The spring of 2023 in Lincheng, after a sandstorm, the weather in April changed suddenly, and a cold air blew in the next day.
Chen Xiaodong rode his electric scooter to a nearby HP computer repair shop and handed over the laptop he bought ten years ago. "Brother, help me change the hard drive, a second-hand one will do."
The repairman opened the computer and looked at it. "Yours was top-of-the-line ten years ago, they don't even make this kind of part anymore. I suggest you buy a new computer?"
Chen Xiaodong eagerly handed over a cigarette. "What are you saying, brother? If I had the money, I'd definitely buy an Alienware."
The repairman exhaled a puff of smoke. "To be honest, even second-hand ones are hard to find. How about this, you wait a couple of days. There's a batch of ten-year-old discarded computers coming down soon, maybe there'll be something good in them."
Chen Xiaodong had no choice but to go back.
Although he wasn't particularly skilled in computer technology, that laptop had accompanied him since childhood, and the system was specially optimized. It was a modified version of the old Win7, and it was really smooth and comfortable to use.
It wasn't impossible to buy a new computer on installment, but...
As he was still thinking, a beautiful figure appeared before him, the girl from the milk tea shop opposite his rental room.
A mysterious entrepreneurial girl, she was supposedly the owner of the milk tea shop, driving a Maserati to work every day. Her family must be very rich...
Chen Xiaodong knew he shouldn't pay attention to her.
Her boyfriends were all driving Mercedes and BMWs. What was he thinking?
But he couldn't help it.
It wasn't that he was interested in the young lady's money or beauty, but this girl...
He couldn't quite explain why. He just knew that the first time he saw her open the shop, she stood there looking dejected, as if she was very unhappy, and she was holding a copy of "The God of Microcosm" in her hand.
It was a very niche science fiction novel, but it was Chen Xiaodong's favorite. Because of this book, he had an unrealistic fantasy, thinking that this girl had some kind of destiny with him.
But after waking up, he would feel very ridiculous.
If he went up to her and talked about novels and destiny, he would probably be seen as a lunatic, right?
Chen Xiaodong looked at the milk tea shop.
The decoration was luxurious, as if cost was no concern, and the name was very strange.
"Theodore Milk Tea Shop!"
He showed a smile.
Only he could understand the meaning of this name, right?
Theodore Sturgeon, the founder of modern American science fiction, a master of science fiction born at the beginning of this century, author of "The God of Microcosm". But not many people knew about him.
"Student, looking for a part-time job?" a gentle voice sounded.
Chen Xiaodong shivered all over.
It turned out that while he was spacing out, the girl had walked over.
Ironically, he still didn't know her name.
"I... I haven't decided yet." Chen Xiaodong had his own work. He played games online as a booster, running a solo studio, and he could make a living by playing some niche games that didn't require high configurations.
His biggest problem was not being used to office life and not liking to be managed.
The girl looked disappointed. "Oh, I saw you staring at the recruitment ad, I thought you were interested."
Chen Xiaodong looked at her disappointed expression, her anxious look, and his heart warmed. He blurted out, "Then I'll try."
"Great, my name is Wang Weiwei," the girl said, extremely happy. "You live opposite, right? So you can work overtime at night?"
So, she was recruiting for night shift. This milk tea shop aimed to operate 24 hours a day.
No wonder she couldn't find anyone. Looking at the requirements, 9 PM to 6 AM, only one person on duty, and it was hourly...
In an instant, all Chen Xiaodong's beautiful fantasies about this girl were shattered.
She was truly a capitalist who exploited her employees.
People open businesses to make money, of course.
Chen Xiaodong sighed helplessly and followed the boss, Wang Weiwei, into the milk tea shop. He registered his personal information and immediately started learning how to make milk tea.
After working until he was exhausted by evening, Wang Weiwei said, "Can you start working tomorrow night? Today will be considered training, and I'll pay you for two hours."
What? She called it training, but he had been hands-on for three hours, and had been busy until now, and only got paid for two hours?
Chen Xiaodong sighed again, but the beautiful silhouette of Wang Weiwei holding a book appeared before him, suppressing all his unhappiness.
He dragged his tired body back to his rental room and fell asleep.
In the milk tea shop, Wang Weiwei triumphantly called her boyfriend. "I found a workhorse. I noticed him staring at me all the time. What do you think? I got him for minimum wage, and for the night shift. It's so hard to find a fool like this."
