novelA Perfect New World (XVII)
| ← Ch.301 | Ch.303 → |
Lou Ying died at the age of 16.
He was given the number 061 in the slag attack recovery system.
Lou Ying laughed at her number, thinking it was a bit of an irony.
But this little incident won't affect Lou Ying's mood for long.
Since then he has been busy through the years.
If he completes 200 missions, he will be able to go back.
His first host was a handsome young man, 24 years old, soft-spoken, whose parents had been divorced since he was a child, and who had grown up with his father, who had been violent to the point of being too introverted and obedient.
Lou Ying took his photo and showed it to his new friend 089, with whom he had recently become close: "He looks a bit like my brother."
089 nodded solemnly, "I understand your kind of feeling. I also think a lot of people are like my son."
Lou Ying laughed at his nonsense, memorised all the information in the warehouse and did her best to help him, calculating his best choices for cards, saving him seven Time Compression cards in only the third world.
According to the system, the host only needs to brush up on the favorability of the target and kill himself when he reaches a certain level.
While the host is sleeping, Lou Ying has the right to return to Lord GOD space and do his own thing.
When he took his first host, he practised boxing.
The red hanging pear-shaped ball was vibrating in high frequency as he hit it, sending dazzling streaks through the air.
089 was sitting on the sidelines with his legs crossed playing a game when he looked up at him and smacked his lips, "I mean, you're a Goss material, do you have to make yourself look like Schwarzenegger."
Lou Ying finishes the set, pauses and exhales.
He was wearing a black boxing vest, his arms were beautifully muscular and well defined, and as the sweat ran down them, they had taken on a sensuality rarely seen on young men.
089 continued to persuade him, "I suggest you give it up, ah. Your parents have given you such a great innate resource, white, beautiful, pretty and smooth, if you don't want it, give it to me."
Lou Ying wipes the sweat off his neck and collarbone with a white towel: "Took one loss, don't want a second."
089 was just about to respond when he suddenly tsked.
He shrugged off the console that displayed 18, 237 points in his hand, touched his teardrop and muttered to himself, "One eye is indeed inconvenient."
089 just lent one eye to 023 back then, and is now working on maxing out each of 023's favorite old games.
Lou Ying did a set of high kicks and then picked up the boxing gloves.
The boxing gloves bear his number, 061, and the date of the day he entered the system, 0723.
As he put on his gloves, he threw the question that had been hidden in his mind for a long time at 089: "Don't you think it's a bit strange?"
089: "What?"
Lou Ying says: "Why must the host commit suicide and disappear when he completes his task?"
089 opened a new bureau and said lazily, "I'm an insider. I don't care about your field stuff. I'm busy."
Lou Ying looks at the game console in his hand and smiles helplessly.
089 has always been so rambunctious.
"I suggest ah ......" as he turned away, but 089 opened his mouth, "and you stay out of it."
Lou Ying turns around in surprise and meets 089's eyes.
089 gazed straight at him.
The eyes of 089 are rather cynical when looked at closely, but after staring at them for a long time, there is the illusion of a deep pool.
"I came in later than you, but I've lived longer than you." 089 said, "I have a feeling, leave it alone. Even if it's to get back to see your brother, don't care."
061 thoughtfully moved his fingers, a subtle squelching sound of leather between them.
With the compression card, after about a full year in the present world, Lou Ying accompanied his first host to complete ten successful missions.
But things went a bit beyond Lou Ying's expectations.
"I don't want to go back and face my father." The young man who had experienced ten worlds was no longer as timid as before, and he said, "I've had enough."
Lou Ying, who was young at the time, was surprised: "But if you don't go back, the old you will ......" die.
"Just die, the old man has been looking forward to my death anyway." The youth rubbed his brow wearily, "I think Ning Qing ...... is the only one in the world who has been good to me. I told him before that no matter what happened, I would definitely go back. He is still waiting for me."
Ning Qing, the man the youth meets in the fifth world, is a deputy in the same lab as the original owner, an extremely admirer of the original owner's talents, and a gentle and generous man.
By the end of the sentence, the youth had gotten a little choked up: "...... What would I do back in my old world? I can think of what I'll be like when I wake up: a stinking bed of urine under me, bed sores all over my body, and an old man who won't pay to take care of me. It would be better for me to live like this than to die."
At this point, what can Lou Ying say.
He returned to the system rather disinterestedly and was comforted by his seniors.
People say that it's all like that at first and it's good to get used to it.
Lou Ying chose to take a week off first.
089 asked, "What are you going to do on your sabbatical? You've taken up sparring and boxing, why don't you take up sumo wrestling again, all in one go."
Lou Ying said, "I want to go back to visit my family and see my friends."
For some reason, hearing him say this, 089 and the other systems present exchanged glances with each other.
089 said, "Sung, go early and come back early. Dad will miss you."
