At the age of five, Luo Jinyong entered the city's number one key primary school. Although he didn't learn about it until a long time later, his parents found a lot of connections for this and paid 100,000 yuan in sponsorship fees, but he didn't thank his parents for this, because from this day on, he had to compete with those classmates who were older than him.

Four years later, Luo Jinyong was admitted to the city's number one key junior high school. This time, the parents did not pay the sponsorship fee, because Luo Jinyong ranked second in the entrance examination held in the city, and also had the first prize in the primary school mathematics Olympiad, the tenth level of piano, the eighth dan of the Go major and so on.

Relatives and friends say that Luo Jinyong is a genius, but he himself doesn't think so.

Behind these achievements is a boring life of four years as a day, with a variety of studies as the main theme. In the four years of primary school, only four days belonged to Luo Jinyong, that is, from Chinese New Year's Eve to the afternoon of New Year's Day. The rest of the time, Luo Jinyong was imprisoned by a strict work and rest system, when to do something, how much time it took to do everything, and even daily life such as eating, washing, and untying his hands had strict arrangements.

At this time, Luo Jinyong did not resent his parents, because he felt that all children were the same as him.

For the next four years, Luo Jinyong lived the same life, except that his studies became more onerous.

In the year of the college entrance examination, Luo Jinyong became suspicious.

The cause is related to a female classmate.

In the class, Luo Jinyong is definitely an outlier, he has classmates but no friends, there are table mates but no buddies, no classmates are willing to associate with him, and he rarely socializes with classmates. Although he is a member of the study committee, he rarely participates in class activities and rarely helps other students.

Until a female classmate named Jiang Shanshan came to their class and became Luo Jinyong's tablemate.

Jiang Shanshan's situation is very special, although she has been living in Beijing with her parents and going to school in Beijing, but her hukou has not moved to Beijing, so according to the policy, she must return to her hukou before the college entrance examination. She became a transfer student and the first friend of Luo Jinyong's life.

According to the class teacher's arrangement, Luo Jinyong was responsible for helping Jiang Shanshan.

This arrangement makes sense, because Luo Jinyong has already won the first prize in the National Mathematics and Physics Olympiad at the end of last semester, which means that he not only does not need to take the national college entrance examination, but will also be admitted to Tsinghua University, Peking University and other best universities in the country.

In the second semester of the third year of high school, Luo Jinyong was the most relaxed one in the class.

Jiang Shanshan is not stupid, and she is very smart, but compared with Luo Jinyong's county-level city, Beijing's middle schools don't care much about students' grades.

With the help of Luo Jinyong, Jiang Shanshan's academic performance has improved rapidly.

After a few months, Luo Jinyong had a good impression of this female classmate who was five years older than him, and Jiang Shanshan also had a good impression of Luo Jinyong, who was very intelligent.

Don't forget, Luo Jinyong is only thirteen years old and has just entered puberty.

"She's beautiful?"

"At that time, I thought it was very beautiful, probably because the clothes she brought back from Beijing were very special, and girls in big cities know how to dress up." Luo Jinyong smiled and said, "Now that I think about it, it's very ordinary, not only have a lot of freckles on my face, but also a little fat." ”

"And then?" Chu Tianjiang asked.

"One night a month before the college entrance examination, my father took me to Jiang Shanshan's house and quarreled with Jiang Shanshan's father, asking Jiang Shanshan to stop pestering me."

"What?"

Luo Jinyong smiled bitterly and said: "Although I vaguely felt a little bit at the time, my relationship with Jiang Shanshan is nothing more than explaining some more esoteric topics to her in her spare time, and helping her review the content of the teacher's lectures. ”

"You've held hands, kissed, or ......"

"She didn't hold hands, she kissed me, but she didn't do those things." Luo Jinyong was very honest and said, "Lao Chu, did you do that kind of thing when you just grew hair?" ”

"Come on, I was so pure at that time that I didn't even touch the hands of my female classmates." Chu Tianjiang laughed and said, "And then? ”

"After this incident, I didn't tutor Jiang Shanshan anymore, and her grades plummeted."

"Gone?"

"Her college entrance examination results are very average, I heard that she entered a junior college, and after graduation, she drifted to Beijing for two years, but she did not find a suitable job, and her parents transferred their jobs, so she left Beijing. A few years ago, I heard from my high school classmates that she was already a mother of three children. ”

"Mom of three!?"

"I heard that I married a nouveau riche, my family is quite rich, and my life is good."

"This is your first love?"

"Fart, would you have your first love five years older than you?"

After this incident, Luo Jinyong's suspicion of his parents turned into rebellion. Soon after, he received an admission letter from Tsinghua University's junior class. Leaving the small county town where he had lived for thirteen years and coming to the bustling metropolis, Luo Jinyong's life has undergone earth-shaking changes.

"You haven't been in touch with your family all these years?"

"Call once a month, sometimes forget, forget it." Luo Jinyong sighed and said, "I've been too busy in the past two years, so I haven't called home." ”

"Your parents didn't call you?"

Luo Jinyong smiled and did not answer the question.