The boyfriend laughed heartily. "I knew you could do it, darling. To be honest, investing in this shop with family money was a huge loss, and it hasn't broken even yet."
Wang Weiwei pouted. "Then why are you still pretending? Why did you rent me a Maserati and other luxury cars? Everyone thinks I'm a rich woman."
"Darling, that's the effect we want. Let me tell you, as long as people think you're a rich woman running a milk tea shop, I can help you build a live-streamer persona and attract some idiot fans to worship you. After all, those losers all want to meet a beautiful and rich young lady... I won't talk anymore, I have a dinner party to attend."
Wang Weiwei hung up the phone and sneered.
She had known Luo Qi for almost half a year and had been stringing along this second-generation rich kid, hoping to make a fortune. Who knew that Young Master Luo didn't have much money, and all the money was managed by his family. Now, the heir to his family's company was not Luo Qi, but Luo Qi's sister, Luo Bing.
Hmph, thinking of that Luo Bing, who was about to inherit the Luo family's mansion and fortune, she felt indignant.
A bell rang.
Wang Weiwei looked up and was startled.
Luo Bing appeared, riding a bicycle, with stylish short hair, wearing simple jeans and a white shirt. After getting off the bike, she greeted, "Weiwei, where's my brother?"
"Ah, Luo Qi went to study. He has a few management courses to take in the evening."
Luo Bing had long legs and a slender waist. Although she was about to inherit the Luo family, she looked like a college student working part-time. Her beautiful eyes looked at Wang Weiwei deeply. "I know my brother. Is he at a bar? Studying? Impossible!"
Wang Weiwei dared not speak.
Luo Bing sighed. "Luo Qi is starting his first business. I don't want him to fail at his first attempt. Since he entrusted you with managing it, you must put your heart into it."
She then asked about the business situation.
Wang Weiwei suppressed her anger and introduced the shop with a smile.
She was so annoyed. This shop was so small, and this young lady, Luo Bing, had to interfere. She even chose the shop's name, "Theodore Milk Tea," which sounded so tacky.
Wang Weiwei couldn't understand why Luo Bing would choose such a strange name.
"Oh, you found someone for the night shift? You must take good care of them for such a full night shift job, pay them enough, and buy insurance. This is for..."
Luo Bing spoke slowly, and stopped when she saw Wang Weiwei was inattentive.
Wang Weiwei finally found an opportunity and turned to present a book. "Sister, this is for you."
"Ah, this is the rare edition..."
Luo Bing was overjoyed and looked at "The God of Microcosm." "It's really the 1989 edition. How did you find it? I love this story the most."
Wang Weiwei was very proud. Of course, Luo Qi had told her about it. She had to build a good relationship with this sister for now.
Luo Bing touched the book cover and was also grateful.
After chatting for a while, Luo Bing's phone received several messages. She glanced at them, put down the book, and rushed out. "Weiwei, hurry, Luo Qi is fighting with someone. Drive me to the bar, this guy is really something..."
...
Chen Xiaodong woke up in the morning to good news. His computer's second-hand hard drive was in stock.
He rushed to the repair shop, and the repairman mysteriously pulled him aside. "In the basement of the apartment complex over there, there's a huge underground parking lot that no one knew about before. It caught fire recently, and many people died. Apparently, it was a group of online streamers..."
The repairman sighed. "These people were really something, secretly doing online streaming down there, and no one found out."
So, many parts were salvaged from the scene, all of them old parts from ten years ago.
Chen Xiaodong looked at the pile of parts. "Do you have anything for my computer?"
"The hard drive is perfect. We'll just charge you for labor. This thing is a bit unlucky, though. Have you thought about it? Do you really want to use it?"
Chen Xiaodong didn't care about any of that and readily agreed.
When he returned to his rental room, he found that the computer couldn't connect to the internet.
Chen Xiaodong checked for a long time and found that there was a program running on the second-hand hard drive that was still running even after it had been dismantled.
He opened it and was stunned.
It was "Minecraft," a sandbox game that was old but still popular.
And this program had been running continuously for ten years, and in the game, a small figure was moving at an astonishing speed.
In this simple and crude program, a digital universe had been built.
Chen Xiaodong was dumbfounded.
"Someone has been AFK for ten years? I can't just delete it. I have to save it."
After thinking about it, he found that the software wasn't large, so he transferred it directly to his phone.
Holding his phone, just as he was about to save it, there was a "bang," and the phone exploded.
Chen Xiaodong fainted. A strange piece of data from the shattered phone magically entered his consciousness.
