Sunlight slanted across the picnic mat; someone had fallen asleep leaning against their backpack, and the person humming had stopped. A gentle breeze rustled the treetops, causing the leaves to sway and casting a shadow that shifted slightly along the edge of the mat.
Nana's wrist emitted a very soft beep, like a drop of water falling into a bowl. She didn't move. The camera panned across everyone's faces, finally settling on Chen Hao.
"Ten minutes until departure." Her voice was soft, like a sound check when the loudspeaker is first turned on. "Please begin packing your personal belongings."
Chen Hao blinked and looked up at her: "What did you say? The dream isn't over yet."
“Dreams can be archived,” Nana said, “but thermal pads need to be folded and stored away, otherwise it will affect their efficiency for the next use.”
He sighed, slowly sat up, and patted the crumbs off his pants. "Well, happy times are always short." He bent down to roll up the mat, his movements a little lazy, muttering as he rolled it, "This thing was hot for half an hour, but it cooled down pretty quickly."
Several people around him opened their eyes one after another. Xiao Wang rubbed his neck and sat up. He groggily reached for his backpack, only to find nothing.
"Where's my first aid kit?" he exclaimed in surprise, looking down to rummage through his coat pockets.
Nana had already brought up the scanning interface. "You were using the third compartment in section B as a cushion just now."
Xiao Wang blushed and quickly pulled it out and put it back in its original position.
Chen Hao laughed out loud: "Are you using your life-saving item as a sofa cushion?"
"Who knew it was so sturdy?" Xiao Wang muttered. "It's making my tailbone numb."
Nana continued scanning discreetly, the light flashing slightly as she checked each person's packing list. Lines of data slid across the terminal screen, finally displaying a notification: All items are complete, nothing missing.
"Confirmation complete," she said. "Evacuation procedures can be initiated."
Chen Hao stuffed the rolled-up mat into the side pocket of his backpack. The zipper got stuck, so he yanked it open. "Let's go home for dinner—though it certainly won't be as good as 'paobing' (a type of flatbread)."
The group slowly walked towards the sled parking spot. The sleds were parked on a patch of hard soil at the edge of the forest, their exteriors covered with a thin layer of ash, and a few blades of grass still clung to the snow chains on their tires.
He opened the passenger door, the dashboard lights up, and then a red light flashes.
"Huh?" He frowned. "Why did they call the police?"
Nana went around to the front of the car, extended a thin tube from her arm, and inserted it into the chassis interface. "The power unit did not fully wake up after being in a low-temperature dormant state, resulting in poor battery contact."
"It sounds like a cold." Chen Hao rubbed his hands together. "Can it be cured?"
"Three minutes of warm-up is all it takes." She pressed the start button, and the robotic arm began to heat up. "Everyone, fasten your harnesses. We'll be off in five minutes."
The carriage quieted down. Everyone took their seats, fastened their seatbelts, some yawned, and others looked down to check their shoelaces.
Chen Hao pulled out the waterproof notebook from his pocket, turned to a page, and saw crooked handwriting on it: "The first meal of spring."
He read aloud: "Time: 12:07 PM. Weather: Sunny. Event: First outdoor communal meal, eight participants, main food is failed energy biscuits and homemade juice, side dishes include hope, laughter and a free-riding butterfly."
There was a moment of silence in the carriage, followed by bursts of laughter.
"You actually remembered that?" Xiao Li laughed so hard his shoulders shook. "I thought you were just joking."
"I keep evidence of everything I do." Chen Hao closed the notebook and stuffed it back in. "In case I get old and can't remember how happy I was today, at least I can flip through the notebook."
“Then you need to write in more detail,” Xiao Wang said. “For example, how the little yellow butterfly stole the food, and the scene of the mother bird feeding her chicks.”
"How about we each tell you the one thing we remember most clearly?" Chen Hao asked, turning his head. "We've got nothing to do on the road anyway."
No one objected.
Xiao Li spoke first: "What impressed me most was the soft feeling of stepping on the ground. Before, the outside was all frozen soil like a hard shell, but now when you step on it, you can feel the ground bounce back."
“I remember when that bird flew back,” Xiao Zhang continued, “its wings were flapping really fast, but when it saw that its chick was alright, it suddenly became quiet. In that instant, I felt like it understood us.”
"What I remember is that after soaking the pancake in the sauce, I could finally chew it," Xiao Wang grinned. "At that moment, I felt that life had regained its meaning."
Laughter broke out again.
Nana sat in the driver's seat, silent, tapping her fingers a few times on the terminal to activate the recording and archiving function. The file was named: "b-07: Image Log of the First Collective Outdoor Activity During the Ecological Recovery Period." The storage path was automatically encrypted, and backups were made to the main control system's three-layer protection zone.
