Once We Lived in Nanjing

"Stars falling from the sky? Are they meteors?" Ban Xia was very curious.

"Maybe, I'm not sure what it means either, Uncle Zhao said so, OVER."

"Does Uncle Zhao know there will be meteors tonight? Can he predict the future? But it's not even the season for meteor showers... Ahh... Ahchoo! The wind is so strong and cold on the rooftop."

Ban Xia hugged her knees, sitting on the rooftop, the night wind was strong, blowing her hair wildly. She tilted her head back and looked at the sky, the stars above her head were like grains of salt scattered on a large black curtain, the girl began searching for the constellations she was familiar with. First, she found the Autumn Quadrilateral, formed by Andromeda and Pegasus, these two constellations' four stars together form a huge square, a symbol of the deep autumn sky.

"BG4MXH, do you know about the Pegasus Square?"

"Pegasus Square?" Bai Yang asked, "What is that? OVER."

"It's the Autumn Quadrilateral, the four stars of Pegasus and Andromeda form a square, like a plaza, it's called the Pegasus Square." Ban Xia shifted her position and reclined slightly, "These four stars all have names, the teacher has talked about it, but I've forgotten... Finding the Autumn Quadrilateral, you can find Andromeda, and following the extension of Andromeda, you can find Perseus, every August there's a Perseus meteor shower, I watched it with the teacher many years ago, BG4MXH, it's a pity you haven't seen it."

"Yes, the lights in Nanjing are too strong," said Bai Yang, "With such strong lights, where can you see the meteor shower? OVER."

Ban Xia startled, "The lights are also good, right, they're like the stars on the ground."

"BG4MXH, why are there meteor showers?"

"It's because of comets, OVER."

"Comets?"

"A celestial body, with a very small core and a very long tail, which cyclically visits the Solar System, shedding material along its orbit. When this material enters Earth's atmosphere, it becomes a meteor shower, OVER." Bai Yang explained.

"Where does it come from?"

"From beyond the Solar System, from a place far, far away, OVER."

"How far?"

"Very, very distant, so far that we could never reach it in our lifetime," Bai Yang said, "OVER."

"BG4MXH."

"I'm here, OVER."

"Why do you think the world is so big?" asked Ban Xia, "There are places we could never reach in our lifetime."

"It's not that the world is too big, but that we are too insignificant," Bai Yang said, "OVER."

Ban Xia thought about it, NG4MXH was right, she was insignificant, compared to the majestic earth beneath her and the vast, boundless sky above, she was tiny.

A tiny person alone possesses this infinite world.

Ban Xia wrapped her clothes tighter around her, shrinking on the rooftop, tucking her hands into her sleeves, the bricks under her butt were unbearably hard, she regretted not bringing a pillow up with her - she thought if she could bring a pillow, she might as well bring the bed and bedding too, tucking into the warm blanket would be most comfortable. The wind on the rooftop at night was strong, quickly carrying away body heat, the girl's nose and cheeks became numb from the cold soon.

"So cold."

"So cold... Can I go back and put on more clothes?"

"Hold on a bit longer, BG4MSR, it's almost time, OVER."

"How much longer do I need to wait?" Ban Xia asked.

"How much longer does she need to wait?" Bai Yang took off his earphones and turned to ask Zhao Bowen behind him, "She's very cold and wants to go back to put on clothes."

"Let her hold on a bit more, going back for clothes might cause us to miss it, then all our efforts would be wasted." Zhao Bowen was also a bit anxious, he turned and shouted towards the door, "Specific time! Give the specific time!"

At the door, Zhan Zhao flipped through the document in his hand, "Estimated time November 14th night, 23:55 to November 15th 00:10 passing over Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, zenith angle 88 degrees!"

Bai Yang and Zhao Bowen simultaneously focused their eyes on the clock, the current time was 11:49 PM.

"Tell her to look up, it's right above her head!"

Zhao Bowen leaned in, lowering his body and voice; Bai Yang could see the other's forehead clearly sweating.

"BG4MSR! BG4MSR!"

"I'm here."

"Look up! Look up into the sky! It's right above your head!"

Above her head?

Ban Xia had been looking up all the time, and above her head was still the silent starry sky.

She didn't see anything.

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing at all." Bai Yang nodded, "She didn't see anything."

"Then wait a bit longer... a bit longer..."

Time ticked away minute by minute, Zhao Bowen grew more and more anxious, the clock hand pointed to 55 minutes, it was already the scheduled time, but there was still no situation at BG4MSR, the minute hand pointed to midnight, still no situation from BG4MSR, Zhao Bowen started pacing around the room.

"Is there a problem?" Zhao Bowen paced back and forth, talking to himself, "No one can say for sure, after all, it's been such a long time, it's normal if there are deviations, it could be several hours earlier, or several hours later..."

Everyone was watching Zhao Bowen, Old Zhao was anxious like an ant on a hot pot, but others didn't understand why he was so anxious.

"Ask again what the situation is, Yangyang, ask again." Zhao Bowen said.

"I've asked, all normal."

Bai Yang would ask every minute, and the time had reached 12:20 am.

"BG4MSR, any updates? OVER."

"No updates."

"BG4MSR?"

"No updates."

"BG4MSR?"

"No updates... Can I go back now? It's really cold here, I want to go back and get dressed."

"Wait! Just wait a bit longer! Let her wait a bit longer!" Zhao Bowen yelled, spreading his fingers, "I'll count to five! It will come! Five—! Four—!"

"Three—!"

"Two point nine—! Two point eight—!"

Bai Yang shook his head, "Uncle Zhao, with the way you're counting, it might take until next year."

"Two! One!" Zhao Bowen's face reddened, "It's here, don't believe me? Go and ask."

"BG4MSR, BG4MSR, any situation there?" Bai Yang put on his headphones again and made the call.

"No situation, I just want to return to my cozy little nest, back to my warm little blanket, that's where heaven... oh my god!"

Suddenly in the headphones burst out the girl's screams and shouts, Bai Yang instantly sat up.

Zhao Bowen abruptly stopped walking.

"Oh my god, oh my god!"

"BG4MXH! BG4MXH! Meteor! Look, it's a meteor!"

Ban Xia, her mouth agape, looked up at the sky, above her head, a long meteor streaked across the sky, it was so bright and dazzling, outshining the whole starry sky, appearing so suddenly, catching everyone off guard, as if someone had sliced a sharp, narrow cut in the night's velvety backdrop, spilling forth white celestial light.

The first meteor took a full five seconds from appearing to disappearing, its trail lingering in the atmosphere for a long while, then what shocked the girl into silence ensued, from the direction came the meteor, the second, third, fourth, and even more meteors split the darkness, the girl had never seen such a dense and brilliant meteor shower, they illuminated the earth when they crossed the sky, the meteors were blue, purple, red, green, they were like swords and spears, sweeping through the sky with majestic dynamism under Pegasus and Andromeda, as if gods with paint-dipped brushes, heavily stroked the autumn night's celestial sphere with a grand impressive flourish.

The meteor swept over Ban Xia's head and exploded spectacularly in the sky beyond, turning into colorful extravagant clusters.

The girl stood dumbfounded on the rooftop, watching the brilliant flowers burst one by one in the empty city skies, she suddenly burst into tears.

On a deep autumn night, Ban Xia saw the most spectacular fireworks in human history.

It didn't rise from the ground but came thundering down from the nine heavens like lightning piercing the long sky!

At this night's 12:20, the wanderer who left home twenty years ago returned from a distant four hundred million kilometers away, re-entering the atmosphere at a high speed of 11.2 kilometers per second.