(1)
A little past four in the afternoon, the sun, which had just peeked out for a short while, retreated back behind the clouds, and the white clouds gradually turned a leaden gray.
The world was dead silent, without a single sound.
Such quiet made it even easier to immerse oneself in one’s own thoughts.
Before Yu Minghui’s palm could touch her shoulder, An Jing, as if sensing it, turned her head.
She saw the latter holding a box of pizza, smiling gently at her.
An Jing nodded softly and covered her somewhat shrunken stomach.
Only in the afternoon did she regain a bit of appetite, and when asked what she wanted to eat, she capriciously requested a pizza.
To her surprise, they could actually make one here.
“The head chef made it personally for you,” Yu Minghui wrote on the whiteboard in front of An Jing.
“Please thank him.”
“I’ve already handed over the written incident report you made to Dr. Ye and the others.”
An Jing exhaled quietly, then excitedly wrote a few big characters on the whiteboard: “Pizza, smells so good! Hungry!!”
Yu Minghui rubbed An Jing’s head with some sympathy, handed her a disposable plastic glove, and then helped her open the pizza box.
An Jing glanced at Yu Minghui, then at the pizza, and pointed with her finger.
Yu Minghui shook her head, indicating she wouldn’t eat any herself.
Although An Jing couldn’t hear the crunching sound of teeth biting food, luckily, her sense of taste remained intact, even sharper than usual, allowing her to savor the flavor clearly.
This was a shrimp pizza with pickled cucumbers, and it tasted delicious.
As it was her first time eating pizza, An Jing was very satisfied.
Her favorite part, of course, was pulling out the long cheese strings — it felt exactly like the pizza characters ate in anime.
Yu Minghui suddenly covered her mouth and laughed, her shoulders shaking.
An Jing tilted her head, looking at her in confusion.
“You’re making ‘ah-woo ah-woo’ sounds while eating,” she said.
An Jing’s face stiffened, blushing slightly as she slowed her chewing — it seemed that not hearing the sound while eating still affected her a bit…
***
(2)
Having just finished a small pizza, An Jing happily held up a cup of hot milk tea and sat by the large floor-to-ceiling window, gazing outside.
This recovery room was quite spacious, with excellent lighting.
The big window framed the outside scenery like an exquisite painting.
She learned from Yu Minghui that this military-affiliated research institute was located on an island.
From here, she could faintly see the outline of her hometown island far away, and even observe the cranes and excavators busy at work on the neighboring island.
As for the workers, they were so tiny they looked like ants — impossible to see clearly.
This research institute was semi-secretive.
On the surface, it was responsible for studying the ocean, exploring for oil, observing the sky, and recording astronomical phenomena.
In reality, it was conducting deep research on an extraterrestrial substance.
Part of the study involved seeking controlled nuclear fusion within a special meteorite, and another part focused on why this meteorite exhibited such “supernatural” properties.
At the very least, many of the phenomena it caused could not be explained by current science.
— Whether it was Dr. Ye, who was replicated on the spot, or An Jing, who transformed from a boy into a girl and gained superpowers…
All these were inexplicable.
Even Dr. Ye himself, influenced by the meteorite, had become the project’s lead.
All this was in an effort to understand exactly what this unscientific thing was.
After all, the more a phenomenon defied science, the more captivating it was.
Humanity is always eager to explore the unknown.
But for now, none of this concerned An Jing directly; there was nothing she could do except quietly wait for the results.
Here, there was no cellphone signal, and the TV stations were limited to just a few.
Even Yu Minghui couldn’t come and go freely — every entry and exit required permission and a complicated procedure.
Dr. Ye had some books she could borrow, but they were far too advanced for her.
Compared to that, An Jing felt it was better to quietly stare at the scenery and daydream to pass the time.
— Especially the excavator on the neighboring island; as long as it kept moving, she never got tired of watching it.
The sky, which had just seen a few minutes of sunshine, suddenly began to snow.
The snowflakes were small, about the size of grains of rice, slightly damp and heavy, falling rapidly.
This was an early spring snowfall.
After this snow, the weather would truly warm up — temperatures would no longer hover around freezing.
Though cold, it was filled with hope.
An Jing pressed her cheek against the chilly glass but didn’t feel cold because the heating was on full blast inside the room.
The thermometer was nearly reading twenty degrees Celsius.
This slight chill made her feel even more awake.
The snowflakes drifted and swayed, the blurred outline of her home island brought a sense of peace.
She wondered if Anhai the Great God had been summoned away, whether the old houses had been torn down, and where the things left behind by those who hadn’t taken them would be thrown.
How were her grandparents faring in their new home?
She closed her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, and the corners of her mouth slowly lifted into a big smile.
