The next day, Jiang Youwei emerged from the floor, naturally groggy. Perhaps he'd been too cooped up in the covers the previous night, and his body instinctively struggled. Luckily, at least he hadn't been entangled in the blankets and suffocated. But that was the end of his story. His sleeping position upon waking was truly unspeakable—one leg dangling over the edge of the bed, spread out in front of him. He'd been a bit bewildered when he first woke, but the replay of the previous morning's "accident" had completely overwhelmed him.
This time, he saw "2." Why, why 2? Yesterday it was 1, today it's 2. The sample size is too small, there's no way to draw any conclusions, right? But Jiang Youwei, having been frightened once before, was much calmer this time. He silently waited for the spot of light in front of his vision to grow from small to large, then suddenly dissipate like a burst of firework. "Wait, I forgot to record the duration!" He was stunned for a few seconds after the spot of light dissipated, and suddenly remembered this question, and then regretted it.
It was a rare day for Jiang Youwei to wake up early, mainly because he'd learned a horrifying truth—he was unemployed. He'd originally planned to stay home, living off the fat of the land, using the excuse that "unemployment isn't unemployment," but after yesterday's heartbreaking experience, he could only reluctantly accept the reality that his education had become obsolete. "So what else can I do?" he asked, procrastinating again.
In the end he went to find his adoptive parents.
"You can't make it anymore?" His adoptive father said as a matter of course.
Jiang Youwei had no choice but to show off shamelessly: "What can I, a nobody, do?"
His mother gave him a meaningful look and said, "You're already so old, how come you haven't accomplished anything? Drones are so powerful nowadays, no one would want you to wash dishes or move bricks anymore."
"This..." Jiang Youwei was shocked, then replied, "As long as I have something to eat, that's enough."
"Then you'd better continue to be unemployed." said the cheap father.
???
So this is a world where you can survive without working hard, right?
"Just bear with it." The cheap father said again.
Could he endure it? Speaking of endurance, Jiang Youwei was second to none. Theoretically, as long as he had electricity, running water, internet, food, and a place to live, he could endure until the end of his days. "Well, maybe this is a daydream come true?" he thought.
Seeing no reaction, the cheap mother added, "You've been eating synthetic food for half a month, don't you have any ideas?"
What? Synthetic grain? Huh? I don't know that.
At lunch, Jiang Youwei witnessed the power of the synthetic food—it tasted worse than pig food. No, no, no, maybe even worse than swill. Jiang Youwei had tasted compressed dry food before, and he knew what those foods that prioritized shelf life and portability were like. But this time, he had miscalculated. The developers of this synthetic food, perhaps for the sake of production efficiency, had completely abandoned texture and flavor. If you had to describe it, it was like eating a mixture of soap and toilet paper. "Why can't they think about how to make it delicious?" Jiang Youwei shoved the stuff in his mouth, tears mingling with tears.
The above are the reasons that prompted Jiang Youwei, a person with mild social anxiety, to leave the house. In fact, he regretted it as soon as he left the house. He couldn't even remember what was around his home. His previous life was basically a straight line between two points. If he went out for a walk, he would probably have to rely on navigation. However, many of the software downloaded on the mobile phone could not be used, which made it difficult to deal with. If he became directionally challenged or suffered a sudden illness while outside, he would probably have to go to the government office to report him. "What kind of a shitty way out is this?" he cursed and found a public seat on the side of the road. "I'd better wait outside for a while before going back."
Jiang Youwei sat on a public bench, shivering in the late winter wind for almost two hours before growing impatient. "It's so cold, and my phone's battery is running out so fast." To prevent it from running out of power on his way back, he had to put his phone in his pocket while it was still warm. Afterward, with no tools to pass the time, he began to look around, trying to distract himself by memorizing the surrounding terrain. "That's a restaurant, that's a clothing store..." Jiang Youwei wholeheartedly praised the Chinese language. It was truly the best language. Even after hundreds or thousands of years, let alone 20 years, the meaning of most words wouldn't change much. If he switched to something like Y language, he'd be out of touch with society in less than a decade.
The fat man on the street didn't care about the people pointing and talking, he was obviously immersed in his own GC. But the howling cold wind would not let him down. A gust of flying sand and rocks blew away his hood, carefully brushing every inch of his scalp. "Mom, look at that bald spot!" A little boy with a big snotty nose pointed at the fat bald man and said. It must be said that people who are still bald these days are really rare. "Even if it's hereditary, it will only cost 20,000 or 30,000 yuan to treat it?" An experienced old man nearby told the people around him. "It might be performance art." Another person said so.
After declining several passersby's attempts at taking photos, Jiang Youwei finally understood his uniqueness. Amidst the reluctant gazes of the crowd, he slithered out of the crowd like a nimble rat, and after a few turns, he vanished from sight.
On the way back, Jiang Youwei seemed to have figured something out: "Since the lives of ordinary people at the bottom of this country are not bad, then what's wrong with me being a maggot?" Well, he planned to change his name to "Jiang Xiaochong".
Of course, the name cannot be really changed. Even though this world is technologically advanced, changing the name is still a very troublesome thing.
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