Chapter 85 Shooting Stars Like Summer Fireworks
"Uncle Zhao...?"
Bai Yang was surprised.
"You're still alive...you're back?"
Zhao Bowen grinned at him, "Of course I'm still alive."
Old Zhao left home in late October and disappeared without a trace for more than ten days. Just when everyone thought he was hospitalized as a mental patient, he suddenly came back without even saying hello. He suddenly appeared in the living room of Bai Yang's house and brought a group of people with him.
Bai Yang changed his shoes after entering the house and looked around the living room. Wow, Bao Longtu was in charge of Kaifeng Prefecture, Zhao Bowen was sitting in the middle, and Zhang Long, Zhao Hu, Wang Chao and Ma Han were on both sides. The only thing missing was a guillotine. There was a blue stapler on the coffee table, which could be used as a guillotine if enlarged. Before Zhao Bowen left home, he boasted that he would bring thousands of troops. Bai Yang counted and found that in the living room, besides his father, mother, Uncle Wang and Uncle Zhao, there were two people he didn't know.
Two middle-aged men, with broad shoulders and powerful swords, sat side by side on the sofa, wearing black sweatshirts. They were at least the same level of Zhan Zhao's Imperial Cat. One cat was enough to scare people, and this time two Imperial Cats came at the same time. One of them was drinking tea from a disposable paper cup, and the other was holding a thick material in his hand. When Bai Yang was looking at them, they were also looking at Bai Yang. The two men came close to Zhao Bowen and whispered something. Old Zhao looked up at Bai Yang and nodded at them.
Bai Yang changed his shoes and walked into the room with his schoolbag. Zhao Bowen also stood up and followed him. When Zhao Bowen moved, everyone moved and they all gathered around.
It seemed they were waiting for me.
"Where are your thousands of troops?" Bai Yang threw his schoolbag on the bed and turned to ask Zhao Bowen, "Uncle Zhao, where are the thousands of troops you promised? Why are there only these few people?"
"I can't bring all the troops into your living room, Yangyang." Zhao Bowen squeezed his shoulders hard. "You won't believe how many people I have managed and how huge a project I have completed. To use Archimedes' words, give me a fulcrum and I can move the earth... I really moved the earth."
Bai Yang looked at him seriously for a while. Zhao Bowen had a smile on his face, but he looked much thinner and more haggard, with dark circles under his eyes.
"Where have you been these days? Uncle Zhao, have you seen the messages I sent you?" Bai Yang asked.
"I can't answer your first question for now. This question must be kept confidential for two hours. I can only tell you after twelve o'clock." Zhao Bowen said, "I have seen all the messages you sent me. To be honest, the information you provided has been of great help to us. Well done, Yang Yang. People all over the world should thank you."
As he spoke, he patted the boy's shoulder.
"So where are you coming from?"
"This also has to be kept secret." Zhao Bowen waved his hand, "I can only tell you after twelve o'clock."
"Riddler, get out of my room." Bai Yang curled his lips. Zhao Bowen was so secretive. If he wanted to keep it a secret, then he could keep it a secret. If he didn't want to tell anyone, then he wouldn't tell anyone. Why would he keep it a secret for only two hours?
Why wait until after twelve o'clock?
"Let's get down to business. How's the radio station doing?"
"Everything is normal." Bai Yang replied.
"What about BG4MSR?"
"Everything is going well." Bai Yang said, "We have been spending time building a data transmission system during this period, and we are close to success."
"I heard from your father and Lao Wang that you did a great job." Zhao Bowen pointed to the Icom725 amateur radio station on the bookshelf, "Contact BG4MSR now. We are all waiting for you to come back and do this."
Bai Yang looked over Zhao Bowen's shoulder and glanced towards the door of the room. His father, Uncle Wang and the others were standing at the door. The two Zhan Zhaos were staring at him with lightning eyes.
He nodded, sat down in the chair, put on his headphones, plugged in the power, turned on the radio, and started calling BG4MSR as usual.
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"Eh? Weather?"
Banxia was stunned.
She peeked outside and said, "It's a nice day."
"Okay, BG4MSR, now go somewhere where you can see the night sky, OVER."
"Night sky?"
Banxia didn't know what the other party was going to do. Normally, the image transmission test was to be conducted tonight, but BG4MXH said that the test was postponed to tomorrow. Tonight, there were more important things to do - more important things were to go outside? Banxia didn't understand, but she did it anyway. The girl took the intercom, left the room, climbed up to the attic, and sat on the roof.
