I almost touched the moon

As night falls, the temperature in the desert drops sharply. You don't need an advanced astronomical telescope, you can see the gorgeous starry sky just by looking up.

"Songsong, where are you taking me?"

Cheng Che was a little puzzled. If she just wanted to watch the stars, any place in the desert would be a great viewing point. However, she ignored the starry sky that could be seen when she looked up and drove the car into the unknown darkness.

"Hehe, it's a secret." Wen Song said and glanced at his watch, "There are still four hours left, don't worry."

There are still four hours left. Cheng Che smiled when he heard her words. Four hours later, it would be his birthday, so what on earth had she prepared?

An hour later, the car stopped at a high ground in the heart of the desert. Cheng Che noticed that it was a small observatory with a sign at the door that read "European Southern Observatory".

Wen Song parked the car at the door and said to him, "Wait here for me. I'll go borrow a telescope."

"I'll go with you." Cheng Che unbuckled his seat belt, opened the car door, and got out with her.

Wen Song smiled a little embarrassedly and pointed to the warning sign at the door, which read, "European Southern Observatory Private Observation Institution. STAFF AND COOPERATORS ONLY"

(European Southern Observatory private observatory. Staff and collaborators only)

Cheng Che saw the warning sign and laughed awkwardly, "Okay, I'll wait for you here."

Wen Song caught the flash of disappointment in his eyes, reached out and touched his head, and said gently: "I will be back soon."

As soon as she finished speaking, she scanned her face and walked into the observatory. The door closed quickly. Cheng Che looked at her back at the door and let out a sigh that was extremely difficult to catch.

After more than ten minutes, Wen Song came out, carrying a huge backpack on her shoulders and holding a black equipment box in her hands. Next to her was a man with southern European looks.

They stood at the door and chatted, with bright smiles on their faces. Their voices were not loud, so Cheng Che could not hear clearly. He could only hear the man saying to Wen Song,

"I heard you discovered a short-period et, Congrats! Have you determined the name of it?"

(I heard you discovered a short-period comet. Congratulations! Have you decided on its name?)

Wen Song seemed to laugh twice, thanked him, and then said: "No, haven't. Can't I just name it T-Saturn 2020P?"

They talked about some academic-related topics again. Cheng Che couldn't hear clearly and didn't understand much, but he saw that Wen Song became particularly talkative when chatting with the man, which was completely different from her usual taciturn appearance when she was forced to socialize.

After a while, Cheng Che finally heard Wen Song say, "I have to go, my boyfriend is waiting for me, bye." Hearing the word "my boyfriend", Cheng Che's mouth corners curled up, he opened the car door and got out.

Then, he saw them hug each other and then say goodbye. It was a polite gesture and there was nothing wrong with it. But when he saw Wen Song's smile, he couldn't help but feel upset. Especially, he was so close to her, but she didn't even notice...

When Wen Song turned around, she saw Cheng Che leaning against the car waiting for her. She walked over quickly, gently held his hand and said, "Why don't you wait for me in the car? It's very cold outside at night."

"I want to see you soon." Cheng Che stretched out his hand and took the instrument box from her naturally, but he frowned subconsciously the moment he took it, "What is this? Why is it so heavy?"

"The telescope lens." Wen Song smiled, walked to the back of the car, opened the trunk, and put the backpack on his back in. "This is not heavy, only about 50 kilograms."

After hearing this, Cheng Che looked at her in surprise. In his impression, Wen Song would even complain of being tired after going out for a walk, but now she could lift a 100-pound camera with one hand, and the backpack on her back didn't look light either.

He suddenly felt that in the place where he couldn't see her, he really didn't seem to understand her at all.

"Why don't you let me help you get it?" he muttered.

Wen Song smiled, put his arms around his neck and kissed him on the face, smiling sweetly, "Why, are you feeling sorry for me? There's no need, I've lifted much heavier things than this. Once, in order to observe those two ice giants, we used a 16-inch MEADE LX200, which weighed 145 kilograms. The three of us broke our arms from lifting it."

After Cheng Che heard this, he hugged her gently and said to her, "Sister, let me do all these things from now on."

"No need." Wen Song shook his head. "I'm not that kind of weak little princess. You seem to have a deep misunderstanding of me."

How could there be a misunderstanding? Cheng Che always knew that she was not a weak and delicate woman. He knew her independence and wildness. It was just that he subconsciously wanted to protect her and share her burden.

