"Mr. Shi, please have some tea."

After the two sat down...

Sheng Ai simply moved her finger, and a glass of water floated over and stopped in front of Shi Jiu.

"Thanks."

Shi Jiu was not surprised by this. He picked up his cup and took a sip.

Then I glanced around the living room.

"Do you feel lonely living here all by yourself?"

"Lonely?" Sheng Ai said slowly, "No, not at all."

"Mom and Dad, my brother and sister are all at home."

"With them by my side, Xiao Ai won't feel lonely."

Shi Jiu looked at her and said, "You stay at home every day. Don't you want to go out and see the world?"

"Go out into the world...and see it?" Sheng Ai's gaze passed over the living room and the French windows, looking at the vast gray fog outside.

He spoke after a while.

"Xiao Ai wants to go out into the world... and see it."

“But Mom, Dad, brother and sister are all at home, and Xiao Ai… wants to be with them.”

After a moment of silence, Shi Jiu said, "Xiao Ai, have you ever thought about this...?"

"You're already 18. Even without family around, you can live a good life on your own."

A faint, almost imperceptible look of bewilderment appeared in Sheng Ai's empty eyes.

"one……"

"Are you...doing well?"

"Xiao Ai...you haven't thought about it?"

Shi Jiu asked again, "Xiao Ai, do you still remember your dream?"

"What...is...a dream?" The blankness in Sheng Ai's empty eyes became a little more obvious.

"Xiao Ai... doesn't know."

Shi Jiu fell silent again.

Silence fell over the living room.

Sheng Ai sat upright, like a sculpture.

It seems as if she will never speak unless someone talks to her.

A few minutes later.

Shi Jiu gazed into Sheng Ai's eyes and finally asked an important question: "Xiao Ai..."

Do you know you're...dead?

If someone is present.

They would be so panicked they wouldn't dare breathe, fearing that Sheng Ai would lose control, go berserk, and unleash a cataclysmic massacre and terror...

However, Sheng Ai remained seated and motionless.

There was no response.

Just when Shi Jiu thought she might not have heard or understood the question.

Sheng Ai slowly spoke, "I know..."

"Xiao Ai knows that Xiao Ai is... dead."

Shi Jiu's fingertips trembled slightly.

A look of surprise flashed in his eyes.

“Xiao Ai… Mom and Dad, brother and sister.” Sheng Ai continued, “Even if… I die, Xiao Ai will stay with Mom and Dad, brother and sister.”

"Never to be separated."

Shi Jiu fell into a long silence.

He looked into Sheng Ai's eyes with sadness, tenderness, sympathy, pity, and deep heartache.

"Xiao Ai..."

I don't know how much time passed.

He spoke up: "You probably don't remember."

"We met a long time ago."

"You still call me senior."

“Senior…?” A faint look of confusion still lingered in Sheng Ai’s eyes. “What… is that…?”

Shi Jiu looked at her, her memories drifting back to six years ago.

Six years ago, you had just started junior high school.

"During the summer vacation, students who won awards in the national robotics competition received an opportunity to visit the National University of Defense Technology."

"You were the champion of that year's robotics competition."

"At the time, I was a doctoral student at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences."

"The school asked me to host you."

"That's when we met."

"All the other kids call me teacher, but you call me... senior."

"Back then, you were holding our school's brochure and told me firmly."

"You must apply to the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in the future, dedicate yourself to national defense, serve the country, and devote your life to building our country into the most powerful country on earth."

"National Defense...Science and Technology...University..." Sheng Ai repeated these words slowly, like a broken record.

"Dedicate yourself to...national defense."

"To serve...the country."

Shi Jiu reminisced about that child from back then.

"You are the most talented child I have ever seen."

"When I saw your performance in the robotics competition, I was convinced that you would become a pillar of the nation in the future."

"If you participate in national defense construction and scientific and technological research, your name will surely be remembered in history and be passed down to the world."

“Xiao Ai!” He reached out and grasped Sheng Ai’s hands, which no longer had any physical form, and his expression became serious.

"The country is about to develop a sixth-generation air defense missile system."

"And I am one of the main people in charge of this project."

"Once the sixth-generation system is successfully developed, any country, organization, or force that launches a missile attack on our territory will be successfully destroyed in its cradle."

"Our country will not suffer foreign aggression and humiliation for a long time to come."

"The revival of this land beneath our feet is just around the corner!"

"Xiao Ai, I've been waiting for you to apply to the National University of Defense Technology and join our team."

Sheng Ai's almost completely transparent hands faintly revealed their physical form.

Then it repeatedly shifts between transparency and solidity.

"Sixth generation... air defense missile system..."

"Join our... team..."

Sheng Ai repeated these words over and over again.

It seems like they're trying to understand what this means...

Seeing her like this, Shi Jiu didn't offer any further explanation or urge her on.

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