Chapter 286 Wish me good luck and bask in the sun for a while!
September 1
Arrived at Silver Diamond Star.
This time, the fourth-class cabin did not provide meals. I was so hungry that I felt dizzy and could hardly find the exit after getting off the boat.
Maybe because I was staggering too much, a group of scammers came up to me, took the opportunity to talk to me, and stole my terminal.
Fortunately, I was prepared and stuffed some small change between the scales.
I calculated that this amount of money would only be enough for three meals of buckwheat bread.
But I love bread, just like the koi in the park pond, where the bread is, there I am. The only difference between me and them is that I don’t accept random wishes.
Of course, if you are willing to throw me a dried mackerel, I can reluctantly hold it in my mouth and swim a few circles to help you realize a not-too-excessive wish.
As for what is not excessive, the right of interpretation is mine.
(Still very hungry. Dried fish, dried fish…)
Income: 0
Expenditure: 2482.6
Remaining: 30
…
Poor young mermaid, the koi in the park's small pond are doing better than him.
However, fish can’t always be unlucky.
Bai Ling turned the page and took a look.
…
September 2
Bad night.
I was tricked into the red light district.
You wouldn't believe it if I told you, but I wanted to do some odd jobs to earn some money for my trip, and I happened to come across a "restaurant" hiring workers. The salary is paid daily and meals are provided. With such good treatment, there is no reason not to go.
But when I got there, I found out that the other party was actually in the flesh trade.
I was locked up with a bunch of omegas and they were all scared. After asking, I found out that most of them were sold here, but they had to tell others that they did it voluntarily.
In my opinion, such a thing should not happen, whether it is voluntary or not. In the Empire, whenever something like this happens, the government, police and society seem to become invisible in an instant.
You can't count on anyone but yourself.
I was strong enough to break the door open with my fists and escape with them.
They ran all the way to the station. They all wanted to go home, but they had no money to buy a boat ticket. Me neither.
I'm so upset. If only I had robbed the cash register when I ran out just now. Unfortunately, I'm not experienced enough in this matter.
Write it down.
Next time you are kidnapped, remember to sprint 100 meters and take anything valuable with you to ensure that you can eat bread and dried mackerel the next morning.
This is not a robbery. This is what I deserve.
…
September 9
……you.
……good.
Sorry, I haven't picked up this book for a week.
In order to make money... the omegas and I found new jobs... and went down to the mines...
It was very, very, very backbreaking work... I couldn't believe that it was the 23rd century and people were still mining with their bare hands.
Yes, yes, I know what you are going to say, there are robots. But they are the property of the mine owners, we are just temporary workers, and robots are much more valuable than us.
The mine was like hell: hot, dark, noisy, and low. I am tall and when I was working in there, I couldn't stand up straight for the whole nine hours. When I got off work, I felt like my entire spine and tailbone were in so much pain.
Bad planet. I will always hate Silver Diamond Star.
It takes at least three hours to walk from the mining site to the mine exit. My tail got rubbed and started to ooze pus.
In order to save antibiotics, I secretly cut off the damaged part with a knife.
I also took a bite.
Sweet, seafood flavor.
It was exactly the same as my brothers and sisters described it.
(Good. Tired.)
Income: 2100 (salary check)
Expenditure: 50
Remaining: 2050
…
The more Bai Ling read, the more distressed he became. He seemed to be able to hear the owner of the diary, mumbling "I'm so tired" in a wronged voice across time and space.
And the last sentence is terrifying when you think about it carefully.
Did his brothers and sisters eat his fish?
Why do they bully him like this?
Is there no one to help him?
The little mermaid in the diary seemed not to care about this at all. After the bad luck went away, he turned back into the Sunshine Mermaid.
…
September 10
Good news! We arrived at the Midway Star by boat.
The climate here is pleasant and the entire planet is covered with ocean. I couldn't wait to swam more than ten laps and brought back a bag full of sea urchins.
The sun is so nice. It is a pleasure to lean against the reef, eat sea urchins and watch the birds flying in the sky.
I love these birds and envy the traces their feathers leave.
Looking up from the sea, there is only sky above, either the sea or the sky. The world is as blank as a piece of paper, but the feathers of birds will decorate the sky and become the background color of the painting like wind and clouds.
They fly freely in the air as freely as we swim freely in the water. Birds have feathers just as we have scales.
Birds are fish in the sky.
The sun is shining, but I have to stop and go as my tail is newly grown and still tender, so my feet will hurt if I walk too far.
In fact, I hope I can walk faster so that I don’t feel so much pain when I get calluses.
Expenditure: 420
Remaining: 1630
…
September 10
Let me tell you in secret, today is my “travel rest day”.
Being the lazy bad fish that I am, I'm going to have a lazy day. And I ate three kinds of dried fish bread, one of which was filled with sardine paste.
I opened the window of the small hotel and the wind gave me goose bumps. The air was filled with the aroma of lunch, the curtains fluttered, and the neighbors downstairs were greeting each other, bye, bye, see you tomorrow.
Taking a luxurious nap also becomes a natural thing.
19 is the best age in a person's life.
