Striving for Science C39 pt1

"Um, um, um..."

"Just someone's flying a kite," the guard pointed to a small path on the right, "Please go this way."

"There are so many trees here, and the weather is cold. Flying a kite would be too uncomfortable." Ding Yang realized that the shadow that looked like a person could indeed be a kite floating in the sky.

"Rich people, you know." The guard shrugged and smiled at Ding Yang, "Their hobbies are different from us ordinary people, that's normal."

"Makes sense." Ding Yang agreed wholeheartedly, the joys of the rich were beyond his imagination.

They walked through a path strewn with fallen flowers, and the guard stopped, "Ahead, that's where Mr. Shen lives."

Ding Yang, Chen Panpan, and Xu Ze all looked up. They saw a beautiful house surrounded by beautiful flowers, and outside the flowers, there was a lush forest. For a moment, they almost thought they were lost travelers who had found a fairyland in the dense forest.

"The three of you go in, someone is waiting for you at the door."

As soon as the guard finished speaking, they saw the door of this beautiful house slowly open, and two men dressed similarly, with similar appearances, walked out: "Are you three Mr. Shen's friends?"

Besides nodding, the three of them didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Please come in."

The three of them hadn't planned to visit Shen Chang'an. They had accidentally learned from Aunt Juan in the afternoon that Chang'an had no relatives left and had been living alone for years. Chang'an never mentioned his family in front of them, and he was always so kind that it was hard to imagine that such a boy who always had a smile on his face would have such a family background.

After much deliberation, the three of them, after work, took their bags full of gifts to visit the sick, asked for Shen Chang'an's address, and came to see how he was doing before they could rest assured.

"Dao Nian, why did you let me agree to my colleagues coming to see me?" After finishing a bowl of soup made by Uncle Zhao, Shen Chang'an felt that he had already recovered, but Dao Nian insisted that he still needed to be nursed back to health, so he wouldn't even let him out the door.

"Your bodies are too fragile, even unhappiness can make you sick." In Dao Nian's view, humans were a very contradictory group. Sometimes a rain, a few steps on the stairs, could kill them, and accidents could happen whether they were happy or not. But sometimes their vitality was terrifyingly tenacious. He had seen mothers who protected their unborn children even in death, fathers who carried stones several times heavier than their own bodies to allow their children to crawl out of the rubble, and he had also seen some parents who killed their children and ate their flesh, using their children as tools for their own enjoyment.

But overall, he didn't like this race very much. This race was physically weak but mentally strong, and they had a terrifying reproductive instinct. For the sake of procreation, for the sake of the development of their species, for their own abilities, they could develop some methods to the extreme.

"They'll make you a little happier." Dao Nian suddenly turned his head and glanced at the door, "Your friends are here, go down and greet them."

He pulled the blanket covering his knees, closed his eyes, and leaned back against the chair, "I won't go down."

Shen Chang'an got up, put the fruit plate on the table within Dao Nian's reach, and then quietly went out the door.

"Mr. Shen." Liu Mao stood outside the corridor, seeing Shen Chang'an come out, he smiled, "Your friends are here."

"Thank you, Brother Liu, I'll go down right away." Shen Chang'an closed the door for Dao Nian and quickly went down the stairs. Liu Mao watched Shen Chang'an's light steps, pushed open the door and entered the room.

"Sir, Mr. Shen seems a little happier."

The thick curtains blocked the light from outside, and the room was extremely quiet. Just when Liu Mao thought the sir wouldn't speak, Dao Nian slowly opened his eyes, "Little children, they like the excitement of being with their companions."

Liu Mao's lips moved, but he didn't know what to say.

"Niu*, how many years have you been by my side?"

TN: Liu Mao is a cow/ox/bull and Dao Nian's mount

"Two thousand years."

"Two thousand years..." Dao Nian blinked lightly, a curtain rolled up, and light poured into the room, making it instantly brighter.

"Was the human world in a state of war back then?"

"Yes, there was a human who escaped the rules of time's flow and took control of the human world, but he lost it quickly."

Dao Nian mastered the forty-nine laws, and he also controlled the flow of time. Time, this thing, always moves forward, it never flows backward. But in the space-time continuum, occasionally there are lives that unintentionally cross the cracks of time, falling from the distant future into the past, or from the distant past, falling into an unknowing future.

He never interfered with those who defied the laws, because these lives that escaped the laws were all accidents brought about by that sliver of chance.

It's a pity that the human who held power for a time two thousand years ago, in the end, couldn't change the original trajectory of the great era. Droughts, locust plagues, rivers bursting their banks, all his efforts were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot under the rules.

