第31章
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“Blow—”Yuanyuan pointed at her bubbles，already flown far into the distance—“big—biiiig—bubbles！”
Baba smiled sadly，shaking his head，and led his daughter away.They weren’t far from where the plane had crashed a few years ago.That year，the seeds in the ice bombs dropped from the sky really did survive，growing into saplings，but the final victor had still been the endless drought.The aerially seeded forest had died to the last tree in the dry，rainless second year.Desertification marched inexorably onward.
Baba turned to look back.The setting sun stretched a long shadow behind the gravestone.The bubbles Yuanyuan had blown were all gone now，like the dreams of the woman in the grave，like the beautiful delusion of the Western Development Project.
4
Time flew onward.Yuanyuan entered middle school，and she still loved bubbles.
Today，Yuanyuan’s young homeroom teacher had come for a home visit.She handed Baba a flashy，novel-looking toy gun.The physics teacher had confiscated it from Yuanyuan for playing during class，she explained.The gun had a fat barrel and a ring like an antenna loop attached to the muzzle.Baba turned it over in his hands，puzzled as to its appeal.
“It’s a bubble gun，”said the homeroom teacher，taking it and pulling the trigger.With a low whirr，a long string of soap bubbles shot from the small ring on the muzzle.
The teacher told Baba that Yuanyuan’s grades were always the best in her year.Her biggest strength was her robust sense of creativity；the teacher had never seen such a lively-minded student before.He should cherish this seedling，she told him.
“Don’t you feel that the child is a bit…how do I say this，a bit effervescent？”Baba asked，hefting the bubble gun.
“Hey，all the kids today are like that.Quite honestly，in this new era，being on the light and airy side isn’t necessarily a flaw.”
Baba sighed，cutting off the conversation with a wave of the bubble gun.He didn’t think he and the homeroom teacher had much to say to each other.She was barely more than a child herself.
Once he saw the homeroom teacher off，leaving just the two of them，Baba decided to have a talk with Yuanyuan about the bubble gun.But immediately he encountered a new source of displeasure.
“You bought another one？”he said，pointing to the cell phone hanging from Yuanyuan’s neck.“But you already got a new one this year！”
“No，I didn’t，Baba，I only changed the case！See，it keeps things fresh for me.”Yuanyuan took out a flat box as she spoke.Baba opened it，revealing a row of colorful rectangles.At first glance，he thought they were a set of paints.Only upon further examination did he discover that they were twelve cell phone cases in twelve different colors.
Baba shook his head and set the box aside.“I wanted to talk to you about this…tendency.”
Yuanyuan spotted the bubble gun in his hand and snatched it over.“Baba，I promise I won’t bring it to school again！”She shot a string of bubbles at him.
“That’s not what I wanted to talk about.The problem goes far deeper than that.Yuanyuan，look，you’re a big girl now，and yet you still like to blow soap bubbles—”
“Is that wrong？”
“Oh，no，there’s nothing wrong with that in and of itself.It’s just that，like I said，your fondness reflects a certain，hmm，mental tendency.”
Yuanyuan stared blankly at her father.
“It demonstrates your tendency to chase after pretty，novel，superficial things.You easily lose yourself in mirages.Being so ungrounded in reality will lead you in the wrong direction in life.”
Yuanyuan looked at the soap bubbles filling the room，seeming even more puzzled.The bubbles swam tranquilly in the air like a school of transparent goldfish.
“Baba，let’s talk about something more interesting！”Yuanyuan leaned against Baba’s shoulder and adopted a confidential tone of voice.“Do you think our homeroom teacher is pretty？”
“I didn’t notice…Yuanyuan，what I was saying was—”
“She’s totally gorgeous！”
“I guess…I was about to say that—”
“Baba，you have to have noticed the way she looked at you just then，when you were talking.She was really into you！”
“Child，I swear，can’t you leave off thinking about these silly things？”Baba irritably peeled his daughter’s hand off his shoulder.
Yuanyuan sighed dramatically.“Oh，Baba，you’ve turned into one of those people who are grumpy about everything.What’s the point of living if you never have anything new or interesting or exciting？You should be embarrassed，trying to be a life coach for other people.”
