Married the Abandoned Puppy Alpha - Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Solar System

“The starship is passing through a meteoroid swarm. Occasional turbulence is occurring. To prevent accidents, the hibernation pods are temporarily deactivated.”

Upon waking from the hibernation pod, He Xinglou heard the safety warning issued by the starship’s AI.

He rose and looked out the porthole, seeing a long river composed of large and small meteoroids floating beneath the starship, emitting a grayish-white glow under the direct light of the sun.

He lifted his hand to check the time on his communicator; this was the 30th day of his interstellar voyage.

To save on food supplies, after setting the starship’s route, He Xinglou first sent a report message to Shi Qingze, then immediately lay down in the hibernation pod and remained in stasis until now.

Currently, the communicator was full of unread messages from his contacts. Most were idle chatter and ramblings from his friends. Even knowing that He Xinglou wouldn’t see the messages while in hibernation, this group of people treated him like a message board, even taking photos of what they ate and wore every day to send to him.

He Xinglou was in no hurry to click open those chat boxes. Instead, he pulled the screen directly to the very bottom; only then did he see Shi Qingze’s reply.

There was only one reply: “Be careful, don’t get sick, Brother.”

It sounded like the tone of a family elder; if not for that final honorific, one wouldn’t know who the elder brother actually was.

He Xinglou, unwilling to give up, scrolled up and down the interface, but no more messages refreshed. He had no idea what Shi Qingze had been up to this past month.

The coordinates of the Imperial Capital Star were too far from the Solar System. If a message were sent from the Imperial Capital, putting aside how much energy the electromagnetic waves would require, given the distance between the two star systems, it would likely take several more decades before Earth could receive it.

This was also the reason he insisted on this interstellar journey perhaps no biological life remained on Earth, perhaps no one could understand Chinese characters anymore, but he still wanted to return this reply, delayed by a thousand years, to Earth as quickly as possible.

But this also meant that now that he had arrived in the Solar System, the communicator on his wrist struggled to receive messages from the Imperial Capital Star in a timely manner. Therefore, he was currently in a state of disconnection.

The starship AI reminded him again: “Arrived near the destination. The destination of this voyage is: Earth.”

His spirits lifted, and he hurried into the cockpit to check the screen, quickly locking onto Earth’s direction.

Since that apocalyptic catastrophe, the Solar System had not welcomed a new visitor for hundreds of years. Planetary debris was scattered messily across various orbits, and only the sun remained as dazzlingly brilliant as ever.

Counting outward from that eternal star, the third planet was dim and lusterless, not at all the appearance of the azure planet He Xinglou had seen before.

“Preliminary forecast: the planet’s climate is not suitable for starship landing. If a forced landing is required, please prepare the highest-level spacesuit,” the starship AI reminded again.

This was just a sightseeing starship for travel; it didn’t carry that kind of combat-grade equipment.

He Xinglou had just entertained the thought of “whether to land on Earth and take a look” when his enthusiasm was thoroughly dampened. He had no choice but to sit back in the pilot’s seat.

However, he had expected this result from the beginning, so he quickly pulled himself together and prepared to check the reply he had written long ago one last time.

[Written to the Earth of a thousand years ago, and my most beloved Mom and Dad.]

He hadn’t used Chinese characters for a long time, and he didn’t know if there were typos or grammatical errors in this long passage of text. Thus, he checked it word by word, feeling a nervousness akin to submitting an essay in elementary school.

Only after reading most of it did he suddenly realize that the part concerning Shi Qingze in this letter was far too much. A search revealed 39 keywords for “Shi Qingze.”

Rather than introducing the state of future human society, it was more like he was seriously introducing the person Shi Qingze to the already withered Earth.

Earth wouldn’t be interested in a person like Shi Qingze, right? If there really were someone who could see this reply now, they would likely be completely baffled by this unfamiliar name.

He Xinglou laughed at those 39 keywords and raised his finger to edit them, but he truly couldn’t think of anything else to replace them with.

Since arriving in this Galactic Era, Shi Qingze had occupied most of his attention, to the point where before he even understood the basic common sense of this era, he already clearly knew every one of Shi Qingze’s preferences.

Therefore, he ultimately gave up on editing, let out a sigh, and pressed the send button directly.

Electromagnetic waves were suddenly transmitted from the starship, racing toward that planet that had lost its luster.

While preparing for the return journey, He Xinglou’s communicator vibrated again. It must have been a message received before leaving the Imperial Capital system, only now updating after the delay.

He hurriedly clicked it open, only to find it was sent by the Institute of Cultural Relics. First, it asked about his itinerary to the Solar System, and finally, it was followed by a commissioned task.

He Xinglou had taken a long leave for this interstellar journey and intended to go and return quickly; he had no obligation to handle work during his vacation.

But once he saw that commission clearly, a bit of curiosity rose again.

[There is an inhabited planet near the Orion Arm that has just been incorporated into the Imperial territory. I heard its living environment is similar to the Earth of a thousand years ago. Xinglou, could you please go and investigate? After all, the Solar System is too far from the Imperial Capital Star; the funds can’t quite cover sending someone there temporarily.]

There was actually an Earth-like planet near the Solar System?

He Xinglou thought about it and decided to take the mission. He then changed the starship’s destination and landed on that Earth-like planet rumored to have “civilization as backward as ancient times.”

…

“This is just Earth.”

Upon seeing the concrete buildings of the Earth-like planet, He Xinglou couldn’t help but complain in his heart.

However, this unfamiliar planet used the common language of the galaxy. He Xinglou tried over a dozen languages from the original Earth to test the waters, but he couldn’t find anyone who understood them.

