Simon truly didn't know he had a Great-Grandfather.
He had never appeared at any projection gathering, no one had ever mentioned him, and not a single image of him was left behind. He just suddenly appeared on Simon's family tree, like an accident, like one or two coins found under the sofa during a spring cleaning, letting people know he had indeed existed in this world. Other than that, there was nothing surprising about it.
Today was the first day of winter break, but his mother, Sun Hui, clearly had no intention of sparing her obedient son. She quickly packed their bags and boarded the capsule train before eleven o'clock.
Lunch was eaten on the train. Simon didn't realize that Jiangzhe City was so vast; even the bullet-like capsule train took nearly four hours to arrive, and even then, the mother and son were still very far from Great-Grandfather's residence. They arrived at the train station at three in the afternoon, and then dinner was also eaten on the high-speed train. When they got off, it was half past seven, and the sky was completely dark.
Standing at the exit and looking south, a golden full moon was hidden behind sparse, pale clouds. The sky above the large plains, free from urban light pollution, was teeming with stars. The snow-covered world shimmered with fragmented silver, blanketed by the somber and bitter night, so oppressive it felt like it could drown a person, yet incredibly peaceful, concealing countless subtle, hushed stories.
It's the countryside.
How long had it been since Simon last saw farmland? Modern mechanized farms still couldn't erase nature's vitality. In the rice fields, which spanned hundreds of hectares, only a few lights from fruit and vegetable greenhouses rippled coldly in the unreachable distance, seemingly merging with the stars on the horizon. They occupied most of the southern and eastern view, and looking in those directions, they were like dead, isolated islands in the city. Simon stood on the boundary between urban and rural, one side a crystallization of civilization, the other a desert where time stood still.
It is said that the current countryside is vast and sparsely populated, with an average of only three people per two hundred square kilometers.
They are the last guardians of nature.
Today was January 15, 2082, the seventeenth day of the twelfth lunar month, a Thursday. Simon stepped onto this field, deeply rooted in humanity's bloodline.
The mother and son stayed one night in a hotel near the train station. The price was not cheap, as this area was considered a semi-scenic spot.
Early the next morning, after a refreshing and warm breakfast, Sun Hui rented a pickup truck, selected a few appropriate gifts, and drove her son towards Great-Grandfather's house.
The scenery seen at night was very different from that in the daytime. In the dark, the countryside felt like a flat, desolate expanse, the lack of varying building heights making city dwellers particularly uncomfortable. But when the sky was bright, one could see the boundless land. The autumn harvest was over, the earth was in hibernation, and a milky white mist covered the gray-black soil. Some blurry single-story houses, which were greenhouses, could be faintly seen in the distance.
The pickup truck sped along the national highway. Simon rolled down the window, stood on his seat, and leaned out, gripping the window frame, feeling the icy air blowing across his cheeks and seeping into his collar, a unique experience.
"Close the window, you'll freeze to death and catch a cold."
Simon really wanted to shout, "I'm not afraid!" But his mother's death glare had already transformed into a steel knife behind him, making his spine tingle. "Closing it now."
Winter was actually quite uninteresting. The snow from a month ago was half-melted, half-unmelted, like a thin layer of frost on the ground, unable to conceal the iron-black soil. The unremoved withered yellow stalks still stood upright, making the earth look ugly, like a mangy spotted dog. However, in the distance, cargo trains could be seen winding like long dragons across the plains, adding a touch of life to this winter.
Simon realized that habit was a terrifying thing. When machinery and industry permeated everyone's aesthetic habits, people would treat everything that moved as a kind of living creature, including vehicles, intelligent machines, automatic toys, drones, and even seemingly static objects like projection screens. Everyone was accustomed to being surrounded by active artificial objects, and when they truly saw natural organisms, they felt uncomfortable, only perceiving them as some kind of strangely shaped monster. This did not include pets, but for people who didn't keep pets, even cats and dogs were dangerous, unknown life forms.
It couldn't be called sorrow, nor could it be called evolution; it was just a very natural phenomenon.
Simon grew a little tired of looking at the scenery, so he curled up in his seat and scrolled on his phone.
His friends sent emails, they were already preparing for their trips.
7:44 "Su Xiangli: Going to Disney in the American Federation."
7:44 Reply "Simon: Good for you."
7:55 "Zhang Yingxuan: This time it's Norway. I'll send you photos then:)"
7:55 Reply "Simon: Oh →_→"
8:14 "Qiu Qiongzh: Australia, Sydney."
8:14 Reply "Simon: Mhm mhm [perfunctory.jpg]"
Oh, my dear mother, look at these little brats' holiday plans, they're like a textbook example! What kind of book? Ah, it's that "One Hundred Places in the World You Must Visit"! How surprising... NOT!
Although I don't envy your international travels, I am very sad for my comfortable, soft little bed. In the days without me, it must miss me, right?
I should be in bed, not in the fields.
Why can't I stay home comfortably watching shows in the middle of winter? Is this the sorrowful life? Society is truly a big dye vat, staining my colorful childhood pitch black.
As he grumbled, Simon fell asleep.
When he woke up again, the pickup truck was off, and his mother, Sun Hui, was outside the car. She was wearing a light red down jacket, like a maple leaf, swaying slightly. Through the car window, Simon could also see an old man.
A very sturdy, albeit short, but upright old man.
On his withered, yellow, and wrinkled skin, covered in age spots, were drooping facial features. What was particularly striking was an accessory ear on his left ear, which had frostbite and was oozing pus. The old man's mouth was downturned, instinctively giving people an impression of being harsh and stubborn, but his eyes were gleaming brightly, harder and colder than the icicles under the eaves, making people dare not speak ill of him, perhaps only curse him behind his back…
The old man turned his head and stared at the young cub in the car.
On such a day, today being January 16, 2082, in a forest by the road, Simon met his Great-Grandfather.
A legendary post-2000s.
Simon had originally thought that since he was a post-90s, he would be older in seniority than his Great-Grandfather. But upon meeting the person, he was somewhat speechless, stunned with fright.
Eighty-two-year-old Lu Xuefeng was colder than snow, sharper than a knife. Like a reef abandoned by time, to say he had no edges would be false, for he could clearly shatter a person.
Sun Hui carefully opened the car door, not to be gentle with Simon, but rather the cautiousness of a junior in front of an elder.
"Kang Kang, this is your Great-Grandfather, quickly say hello."
Simon: If I call out to you, do you dare to answer!
"Hello, Great-Grandfather."
The old man didn't speak. The yellow pus from his frostbitten left ear flowed down his neck. Simon boldly climbed out of the car, stood beside Sun Hui, holding his mother's hand, and looked up at Lu Xuefeng, who was 1.7 meters tall and had an aura that extended three li.
Simon could feel his mother's hand was icy cold. In winter, her hands were always cold, but now her palm was sweaty, like a frog's mucus, which made him very uncomfortable.
Lu Xuefeng grinned, nodded at Sun Hui, "Eat?"
"Okay, Grandpa, you sit down, I'll go cook."
Now, it was Simon's turn to stare at Lu Xuefeng.
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