89 Two-in-One
She is alive
Sector 103 garbage dump.
The area around the incinerator is full of garbage. Area 103 is the garbage disposal center of the entire federation. Hundreds of tons of garbage are sent to Area 103 every day through underground pipes or aerial rail trains.
Garbage and waste are the specialties of District 103. It is hard to find so much garbage and defective products in another place.
There is a group of scavengers at the incinerator who make a living by picking up garbage.
Some garbage is perfectly good for them, and some things can obviously be used after some repairs.
They can pick up broken robotic arms and broken robots, and sometimes they can even find valuable jewelry left behind by the rich.
It’s more like panning for gold than picking up trash.
Back then, there weren’t many employment opportunities for defective goods in District 103, so most people came here to pick up trash.
But in the past two years, good stuff has become less and less available, and they have to pick out what they need from mountains of garbage.
Metal pollution and biological pollution are very serious. Under the scorching sun, the income from this industry is not very good. Not many people have been doing this in the past two years.
"Lao Yang, what are you doing?"
The old woman called Lao Yang was hunched over and was desperately digging out with both hands. Her eyes were so focused that she didn't hear what the people around her were saying.
Liu Sheng glanced around. There were very few people in their area. They were the only ones on this small hill. Seeing Lao Yang's reaction, it was as if he had found a treasure.
One shouldn't shout about a chance to make a fortune; no one wants to share a piece of the spoils. Liu Sheng cautiously moved closer to Lao Yang and asked in a low voice, "Did you find the treasure?"
The old woman was desperately trying to pull out a mechanical prosthetic limb. "You little bastard, I can't pull it out. Come and help me."
Seeing that she was an old woman, Liu Sheng sighed and helped to pull. However, the mechanical leg was extremely heavy and seemed to be stuck by something. They pulled for two minutes but there was no response.
Liu Sheng was sweating profusely: "What are you looking for?"
Lao Yang: "There are living people down there."
Liu Sheng paused, and almost lost his strength after hearing this. "Are you crazy? How could there be a living person down there?"
Lao Yang started digging while standing on the top of a small hill. The garbage she had just dug out had piled up into a small hill.
The living people below would have been crushed long ago.
Moreover, the garbage transported to Area 103 must go through layers of screening and will definitely be checked for signs of life. Only when it is confirmed that the garbage is dead will it be transported here.
Liu Sheng has been picking up garbage for ten years and has never seen a living person, only dead bodies. He doesn't know if they were killed by a serial killer or something and were directly thrown into the garbage dump.
Liu Sheng particularly hated this kind of corpse, as rotting corpses would cause biological contamination.
The only ones left are the experimental subjects in those black-hearted laboratories. They are particularly scary. They look like you, but they are not quite like you.
What Liu Sheng hates most is experimental subjects.
Liu Sheng didn't want to exert any more strength after hearing this. "A living person has been crushed to death. Don't waste your energy."
What's going on? Why can't he face reality? People from the lower classes should act like people from the lower classes. Stop letting your imagination run wild.
Liu Sheng felt that her mother was at it again. It was like this every time. When she saw a little hope, she would rush forward eagerly, thinking it was gold.
Do you think you are digging ginseng?
Lao Yang: "What are you talking about? It's really alive."
Liu Sheng: "Honestly, our family is too poor. Only rich people can rescue people. It would be useless if we rescued them."
This is the truth. We are so poor that we can barely make ends meet. If we really save someone, our family will have a hard time.
Liu Sheng didn't want to help at all: "I let go."
Lao Yang was very anxious: "Don't let go! It's almost there. I didn't lie to you. There really is a living person. I can hear the heartbeat."
Liu Sheng: "Heartbeat? Can you hear the heartbeat from here?"
Lao Yang: "I'm old, but my ears are still good. They're just really loud, dong dong dong."
Liu Sheng got goosebumps all over his body. In his understanding, the heartbeat of large creatures would be more ferocious. If there really were living creatures, their heartbeat would be as fierce as Lao Yang described.
So what are they digging?
monster?
Liu Sheng thought of the monsters outside the wall and felt more and more terrified. He said, "It's so scary! I really let go. You dig it yourself. I dare not move."
Old Yang was almost pissed off by him, "Just help me take this away, I'll take care of the rest myself, you can't bully your mother!"
Liu Sheng: “…”
"Hey, you're going too far." Liu Sheng said this, but he didn't let go. Lao Yang was right, he couldn't leave his mother here. She was an old woman, and picking up trash was dangerous. If there was any loss because of this, Liu Sheng would not forgive himself.
