It will be Xi'an in 2026.

This city, which was once the ancient capital of 13 dynasties, has witnessed China's long history and civilization, and also carries China's broad and profound cultural heritage.

This inland city in the northwest is not only home to countless scenic spots, but also has the third largest number of universities in China after Beijing and Shanghai.

Among the many universities, the strongest is Xijing Sanhang University of Science and Technology. This is a university that is famous all over the country for its military majors such as aviation, aerospace, and navigation. Most of the scientific research, projects, and activities engaged in this school are related to national defense and military affairs. However, all scientific research and projects related to national defense and military are secret, so the actual strength of this university cannot be shown in the national rankings.

Yu Tao is a student at Xijing Sanhang University of Science and Technology.

This year he was a junior in college.

In his junior year, he only had one thing on his mind - he was going to take the graduate school entrance examination and the graduate school entrance examination.

The reason why he wanted to go to graduate school was because he had always dreamed of staying in school in the future and participating in great defense research projects. At that time, if you have no family connections, you can only be eligible to stay in the university as a researcher if you have obtained a doctorate degree from the university.

One summer morning, like every morning, he came out of his dormitory, bought two beef buns and a bag of soy milk for breakfast in the cafeteria, and walked to the study hall while eating. The distance from the dormitory to the study room is very close, and there is only the cafeteria and Dongfanghong Stadium in between. However, after Yu Tao stuffed the first bun into his mouth, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a new notification flashing in the holographic image information window of Dongfanghong Stadium. In the information window, there are a variety of news on weekdays, including advertisements for students, new school policies, commendations for teachers and students, work-study positions, etc., and sometimes some news about graduate school entrance examinations. And the information rendering made by the pop-up information window this time was very eye-catching, which attracted Yu Tao's attention, so he decided to take a look. And this was the beginning of changing his fate.

The notice information is as follows:

Dandelion Project

For the needs of national defense scientific research projects, dedicate yourself, like dandelions, to the place where you fall! Due to the needs of national defense scientific research projects, aspiring young people who are interested in dedicating themselves to national defense scientific research are now selected to participate in the Dandelion Project. It would be a great honor to be a part of the Dandelion Project.

The program calls for a total of 40 students aged 20-22, male and female. If you are interested, please go to the National Defense College to register.

Cmc

2026.06.26

In just over 100 words, Yu Tao reread it several times. The Dandelion Project is obviously a classified national defense project, so the instructions on the notice are not detailed, but as a student of Xijing Sanhang University of Science and Technology, he knows very well the status of such a project, especially the signing of the Central Military Commission makes his blood boil. What did he go to graduate school for? Not to be part of such a project? So after he read the whole text for the fifth time, he drank the soy milk in one go, stuffed the second bun into his mouth, and then resolutely turned around and walked towards the school's National Defense Academy.

At least eight out of ten students in this school have a sincere heart dedicated to national defense, so the number of students who signed up was ten times the actual number of students. The Dandelion Project is sacred and noble in the eyes of the students, and everyone does their best to show their strength and show themselves in the selection and assessment. The competition is no less fierce than today's middle school students scrambling to apply for the Sail School.

After many screenings, Yu Tao finally obtained the qualification to participate in the Dandelion Project.

After confirming that they were accepted into the Dandelion program, they still did not know the specifics of the program. They only know that they will be sent somewhere, stay for a long time, and engage in great causes of contributing to the country there, like dandelions, far away from Xi'an, where they will take root and fall.

I still remember that on the day of departure, forty students lined up on the school's Dongfanghong Square and got into the military vehicle.

All the teachers and students of the school lined up to sing the school song to see them off.

"Xiyue Xuanang, Beidou is brilliant, Ze is Wanfang, and the education is the first.

The majestic institution has produced pillars, attaches great importance to morality and students, and the country is prosperous and strong.

The wall of a thousand thousands, the steel of a hundred refinements, the wood and gold, the flying cruise.

Sincerity, courage and perseverance, never forget, China is splendid, and the voyage is boundless. ”

The sound of the school song was resonant and loud.

They then boarded a military transport plane and headed to an unknown place.

And then, like dandelions, they took root where they fell.

A place that is not a city, a county seat, or even a village, and there is no communication signal even on the mobile phone network. It looked more like a barracks, with dormitories, government buildings, hospitals, and sports fields, as well as tens of thousands of soldiers. No one told them where it was, and no one could tell where it was, because all but the forty students of the Dandelion Project were soldiers. And the people who served in the army, like them, were all selected to participate in the Dandelion Project, and they didn't know what this place was.

The head of the group of students who was responsible for bringing Yu Tao was surnamed He, and the students called him Teacher He.

In the first few days, the students were arranged to attend classes in the office building during the day, and they actually took biology and chemistry classes, and none of the forty students studied these two majors, but they were still very humble to study, no one asked why, and the students firmly believed that it made sense to arrange what they were to study.

At that time, the food conditions were very good, better than eating in the school cafeteria, every meal had delicacies from the mountains and seas, and it was enough; The dormitory conditions are also better than those in the school, with one bedroom for every two people, and one bedroom is divided into two bedrooms and single rooms.

The only thing that makes the students unbearable is the disconnection of the network and the loss of communication, in this era of seeing the network as life, there is no network and communication signal at all, which makes people very comfortable for a while. However, fortunately, these students also have a full academic life, so Internet dependence does not have too much of a deterrent effect on them.

Unlike this group of students, the soldiers were much harder, being pulled out early in the morning by military vehicles to do their work, and at that time they were told that they were going to do construction — building roads, building houses, cutting wood, plowing the land...... But I didn't hear the soldier complain, because they all came voluntarily for the great honor of being part of the Dandelion Project.

Forty students were divided into two classes, 20 students each, and Yu Tao was in one class. Usually, they don't live together in the two classes and don't attend classes together, so they rarely interact with each other.

In his breaks, Yu Tao likes to carve by hand. His ancestors were craftsmen, and his family wanted him to inherit this craft and opposed him coming out to study, but he insisted on coming out to study and went to university.

But when he went to college, he rarely went home, and when he was far away from home, he missed home more, so he always involuntarily picked up the carving knife.

He may not have been aware of these fetters in his heart, but before Dandelion planned to set off, when he packed his luggage, he did not hesitate to bring the full set of carved guys.

On weekdays, Yu Tao is just looking for a piece of wood carving, and when he is in a good mood, he will take out his wax model carving. In addition to the necessities of life, he basically can't buy anything else in this place, so some of the carved embryos he brought with him are also very economical.

Summer passed quickly.

Autumn.

Winter.

Unlike Xi'an, it's cold.

Due to the imperfection of the infrastructure and the lack of air-conditioning coverage in the building, although the heating pipes have been installed, the air heating supply station has not yet been built.

In winter, regardless of fire hazards, students use electric heaters to heat their classrooms, but perhaps because the heat source is uneven and the temperature field of cold and hot convection fluctuates too much, some people still fall ill.

At first, the students thought it was a common cold, but later they found out that it was not.

Because the disease seems to be contagious, the students fell ill one after another, but everyone's symptoms were completely different. Some continue to have high fever, some vomit incessantly, some have edema all over their skin, and some are directly unconscious.

An unknown virus accompanied by fear, spreading among the students in both classes. A week later, Yu Tao also fell ill.