A soap bubble drifted in front of Baba’s face，then burst.He felt a puff of moist air，almost impossibly faint，and yet the ephemeral little misty drizzle granted him a moment of bliss.It made him think of his distant southern homeland，of all things.He sighed imperceptibly.
When I was young，I chased after fantasies too.Your mother and I came here from Shanghai，so naive as to think that the Northwest would be a place where we could show the world our worth.In an unimaginably short time，we architects raised an entire，brand-new city out of the wasteland.We thought it would be our life’s achievement.After we left this world，this city would stand as proof that we didn’t live our lives in vain.Who could have imagined that we’d devoted our best years，and even our very lives，to nothing more than a soap bubble？
Yuanyuan was astonished.“What do you mean，Silk Road City is a soap bubble？It’s right here，rock solid.There’s no way it’s going to vanish with a pop，right？”
“It’s about to disappear.The central government has approved the province’s report and suspended all new projects to divert water to Silk Road City.”
“Do they want us to die of thirst？The taps only work once every two days already，an hour and a half each time！”
“They’re working out a ten-year evacuation plan right now.The entire city will be dismantled and relocated.Silk Road City will be the first city in today’s world to disappear due to water shortages，a modern Loulan…In truth，the entire Western Development Project that once had us aflame with passion has already devolved into a nightmarish Western Mining Project.Who knows，that might be an ever bigger soap bubble.”
“Wow，that’s great！”Yuanyuan cheered.“We should have left this place ages ago！It’s so boring here，I really can’t stand it！Let’s move！Move to a brand new place and start a brand new life！It’s going to be amazing，Baba！”
Baba looked at his daughter silently，then stood and walked to the window.He gazed dumbly outside at the city amid yellow sand.His drooping shoulders made his silhouette suddenly appear much older.
“Baba，”Yuanyuan called softly，but her father didn’t respond.
Two days later，Yuanyuan’s father took office as the last mayor of the fading city.
5
Yuanyuan got second place in science on her province’s college entry examinations.Baba，truly overjoyed in a way that he rarely was，magnanimously asked his daughter if she had anything she wanted as a reward，even something absurd.Yuanyuan stuck her open hand，fingers spread，in his direction.
“Five…five of what？”
“Five bars of Diao（Note for clarification：This is not a misspelling of Dial.Diao is a major soap brand in China.）brand clear soap.”She stuck out the other hand.“Ten bags of Tide laundry powder.”She flipped her hands over.“Twenty bottles of White Cat dish detergent.”Last，she took out a piece of paper.“Most importantly，I need these chemicals.Buy them in the amounts I listed.”
Getting the chemicals took work on her father’s part.He had to ask a bureau deputy director going on a business trip to Beijing，who spent a whole day finding them all.
Once she had everything，Yuanyuan holed herself up in the bathroom for three busy days，filling a big washtub with some sort of liquid whose smell permeated into every room in the house.The fourth day，two classmates came over to deliver a custom-made hoop object more than a meter in diameter，shaped from a long piece of metal pipe pricked with small holes.
The fifth day started with a group of visitors.There were two cameramen from different news stations，and the mayor recognized an attractive lady as the hostess of an entertainment program on the provincial channel.There were also two garishly dressed fellows calling themselves adjudicators from the China branch of Guinness World Records，flown in from Shanghai the previous day.One of them said in a hoarse voice，“Mr.Mayor，your daughter—”he broke off，coughing.“The air’s awfully dry here.Your daughter is about to set a world record！”
The mayor followed the others onto the apartment building’s flat rooftop，where he found his daughter and several of her classmates already there.Yuanyuan was carrying the big hoop.The washtub stood in front of them，filled with the liquid she’d mixed.The two adjudicators went to work erecting two posts with unit markings along their length.Only later did the mayor learn that they were used for measuring the diameter of soap bubbles.
