Chapter 100 Lin Mo's Birthday
Lin Mo noticed something was a bit off today.
When he got up in the morning, for the first time ever, Chen Xueming wasn't standing by the device. Instead, he was hiding in the Prefabricated Building with the curtains drawn. When asked what he was doing, he said he was "organizing data."
Li Xiao brought breakfast over with a beaming smile, but her eyes kept drifting elsewhere.
Zhang Zhe was nowhere to be seen all morning, and Captain Zhou was absent as well.
"Where's Zhao Gang?" Lin Mo asked.
Li Xiao blinked. "He probably went on patrol."
Lin Mo didn't think much of it and continued staring at the data.
At three in the afternoon, Chen Xueming suddenly came to find him.
"Lin Mo, there's something unusual over by the Reaction Vessel. Why don't you go take a look?"
Lin Mo's heart tightened, and he walked quickly toward the device.
Everything with the Reaction Vessel was normal; the numbers on the meter were as steady as if they were asleep.
He stood there, stunned for a few seconds.
Then he understood.
Today was November 15th.
His thirtieth birthday.
At seven in the evening, Lin Mo walked toward the dormitory as usual.
The night in the Gobi Desert was pitch black, and the wind was a bit chilly. He wrapped his coat tightly around himself, his mind still thinking about the next optimization direction for Tritium Extraction.
Arriving at the dormitory door, he froze.
A faint light peeked through the crack in the door.
He clearly remembered turning off the lights before leaving.
He pushed the door open—
"Happy Birthday!"
Streamers sprayed all over him.
The room was full of balloons—red, yellow, blue—crowded together against the ceiling. A string of colored lights hung on the wall, twinkling like stars in the sky. A large cake sat on the table, topped with two numerical candles—a '3' and a '0'.
Li Xiao stood at the front, still holding a streamer popper, her eyes crinkling into crescents as she laughed. Zhang Zhe stood beside her, recording with his phone. Captain Zhou and several soldiers were squeezed into a corner, their faces full of smiles.
Chen Xueming leaned by the door with an expression that said, "I knew this would happen."
Zhao Gang stood up from behind the table, still holding a lighter. "Quick, light the candles!"
Lin Mo stood at the door, looking at everything before him, unable to say a word.
"Teacher Lin?" Li Xiao leaned in. "Why aren't you saying anything?"
Lin Mo opened his mouth, but his throat felt as if it were blocked by something.
Thirty years.
He had celebrated many birthdays. His parents gave them to him when he was a child, then his friends later on, and then he spent them alone.
But never once had it been like this.
In this desolate Gobi Desert, in this place hundreds of kilometers from the nearest city, there were so many people who had secretly prepared so much just to give him a birthday celebration.
"Teacher Lin?" Li Xiao called out again, her voice tinged with worry.
Lin Mo took a deep breath and blinked.
"It's nothing," he said, his voice a bit raspy. "I just... didn't expect this."
Chen Xueming walked over and patted his shoulder.
"Not expecting it is right. If you expected it, would it still be a surprise?"
Zhao Gang lit the candles, the candlelight dancing in the dim room.
"Come on, make a wish."
Lin Mo looked at those three candles and suddenly didn't know what to wish for.
At thirty, there were still many things he wanted to do. Controlled Nuclear Fusion, floating offshore platforms, Tritium Extraction, Interstellar Exploration...
But he wasn't thinking about those things right now.
He was thinking about this moment, and these people.
He closed his eyes and said a silent sentence in his heart.
Then he opened his eyes and blew out the candles in one breath.
Li Xiao led the applause, and everyone followed suit. Zhang Zhe was still recording, the lens focusing on the cake one moment, Lin Mo the next, and then turning toward the room full of balloons.
"Cut the cake!" Captain Zhou shouted.
Lin Mo picked up the knife, cut the first piece, and handed it to Chen Xueming.
Chen Xueming waved his hand. "Give it to the birthday boy first."
Lin Mo shook his head and insisted on handing it to him.
Chen Xueming was stunned for a moment before taking it.
