Gao Fei walked into the smoking area alone and sat down next to Ma Tao.
"Brother Tao, are you worried?"
Ma Tao casually put the cigarette butt in the ashtray and glanced at him listlessly.
"It's nothing, just random thoughts."
After a moment of silence, Ma Tao spoke again.
"I've been bored these days in the hospital and thought about a lot of things."
Gao Fei nodded and waited for him to continue.
"When Jiajia came to visit me the day before yesterday, she gave me a very beautiful memory book. It was the kind of notebook we signed each other's names when we graduated from high school. I guess she had already started to think about quitting at that time."
"She only gave you a personal memory book, which shows that she cares about you very much and doesn't want you to forget her." Gao Fei said softly.
Ma Tao sighed and said with emotion: "Jiajia is only 18 years old after all, the same age as my sister, and still retains the mentality of a high school student. It is too cruel to let a little girl like her fight against a vicious monster."
Gao Fei nodded, feeling the same.
Ma Tao didn't mention Li Jiajia again. He took out a girly pink memorial book from the astrolabe storage space, opened a page, and it was filled with words.
Gao Fei quickly turned his head to the side.
Ma Tao smiled and punched him.
"Don't be pretentious, kid. What's written on this is not something private. It's just something I scribbled in my spare time."
"What is it written about?" Gao Fei asked curiously.
"I draw a line in the middle of the notebook, write the rules of the game world on the left, and the bad things in reality on the right."
Ma Tao unfolded the memorial book, placed it flat on his knees, and kept talking to himself.
"The logic of the game world is clear, and the clues are clear. Every foreshadowing is like a gray line. It is traceable and reasonable. Players need to complete the corresponding plot to level up. Sometimes the skills of dealing with people are more important than fighting monsters."
"The real world is a mess. There is no drama, no sense of ritual, no logical clues. What you think is foreshadowing is probably nothing at all. There are no plot milestones, no negotiation checks - even if there are, you can't advance them.
Received test prompt."
"You fight monsters, if you can beat them, you can fight them. If you save enough experience points, you can level up. If you can't beat them, you will die."
"An event is triggered in the game and a group of monsters appear. The ins and outs are explained clearly to you. It is clear that if there is a cause, there must be an effect, and if there is an effect, there must be a cause."
"In reality, you can't predict what disaster will happen tomorrow. You don't understand why some mutant mice gather in groups, and some turn into giant mice like blowing up balloons. No one can explain to you why cats grow wings.
Black dogs will turn into hellhounds, and you won't be able to figure out until the day you die why some wild boars simply grow bigger and stronger, while other wild boars are filled with sparks and lightning as if struck by lightning."
"You make me think hard and can't figure out why in this real world where people can't be resurrected after death or load files and come back, there are such a group of stubborn idiots. It's obvious that the police have given repeated orders to prohibit travel friends from entering where mutated monsters are rampant.
When traveling to an area, someone happened to be against me. I just wanted to find excitement. In the end, I didn’t end up crying and calling the police for help.”
"I can't even figure out why Baoding Mountain has been cordoned off by the police with guns and ammunition, so there are crazy people who dream of becoming famous. They rack their brains and sneak into the mountain. In order to hype up the popularity of the so-called live broadcast, they are so crazy that they go to the Tianchi on the top of the mountain to shoot nine pictures.
Head Dragon King... tell me, is this special code something a normal person can do?"
"Our world is full of this kind of stuff, but this kind of people can become famous and have countless fans touting them. Do you think this world is sick with special codes?"
"Yes, our fucking real world, no matter how you look at it, is more absurd, more illogical, and more like a garbage game than the game world!"
"What's even more sad is that this is reality. We have to survive in this fucking real world. We make up some seemingly reasonable logic to deceive ourselves into believing that the world can be saved. This garbage game of dogs
The shit server is still barely running..."
"We can only deceive ourselves like this, like a group of religious believers."
The more Ma Tao talked, the more excited he became. He suddenly closed his notebook, lit another cigarette, and took two puffs before his mood gradually calmed down.
"Brother Fei, let me tell you something from my heart. If I had a choice, I would rather live in the game world forever. At least it is more in line with the rational world I imagined and more logical."
After Gao Fei heard what Ma Tao said, he reached out and patted his shoulder, and said with deep feeling:
"Brother Tao, you ask me where is the source of all this madness? To put it bluntly, this is capitalism, this is the era of consumption, everyone is a commodity, everyone is also a consumer, this is the best era
, is also the worst time.”
Ma Tao nodded, smoked a cigarette silently, stood up and said to Gao Fei.
"Brother Fei, you will be the captain of the next special service mission."
Gao Fei didn't comment, just stared at him and smiled bitterly.
At the end of the stalemate, Ma Tao shook his head helplessly: "If you don't want to, just give up, I won't make it difficult for you!"
…
The day after Ma Tao was discharged from the hospital, he followed Gao Fei and Jiang Feng back to his hometown.
In the car, Jiang Feng learned that the destination of his trip was a tourist town under the jurisdiction of Mei County, and he naturally thought of a historical celebrity.
"Is this the hometown of Mr. Dongpo?"
"Big Beard Su is my fellow countryman and my idol. Not only is he good at writing articles, he is also a big foodie!" Gao Fei replied with a smile.
"I also like... Dongpo pork and Dongpo elbow." Jiang Feng couldn't help but swallowed.
"It's easy! I'll arrange it for you tonight. Dongpo elbow is my dad's signature dish."
Gao Fei's parents received a call from their son yesterday and learned that he was bringing his girlfriend home. They were so happy that they didn't sleep well all night and waited eagerly at the door early.
"Uncle and aunt, good afternoon!"
After getting off the taxi, Jiang Feng shyly stepped forward to say hello, still holding the fruit he bought on the road.
Father Gao is relatively introverted, smiling and nodding without making a sound.
Gao Mu was so happy that she said you were welcome, "Just call me Niang Niang!"
Holding Jiang Feng's hand, he looked this tall and beautiful girl up and down. He first asked her zodiac sign, and then asked about her family situation. He treated her as if she were a prospective daughter-in-law. He was so enthusiastic that Jiang Feng felt quite embarrassed.
.
When he arrived at home, Father Gao took out his treasured collection of fine tea, brewed a pot, and poured tea for the two young men with his own hands.
Jiang Feng was a little flattered and quickly stood up to thank him.
Gao Fei sat there drinking tea and lamented that he had benefited from Jiang Feng. He usually didn't get such high-level treatment when he went home alone.