Snap——
The place where the mechanical legs were stuck was loose, and the two of them almost fell down. Liu Sheng was quick to grab Lao Yang and prevent her from falling off the garbage mountain.
"Damn! I was scared to death!" Liu Sheng helped his mother steady herself, "If you fall again, you'll get hurt."
Liu Sheng thought that he must not let Lao Yang come next time, as this would be more terrifying than digging out a monster.
Old Yang's face was pale. Liu Sheng thought she was frightened at first. "Just take a rest. I'll help you."
Lao Yang: "Don't move, just listen."
"What, you..." Liu Sheng didn't finish his words because he really heard it this time.
Boom——
Lao Yang was right, that was the sound of a heartbeat, a very vigorous heartbeat.
Is there really a living thing down there?
Old Yang reacted faster than him and was already lying down next to the garbage dump digging. Liu Sheng was stunned for two seconds and then started digging as well.
This time they didn't dig for long, and then they both stopped.
Lao Yang and Liu Sheng both looked pale. They had never seen such a strange scene before.
There is everything in the garbage dump, metal garbage, biological garbage, including some rotten animal carcasses. The garbage dump is synonymous with desolation, disorder and dirtiness. No one wants to be here except fifth-class citizens like them.
But now, a hand stretched out from the garbage dump, so soft, it was a child's hand.
Boom——
…
Boom——
Zhu Ning was in trouble.
She meant that she was in real trouble.
Zhu Ning was running. She would go running whenever she felt bored. It was late at night and she was the only one on the plastic track. There was no referee, no coach, and no companion.
She was alone from beginning to end. She moved her legs mechanically, with only the sound of her heartbeat in her ears.
Once you start running, don't stop easily, otherwise it will be difficult to continue, and it will be very troublesome if you lose your breath in the middle.
So Zhu Ning never stopped, she kept moving forward, repeating the same thing over and over again.
How old was she then?
At the age of fifteen, he entered the national team during the training camp.
He undergoes physical training every day and receives professional shooting training. The country's top shooters are around him, and he lives a very mechanical training life day after day.
It was very boring. All the glory only existed at that moment on the field. Private training was endless torture.
You will never reach perfection, there will always be opponents stronger than you, and there will always be more stringent requirements.
Climbing to the top, the top is shaky, you are not strong enough, and all the competitions become extreme pressure.
She has been in a bad state recently and her grades are very poor.
"Do you know how to shoot?" the coach said, "If you don't want to do this anymore, change your career! You still have time to do something else now."
"Zhu Ning!" the coach said, "Additional training tonight."
"Zhu Ning," the coach said with a sullen expression, "I told you, if you can't do it, just leave. We don't keep useless people."
Trash, garbage, Zhu Ning had been called trash countless times.
No one can wear the halo of genius all her life. Most of the time, she is just trash.
Every failure is like a heavy hammer hitting you. People need to be beaten and tortured repeatedly.
Can she really shoot? Is she really talented? Is she really hardworking enough? Is she really cut out for this?
Either leave early or be an ordinary person. If you have no expectations in your heart, you won’t be disappointed. She can’t stand the beating of life anymore.
Snap——
Zhu Ning stopped, holding her knees and breathing heavily. The sweat on her forehead fell onto the track, instantly wetting it.
It was a little cold at night, but she didn't feel it because she had just exercised and her whole body was hot and numb, as if the blood in her body was rushing wildly.
Sweat was pouring down like raindrops. Zhu Ning stared at the crimson runway, feeling his own violent heartbeat.
Her heart was beating fast.
Zhu Yao said that she hopes she has a strong heart and she hopes she is super happy. What does Zhu Yao mean?
She would not ask Zhu Ning to become a successful person. She could let Zhu Ning grow up in a casual environment and she had no demands on herself.
Even if Zhu Ning was kicked out by the coach today and she went home to lie down and be a piece of trash from then on, Zhu Yao would not say anything.
She allowed Zhu Ning to be trash.
On the track late at night, Zhu Ning placed her hand on her chest, her heart beneath her palm, and she quietly felt the sound of her heartbeat.
"The human heart itself is full of beauty." Zhu Yao once said this.
Zhu Ning was very young at the time, only five or six years old. She was very curious about Zhu Yao's work and asked her if she would be scared when she saw the bloody heart.
Zhu Yao shook her head and said that the heart itself is beautiful.
"Each organ is fulfilling its own mission. They work independently and in collaboration with each other to keep you functioning. You are still alive because your heart is still beating hard."
