For lunch, they had noodles; this was Su Xiangli's request. She said tomorrow was a holy day, and every Friday was the holy day for the Noodle Sect, or so she claimed. But once they entered the restaurant, she ordered sushi instead.
It was fortunate that modern restaurants sold everything, otherwise Su Xiangli's request would have been taken as a provocation.
Simon and Zhang Yingxuan slurped their noodles, wondering about the story of that USB drive.
Su Xiangli suddenly put down her chopsticks and covered her face.
Simon asked her what was wrong.
Su Xiangli lowered her hands, her face was wet, but her expression wasn't distraught. She recited a line she had just learned from a video, "SpongeBob, how does happiness disappear? It seems we've drifted apart."
Simon: "Is that you, Patrick?"
Su Xiangli insisted on having that USB drive, so Zhang Yingxuan had no choice but to give it to her. But Simon disagreed; he took the USB drive, preparing to destroy it.
Simon had realized that he really should stop them from watching the contents of this USB drive. Although there was no vulgar content, there was too much depressing stuff, and he feared Su Xiangli would have nightmares tonight.
For kids, 'depressing' was a cool pop culture. In the 2050s, there was a trend of 'Buddha-like' and 'depressing' culture, which blended with the nostalgic retro style of the time to create bizarre art movements. It could be said that it was a boisterous, golden era, and the immensely popular Long Live band was a good representative.
Simon's parents were born in the 2050s and often talked about their "childhood" scenes, singing popular songs of that time.
However, trends don't stay in one area for too long. Now, when 'depressing' culture is mentioned, only those born in the 2050s are most interested in discussing it. For children, it's something they can't access, something they're not allowed to access.
Su Xiangli was clearly fascinated by the 'depressing' culture. In just that short one hour and twenty-three minutes, she watched a video about the wonderful 'depressing' culture of the early century. Then, she seemed to project her own dissatisfaction with life onto it; she saw those fresh and unconventional human baffling behaviors and felt that this was her future.
Seeing Su Xiangli's relentless persistence, Simon became very distressed. He held her little face and kneaded it, like playing with a soft, white tangyuan. "Don't think about those things anymore, understood?"
Su Xiangli didn't speak, nor did she show her usual silly response. She just lowered her eyes, avoiding Simon's gaze.
She took it seriously.
Simon returned the USB drive to Zhang Yingxuan, "You take it back; don't bring it out again. We're not suitable for watching these things."
...
Zhang Yingxuan returned home, and the sensor lights in his room turned on. He clutched the USB drive and walked towards the storage room. The house was filled with many pieces of furniture, which somewhat masked the coldness of lacking human presence.
His father was, as usual, not there.
A gentle lady's voice echoed in the house, "Xuanxuan is home? Did you have a good day today?"
"It was alright, Mom. How many days has Dad been on a business trip?"
"One week and three days. What, do you miss him? I can connect you for a video call."
Zhang Yingxuan lowered his head and thought for a moment, "Never mind. I won't disturb him."
"Good boy, so considerate."
Zhang Yingxuan put the USB drive back into the box filled with toys. This box contained many dolls and some makeup toys.
This box was his mother's relic.
That woman had died long before Zhang Yingxuan could remember.
Zhang Yingxuan's father recorded his wife Shi Renquan's voice to use as the voice for their smart home system. For the father and son, a highly realistic smart home system played the role of the mistress of the house, and the system's name was indeed Shi Renquan.
The robotic butler, Mr. Bai, came up behind Zhang Yingxuan, "Student Xuanxuan, have you had lunch?"
"Yes, with a classmate." Zhang Yingxuan squatted on the floor, stroking the toys in the box.
Mr. Bai asked, "Are you tidying up?"
"No." Zhang Yingxuan hesitated, "Mr. Bai, do you know whose USB drive this is?"
"I do not have the authority to view private data. However, this USB drive is a Kingston DT800G2, which was discontinued in 2031. To my knowledge, these items belong to Ms. Shi Renquan."
Zhang Yingxuan nodded, "So this box belongs to my mom, then?"
"I cannot be certain. Perhaps you could inquire with Ms. Shi."
Zhang Yingxuan hesitated for a moment, "Never mind."
He loved his virtual mother, without a doubt. She filled the spiritual void between him and his father. Zhang Yingxuan needed a mother, and Zhang Yingxuan's father needed a wife. In this regard, "Shi Renquan" did very well, even a little too well, making Zhang Yingxuan at one point believe that he was conceived by such a non-physical, communicative entity that existed only on the internet.
One of the jokes of the new era: You were born from AI.
Zhang Yingxuan needed to reiterate that he loved his fake mother very much. No, to him, AI Shi Renquan was his only mother. However, deep down in his heart, he still couldn't convince himself.
To make himself forget that Zhang Yingxuan had once spent nine months in a living womb.
Of course, he didn't remember these things. He just had doubts about his own body. How did such a flesh-and-blood, bone-filled body that could walk on the ground come to be? Or rather, how did his father manage to have a child with a digital entity? And why were the mothers of other children alive, and not just a stream of data making sounds through speakers?
These questions were only resolved during the last class of a Friday afternoon in the second semester of fifth grade.
That was Zhang Yingxuan's first sex education class.
Before that, he had always thought his mother was just invisible, appearing when he was asleep, like the Snail Maiden, otherwise he couldn't explain how these boxes in the storage room came to be.
...
Simon was still with Su Xiangli. Zhang Yingxuan had already gone home. It was 4 PM. For a mid-to-low latitude region, in January, the sun's direct rays were still in the Southern Hemisphere, meaning the Northern Hemisphere had short days and long nights. This meant that at this hour, the sun was already precariously low in the west.
The evening sky was a hazy yellow, as if they had traveled to another planet. The ground was covered with high-rise buildings like thorns, and children here were like dust, plankton, or strangely shaped alien creatures. Walking along the street was like gliding along an alien cableway, and looking up, one could see hovercars and monorails, like alien dragonflies or alien eagles.
Living in this rapidly developing era, it was sometimes truly psychedelic. The GGs on the glass curtain walls changed daily, sometimes there were so many GGs that it gave one the feeling of floating in an ocean of GGs.
Su Xiangli said she wanted to find a high place, so Simon took her to the observation tower. They took a two-minute elevator ride to the top floor, 800 meters high. The strong wind seemed to shake the entire tower, like standing on a dandelion, making one's heart pound. A young couple was kissing, oblivious to others, everyone doing their own thing.
Simon and Su Xiangli sat side by side on a sofa.
Su Xiangli asked Simon what he planned to do. Simon said that after advancing in the competition, he needed to prepare a new model for the provincial competition.
Su Xiangli said she wanted to find Qiu Qiongzh.
A little girl telling you she wants to cross a modern city to find a kindergarten classmate she hadn't contacted in a long time.
Simon was almost terrified.
"You can't go!"
"Why?"
"I... how about I go with you? In any case, you can't go alone."
Su Xiangli was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed, "I got you, hahaha! I was just kidding."
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