Once the preparations were done，Yuanyuan dipped the hoop into the washtub.When she lifted it out，it was filmed with bubble fluid.She carefully fastened the hoop to the end of a long pole，walked to the building’s edge，and waved the pole so that the hoop drew a wide circle in the air，blowing an enormous soap bubble.The bubble shimmered and undulated in midair as if it were dancing.Later，he learned that it was an incredible 4.6 meters in diameter，breaking the Guinness world record of 3.9 meters previously held by Kaj Loos of Belgium.
“The composition of the bubble mixture is important，but the real trick is in this hoop，”Yuanyuan said in response to the TV hostess’s questions.“The guy from Belgium used an ordinary hoop to blow his bubble，while mine was made by drilling holes along the length of a piece of metal pipe，then bending it into a circle.The pipe is filled with bubble fluid，and as the big bubble forms，the fluid continuously seeps from the little holes，so that as much fluid is available to the bubble as possible.That naturally allows me to blow bigger bubbles.”
“Then，do you think you can blow even bigger bubbles in the future？”asked the hostess.
“Of course！It would take research into several important factors in bubble formation，including viscosity，malleability，rate of evaporation，and surface tension.For forming super-big bubbles，the last two need the most work.Rate of evaporation needs to be lowered，since evaporation is the main reason why bubbles burst.As for surface tension…do you know why you can’t blow bubbles with pure water？”
“Because the surface tension is too small？”
“It’s actually the opposite.The surface tension of pure water is too high to trap air.For my next question，what’s the relationship between a bubble’s surface tension and its diameter？”
“Well，from what you’ve said，the smaller the surface tension，the larger the bubble？”
“Nope！Once the bubble is formed，as the bubble increases in size，it actually needs higher surface tension to maintain its walls.You can see the problem here：the surface tension of a fluid is fixed.In that case，if we want to blow really big bubbles，what problem do we need to solve？”
The hostess shook her head，lost.She was the type hired more for charisma and ease with words than for deeper comprehension.Yuanyuan seemed to realize this.“Never mind，let’s blow some more big bubbles for our audience！”
And thus，several more four-and five-meter bubbles drifted in the wind high above the city.In this dry，dust-suffused world，they seemed terribly surreal，like mirages of another world.
One week later，Yuanyuan left the Northwest city of her birth and childhood for the best school of engineering in the country.She was studying nanoscience.
6
Time flew ever onward，but Yuanyuan didn’t blow soap bubbles anymore.
Yuanyuan completed her bachelor’s degree，master’s degree，and doctorate，upon which she built a business with a speed that dizzied her father.Using a technique from her doctorate thesis as a starting point，she invented a new type of solar cell that could be manufactured at a tiny fraction of the cost of traditional monocrystalline silicon cells and adhered in mosaic fashion to completely cover the surface of a building.In just a few years，her business grew to hold assets in the hundred million range，one of the wildly successful entrepreneurships whisked along by the Nanotech East Wind.
Yuanyuan’s father thus found himself in an awkward situation.In terms of career success，the daughter was now a higher authority than the father.It looked like Yuanyuan’s homeroom teacher from back then was right：being on the light and airy side in thinking and personality wasn’t necessarily a flaw.This was an era to make his generation grit their teeth.Success nowadays took overwhelming creative thinking；experience，hard work，a sense of purpose，and so on were no longer decisive factors.Moreover，single-mindedness and solemnity now looked like foolishness.
“I haven’t felt this way in a long time，”said the mayor to his daughter，standing on the broad exit terrace in front of the National Center for the Performing Arts.“That was the best performance I’ve ever heard.The singers really were better than the big three of the olden days.”
Yuanyuan knew that opera was one of her father’s few pleasures.She’d taken advantage of his business trip to Beijing to invite him to hear a performance by the world’s three best tenors of the new generation，given in honor of the impending Olympics.
“I’d have bought the best seats in the house if I’d known.I was afraid you’d call me profligate again，so I just bought two medium-range seats.”
“How much did they cost？”Baba asked offhandedly.
“They were much cheaper than before.I think they were 28，000 yuan each.”