Zhu Yao asked Zhu Ning to place his palm on her chest. "Do you feel it? Pay more attention to it when you have nothing to do. It's working very hard."
Zhu Ning curiously felt his own heartbeat and found it strange that his heart was not resting while he was resting.
She asked childishly, "Won't it be tired and want to rest?"
Why not get tired?
People feel tired and want to sleep and rest. Doesn’t the heart feel the same way?
Zhu Yao smiled. The happiest time of raising a child is now. Children’s questions are really interesting. She originally wanted to say that if the heart is tired, it becomes a disease. Many patients die from heart failure.
That's a very heavy topic.
Zhu Yao's job is to do this. She has seen many dead people and many hearts that have stopped beating. No matter how much mercy Zhu Yao has or how hard she tries, she cannot completely prevent death.
Most people don’t feel the existence of their heart on a normal day. They just live a normal life, getting up, working and eating.
But one day, you suddenly feel something is wrong, and the moment you feel your heart, it is already too late.
Their hearts suddenly ached the moment they stood up, they suddenly felt a heart attack at their workplace, and they suddenly fell down on the road.
Some people are lucky enough to be admitted to the hospital for emergency treatment, but some are not so lucky and cannot even see a doctor.
Zhu Yao looked into Zhu Ning's eyes and didn't say anything. She chose a more innocent and ideal answer: "People are far more powerful than you think."
This was said to coax a child, but Zhu Ning remembered it.
She stood on the field again, thinking this sentence in her heart: People are much stronger than you think.
At the National Ten-meter Sprint Competition, fifteen-year-old Zhu Ning participated in the most important competition, which almost determined her career.
Whether she can go further or stop here depends on that day.
Countless media cameras were pointed at him, and the live broadcast was shown to countless people, and the audience was cheering.
Some of you here may be his fans. Zhu Ning has been dubbed a genius since he was a child and became famous very early.
The commentator will explain based on his actions, and Zhu Ning has to face everyone.
Many people were watching her, but not Zhu Yao. Zhu Yao had surgery today and would probably watch the replay after it was over.
But Zhu Ning didn't think so much at the time. When she picked up the gun, she forgot about her surroundings and couldn't hear the audience's voices.
The only things left in her world were guns and targets.
Zhu Ning picked up the gun.
The competition had entered its final stages, with only Zhu Ning and another contestant remaining.
Her performance that day was ordinary and stable, and she entered the top two. As long as she played steadily, the worst result would be silver medal, but she didn't want to stop there.
"The gold medal match is still suspenseful. The two players are equally strong and currently have the same accumulated points. They are back to the starting point, and the champion and runner-up will emerge between them."
"Zhu Ning is in great shape. Now that the camera is focused on her face, you can see she's very calm. She's always been a player with a strong mental attitude, and we're very optimistic about her."
Applause broke out at the competition venue. Competitive sports are a spectator event, and Zhu Ning must learn to face people's expectations and pressure.
"The final shot will determine who will win the gold medal in the women's 10-meter sprint."
The audience began to boil, clapping rhythmically. The opponent fired first, "10.6 rings."
Zhu Ning breathed and she could hear her own heartbeat. Zhu Yao asked her to pay more attention to her heartbeat and she said her heart was working very hard.
At this time, her heartbeat was steady. Strangely, she was not very nervous and was actually calmer than she had imagined.
Bang!
She fired the last shot.
"Zhu Ning scored 10.8 rings!"
"Congratulations to Zhu Ning for winning the championship!"
Zhu Ning put down the gun and let her fingers hang naturally. She could not hear the sounds around her and could not feel the audience's gaze. She took a deep breath and carefully felt her heartbeat.
Have you ever experienced standing on the top? The joy at that moment, which only lasts for a few seconds, can make people experience the ultimate happiness in the world.
All your efforts are proven to be worthwhile at that moment, you are recognized and affirmed by the world.
Even without caring about other people's eyes, you have won your own affirmation.
Zhu Ning won the first place in the domestic professional competition, and she can participate in international competitions.
Zhu Ning cheered at the competition and hugged her coach.
The old coach who had scolded her was now even more excited than she was. She picked up Zhu Ning and spun her around, "I knew you could do it! You cocky little girl!"
At that time, Zhu Ning had an illusion that the whole world belonged to her.
She can do anything, she can get everything.
As long as she wants, she can stand at the top.
But her joy quickly faded.
