Chapter 56: Chapter Fifty‑Six: Returning to the Camp

After He Yuzhu put on his overcoat, he threw the overcoat onto the back seat of the car, then sat on the ground beside it watching the soldiers change the tire.

After the soldiers had fixed the damaged tire, Hou Weiguo led Chen Yun and Professor Li back to the convoy; He Yuzhu got into the vehicle, and the convoy slowly headed for the temporary camp. Upon arriving at the temporary camp, He Yuzhu and Chen Yun entered a tent, where He Yuzhu lay down on a camp bed, closed his eyes, and fell asleep shortly after.

When He Yuzhu woke up, it was already broad daylight. He opened his eyes and saw Chen Yun sitting on a stool looking at a damaged record slip. Seeing He Yuzhu awake, Chen Yun said, 'Zhuzi, you're awake? Last night we really owed it to you; otherwise we'd both have been done for.'

He Yuzhu stood up and said, 'Professor Chen, I was terrified too.' After saying that, he took off his overcoat and checked the spots where the wild wolves had scratched him yesterday; he saw only a few light scratches, no tears, which put his mind at ease, for if they had really torn, he would have nowhere to get a vaccine.

Chen Yun watched He Yuzhu examine his body and asked, 'What's wrong? Did you get scratched yesterday?'

He Yuzhu replied, 'It's fine, Professor Chen, just a grab, it didn't break the skin.' After saying that, he straightened his clothes and asked, 'Professor Chen, how about it? Is yesterday's data usable?'

Chen Yun looked at the data in his hand and said, 'It's usable, but that's all the data we have, and we lack any data on the launch vehicle's flight—a real pity.'

He Yuzhu said, 'Professor Chen, that flash and sound yesterday were probably caused by the launch vehicle exploding.'

Chen Yun nodded and said, 'Go get something to eat first. In the next few days we'll check the intel; if we're exposed we'll have to return to Four‑Nine City, but if not we can only keep waiting here, and we don't know when the next launch will be.'

He Yuzhu said, 'Don't worry, Professor Chen; as long as we stay hidden we'll surely get another chance.'

He Yuzhu ate something simple, then followed the convoy back to the camp. After returning, he and Chen Yun spent their time calculating the data they had retrieved, each day confined to the tent with pen and paper. During this period He Yuzhu also learned to use an abacus from Chen Yun; when they encountered difficult calculations, they worked them out bit by bit using the abacus together with pen and paper.

After a week passed like this, Chen Yun held up his notebook and said, 'Zhuzi, this set of formulas shows that our calculations are correct, but we lack follow‑up data to support them, so we can't go further.'

He Yuzhu shook his sore wrist and said, 'Professor Chen, do you mean we can only calculate up to this point now?'

Chen Yun helplessly nodded and said, 'Exactly, Zhuzi. Without data to back it up we can't verify the later steps; even if we did, it would only be ground‑based data—we simply cannot extrapolate to space.'

He Yuzhu put down his pen, walked to the stove, poured Chen Yun a cup of water, and said, 'Professor Chen, have we received any news? Have we been exposed?'

Chen Yun accepted the water He Yuzhu handed him and said, 'We haven't received any word yet, so we probably haven't been exposed. When Company Commander Hou opened the wooden shed, it coincided with the White Bear launching its launch vehicle; the sound reaching there in time would be drowned out.'

He Yuzhu said, 'That should be fine; we definitely still have a chance, Professor Chen.'

The data could only support He Yuzhu and Chen Yun's calculations up to now, so they began to idle, spending another week like that, when word came from Four‑Nine City to continue waiting in order to gather more data.

Thus He Yuzhu and the others waited long in the camp; in his spare time He Yuzhu discussed radio knowledge with Chen Yun, and when he could bear it no longer he went to practice shooting with Hou Weiguo. After the previous incident, Hou Weiguo and He Yuzhu's friendship quickly warmed, and when no one was around they often drank with their arms around each other's shoulders.

After Hou Weiguo's training, He Yuzhu's marksmanship improved noticeably; even when the camp's detachment went to the city to fetch supplies, He Yuzhu, Chen Yun, and the others also rode in a car intending to experience the exotic customs of the town.

The convoy set out in the morning and did not reach the Military Administration Committee in the city until evening. He Yuzhu got out and looked at the mud‑brick‑built Military Administration Committee, his eyes full of curiosity.

The comrades of the Military Administration Committee had roasted two sheep especially to welcome He Yuzhu and company, which made him eat with great relish.

After spending the night at the Military Administration Committee, He Yuzhu and the others, escorted by its comrades, walked toward the street. Passing a jewelry shop, He Yuzhu went in, picked up a bracelet inlaid with red and blue stones, and asked the owner, 'How much for this?'

The owner stared at He Yuzhu, bewildered and silent; the Military Administration Committee comrade beside him translated, after which the owner smiled and uttered a few words He Yuzhu couldn't understand, until the comrade said, 'The owner says five yuan.'

Upon hearing the translation, He Yuzhu frowned slightly and said to the comrade, 'Ask the owner if he'd take ten yuan for three of them.'

After the comrade finished translating, the owner showed a troubled expression; seeing this, He Yuzhu was about to lead the comrade away, but the owner stopped them and said a lot to the comrade, who translated, 'The owner agrees, but says you must not tell anyone else how much you paid.'

He Yuzhu took ten yuan from his bag and handed it to the owner, who then said something and gave him three bracelets from the stall; the Military Administration Committee comrade translated, 'The owner says thank you, and the main society will protect your use of it.'

He Yuzhu put the bracelets in his bag and left the jewelry shop, then went to a tobacco and liquor store to buy some cigarettes and the local high‑proof white liquor; the cigarettes and liquor Gao Yue had brought him were long gone, so now he smokes the Hua cigarettes given to him by Gao Mu.

After finishing his purchase of cigarettes and liquor, He Yuzhu ran to the herbal medicine shop and asked for a large quantity of stewing meat ingredients, then returned to the Military Administration Committee.

After He Yuzhu returned to the Military Administration Committee, Chen Yun and the others were already back; Hou Weiguo checked the time and called everyone to board the vehicle in preparation to return to the camp.

After another day of rushing about, He Yuzhu and the others finally made it back to the camp; He Yuzhu felt as if his whole body were about to be shaken apart over the past two days.

After several months passed like this, He Yuzhu and company received another notice from Four‑Nine City that the White Bear would conduct another launch soon; this time they did not return to that steep slope. He Yuzhu and Chen Yun found a few long wooden poles, bound them tightly together with wire, tested the signal in the camp, and then the group went to the valley where they had previously camped temporarily. He Yuzhu erected the antenna on high ground, tested the signal, and told Chen Yun, 'All good, Professor Chen.'

They waited five days in the valley before the White Bear's launch vehicle lifted off, but just as before, the White Bear's launch vehicle exploded in mid‑air. This time the distance was greater, and they were not in the valley, so the shockwave affected them less—only the antenna was blown apart by the blast.

After He Yuzhu and Chen Yun returned to the camp, they began the lengthy calculations again; since they still had not obtained useful data, this round of computation was much like the previous one, and afterward Chen Yun reported to Four‑Nine City.

The next day Four‑Nine City replied, 'Continue waiting,' and so He Yuzhu and the others kept waiting on the Gobi Desert. During this period He Yuzhu wrote several letters to Gao Yue, but when he tried to get Hou Weiguo to send them, Hou Weiguo refused; He Yuzhu could only take the letters back to the tent, put them back in his bag, and prepare to bring them back to show Gao Yue, proving that he had written them—not that he had refused to write—but that they could not be mailed out.