"Lao Chu, are you investigating the household registration, or are you examining the political background?" Zhang Xiaogang saw that Luo Jinyong's mood had improved. "At first, I told the professor. When the matter of the Planetary Defense Council is over, we will go to Japan, charter a hot spring inn, do nothing, let dozens of Japanese girls serve us, and easily live for a month, what do you think? ”

"Okay, this can be there."

"How's it going over there?"

"It's almost time to get to the U.S. military base."

"Okay, let's talk about it here, and we'll get in touch when we have something."

"Okay, when the matter is over, we'll meet in Japan."

When the communication ends, the screen turns off automatically.

"Still want to drink?" Zhang Xiaogang picked up the cigarette case, only to find that it was empty.

"Not right now, but if you still have it, I'll send a few bottles later." Luo Jinyong stood up, "When the time comes, whether it is to celebrate victory or to be crazy, you can use it." ”

"No problem, I'll have someone send a box."

"You want to kill me?"

"If it's the most insane, it's better to be drunk than to be alive, right?"

"Fart, I don't want to die until I go to Japan to soak in hot springs."

"Now you have faith?"

"Nope." Luo Jinyong smiled and said, "But no confidence doesn't mean you don't do anything." As long as we don't give up, there is hope, even if it is extremely slim. If we do nothing, we will sit back and wait, and we will not have even the slightest hope. ”

"Looks like you've figured it out."

"I've figured it out a long time ago, but I'm just starting to be unable to accept it."

Zhang Xiaogang patted Luo Jinyong on the shoulder. "Okay, what are you going to do now?"

"If someone is bound to be unlucky, I hope it's not us." Luo Jinyong rubbed his forehead and said, "I need some information about the Houyi project and the right to directly intervene." ”

"For what?"

"We only had one interception rally, and we couldn't afford to miss it. If the delivery accuracy of super-nuclear warheads can be improved by optimizing the control program, the probability of successful interception will be greatly increased. Luo Jinyong let out a long breath and said, "Time is running out, I have to start work quickly." ”

"No problem, I'll send you what you need right away." Zhang Xiaogang didn't say much wordy, and was ready to go back to his office to bring over what Luo Jinyong needed. Although the intervention in the Houyi project can be achieved through remote control, the activation of a dedicated confidential communication line requires hardware decryption equipment.

"And ......"

"What?"

"Bring back a few packs of cigarettes."

Zhang Xiaogang shook his head with a smile and left Luo Jinyong's office.

More than ten minutes later, he rushed back with a hardware decryption device the size of a keychain and a cigarette.

Luo Jinyong said to do it, not sloppy at all.

Because he had nothing else to do, and he didn't want to participate in the quarrelsome meeting of the chief of general staff, Zhang Xiaogang stayed and waited for Luo Jinyong to finish his work.

Two hours later, when Zhang Xiaogang finished smoking half a pack of cigarettes, Luo Jinyong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"How?" Zhang Xiaogang walked over and lit a cigarette for Luo Jinyong. For these two hours, Luo Jinyong has been busy in front of the computer, and he doesn't even have time to smoke.

"Almost, fortunately, there was a safety redundancy in the design of the Arrow rocket, and the asteroid just disintegrated, and the speed of the debris did not increase." Luo Jinyong took a few puffs of cigarette and said, "As long as there is no failure, the probability of interception can be doubled, but there is still no absolute certainty." ”

"Do your best, obey the destiny of heaven."

"That's all it can be."

Zhang Xiaogang brought a bottle of Erguotou and said, "Drink it now, or drink it later?" ”

"A small glass is enough."

"Hungry?"

"It's not hunger, it's tired, physically and mentally exhausted." Luo Jinyong sighed and said, "All the efforts we have made and all the costs we have paid in the past two years will be able to see the results immediately." ”

"Do you still want Jiang Shanshan?" Zhang Xiaogang poured two glasses of wine.

Luo Jinyong was stunned for a moment and said, "Fart, if you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have remembered the past at all." ”

"Come on, I'm playing a joke on you, it's going to cheer you up." Zhang Xiaogang handed a wine glass to Luo Jinyong, "Even if it's a celebration in advance." ”

"What if the result was the opposite?"

"Then let's go crazy in advance." Zhang Xiaogang smiled and said, "If you want to open up, at least we will start to enjoy the last time of our lives earlier than others." ”

Luo Jinyong also smiled, and after toasting with Zhang Xiaogang, he raised his glass and drank it all.

At this time, it was 5:25 p.m. Beijing time on September 1, and the debris generated after the disintegration of the 2014X1 asteroid was only 3 million kilometers away from the Earth. In another fifteen minutes, Operation Courage will begin, with thousands of super-nuclear warheads being launched simultaneously from a space station in low-Earth orbit.

The interception area is between 1.2 million and 1 million kilometers from Earth. The relative velocity of the nuclear warhead to the fragments is up to 700 kilometers per second, and the time window for interception is only 285 seconds. After this short period of four minutes and forty-five seconds, the fate of mankind may have two very different outcomes.

To survive, or to perish?