On Christmas night, Lin Wei called and invited his two former good friends, Lü Yanjie and Zhang Shuai.
When the three met, they were extremely excited, probably because they hadn't seen each other for years. Lin Wei said to them, "I got lucky today. I won several bottles of drinks at the supermarket, all with a one-yuan upgrade. They normally cost five yuan each. Help yourselves today."
Zhang Shuai laughed loudly and said, "Awesome! Did I bring you this good luck, Wei?"
Hearing this, the three smiled and shook hands with each other, then sat down right there on the grass.
Zhang Shuai asked, "How have you been these past few years, Lin Wei?"
Lin Wei replied, "Not great. A total mess. I graduated from junior high in 2022. I only scored just over 300 on the high school entrance exam and didn't get into regular high school, so I quit school."
Zhang Shuai said, "Same here. A year or two after junior high, I've been working in Zhejiang."
Lü Yanjie went on, "I've basically stayed home every day for the past three years."
Lin Wei said again, "Forget the depressing stuff. We haven't gotten together in three or four years. Let's have a good time today. Later we'll go to a restaurant and eat something nice. I've eaten instant noodles six days in a row this week. I'm sick of living so frugally to save money."
The other two sighed. Lin Wei asked, "How did you get here?"
Zhang Shuai answered, "We took the bus, the last one."
Lin Wei said, "No problem. I'll take you home for sure." He pointed at a blue three-wheeler parked by the roadside. "Grab your stuff. Let's find a nicer restaurant."
There were two chairs in the back. Lin Wei sat in the front driving, while Zhang Shuai and Lü Yanjie sat in the cabin.
Zhang Shuai said to Lin Wei, "Not bad. It's electric."
Lin Wei said calmly, "I modified it. Swapped in a lithium battery under the cabin. Took it from a scrapped electric car."
Lü Yanjie looked at the dashboard and said, "You even added a screen to the dashboard."
Lin Wei said, "I made this from an old tablet. It connects to an electronic rearview mirror and a dashcam."
Zhang Shuai praised him, "As expected of my brother Wei. Your hands-on skills are amazing. I remember you made a smoke bomb in junior high. The math teacher pulled the string, and the whole classroom was filled with red smoke and chili smell."
All three laughed at the memory.
They arrived at a decent restaurant and sat in a private room. Lin Wei said, "Don't worry, guys. I'm not running. I'll pay. I usually pay upfront when I eat out."
Lin Wei pulled a beat-up laptop out of a snakeskin bag and set it on the table. He said to the other two, "I got this second-hand online last year for over 800 yuan. It looks terrible, but it's actually pretty tough. I've dropped it several times and it still works."
After a while, the waiter brought a QR code for them to order. Lin Wei said, "Take your time. No rush."
A few minutes later, they finished ordering. Lin Wei said, "I already paid. No need to worry about that. If you want more dishes, I'll order them."
Zhang Shuai said, "Wei, why haven't you checked any of your emails on your laptop?"
Lin Wei opened his email and said, "They're usually just verification codes. I barely use my email."
Lü Yanjie said, "You seem to have an important unread email."
Lin Wei clicked on the "Important Emails" folder in the top-left corner and found one sent by ESA a week earlier. He found it strange and thought it might be a scam. Still, out of curiosity, the three quickly skimmed through it. The email came with a PDF attachment.
Lü Yanjie looked at the screen and read quietly: "Dear Mr. Lin Wei, on March 4, 2022, you submitted an application on our official website…"
It was too long, so he didn't bother finishing.
Zhang Shuai reminded him, "The food is coming. Stop leaning over the table."
The waiter served the dishes, closed the door, and they started eating.
Lü Yanjie said, "Wei, you're so lucky. You're going to space."
Lin Wei laughed and said, "Someone as smart as you actually falls for junk mail like this?"
Lü Yanjie asked, "Did you ever sign up?"
Lin Wei smiled awkwardly and said, "Don't you remember? Back in 2022, the three of us signed up together on the school computer."
Lü Yanjie set his chopsticks down on the table and said, "Exactly! You're so lucky you got selected. Why do I say that? I looked at the PDF. The font, layout, and coding are almost identical to the real thing. Trust me — reply to the email right now."
Lin Wei thought it made sense, so he replied to the email while eating. After finishing, he turned off the laptop, stuffed it back into the snakeskin bag, sat to the side, and drank his beverage.
Zhang Shuai said, "I heard flying a spaceship is easier than driving a car now. It's almost fully autonomous."
Lin Wei said, "Since you two think so highly of me, I won't let you down. Eat up! If we can't finish, we'll take the leftovers. No wasting food!"
Lü Yanjie flipped through his chat history on his phone and said, "Wei, I told you so. This year — 2025 — you're gonna have huge good news! I said that a long time ago."
After they finished eating, Lin Wei suggested it was late and invited them to stay at his place for the night. The two agreed without hesitation, and they all rode back to Lin Wei's house on his three-wheeler.
Once they arrived at Lin Wei's home, the three went into the living room. Lü Yanjie said, "This looks like a resettlement apartment. You must have gotten demolished and relocated."
Lin Wei replied, "Yeah. It was around 2024 when they demolished our old place. We got over three million yuan in compensation."
Zhang Shuai said, "Three million should've wiped away all your troubles. So why do you still seem to be living so poorly?"
Lin Wei took several cartons of pure milk from a box and placed them on the table. He said, "I was 16 that year. My parents suddenly got three million. First they bought a new car and a new apartment. Then my dad quit his job, dreaming of making money with money. He invested some in stocks. At first he made a profit, then lost a lot. Then he gambled with relatives and friends — won at first, then lost terribly. In the end, only about 400,000 was left. After I turned 18, last July, they left me this apartment and moved into the new one themselves."
Lü Yanjie held a carton of milk in one hand, looked down, and said slowly, "Did they give you the rest of the money?"
Lin Wei sighed and said, "I don't know. I was 17 when I found out they only had 400,000 left. Back then I didn't really understand money. They never brought it up again, and never said they'd give it to me. Whatever. I don't want their money anyway. Talking about it gives me a headache."
Lin Wei pointed to the bathroom door. "Take turns washing up. There are two rooms, just enough for us."
A few minutes later, he brought out new towels and toothbrushes from his room and handed them to Lü Yanjie and Zhang Shuai.