After this human failed, the emperor who held the power of the world was jokingly called the "Chosen One" by some people in later generations. Actually, this statement wasn't wrong, this person was indeed the human emperor chosen by the rules.

Two thousand years ago, that was the last time he noticed the trajectory of that escaping life force. Since then, humans have become increasingly powerful, whether it's war, natural disasters, or plagues, they are all just stepping stones to strengthen their abilities.

Humans have also become increasingly arrogant, to the point where they now think they are the masters of the world, the apex predators of the food chain.

Dao Nian had no opinion on their way of thinking, after all, the dragons and phoenix yaos, and dinosaurs of the past all thought the same way. But in recent years, he has noticed something amiss. Perhaps because the laws have been supporting things for too long, and humans have been acquiring benefits without restraint, the laws are showing signs of separation and collapse.

When the laws collapse, not only will he disappear, but all living beings in the world will face a calamity.

Perhaps these humans created by the Great Dao also have a vague sense of this, which is why there have been legends of the end of the world in recent decades, as well as some apocalyptic survival works of art.

After the apocalypse, perhaps the world will get a new lease on life, but that will all be irrelevant to him.

***

Shen Chang'an walked downstairs and saw Ding Yang and the other three sitting awkwardly on the sofa. In front of them was a table full of various fruits.

"Chang'an." Ding Yang saw Shen Chang'an come down, and seeing that he was only a little pale, but his spirit seemed fine, he said, "Are you okay now?"

"I'm fine, everyone has been taking good care of me." Shen Chang'an sat down next to Ding Yang and invited everyone to eat fruit.

"It's good that you're okay." Ding Yang saw that Shen Chang'an's friends hadn't come down, and after asking about his health, he said he needed to go home.

"Stay for dinner." Shen Chang'an said, "Uncle Zhao's cooking is amazing, I guarantee you'll want more after you've eaten."

"It's good to know you're bouncing around, my mom has already made dinner and is waiting for me at home." Ding Yang felt that staying here would make his blood pressure rise, and he would develop "envy of the rich" and "jealousy" and other negative emotions that he shouldn't have. Leaving early was good for his mental health.

"Right, my dad has also made dinner and is waiting for me to go back and eat." Chen Panpan wiped her hands and mouth, she had accidentally eaten a bowl of washed grapes.

"I, my family's cook has also made dinner and is waiting for me to go back and eat." Xu Ze pushed his glasses up his nose, "By the way, I received a notice from above today, in half a month, each department will hold a sports meet, our department only has the four of us young people, do you want to contribute a few names?"

Shen Chang'an: "..."

"Basketball and football are out of the question for us, you can consider long jump, high jump, running, discus throw." Xu Ze looked at Shen Chang'an with the eyes of someone looking at a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, "Our department's hope rests on you."

Shen Chang'an instantly leaned back on the sofa: "No, no, no, I'm still a weak and helpless patient."

"In half a month, you'll be all better." Xu Ze pressed, "Can you bear the other departments laughing at us for being weaklings, a nursing home?"

“I can.” Shen Chang'an hugged the sofa cushion, “What sports meet? I must still be sick and heard wrong.”

“I understand.” Xu Ze smiled and patted Shen Chang'an's shoulder, “You get some rest, I'll tell Director Du about your strong desire to compete.”

"I'm not, I didn't."

"You have it, no need to explain." Xu Ze stood up and politely pulled away Shen Chang'an's hand that was clutching his sleeve, "Our entire department is waiting for your healthy return."

"Ahhhhh, you bunch of devils, you're not here to visit me, you're here to push me into the fire pit!" Shen Chang'an pounded the sofa, "Is there no love left among colleagues?"

"You'll get it after I report your sports events." Chen Panpan said with a smile, "It's okay, Chang'an. It's about participating, even I signed up for the women's 100-meter dash."

"So your competitors are…"

"It's nothing, just the female teacher from the sports academy and the female traffic police from the traffic police department." Chen Panpan smiled with a Buddhist air, "Be strong, just report more items, it's just losing more times, don't be afraid to lose face."

Shen Chang'an: "..."

"That's settled then, you stay home and rest tomorrow, no need to come to work." Ding Yang pushed Shen Chang'an back onto the sofa and made him sit down, "Get some good rest, see you on Monday."

"You guys are a bunch of heartless bastards without any camaraderie, I'm so disappointed in you." Shen Chang'an laughed and scolded as he saw them out, when he reached the front door, he even kicked Ding Yang with his foot.