Chapter 118: birthday present

Xu Kan sat in his favorite cafe for a long time. +++ The latest Danmei novel ranking: www.sto123.cc
People are not as sharp as they were when they were young. He has forgotten a lot of things-he can't remember when his wife left, their car accident was before his retirement? Or after retiring? He only remembered that he disappeared from his wife when he woke up.
The obscure doctor informed him that they had a car accident abroad and his wife was unfortunately killed.
And his daughter...daughter is studying abroad. Because she couldn't bear the pain of bereavement, she made up her mind to wander outside, and it was a long time since she came back to see him. There were only voice calls and short videos from time to time.
Xu Kan touched his hair—for a person in his late 50s, he looked young, he didn't have much gray hair, and his body was strong. But counting the time, my daughter will be twenty-five years old.
time flies.
From the time Blackbird retired to the car accident, Xu Kan's memory was almost a mess. But after a long time, he gradually got used to the life affected by sequelae. His life is not complicated-he is satisfied enough to read books and read the news, go to his favorite coffee shop to drink tea and coffee, and chat with strangers.
Time has passed for too long, and the former comrades-in-arms are also separated from each other, with only brief textual greetings.
The cafe has glass windows that are so transparent that they are almost non-existent, and the afternoon sun is warm and gentle, and Xu Kan suddenly feels a little sad. Everything in front of him was so good that it was unreal, and he was out of tune with this scene.
It's not that he never thought of leaving here, but whenever he gave birth to this idea, his daughter's message would always be delivered just right, euphemistically saying "I hope my father can wait for me at my hometown". I want to go to my daughter to meet, but my daughter always uses "busy study and life" as a prevarication.
This year's Reunion Festival, I'm not sure I will spend it in a video call. Xu Kan flipped through the book in his hand, unable to read a word.
He struggled for so many years in "Erosion", but there was no one around him. Today is her daughter's birthday. Xu Kante picked the best corner of the coffee shop and dressed up before going out. If she had time for video, she could still be a handsome father.
The door of the cafe opened and high heels knocked on the ground. Xu Kan did not lift his head until the red high heels stopped in front of him.
"Dad." The young woman said.
Xu Kan straightened his back like an electric shock, and raised his head in disbelief.
After many years of separation, her daughter's appearance is a bit strange. Her makeup is exquisite, her temperament is cold and sharp, and her every move is very decisive. Xu Kan was in a daze—his daughter looked like a battle-tested warrior.
"Dad, long time no see." The woman sat down opposite him, "Do you like this surprise?"
Xu Kan felt sour in his throat: "Smelly girl, I know I will come back and see Dad."
I don't know if the tears blurred the eyes, the woman's expression became complicated for an instant, that expression was mixed with sadness and relief, and she seemed to be more sad than him.
"...I got a job and it's nearby. It will be convenient for you in the future." The woman sniffed, "You should think I'm annoying then."
Xu Kan wiped his face, and let out a long sigh: "The girl is promising. Sijing, what job are you looking for?"
The woman was silent for a while: "I have something to say before talking about this."
"how?"
"I changed my name, Dad, I don't want to keep...being bound by the past, you should let go."
Xu Kan was stunned: "A good name, just change how you say it? This is what my dad racked his brains to get it, your mother she—"
"'Xia Jing' must love you very much. Now I can be sure that until her death, she never really let go of you." The woman sighed, "but that's all over, Dad. "Erosion" is about to be closed. It should be over."
"Silly boy, what are you talking about?'Xia Jing' is just the name of the npc your mother was in charge of in "Erosion". But since you don't like it, you can. You are too old and have your own ideas... you What name has been changed?"
"Xiao Xiao." The woman raised her mouth, her smile still with a trace of sadness. "Dad, I became a doctor."
This time Xu Kan was stunned for a longer time. He pondered for a while, but laughed: "As expected, it is my girl."
"...?"
"Dad, I really like the name'Xiao Xiao'. Alas, when I named you, I wanted to remember the encounter between me and your mother... Maybe I called you'Xiao Xiao' long ago. Don’t believe me, I met a very well-behaved little girl when I was still in "Erosion", and I gave her this name—"
Ai Xiaoxiao reluctantly kept smiling and resisted the tears.
"I believe it," she said. "……dad."
"Ok?"
"Nothing, just want to call you."
"Oh, look at me and just chatted. Since you're back, I'll take you to pick a gift later. Dad will buy you whatever the girl wants, as a celebration of your finding a good job."
"I have something I want." Ai Xiaoxiao said with red eyes, "Dad, can I take a picture with you? Let's...our family, haven't taken a picture for a long time."
Xu Kan was so happy that he could not find North. He immediately got up and moved his seat to make room for the best place in the sun: "Come here, I can't ask for it."
Two people crowded in the most light corner of the cafe, close to each other, the photo was full of temperature.
"Dad." Ai Xiaoxiao watched Xu Kan hurriedly set up the screensaver, his voice finally brought a cry. "Thank you for the present."
"...I will stay with you forever."
Two hours later, Ai Xiaoxiao stepped out of the dormant cabin. The photo was still in her database, she called it up and projected it on the most conspicuous location of the medical hall.
