January 22, 2145

Two months have passed since the Shanhai International Space Station incident.

Xian Qianhua and Yan Sichen, who were still floating in deep space, had entered a dormant state in the escape capsule.

This was their last resort, because the circulatory system of the escape cabin was paralyzed. Even if they had enough food and water, without the assistance of the circulatory system, they would soon be suffocated by their own feces.

The two people in the dormant state can effectively reduce their own metabolism, but this does not mean that they can sit back and relax.

Substantially lowering metabolism levels does not mean there is no metabolism.

Before entering the dormant state, Yan Sichen made some rough estimates.

If they are lucky enough, they can last another month, and in the worst case, they may only be able to last another week.

The tiny escape capsule almost does not exist in the face of the vast universe.

At this time, the only hope is that people on earth can discover Xian Qianhua and the others... Of course, this chance is also very slim...

Now their escape capsule has completely left the earth and is accelerating towards the "new home" that mankind has longed for - Mars.

This red planet with an orbital radius of 227.94 million kilometers (about 1.52 astronomical units), a rotation period of nearly two years, and a mass of about one-ninth of the Earth was once the most familiar science fiction protagonist to mankind.

People's classic mantras also include sentences like "You are a Martian, right?"

However, for Xian Qianhua and Yan Sichen in the escape capsule at this time, Mars may be more like the entrance to hell. When the speed of the escape capsule exceeds the critical limit, they may be able to observe this familiar yet unfamiliar planet up close before they die.

The red planet.

…

January 25th.

According to the prior agreement, Yan Sichen woke up first.

He first checked the overall status of the escape cabin and expected that the circulatory system would be able to repair itself.

However, this expectation is more like a fantasy... The condition of the escape cabin is worse than before he entered hibernation. The current speed is approaching the maximum stress limit of the escape cabin. The only good news about this situation is that it fully confirms

The fact that the escape pod is being grabbed by some external force.

Although neither Yan Sichen nor Xian Qianhua knew what was grabbing them.

The circulatory system is still in a paralyzed state. The so-called self-repair system is simply a gimmick. It has even damaged some places that were originally intact, causing the entire escape cabin to be filled with the smell of feces.

For a moment, Yan Sichen really wanted to open the hatch and call it a day.

Rather than two people despairing together, it would be better for one of them to fall asleep completely in a dream...

This idea once occupied Yan Sichen's mind, and he even felt that doing so was full of romance and tragedy and was noble.

But when he actually walked to the emergency opening valve by mistake, he woke up again.

No, he couldn't do this. At least he had to obtain Xian Qianhua's consent, instead of arbitrarily deciding the life and death of others like he does now.

Although...it doesn't seem to make any difference.

In the end, Yan Sichen did not have the courage to do this. He was not afraid of death, but worried that he would inadvertently extinguish the last miracle.

…

January 29th.

When Xian Qianhua woke up, the stench in the escape cabin had disappeared.

The circulatory system actually started to work normally again.

And what makes Xian Qianhua even more incredible is that... they seem to have stopped!

After repeated confirmations several times, Xian Qianhua was sure that the escape capsule had stopped and that it had stopped halfway between the planetary orbits of the Earth and Mars.

It's as quiet here as anywhere else, oppressively quiet.

For more than two months, Xian Qianhua has been thinking about where their escape capsule would end up if it finally stopped, and what would happen to them.

Now, they stopped.

Stopped in a rather awkward place...

Xian Qianhua wanted to wake up Yan Sichen immediately and talk to him.

However, the hibernating state cannot be interrupted at will, which will cause serious damage to the brain nerves of the hibernating person.

Now Xian Qianhua can only sit silently in front of the window and look at the sun.

Originally, she was supposed to go back to sleep again after the examination.

But Xian Qianhua didn't allow herself to fall asleep again... She didn't want her last days to end in a dream.

She suddenly wanted to listen to music, but there were no such things reserved in the escape cabin.

In the past, Yan Sichen sang a cappella for Xian Qianhua, but now... Xian Qianhua can only sing for herself.

The lyrics of the song she sang were vague and intermittent, and she didn't know what she was singing... maybe she was just trying to make as much noise as possible.

I do not know how long it has been.

Xian Qianhua fell asleep leaning against the window.

…

And shortly after she fell asleep...the sun "went out"...

…

Twenty days ago.

It’s another new day, and Natsume got up early as usual.

After his morning run, he bought some vegetables from a nearby unmanned store for breakfast.

Breakfast is very simple, just a bowl of clear soup noodles with an egg and some green cabbage leaves.

But when Natsume began to enjoy the early morning delicacies, a certain woman named Momo was still fast asleep on the sofa.

Although the climate of the earth has changed a lot today, with cherry blossoms blooming in January and the temperature reaching around 20 degrees, lying on the sofa without a quilt all night is still a bit...

…

"Ah sneeze!"

Hanako has a cold.

Natsume glanced at her and handed her a tissue.

"Um...thank you..." Hanako blew her nose and asked: "You think, in my state, asking for sick leave shouldn't be too much, right?"

Natsume didn't express an opinion, only said: "You should pay more attention to rest."

"Haha... I was a little too high last night... Hey, young people, you have to be a little more unrestrained." Hanako's old-fashioned tone did not sound like a young man at all.

Natsume looked ahead and concentrated on driving the boat.

When they were approaching the base, Natsume asked casually: "Hanako, do you like hot pot?"

"What's the fire?" Hanako was a little dazed and couldn't hear clearly.

“Hot pot, old Beijing hot pot.”

"Hey? Is there such a luxurious meal in this day and age?"

Natsume smiled: "It's my birthday tomorrow. I'm going to process the ingredients my mother sent me and have a hot pot meal. Do you want to come?"

Hanako was startled: "Ah?! It's your birthday tomorrow?"

Natsume nodded: "I also invited Masato. Can you please invite Auntie to come to my house for hot pot?"

"Oh!" Hanako looked sad.

"What's wrong?"

"I haven't prepared a gift yet! It's over! I haven't prepared a gift yet!" As a foodie, Hanako's attention was not on the hot pot at all, which was really surprising.

Natsume smiled and said, "I don't care too much about gifts or anything like that, as long as you can come."

Hanako said: "No! How can this be done? Birthdays are very important days! There must be a sense of ceremony! Emmmm, just wait, I will definitely go, and I will definitely prepare a gift for you!"

The talking kung fu boat entered the harbor.

Natsume didn't show much pretense, he smiled and nodded.

After the two parted ways at the port, looking at Hanako leaving in a hurry, Natsume's smile suddenly dropped and his face turned cold.

He is basically certain.

The girl in front of her may have done her best to play Hanako, but she is definitely not the girl Natsume knows.

That girl may be greedy, careless, and sometimes ungrateful, but she is absolutely pure and clean.

So now the question is very clear...if she is not Hanako, then who is she? Where did the real Hanako go?

…

The next day.
To be continued...