vstars Chapter 276
Chapter 276
Rong Yu slept soundly until early the next morning.She went to the cafeteria for breakfast first. As soon as she walked in, she was surrounded by the foursome, who were chattering away non-stop.
"Miss Rong, where have you been these past two days!"
"Didn't you ask where our talents should be used? We thought about it all night and finally know how to put our skills to good use!"
Rong Yu swallowed her bite of steamed bun and said leisurely, "Let's hear it."
Hai Chang'an: "My college major was art. I think I can redesign a much cooler exterior for the rocket."
Zhou Shiyu: "We can modify the rocket into a space livestreaming room and broadcast the whole journey. If fans send 'rocket' virtual gifts, they can make the astronauts do backflips."
Tang Mi: "We can also let fans vote to decide which astronaut gets to go up in the rocket next time. The ratings would definitely go through the roof."
Si Lin: "We can cover the outside of the rocket with advertising space, with bidding starting at least at a hundred million!"
Rong Yu almost laughed out loud.
She finished her last bite of breakfast and looked up.
"The outer coating of a rocket has to withstand high temperatures of 2000 degrees. Hai Chang'an, how much heat can your fluorescent paints take?"
"Livestreaming inside a rocket... Zhou Shiyu, you really have quite the imagination. Do you want to look up why the base restricts internet access for you temporary workers?"
"Choosing an astronaut requires comprehensive consideration of various factors. But to you, Tang Mi, a simple vote is enough?"
"The surface temperature of a rocket can reach two thousand degrees when it passes through the atmosphere. Si Lin, who are you planning to burn your advertisements for?"
The four of them: "..."
Rong Yu stood up. "Use your brilliance and think it over again."
She stepped away and left the cafeteria.
The four deflated instantly, like balloons pricked by a needle.
Si Lin was unconvinced. "She's definitely just jealous of our business acumen!"
"Exactly, what's wrong with livestreaming?" Zhou Shiyu rolled her eyes. "Other astronauts have livestreamed before, haven't they? What's the big deal, honestly!"
Tang Mi scoffed coldly. "Why do we have to listen to her anyway? She's younger than us. Why should we do whatever she says?"
Hai Chang'an sighed. "Who asked our old men to blindly trust her..."
The four headed to the work area.
The task of moving trees was over. Starting today, they were learning to plant trees.
Under the scorching sun, the foursome squatted in the sandy ground, clutching saxaul saplings. Their expressions were even more withered than the saplings. The trees they planted were leaning every which way, looking like drunks that would collectively lie flat the moment a strong wind blew.
Lao Ma strolled over with his hands behind his back. With just one glance, his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
"Are you planting trees or burying corpses?" He bent down and pulled out a leaning sapling, the dirt falling off its roots. "The roots aren't even packed tight. They'll fall over with a gust of wind. What the hell kind of planting is this!"
Tang Mi felt wronged. "We aren't farmers, how are we supposed to know how to do this!"
Lao Ma sneered. "If you don't know, then learn! The four of you will stand guard here tonight. You can go back to sleep when you've planted them properly!"
"On what grounds?" Zhou Shiyu's eyes widened. "I refuse!"
Lao Ma walked away without looking back, tossing out a single sentence: "If you refuse, then get out."
"Damn it!" Si Lin threw down his shovel. "It's good enough that I'm willing to obediently plant trees. Why so many damn demands? So annoying!"
Hai Chang'an gave a sinister smile. "How about we give Lao Ma a little surprise?"
As soon as doing something bad was mentioned, the four seemed to be instantly injected with endless energy and immediately started putting their plan into action.
Tang Mi coated the handle of Lao Ma's usual shovel with lubricating oil so he'd slip and fall the moment he grabbed it.
Zhou Shiyu strung a thin rope across the warehouse door at the perfect height to trip someone.
Si Lin secretly rubbed chili pepper into Lao Ma's water bottle.