At this age, you should have enough food to eat, warm clothes to wear, and a good friend. The two of you went out to steal wine in the middle of the night, lay on a pile of straw facing the stars, and got drunk - that's what a little book I read said.
Although I don't agree with it, I also yearn for it.
In the afternoon, I checked the cornflowers growing in the bottle.
This long milk bottle is very suitable for growing seeds. I took it to a small restaurant and placed it on a table in the sun so that it could photosynthesize.
This is the seventh time I have planted cornflowers.
I don’t know if it’s because of bad seeds or bad humidity, but it never formed buds or bloomed.
Very unsuccessful.
I am such a failure in botany.
No wonder those universities repeatedly sent me letters rejecting my application... But it doesn’t matter, I applied to 23 more universities, even the one ranked last. I am not picky about schools. From now on, I am not picky about life, shoes, or schools. As long as there is a place that accepts me, I am a fish that is easily satisfied.
The cornflowers will bloom, and I will find a new place and start my life again.
Of course.
Let’s bask in the sun for a while longer!
Both me and Cornflower.
…
September 12
Bought a second-hand terminal.
Log in to your email.
Six rejection letters.
This is the second year that I have received so many rejection letters.
Expenditure: 539
Remaining: 1091
…
September 16
Some schools have already started.
I have not.
Still rejection letters, eleven of them.
…
September 18
The last-ranked school rejected me.
What should I say.
I requested a review and one of the teachers (whom I would like to thank sincerely) responded very quickly. She hinted to me that my grades were far above the admission line, but the school had no right to admit me.
The school has no right.
Who has the rights.
I think I know the answer.
…
September 20
Hello.
Another planet passed.
There are so many flowers here, and I've always wanted to come and see them. Cheap flower bouquets are readily available, and I want to buy one, but I don't know who to give it to.
I am so tired. Sometimes I feel like I can’t carry my luggage.
It must be my laziness that has struck me again.
My travel expenses were almost gone, so I found a new odd job sorting books for a bookstore. The owner of the shop was very nice. He allowed me to live on the mezzanine floor and provided me with one meal a day.
When the owner heard that I was traveling alone, he was a little bit skeptical. He said it was too dangerous and urged me to buy a companion.
I said, I have no interest in omegas.
The shop owner gestured, "They're not real people, they're bodyguards, mechanical ones."
I have taught myself many things, such as planting, flower arrangement, and bibliography...but I am not interested in machinery. I can't figure out the complicated models and even make mistakes when shifting gears. The tractors that have been damaged by me are all dead.
The owner said that if I wanted to get it cheaper, I could find an expert who was familiar with used machinery.
But where to find a second-hand junk expert is another huge problem.
So I thanked him and sincerely rejected his suggestion.
I can't buy a robot just to take turns carrying my luggage. That would be too extravagant.
It’s better to torture your own body.
I'm still young anyway.
Income: 300
Expenditure: 75
Remaining: 698
…
September 24
A day I don’t really want to record.
A certain elder brother sent me a message, asking me to go to him to discuss my academic problems.
I don't think they care about me that much.
Wish me luck.
…
September 25
It's almost time to get off the boat, and I'm a little nervous.
Should I buy a robot bodyguard?
…
The diary stops abruptly.
From here the pages were roughly torn off.
The cave was dim, and Bai Ling discovered that there was a faint hint of black and red on the spine of the bound book.
His heart skipped a beat and he knew what it was.
Bloodstains.
The diary's ending is unknown. There is no way to verify the outcome of the young mermaid's visit to his brother. All the past events have become untraceable along with this old and moldy diary.
But you can imagine that the mermaid’s fate was probably not good.
Bai Ling remained silent, feeling uneasy and depressed. He held the diary, feeling somewhat at a loss. It was very light, yet very heavy, so heavy that it seemed like it would fall through his fingers and drag him into that time and space.
He didn't know which generation of mermen the diary belonged to.
He only guessed that Yu Chen might have experienced the same thing as the mermaid. The mermaid royal family is well-known for their cruelty and cannibalism.
"Have you seen it?" A low and cold voice spoke coldly from behind:
"Put it back when you're done."
Bai Ling raised his head in a daze, and then he remembered that there was a tomb-guarding AI beside him.
He stood up with the support of his sore calves, took a few photos of the diary, then picked up the oil paper, rewrapped it bit by bit and put it back.
"… Was the owner of the diary killed by his brother in the end?"
Hearing his question, Mosaic denied it lightly, "No. He was crazy and later committed suicide."
"Why?"
Mosaic paused, remained silent for two seconds, and said impatiently, "Because he is a coward."
Too cowardly to face the trauma of reality. I can only cut off the kind side, numb myself and deceive myself as much as possible.
What's the difference between this and being dead?
Bai Ling lowered his eyes and nodded gently, "So that's how it is."
Mosaic trembled and seemed to want to refute something. But until Bai Ling left, he just floated there coldly and silently without saying another word.
For Bai Ling, the trip to the cemetery was a fruitless one.
He found nothing that could relieve his depression.
