Die on Mars

Maidong can understand Tang Yue's mood. She has forgotten what it was like to eat and drink freely on Earth. In the joint space station, daily food and water are strictly restricted. Recently, Maidong had a dream when he was sleeping. What he dreamed about the most was eating, such as fried chicken, ham, shrimp, and crucian carp. But all the food tasted like wax when chewed.

Maidong woke up from his dream and realized that he had forgotten what food tasted like.

Tang Yue worked with feces all day long in Kunlun Station, so he naturally cherished the pitiful fertilizer in the jar, and at the same time missed the inexhaustible rice fields in the septic tanks on the earth.

He wants a swimming pool of shit!

He wants to jump in and swim!

Tang Yue heated the fertilizer and poured it all into the sink. He and Lao Mao had prepared enough soil to fill two sinks. This was a hotbed for tomato seeds to grow.

"Shall I plant the seeds next?" Tang Yue turned to ask Ophiopogon japonicus for his opinion.

"Yes." The girl nodded, "Let's plant it."

Tang Yue took a deep breath, silently reciting the blessings of Namo Dayiwan Bodhisattva in his heart, and carefully planted the ten white tomato seeds into the soil with tweezers, his movements as gentle as hugging a child.

"What should we do next?"

"Next..." Maidong paused, "It's just waiting and praying!"

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In order to ensure the normal growth of tomatoes, Tang Yue must ensure that these plants are at an ambient temperature of 25 degrees. He originally planned to use the temperature control system of Kunlun Station, but now that the old cat is gone forever, the temperature control processor sees It couldn't be repaired, so Tang Yue had no choice but to take matters into his own hands and use homespun methods to keep the delicate plant seedlings warm.

Tang Yue cleared a space on the floor of the Kunlun Station hall, dragged out the manual antenna he had used three months ago, and stood it on the floor. When the parabolic antenna was not unfolded, this antenna was just a Upright metal poles are best used as supports.

Next is the RTG. When the temperature control system fails, the isotope thermoelectric generator can be said to be Tang Yue's last life-saving straw. He erected the RTG and stood it on the edge of the antenna pole.

"Tang Yue, are you going to keep the isotope thermoelectric generator in Kunlun Station for a long time?" Maidong was a little worried, "This... I remember this thing is radioactive, right?"

Tang Yue nodded and patted the half-meter-high cylinder next to him. "Yes, its energy source is plutonium-238, which is extremely radioactive."

"Is it okay?"

Tang Yue smiled and said, "Don't worry, what it radiates is actually alpha particles, which cannot break through the protective layer. People on earth still use this thing as a pacemaker and put it into their bodies."

Tang Yue placed the tank with tomatoes planted next to the thermoelectric generator, and then covered it with a large piece of plastic film to form a tent, covering the tank and RTG, and then used various sundries to tightly cover it. Press the edge of the plastic sheet... This greenhouse looks very crude, but Tang Yue can only do this at best.

"Can this ensure the temperature?" Maidong asked.

"Not yet." Tang Yue clapped his hands and turned around to put on the Mingguang Armor, "There is still a lot of work to be done."

"For example?"

"illumination."

Tang Yue picked up the toolbox, opened the airlock door, left Kunlun Station, and opened the garage door.

There is a row of high-pressure sodium lamps on the roof of the garage for lighting. Because they consume a lot of electricity, they are usually turned off. However, this high-brightness bulb is perfect for use as a light source for plant photosynthesis. Tang Yue first turned off the electric switch of the entire garage. , then stuffed the entire set of tools into the chest bag, slowly climbed up the short maintenance ladder on the wall, and reached for the light bulb above his head.

"Tang Yue, are you in the garage?" Maidong's voice came from the headphones.

"Yes." Tang Yue raised his head, breathed out slowly, stretched out his hand, and gently pinched the light bulb, "I am dismantling the light bulb in the garage."

