Ou Zhanpeng returned to the base and was immediately notified by the control room, rushing to Mu Xingyu's office.
Station Chief Mu's attitude was surprisingly amiable. He took out a small box and an honor certificate, then gently pushed them toward Ou Zhanpeng.
Ou Dashao received them, his eyes full of curiosity. "What is this?"
"Your report was approved. This is your military medal and certificate."
Ou Zhanpeng opened it in surprise. The box contained a Third Class Merit Medal.
He didn't know what to say.
Before this, he had already received one First Class and one Second Class medal. The former was awarded for his bravery in entering a damaged ship to rescue trapped comrades, and the latter for his outstanding performance during the engagement with the damaged ship.
Both of those medals were earned through life-and-death situations and were genuine combat merits, far more valuable than this one.
However, simply writing a report earned him a military medal, even if it was the lowest tier. It felt too easy.
Suddenly, he felt that the value of his previous two medals wasn't as high as he thought.
"Well done," Mu Xingyu said with a smile. "You've brought honor to our Cloud Palace."
Ou Zhanpeng composed his complex thoughts, put away the certificate and medal. "Should I say something modest? No, I, um, my mind is a bit jumbled. Please give me a moment to sort it out."
At this moment, he was clearly possessed by Ling Xiao.
Mu Xingyu's smile widened. "It's alright, take your time. And while you're at it, I have something to tell you."
"Please, sir!"
Mu Xingyu was in an excellent mood, feeling like a discerning judge who had discovered a talented horse. "It's like this, although pilots are the elite of the armed forces, I feel it would be a waste of your talent to keep you here. I plan to send you to school for further studies. What do you think?"
Ou Zhanpeng looked troubled. "Perhaps that's not necessary."
Mu Xingyu couldn't understand. "But this is a great opportunity, something others would beg for. Why aren't you happy about it?" He had fully expected Ou Zhanpeng to accept with delight, but what was that expression?
"It's not that I'm unwilling," Ou Zhanpeng quickly explained. "I appreciate your kindness, but I'm truly not suited for it!"
Mu Xingyu was displeased. "Why aren't you suited for it? Your report was written quite well!"
"That's different. It's fine for me to have a flash of inspiration occasionally, but to spend years in a laboratory? You think too highly of me."
Mu Xingyu wanted to persuade him further, but seeing Ou Zhanpeng's firm stance, he hesitated and said, "Alright then, everyone has their own aspirations. I won't force you."
Thus, the matter of further studies was dropped.
However, Mu Xingyu still felt that something was amiss. In recent decades, aerospace had not been as cutting-edge as it once was. Those who could go into space were still an extremely small number of people, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they were all academic elites.
From this perspective, Ou Zhanpeng's academic knowledge should have been sufficient. But why did he refuse?
Forcing something that wasn't meant to be wouldn't bring happiness. Mu Xingyu felt that simple persuasion would be useless without understanding the underlying reasons. Instead of wasting his breath, it would be better to investigate the cause behind it.
Ou Zhanpeng thought that his refusal had ended the matter. Who would have thought that that very night, as he was getting into his sleeping bag to rest, Ling Xiao rushed in, agitated like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and questioned, "Fatty Ou, I heard the old man wants to send you back to ground school. Is that true?"
"Yes, it's what happened today." Ou Dashao remained calm and unruffled.
"I also heard you refused!" Ling Xiao's face was clouded with gloom.
"Yes, what about it?"
"What do you mean, 'what about it'?" Ling Xiao was exasperated. "It's such a good opportunity! Why did you refuse? Do you know how dangerous it is up in orbit now? This is a chance to return to Earth, a real opportunity!"
Ou Zhanpeng remained calm. "I know it's an opportunity, but I'd rather stay in orbit."
"Why? Isn't doing research good?"
"It's not that it's not good," Ou Zhanpeng chose his words carefully. "It's just that I'm really not suited for it."
Ling Xiao could hardly believe his ears. "No way! With your brain, if you say you're not suited for it, I'll be the first one not to believe it!"
"Alright, I understand what you mean," he said, snuggling into his sleeping bag. "Before, I also thought I was quite capable. But after spending time on the moon, I was truly put in my place. Those who went to the moon were the very elite. Compared to them, what is my little cleverness?"
Ling Xiao was stunned, then suddenly understood. "So, you were discouraged by those people?"
"Partially," Ou Zhanpeng said.
Ling Xiao's eyes widened. "Seriously, I think if you go back and train properly, you'll be no worse than those people on the moon, really!"
Ou Zhanpeng chuckled. "Thank you for the compliment. My greatest strength is my self-awareness. After being away from school for so many years, I've returned all the knowledge to my teachers. Besides, I still feel that this place suits me better. As a troublemaker like me, it's better not to go back and tarnish the purity of the school."
Ling Xiao was furious. "You! What kind of human talk is that? How are you going to tarnish a pure land? Why don't you say that whichever school you attend, that school will be proud of you in the future?"
Ou Zhanpeng finally caught on. "Hey, why are you here arguing with me about this? Do you have nothing better to do? Or do you want to go back? Do you want me to talk to the old man and give you the opportunity?"
"Forget it. I know myself well enough. If you're not good enough, then I'm even less so." Ling Xiao was also self-aware.
"Then why so much nonsense… Wait, where did you hear about this? I didn't tell anyone, did I?" Ou Zhanpeng suddenly felt something was wrong.
Ling Xiao: "I don't know if you told anyone, but I do know the whole base is buzzing about it now... people are saying all sorts of things... Frankly, you should have just accepted it!"
He and others had a good relationship, but with this incident, their future relationship was uncertain.
Even if Ling Xiao didn't like to overthink, he understood the principle of "a tall tree attracts the wind." In the future, it might be a case of "the tree desires stillness, but the wind does not cease."
"Alright, alright," Ou Zhanpeng waved impatiently. "Stop with the useless talk. Go to sleep quickly, we have a mission tomorrow!"
"You!" Ling Xiao was annoyed. "This is all for your own good, you know!"
"Thank you, but it's not necessary," Ou Zhanpeng said. "I know what's best for myself, so you don't need to worry. You may withdraw."
"You scoundrel, stop taking advantage of me!" Ling Xiao retorted angrily and flipped over into his sleeping bag.
But looking at Ou Zhanpeng, his mind was filled with so many thoughts that he couldn't sleep.
Ou Dashao wasn't as calm on the surface as he appeared. He kept questioning himself: Was refusing Mu Xingyu's kind offer truly a mistake?
But he quickly straightened his attitude: What is honey to one is arsenic to another. It's better to follow one's own heart.