He joked, "Of course I know you're not, you just don't want to make your sister so tired. That's not how you got the muscles in your arms."

Wen Song's arms have clear muscle lines, which are especially obvious when he exerts force, and are extremely powerful and beautiful. In the past, he always thought that they were acquired through skiing, but now it seems that is not the case.

"That's from practicing Sanda." Wen Song laughed, "But I haven't practiced for a long time, so I don't have any muscles left."

"Sanda?" Cheng Che looked at her with a little surprise, and finally understood why she would punch him so hard sometimes when she didn't mean to.

He walked up to her, hugged her, buried his head in her neck and said with a smile: "I always thought that sister was Venus, but now it seems that you are more like Athena."

Wen Song couldn't help but smile, touched his head and said, "But I like Artemis more, the moon goddess who is always free."

Cheng Che didn't say anything, but just looked at her with a faint smile. Suddenly, he had a moment of self-doubt. She always longed for freedom, but could he really let her be free forever?

On the way to the campsite, Cheng Che thought about the conversation between Wen Song and the staff member just now, and asked, "Sister, did you discover a new comet?"

"Yes." Wen Song nodded, "It is a short-period comet, discovered in a close orbit around Saturn."

"How do I discover this?" Cheng Che was a little curious. These events that he had only seen in the news actually happened around him, so close to him.

"It's very simple." Wen Song said calmly, "With a telescope and a camera, and using the relevant software to track it, it's all done. It's just a bit annoying to collect observation data and look up catalogs, and calculate the orbit."

But in fact, it is impossible to be simple. There are countless small celestial bodies like comets. Wen Song was lucky to catch a new celestial body passing by when observing Saturn's rings.

But this was far from enough. She spent a full year and a half tracking observations, collecting data, and checking existing catalogs to ensure that the comet had not been discovered and recorded before. Just checking the catalog was enough to exhaust her.

But she smiled and said there was no need to let Cheng Che know about these things.

Cheng Che nodded as if he understood, and then asked, "Sister, are you alone?"

"Not entirely. Tracking observations require the use of the observatory's equipment, so Christian is helping me."

"Is this the person who was chatting with my sister just now? What is your relationship?" Cheng Che asked.

"Yes." Wen Song replied, "He is an ESO researcher and my colleague when I was interning at ESO. We are in the same research group. I am responsible for theory and he is responsible for practical observation."

After listening to this, Cheng Che felt a little lonely. He thought of the cheerful conversation between Wen Song and the researcher. They were talking about things that he had never touched upon and had no chance to get a word in. He felt that he was completely isolated from Wen Song's world.

Sensing Cheng Che's silence, Wen Song asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing..." Cheng Che sighed softly, "He called you Ilia."

When they said goodbye, he clearly heard the researcher say to her, "bye ilia," not Iseylia, but a more intimate nickname, ilia.

"Any problem?" Wen Song was a little unhappy, but still smiled gently, "Except for you, everyone who knows me calls me Ilia."

"Okay, but I just stood there for so long and you didn't notice me. You were chatting with yourself and didn't even look at me..." Cheng Che complained in a low voice, "I feel like I can't fit into your life at all."

"Ache, you promised me that you wouldn't have any wild thoughts. Everyone is an independent individual. We don't have that much intersection in our daily lives. There's no need to force integration." Because of dissatisfaction, Wen Song sped up his driving.

"I talked to him about the newly discovered comet, and he asked me if I had decided on a name. I said I hadn't. And this telescope is usually not loaned out. I asked him for help to borrow it, so I must thank him."

Cheng Che felt helpless after hearing her words. He really hoped that they could integrate into one, but he knew Wen Song. She desperately needed personal space, which made him feel insecure, but he was still willing to respect her. He promised her that he would let her be free.

So I asked curiously, "So what do you want to be called, sister?"

"I don't know." Wen Song showed a mysterious smile, "Let's talk about it later. But if you get angry with me again because of this kind of thing, I will really beat you up."

Cheng Che also laughed. He knew that Wen Song was not angry and was just joking with him. He said coquettishly, "I was wrong. Sister, don't hit me. I can't beat you."

Wen Song also glanced at him, revealing a somewhat helpless smile. It's just that some things can be fun once or twice, but if it happens too many times, she will really be annoyed.