Hai Chang'an dug a pit, loosely covered it with dead branches, and placed an empty bucket at the bottom. Falling into it in public would definitely be super humiliating.
Imagining Lao Ma making a fool of himself gave the four of them the motivation to work. They didn't return to their dorms until two in the morning. The next morning, they were woken up by the whistle again, entering the cafeteria with huge dark circles under their eyes.
As soon as they entered, they saw Lao Ma walking toward them.
The foursome's sleepiness instantly vanished, replaced by a bit of fear. Could it be that Lao Ma had discovered their masterpieces early?
"That corsac fox has finally been caught." Lao Ma's gruff voice echoed through the cafeteria. "You four are the great heroes!"
The four looked completely bewildered.
Shouldn't he be scolding them? Why did it seem like he was praising them?
Lao Ma showed a rare expression of approval. "That beast ruined several saplings recently. I staked it out for three days and couldn't catch it. It's you young people who have quick minds, knowing how to set traps."
Hai Chang'an: "..."
He had indeed dug that, but it wasn't to catch a fox, it was for...
Lao Ma suddenly sighed. "I was also at fault for what happened yesterday. Planting trees requires technique. I shouldn't have let you figure it out blindly on your own. After breakfast, go to the nursery area, and I will teach you step by step."
Watching his slightly hunched back, the four suddenly felt the steamed buns in their mouths were a bit hard to swallow.
After breakfast, the four sprinted toward the nursery area at the speed of a hundred-meter dash, but not to learn—they went to destroy the evidence.
Tang Mi frantically wiped the oil-covered shovel handle.
Zhou Shiyu hurriedly untied the tripping rope.
Just as Si Lin was about to secretly switch Lao Ma's water bottle back, he suddenly heard footsteps behind him.
"Oh, so early?" A forest ranger walked in, his eyes lighting up. "Are you guys fixing the tools?"
"Ah... yes!" Tang Mi braced herself and held up the freshly wiped shovel. "Just doing some maintenance, haha."
Several people passing by praised them one after another.
"Lao Ma said you guys were spoiled, but you're actually quite reliable!"
"You guys have improved so much. If my son were this worry-free, I'd eat two extra bowls of rice."
"These days, there aren't many kids as hardworking as you."
"..."
Amidst the praise, the four gradually lost themselves. Turning over a new leaf, they huffed and puffed, working with all their might.
Meanwhile, Rong Yu had already arrived at the core area.
The two experts had worked until their faces were dark with exhaustion, but they still hadn't cracked the code.
Rong Yu printed out all the current hypotheses, found a corner, and earnestly began to study them.
The experts had already tried over eight hundred combination algorithms, but none matched this encryption pattern.
She lightly chewed on the end of her pen, frowning deep in thought.
Were they too fixated on the technical aspect, which was why they had no clues?
What if she changed her line of thinking?
Rong Yu's eyes suddenly widened.
Cui Xiao, who was right next to her, quickly asked, "Did you find something?"
"I suspect this is a cultural-level key," Rong Yu said slowly. "Although these characters seem random, a slight variation appears after every seven characters. It reminded me of Go... the ancient Chinese manual recording method, where variations start from the seventh move, corresponding to the opening moves of the Tengen layout..."
She practically lunged at her computer, her fingers flying across the keyboard. On the screen, the password characters were rearranged and converted according to the rules she had just described.
"Give me three minutes." Rong Yu's voice was as taut as a bowstring.
The conference room was completely silent; everyone held their breath and stared at her screen.
"Got it!" Rong Yu suddenly understood it all, almost jumping out of her chair. "This isn't a regular encrypted message. This is a secret route report!"
She swiftly projected the decoded results onto the main screen.
The once-jumbled characters had now transformed into lines of clear Chinese text:
"Target's daily schedule: wakes up at 5:00 AM, morning workout at 5:30 AM, breakfast at 6:30 AM..."