Chen Hao turned to look at her: "Aren't you going to tell one?"
“My memory will not be lost,” she said, “but your language has emotional value and is worth preserving.”
"That sounds like a compliment, but it doesn't." He scratched his head. "Isn't there just one image you can't shake off?"
Nana slightly moved the camera, bringing up a cached scene: a yellow butterfly landed on the crumbs, its wings opening and closing; Chen Hao looked down at the bowl, casually dumping the last bit of softened biscuit crumbs onto the side of the stone.
“This moment was played the most times,” she said. “Thirty-one percent more often than other recorded segments.”
Chen Hao paused for two seconds, then suddenly laughed: "So you secretly collected it too?"
“Collecting is a human behavior,” she said. “I’m just categorizing the materials.”
"Come on," he waved his hand. "You're just being stubborn."
The vehicle started slowly, its tracks grinding over grass roots and gravel, making a low, grinding sound. The forest receded, and sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, streaking across the vehicle windows.
He leaned back in his chair, gazing at the flowing shadows of the trees outside the window, and said in a lower voice, "Today isn't just about getting some fresh air. We're not just coming out to catch our breath; we're seeing with our own eyes things growing, flying, and calling out."
The carriage was quiet for a few seconds.
"What else did you plant?" Xiao Li asked.
“Planting hope,” Chen Hao said. “Before, I always thought that just surviving was enough, but now it’s different. We see buds breaking through the soil, birds returning to their nests, and even butterflies daring to graze among people—this is not recovery, but a new beginning.”
Xiao Wang said softly, "It would be great if we could come out once a year."
"Then let's try to come every year." Chen Hao patted his knee. "Next time, bring seeds and actually try planting something. Tomatoes are the best; they grow quickly and can be eaten raw."
“You need light and drainage,” Nana cautioned. “The current soil pH is not suitable for nightshade plants.”
“Don’t spoil the fun,” he glared at him. “I’m just stating a wish, not saying I’m going to open a farm right now.”
“Wishes also need feasibility analysis,” she said. “Otherwise, it’s easy to be disappointed.”
“You’re the epitome of realism among robots,” he sighed. “You have absolutely no romantic soul.”
“Romance isn’t part of the functional modules,” she said. “But I recorded the smiles on everyone’s faces, capturing 27 valid moments, with the peak occurring at the moment the pancake was soaked in juice.”
Chen Hao laughed out loud: "So you were actually moved by the sweet porridge?"
Nana didn't answer; the aperture slightly narrowed, as if she had adjusted the focus.
The car drove onto the main road, and the ground gradually leveled out. The outline of the base began to appear in the distance, its gray exterior walls gleaming matte in the setting sun.
Chen Hao took out his notebook, flipped to that page again, and stared at "The First Meal of Spring" for a long time. Then he tore off the paper, folded it into a small square, and stuffed it into his breast pocket.
"Why are you tearing it?" Xiao Li asked.
"Keep a physical object," he said. "Electronic ones are easy to lose, but paper ones give me peace of mind when I keep them in my pocket."
Nana glanced at him through the rearview feed.
“You can also take photos to remember it,” she said.
“No photograph can compare to handwritten words.” He patted his chest. “This is the original version.”
The car jolted, and he closed his eyes as he muttered, “When I publish my book, ‘The Day We Ate Pancakes’ is too shabby, and ‘My Days of Picnics at the End of the World’ is too long… ‘The First Meal of Spring’ would be much better.”
“The title is redundant,” Nana said. “I suggest changing it to ‘The Day the Pancake Went Soft.’”
"This is awful!" he exclaimed, opening his eyes. "Can't we have some positive energy?"
“Facts are positive energy,” she said. “The pancake did get soggy.”
He rolled his eyes and stopped arguing. Outside the window, darkness fell, the trees disappeared completely, leaving only a straight road stretching forward.
He put his hands in his pockets, his fingertips touching the remaining half of the notebook. The edges of the pages were slightly curled, and the handwriting had been blurred by sweat, but he remembered every single stroke.
On Nana's monitoring screen, the members' physiological data were stable, with the average heart rate decreasing by 12.3 and the breathing rhythm becoming more synchronized, which is consistent with the "relaxation after satisfaction" state model.
She packaged all the video footage from this trip and marked it as high priority. When uploading, she added an extra note:
[The audio clip "The First Meal of Spring" is read aloud by a human with a smiling tone; it is recommended to retain the original waveform.]
The car continued on, still three kilometers from the base.
Chen Hao suddenly sat up straight and looked out the window.
"Why."
He pointed to the roadside.
Beside a dead tree stump, a crack appeared in the soil, and a bit of green was pushing outwards.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com