Daily 5
1
Aside from the reduced snow and wind, the residents of Dahan Star mostly live underground. There are quite a few recreational facilities underground, but because there is a lack of light sources underground, the artificially lit underground still looks cramped.
To avoid disrupting the lives of the underground residents, there are no trains underground. Qiao Yan and the others were on the same train they had used to get here before. Outside, snow was still falling heavily, as if time had never moved forward.
"It's so quiet," Nan Yayin said, looking out the window. "There are no animals or people."
“It takes it hundreds of years to orbit the sun. A hundred years ago, it wasn’t this cold here. Now it’s moving away from the sun, and in another hundred years, it probably won’t be habitable here,” Qiao Yan said. “Many people are already preparing to leave, but a hundred years is too long for people. Even with bad weather, some people still want to stay here.”
“Zhou Yi?” Nan Yayin replied.
“She should be an exception; her home isn’t here.” Qiao Yan glanced at the station. “We’re almost there.”
Their hotel was on the ground floor, while Zhou Yi's home was underground. Nan Yayin heard Qiao Yan say it was a very deep place, but at first he didn't understand. It wasn't until he was standing in a long-distance elevator that he suddenly realized.
"A long-distance elevator?" Nan Yayin carried Nan Shuyin up the stairs. "How long will it take?"
"It won't be long, maybe half an hour." Qiao Yan led them to their seats. "Zhou Yi said she's already waiting for us."
The elevator was huge, able to seat forty or fifty people at once, like a train carriage. It was surrounded by glass, as if it were there to display something.
For the first kilometer, they couldn't see anything through the glass, but after passing the control layer, it suddenly brightened up, and there was light shining through the glass. Nan Ya Yin was sitting nearby, and he got up to look. All around them were elevators like theirs, going up or down.
He looked down, unsure whether to call it the ground or underground, feeling as if it were tens of kilometers away from them, and Nan Yayin quickly shrank back.
"Have we been living on someone else's head all these days?" Nan Yayin was startled by the height and urgently needed someone to comfort her.
Qiao Yan rubbed his head. "This is the first floor. There should be another floor: above ground, one underground floor, and two underground floors. That's how it's structured."
"Which floor do Zhou Yi and the others live on?" Nan Yayin stopped looking outside; the feeling was like accelerating her fall.
"The first floor," Qiao Yan said, adding that they would be seen soon.
Nan Yayin breathed a sigh of relief. "They've made this place seem like another world, except there's no sky."
“It’s too cold on the Great Cold Star. Seeing the sky might mean freezing to death for them,” Qiao Yan said, pointing to others. “But it’s warm underground. Look, they’re already getting ready to change into lighter clothes.”
Just as Qiao Yan said, the elevator arrived quickly. They felt very warm as soon as they came out. No wonder Qiao Yan said he could bring him out, but they could only play underground.
The ground here is so warm it feels like it's heating up.
Zhou Yi was already waiting outside. Qiao Yan stepped forward to greet her, "This is Nan Yayin, my lover. This is his sister, Nan Shuyin."
As soon as Nan Yayin walked over, hearing her address her like that made her feel like all the blood in her body rushed to her head, and her cheeks must have turned bright red.
Zhou Yi patted Qiao Yan with a smile, then saw that Nan Yayin looked like she was about to faint. "My God, it's so hot here. You shouldn't wear so many clothes."
Nan Yayin hid behind Qiao Yan, and Nan Shuyin followed suit, hiding behind him like two quails.
"Although you said you didn't need to bring anything, I still bought some." Qiao Yan didn't buy much, just some everyday necessities. "I thought you had already left Da Han Xing."
“I already said no need. You’re more polite than Shu Juan. If it were her, she would have taken something from my house.” Zhou Yi opened the car door. “I was going to leave, but I hadn’t decided where to go, so I decided to stay for a while. I’ll probably leave when Zhou Yang goes to school.”