In his comatose dream, Chen Xiaodong saw an old man with white hair. The old man looked confused. "Who are you? Who am I? Where are we?"
Chen Xiaodong felt like he couldn't breathe and couldn't say anything.
In his subconscious, he even understood that it was just a dream.
The old man sighed. "Countless years, countless years... I can't recall anything. Finally, someone has freed me..."
What did he mean?
Chen Xiaodong was stunned in his dream, and then an endless stream of consciousness surged into him. His head felt like it was splitting.
And the old man slowly disappeared...
Chen Xiaodong woke up, clutching his head, feeling like there were countless strange things in his mind that he couldn't understand because there were too many.
Moreover, he seemed to have sweated a layer of sweat.
It was black sweat, as if all the toxins in his body had been expelled.
He rushed to the bathroom to take a shower and found that his little belly had disappeared, and his muscles were like a model's.
This was too strange.
Chen Xiaodong squatted on the ground, unable to figure it out. A certain consciousness was operating in his mind, guiding him into a profound breathing state.
His body seemed to have become much more agile.
He put on his clothes and thought about the milk tea shop. He had to put aside these strange experiences for now and go to the milk tea shop for the night shift.
At this time, the HP repair shop was already surrounded.
The repairman squatted on the ground, terrified, and kept repeating, "I only know he's a shut-in. He didn't leave any information. He said his name was Chen Xiaodong. I don't know anything else!"
Opposite him stood a handsome man, who was none other than the world's richest man, the infinitely powerful Chen Xing.
Zhu Tianqi, disguised as Chen Xing, looked at Director Wang, who was already married with children. "Do you know about the Microcosm Church?"
Director Wang nodded. "I know. They somehow obtained information about the microcosm and established this evil organization."
Zhu Tianqi said coldly, "Someone infiltrated your office, which is why there was murder and arson. They wanted to snatch the hard drive with Haotian's consciousness, but they didn't expect us to have arranged security. The Microcosm Church has been wiped out by me for the most part. The remaining thirty-odd core members are still looking for the hard drive."
Director Wang said solemnly, "Find this child named Chen Xiaodong... But if he opens his computer and goes online, will Haotian's consciousness...?"
Zhu Tianqi rubbed her head. "How many years has Haotian's consciousness spent in the virtual world?"
"According to the time flow... it's six hundred trillion years. Six followed by sixteen zeros. I can't even calculate it..."
"The universe is only a few billion years old. This is equivalent to more than three million cosmic cycles. Haotian's consciousness has probably disappeared long ago."
"But if he has been cultivating all along, wouldn't he be unimaginable now?"
"We can only notify Mr. Qin!"
...
Chen Xiaodong was busy at the milk tea shop. Wang Weiwei never showed up, but the book "The God of Microcosm" was left on the chair.
He sighed, picked up the book, and carefully put it away.
At this time, Wang Weiwei was with the Young Master Luo, who had gotten into a fight after drinking.
Young Master Luo was busily fiddling with his phone when he suddenly slapped his thigh. "Chen Xiaodong? Isn't that the idiot employee you hired?"
What happened?
Wang Weiwei leaned over.
"The Star River Group is offering a reward of one billion for him. And this mysterious organization is willing to exchange gold and diamonds for what Chen Xiaodong has."
What the hell!
"What does he have?"
"They say it's a laptop or something."
Luo Qi blinked. "Damn it, if I could get this reward money to pay off my debts..."
Wang Weiwei's mind was filled with wealth. She suddenly smiled. "I'll go and trick Chen Xiaodong into giving me his computer and ID card, then you can impersonate him and directly exchange it with Star River Group and this organization!"
"Just in case, we'll go abroad after we get the money. So Chen Xiaodong can't be left alive. Use drugs!" Luo Qi sneered.
...
Chen Xiaodong woke up in the darkness, his head hurting terribly, but soon he felt full of energy.
He recalled what had happened.
His crush, the goddess Wang Weiwei, had come and given him a drink, chatted with him, gentle and cute.
That drink!
Chen Xiaodong trembled. "It's poisoned!"
If he hadn't accidentally obtained some kind of miraculous encounter, he would have died here long ago.
Also, he recalled that Wang Weiwei and a man had taken his computer and ID card.
What was all this for?
As he was thinking, he heard the sound of a bicycle bell.
A short-haired, long-legged girl walked in. "Hello, excuse me, are Luo Qi and Wang Weiwei here?"
Chen Xiaodong remained silent, warily watching the girl.
