On the solid marble monument, five words were inscribed with fine penmanship – National University of Defense Technology.
As the first group of universities in the “2110 Project” focused on military, the university had been under the dual leadership of the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Education. The school’s also held prominence, as it sent over thousands of talents to the military every year.
Lu Hao was emotional when he saw the stone monument.
It was his alma mater.
He hadn’t returned to this place for a long time.
The car stopped in front of a gated faculty and staff district. From the eroded painting on the wall and the fact the building was only five-storey tall, the community was built quite a long time ago. Lu Hao stepped out of the car and looked at the man behind sunglasses as he he sighed.
“Do you still need to follow me here?”
The man with sunglasses shook his head.
“This is my order from the superior. You can just pretend that I don’t exist.”
Lu Hao frowned but did not say anything. He turned and walked to the guard room.
Nothing here has changed in twenty years.
He still vaguely recalled that when he first arrived at university, he joined the astronomy club out of interest and frequently visited this community.
The astronomy society at that time was as unpopular as the school of astronomy.
Not only was there a lack of members, but they couldn’t even apply for a room for their activities.
For a club that could disband at any moment, the school naturally didn’t allocate much money. After the initial interest faded, most of the members who had filled out an application gradually stopped participating in activities, and even the club president himself worked on other things.
Only one person was an exception.
Even today, Lu Hao still vividly remembered the name of the old man.
Professor of the Astronomy Club, Professor Nie Changhai. His research direction was a subbranch of astronomy, a topic that at the time couldn’t be more unpopular – the theory of galatic defense. Although it fitted with the needs of the National University of Defense Technology, most students, let alone professors, were dismissive of this inexplicable subject.
No matter how people at that time viewed him and his subject, Lu Hao knew very well that the old man was never bothered by the opinion of other people, but wholeheartedly made his topic a lifelong research goal.
If he must choose an authoritative representative for the defense of extraterrestrial civilization, perhaps the old professor was the only one who can qualify.
As the thoughts flowed back to him, Lu Hao walked to the guard room and gently tapped on the window to wake up the guard dozing off.
“Is Professor Nie Changhai still teaching?”
“Hey, why don’t you call…” The guard wiped the drool off of his mouth and was about to go off on the person that interrupted his afternoon nap. But when his eyes met Lu Hao’s, his chose to close his mouth and the swallowed the curse that was about to come out.
As a guard for so many years, he didn’t learn many skills, but he managed to master how to read a person.
Fu*k, it’s probably a senior leader visiting…
The guard thought in his mind and forced a smile.
However, Lu Hao did not take it seriously and repeated what he said patiently.
“Is Professor Nie Changhai still teaching?”
The guard stopped to think and quickly scanned the name of each professor in his mind. However, he did not remember the name Nie Changhai. He thought he heard wrong, so he questioned in a quiet tone.
“Who?”
“Professor Nie,” Lu Hao said.
The guard revealed a bitter smile and shook his head.
“Sorry, I have been working here for more than three years and I have never heard of a professor named Nie. Should I call someone to ask for you?”
“I see…” Lu Hao sighed. “It’s okay.”
It’s already been twenty years. If he is still alive, he must be well into his seventies.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, he heard a slightly cold female voice behind him.
“You’re looking for Professor Nie?”
Lu Hao turned around and looked at the young woman behind him.
She didn’t look old, but her vibe didn’t resemble an undergraduate student. She must be a graduate student at the university. From her appearance, Lu Hao saw some resemblance of someone he used to know, but he couldn’t pinpoint who the familiarity belonged to.
“Yes, and you are?”
“I am his granddaughter, Nie Han. Why are you looking for Professor Nie?” Nie Han asked.
“You are the granddaughter of Professor Nie?” Lu Hao’s face showed a touch of joy, and he smiled, “I hope you can help me tell professor that Student Lu Hao is seeking his advice.”
“Lu Hao?” When she heard the name, Nie Han’s voice gained some warmth and she no longer gave off an aloof vibe, “When he was still alive, he always mentioned your name. He complimented you for being the best student he’s ever taught.”
Lu Hao paused in disbelief.
“When he was still alive?”
Nie Han nodded and remained silent as she looked down.
The branches of the birch tree swayed gently and rustled in the wind.
Lu Hao’s throat moved, and a lot of words were rushing out. But because he couldn’t find someone to tell, he only let out a long sigh.
“Am I?”
From the expression on Lu Hao’s face, Nie Han felt remose, so she whispered, “Professor Nie is no longer here, but his items are still in his office. No one has touched them. If you are interested, I can take you to see them.”
“Thank you very much.” Lu Hao nodded.
“Not at all, you are the hero of Hua.” After a pause, a smile formed on Nie Han’s face, and then she continued, “What’s more, if you can learn what he left behind, he will be pleased even in his afterlife.”
Lu Hao and the bodyguard followed behind Nie Han into the community.
Through the birch trees and the cement stairs, Nie Han took out a key and pushed open the door before she walked into the room.
“This is the place. Since he left, this house has been empty. This is his office. He never liked others going through his stuff, so we kept the room in the same state and only cleaned it once every month.” Then, Nie Han said apologetically, “I was supposed to clean this place but haven’t had the time to yet. It’s pretty dusty in here. How about you sit in the living room for a bit…”
“There is no need!” Lu Hao quickly waved his hand and took the broom from Nie Han’s hand. “Speaking of it, Professor Nie has passed away for so long and I have only learned of this today. I never even visited his grave. Let me do the cleaning.”
“You are a guest…”
“What guest! I’m his student!”
In the end, Nie Han could not convince the insisting Lu Hao and had to agree to his request.
The bodyguard saw Lu Hao holding the broom and he rushed forward. “I will help you—”
“You can wait at the door.”
Lu Hao did not appreciate his gesture. After he firmly said this, he went into the house with cleaning supplies.
With a sincere heart, it took half an hour before Lu Hao swept the last trace of dust away in the office.
When he saw the office, and the rows of books on the shelves that his professor purchased with the money he saved up, he seemed to return to the summer of more than 20 years ago. He felt his eyes tear up.
He wiped the corner of his eye, then walked over to the desk and sat where his professor sat before.
In his memory, Professor Nie always recorded his thoughts on paper whenever he had an idea, and regularly put it in a notebook that he carried with him. He had seen the notebook before, but because the content was too science fiction for him, he once regarded it as a novel without a plot.
He was not disappointed. The notebook was still in the drawer on his left-hand side.
Lu Hao gently wiped off the dust on the cover page, and flipped to the last page of the notebook
“…only the universe, I can’t give you any standard answers. The only thing I can do is to give you an idea and guide you to inspiration.”
He whispered the familiar words, then closed the page.
His fingers gently swept across the cover that turned yellow due to age and once again examined the old desk, he whispered.
“Thank you.”