The old coach's hair passed through her palm, and the electric current struggled as the data twitched, like a mosaic.
Zhu Ning stared at the palm of his hand, unable to react to what he saw.
"Coach Zhang?" Zhu Ning asked.
The coach still had a smile on her face, and you could tell she was very happy, even happier than when she won the gold medal.
"What's wrong?" Coach Zhang looked at her.
Zhu Ning broke free from her embrace and stepped back step by step. It was fake, she was fake.
The competition is fake, the hard work is fake, and breaking through oneself is fake.
Zhu Ning was standing in the center of the venue. Her name had just appeared in the first row on the big screen. She should have gone to receive the award.
She looked back and around. The audience was cheering, the applause and cheers were like waves.
But the audience and the scene were becoming weird.
The audience was roaring with excitement, and it seemed as if data bars were twitching in their eyes.
Countless tiny dividing lines appeared on their faces, pieces of data cutting them apart, and the data flow was fluctuating.
Then, crush.
The audience and the venue collapsed into data blocks in an instant.
A long river of data flowed around her: smiles, cheers, excitement, all emotions turned into data.
Fake, fake.
Is the most important game in Zhu Ning's life real?
Was the day-to-day training she went through real?
The data destroyed everything about her: her games, her career, her lifelong pursuit, every effort she made, every improvement she made, every honor she won.
Even every time she fell into desperate trouble, every time she struggled.
Zhu Ning covered his chest as the stadium beneath his feet collapsed. The data re-solidified, revealing the appearance of a red plastic running track.
This time she was not in the competition venue, but standing on the side of the track. She was holding her knees and had just finished a long-distance run.
It seemed as if the game just now was just a dream.
She has never participated in a competition and never won a championship. She just stands there and fantasizes.
She had just finished strenuous exercise, her body was covered in sweat, and her heartbeat was extremely fast.
The runway on the other side began to collapse. Strangely, she was very calm this time, as if the world was supposed to be made up of data blocks.
There was one more person on the runway this time, Zhu Yao was standing at the end of the runway.
She was wearing a white coat and her hair was combed meticulously. Ms. Zhu was very clean and even kept her collar tidy.
Why is Zhu Yao here?
"Zhu Ning." Zhu Yao, wearing a white coat, turned around and looked at her. "I watched your game."
Zhu Yao was talking, but Zhu Ning didn't understand. Which game was she talking about?
What time is it now? Time, space, events, everything has been shattered into pieces, and she is just standing in a long river of data blocks.
Zhu Yao looked into Zhu Ning's eyes and said gently, "Ning Bao is awesome."
Zhu Ning's hands were shaking. She was shaking because of these words. She was more frightened than ever.
Is Zhu Yao also fake?
Behind Zhu Yao was the collapsed runway, which was almost collapsing towards Zhu Yao.
The collapsing data was like a storm, a force that could crush everything in its path. It would sweep away everything, including Zhu Yao.
"Ning Bao...really...really...awesome..."
Zhu Yao's face also showed twitching data, and her face was covered with codes. This was a horror story.
It was just like the contaminated area that Zhu Ning had entered, except that this time the horror story was directed at her.
This was the horror that befell her.
Zhu Yao was about to turn into a string of code, she would die here, and Zhu Ning would actually have to experience Zhu Yao's death twice.
Even more unbearable than the one in Zombieland.
Zhu Yao knew nothing about this. She just looked at Zhu Ning and said, "Ning... Ning Ning Ning Bao is awesome."
The data storm crushed Zhu Yao, shattering him.
It will be her turn next, and they will deny her.
The collapse of data is accelerating, sweeping all the way. After the runway is shattered into data, it will become an abyss.
Normally, she should have run away. She should have left the runway, abandoned the already half-digitalized Zhu Yao, and not been swept away by this data storm.
But she didn't move.
She raised her eyes and looked directly at the data storm. Standing in front of the collapsing world, Zhu Ning seemed very small, as if she was facing a tornado alone.
Once involved, Zhu Ning will disappear.
But she didn't move.
She stared at the front. The collapsing data was already at her feet. She only needed to take one step forward to reach the abyss.
But she didn't move.
She stretched out her hand and looked straight at the other thing. She didn't even know what the other thing was, but she still looked at it.
No, she doesn't.
She doesn't know what is true and what is false, but she denies it.
She didn't know what she was created for, but she denied it.
She didn't know whether Zhu Yao existed, but she didn't recognize him.
Zhu Ning was suppressed. Those things were like garbage weighing on her. The negative things seemed to have substance, and the true and false data were destroying her sanity.