If the system were to go to a non-mission world line, they could not have their own body, could not use even a single bit of power, could only have the most basic five senses of perception, and their function was basically equivalent to that of a ghost, not yet a harsh ghost.
And after returning to her own world, Lou Ying finally understood why 089 and the others had that strange look on their faces when they heard that they wanted to visit their family.
Lou Ying's former friends split up in their sophomore year and went their separate ways on the two floors.
Even in the summer, they are still slogging away in classrooms, buried in a sea of books and volumes, unable to lift their heads, running shoulder-to-shoulder to that one-way bridge.
Lou Ying became a shadow left behind by them.
After being commemorated symbolically for three months, his desk was moved to the last row of the classroom, then thrown into the tool shed where the new students kept their mops, and finally into the warehouse full of waste.
After going to school, Lou Ying went back to the silo.
Chi Xiaochi is not at home, I don't know where he has gone.
In front of my sister-in-law's house, there are flaming red spring scrolls.
The first couplet is "The five virtues have been shining for a long time, and the second couplet is "The world is white with a single song.
Lou Ying stayed in front of the door for a long time, thinking whether she should laugh or not, and finally did.
He used to think that death was the worst thing that could happen.
But he was wrong.
The scariest thing is to finally realise that anyone in this world can get by without you.
Lou Ying leaves the silo and suddenly doesn't know where he should go.
The school and the silo are the parts of his short life that he remembers most vividly in his 16 years, and excluding these two places, he doesn't know where else he could go.
At a loss, he decided where he would go.
Today is the day he died and he wanted to visit his grave.
There is only one cemetery nearby and it is not too difficult to find the location.
Lou Ying saw a bicycle in front of the cemetery. A hand-engraved plate, L&C, was hanging on the back of the bike.
His mind was open to the idea.
...... That's the bike he once had halfway assembled.
Lou Ying realised what was going on and made a quick trip to the cemetery.
He rounded a few corners and braked hard.
...... Chi Xiaochi is a little taller than he remembers, and the little bit of baby fat left on his cheeks has faded away to a full-blown teenage look.
He walked around Lou Ying's headstone and pulled out any weeds that had grown on it.
Lou Ying noticed that the weeds he was pulling were much shorter than those around him and had obviously been cleared for a round a while ago.
After a busy day, Chi Xiaochi sits down in front of the headstone, a little disoriented.
He had lost so much water that his lips were pale and cracked. He dug around on his person, fished out a lighter and paper cigarettes, took one out with little skill and lit it.
Lou Ying frowns.
...... Why did he start smoking?
His transparent phantom came up to Chi Xiaochi, knelt down on one knee and tried to touch his head, but his fingers went straight through his forehead.
Lou Ying crouched in front of him and laughed out helplessly.
As Chi Xiaochi couldn't hear her anyway, Lou Ying just opened her mouth, "You're so stupid. Even if you want to come, you should come when it's not so hot."
Lou Ying can't tell you what the little leap of faith she has in her heart is about.
Is it because he hasn't been forgotten? Or is it because the person who hasn't forgotten him is Chi Xiaochi?
Chi Xiaochi sits in front of Lou Ying, swallowing unknowingly.
He called out, " Brother Lou."
"I got into the first high school, and school starts in the fall." As soon as he started, he realised that this tone of reporting was a bit silly and laughed first at himself, "Brother, the last time I came here I said that a second year primary school girl had sent me a love letter and I asked what you were going to do about it, and now they've found spring. Now she has found a spring in her step because I'm leaving for my exams. They always think that kids their age are in love across the school."
"The pot of succulents you had was growing worms, I bought some medicine from the plant shop and when I sprayed it, the worms died and so did the succulents. I wondered if it was paraquat I bought."
"Business is pretty good in the clothing shop, I've pulled in almost a hundred repeat customers, all saying they came for me. I'm pretty hot all over that street, saying I'm the Little Prince of Lishui ...... There are still people called Little Prince these days, ha."
In the middle of the ramble, a call came in on Chi Xiaochi's mobile.
Lou Ying found out that the phone was the one he had intended to give Xiaochi for her fifteenth birthday and felt a little relieved, but regretted that he had not been able to get the next few years' birthday presents ready.
"Hello. Boss lady." After answering the phone, Chi Xiaochi took the cigarette out of her mouth and smiled, "Well, I'm almost done, I'm on my way....... No, it's not a date, it's ......"
With that, Chi Xiaochi turns his head and looks at the headstone with a tenderness in his eyes that makes Lou Ying's heart flutter.
He smiled and changed his tone, "Well, it's a date....... That's certainly true, I'm quite popular."
Chi Xiaochi stands up, pats the dirt off his body and passes Lou Ying in front of him.
He faced Lou Ying's tombstone and waved his hand fondly, backing away as he spoke, "Okay, I'm going back now, I remember ah, it's Tanabata today, I have a busy night ......"