He hadn't fully processed everything yet.
Why did Wang Weiwei and that man want to kill him?
At this moment, the short-haired girl walked closer. "I'm Luo Qi's sister, your boss's sister. My brother can't be contacted. And Wang Weiwei, um, why are you holding my book?"
The girl picked up the book.
Chen Xiaodong instinctively snatched it back. "This is Weiwei's."
The girl was surprised, then smiled. "Wang Weiwei can't understand this novel at all. She gave it to me."
"You can understand it?" Chen Xiaodong asked coldly.
The girl blinked. "You're such a strange person. Do you know why this shop is called Theodore Milk Tea?"
Chen Xiaodong chuckled. "The author of 'The God of Microcosm' is Theodore. That's my favorite novel. I can recite the original English version by heart."
"Nonsense, I can't even understand the original English version."
Chen Xiaodong sneered and began to recite on the spot. Then, in a fit of pique, he started describing the novel, sharing his love and understanding of it over the years.
The girl was already stunned. She sat beside him, propping her chin on her hand, listening.
"I didn't expect there to be someone who is even more obsessed with this book than I am."
It was already late at night, and Chen Xiaodong's mind was a mess.
The short-haired girl called herself Luo Bing.
She truly understood the book, and Chen Xiaodong had figured it out.
This shop was funded by Luo Bing, and she had named it. This book was also her favorite.
As for Wang Weiwei...
A superficial, boring, gold-digging woman, a viper who almost poisoned him to death.
Yet he had secretly been in love with her for so long.
He was truly the biggest fool in the world.
Chen Xiaodong wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.
"What's wrong?" Luo Bing asked gently.
Chen Xiaodong sighed and told her everything.
Including how he had fallen in love with Wang Weiwei because of this book.
Luo Bing's eyes grew gentler, and she finally chuckled. "What goddess is Wang Weiwei? She's not worthy of you!"
Chen Xiaodong didn't know what to say.
Just then, there was a loud bang from outside, and two things were violently thrown in.
Ah!
Chen Xiaodong instinctively pulled Luo Bing behind him.
They both saw in terror that two corpses had fallen to the ground!
Wang Weiwei and Luo Qi!
They had died horribly.
Someone outside said coldly, "We want Chen Xiaodong, and the real hard drive in his hand, the one with the game. Hand it over, and you can live."
"These two idiots impersonated him to claim the reward, so we killed them directly!"
Countless assassins blocked the front and back doors, started pouring gasoline, and prepared to set fire.
Then came the gunshots!
Chen Xiaodong suddenly lunged at Luo Bing. He was shot three times in the back.
But not a drop of blood flowed.
Luo Bing, however, was terrified and hugged him tightly. "Why are you so foolish? You're risking your life for me?"
Chen Xiaodong coughed and lowered his voice. "You must get out of here alive!"
Luo Bing hugged him and suddenly kissed his ear. "Although I'm not as beautiful as Wang Weiwei, would you be willing to like me?"
Her big eyes held a hint of shyness, but her tone was firm.
The assassins in the darkness were closing in.
Chen Xiaodong also hugged her. "How can I be worthy of you? I'll go and hold them off. You must not do anything foolish."
Their hearts suddenly felt so close at this moment.
Luo Bing's eyes sparkled with a bright light. "Life and death are fated. I'll die with you."
Just then, a bright light appeared, and screams came from outside.
The thirty-odd assassins lay on the ground, lifeless.
Luo Bing and Chen Xiaodong supported each other and trembled as they walked out of the shop after a long time.
Opposite the dead assassins stood a divine-like couple.
The man was about thirty, radiant, and incredibly handsome.
The woman was like an immortal, radiating light.
The man looked at him and suddenly smiled faintly. "Student Chen Xiaodong, don't be afraid. We are all good people. My surname is Qin, Qin Yexuan. The one beside me is my lover."
Huh?
Chen Xiaodong found it very strange. What did "lovers" mean?
The beautiful elder sister next to him was the only one there.
Qin Yexuan smiled again. "Someone will clean up the scene here soon. Chen Xiaodong, come here."
Chen Xiaodong, for some reason, instinctively walked over.
Qin Yexuan stroked his head, sensing something, and then sighed. "So, this is also Haotian's destination. Child, are you willing to cultivate? Are you willing to be my disciple?"
Ah?
Chen Xiaodong was stunned again.
"It's okay, think slowly. We have plenty of time."
Everything ended, and another began...