The main area of the post was a photograph of professors and scholars chatting happily while holding porcelain plates or glasses. This was the scene from the buffet.
After this post was sent, many students replied one after another.
[4th reply: It isn’t like you haven’t seen this type of bigshot before. What is there to be surprised about?]
[7th reply: I think the protagonist mentioned by the poster probably doesn’t mean these teachers…]
[12th reply: F*k! At first glance, I didn’t even realize something was wrong. It seemed too natural.]
[17th reply: How did he get in?]
[20th reply: This is a HOT post reservation.]
[23rd reply: Why do you keep mentioning those people from the past? What are the special contents? What do you mean, you didn’t go? Did something take notes? Stick it here and let us take a look.]
It was true that students took shorthand notes. Soon, someone made an excerpt of the sentences and sent them. It was basically what each teacher said. After these sentences appeared, the post slowed down for a bit before the replies came at an even faster speed.
[42nd reply: I have to say, it is pretty good.]
[51st reply: I regret that I didn’t go. It still isn’t over, yet?]
[59th reply: Is the upstairs person serious? I am dying of laughter. Can’t you understand these words? It is just a typical self-comfort of mediocre people. They deserve to be poor all their lives.]
[65th reply: Then you can die laughing. Where did such a strong sense of superiority come from? The three generations of your ancestors aren’t human beings. They are made of gold, right?]
[74th reply: Everyone can say beautiful things but there are some things that can’t be overcome in a lifetime.]
[88th reply: Why do you think that others are as narrow-minded as you and have to cross something? You can care about money while others have to care about the moon or the world is over.]
……
The post was gradually divided into two factions. Those who believed in elitism fiercely criticized the professors’ remarks while some people expressed their anti-class approval through the anonymous forum. This was until a new reply appeared.
[210th reply: This type of debate is all false. Let me ask a question. When Pei Qingyuan left, what did that post that had at least 500 replies say? They said that after losing his status, he would fall into the mud and become a puddle of trash, right?
Then look at the photo of the main post and see how that ‘trash’ is surrounded by the bigshots that you respectfully call Teacher during the day.
Does your face hurt? Are you embarrassed to continue making a big fuss here? Why can’t you do what trash can do? Is it because you guys are even more trash?]
The post quieted down for a moment.
Ji Tong discovered this post through the surveillance function and couldn’t help laughing when he saw the post.
Originally, he wanted to use some special means to clean up some bad-speaking accounts. Now he didn’t need it. It was because he could already see that the expressions of the students around him holding the phones had visibly changed to the naked eye.
Pei Qingyuan didn’t know what he was laughing at and asked, “What happened?”
The buffet was coming to an end and everyone was chatting in groups of two and three. He walked to a corner alone.
“Nothing.” As Ji Tong spoke, an image appeared on the watch. “I saw a photo that was taken very well.”
In this photo taken by other students, many people’s eyes fell on Pei Qingyuan standing in the center while he stared down at the watch on his wrist.
The black watch body was really cool and handsome. It made the whole photo look like a screenshot of a watch advertisement.
It was well shot, so it belonged to him.
Ji Tong happily saved it in the photo album.
Pei Qingyuan was taking a piece of transparent dessert from the dessert shelf. It was the one that Ji Tong had asked him to taste when he came in.
“It is white and sweet,” he said. “There is the scent of flowers.”
Under the brilliant light, the photo on the dial disappeared. A line of pink flowers appeared with a ‘thank you.’
After the excitement ended and the buffet was officially over, Pei Qingyuan walked back to his dormitory with the other exchange students.
Xiao Mei left work at some point and it was Mushroom’s turn to go to work.
Xiao Xinchen and several other students wanted to pet the cat, so they stayed in Pei Qingyuan’s dormitory and refused to leave.
Pei Qingyuan watched as Mushroom amused several high school students around the house and a smile appeared in his eyes.
This childish cat teasing exercise didn’t stop until Xiao Xinchen’s phone rang.
“It is a video call from my mother.” The gasping Xiao Xinchen glanced at it and asked, “Do you mind if I take a video? I can go outside to pick it up.”
Everyone shook their heads. “It’s okay, it’s okay. You can take it. This will allow us to meet Auntie.”
After getting acquainted with Xiao Jianping and Xiao Xinchen, they were all very curious about what type of person Xiao Xinchen’s mother was.
Then after the video call was connected, amidst Xiao Xinchen’s warm greeting, the picture that appeared on the interface was nothing short of surprising.
It was a delicate-looking, middle-aged woman with a gentle smile on her face. Once the phone shook, it flashed over the armrest of a wheelchair.
“There are so many people. Are they your students?”
“Yes, Mom. Let me introduce you. This is Lin Zihai from the 2nd High School. Shen Yiming…”
Shi Yuelan smiled and greeted everyone. “Just call me Aunt Shi. Thank you for taking care of Xinchen.”
