Three-Body Episode 26 Recap
> Three-Body Recap
Lei Zhicheng, driven by the ambition to be the first to discover extraterrestrial intelligence and secure his place in history, approached Ye Wenjie. Ye Wenjie, understanding his intent to report her activities and secure his own fame, agreed to his request. However, she had already made her own decision, knowing that if he reported her reply, humanity would attempt to stop the Trisolarans.
Unnoticed by others due to her frequent equipment checks, she had already loosened a bolt securing the ground wire to the main cabinet in the equipment closet, creating a subtle malfunction. She knew this specific issue would be hard to trace, as most ground wire problems occurred on the cliff.
When the ground wire malfunction was reported, Lei Zhicheng, known for his dedication and willingness to undertake dangerous and exhausting tasks like ground wire emergency maintenance, volunteered to descend the cliff to find the fault. He first instructed a comrade guarding the listening post to remain there and report to base command if monitoring was affected.
Later, while already on the cliff, he dismissed a comrade who was assisting him, sending him back to the main control room to check other machines, noting that the comrade was new and would not be blamed. Ye Wenjie planned to cut the rope with a hacksaw she had broken into three pieces to disguise the cut. Unexpectedly, Yang Weining arrived, saw Lei Zhicheng struggling alone, and insisted on going down to help him.
Yang Weining initially dismissed the need for an additional rope, stating the single rope could support both of them, having supported three people in the past to save time. However, Ye Wenjie firmly insisted on following maintenance rules, requiring a second rope. Yang Weining reluctantly agreed for her to retrieve another rope while he waited.
But when Ye Wenjie returned, Lei Zhicheng and Yang Weining had already completed their inspection and were ascending on the single rope, with Yang Weining above Lei Zhicheng. Realizing this was her last chance, Ye Wenjie calmly and dispassionately took out her hacksaw and cut the rope. She believed she had found a life's purpose and was indifferent to any cost, whether to herself or others, convinced that this was a small beginning to an unprecedented sacrifice for all humanity.
She heard two or three short cries, followed by the sound of bodies hitting the rocks. A moment later, she saw the stream below the cliff turn red, though she later wondered if the color was merely an illusion, given the low water flow at that time of year. After hearing Ye Wenjie's confession, Wang Miao visited Shi Qiang in the hospital, where Shi Qiang was undergoing a full examination.
Wang Miao clarified that he had not found Ye Wenxue, but stated his experience of over twenty years in the field gave him insight into how to handle such individuals. Shi Qiang pressed Wang Miao for updates on Ye Wenjie's interrogation, which had begun that morning. He instructed Wang Miao to return and closely monitor the interrogation, reporting every detail. He also told Xu Bingbing to ensure Professor Wang left, as he had his own tasks.
Xu Bingbing reassured Wang Miao that she would care for Shi Qiang and requested to be informed of his examination report promptly. Later, after Wang Miao left, Xu Bingbing presented Shi Qiang's examination report, noting his abnormal indicators. Shi Qiang acknowledged his understanding of the results but firmly instructed Xu Bingbing to keep the information from Wang Miao, fearing Wang Miao would become overly emotional and cry if he knew.
He then sarcastically remarked on his own condition, asking for a cigarette, which Xu Bingbing denied due to hospital policy. During her interrogation, Chang Weisi asked Ye Wenjie if she ever regretted her actions. She firmly denied it, though she conceded "perhaps… for a small while."
She recounted that the deaths of Lei Zhicheng and Yang Weining were officially ruled as accidents, and given the general perception that she and Yang Weining were a happy couple at the base, no one harbored suspicions towards her. Her life at the base resumed its quiet routine, even with the arrival of a new commissar. This changed one day when the guard, Zhang, informed her that children from Qijiatun village wanted to meet her.
They had heard of the educated individuals at Radar Peak and sought help with their studies for the upcoming National College Entrance Exam, which they now confirmed anyone could take without a referral letter. Ye Wenjie was surprised by their presence, but Zhang explained that the base's security had been lowered, and local villagers were now allowed near the perimeter.
