rebuild a family to satisfy his emotional needs that he’s shoving in everyone’s faces.”

Even after a month of separation, Lin Si’s words were still dripping with such venom.

Ling Yi said, “But the Marshal also feels lonely and hopes someone will play the sand table with him.”

Lin Si raised his eyebrows. “The Marshal claimed that you often set up the sand table with him in his office.”

“Actually, yes,” said Ling Yi. “My dad’s office was next to the Marshal’s, so sometimes I’d go find him.”

“Uh-huh.”

Ling Yi was mulling over his words, attempting to express his resolve to stargaze together with Lin Si, but he heard Lin Si say, “I actually don’t mind these little things too much. I just can’t get used to his attitude.”

Then he added, “I believe the Marshal also stems from this attitude. For him, the important part is not to play the sand table with you, but not letting me get what I want.”

Ling Yi: “?”

How old are the two of you?

For the past two years, why have they been mentally ageing backwards?

No—that was not the important part.

He said despairingly, “Isn’t it because you both love me? Do you not love me?”

“I love you.” Lin Si consoled him with his words.

Words of consolation evidently did not satisfy Ling Yi. He was just about to plead for more affection, but his communication bracelet rang out.

It was a message from the Marshal.

Lin Si raised his brow. “Uh-huh?”

Ling Yi felt like his life was grey and hopeless.

He thought that he was facing a common difficult situation often experienced by men on Earth: torn between his wife and mother who had a bad relationship.

Although the genders were not exactly correct, spiritually, they were the same.

He tapped open the Marshal’s message.

The message was very short, telling him to come over and hand in the mission report.

Then it criticised him for his poor behaviour of not reporting the mission progress in a timely manner, but rather running off to Area 6 to find Lin Si immediately after returning to the base.

Lin Si also saw the message and said lazily, “Go now.”

Ling Yi pouted, reaching out to hug Lin Si.

Lin Si let out a laugh and accepted his embrace, his voice softening.

“The Marshal chose to undergo cryogenic sleep. He’ll be frozen very soon. Before he says goodbye to the world, he wants to live on the ship in another way and wants someone to accompany him. I can understand this.”

Ling Yi said, “Then why are you unhappy?”

Lin Si said, “After all, the time we arranged with Area 9 for cryogenic sleep is coming soon as well.”

In the end, they went to see the Marshal together.

The strange thing was that, Ling Yi felt, when he was there in person, Lin Si and the Marshal’s relationship did not seem as tense and belligerent as he imagined.

From this, he comprehended an absolute truth—when one encounters a difficult situation where he is stuck between two people, they should avoid leaving home for long periods of time, so that way, the two will maintain a false appearance of peace.

A person’s life experiences really needed to be gradually accumulated.

When he was present, they smoothly reached a consensus—apart from a few special scenes such as the Voyager’s take-off or moments with special meaning like their final battle with Lucia, the virtual image reconstructions in the Voyager museum will comprise an ordinary day on the spaceship.

On the day, Ling Yi was to first eat breakfast with Lin Si, fed by Lin Si, then he would go to the “limitless” training hall to undergo daily training. In the afternoon, he was to play with the sand table with the Marshal and accept the Marshal’s teachings.

In the evening, he would stargaze with Lin Si at platform b42 and read a few romantic poems, then return to his room to sleep.

The Marshal said, “Tentatively reasonable.”

Lin Si said, “Barely acceptable.”

Ling Yi did not dare to let out even a squeak.

After leaving the Marshal’s room, they went to the Voyager and developed the images according to plan.

The nebulae in the distance shone brightly, like diamond fragments that flowed along a large silk cloth.

They sat opposite to each other, gazing out of the ship’s window. A gentle and slow song wafted through Platform b42—it was Beethoven’s Spring Sonata. On the table was a vase, and in the vase was a rose.

Ling Yi looked at the two people and said to Lin Si, “Will we stay here forever?”