After hanging up the phone, Chi Xiaochi turned around and ran in stride towards the cemetery.
Lou Ying looked over to where he had been sitting and slowly sat down and leaned up.
When he went back to the system, he aborted his vacation and took the second host's assignment straight away.
089 What was the excitement of this, they murmured?
Lou Ying thought that if he didn't get back sooner, his little crybaby would be waiting.
In Lou Ying's mind, Chi Xiaochi was a very emotional child who would cry so much watching Les Miserables that he couldn't bear to keep him waiting too long.
There are many things he would like Chi Xiaochi to say to him in person.
Having had one experience with a host, Lou Ying has become much more comfortable with it.
When the host is in a break between missions and tasks, he will take leave of absence from the host and return to the world line with Chi Xiaochi to spend a few days with him, basically keeping the frequency at once every one to two months.
He learns many things, such as that Chi Xiaochi went into modelling to earn money, that he got into his own school, and that he rented his room just to keep it in its original state.
Upon learning all this, 089 hit the nail on the head, "Seriously, why does your brother look like an undead man?"
Lou Ying was a little upset: "Don't talk about him like that."
On one occasion, Lou Ying returned just in time to accompany Chi Xiaochi on her walk from school.
But as Chi Xiaochi walked on, he drifted off and walked straight into a car that had jumped the yellow light.
Lou Ying's heart sank and he forgot all about the ban. He immediately mobilised his whole body, but only enough to transform into his body for a moment, dragging back the young man who was just bored.
Lou Ying spent three days in the system dormitory for this rarely seen reckless behaviour.
Lou Ying was angry when 089 and 023 came to visit him: "He doesn't know how to take care of himself."
023 looked at Lou Ying's ghastly white face and said, "You two are each other."
On the anniversary of his death in his third year, Lou Ying returned to the headstone.
Xiaochi has grown much taller and has reached the same age as Lou Ying, who passed away, and because she is a model, she dresses less like a high school student, her slender figure wrapped in a white shirt and narrow-legged suit trousers, and the outline of an adult can be seen.
The young man circled the tombstone twice and said childishly, "Brother Lou, I am taller than you."
Lou Ying stood in front of him and seriously compared himself to him, trying to tell him that it wasn't really there.
Unaware of who was in front of him, the teenager earnestly recommended the snack he had recently eaten a bite of and was amazed by to Lou Ying, and said in frustration that it was a pity it was too high in calories for him to eat.
The next day, this snack was on the table in Lou Ying's system room.
Sweet and savoury chocolate puffs that melt in your mouth.
Lou Ying's bite is as tickling and sweet as a fine dusting of icing sugar on the tip of your heart.
He has watched Chi Xiaochi excel along the way and hopes that he will do the same.
Unexpectedly, at the end of a two-month-long mission, Lou Ying returned to their world to learn that Chi Xiaochi had taken a break from school.
When she found out why, Lou Ying lost sleep for the first time in her life.
He couldn't tell if his heart was bitter or sweet, he didn't think a dead man was worth the gamble of Chi Xiaochi's life, but he couldn't make Chi Xiaochi hear him even if he stood in front of him.
Lou Ying wondered, almost shamefully, what he could really do for Xiaochi.
The truth is that Chi Xiaochi doesn't seem to need to do anything for himself at all.
Chi Xiaochi has its own path, and when it is chosen, it will be followed steadfastly.
When his first film was released, Lou Ying made sure to time it so that in the evening, after the host had gone to bed, he immediately returned to Lord GOD's space and sat in 023's office to watch the entire film from a distance.
Lou Ying looks at the other him.
The long-haired boy had an indescribable charm, but Lou Ying couldn't help thinking that he would be hot in the summer with his long hair.
Since then, Lou Ying has been doing his job and being a groupie in an organised manner.
Everyone in the system knows that 061 is a fan of an actor called Chi Xiaochi.
Lou Ying knows all about his films, interviews, variety shows, commercials and launches, including whether he's going to be in Melbourne tomorrow for a film festival or in Hong Kong the day after for a charity gala.
Chi Xiaochi's excellence gave Lou Ying the capital to proudly advertise to everyone he knew, "He's my neighbour's brother."
My sister-in-law and her husband moved to the city with his sister, whom he had never met, and some of his classmates went on to study or work, forgetting that Lou Ying had ever been a classmate.
Lou Ying feels so lucky to still be entitled to this unique brother.
The only thing that upsets Lou Ying is that 089 is always making fun of his relationship with Xiaochi.
To Lou Ying, Xiaochi was the best child he had ever met, bright, gentle and deserving of the best, not a dead man.