High-pressure sodium lamps are long cylindrical light bulbs. The outer layer is made of high-hardness quartz glass. The hardness is extremely high but the material is very brittle, so Tang Yue is very careful. Wearing thick gloves, he often strikes without knowing the severity.

Tang Yue unscrewed the light bulbs one by one, stuffed them into his breast pocket, then slowly climbed down and put the light bulbs into the tool box.

Light bulbs alone are not enough. High-pressure sodium lamps cannot be used directly in Kunlun Station. Tang Yue also has to remove all the supporting lamp holders, cables and ballasts. This is a huge project that requires a lot of effort, so Tang Yue brought scissors. With a hammer and vise, various types of screwdrivers and wrenches hanging on his body, the Mingguang Armor has now been upgraded to a home-demolition set.

"Can you do it alone?"

"You have to do it if it works, you have to do it if it doesn't work." Tang Yue panted. He had just removed two extremely tight screws, and the cable fixed to the roof hung down.

"Come on Tang Yue! I support you mentally!"

"Can't you give me any substantial help?" Tang Yue rolled his eyes, "What the hell...why is this screw screwed?"

"The question is...how can I give you substantial help? I'm on the space station and I can't help you."

"How about this? How about singing me a song?" Tang Yue gritted his teeth and used all his strength to pull out the stuck nail. He then grabbed the ladder and gasped, sweating profusely, " What song can you sing?”

"Um……"

The channel fell into silence, and it was obvious that Maidong was deep in thought.

"How about "Your Mom Shines in the Sky"?"

"What the hell kind of song is this?" Tang Yue frowned.

"Don't you know? The most popular thing before the earth disappeared was this. It was the new album of the postmodernist rebellious electronic music leader. There are also other things like "My Grandpa Makes Nuclear Bombs in the Basement" and "The Gatling of the High School Class Teacher". "." Maidong explained, "The young people around me all like it."

"You...you also like this style?" Tang Yue twitched the corner of his mouth. He really couldn't imagine that a weak and quiet girl like Maidong would play "My Grandpa Made It in the Basement" by some non-mainstream singer with an afro in his headphones. Nuclear bomb!”

"I don't like it. What I like is pure music and piano music." Maidong shook his head, "I thought you liked it."

"I don't like it either." Tang Yue shook his head quickly, "What I like are those old songs from Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China before the music world was in a mess. Do you know the chorus of "Tomorrow Will Be Better"?"

Maidong thought for a while and hummed a few syllables softly, "Is this it?"

"Yes, yes! That's it, gently wake up your sleeping mind, slowly open your eyes...that's it." Tang Yue also hummed a few lines, "Can you sing a song? I'm so long I haven’t heard anyone sing in a while.”

Maidong nodded, "I'm looking for an accompaniment."

Slow and melodious music sounded in Tang Yue's headphones. This was a prelude that Tang Yue was very familiar with. Every rhythm seemed to step on his heartbeat. A feeling that had long since passed seemed to return to Tang Yue's heart. Then the girl's soft voice sounded.

"Gently wake up the sleeping soul, slowly open your eyes, and see if the busy world is still spinning around lonely." Maidong was not familiar with this song, so he could only sing along with the music. , so her first sentence was off-key, "The spring breeze blows the young man's heart..."

Tang Yue rested on the ladder. Wearing Mingguang armor was really not suitable for manual labor. He turned his head and looked outside the garage door. There was no smoke in the desert.

He still remembered that the old cat was heading in that direction, but to this day its figure had not appeared.

"The sunrise wakes up the morning, and the earth is reborn with glory." Maidong was still trying to sing along with the accompaniment seriously. Although her tune had already reached Kuiper's belt, she still wanted to continue singing the song.

This girl was really a gentle person. Tang Yue grinned. He wanted to laugh but couldn't, so he could only stuff the wrench into the bag and hum along with her.

"Let the sound blown by the gentle breeze compose the music of life..."