Zhou Yi's home wasn't too far away; it didn't take long to get there. They were staying in a suite, and they took the regular elevator up, leaving the door ajar so they could come in.
"I'm back," Zhou Yi called into the house.
"Mom!" Zhou Yang, still as lively and cheerful as ever, rushed to the door and was slightly puzzled when he saw the two unfamiliar people outside. Before long, he saw Qiao Yan and called out, "Sister Qiao Yan!"
"Long time no see." Qiao Yan and the others entered the house and saw a warm family. Lin Huai came out of the living room and greeted the people outside.
Nan Yayin followed behind Qiao Yan, almost touching her as they walked inside.
"Sit down, make yourself at home," Zhou Yi said to the group. "The food will be ready soon. I bought some local specialties to eat, although it's my first time trying them."
Qiao Yan sensed something was wrong; sometimes local specialties weren't as appealing as she had imagined.
"What made you decide to travel to the Great Cold Star?" Zhou Yi sat next to Lin Huai and sent Zhou Yang to go play with Nan Shuyin.
“Ya Yin and the others have never seen snow before, so I thought we should come and see for ourselves.” Qiao Yan poured Nan Ya Yin a cup of ginger tea. “We’ll probably go skiing in a couple of days and then leave.”
Nan Yayin sipped her tea carefully, afraid of choking again. He turned his head to look at Zhou Yi and her husband, and after Qiao Yan had finished talking with them, he asked, "Is he a Beta?"
Qiao Yan nodded, "We see them quite often now, why?"
"Then he won't be able to smell his Alpha pheromones, right?" Nan Ya Yin felt a little disappointed, and then asked, "If I were a Beta, would you like me?"
"Yes, I will." Qiao Yan replied without pausing.
"You answered way too fast." Nan Ya Yin nudged her with her head while both masters were away. "I haven't forgotten that you made a deal with me because of your pheromone imbalance."
“That’s because you can soothe my sensitive period without being marked.” Qiao Yan touched his forehead. “Besides, removing the glands would solve these problems once and for all.”
She had initially considered it, but the risks of removing the glands were not much different from forcing herself through the vulnerable period, and it might even accelerate aging, so she didn't make the decision.
Nan Ya Yin shuddered upon hearing about the removal of glands. "Never mind, I'll just stick to being an Omega."
Qiao Yan smiled and said, "You're so kind."
"Don't say things like that here." Nan Ya Yin pushed her. "Let's eat, let's eat. They're calling us."
Just as Qiao Yan had expected, the potency of that specialty product was truly immense. "It was the first time I had ever tasted a crop that could make someone drunk."
As she spoke, she gestured for Nan Yayin to stay away from that "specialty product," saying, "You came here after taking medicine, so forget about it."
Nan Yayin was unconvinced, but after thinking about it, she decided to let it go. Even Qiao Yan felt uncomfortable with it, so it was probably really hard to swallow.
"What, did you get sick after coming here?" Zhou Yi laughed as she took a few bites, then vomited. "The alcohol smell is so strong, is it really spoiled?"
"No, I just bought it," Lin Huai retorted. "Kids shouldn't eat it."
"Let's not eat any more, so we don't run into trouble if we don't have anyone to call for help." Zhou Yi waved her hand and pulled the plate of local specialties away.
Qiao Yan laughed but then choked, coughing several times before saying, "It's too cold here, Bai Luxing caught a cold even though she didn't go outside."
"So you're going to other places after this?" Zhou Yi took a bite of food. "It's really awful, everything tastes like that stuff now."
“Let’s go to Jingzhe Star,” Qiao Yan replied. “It’s a good place to go out and enjoy the scenery.”
Zhou Yi nodded, "That's a good place. I was thinking we should go there in a couple of days."
Lin Huai rubbed his head and pointed at Zhou Yang, "Let's talk about it after he goes to school."
Zhou Yi looked at her son, who was still playing with his toys even though it was time to leave, and nodded frantically, "Yes, yes, we won't take him anymore."