Zhu Ning could feel this.
She seemed to be buried in a garbage dump, with garbage like a mountain on her body. With her strength, it was difficult for her to resist.
It was difficult for her to even breathe, she couldn't move at all, and she was carrying a pressure that ordinary people could hardly imagine.
She stretched out her hand.
Even if she is carrying a mountain on her back, even if there are countless hands under her feet pulling her down, falling is the easiest choice, and accepting her fate is the most comfortable.
She stretched out a hand with great effort.
It was like a hand that had once stretched out from a garbage dump, so weak, so thin, so small compared to the enemy, and so fragile compared to those metal garbage.
This time she was held.
"It's alive!" Old Yang held her hand and shouted, "It's really alive!"
"Dig quickly!" Lao Yang shouted excitedly.
Liu Sheng gritted his teeth. He had lived for so long and had been looking for garbage in the garbage dump. He was just garbage.
He had never found gold in a junkyard, but this hand was the strangest thing he had ever found, and it held an indescribable hope.
He couldn't even describe what he was doing.
This hand is worthless, and his family is so poor, why does he still want to save people?
He couldn't stop. Even if it was the case, he couldn't just stand by and watch. It was just a child, with such small hands. He was probably only a few years old, and was thrown into the garbage dump.
Lao Yang and Liu Sheng were already dying, and Liu Sheng was a defective product and would not live long, but they both wanted to dig out the child at this time.
Old Yang lifted the last piece of scrap metal and saw a little girl lying under the garbage pile. Half of her body was still stuck in the garbage, revealing her complete face.
There were some stains on it, but no wounds. It was a little girl with a very clean appearance.
Liu Sheng saw her face but did not react. He stood there in a daze, afraid that this person was dead.
If the person was dead at first, Liu Sheng would not have any reaction. He had seen too many dead people. Don't give him hope and then despair.
The lower class people really can’t bear this.
The same thing happened to Old Yang. She touched the little girl's forehead with trembling hands. It was so soft, like human skin.
"Old, Old Yang..." Liu Sheng called his mother and didn't say anything for a long time. He didn't know what to say.
Old Yang stroked the little girl's forehead with her old hand. Suddenly, she felt the little girl's tightly closed eyelids tremble and her eyelashes move.
Liu Sheng didn't dare to breathe. Was he mistaken? Did she move?
The little girl opened her eyes, a little curious, but they were a pair of normal child's eyes.
"She opened her eyes!" Liu Sheng had never been so excited. Their family was so unlucky and nothing good had ever happened. This was the only good thing.
Liu Sheng hugged Lao Yang's neck tightly like a child and shouted loudly: "She's alive!"
That day, all the defective items in the garbage dump heard this cry. Liu Sheng's cheers echoed from one end of the garbage mountain to the other, "She's alive! She's alive!"
Zhu Ning opened his eyes.
Late at night, in the basement of the Noble Queen Store, in a mysterious room at the end of the corridor.
Black slime was flowing on the ceiling, and coldness and chill filled the surroundings. The slime was getting more and more, and bigger and bigger.
The moment Zhu Ning opened his eyes, the black mucus suddenly stiffened as if it was frozen.
Zhu Ning looked at the other person calmly, her eyes appeared very bright in the darkness, and data was flowing in her pupils.
She is alive.
The author has something to say:
First day of the weekend, pay off your debts! More updates are here!
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2022-10-14 09:43:06 and 2022-10-15 21:05:36~
Thanks to the little angel who cast the mine: Changjiyier, Dim Sum Delicious, Jia, Ganle 1;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: yaodayin 50 bottles; an almond, 44114360, Mobei, 34596090, and Catch Mr. Rabbit's Tail 20 bottles; Weibo: I Swear Not to Change Before the Ban Is Unbanned, Azai Dingdongdong, Grace, Dundundun, Night Like Water, Huahua, Minmin Is Not a Mimi, Qian Daming, Lattice Window, kuloris, Usui Takumi, Still Can't See, Aiyin~Ying, Hecate Fan, A Cup of Tea Smoke Through Green Gauze, 23176261, Pulling Hairpin Xiao Chongshan, gyr55555 10 bottles; Lingdie 8 bottles; Lingdangxiang 7 bottles; 41727618 6 bottles; Mint Boy, Mutao, Wanye 5 bottles; Zai, He Ye, Trace Girl Sauce, Yunduan, Weishan, Liuli, Baba Bibi, and Doudou 1 bottle;
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