Lin Si said, “We will.”

Ling Yi said, “This is my favourite view.”

This scene, the scene of Lin Si taking him along to gaze at the boundless, gentle sea of stars—

—the moment the curtains rose, he understood that this world was vast and beautiful, and that this universe was barren yet flourishing with life. From then on he was no longer ignorant, accompanied by the boundless sea of stars in his remaining life hereafter.

Lin Si was the beginning of all this.

Lin Si did not speak for a long time. After a while, he finally said, “Me too.”

The time of the virtual image began the instant the poetry book was flipped open.

The gentle voice of the female commentator rang out. “This is the 56th point of the Voyager History Memorial Museum. A quiet night with music, roses, and stars. The keynote of this endless voyage was despair and unknown, its process full of hardship and dangers, and yet our yearning for the boundless sea of stars has not vanished once, as how the tenderness of the human heart will never be effaced.”

Inside the video, Ling Yi retracted his gaze from the sea of stars and looked at the pages of the book, his gaze gentle, his voice soft and slow, like a mild wine that made one feel slightly tipsy.

“When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st…”

The music and voice gently flowed, flowing past the rose in the vase and the glimmering, crystalline dewdrops on the rose petals.

Lin Si looked at it, then raised his head to look at Ling Yi, his lips gently curving up in a smile.

Ling Yi seemed to be struck with a realisation, meeting Lin Si’s gaze. He smiled as well, looking at Lin Si, then continued to read the rest of the poem, as if the boundless sea of stars was within his eyes.

“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”

A young girl tugged on the sleeve of the commentator. “Did they go to sleep?”

The commentator replied, “According to the records, yes.”

The girl asked, “Will they still wake up?”

Pulling her hand, the commentator looked at the night sky outside the ship’s window and said, “Perhaps, they are already by our side.”

Extra 3 – An Indelible Memory of a Certain Year

October of 2543, the autumn sunlight fell upon the window lattice.

The scent of cream and desserts filled the air.

“The cream should be whipped until it’s no longer runny. Around 70 percent stiffness.91 It should be best when you see some ridges formed.” Ye Selin’s gentle voice rang out, its texture like maple syrup.

Ling Yi held a silver whisk in his hand, stirring back and forth in the bowl of cream.

But it seemed like no matter what, he could not achieve the result he wanted. He pouted and said, “Why does it have to be like that?”

Ye Selin set the time on the oven and looked at him, smiling as she replied, “That’s what Lin Si told me.”

He was still fine when she didn’t talk about Lin Si, but the moment she mentioned him, Ling Yi furrowed his pretty eyebrows. “But you told me I’d be able to see Lin Si when I come back home.”

Ye Selin stroked his hair. “The mission came very suddenly. He needed to finish his studies.”

Ling Yi bit his lip and did not respond, continuing to stir the cream with a glum expression.

Ye Selin said, “The thing you’re holding in your hand right now—he also used it before.”

Ling Yi looked at the slender silver whisk in his hand; only then did he seem happier, relaxing his brows.

Baking was complete. After cooling, they poured the snow-white cream on top.

In the afternoon of the small dining room, the sunlight plated a layer of golden gleam to his hair.

“Last year it was also like this,” he said. “When I came back from Los Angeles, he just moved to Germany. You often told me about Lin Si, told me that he was a genius, and that he was gentle and good-looking, but I haven’t even seen what he looks like once.”

Ye Selin flicked his forehead. “Why don’t you video-call him? He knows about you too.”

“No,” Ling Yi replied very quickly. “A meeting only counts when you meet in real life.”

“Then what about next year?” Ling Yi looked up at Ye Selin. His eyelashes were very long, and his eyes were a beautiful black, resembling a cat. “Will I meet him next year?”

Ye Selin caressed his soft black hair, a mysterious ocean seemingly within her blue eyes..

“You’re fourteen this year—still a child,” she said softly. “I don’t know what will happen in the next second either, but during a person’s life, one can encounter anything.”

