Extra 1
The highway is in its thirteenth year.
An elderly woman, carrying a thin kitten and a heavy backpack with frayed edges, walked silently and unsteadily down the road in her worn but clean spring clothes, seemingly unaware of the RV that suddenly appeared ahead of her.
When Fang Xiaoyu saw the figure suddenly appear in the rearview mirror, she was momentarily incredulous and, without controlling her strength, slammed on the brakes.
She staggered out of the car, staring at her mother's weathered face and the gray hair she had seen in her dreams. A tearful "Mom!" escaped her lips as she cried out, "How did you find your way here?! Where are my older brother and sister-in-law?"
Fang's mother looked up slowly, then her eyes widened in the next second, and even her folded eyelids couldn't hide the increasingly bright light in her eyes: "Xiao...Xiao Yu?!"
She quickened her pace, saying, "You, you child, am I dreaming?"
"It's not a dream!" Fang Xiaoyu rushed to her side, her eyes red, and supported her, her mouth wide open in a wide grin. "It's not a dream!"
Fang's mother shoved the kitten into her arms, then patted her back hard with her free hand, her voice trembling with tears: "Where have you been all these years?!"
"I..." Fang Xiaoyu's voice choked, skipping the topic, "Mom, are you tired? Let's talk in the car, let's get in the car first."
"Okay, okay." Fang's mother had several blisters on the soles of her feet, and only after seeing her daughter did she realize her physical discomfort. "It's good that you found her. We can talk about it slowly when we have time later."
Fang Xiaoyu helped her mother into the RV: "Mom, would you like to take a shower and relax first?"
"You think I smell bad? When you were little, I didn't mind you pooping and peeing on me." After scolding her, Fang's mother said somewhat insecurely, "It's only been a few days since I showered, does it really smell that bad?"
"How could that be?" Fang Xiaoyu laughed with a nasal tone when she heard the familiar complaint. "I can't smell anything at all now."
Fang's mother smiled and gently let go of this daughter who had never been easy to deal with since she was a child.
Fang Xiaoyu took the backpack, led the person into the car, and felt a little embarrassed when she found the car a bit messy.
Seeing that the car was fully equipped with electrical appliances, Fang's mother didn't ask why she had changed cars. She was just relieved that her daughter was living a better life.
Fang Xiaoyu taught her how to use the shower in the RV, but she was kicked out after a short while: "Your mom is smart, she can learn it in no time, she always treats me like a child."
Fang Xiaoyu rubbed her sore face from laughing, cleaned the kitten's body, hesitated for a moment, then tidied up the little nest left by the eldest princess and made it its home. She also prepared a small basin of milk for it to drink slowly.
The kitten showed no aversion to the princess's nest, sniffing and meowing happily. It rolled around inside before climbing out, burying its head in the bowl of milk and sucking voraciously.
The similar fur color and similar habits made Fang Xiaoyu's eyes swell again.
She sniffed, cleared away the clutter piled up on the lower bunk, made the bed, and then brought out a quilt that had just been aired out.
After finishing, I searched through the refrigerator and storage compartments for the best available ingredients and started rinsing rice and washing vegetables.
Regardless of whether it's mealtime or not, I'm going to prepare a delicious meal first, so that after Fang's mother finishes washing up, she can sleep or eat whenever she wants.
After being rinsed with hot water in the bathroom, Fang's mother felt calmer.
She always took a quick shower, and when she came out, she saw Fang Xiaoyu busy taking care of her. Her heart warmed, but when she saw her daughter's pale and thin face, she couldn't help but feel sorry for her: "Put it down, put it down, I'll do it."
"You have blisters on your feet?" Fang Xiaoyu noticed something was wrong from the way she walked. "I've been living independently for so long, I can cook simple meals a long time ago."
She stopped what she was doing, stopped Fang's mother from going forward, pushed the person to the bedside, and lifted her feet to look at her.
Two of the blood blisters had already burst, and after being washed with water, the skin became wrinkled and white. There were also three large blood blisters and several small blisters.
Fang Xiaoyu felt a subtle, persistent pain in her heart. She didn't say anything, but found a needle, burned it with fire, and then punctured all the blisters. She then applied a thick layer of ointment and wrapped it with gauze bandages.