Every time he thought about it, he would feel an unexplainable exasperation, an indescribable irritation pervading his mind, and so every time he would overreact to 089's jokes, sinking his tone and correcting them over and over again, and reflecting on them afterwards, he himself felt that he had overreacted, which in turn had provoked 089 to take the joke even more seriously.
It was when Chi Xiaochi turned 23 that things became a little different.
At the time, Lou Ying had just finished his tenth mission as the seventh host.
Like the first six hosts, the seventh host abandoned his initial plan to return to his original world, chose the one he was most comfortable with, and then broke the contract with Lord GOD and went on his way.
Lou Ying has a gentle and affectionate nature and is extremely attentive whenever she takes on a host.
He therefore made a note of the details of each host.
The more Lou Ying looked at the seven studies together, the more he saw that something was wrong.
The ultimate aim of Lord GOD should be to earn as much entropy as possible.
From the time he took his third host, he intentionally probed the energy fluctuations in the body of his raid target, the scum attacker, as he began to generate remorse values, and made private notes.
After comparison, he developed even greater doubts.
These entropies, when compared to the massive entropy of Lord GOD spending backwards in the timeline, cannot even recover the principal invested, let alone the interest.
If it's a voluntary good deed, then why not just help people directly, why create scum attackers' remorse value as a cheat goal?
Lou Ying has never been able to understand this question.
That is, until he was leading his seventh host on a certain mission, probing the condition of the host's body, and accidentally found an energy conduction line in the extremely large data stream that was identical to the one used to receive the remorse value of the scum attack.
Lou Ying picked up the observation report and looked at the line markers with a stony expression.
...... Lord GOD Why would you plant something like this inside a host?
Gathering her doubts, Lou Ying returned to the Lord GOD space.
In the hall, 089 was chatting with the other systems about something, and when he saw him return, he greeted him with, "61, congratulations, you're going to have a sister-in-law."
Lou Ying, unconvinced, shook his head and laughed, "What are you talking about?"
089 holds a light screen in front of his eyes.
The young actor, Chi Xiaochi, was seen on a trip to a hotel with a young woman and is rumoured to be in love and about to get married.
Lou Ying's face stiffened slightly: "These are tabloid news and cannot be trusted."
089 said, "It's your brother's own admission."
Lou Ying has also used his own light screen to look up Chi Xiaochi's alleged response.
The two have been rumored to be lovers before because they entered the same hotel back and forth, and after the story broke, Chi Xiaochi herself responded under her marketing number: "Yes, I plan to get married in a flash, next March, three years to hold two, no need to bother."
Lou Ying laughed: "Isn't that the joke."
That said, his heart tightened and soured.
089 said, "Quite a pretty girl, maybe."
Lou Ying pressed his light screen: "Don't spread it around, how many rumours has Xiaochi had since his debut, which one is true?"
089: "It's not guaranteed to be this one. The man and the woman are made for each other."
Lou Ying, helpless, steps away: "Okay, don't be childish. I have work to do, that's all."
Half an hour later, Lou Ying's phantom was standing underneath Nebula Entertainment's office.
It wasn't enough to check out all her information, Lou Ying thought, he had to see for himself what kind of girl she was and whether she was really the right one for Xiaochi.
Who would have thought that he had just entered the headquarters of Nebula Entertainment, where the actress was based, when he accidentally bumped into the person he was thinking of.
Chi Xiaochi sits on a sofa in the lobby, wearing a grey mask, signing workbooks for company employees who sneak up on him.
Without seeing his whole face, just the perfect jawline under his mask and the long legs extending from the edge of his long trench coat are enough to make your heart beat.
Next to Chi Xiaochi sits a man of similar youth but of a smaller stature, similar in looks to 089, and with a face that makes his curly dark blue hair look less ostentatious.
Lou Ying thought that this would be Xiaochi's new manager, Lucas.
"Mr. Chi." In between his distant watching, a professionally dressed secretary quickly stepped forward and respectfully said, "Mr. Song has already arrived at the car park and will be in his office soon. Please follow me."
Chi Xiaochi said "hmm" and was led by his secretary to the lift on the ground floor.
The lift door leading directly to the president's office opened at the sound of a voice, and the secretary saw the person inside and faintly stared, hastily explaining, "Mr. Song ...... Mr. Chi must have said to wait in the lobby, and there was nothing we could do ......"
Chi Xiaochi himself was much more direct than his secretary's euphemism: "Song Zhihuai, why does your office still smell the same, didn't I tell you to change the perfume last time?"
The young manager named "Song Zhihuai" frowned, straightened his gold-rimmed spectacle chain and gestured towards Chi Xiaochi to get into the lift.
Chi Xiaochi was jokingly polite with him, "No, I dare not steal from you, you go first."
Without further ado, Song Zhihuai stepped out of the lift, grabbed Chi Xiaochi by the wrist and pulled him cleanly into the lift.
Lou Ying, with a grimace on her face, took a step to follow.
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