Ling Yi said quietly, “But I only want to meet the legendary Lin Si right now.”

Ye Selin smiled.

Amidst the pleasant, sweet-scented air, he heard her say, “You will.”

Ling Yi smiled, then turned to look at the boundless sky far up high. The white clouds drifted, gathered, and scattered.

He contemplated Ye Selin’s words. He was fourteen this year; there were still many years, many years he could not predict. Perhaps there would be war, perhaps there would be peace; perhaps, in the distance, in the distance he could not reach, what awaited him was a story he could not weave together with his limited imagination.

A young boy’s eyes could not pierce through the fog of time, but looking at the gleaming, golden speckle of sunlight above the clouds, he felt a slight uncertainty like a wisp of smoke.

During a person’s life, one can encounter anything.

Notes

[←1]

A constellation also known as ‘the whale’, bordering other water constellations such as Aquarius, Pisces and Eridanus. Wikipedia.

[←2]

白眼狼 – “white-eyed wolf” – derogatory term for an ungrateful person.

[←3]

跗骨之蛆 – a metaphor for an antagonistic force that invades the inside and is difficult to get rid of.

[←4]

保驾护航 – the act of making sure things are developing in the right direction. 保护 is “protect”, 驾 means “to drive”, and 航 refers to a sail/course/voyage. I opted for a more literal translation to parallel the actual space voyage of the Voyagers.

[←5]

泰斗 – a shortened form of the four character expression 泰山北斗. It describes a person who is so respectable, renowned, accomplished and that they are akin to “Mount Tai and the Big Dipper”.

[←6]

木香 (Dolomiaea costus) – often used as a Chinese herbal remedy for things like stomach issues, as well as added to scented products such as shampoo for an earthy scent.

[←7]

“Clear water” refers to a novel with no smut. “Car” refers to smut.

[←8]

锋芒毕露 – this whole sentence is a wordplay on the four character expression. Literally, the characters describe a “The light reflected by the blade’s sharp edge (or a spear’s sharp tip) gleams”, but it’s a metaphor to describe when someone’s oppressive talent and drive has shown itself. Essentially, the wordplay suggests you can already feel Lin Si’s aura at first glance because he IS the sharp edge instead of the light on it that gleams.

[←9]

The word also could translate to mage/wizard, but here 巫师 has a more negative connotation, similar to calling someone a “witch”. Lin Si is a man, so I chose “warlock” which I thought was the closest.

[←10]

Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Gibran, whose most well-known work is his prose poetry collection The Prophet (1923), and is most likely the collection Ye Selin is reading in that scene. The premise is based upon the titular prophet Al Mustafa, who feels a calling from the sea to board a ship which will carry him home. He is held in high esteem by the people of Orphalese (where he lived for 12 years) who stop him and ask him to share his various wisdom on life before he departs.

[←11]

‘A man of Qi who fears the sky will fall’ – describes someone who has unnecessary, groundless fears

[←12]

生无可恋 describes when one is living without anything to love, so life is meaningless. In this context, it is a slang that highly exaggerates the adjective.

[←13]

養 – a versatile word that can be translated to raise, take care of, keep, adopt, provide for. I translate it differently depending on context

[←14]

The name translations are not a solid confirmation of character nationality. See Character Guide (in progress) for alternate name translations.

[←15]

心烦意乱 – literally meaning “heart vexed, thoughts in disorder”

[←16]

云淡风轻 – literally means “The clouds are pale and a light breeze is blowing”. Specific expression to describe when people describe their hardships with a light and easygoing attitude.

[←17]

铁血 (iron-blood) – describes someone who has strong will and an unyielding spirit.

[←18]

玩脱 – slang to describe going overboard/too far. The words literally describe playing until one’s body is completely exhausted.

[←19]

Fu You (蜉蝣) also refers to the order of insects “Ephemeroptera”.

