Vasily stood at the ramp's exit for a long moment, as if reliving the war experience all over again. Countless images flashed before his eyes, then vanished like bursting soap bubbles. He took a deep breath, and with reverence and sincerity, he walked steadily and firmly toward where He Chen stood. He then stopped before the stone tablet and looked up at the words etched in bold letters:
Lu Xianwu, 2024-2052, killed in action
Liu Shaojie, 2023-2052, killed in action
Sun Ning, 2025-2052, killed in action
Qian Wen, 2028-2052, killed in action
Wu Chunhua, 2015-2052, killed in action
. . . . . .
The names on this monument are all recorded soldiers who died in various combat missions within three years after the war.
Vasily turned half a circle and looked at the dusty stone tablet behind him:
Niu Heng, 2018-2052, missing
Su Qing, 2027-2052, missing
Long Meier, 2028-2052, missing
Jiang Chunliang, 2017-2052, missing
Li Yi, 2030-2052, missing
. . . . . .
This monument is for the soldiers whose remains were lost within three years after the war, some of whom may have been posthumously awarded the title of martyr.
Vasily observed the other stone tablets around him and said with a hint of surprise, "Why are they all in the Gregorian calendar?"
"When these memorials were built, the Congress hadn't yet established a new calendar system, and the etching workload was enormous, so we had no choice but to use the old calendar system from the Earth era." He Chen paused, then asked quietly, "Did you find anyone familiar?"
"No." He answered with certainty - of course not, Vasily's relatives and friends were all buried on the frozen plains of his hometown, and he didn't think those people's names would be recorded by "former enemies."
"That's right. Your birthplace is in another block, right?" The silence between the two didn't last long. He Chen's electromagnetic signal became active again. "Their names are on the other side of the main road. Want to go check it out? The community shows that everyone in the Earth era is treated equally. Many people who were slandered due to conflicts of interest have been vindicated." He paused, choosing his words carefully before continuing. "Speaking of this, it's indeed hard to believe, but those who could never shake hands and reconcile in life have been framed and seen together in death."
"When a person dies, everything else has no meaning." Vasily used the words he learned here.
"Maybe." He Chen frowned and asked tentatively, "Then do you think what we are doing now is meaningful?"
Vasily seemed to have heard something ridiculous, then, as if to change the subject, asked back, "Haha, Lao He, don't worry about that. First, let me ask you, how old are you this year? What's your income? Are you married? Do you have children? Are your parents and relatives healthy?"
"What?!" He Chen fell into a state of stiffness in an instant.
"I wonder if you've heard the old saying: 'At fifteen, I set my heart on learning; at thirty, I stood firm; at forty, I had no doubts; at fifty, I understood the will of Heaven; at sixty, my ears were obedient; at seventy, I followed my heart's desire without transgressing the rules.'" Vasily spoke in a clear, rhythmic voice, like a true citizen of a community directly administered area. "I may not have fallen in love with learning at fifteen like Confucius, but at least I'm not as pure-hearted as you, even at such an advanced age."
He returned to the ramp exit, found a random spot to sit down, and looked up at the chandelier overhead. "In my opinion, everything we do has meaning. Don't take others' opinions of you, or the opinions of the living about the dead, to heart. The ancients said long ago: Do good deeds, and don't worry about the future. If I had to give an example, I'd say that even your breathing right now has meaning, and the significance of your current breathing will continue to grow in the future. Your breathing will extend your life by three minutes. During these three minutes, will you think? Will you come up with any inspiration to improve social productivity? If not, then at least it has given you three more minutes, increasing your chances of gaining inspiration by a tiny bit. As long as you can survive, sooner or later you will find that inspiration, and then you will find meaning. Then your current breathing will become the most indispensable part of promoting meaning. So as long as you are alive, your future has infinite possibilities. Even if you achieve nothing in your life, your descendants may achieve something."
He sighed, giving He Chen enough time to absorb what he said, and then continued, "But the dead don't have those possibilities. They have no meaning other than leaving behind a story that no one remembers. After all, only the living have the ability to explore meaning, and the dead don't even have the right to speak."
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