"It just looks scary, but it doesn't hurt at all," Fang's mother said. "When you get old, you can't walk thirty miles a day like you used to without getting out of breath."
Fang Xiaoyu didn't take it to heart: "Yes, yes, you're right."
Fang's mother was furious, but then suddenly remembered something. Like a child, she jumped off the bed, grabbed her backpack, and started taking things out as she said, "More and more people have gone missing in recent years. I've collected the relevant newspapers, thinking that maybe I'll run into you one day."
"Guess what?!"
"Hey, I actually found it."
Fang Xiaoyu sniffed and smiled, taking the three large scrapbooks full of clippings. She opened them and found they were all reports of missing persons.
She saw a few familiar faces, but most were unfamiliar ones.
Suddenly, a news compilation that had been marked separately caught her attention.
"Miraculously Survived After Eight Years of Disappearance" (with photos)
"The Miracle Created by Poisonous Ants" (with photos)
"Survivor suffers from amnesia; the truth behind the eight years remains elusive" (with photos).
"The Truth That Came Nine Years Late—Imagination or Reality?" (with photos)
"Searching for a Lost Cellphone, Suspected to be Alien Technology" (with pictures)
"Chipless Communication, Ultra-Long Standby Time: How Does It Do It?" (Includes photos of mobile phones.) The photos show two phones, one in front and one behind. The former is intact, nestled in thick fallen leaves, while the latter is broken and cracked, yet she still recognized it as her own at a glance.
"She, He, It Should Be Remembered" includes a list and short stories.
Fang Xiaoyu saw several familiar names. The eldest princess was there, and her name was also prominently listed, even near the top.
...
She touched her face, which was a little hot: "Mom, you haven't told me how my older brother and sister-in-law are doing, or my little niece. She should have grown taller by now."
Fang's mother: "Of course, he's taller than you now. You'll be the shortest one in our family from now on."
Fang Xiaoyu: "...Mom, does your 'family' include yourself?"
Fang's mother laughed and patted her on the shoulder: "You have no manners."
Fang Xiaoyu smiled childishly.
The two hadn't seen each other for many years and had so much to talk about.
“Your brother, sister-in-law, and niece, we each have a backpack. I was worried we wouldn’t make it here, but God has been kind to me and let me find you first.”
"When I first arrived, I was worried that I wouldn't have enough supplies in my backpack. But I didn't expect to see the care packages they were talking about by the roadside. I came across one every few steps. It's so nice."
“Do you know what has happened in the family in the past year? Your niece is even learning to parachute in college, and her military training is longer than before, a whole year. I heard that she is being taught all kinds of survival skills.”
"Even your older brother and sister-in-law's company enrolled in some kind of... adult class, and there's even an assessment."
"There's no age limit for getting a driver's license these days. Your mom is so old, and she got a driver's license for free!"
...
**
The highway is in its fourteenth year.
More and more people are discovering the secret of the cycle, but no one is going to despair or go crazy because of it anymore.
Because the government has acquired and made public a large amount of information, the public has received new public education. New lost travelers are now calm and collected with the secret manual in hand, while experienced lost travelers find manuals with different names at different service area checkout counters, which also describe how to leave the highway. Occasionally, they can even find an escape package and official documents.
The highway is in its twenty-sixth year.
Highways and the real world have officially achieved free passage between each other. Technology has advanced by leaps and bounds, the people have benefited, and highways are no longer lawless zones.
...
As time progresses and the camera zooms out, along the highways, tiny figures emanate a faint, invisible light from within them.
These firefly-like lights converged and dispersed, illuminating the dense roads around them, and continued to spread outwards.
Fireflies shine brightly, gathering together to form a sea.
However, it was not over yet; the brightness continued to increase until it became as dazzling as the sun.
At that time, humanity was unaware that in an invisible, inaudible, and unseen dimension, these lights would trigger a qualitative change from a quantitative one. They simply lived their ordinary, mundane lives day after day, occasionally reaching out to bring warmth to others, and at some moment and in some place, receiving unexpected positive feedback.
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