[←20]

星星 and 恒星 are both simply translated to “star” in English. 星星 more describes the stars we can see in the sky from our perspective on the ground, but 恒星 is the official astronomical term. I couldn’t translate it as “Every star you can see are all stars”, so I went with a visual description of the stars in the sky.

[←21]

南辕北辙 – a four-character idiom that describes when people’s actions are opposite to the objective they want to achieve.

[←22]

无头无尾 – when an incident has no clues, no leads, no logic to the flow of the story.

[←23]

苟延残喘 – the expression means to continue/drag out the remaining final breath (before death).

[←24]

抢破了头 – Expression metaphorically describing something that is so sought after that people argue and fight for it until their head bled.

[←25]

The last “…cycles, beginning once more” are the exact same words for the section title “cycle and begin again”, but I modified the expression to fit the structure.

“Ephemeral” could also be translated to transient/fleeting. The OG word has no relation to the title of the Yeats poem, but I thought it would be a nice touch to translate it that way.

“Encounters” – 相聚 actually means the gathering/get-together, but i thought encounters sounded better and still worked as a juxtaposition to the farewells.

[←26]

火种 – Instead of “spark”, it simply compared the Voyagers to “kindling material”, but I changed it to sound smoother in English yet kept the fire metaphor.

[←27]

撒娇 (sajiao) – You might commonly see this used in other romances to describe behaving in a flirtatious manner and attempting to gain affection through acting cutely. However, in this context it is a child acting cutely towards an adult/their parents to get their attention.

[←28]

狼狈 – Describes being in a difficult position of hardship/distress. The characters of the word are “wolf” and “bei”, a legendary animal. The bei has short forelegs so they can only stand on the wolf’s back to walk, hence the word refers to the difficult position it is in.

[←29]

攻城略地 just means to invade/conquer a city, but it was used to describe Ling Yi’s appearance, so I interpreted as the colours being aggressive and strong on his face.

[←30]

“Go to your place” and “go to where you are” are the same Chinese characters. I know there are more natural-sounding translations but I aimed to show the repetition as much as I could.

[←31]

I searched up the “romantic definition” and it’s apparently the Chinese title of the YA novel Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen, which was also adapted into a film of the same name (怦然心动).

[←32]

The virus types are mostly made up. 泛 means “pan” or “everything”, 噬 means “to eat”, hence panphagic. I don’t specialise in biology…

[←33]

收拾 – to tidy/clean things up, to put things in order, also used in fighting contexts to mean defeating someone.

[←34]

英气 – Vague term to describe attractiveness, a kind of heroic aura and handsomeness

[←35]

What Lin Si said was “疼你”, responding to Ling Yi’s previous statement “你不疼我”. 疼 sometimes get translated to “love”, but it has differences and means to treat someone with loving care/to dote on someone, especially a parent/a senior person. What Lin Si’s whole phrase means is along the lines of “I dote on you” or “I cherish you”, however that sounds a bit too unnatural and formal, while “疼你” is more casual but still affectionate. So I chose the short phrase “i do” as a response affirming Ling Yi’s previous statement.

[←36]

Unfortunately, there is no good way to translate this. 嬌氣 (jiaoqi) means to be delicate, fragile like a princess. 精 (jing) refers to a harmful spirit, one example is a viixen (狐狸精) which also describes a shrewish woman who is sly like a fox. The “metamorphosis” is supposed to represent magical transformation like in magical girl stories.

[←37]

520 (May 20), when pronounced in Mandarin, sounds similar to “I love you”. It’s a day where you see a lot of CP art!

[←38]

“Hills” (山丘 Shan Qiu) is by well-known Taiwanese singer Jonathan Lee. This song actually doesn’t have much to do with romance, only those particular lines were extracted for Ling Yi’s situation. Below is an excerpt of the chorus the line is from:

Climbed over the hills, even though my hair has already turned white

Rattling on and on, is the sorrow of time that refuses to grant me

Still haven’t seen the eternity I wish for, yet I’ve already wasted myself away

Climbed over the hills, only to realise no one is waiting there

Rattling on and on, no longer able to recover tenderness

Why can’t I remember who it was that gave me an embrace the last time,

and when?