The students were a bit at a loss but they all responded positively. Fortunately, the shock caused by Shi Yuelan’s physical condition didn’t last long. It immediately disappeared in the ordinary, daily conversation between mother and son.
“Did you have fun today?’
“It was very happy and very cool!”
“What about your dad? He’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Mom, are you calling to care about me or are you concerned about my dad and also caring about me?”
Before Xiao Xinchen finished speaking, a burst of footsteps was heard in the opposite camera. This was accompanied by a child’s voice with an electronic texture. “Hey!”
A small robot with a white shell walked into the screen at a constant speed. It stretched out its mechanical arms and seemed ready to serve its master at any time. The students watching from this side of the screen suddenly exclaimed.
Shi Yuelan glanced back and smiled helplessly. “Xiao Ming, I’m explaining about tomorrow, not calling you.”
“Okay, Master.”
Xiao Ming retreated two steps to the side. Its arms drooped and it returned to a quiet standby state.
Xiao Xinchen sighed. “Xiao Ming, you are acting stupid again. By the way, I met a super smart AI today called Xiao Mei.”
“By the way, why do the names of your smart assistants sound so stupid… Xiao Ming, Xiao Mei, it is so uncreative.”
However, Xiao Ming remained motionless and didn’t pay attention to him.
“Xiao Ming!” Lin Zihai, who was joining in the fun, called out. Then he asked doubtfully, “Aunt Shi, why is Xiao Ming ignoring us?”
Several students came to a conclusion in a low voice. “I feel that Xiao Mei is smarter than Xiao Ming.”
Seeing the group of children make a fuss on the screen, Shi Yuelan couldn’t help laughing. “Your voices are too noisy and Xiao Ming can’t distinguish it.”
As a result, the moment she spoke, Xiao Ming snorted and moved over again. Bursts of laughter broke out instantly in the dormitory.
The slightly unsociable Shen Yiming stayed aside and stared at Xiao Xinchen’s phone screen with some curiosity. He whispered with emotion, “This should be a robot specially designed by Professor Xiao for Aunt Shi. I heard that Professor Xiao brought the camera to take photos and will show it to Aunt Shi when he goes back.”
Pei Qingyuan sat next to him and nodded slightly after hearing this.
When he was living in the Pei house, he saw many different families. Some of them only looked good and were kept together by children or money. Some respected each other but lacked any warmth. Some were famous in the circle for their husband and wife love.
However, these glamorous or bleak feelings seemed different from the dull moment witnessed right now.
Pei Qingyuan couldn’t accurately describe the difference between them, but a trace of envy surged from the bottom of his heart.
On a quiet night, the high school students gathered in a circle. The relaxed and cheerful laughter reminded him of the night before with a similar atmosphere.
What was liking?
This question accompanied him to sleep.
Then after glimpsing the decades-long relationship between Xiao Jianping and his wife, it seemed like this question was revised. What was love?
Yet as his thoughts drifted, he always thought of the blue eyes of the cat called Mushroom for no reason.
Thinking of this, Pei Qingyuan realized that Mushroom had been quiet for a long time.
Xiao Xinchen started calling, the white cat curled up quietly in his arms as if asleep.
He reached out and rubbed Mushroom’s head. At the same time, he whispered in his heart, “Ji Tong?”
The familiar bright voice was soon heard. “Hey!”
Based on these words alone, Pei Qingyuan was sure that he wasn’t sleeping just now and was secretly watching the liveliness.
Ji Tong must’ve heard the voice of the intelligent robot Xiao Ming in the video call.
He learned well.
“Where are you?”
“I’m watering the flowers,” Ji Tong answered.
Ji Tong suddenly missed these flowers that had been with him for several days. He remembered that he hadn’t taken care of them for a long time, so he quietly slipped into the emotional zone of the host’s consciousness space.
The little robot was dressed in a gardening suit as he walked through the garden with a hundred varieties of flowers. His bright yellow rubber shows passed by the green leaves.
He carefully watered the flowers with a kettle. Then he raised his head and saw the end of the blue sky that was filled with extremely gorgeous clouds.
This was a view he had never seen before.
Ji Tong looked at it for a while. Many words representing emotions flashed in his heart. Finally, he felt what should be envy.
The clouds were as colorful as an oil painting and had a breathtaking beauty. This made all those who saw it stop and want to get closer.
But it was so far away, so distant that it was like a dream. It was untouchable.
Was the host envious of Xiao Xinchen’s family?
In fact, he was also envious.
Ji Tong patiently finished watering the flowers and moved his attention to the special plant where the butterfly lingered.
It was just a small seedling the last time he found it. Now it had grown a lot. The leaves gave off a beautiful sheen and gently swung in the breeze.