— No matter what, everything would be alright.
Just like after this cold snow, there would be a warm spring.
***
(3)
An Jing dozed off unknowingly.
She was vaguely awakened by Yu Minghui’s gentle push.
Her long eyelashes fluttered as she blinked, and she instinctively opened her mouth to speak, but heard no voice.
Yu Minghui helped her up and pointed toward the door, where a young man stood waiting with a smile.
An Jing had some impression of him — he seemed to be the man responsible for dispensing medicine at the Chinese medicine clinic.
But he shouldn’t have any relation to Dr. Ye.
The young man in a white coat gestured politely, and Yu Minghui gently pushed An Jing’s wheelchair out of the room.
This time, they entered a spotlessly clean room with white walls so bright they reflected light.
In the center was a small operating bed.
Seeing it, An Jing immediately tensed.
Yu Minghui gently patted her shoulder to help her relax, then several nurses helped lift her onto the bed.
One by one, tubes were connected to her, causing a slight sting that made her frown.
The unfamiliar ceiling was lit by harsh white lights, making it impossible for her to open her eyes.
A group of people busied themselves, feeling her body, gently stroking her head as if to soothe her emotions.
Despite this, An Jing’s body instinctively stiffened.
Fortunately, it didn’t last long, and she was soon helped back into her wheelchair.
“It’s just a routine check,” Yu Minghui said, handing her the whiteboard.
An Jing pressed her lips and nodded.
Although everyone’s movements were gentle, she still felt a panic like a lab rat being handled at will.
Soon after, she was pushed out again and brought to Dr. Ye’s office.
She first glanced at that bald, egg-shaped head, then shifted her gaze to the screen on the wall.
On the white background, several black characters appeared just in time: “We have carefully reviewed the incident report. Are you sure there’s nothing you’ve missed?”
An Jing tilted her head, thought for a moment, then gently shook it.
“Is there anything else to add about your ‘special abilities’?”
An Jing hesitated, bit her lip, and recalling how she felt like a lab rat lying on the operating bed, firmly shook her head again.
“Are you absolutely sure you’re not hiding anything? This is very important to us.”
After a brief silence, An Jing wrote: “You can’t treat me like a lab rat.”
She looked back and saw Dr. Ye slightly startled, then he lowered his head and typed: “You can rest assured on that point. Next time, we can use a friendlier examination method.”
“Seems like you can temporarily control others.”
“Does it influence their thoughts or completely control all their actions?”
An Jing tilted her head, biting her finger, and after a long time wrote down the word “influence” with a question mark uncertainly added after it.
“So, have the various experiments with the meteorite fragments affected you?”
“No, I haven’t felt anything.”
“Good. Then please return to your room and rest.”
An Jing slowly closed her eyes.
Before being pushed out, she raised the whiteboard in her hand: “When can I go home?”
Dr. Ye’s face creased deeply as he smiled kindly and typed: “If things go well, within a week.”
Although this was probably the best-case scenario, it still eased An Jing’s tension considerably.
Yes, the room she stayed in was spacious, but no matter how good it was, it wasn’t her home — not her room, not her bed.
After all, this was a research institute, but she clearly didn’t want to be a subject of research.
***
(4)
In a cramped-looking room, several white square tables were pushed together.
The surface was covered with draft papers filled with countless formulas, alongside several laptops seemingly drowning under stacks of books.
Dr. Ye plopped down and gestured to the researchers busy at separate tables: “Progress on the meteorite fragment research is limited. With our current technology, we probably can’t go deeper. If anyone has hypotheses or summaries, speak up — let’s see what other directions we can try.”
“Old Ye, with our current theoretical framework, I can’t explain the phenomena. But I have summarized some characteristics.”
“Go ahead.”
“First, the two meteorites we’re studying, plus the three others documented only in text, all emit a special radiation. Although the waveforms differ, they’re quite similar and grant people special abilities. They also cause notable physical effects.”
“Exactly.”
“Second, there’s no evidence of ongoing nuclear fusion; third, all these meteorites come from the same direction…”
“What you’re saying is more or less what we’ve already concluded.”
“I know. I’m just recapping. Now, I want to share three hypotheses — and they might very well be correct.”
“You thought of that too?”
“Yes, Old Ye! Let me speak. I suspect the meteorite doesn’t directly give special abilities. Instead — it grants people’s wishes! And those whose wishes are granted receive abilities to fulfill those wishes. That’s the first point. Second, the residue in the meteorite fragments may not be nuclear fusion but antimatter annihilation! Third, they’re likely objects from a star civilization. To me, they might be gifts sent by an advanced civilization to the entire universe!”
“Gifts, huh…”
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