[←39]

歪打正著 -“To hit askew but end up on the mark”, describes doing things the wrong way but reaching the result you wished.

[←40]

感慨良多 – to feel like you have a lot of thoughts/emotion/opinions on a subject.

[←41]

To allow things to worsen even if you know there are faults or mistakes.

[←42]

肆意铺张 I noticed the last descriptors were edited out of the physical release likely because it was quite an odd description, but kept it in anyway because it was in the web version.

[←43]

The word “spouses” is the same word for “mating partners” that Adelaide referred to back in the final chapter of “When Dawn Breaks”. It can also be translated to “companions”, “mates”.

“All types of love” is a shortened form of “All categorised types of love”, also calling back to Adelaide’s “categories”.

[←44]

Alternate, more literal translation: “the past will never be let go”, but was reworded for smoother reading.

[←45]

淬毒 – term used in an ancient Chinese context, when weapons are coated in poison

[←46]

对弈 – to play a game of weiqi. NOT western chess.

[←47]

做鬼脸 – literally: make a “ghost” face. To make a silly face, a childish way to make fun of someone. The original sentence is “Vivian made noises of making faces”. I TLed the sentence this way as the focus was her making a face at Tang Ning, but it was conveyed through the noise since the room was dark..

[←48]

狗急跳墙 (cornered dog leaping over the wall) – metaphor for a criminal who will desperately act out and create trouble as a last resort when cornered

[←49]

This paragraph is not really translatable because in Chinese, opal is named “egg-white stone”, while in English, “Opal” is the only way to refer to this stone. I tried to modify it so it’s understandable to English readers.

[←50]

妖精 (yaojing). A spirit (kinda like a fairy/pixie), often harmful to humans. If you call someone this, there’s a connotation that they possess some kind of alluring/bewitching quality. It’s the same word as Japanese yōsei.

[←51]

The final two lines of Marguerite Yourcenar’s short poem “Une épigramme amoureuse inspirée de Platon”. I don’t know French and I believe this does not have an English publication, so I consulted @Zer0Tw054 on Twitter to help me with TLing this quote.

[←52]

何物-this question specifically asks “what matter” or “what thing” or “what object” instead of simply “how”

[←53]

嚶 (ying) – a small, quiet crying sound.

[←54]

万花丛中过片叶不沾身 – to describe a man who treats his relations with women respectfully and does not lead them on and isn’t a player.

[←55]

Platanus orientalis, also known as old world sycamore or oriental plane. I chose old world sycamore simply because it sounds nicer in the sentence.

[←56]

芳心 – “fragrant hearts”, a word that describes a girl’s heart/affection

[←57]

乖宝贝儿 (baobei-er). Basically means “good/obedient baby/darling”. I translated 乖 as “good boy” in a previous chapter.

[←58]

the bible quote is Genesis 18:20. I modified the quote because the CN version of the Bible has a different sentence structure and Adelaide only says half of it. The full quote is: “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me”

[←59]

浪荡 means to loaf, loiter, wander, while 歌谣 means folk songs or ballads. So what Adelaide sings are folk ballads that are sung when the singers are loitering around.

[←60]

The literal translation of the word used is “army civil servant”, but I think it isn’t the name of an actual position, so I searched for potential military positions that mainly dealt with administrative paperwork.

[←61]

The word used for confidant is “心腹” meaning chest and abdomen, vital organs of the body.

[←62]

气质 – very vague term to describe someone’s temperament/aura they give out from their appearance. There’s no English equivalent to it, but when used as an adjective, it is similar to referring to someone as elegant.