The butterfly flew past his green data fingertips, bypassing the abrupt curtain of water and flapping its wings lightly.
Will this plant that grew from the host’s heart bloom later? What flowers would bloom?
Ji Tong thought endlessly while watering it carefully.
He didn’t block out the sounds around him. The garden was quiet but he didn’t want the host to hear the scenery in his heart.
Pei Qingyuan, who was sitting by the window and watching the clear night sky, heard the sound of rain.
Mixed with the sound of the world around him, he heard fine droplets of water fall through the air to the ground. It burst after busts like fleeting light rain, footsteps on grass and the extremely quiet wind blowing through the petals.
Ji Tong was walking around while watering the flowers.
Pei Qingyuan tried to imagine this scene. It was a garden, a small robot, rain boots and a kettle sprinkling water.
He had seen many of Ji Tong’s forms but the one with the deepest impression had always been the bean green little robot that hid behind the door and poked his head out on that bright moonlit night, hesitating to come out.
“Is the host afraid?”
“I’m not afraid.”
He walked out with confidence and enthusiastically knocked on the mechanical lid of his chest.
“Ruan Ruan, do you want to see my heart?”
Pei Qingyuan had already seen his complex data heart that was like an ocean.
However, he vaguely felt that it shouldn’t be like this.
Pei Qingyuan didn’t know where this feeling came from. Perhaps it was because Ji Tong sometimes behaved like a human or perhaps because he had a great enthusiasm and cherished this seemingly ordinary worldly life more than ordinary people.
In the intermittent sound of water, the sounds belonging to the real world disappeared. Another quieter world emerged and he listened intently to Ji Tong’s occasional voice.
“All the flowers are blooming well,” the little robot reported to him. “There is another plant but I don’t know when it will bloom. I hope it will.”
“Yes.”
He couldn’t see those flowers for the time being but he could often smell flowers from Ji Tong’s words.
This familiar voice was calm as usual.
“Host, rest early,” Ji Tong said with a laugh. “Good night.”
Late at night, the students who had enough of the liveliness dispersed. They washed up and returned to their respective rooms. The cat lay on his stomach in his nest, surrounded by a small blanket. He slept soundly and there was only moonlight in the air.
Pei Qingyuan stood by the window alone and watched the moon for a long time before going to bed in silence.
His heart was wrapped in a very complicated emotion. There wasn’t only happiness, joy and rejoicing but also strong sadness.
He didn’t understand where these emotions came from. They weren’t very strange and not like the emotions he would have. However, they did appear in his heart, flowing slowly in the silent night like a crystal sea.
It took Pei Qingyuan a long time to fall asleep in the midst of these complex feelings that were difficult to describe in words.
But the night didn’t end immediately. He didn’t see the ceiling illuminated by the sun the next day, but was wrapped in a vast white space.
Pei Qingyuan had a strange and magnificent dream.
The dream was full of sunshine and was shining brilliantly. Everything was clean and wasn’t stained with a trace of dust. It was like heaven.
He hesitated in the light until he saw a door and gently pushed it open.
The room was equally bright, but there was finally no longer just light.
Pei Qingyuan saw a strange figure from the back, standing quietly by the window and looking up at the outside. It was just like him before falling asleep tonight.
There was no moon outside the window, but there was an even more bizarre view.
Outside the transparent glass window, there was a huge mushroom. It floated in the clear blue sky like a hot air balloon. It looked huge and soft and was like the scene in a fairy tale.
When seeing this real mushroom, Pei Qingyuan couldn’t help thinking that he was dreaming.
Maybe it was because he usually called out Mushroom so many times.
The stranger in the dream stood in front of the window for a long time. His figure was thin and his short hair had turned a fragile maroon in the overly bright sunlight. He trembled softly.
This person seemed to be around the same age as him, Pei Qingyuan guessed.
He tried to walk to the other person and see the stranger’s appearance, but he was blocked by some invisible barrier. He could never approach the dreamer and could only see the changing scenery outside the window.
The giant mushroom moved in the wind until it was anchored outside the window. The moment the edge of the soft cap touched the glass, the boy stretched out his finger and gently touched the glass window. His skin was very white and the sunlight was particularly dazzling.
Pei Qingyuan, who couldn’t get close, could only see the pale fingertips gradually attach to the edge of the mushroom’s light gray cap cover. In the slow flow of time, he could feel the excitement that suddenly rippled in the air, almost rejoicing for this unknown stranger.
But that was all.
The wind blew the mushrooms but the windows of the room had a thick layer of glass.
The stubborn coldness lay between them.
The person in the dream was so close yet so far away from the soft mushroom.
Pei Qingyuan stood in place.
His high spirits were gone.
He heard the sound of rain.
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