"The first time I saw you cry like this." Seeing the other party's tears, Xia Liang didn't dare to joke. "Are you OK?"
"Ok."
"That photo... well, the face on it is still a bit different from yours. Are you sure you want to cast it outside?"
"It's just the avatar, just adjust the data slowly. His daughter doesn't exist at the beginning, there will be no problem." Ai Xiaoxiao smoked a tissue and blew his nose. After drying her tears, she looked at the dormant cabin next to her.
Xu Kan in the real world-that pool of liquid creatures fell asleep quietly, its body was a little more bloody, but its shape remained unchanged.
After the war, she tried countless methods. With the assistance of the command center, she can cure severely eroding humans and stabilize the dna of synthetic humans. She can keep them healthy and healthy, but cannot save synthetic humans who have completely lost their form.
She can only let them live the life of a normal person, nothing more.
Ai Xiaoxiao raised his head, and the transformed "bellflower" was working quietly. After today, the machine in the command center will officially stop operating. Starting today, more than one hundred people, including Xu Kan, will officially return to the society of synthetic humans.
Intelligence processing may be a little troublesome, but fortunately, there is a capable person in today's head—Tang He has become the head of the command center research organization, and the old man likes to fiddle with such things.
"After a long time, the synthetic people still like this set of things." Xia Liang took a drink. "The environment is so much better now that I thought they would not be immersed in the virtual world anymore."
"These more than one hundred people can only live on the'other side'. For the remaining 30,000 people, this is some kind of farewell." Ai Xiaoxiao moped the lid of the dormant cabin. "The construction of City X takes time, and going back to the'over there' can also be used as a decompression activity.
"Yes. At least this time, the game is a real game." Xia Liang drank a dry drink and smacked his lips.
"...I just wanted to ask, are you so idle? I don't have the time to fool around with you, so I go back quickly."
"Don't be fierce, people don't need to perform now." Xia Liangjia cried, "You are the only friend of mine. Can't you come to see you?"
"I know you don't need to perform, but now the Xia family is in your charge?" Ai Xiaoxiao snorted, "Marshal Xia, you have to continue to mess around, Zhu Yanchen will definitely kick you down."
"Hey. I checked his schedule, Mr. Zhu is on a sweet date outside, why can't I come out to soak in—"
"Bubble?" Ai Xiaoxiao's eyes sharpened instantly.
"Come out for a walk, take a walk." Xia Liang smiled brighter than a flower. "Oh, you said it's been more than half a year, why are they still so sticky! It's not plausible, let me tell you..."
Xia Liang's gossip failed to reach the party's ears.
Zhu Yanchen was blindfolded and sat in the back seat of the car with a confused expression. Shu Jun hummed happily, and almost drove the car to the spot to take off.
Ninety percent of the eroded material retreated to the bottom of the sea, the eroded land slowly recovered, and weeds gradually covered the ground. The mouse crawled around in the grass, and the colorful bird stopped on the branch. There is not a trace of clouds in the blue sky, and all the colors are several times brighter.
There is also a price. There is no longer wet black mud under the tires, but uneven ground. The car was racing like a mad dog, and Zhu Yanchen almost vomited after all the battles.
I wish the head of yours to hold your pockets in pain and try to maintain a proper sitting posture. He missed the time when the two of them were flying freely, but it was a pity that Shu Jun was sleeping in name, and the surrounding detection stations were dense, so they had to travel in a normal way.
"It's almost here." Shu Jun comforted him, "I, cough, I drove a little hurriedly. A Yan, you can bear with me for a few more minutes."
"Uh..."
Finally, the car stopped. Zhu Yanchen lay in the back seat in the position of lying on the coffin for a while before getting up.
Shu Jun did not untie the blindfold. He clenched Zhu Yanchen's hand and led someone forward: "Ayan, last time on your birthday, resources are limited, I didn't give you a gift... Do you remember?"
"Remember." Zhu Yanchen's voice was serious. "Remember very clearly."
Shu Jun took a cold breath: "Don't say it is like holding a grudge? Come here and watch me make up the present."
He happily unwrapped Zhu Yanchen's blindfold, spread his arms, and showed off what was behind him--
...A muddy ground.
Zhu Yanchen's eyes moved from the left to the right of the land, and then from the right to the left. He looked carefully for a long time, only to see a large patch of bare mud.
Shu Jun's face twitched, he turned around, and then carefully moved his body away.
As soon as Shu Jun moved away, Zhu Yanchen's gaze froze—two lisianthus flowers bloomed in the middle of the brown-black mud. Whether it is variety or color, they are quite similar to what they raised when they were young.
"I wanted to show you the flower field." Shu Jun scratched his head embarrassedly. "Ai Xiaoxiao improved the seeds and shortened the growth period. I cleaned the erosion of this piece of land, but I lost my experience in planting flowers. ...This thing is no better than the data in the virtual world, and two plants survived in the end."
He peeked at Zhu Yanchen's expression and cleared his throat specifically: "If you replant another crop, your next birthday will be passed! By that time, you will lose a gift for nothing, which is not a good deal. So I..."