She looked at her own child, then at the others'. Nan Shuyin was only five years old, and she already didn't put toy parts in her mouth. Her child not only put them in their own mouth but also put them in other people's mouths.
After finishing their meal, Qiao Yan and the others prepared to leave, planning to stay underground for a while before returning to the hotel.
The two shy people felt much more relaxed after leaving their house and started talking a lot more.
"You said there's a place here that simulates snow?" Nan Ya Yin asked her. "Where are we going?"
Qiao Yan nodded, "Okay, but you'll probably have to stay in the cabin while Shuyin and I play."
Nan Yayin frowned. "Why can't I go? I can't eat the local specialties, and I can't touch the snow."
"You can touch it, I'll bring you a bunch." Qiao Yan touched his forehead. "Forget it, you won't be able to play with anything if you get sick again."
Nan Yayin pounded her palm with her head, "You won't get sick."
In the end, they didn't go. Instead, Qiao Yan took the two to a place that looked like a leisure center, where they could do some crafts or something.
The three of them each picked one, sculpted something out of clay, and took it to be fired, so they could pick it up on the day they left.
Qiao Yan's sculpting was simple, and she said she was finished in no time. Whether it looked good or not is another matter, but she took it to burn.
The brother and sister sat in their original spot, looking at the sticky, wet mess with worry. When Qiao Yan came back, her hands were all washed, and the two of them, one big and one small, were playing together with mud all over their hair.
When she came back, they all looked at her expectantly, meaning they were never going to finish their work.
"I'm sleepy." Nan Yayin leaned against her. "I just recovered from my illness and want to rest a bit more."
Nan Shuyin leaned against Nan Yayin's lap. "I'm so sleepy too. I want to take a nap."
Qiao Yan was at a loss. The two of them were just like that, closing their eyes and acting spoiled. She had just washed her hands and less than five minutes later she started kneading mud again.
The shopkeeper saw three strangely shaped objects and thought to himself, "Oh no, does she have to change them herself again?"
Qiao Yan knew the intricacies of the matter and quietly told her, "No need to change it, it's already quite similar. It'll make a nice souvenir."
Seeing that the two were asleep, Qiao Yan didn't move and just sat in her seat.
"Xiao Lu." Qiao Yan pointed to the small robot that Nan Shuyin was holding.
"Owner."
"Let's take a picture," Qiao Yan said.
Xiao Lu jumped out of Nan Ya Yin's arms and took a picture of the three of them.
Qiao Yan looked at the two people sleeping crookedly in the photo and said softly, "Well taken."
It picked up Xiao Lu and left the separate camera equipment in place, taking a picture of the three people and a small robot.
2
Life on the Great Cold Star is quite slow. On Earth, there is no distinction between day and night, and Nan Ya Yin feels as if she is always sleeping.
“There’s a reason why animals hibernate.” Nan Ya Yin wrapped her arms and legs around Qiao Yan, half-asleep and forgetting that Nan Shu Yin was still beside her. “Are we going skiing today?”
His illness has mostly subsided, and because he's been eating and resting a lot, he seems to have gained a little weight compared to before he came.
Nan Yayin touched her belly and questioned Qiao Yan if he had given her all the food she didn't want, which made him gain weight. Qiao Yan said helplessly, "I've only been here a few days, how could I gain weight so quickly?"
But he was quite stubborn; once he learned he wanted to ski, he felt he had to try this sport.
"Yes, we'll go today." Qiao Yan was still asleep, but influenced by the two of them, she felt that her sleep schedule was also off, and it seemed that sleeping until noon was a common occurrence. "However, it may be different from what you think of skiing."
Nan Yayin didn't reply; she had obviously fallen asleep again.
The ski resort wasn't far from the hotel, but Nan Yayin's impression of skiing was that she was always falling.
But that mostly happens on sunny days. It snows all year round on the Great Cold Star, and today it's just a little less than before. If you go out, you'll get swept away.
Qiao Yan put helmets on his and Shu Yin's heads, "It's not the kind of skiing you're thinking of."