The night wind in late November was very chilly. The girl leaned out, shivered, wrapped her clothes tightly around her, then carefully found a spot on the roof to sit down. When she looked up, she could see the vast velvety sky.
"Okay, BG4MXH, now I can see the sky, what now?"
Banxia asked.
"And then...look at the stars?"
The girl's eyes widened.
She didn't understand what this was for. Why were they calling her out with such seriousness? Was it just to let her sit on the roof and look at the stars?
Bai Yang didn't know what to do. This was Zhao Bowen's instruction. Old Zhao gave the order behind his back - to let her go out, to find a place where she could see the night sky, and to look up at the stars. But he didn't explain what to do. He was mysterious and calm, as if he had everything planned out, and it was hard to understand.
"How long do I have to watch?"
"Keep watching until the stars in the sky fall down, OVER."
Bai Yang repeated Zhao Bowen's words verbatim.
"The stars in the sky are falling? Are they meteors?" Banxia was very curious.
"Maybe. I don't know what it means. Uncle Zhao said so. OVER."
"Did Uncle Zhao know that there would be a shooting star tonight? Can he predict the future? But now is not the season for meteor showers... Ahhhh... Ah! It's so windy and cold on the roof."
Banxia hugged her knees and sat on the roof. The night wind was strong, blowing her hair. She tilted her neck to look at the sky. The starry sky above her head was like salt grains sprinkled on a large black curtain. The girl began to look for familiar constellations on this large curtain. She first found the Autumn Quadrilateral, which is composed of Andromeda and Pegasus. The four stars in these two constellations together form a huge square, which is the symbol of the starry sky in late autumn.
"BG4MXH, do you know Pegasus Plaza?"
"Pegasus Square?" Bai Yang asked, "What is that? OVER."
"It's the Autumn Quadrilateral. The four stars of Pegasus and Andromeda form a quadrilateral, like a square, so it's called Pegasus Square." Banxia moved her position and lay on her back diagonally. "These four stars have names. The teacher told us, but I can't remember them anymore... Find the Autumn Quadrilateral, and you can find Andromeda. Then follow the extension line of Andromeda to find Perseus. There is a Perseid meteor shower every August. My teacher and I saw it many years ago. BG4MXH, it's a pity that you haven't seen it."
"Yes, the lights in Nanjing are too bright." Bai Yang said, "How can we see the meteor shower with such bright lights? OVER."
Banxia was stunned. "The lights are great too. There are so many lights, like stars on the earth."
"BG4MXH, why do you think there are meteor showers?"
"It's because of the comet, OVER."
"comet?"
"A celestial body with a very small core and a very long tail. It visits the solar system periodically and scatters matter in its orbit. These materials enter the Earth's atmosphere and become meteor showers, OVER," Bai Yang explained.
"Where does it come from?"
"Outside the solar system, far, far away. OVER."
"How far?"
"It's very far away, so far that we can never reach it in our lifetime." Bai Yang said, "OVER."
"BG4MXH."
"I'm here, OVER."
"Why do you think the world is so big?" Banxia asked, "There are actually some places that we cannot even reach in our lifetime."
"It's not that the world is too big, but that people are too small." Bai Yang said, "OVER."
Banxia thought about it and felt that NG4MXH was right. She was very small. Compared with the magnificent earth beneath her feet and the vast starry sky above her head, she was insignificant.
The tiny person owns this infinite world alone.
Banxia wrapped herself tightly and huddled on the roof, tucking her hands into her sleeves. The bricks and tiles under her butt were hard, and she regretted not bringing a pillow with her - she thought that since she could bring a pillow, she might as well bring the bed and quilt up with her and curl up in the warm quilt, which would be the most comfortable. The wind on the rooftop was strong at night, and the wind could quickly take away body temperature. The girl's nose tip and cheeks were soon numb from the cold.
“It’s so cold.”
"It's so cold...can I go back and put on more clothes?"
"Hold on a little longer, BG4MSR, time is almost up, OVER."
"How long do I have to wait?" Banxia asked.
"How long will she wait?" Bai Yang took off his headphones and turned to ask Zhao Bowen behind him, "She is very cold and wants to go back to put on clothes."
"If she holds on a little longer, she might miss the time if she goes back to put on her clothes, and then all our efforts will be wasted." Zhao Bowen was also a little anxious. He turned his head and shouted to the person at the door: "Exact time! Tell me the exact time!"
