More than a month has passed.

The figures of Gu Xinghe and Ma Fei often appear on screens across the country.

They played on huge electronic billboards in shopping malls.

They carried out space missions on a projection screen in the school's lecture hall.

They ate and were entertained on the televisions of their homes.

Time passes.

The same voice rang out on screens across the country: "...... I just got the news that after 57 long days, Shuguang 16 has successfully completed its space mission. Three days later, astronauts Gu Xinghe and Ma Fei are about to return home in triumph......"

3:45 a.m. on September 12.

In front of the coffee machine, Pan Wanli, the commander-in-chief with a tired face, moved his stiff body, regained his strength, and walked back in good spirits. A staff member standing next to the commander-in-chief looked up and inadvertently saw a set of data flickering on the screen.

He stood up, his face changed suddenly, he opened his mouth and shouted hoarsely:

"Commander-in-Chief!"

Pan Wanli hurriedly walked over, and the staff quickly gathered behind him.

Shock and anxiety surfaced on everyone's faces.

Early the next morning.

The gate of the General Space Administration was blocked by various media.

Reporters, you push and shove, the microphone is next to the microphone, the wires are wrapped around the wires, but no one speaks, and their eyes are fixed on the intersection.

Suddenly, someone shouted: "Commander-in-Chief Pan is here!" ”

The crowd roared all around, and suddenly there was a wave.

"Commander-in-Chief, can you give me a simple interview? With the last two days left before the return of Dawn 16, is it true that the spacecraft has lost contact? ”

Pan Wanli fastened the buttons of his windbreaker, did not answer, and walked quickly into the building of the General Space Administration with a gloomy face. In the conference room of the building, an even more severe test awaited him.

The conference room of the General Directorate has a decoration style from the 80s of the last century. Four white floor-to-ceiling walls, simple plasterboard ceilings, ochre wool carpets. Beige brocade curtains hung from the narrow glass windows, and under the windowsills were wooden boxes used to wrap radiators, which were mottled by the expansion and contraction of the birch chests.

In autumn, this austere décor with a lack of light becomes even more dark and cold.

There is only one thing in the whole room that stands proudly and dazzlingly, and that is the satellite model hanging high on the wall directly opposite the gate - the physical model of China's first artificial satellite "Dongfanghong No. 1".

Now, Pan Wanli is standing under the "Dongfanghong No. 1" and stating with difficulty:

"After the spacecraft changed orbit, the space-based TT&C communication system suddenly failed...... The specific cause of the disappearance is still under further investigation. We will continue to track with GPS, and six survey vessels of the Maritime Tracking and Control Department are also working at the same time. Of course, we also have a contingency plan for this extreme situation - under normal circumstances, the spacecraft will activate the autonomous return system. ”

At the other end of the table sat an old man, apparently a chief.

The chief's hair was all white, but his eyebrows were still thick and black, and the roots stood on end, unusually majestic. Across a long table, Pan Wanli could notice a knot between the two thick black eyebrows.

"You're saying that the ship you lost will come back on its own? So what are you waiting for? Have a celebration, right? ”

Pan Wanli lowered his head and was silent. The conference room fell silent.

The chief pushed away the swivel chair and turned on the TV behind him.

Before the picture appeared, the melody of the high-pitched "Dongfang Hong" was already heard. Immediately afterwards, the black-and-white historical documentary screen appeared with enthusiastic beating and shouting ecstatic faces.

"On April 24, 1970, the world heard for the first time the voice of Chinese people coming back from space. The first artificial satellite, Dongfanghong 1, was in the sky, and I was there. I was nineteen years old. ”

The chief said leisurely.

All participants sat up straight and exchanged glances.

Pan Wanli raised his head.

"It's been more than fifty years. Dongfanghong-1 is still in orbit. What are its design requirements? ”

"You can go up, you can catch it, you can hear it, you can see it."

Having carried out countless missions and commanded many more missions, Pan Wanli is simply too familiar with the design requirements of these twelve characters. But at this moment, when he spit out these twelve words, he felt that it was very difficult to even open his mouth to pronounce.

The chief did not speak again, got up and left, and the others hurried out. Pan Wanli was the only one left in the conference room.

It was already evening, and the light in the room was getting dimmer. The music on the TV was still playing enthusiastically, creating a strange contrast with the environment. He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, like a steel sculpture, staring at the "Dongfanghong No. 1" satellite on TV.

What Pan Wanli didn't know was that in the spaceship that occupied all his thoughts, the atmosphere at this time was quite calm.

In the space capsule, Ma Fei was flipping through the manual.

Gu Xinghe floated over: "The spacecraft's autonomous return system is also out of order. ”

He paused: "Earth, we can't go back." ”

Ma Fei glanced at the indicator light of the communication system, and then looked at Gu Xinghe.

Two people floated in the cabin, for a long time, no one spoke.

Gu Xinghe broke the silence: Originally, she bragged to her daughter that she would pick a star and go back, but in the future, her mother could only point to a star in the sky and say, that is your father's incarnation.

The best ending for a soldier is nothing more than being killed by the last bullet in the last battle. Floating in the universe for a billion years is the best destination for astronauts.

"To be honest, I've rehearsed this scene countless times in my head - the only regret is that it's you lying next to you? What are the two of us, buried together? ”

A faint smile appeared on the corner of Ma Fei's mouth.

"On the bright side, we are not as luxurious as the local tyrants on the earth, but we are more luxurious than their deaths. This big coffin is not worth billions of dollars? ”

The two looked at each other and smiled, laughing and laughing, the smile disappeared and gradually became serious.

"I've never heard you say, why do you want to be an astronaut?"

"I'm not like you. You are a legend in the history of China's aerospace industry, and you are destined to do this. Ma Fei suddenly turned his head to look at the earth outside the window, "As for me, I was born to be the stupidest child in the world." A little more stupid than the stupidest. I am here today because of my family. ”

"Your family? The one who was absent from the departure ceremony? ”

Ma Fei nodded: "If it weren't for him, I would definitely not be what I am now, and it would be impossible for me to become an astronaut and appear here......"