Chapter 1: For mortals, change is constant; it is either illness or death

"No, but he saw that I registered. Why, am I someone who cannot be seen?"

Lv Pin smiled without saying a word, and Yang Huan added: "Mom heard that I was on a business trip to Lanzhou, and the Twelve Golden Medals urged me to come over. Anyway, it's close, just a one-hour flight, so I came to take a look"

Let us have a meal together

Yang Huan, as always, displayed her usual temperament, nitpicking and being difficult. Lu Pin felt troubled; the items were too valuable, and it would be inappropriate not to pay, yet where would she find that much money on her at the moment? Just as she reached into her bag to check how much she had left this month, Yang Huan, without raising her head, said: "Don't give me money, don't put me in a difficult position. If my mother finds out, she will definitely beat me up."

I haven't taken any vacation this year, so a few days of play doesn't matter

Experts have come for acceptance inspection, so I went up the mountain. How did you get here

When Lu Pin received the transfer order sent by Director Chen's messenger, it had already been two months since Yang Huan's unsolicited visit.

Lu Pingyuan was preparing to find a better hotel in the city, but worried that Yang Huan was pressed for time, he ultimately chose a small restaurant near the observatory to eat a large plate of chicken. Yang Huan brought along a suitcase full of items, including vitamins and deep-sea fish oil that he had brought back from abroad when he was negotiating orders, as well as the special blood bird's nest and American ginseng that his mother specifically asked him to buy: "Soak it in warm water for four to five hours, and stewing takes about the same time. If you don't know how, just look it up online..." When he mentioned stewing bird's nest, Lu Ping unconsciously paused—he still remembered the first time Yang Huan had sneaked his mother's bird's nest to try to stew it for her, resulting in a disaster that wasted thousands of dollars' worth of bird's nest. Yang Huan, chewing on a piece of chicken, mumbled: "The large plate of chicken here is much better than the restaurants near the school before, and the cold noodles from North Sichuan are also quite good. The ones in Beijing are not authentic at all. This little life is much more comfortable than I could have imagined..."

Just like the ambitious kings of ancient times, the mindset of scholars renowned for their deep affection is such that they cannot be easily used for one's own purposes; it is better to simply eliminate them.

Yang Huan seemed to be deep in thought, but Lv Pin's heart tightened: "How did you respond?"

Yang Huan's expression surprisingly resembled that of a husband returning home from a long journey, discovering his lonely wife, who had succumbed to the temptation of infidelity.

Did he ask you your name

When Yang Huan came to see her, Lu Pin was receiving foreign guests at the observatory's observation base

The observation base of the observatory is built on a mountain, with snow accumulating year-round at the summit, creating a dazzling silver light that occasionally catches your eye unexpectedly. According to the CE Phase I detection plan, a collaboration between the National Astronomical Observatory and the Japan Aerospace Center, the observatory in S City, where Lv Pin works, is to install an IP-VLBI system at the observation base. Each unit involved in the CE plan has different tasks; Lv Pin is the leader of the S City observatory team—one who works without a title. After a week of busy equipment installation and testing, the data from today's joint measurement, after processing, finally confirmed the successful debugging of the system, marking the completion of this investigation.

"A common person cannot change; if not sick, then dead" means that one should not always think about changing oneself. For those in their twenties or thirties, do not stir things up. If you have been a bad person, do not expect to suddenly repent; you have been bad for decades, and no one will believe you have turned over a new leaf. If you have been a good person, do not think about engaging in shady dealings; you have been good for decades, and you are not cut out for wrongdoing. In "Dream of the Red Chamber," Feng Yuan was once fond of male beauty, but later fell for Zhen Yinglian, only to be killed immediately by the foolish Xue. In television dramas, when characters from the underworld think about washing their hands of their past, they inevitably face total annihilation. Lu Pin lived a calm, rational, and clear-headed life for half of his life, only to ruin his future because of one crazy little thing he did.

He strolled over with his hands in his pockets, lazily saying: "Meeting you is more troublesome than going to the tax bureau to ask the officials for help. What a pathetic observation base! There isn't even a mobile phone signal!"

My mother is your godmother, otherwise how else would I say it

Lu Pin was taken aback for a moment, a Mr. Yang, could it be Yang Huan? It was somewhat hard to believe, and upon further reflection, there were no other acquaintances with the surname Yang. Just as he put down the receiver, the phone rang again, it was the security guard from down the mountain: "Teacher Lu, a Mr. Yang is here to see you, he has been waiting for quite a while, he came last week as well. Teacher Lu, you should hurry down the mountain, otherwise it will get dark and he will have to wait until tomorrow."

After completing the phone call to the observatory, the colleague on the other end said: "I almost forgot, a person came looking for you a few days ago. However, I heard that your current mission is quite important and will take the entire week, so he left... It seems that his surname is Yang, and he is male."

Yang Huan squinted and turned his face to the side, his gaze clearly conveying: You little rascal, are you being insincere again?

Lü Pin was momentarily taken aback and quickly dismissed this absurd thought, asking: "How can I bring this up?"

"She is not even my mother," Yang Huan said impatiently, "She always thinks that your life in the Northwest is nothing but a struggle with basic necessities. I have told her a hundred and eighty times—it's a public institution! It's far better than our kind of self-employed business—who exactly is her biological child here?"

Lu Pin hurriedly packed his belongings and rolled down the mountain. Upon reaching the entrance of the observation base, the security guard smiled ambiguously and said, "Teacher Lu, Mr. Yang has been waiting for a long time." The colleagues who had come up the mountain scattered like birds and beasts, who knows where they hid to prepare for gossip.

Thus, Yang Huan stayed for a few days to play, but he was engaged in his own activities while Lu Pin had to work. Only on the weekend did he accompany him to the Mogao Caves. On the way, Yang Huan suddenly asked, "Is your leader going to introduce you to someone?"

After finishing the meal, Lu Pin politely asked him if he would like to stay and play for a few days. Unexpectedly, Yang Huan readily agreed. Lu Pin then asked, "Aren't you here on a business trip?"

A few days ago when I came, I ran into a station director named Chen. Was he the main one or the deputy? I heard that he talked to me for a long time when he found out I was looking for you, asking about our relationship and how long we have known each other... It seemed like he looked at me with disfavor. If it weren't for his intention to introduce you to someone, why would he look at me like that?

Indeed, it is Yang Huan, dressed in a deep blue leather jacket, standing quietly in the snow, seemingly a graceful figure independent of the world, as if lost in a glassy realm adorned in silver. Flakes of snow drift down gently, and from a distance, Lu Pin's legs begin to weaken, unsure of how to move. Could it be that after staying too long on the snow-capped mountain, even her gaze has gone awry? Otherwise, how could she perceive a sense of calm and restraint when looking at Yang Huan? Clearly, this person has nothing to do with the term low-key; stripped of that layer of pretense, he is nothing but a tyrant.

Recalling the last conversation with Director Chen, his gaze was somewhat filled with disappointment, tinged with disdain and contempt, but more than anything, it reflected a sense of relief.