Chapter 10

Please continue to support with recommendations, clicks, and favorites; Lao Bai really needs these now, everyone, please give more support!

The farewell banquet for Su Hongwen could be described with the two words "meager." Zhang Aobo didn't have much money either, and he had already lent Su Hongwen a few hundred yuan, making his financial situation even tighter. After all, he didn't have a job yet, and his family's conditions weren't much better than Su Hongwen's. But Su Hongwen was leaving, and it would be at least two years before they met again, if ever. So Zhang Aobo gritted his teeth and wanted to order more dishes!

Su Hongwen and Zhang Aobo had been together for five years, so Su Hongwen naturally knew Zhang Aobo's financial situation well. Seeing him trying to order more dishes, Su Hongwen refused outright. The two young men argued in a small restaurant with only four or five tables, and in the end, they only ordered a plate of mixed vegetables, a plate of sautéed meat slices, and a few bottles of beer!

The tables in the small restaurant were greasy, the windows were dirty, and the floor was scattered with cigarette butts and other debris. The white apron the owner wore had long lost its original color. Most people wouldn't come to such a place; it was too dirty. The usual customers were either poor students like Su Hongwen and Zhang Aobo or migrant workers from nearby construction sites looking to improve their meals. In short, no rich people came here, only those at the bottom of this harsh society!

Under the dim yellow light, the two poorly dressed young men clinked glasses over the two dishes. Both felt a bit bitter. Four years of university and one year of internship, five years of close companionship, their brotherhood was deep. Neither Su Hongwen nor the more mature Zhang Aobo had expected the parting to come so quickly. It seemed like just yesterday they had all arrived at the university and moved into the same dormitory, but tomorrow they would be separated. Five years had passed in the blink of an eye, too fast for them to be prepared!

Faced with the impending separation, the two young men were reluctant. Sometimes they really wished they could stay together forever, but people grow up and eventually part ways. The circle of people around you is only so big; as you move forward, some people squeeze in, while others quietly leave, disappearing into the vast sea of humanity, never to be seen again!

Years later, when they occasionally thought of someone from the past, they suddenly found that the person's face had become blurry, so blurry that they couldn't see clearly, remembering only a few words they had said!

This was a deep sense of helplessness and sorrow. Neither Su Hongwen nor Zhang Aobo knew if this parting would be the last, or if years later, they would still remember each other's faces!

The two of them smiled and talked about the fun times from their university years, saying a lot, but feeling bitter inside. This was their first time facing a turning point in life, and no one knew what the future held. There was only confusion. Who says young people don't know the taste of sorrow? After walking a bit in this harsh society, that pure heart becomes tainted with many impurities!

Su Hongwen's alcohol tolerance wasn't good. He remembered that after the freshmen military training, he started vomiting after just one beer at the dormitory gathering. Since then, the guys often drank together, and over four years, Su Hongwen could drink a bottle of beer, but he still had to vomit afterward. But today, after drinking three bottles of beer, Su Hongwen felt nothing!

In the end, Su Hongwen didn't remember how he got back or if he had vomited. He only remembered walking down the Beijing streets with Zhang Aobo, arm in arm, swaying in the night, laughing and singing as they watched the endless stream of cars. He only remembered that when they got back to the dormitory, Zhang Aobo took out a few more bottles of beer, and the two of them drank and chatted for a long time, talking about the past and the future. Zhang Aobo said he would definitely buy a house in Beijing and marry the girl he loved the most!

Su Hongwen seemed to remember saying he would definitely marry An Zinan. When he woke up the next day with a splitting headache and remembered what he had said, he felt like finding a hole to hide in. But soon, he didn't feel that way anymore. An Zinan was indeed the brightest star in the sky, and he was just an insignificant weed on the ground. But tomorrow, he would also become the brightest star, and perhaps in the not-too-distant future, he might really marry An Zinan!

Thinking about this, the young man's heart burned with passion. His mind was filled with sweet visions of being with An Zinan, which gave him even more motivation. He couldn't wait to transform and prove himself. Thinking about this, Su Hongwen's headache disappeared. He quickly jumped out of bed, found the medical rescue ship from the Zhiyuan Star in his bag, and when he saw it, his heart calmed down. He had been afraid that his encounter with Sel and the ship had all been a dream!

Zhang Aobo got up early to look for a job again. Su Hongwen put away the spaceship, washed up, and then went out. He bought the cheapest ticket for the early morning train to Shashi the next day and started preparing the energy source for the spaceship!

Gasoline was easy to buy. Su Hongwen returned to his place and found a white plastic bucket, which he and Zhang Aobo used to store water. The tap water in the basement was hard to drink, so they had bought this bucket and used their cups to secretly fill it with water from the hospital water dispenser, then carried it back to the basement and poured it into the plastic bucket. Thinking about this, Su Hongwen couldn't help but smile; these memories were truly worth cherishing!

Now that he wasn't in the hospital, there was no place to steal water from the water dispenser, so he could only use tap water. He poured out the water and then went out!

The white plastic bucket wasn't very big, holding only 50 liters of water. Su Hongwen needed to make two trips. He had over 2,300 yuan, which was enough to buy everything needed to activate the spaceship!

Su Hongwen ran to the nearest gas station and filled the bucket with gasoline. When he returned to his rented room, he was stumped because he didn't know how to get the gasoline into the spaceship. He took out the spaceship and examined it carefully but couldn't find any place to pour the gasoline in!

Su Hongwen put the spaceship next to the plastic bucket and pulled his hair, trying to think of a solution. But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't figure it out. Just as he was getting anxious, a faint blue light, or rather a blue ring, appeared on the spaceship. The ring quickly moved from the front of the spaceship to the back, and then a black flexible tube extended from the bottom of the spaceship. The tube, as if it had eyes, slithered like a snake into the adjacent oil bucket!