Then Lin Mo cut the second piece and handed it to Li Xiao. The third piece to Zhang Zhe. The fourth to Zhao Gang. The fifth to Captain Zhou.
The last piece he kept for himself.
Li Xiao whispered, "Teacher Lin, your own piece is the smallest."
Lin Mo looked at it; it indeed was.
But he smiled. "It's enough."
Everyone sat around together, eating cake and chatting.
Captain Zhou told stories from his time at the border defense, saying how one year the snow blocked the mountains and they didn't eat fresh vegetables for three months; they wanted to pounce on anything green they saw. Several soldiers added details from the side, embellishing the stories and making everyone roar with laughter.
Zhang Zhe played a video from his phone showing the scene of everyone cheering when Lithium Extraction from Seawater first succeeded. Chen Xueming's hair was a mess then, his eyes were red, and he was shouting something unintelligible.
"Teacher Chen, you were crying then, weren't you?" Li Xiao asked.
Chen Xueming glared. "Who was crying? The wind and sand were heavy; it just got in my eyes."
Everyone laughed.
Zhao Gang sat next to Lin Mo, holding a cup of tea.
"Professor Lin, you're thirty now. Any reflections?"
Lin Mo thought for a moment.
"My reflection is..." He looked at the group of people in the room. "Thank you."
Zhao Gang nodded and didn't ask further.
Chen Xueming suddenly stood up and raised his teacup.
"Come, let's toast to Lin Mo."
Everyone raised their cups one after another.
"To Lin Mo!"
Lin Mo stood up, holding his teacup, looking at each of the faces around him.
Chen Xueming, that old man who used to be arrogant and found fault with everyone, could now pull three all-nighters for a single piece of experimental data.
Li Xiao, that little girl who only knew how to run errands when she first arrived, could now independently develop data models and had become an indispensable backbone of the team.
Zhang Zhe, the fresh graduate who was afraid of everything, could now haggle with manufacturers and keep an eye on equipment installation for three days and nights straight.
Zhao Gang, the soldier who initially thought scholars were easy to bully, was now willing to protect this team with his life.
Captain Zhou and those soldiers guarded the Gobi Desert day and night, exposed to the wind and sun, without a single word of complaint.
He looked at them, and his eyes suddenly felt a bit warm.
"Lin Mo," Chen Xueming said, "say a few words."
Lin Mo took a deep breath.
"I don't know what to say," he said honestly. "Just... thank you all."
Li Xiao's eyes turned red.
Zhang Zhe blinked hard.
Chen Xueming raised his teacup. "That's enough. That sentence is enough."
Everyone raised their cups together and drained them in one go.
At eleven at night, everyone began to disperse.
Lin Mo stood at the dormitory door, watching them walk back to their respective Prefabricated Buildings. The Gobi night was very quiet, and the sound of footsteps crunched on the sandy ground.
Li Xiao turned back and waved at him. "Teacher Lin, happy birthday!"
Lin Mo waved back.
Chen Xueming was the last to leave. As he passed by Lin Mo, he paused.
"Lin Mo."
"Hmm?"
"Thirty is a good age." He looked at the distant night sky. "Not old, but not young anymore. Just right for carrying responsibility."
Lin Mo nodded.
Chen Xueming patted his shoulder and left.
Lin Mo returned to the room, looking at the room full of balloons and the cake plates that hadn't been cleared yet.
On the table, someone had left a note.
He picked it up to look; it was Li Xiao's handwriting:
"Teacher Lin, happy thirtieth birthday. Thank you for leading us this far. — All of Tritium Road"
Lin Mo clutched that note, standing in the middle of the room full of balloons, silent for a long time.
Outside the window, the moon over the Gobi Desert was very bright, shining on the balloons and reflecting colorful light.
He suddenly remembered the line of text from the day the system was activated: From today on, every step you take is creating history.
Today, he was thirty.
Every step he had taken had these people accompanying him.
He gently folded the note and put it in his pocket.
Then he turned off the light and lay down.
The Gobi night wind blew gently outside, like a tender lullaby.
Thirty years old, the first day.
It's quite good.