He temporarily settled in a simple apartment provided by the local Institute of Cultural Relics. The building opposite was almost completely vacant, like a hollowed-out honeycomb. The wilderness wind crashed directly from the wide-open windows opposite into He Xinglou’s window; at night, he could hear the whistling sounds coming from the gaps in the glass.

The scattered few neighbors were also survey teams from other planets there temporarily. They came and went; before he could memorize a face, they were replaced by the next batch of people.

If not for the fact that the work was truly too much and too busy, He Xinglou would inevitably have felt a bit lonely.

Many of his tasks had to be completed with other survey teams. Relying on his knowledge of Ancient Earth, he held high prestige within the survey teams, and even newcomers would approach him with faces full of admiration to ask for his guidance.

Every day’s itinerary was packed tight enough to forget many trivial matters and ignore many people.

By the time he finally thought of Shi Qingze again, another month had passed.

At that time, the city he was in was in the midst of a long winter. Continuous overcast clouds blocked the sunlight; he heard this winter would last for an entire year. Sleet fell pitter-patter. He Xinglou was preparing to rush back to the dormitory from the Institute of Cultural Relics, shivering with cold, his hands almost unable to hold the key to lock the office.

Just then, the captain of the survey team next door opened the door and saw him, immediately making a fuss.

“Xinglou, we bought scarves and gloves with our funding. You come and take a set too!”

After he opened the door, the lively laughter and noise from the office next door could no longer be contained. Warm yellow light projected diagonally from that end, making him and his small office seem even more faded and desolate.

The survey team captain was holding a pile of wool gloves in his arms, the colors enough to form a rainbow.

Xinglou smiled and exchanged pleasantries with him, but his hands didn’t move. “This is your survey team’s funding. I should pass.”

“Why be so distant?” The captain struggled to use a finger to hook He Xinglou’s sleeve, trying to pull him into the office.

“We’ve troubled you so many times; we have to give you some reward, right? Oh, do you want to come to dinner with us today?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the people inside the office also caught sight of the person behind their captain, and the atmosphere instantly became enthusiastic.

“Captain, you really did call Xinglou over!”

“You were hesitating there for ages just now, we were worried for you!”

The tall, large Alpha’s face instantly turned bright red. He dodged his gaze, not daring to look at He Xinglou, and made a move to hit his loose-tongued subordinates.

That group of people was still cheering, constantly pushing the captain toward him. Xinglou frowned quickly and took two steps back inconspicuously.

“I think I’d better not…” There was even less need to go to a dinner party.

Unable to withstand the whole group surrounding him, they insisted he choose a set.

Their intentions were good, but most of the survey team members were research fanatics who didn’t pay attention to life habits. Perhaps someone didn’t even know their rut was coming; the mixed smell of pheromones assaulted his nose. The defensive alarm in He Xinglou’s heart was triggered, and he wished he could leave immediately.

He had no choice but to scan that pile of warm wool products for a moment, and in the end, he chose a light gray set of gloves and a scarf.

“You don’t want these colors?” The captain, still holding that pile of brightly colored gloves, smiled shyly. “I thought you would all like these colors.”

He Xinglou nodded with a smile. “Mm, this set is very good. It’s very much like the color of my husband’s eyes.”

The entire office went silent.

Xinglou said sorry in his heart, pretending not to see the disappointment on the captain’s face, and hung the scarf around his neck with a face full of happiness.

“This way, it feels like he’s here with me.”

The pheromones lingering around now carried a despondent aura. The captain stammered, “I didn’t know you were married. You don’t have an Alpha’s scent on you…”

After all, he and Shi Qingze had not reached the stage of a final marking. After two months, the pheromones Shi Qingze had left on him would naturally disappear.

Xinglou sighed inwardly, pulled his collar slightly open, and drew out a thin silver chain from his neck. The simple wedding ring was swaying right under the Alpha’s eyes.

“After all, in our line of work, we always have to go for field archaeology. To avoid damaging the ring, I took it off.”

The captain completely gave up hope and was hurriedly pulled back by his subordinates. Everyone’s gaze was filled with embarrassment.

Having ruined the lively atmosphere of this office, He Xinglou felt quite apologetic. “Then I’ll head back first? Thank you for the gloves and scarf. I’ll treat you to a meal next time.”

Watching the captain fail to pursue someone was too awkward; the other team members didn’t know what to say and quickly stammered their goodbyes to him.

Xinglou went downstairs and soon heard wolf-like wailing coming from upstairs, which made him chuckle.

There were very few residents on this planet, and the winter nights came exceptionally early. Although it was only afternoon, the sky had already completely darkened.

A bitter wind whistled through the empty streets. He hurriedly buried half his face in the scarf and rushed along, and with a slight downward glance, he could see a large patch of fluffy light gray.

It truly was very like Shi Qingze’s eyes.

It was also at this moment that he realized he and Shi Qingze had been apart for too long.

He really, really wanted to go home.

Not the dormitory of this Earth-like planet, nor some capsule apartment in the slums, nor even Shi Qingze’s high-end residential complex.

His concept of home had been compressed very small; it didn’t occupy a single inch of land. It was small enough that only the dimensions of Shi Qingze’s embrace remained.

He just missed Shi Qingze very much.

And it was also at this moment that the communicator on his wrist, which had been quiet for a long time, suddenly vibrated.

At first, he thought it was his hallucination. After being dazed for a long while, he remembered to lift his hand to look. He found it was actually from Shi Qingze.

The faster-than-light interstellar voyage made the transmission of electromagnetic messages extremely slow, like the horse and carriage mail of old days. It was only after a two-month delay that he received Shi Qingze’s second message.

[I miss you every day, Brother.]

The message timestamp was a late night on the Imperial Capital Star.

He Xinglou suddenly felt his heart go empty. He felt as if his whole body had lost its strength. He sat on the ground against the dormitory door, curling himself up.