After putting on their winter clothes, the three of them followed the staff into a spherical device.
"What is this?" The space inside the sphere wasn't very big, and it felt a bit cramped for the three of them.
“The ski equipment on the Great Cold Star,” Qiao Yan pointed over there, “is like driving a car, except we have control panels on both sides.”
When the ball was placed on the snow slope, Nan Yayin felt the snowflakes hitting the ball like small pebbles, making a muffled sound.
"Operation? How do I operate it?" The sphere in front of and beside Nan Yayin suddenly turned transparent, and snowflakes flew into her eyes, as if she were outside.
Qiao Yan pushed the pole. "Like this."
The ball slowly began to move along the ground. As it encountered the slope and strong winds, its speed increased. Nan Yayin looked at the scenery receding around her, with the boundless snowfield in front of her.
They were getting further and further away from the ski resort where they had first entered, as if they were about to get lost in the heavy snow.
Nan Yayin pressed herself against the glass barrier, as if she could melt the snowflakes in her palm.
"Sit tight, it's about to fly out." Seeing that Nan Yayin was seated, Qiao Yan accelerated his putt, and the ball actually soared into the air along a raised slope.
The intense feeling of weightlessness made Nan Yayin instinctively grab the seat, and she only breathed a sigh of relief after falling into the fluffy snow.
"That's roughly how you ski," Qiao Yan said, not controlling the controls. "If you were skiing normally, you'd probably lose heat on the very first stroke."
Snowflakes, as white as goose feathers, fell down, almost burying their balls. Nan Yayin putted, and the ball slid forward a step, then seemed to get stuck or leak oil, moving only a little bit each time.
“Don’t be afraid, push him out.” Qiao Yan looked at him, “Just like I did just now.”
Nan Yayin pushed her foot, and the ball flew out as if it had been launched suddenly.
"Wow!" Nan Yayin felt the ball speeding across the snowfield under her control. When the ball flew off the steep slope and landed on the soft snow, she no longer felt fear, but excitement and thrill.
Nan Shuyin was held by Qiao Yan and tried to putt the ball in her spot, but she was still too weak. In the end, she could only stand on Qiao Yan's lap with her arms around the transparent screen to look at the snow scene outside.
"This is huge!" Nan Shuyin exclaimed as she manipulated the device. "There's not a single person here."
The Great Cold Star is quite large, and even though many people participate in this activity, it is difficult to encounter it. Apart from the rooftops of houses in the distant urban area that are faintly visible, Nan Shuyin could not see anything else related to human civilization.
"Qiao Yan, you're flying!" Nan Ya Yin reached out to touch the snowflakes, even though she knew he wouldn't fall in.
As expected, they got lost while playing. Qiao Yan activated the automatic return system, and when they returned to the ski resort and checked their trajectory, they realized that they had almost run into the nearby starship port.
"I should have brought my luggage with me." Nan Yayin rubbed her hands together; she hadn't felt it while playing, but now she realized her hands were hot and itchy.
"I bought some ointment; applying it will relieve the itching." Qiao Yan spread it in her palm and applied it to him. "How is it?"
"It hurts!" Nan Yayin blew on her hand. "Why does it hurt so much?"
Qiao Yan turned her head away, suppressing a laugh, "Because this is the best effect."
Nan Ya Yin was in pain and didn't react at the time. It wasn't until she got back to the hotel that she realized what it meant. "You did this on purpose?"
Seeing that he had realized what was happening, Qiao Yan took his wrist and blew on his sore and itchy fingers. "It was intentional, but the effect was very good."
They are leaving for Jingzhe Star tomorrow, and the clay products they made at the workshop a few days ago were baked and delivered before they left.
"My God, is this what you made?" Nan Yayin looked at the three unrecognizable objects in front of her. "They're good enough to ward off evil spirits."
"Take it and give it to Shu Juan? Give it to her as a local specialty?"
"You should be nicer to her. I think it's too pitiful for her to be your friend."
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