Yu Chen suggested that he come to the cemetery, seemingly just to let him recognize the place, nothing more.
He was overthinking it.
After returning to the palace, Bai Ling involuntarily walked onto the terrace.
Looking from a high place, the city in the distance is prosperous and dotted with thousands of lights. The night view was as bright as the night two years ago when he climbed onto the terrace and warmed his hands with the blind mermaid, but at this moment, the scenery was the same as before, but there was one less person beside him.
The wind gradually grew stronger as autumn approached, and the chilliness of the air grew more intense in the cold nights.
Bai Ling pulled his coat closer and subconsciously grabbed his right wrist with his left hand, squeezing it like the mermaid had grabbed him that day. As if doing so could make up for the body temperature that was gradually lost as his breathing became disordered.
The wind got stronger, blowing down her fluffy white eyelashes. He blinked his wet and sore eyes, was forced to turn around, avoid the desperate wind, and walked inside.
Yu Chen is not here.
Thousands of lights are on, but not a single one of them has anything to do with us.
Unconsciously, he walked to the dungeon. Bai Ling stood still in a dark corner, forced himself to calm down, and then walked out to ask the guard:
"How is he today?"
Private: "Your Highness has been relatively quiet today, but he has not eaten."
Bai Ling paused for a moment and frowned slightly, "Why didn't you eat?" He began to take off his gloves and prepared to go in.
The private looked surprised, "He keeps singing."
"From morning till night, we were singing victory songs."
Bai Ling was stunned for a moment, then suddenly threw down his gloves and ran over like crazy. When he broke open the confinement door with a bang, the voice inside came out and knocked him down.
The singing echoed in the small, damp round tower. The mermaid was singing continuously at the bottom of the cell. It was unknown how long she had been singing alone before he came, and her voice was broken.
The door closed slowly. Bai Ling pinched her palms, her eyelids trembled, and tears flowed out uncontrollably, "Mad man."
madman.
My voice is hoarse. Still singing.
He is crazy. But he did not forget their agreement.
Once, Bai Ling had an argument with a mermaid, and he said provocatively that if he won one day, he wanted the mermaid to sing a victory song for him.
The mermaid nodded and solemnly wrote down his outrageous wish in the notebook.
Think about it now.
If only we had fewer arguments. We stopped quarreling, and replaced conflicts with tenderness, and bickering with hugs; you sang for me, and I should jump off the mecha, hold your hand, and kiss you in victory in front of everyone, not like this...
Like now, you are singing solo like crazy, but I am powerless to applaud you.
Bai Ling pressed her aching spine against the wall, hid in the shadows, covered her mouth, and listened with tears in her eyes as he repeated their agreement over and over again.
He didn't know how long he stayed there.
As he left, the mermaid's voice behind him gradually faded, as if her soul had also weakened. Bai Ling took two steps while holding onto the wall, feeling a dull pain in his heart from the breath he was holding. He wanted to turn back and opened his mouth, but what came out was a heart-wrenching cough. For a moment, his heart, liver, spleen, and lungs were all spasming and turning upside down.
The medical staff on standby rushed out in fear and wanted to send him for examination. But he lowered his eyes, his face was pale, he swallowed the bitter and hot blood into his throat, waved his hand, and walked slowly with his back straight.
How far has this come?
Not dead yet. The mermaid wasn't dead yet, but he was already on the verge of collapse.
You won’t know unless you’re close by. What he said about waiting for him to die and then holding on for another ten years to put the empire back on the right track was actually all empty talk.
He twisted his lips and smiled.
I'm a wild dog.
How could a wild dog like me, who has eaten good food and lived a good life, return to the past safely?
Rather than letting him suffer alone, I'd rather end it with him.
Bai Ling slowly moved back into the room, reached under the cold pillow for his gun, and loaded bullets.
I really don’t know how to love you, the only way is to repay you.
I really can't blame you.
Because if it were me… I’d probably do the same.
His bony knuckles trembled as he pulled the bolt of the gun and slowly glanced toward the side of the bed.
Against the wall, there was an ordinary stick leaning diagonally. The Imperial Scepter lay there peacefully and quietly, as if everything around it had nothing to do with the speed of its time flow.
Bai Ling remembered the first time he saw it in the mermaid’s garden. It was stuck in the ground like that and was pulled up by the mermaid as a witness to their contract.
The past is still vivid in my mind, but unfortunately time cannot be reversed.
If I could go back to the past...
If I could do it again.
He looked at the scepter, tears streaming down his face. In an instant, an extremely crazy idea flashed through my mind -
·
Late at night, at two in the morning, a series of terrifying ringtones rang at the physicist's bedside.
He was awakened and hurriedly got up to answer it. I looked at the strange incoming call message and thought the other party had called the wrong number. I was about to get angry, but the next second I heard the words I wanted to hear most in my life:
"Hello, professor. We have a research project on wormhole crossing technology. Are you interested in participating?"
The physicists thought they were dreaming.
He adjusted his nightcap and asked cautiously, "Excuse me, which is this side...?"
The operator on the other end was silent for one second.
Then he answered clearly, "This is His Majesty Bai Ling's office."
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