Shu Jun could not finish this sentence.
Zhu Yanchen grabbed his waist and kissed him seriously. The kiss lasted long enough, until Shu Jun began to make noise from his throat, and his hands were not honest.
However, Zhu Yanchen grabbed his wrist.
"Ayan?"
"I happen to have a gift too." Zhu Yanchen loosened Shu Jun's waist, took out the prepared small box from his pocket, and solemnly handed it to Shu Jun.
Shu Jun raised his eyebrows, opened the shameless box, and then took a breath—
Two rings lay quietly in the box. The two rings are exactly the same style, without any gems. One of them is pitch black and has a warm color, while the other has been carefully polished and glows white.
Zhu Yanchen reached out and took the black one and put on the ring finger of his left hand.
Shu Jun: "..."
Shu Jun: "Wait, what do you mean?"
"Formal response." Zhu Yanchen replied stubbornly, "Didn't you confess to me in front of all humans?"
"No, this..."
"Don't you agree?"
"This is not a question of whether you agree or not!" Shu Jun picked up the ring, his expression a little sluggish. "That's it? Nothing? Ayan, it wasn't me who said that when I confessed, somehow I picked a big scene—"
"Yeah." Zhu Yanchen carefully dug out the two platycodons and turned to walk towards the car.
"Hey, hey, why are you going, how could I not agree to it. But even if an old couple is an old wife, we have to be a little bit on the scene..."
"Follow me." This time Zhu Yanchen sat in the driver's seat and cast a sideways glance at Shu Jun. "I won't blindfold you."
As soon as the car drove, it was another long time. Zhu Yanchen drove very steadily, Shu Jun looked at the ring on the ring finger throughout the whole process, mumbled a few times in his mouth, and finally fell asleep.
The car stopped silently, Shu Jun woke up in a daze, and the sound of the waves caught his ears.
A beautiful little house stands on the cliff by the sea. Looking at the style and painting, the house was definitely built recently. It was standing proudly by the sea on Monday. It was a lot bigger, and it looked about the size of a house.
Shu Jun guessed seven or eight points, quietly following Zhu Yanchen. He was mentally prepared, but at the moment the door opened, he almost screamed out—
The decoration and items in the room are almost the same as his home on the "over side".
"When the reconstruction of city y was about to end, I secretly renovated several construction machines." Zhu Yanchen stuffed the two platycodons into empty flower pots and placed them on the sunny windowsill. "I restored the furniture and electrical appliances one by one... and Mr. Tang and others helped. In short..."
His voice was getting smaller and smaller, turning the black ring on his finger round and round.
"I asked Ai Xiaoxiao to check my body. Part of my body is maintained by erosive quality, and it will age, but the process will become very slow." As if made up his mind, Zhu Yanchen's voice became clear again. "Shu Jun, we can stay with each other for a long time. In another ten years, when I retreat from the top position, this is our two..."
His ears were so red that his voice came down again like a roller coaster.
"...Home for the two of us."
Shu Jun put his hands on his eyes and suddenly laughed: "What else do I want to do...A Yan, you propose to marry me like this, isn't it shy?"
"It's really a little nervous." Zhu Yanchen admitted sternly.
"This is not nervous, we call it shy." Shu Jun decisively took off the ring, and then lifted the ring from Zhu Yanchen's finger. "Come on, I will give you a demonstration-Ayan, marry me, next year I will definitely plant the flower field."
Zhu Yanchen's expression is a bit subtle. He hasn't opened his mouth yet, and Shu Jun continues like a bead: "It doesn't matter if you don't want to marry, you can marry me."
"Ten years, right? I'll retire with you at that time. As for work, this is a good place for vacation. Well, it's a good place to have a wedding. Let's do it again."
After that, Shu Jun bends his eyes and kisses the back of Zhu Yanchen's hand: "How about, do you want to live with me forever?"
Zhu Yanchen pursed his lips and opened Shu Jun's hand. He snatched his ring back, quickly put his fingers back, and carefully put on the white wedding ring for Shu Jun.
"Of course." Zhu Yanchen's tone was extremely solemn.
"It's a pity that I didn't eat, otherwise we can still fire up a meal. Ah yes, there is food in the car, walk away, let's go get it." Shu Jun waved his ringed hand and lowered his voice. "After eating... we have to test the bedding here, the back seat of the car is still too narrow."
Zhu Yanchen's eyes stuck to the ring, and finally raised his head, revealing an extremely satisfied smile.
However, they were not the only ones who were hungry.
Seeing the two guardians come home, Monday was overjoyed and opened his mouth to wait to eat the marsh sugar. But the two started talking to themselves when they entered the house, completely ignoring it.
Monday's anticipation gradually turned into anger.
It stretched out a swamp tentacles, slipped to the balcony, and began to chew the leaves of two platycodons piece by piece. It’s a pleasure to bite one bit here and one bite over there.
On the same day, the observers at the seaside observatory said that the newborn sigma made a huge scream for unknown reasons. Soon after, the scream turned into a grieved grunt, a burst of chewing sound passed, and the grunt turned into a grunt of satisfaction.
What happened to the freshman sigma that day is still an unsolved mystery.