Chapter 140 (2/2)

“It’s a potential safety hazard. It’s best we eliminate it.”

“What’s wrong?” Tang Yue asked.

“It is the way of heaven to take from what has an excess in order to make good what is deficient. If it’s deficient, we add to it, if it’s an excess, we cut it off,” Tomcat replied. “The way to eliminate the hazard is to remove the excess portion. Miss Mai Dong, that will be all the inspection work for now. Return to the space station to have a break. We will resolve the problem during your next EVA trip. We’ll deal with it like dealing with a pimple.”

“That violent?” Mai Dong was taken aback. To girls, pimples were absolutely irreconcilable enemies.

“Yes, that violent,” Tomcat said.

“Then what should I take to deal with it?” Mai Dong asked. “Softening treatment at high temperatures? Or think of a way to remove it and reinstall it? But there aren’t many tools in the space station…”

Mai Dong believed that repairing the heat-resistant tiles would be a complicated and intricate task. It might even need a set of massive machine tools, but the space station clearly lacked such conditions.

“What tool should I bring?”

“A file.”

…

“Tang Yue, I’ll be washing these dirty clothes of yours.” Tomcat carried a bunch of clothes as it said, “There isn’t anything in the pockets, right? If you have anything to hide, quickly take it out.”

“There’s nothing.” Tang Yue bent his back and entered the Radiant Armor as he extended his hands into the suit. “Go ahead and wash them.”

“It smells of semen.” Tomcat used a pair of tongs to pick up the dirty underwear as it frowned. “I’ve told you before to stop reading Old Zheng’s educational material under your blanket…”

“Scram!”

Be it on Kunlun Station or the space station, laundry was always a troublesome matter. Water was a very precious resource, so it couldn’t be wasted on something non-mission-critical. Based on the ISS’s protocols, clothes didn’t need washing. They switched into new sets after they were dirty. They would then be stuffed into a cargo spacecraft and thrown into the atmosphere for burning.

The early Mars missions continued such protocols. The United Space Station didn’t have any washing machines. Everyone brought enough disposable clothes that were sealed in bags. They were all made of soft anti-bacterial and anti-odor material. Innerwear was changed once every six days, and outerwear was changed once a month. At the end of each period, they would be thrown into the trash.

But with the Mars landing missions constantly extending, the clothes the astronauts needed to bring kept increasing. A six-member team would need four hundred sets of clothing a year which was a rather terrifying number. Orion had to specially make space for the clothes.

Therefore, Kunlun Station was later installed with a tiny washing machine.

It was tiny, no bigger than a microwave oven.

Tang Yue didn’t know how it worked either since there was no need for detergent. It was possible that it used high-temperature steam to kill bacteria and sterilize the clothes, but the water recycling efficiency was low. Therefore, doing laundry was a rather extravagant matter. Tang Yue would accumulate a large bunch of clothes and wash them all at once.

Tang Yue kept the frequency of doing laundry in perfect check to conserve water. He was very familiar with such methods; after all, it was a trait that all men who had undergone a university education were equipped with—how to shower the least number of times in the longest possible period without stinking.

“Be careful. I only have those few pieces of underwear left.” Tang Yue was very displeased with Tomcat’s roughness. “I won’t have any spares if they are torn.”

“Got it. Got it. Rest easy.” Tomcat wore a helmet over its head as it attempted to pick up Tang Yue’s underwear with tongs from a distance away. However, its left arm wasn’t working well, so no matter how it prodded, it wasn’t able to clamp it up.

“Then, I’ll be heading out to move the solar panels.”

“Good luck.” Tomcat continued prodding the underwear on the floor.

…

Half an hour later.

“Tang Yue, don’t be mad. Listen to me. Listen to me. I made that hole deliberately. It’s true, really… This hole is for ventilation. You can let your balls breathe in fresh air…”