With the base leadership's approval, Ye Wenjie began holding classes in her room, using a small blackboard to teach the children about physics concepts like inertia. On New Year's Eve, after a lesson, the children eagerly invited her to their homes for dumplings. She politely declined, opting to spend the festive night alone. However, later that evening, Zhang, who was on duty, accompanied three of the children who had braved the cold and snow to her room.
They brought homemade dumplings, explaining they came to keep her company since she couldn't go down the mountain. What she expected to be a cold and lonely New Year's Eve turned out to be unexpectedly warm. In June, Ye Wenjie gave birth to her daughter, Yang Dong. Due to malpresentation and her fragile health, the base's clinic couldn't handle the delivery, so she was rushed to the nearest town hospital.
During the journey, she experienced a severe hemorrhage, which she perceived as the deserved punishment for her betrayal. The situation was critical, with insufficient blood at the hospital. Dozens of Qijiatun villagers, including many she had tutored or who had only heard of her, stepped forward to donate blood, ultimately saving her life. She lost over two thousand milliliters of blood, and acknowledged she would have died without their help.
After Yang Dong's birth, Ye Wenjie remained too weak to care for her baby. Once again, the Qijiatun villagers, notably an elderly man named Qi, came to her aid, requesting the base leaders' permission to take Ye Wenjie and Yang Dong into their own home for care. During this time, Yang Dong was fed by many women in the village and was cherished by everyone for her apparent intelligence, and the house became a common gathering place for the villagers.
This period of her life felt like a dream, like fragments of someone else's life that had somehow become intertwined with her own. She vividly recalled nights spent with a woman named Da Feng, sitting by an oil lamp in their home, as Qijiatun had no electricity, caring for the children. She questioned if this happy time truly belonged to her. This brief, happy interlude, however, was fleeting.
Two years after Yang Dong’s birth, Ye Wenjie and her father's case was fully rehabilitated. She received a letter from her university offering her old position back, along with a significant sum of back pay for her father. At base meetings, she was finally addressed as "Comrade Ye Wenjie." Yet, she knew in her heart that she could never truly be their comrade again, remembering the message she had sent to Trisolaris two years prior.
After leaving the base, she no longer had the means to receive any further messages, though she knew a reply would take at least eight years. She found it challenging to adapt to the changed society where people now valued technology, science, and practical effort. She often questioned if the "madness" had truly ended and if rationality was returning.
As time passed, her memories of the Red Coast Base, and the monumental act she had secretly performed, began to feel surreal, like a hallucination or a dream. She even doubted if the sun could truly amplify radio signals, if she really used it to send humanity's message, or if she received an alien reply, and the reality of Lei Zhicheng and Yang Weining's deaths. Despite the surreal feeling, she acknowledged these events were real.
She tried to numb herself with work to forget the past, which provided a sense of safety. She found it difficult to truly forget, attempting to understand and forgive those who had harmed her, hoping they too could find peace. The passage of time after Ye Wenjie left the base led her to question the reality of the Red Coast Base and her "super betrayal," as society had shifted to embrace science and reason.
She found it difficult to forget the past and the people who had harmed her, noting their lack of remorse. She identified her mother, Shao Lin, and the leaders of her father's interrogation as those who caused her pain. Shao Lin, after her father's death, had quickly recovered and adapted, marrying a previously dismissed high-level cadre from the Ministry of Education in 1977.
This proved to be a shrewd decision, as her husband's position was partially restored before the end of the revolution and he rapidly climbed the ranks after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee. As a result, Shao Lin herself was promoted to vice president of another prestigious university. During a visit, Shao Lin affectionately interacted with Yang Dong, bought her new clothes, and expressed sympathy for Ye Wenjie's past sufferings.
After dinner, Shao Lin's husband walked them a long way. He advised Ye Wenjie not to dwell on "old historical debts" concerning her father's death, asserting that Shao Lin was a victim who bore no responsibility. He then criticized Ye Wenjie's father for his "obsessive" and "perverted" adherence to his beliefs, claiming it led him to abandon his family responsibilities and cause suffering to his wife and daughter.
Ye Wenjie sharply rebuffed him, stating he had no right to discuss her father, as it was a private matter between her and her mother. Shao Lin's husband then revealed that he was merely relaying her mother's sentiments.
