Lu Xuefeng waved from the train station platform.
Today was January 29, 2090, the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month. Tonight was New Year's Eve, but Simon and Su Xiangli couldn't stay with Great-Grandfather. They also needed to go home for a family reunion. Although they had tried to postpone their departure as much as possible, they ultimately left before the Spring Festival, feeling particularly ashamed, like deserters before a battle.
At Great-Grandfather's house, Su Xiangli experienced the simple joy of rural life. In this era of highly mechanized agriculture, no one would understand the suffering of our ancestors toiling in the fields.
Simon understood some of it, but hadn't experienced it deeply. Lu Xuefeng had experienced a part of it, but it was ultimately just a slight, superficial stirring.
Lu Xuefeng repeatedly urged Su Xiangli and Simon to study hard, not for anything else, but to climb higher and achieve a higher social credit level. He said, "These days, the lower limit of human life is much higher than before, but the upper limit is even more ridiculously high. If you don't climb, you'll always be at the bottom."
Simon asked, "Isn't it enough to be well-fed and clothed, and happy every day?"
Great-Grandfather just shook his head, "Some things, you can't see unless you're at the top. The top represents influence, it represents the ability to withstand crises. However, your idea isn't wrong; I just don't want you to waste your youth. Besides, with high social credit, you can apply for anti-aging medicine and live many more years."
Simon scratched his head. It was precisely because he didn't want to deal with people that he chose to make a living by selling paintings. If he were to pursue a career in the future, it might be opening an art gallery, and then living a simple life with Su Xiangli. As for anti-aging medicine, he could actually learn how to make it within the system, but it required a lot of prerequisite skills.
Anti-aging medicine isn't a single medicine, but a medical technology called "Stairway to Immortality." It uses biochemical technology to restore body vitality, supplement cell division times, eliminate macromolecular impurities accumulated in old cells, proliferate various stem cells, and even includes cryosleep, mechanical modification, and so on.
The reason everyone calls it anti-aging medicine is just a common misconception. There are indeed specialized anti-aging drugs, but taking medicine alone cannot significantly increase lifespan.
Simon could learn this entire set of "Stairway to Immortality" techniques with just Understanding Points (Enlightenment Points). With Enlightenment Points, he would be an omnipotent god.
But in the end, it still came down to that one phrase: simplicity is truth. Simon was a very unambitious person. He was happy to be a fish rolling in the mud. His idol was Zhuangzi, it was that simple, without any reason—at least for now.
The day Great-Grandfather saw them off was just like the day he picked them up: hair neatly combed, back straight, a very energetic old man.
Simon and Su Xiangli waved to Great-Grandfather from inside the train car. The old man was very dignified, one hand behind his back, the other gave a brief wave before being retracted. He waited until the train started moving before turning to leave.
A new year, a new semester, was coming.
...
The official launch of the simulation pods sparked a craze and injected new vitality into an ancient establishment: internet cafes.
Internet cafes had a very 'jianghu' (underworld/Jianghu) vibe, which made them very attractive to teenagers.
In the second semester of first grade, Zhang Yingxuan and Zhou Ping finally took big steps towards becoming internet-addicted teenagers. They didn't go home on weekends, instead frequenting internet cafes. Although they weren't yet fourteen, they couldn't play any games. However, as the saying goes, 'the mountain man has his own clever plan': here, the 'mountain man' referred to the omnipotent internet cafe owner.
The 'teenager mode' was incredibly powerful, but there were loopholes to exploit.
Especially in front of a new machine.
The owner's method was to first register an account with an adult's social credit level 2 identity, extract the account information, then log out, then disconnect the simulation pod provided to the teenage user from the internet, implant the previously extracted account information, and then the teenager could use it normally. Online games couldn't be played, but single-player games were fine.
This method was just exploiting a loophole. A saying circulated in internet cafes: a skilled hacker could truly deceive or even break through the evil 'teenager mode.'
As for the evidence for this saying—didn't that online movie, "Love with a Mechanical Girl in a Cyberpunk World," feature a god-tier hacker who could fight AI with human power?
"That's all fake!" Simon shook Zhang Yingxuan's shoulder. Every weekend when he returned to the dorm, he would see these two brothers lying on the living room sofa with blissful expressions.
"I have a dream." Zhang Yingxuan's eyes lit up.
"What?"
"I want to be a hacker."
"You know that's illegal, right?"
"Oh, then forget it." The fire in Zhang Yingxuan's eyes extinguished. "You cruelly crushed a teenager's dream like that."
Simon shook his head, "Give it a rest. You play games happily every weekend, but when exams come, you'll be crying. Have you finished your online courses?"
"Of course." Zhang Yingxuan nodded.
Simon then turned to Zhou Ping, "What about you?"
"Uh, I'm not taking online courses anymore." Zhou Ping fidgeted a bit, "It's too tiring. I just listen more during regular classes."
Zou Jiaqi fiddled with his phone, "You still have to take online courses, otherwise you'll really fall behind. Oh, by the way, I heard that when we get to second grade, the school will arrange weekend tutoring. That will definitely save a lot of money."
Hearing this, the friends all nodded, "Indeed, online courses are really... too expensive."
"Sigh, if we're talking about famous teachers' guidance, our school certainly has enough, but online courses do have intelligent time management, which is more suitable for individuals, right?" Zhou Ping said, lacking confidence.
Everyone nodded again, "To be honest, that's true."
"I really envy geniuses." Wei Changjun sighed faintly.
Everyone turned their gaze to Simon.
Xiao Lu shrugged, "We're all brothers from the advanced class, so let's not be modest, okay? Whose grades have ever slipped below 'excellent'?"
At this, everyone exchanged knowing smiles and began their routine praise session. It's often said that the modesty of top students makes people overlook their actual abilities. This group of exam masters called themselves 'little brothers' and each other 'great gods,' but in reality, each one was incredibly strong, and some even regularly scored perfect marks, like the talkative Zou Jiaqi, who had no weak subjects and whose total score was always close to Simon's.
Well, first and second in their grade.
After more than ten monthly exams, the class rosters for first grade had already been significantly adjusted. Some students went to the elite class, while others moved up from the elite class or regular classes.
Such frequent changes created considerable competitive pressure. Only the largely unchanging roommates could offer these children some comfort.
Lights out time arrived, everyone dispersed, and a new week of studying was about to begin—Monday, you know.
Zhang Yingxuan yawned and walked towards the bedroom. Simon followed him in and called out, "Have you finished your homework?"
Zhang Yingxuan frowned. He knew his enthusiasm for studying hadn't been high lately, but it hadn't reached the point of not doing homework. He thought, 'We've been old classmates for many years, but I don't want to hear you tell me how to study.'
"I wrote it!" Zhang Yingxuan's tone was serious, "And also..."
"Nice, let me copy it." Simon's face lit up.
"..." I thought you were concerned about my studies?
Xiao Lu walked out with Zhang Yingxuan's homework, then suddenly turned his head and asked, "What did you say 'and also' about?"
"...Nothing. Just copy it quickly. And also, next time, come copy your homework before lights out. Copying in the living room might be caught on camera."
"It's fine."
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