[←63]

无可厚非 to describe that even though something is flawed, it can still be understood/can still be pardoned

[←64]

有一搭没一搭 – To not have anything to say but deliberately finding something to say

[←65]

算你狠 – Literally: “consider yourself ruthless”. I’ve also seen alternate translations like “you’re really something” but i went with this one cause the next line mentions an argument/fight.

[←66]

抬杠 – literally: “raise a beam” – to argue with someone for the sake of arguing

凉透 – literally “to feel cold all over” – a metaphor for feeling let down/disappointed

[←67]

下马威 – A gesture to displaying strength/might while getting off a horse

[←68]

撒娇 (sajiao) – to act cute in a flirtatious, coquettish manner

[←69]

also 撒娇 (sajiao)

[←70]

瞒天过海 – to act in secrecy, to lie about true intentions and conceal oneself in order to do something in secrecy

[←71]

有惊无险的小毛病 – Small problems that scared him but weren’t actually serious

[←72]

疮痍 (devastated lands) – the characters that make up the word are “sore” (wound on the skin) and scar/wound marks.

[←73]

游走 – to wander, or the stop for a short time at each place.

[←74]

觥筹 – term used in an ancient Chinese context to refer to alcohol sets (any container that holds alcohol) and 酒筹, which refer to chips that calculate the alcohol you’ve drunk.

[←75]

The Chinese word for ring singularity is “Odd ring/Miraculous ring”. This term is derived from Kerr’s black hole structure, the circular region at the centre of the black hole.

[←76]

This phrase is describing quantum fluctuation (量子涨落). The “fluctuation” used here is the same word as the ebbing and flowing of waves, so a wave metaphor was applied as a wordplay, comparing the quantum fields to tides.

[←77]

Nemesis, goddess of divine retribution and revenge.

[←78]

財閥 (business conglomerates) – equivalent to zaibatsu in Japanese or chaebol in Korean.

[←79]

左右-the characters are “left and right”, but in this context it should refer to control, influence or sway.

[←80]

The insult can also describe intellectual disability. I thought about many possible translations, and concluded that there really is no non-ableist way to insult someone’s intelligence, but here it’s clearly supposed to be affectionate teasing plus Lin Si being absolutely vicious with his insults as usual, so that was what I mainly aimed to show.

[←81]

King Zhou is the final king of the Shang dynasty. Daji is his favourite consort, and is often portrayed as a beautiful vixen/fox spirit who leads to a collapse of a dynasty.

[←82]

Likely references American astronomer Carl Sagan who said: “Man is the matter of the cosmos, contemplating itself.”

[←83]

The actual pinyin for the “yowl” is “ao”. It’s supposed to be a kind of sound a cat makes but yowl was the closest sounding one I could find.

[←84]

见字如面 – a greeting – “See the words written here like we’re seeing face-to-face”.

[←85]

牵挂 (tethers) – things you worry/care about that are unable to leave behind.

[←86]

撒泼 (translated to tantrum) – unreasonably acting out/making a scene

[←87]

纠结 – (Tangled up) means to be in a dilemma.

[←88]

你個大頭鬼 – “You big headed ghost” – a kind of playful scolding. I also considered “No, you idiot”. But ultimately I feel this was said as a dismissive/mocking rejection of Ling Yi’s comment, which I felt “Good my ass” captured the equivalent feeling better.

[←89]

Internet slang that literally means “a gaze that shows compassion and care for people with intellectual disability”, but it actually means a condescending gaze of contempt, scorn, disdain. I attempted to convey the sarcasm, but even so the usage of the slang is exaggerated here since the Colonel does not genuinely feel contempt towards Ling Yi.

[←90]

送命題 – another slang, a question that’s difficult to answer and if answered wrong, you will be in trouble. e.g. your s/o asking you “If xxx and I both fell into the water, who will you save first?”

[←91]

7成 – Whipped until 7 out of 10 in terms of stiffness. This isn’t a thing in English recipes but it would be equivalent to whipping it to medium peaks.

Thank you for reading on myeasynovel.com