“Ah…wait，what？！”
Seeing her father’s wide-eyed，slack-jawed expression，Yuanyuan laughed.“If they made you feel in a way you haven’t for a long time，even 28，000 yuan was worth it.Look at this performance center.Why would the government have invested billions in it，if not to help people achieve or recover some kind of emotion through art？”
“Maybe you’re right，but I still hope you can spend your money in more meaningful ways.Yuanyuan，I want to talk to you about something related to Silk Road City.Can you invest in one of its municipal projects？”
“What is it？”
“We want to build a large-scale water treatment plant.It’ll raise the city’s water recycling efficiency by an enormous amount.In addition，it will use solar power to desalinate water from the salt lakes.If this system can be realized，Silk Road City will be able to survive on a reduced scale.It won’t have to disappear entirely.”
“How much will it cost？”
“By our preliminary plans，about 1.6 billion yuan.We have sources for most of the required funds already，but we can’t get our hands on the money for a long time.I’m afraid it might be too late by then.That’s why we need you to make an initial investment of about a hundred million.”
“Baba，I can’t.That’s all the liquid assets I have right now，and I wanted to use them for a research project—”
Father raised a hand to break off his daughter’s words.“Never mind，then.Yuanyuan，I don’t want to hurt your business one bit.To be honest，I hadn’t wanted to ask you in the first place.Your investment would break even，guaranteed，but the profit would be miniscule.”
“Hah，I wasn’t thinking about that，Baba.My project would be even worse.Never mind profit，there’s no way it would even earn back the investment！”
“Are you doing theoretical research？”
“No，but it’s not practical research，either.I’m doing it for the fun.”
“…”
“I’m going to develop a super-surfactant.I’ve come up with the name already，FlySol.Its viscosity and elasticity will be orders of magnitudes better than any liquid existing，and its rate of evaporation will be just a fraction of a percent of glycerin’s.And this surfactant will have a special superpower—its surface tension will change depending on the thickness of the liquid layer and the surface’s degree of curvature，anywhere between one hundredth and ten thousand times the surface tension of water.”
“What is it for？”asked her father in horror.He already knew the answer，but he was afraid to believe it.
The young multi-millionaire put an arm around her father’s shoulder.“To blow—big—biiiig—bubbles！”
“You’re joking，right？”
Yuanyuan looked at the lights of Chang’an Avenue，silent for a long time.“Who knows？Maybe my entire life is a big joke.But，Baba，I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.For a person to use their entire life for a joke is a sort of purpose too.”
“Spending a hundred million yuan blowing bubbles？Is there any point？”her father spoke as if he were in a dream.
“There’s no point.It’s fun，that’s all.I’ve got to say，though，compared to the city your generation spent tens of billions building，only to have to tear it down，my extravagance doesn’t amount to much.”
“But you can save the city right this moment！It’s your city too.You were born there.You grew up there.But you’re using that money to blow soap bubbles！You’re—you’re really too selfish！”
“I’m living my own life.Selfless sacrifice isn’t always enough to change the path of history.Your own city proves it！”
Father and daughter remained in silence until Yuanyuan steered their car onto Chang’an Avenue.
“I’m sorry，Baba，”Yuanyuan said softly.
“These days，I keep remembering the past，leading you by your tiny little hand.It was such a wonderful time.”In the light，Father’s eyes glimmered，as if damp.
“I know I’ve disappointed you.You always wanted me to be someone like Mama.If I could live two lifetimes，I’d use one of them to do what you want，give everything for duty and mission.But，Baba，I only have this one life.”
Father didn’t reply.Near the end of the silent drive，Yuanyuan took out a large envelope and handed it to him.
“What is it？”Father asked，uncomprehending.
“Housing deeds and a key.I bought you a villa by Lake Tai.You’ll be able to go back to the south after you retire.”
Father gently slid the envelope back in her direction.“No，child，I’m going to live out the rest of my life in what remains of Silk Road City.Your mother and I have buried our youth and dreams there.I can’t leave.”
Beijing glittered to its heart’s content in the summer night.Gazing at the gorgeous sea of lights，Yuanyuan and her father both thought of soap bubbles.What was this boundless radiance trying to show to them：the weight of a life，or the weightlessness？
7
One day，two years later，the mayor received a call in his office from his daughter.
“Happy birthday，Baba！”
“Ha，Yuanyuan，is that you？Where are you？”
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