A Zhan Zhao at the door flipped open the document in his hand, "It is expected to pass through Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province from 23:55 on the evening of November 14 to 00:10 on the 15th, and the altitude will be 88 degrees!"
Bai Yang and Zhao Bowen both focused their attention on the alarm clock. The current time was 11:49 p.m.
"Tell her to look up to the sky, it's above her head!"
Zhao Bowen came closer and lowered his body and voice. Bai Yang could see that there was obvious sweat on his forehead.
"BG4MSR! BG4MSR!"
"I am here."
"Look up! Look up into the sky! It's above you!"
Above your head?
Banxia kept her head up, and the starry sky above her was still silent.
She saw nothing.
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"Nothing?"
"Nothing." Bai Yang nodded, "She didn't see anything."
"Then wait a little longer... wait a little longer..."
Time passed by minute by minute, and Zhao Bowen became more and more anxious. The minute hand of the alarm clock pointed to 55 minutes, and it was the scheduled time, but there was nothing unusual on the BG4MSR side. The minute hand pointed to 0 o'clock, and there was still nothing unusual on the BG4MSR side. Zhao Bowen began to walk around the room.
"Is there something wrong?" Zhao Bowen paced back and forth, talking to himself, "No one can say for sure. After all, such a long time has passed. It's normal to have errors. It may be a few hours early or late..."
Everyone was looking at Zhao Bowen. Old Zhao was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, but others didn't know why he was so anxious.
"Ask again about the situation, Yang Yang, ask again." Zhao Bowen said.
"I asked, everything is normal."
Bai Yang asked this question every minute, and the time was already 12:20.
"BG4MSR, what's going on? OVER."
"Nothing."
"BG4MSR?"
"Nothing."
"BG4MSR?"
"Nothing's wrong... Can I go back now? It's really cold here. I want to go back and put on some clothes."
"Wait! Wait a little longer! Let her wait a little longer!" Zhao Bowen yelled, spreading his five fingers. "I'll count to five! It will definitely come! Five! Four!"
"three--!"
"Two point nine--! Two point eight--!"
Bai Yang shook his head. "Uncle Zhao, if you keep counting like this, you can count until next year."
"Two! One!" Zhao Bowen's old face turned red. "It's coming. If you don't believe me, go ask."
"BG4MSR, BG4MSR, is there any situation over there?" Bai Yang put on his headphones again and made a call.
"Nothing is wrong. I just want to go back to my warm little nest, back to my warm little bed, that's heaven...oh my god!"
A girl's exclamation and scream suddenly broke out in the headphones, and Bai Yang sat up suddenly.
Zhao Bowen stopped suddenly.
"Oh my god, oh my god!"
"BG4MXH! BG4MXH! Shooting star! Look, it's a shooting star!"
Banxia opened her little mouth and looked up at the sky. Above her head, a long meteor streaked across the sky. It was so bright and dazzling that it overshadowed the bright stars in the sky the moment it appeared. It came so suddenly that it caught people off guard, as if someone had used a sharp knife to cut a long, straight cut in the velvet background of the night, emitting white sky light.
It took a full five seconds for the first meteor to appear and disappear, and its trace lingered in the atmosphere for a long time. Then a scene that shocked the girl to the point of losing her voice appeared. In the direction where the meteor came from, the second, third, fourth and even more meteors streaked through the darkness. The girl had never seen such a dense, bright and majestic meteor shower. The earth was illuminated when they streaked across the sky. The meteors were blue, purple, red and green. They were like sharp swords and spears, and their momentum was as high as a rainbow, crossing the airspace under Pegasus and Andromeda, as if a god had dipped a brush in paint and smeared a heavy, magnificent stroke on the celestial ball on an autumn night.
A meteor passed over Banxia's head, exploded at the other end of the sky, and turned into a colorful and enchanting blooming flower.
The girl stood blankly on the roof, looking at the bright flowers blooming in clusters above the deserted city, and suddenly she burst into tears.
On a late autumn night, Banxia saw the most spectacular fireworks in human history.
It did not rise from the ground, but descended from the sky like lightning piercing the sky!
At 00:20 that night, the wanderer who had been away from home for 20 years returned from 400 million kilometers away and re-entered the atmosphere at a high speed of 11.2 kilometers per second.
(End of this chapter)
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